MBA Poker World Series
Playing in an organized poker tournament for the first time in his life, Joe Godfrey (HBS ’07) bested some 470 fellow card sharks in the 2006 MBA World Series of Poker, held in Las Vegas in January. Going up against students from 48 other business schools, Godfrey won the tourney’s main event, taking home $24,822 and a $15,000 watch, and automatically earning a $10,000 seat at this summer’s World Series of Poker. Some sixty HBS students took part in the weekend competition. The event also had a fundraising component, which this year resulted in a $20,000 donation to the Alzheimer’s Association.
NFL Players Hit the Books
Thirty-five NFL players traded their shoulder pads for notepads in late February to participate in an Executive Education program designed by the HBS faculty to help them prepare for careers after football. The NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program delivers a customized curriculum focused on topics such as financial analysis and valuation, marketing, business plans, and tax issues. This is the second year HBS has worked with the NFL and the NFL Players Association to deliver such a program.
Field Studies a Win-Win
Field studies give small teams of second-year HBS students, working under faculty supervision and guidance, an opportunity to get a handle on the kinds of real-world problems that individual companies are facing. Sponsoring companies and organizations, for their part, can benefit directly from the students’ output. Companies interested in sponsoring a field-study project may visit www.hbs.edu/mba/recruiting/connect/fieldstudies.html.
Allston Plan’s First Building
A 500,000-square-foot science complex will be the first building of Harvard University’s new Allston campus. The complex, which will house the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and a number of cross-departmental science initiatives, will be built on Western Avenue next to the WGBH building, a short walk from HBS. The complex will help Boston solidify its place as one of the world’s top centers for biotechnology, said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Construction will begin next year.
What Are They Thinking?
The Leadership Initiative, whose mission is to ensure that the School remains at the forefront of leadership R&D, has two projects under way that focus on young people. Using interviews, self-assessment exercises, and periodic interventions, one study is documenting HBS students’ perspectives on the transformational nature of the MBA experience and which elements of it have the greatest impact. A second project is examining the attitudes of “Generation Y” college-age individuals in order to better understand how young people perceive business generally and as a possible career choice.
Artist Christo Visits HBS
To illustrate entrepreneurship from a different angle, HBS professors Josh Lerner and Felda Hardymon and research associate Ann Leamon wrote a case about Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the husband-wife team known for their massive, self-funded outdoor art projects. (Their Central Park installation, The Gates, cost them $20 million and took 26 years from concept to completion.) At HBS in April, the two discussed the case with students.
Mountains for Miracles Update
Three HBS students are climbing the world’s tallest mountains to raise money to fight childhood cancer. Donations may be made at: www.mountainsformiracles.org.
Photo by Stuart Cahill
33rd Annual HBS Show: Indecent Disclosure took satirical aim at the School’s quest to replace Dean Kim B. Clark, as disgruntled alumni hatch a plot to install an evil android as the new dean. Dylan Bourguignon (HBS ’07), on the left, played Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, and David Burt (HBS ’07) played Dean Clark. The student-run show was performed in April.
