Since our charter class graduated more than 25 years ago, alumni
from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management have been making
their presence known around the world.
Our graduates are CEOs, vice presidents, chief financial
officers, chief operating officers and entrepreneurs. Around the
globe, they have taken prominent roles as international business
leaders in a wide range of industries and organizations.
Graduate School of Management alumni are actively involved in
their communities, and they make time for mentoring, advising and
assisting current students and networking with fellow graduates.
UC Davis Graduate School of Management Announces New Dean
Steven Currall, a vice dean and faculty member who holds joint positions at University College London and the London Business School, has been appointed dean of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.
Andrew Hargadon Honored with Olympus Emerging Educational Leader Award
Professor Andrew Hargadon, faculty director of the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship, was honored in March with the 2009 Olympus Emerging Educational Leader Award for inspiring innovative thinking in students and for his potential to make even greater contributions to the field in the future.
Hargadon, a former design engineer for IDEO Product Development and Apple Computer, was recognized for his leadership of the center, which has had notable success in moving technologies from university labs to the marketplace.
GSM Team Wins Bay Area MBA Portfolio Challenge
(Davis, CA)—A team of four UC Davis MBA students recently won the CFA Society of San Francisco’s second annual Bay Area MBA Portfolio Challenge. Competing teams spent three months trading and tracking a $1-million portfolio using the Stock-Trak virtual brokerage investment simulation platform. Investments were limited to U.S. traded equities.
Equipping MBAs to Heal the Healthcare System
The UC Davis Graduate School of Management, in collaboration with the UC Davis School of Medicine, has introduced a new program designed to prepare MBA students to lead hospitals, government agencies and other organizations.
Individuals Lose Playing the Market — Institutions Win
Collectively, individual Taiwanese investors racked up $32 billion in stock market losses between 1995 and 1999 — virtually all due to frequent trading, according to a new study by researchers at UC Davis, National Chengchi University in Taipei and Peking University.
In Bad Economy, MBA Degree Beckons
Mirroring a national trend, applications to the UC Davis Graduate School of Management’s two-year Daytime MBA program are up 50 percent from last year, the school’s admission office reports.
Food and Health Entrepreneurship Academy Announced
UC Davis has announced the details of the inaugural Food and Health Entrepreneurship Academy, to be held February 23– 27, 2009. Co-presented by the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship and the Foods for Health Institute, the academy is designed for researchers in fields related to foods, nutrition and human health.
Alumni Association Awards Top Honors
The School’s Alumni Association has honored two of its members: David Russ ‘86, chief investment officer for Dartmouth College, received the Distinguished Achievement Award for his investment skills and success in managing large, complex university endowments, and for his leadership role on the GSM’s Dean’s Advisory Council. Vincent Catalano ‘97 received the Outstanding Service Award for his passion, drive and leadership in support of the School, including his service a past president and member of the Alumni Association’s board of directors.
The Brass Tacks among the 10 Most Innovative MBA Teams in the World
UC Davis MBA Team Advanced to Innovation Challenge Finals
Davis, CA)–A team of four UC Davis MBA students advanced to the final round of the 2008 Innovation Challenge, the world’s largest academic competition of its kind produced by consulting firm Idea Crossing and hosted by The Batten Institute at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
Calling themselves The Brass Tacks, the group of first-year daytime MBA students emerged as one of 10 finalists from the initial round and a semi-final round of the sixth-annual international competition, which took place online in October.
Women’s Gains Not Seen in Board Rooms, as CEOs
Half of California’s 400 largest public companies have no women in top executive offices, according to a study reported today by University of California, Davis, researchers. Almost half do not have a woman on the board of directors. Nearly a third – including household names McAfee, Quicksilver and Hansen Natural — do not have a woman in either a top executive post or on the governing board.
Dean Honored with Aspen Institute’s 2008 Faculty Pioneer Award
Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart has been awarded the Aspen Institute’s Center for Business Education’s 2008 Faculty Pioneer Award for Institutional Impact. The annual recognition, dubbed the “Oscars of the business school world” by the Financial Times, celebrates MBA faculty who have demonstrated leadership and risk-taking in integrating social and environment issues into academic research, educational programs and business practice.
Wine Industry Intent on Truly Going Green
The wine industry is making a concerted effort to adopt environmentally responsible practices but sees a need for better education among both consumers and professionals on many “green” issues, according to two surveys of wine industry professionals and executives conducted by Robert Smiley, professor and director of wine studies at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.
New Executive Director for Center for Entrepreneurship
L. Wilton Agatstein, Jr., has been named executive director of the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship. Prior to 2008 Agatstein was vice president at Intel and the head of Intel’s Emerging Markets Group; in spring 2008 he was the Graduate School of Management’s Robert A. Fox Executive-in-Residence.
Graduate School of Management Dean to Step Down
Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart will step down from her administrative post next July. Following a sabbatical, she will return to full-time teaching and research. Biggart began her term as dean “with several aspirations. I am pleased that we have achieved substantial progress toward these goals in the past five years.”
UC Davis MBAs Design Urban Oasis for Sacramento’s Homeless People
A team of UC Davis MBA students’ design for a state-of-the-art “green” development won the 17th annual Bank of America Low-Income Housing Challenge in May. The design will be incorporated into a proposal that will be delivered to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency in August.
High-tech Wine Cap Design Wins $15,000
A design for a high-tech closure for wine bottles that would allow the wine to breathe much like traditional bark corks won the $15,000 first prize in the annual student-run Big Bang! Business Plan Competition. The cap, which could help prevent some $10 billion worth of wine from being ruined every year by cork taint, will also compete at the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Challenge.
Fast-growing MBA Program Moves to New Bay Area Home
Following three years of rapid enrollment growth in one of the nation’s most competitive MBA markets, the Graduate School of Management is moving its Bay Area MBA Program for Working Professionals to a new location at Bishop Ranch Business Park in San Ramon.
Amory Lovins Keynotes Green Entrepreneurs Academy
Energy expert Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute will be the keynote speaker at the 2008 UC Davis Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy in July. Hosted by the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship, GTEA brings together doctoral students, post-docs and research faculty to learn how to move ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace.
School Endorses Principles for Responsible Management Education
The School is among the first 100 business schools worldwide to endorse the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), a UN-backed global initiative developed to promote corporate responsibility and sustainability in business education.
UC Davis MBAs Uncover Possible Stock Mispricing in Turbulant Market
Professor Paul Griffin’s recent class on company valuation analysis posed a special challenge this year: how to value a company in tough economic times, including the impact of the subprime debt crisis. Despite the challenging market conditions, students spotlighted several companies believed to be significantly mispriced by equity investors.