Kellogg Gets $1M for Derivatives & Capital Education

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University will use a $1 million grant from The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Trust to support its derivative and capital market education activities.

The grant, which will be used over four years, will be used for several programs, including the new Asset Management Practicum that Kellogg is launching for a select group of MBA students this month. Another program that will benefit from the funding is Kellogg's new PhD course and fellowship focus on derivatives and capital markets. Funds will also be used to strengthen a newly created undergraduate certificate program in finance.

Source: "Kellogg School Finance Department Receives $1 Million Grant," press release, the Kellogg School of Management (Evanston, IL), December 19, 2006

Yale SOM Students Head Overseas

Eight groups of first-year MBA students from the Yale School of Management will travel abroad for two weeks in January as part of the School's newly-instituted International Experience requirement.

Part of the new curriculum introduced at Yale this year requires MBA students to study abroad. The two-week programs are led by Yale SOM faculty and include lesson plans incorporated with the MBA curriculum.

Different groups of students will examine economics, business, and industry in China, Japan, Singapore, India, Argentina, Costa Rica, England and Poland, and Tanzania and South Africa.

Source: "Yale School of Management MBA Students Gain International Exposure Through Study Abroad," press release, Yale SOM (New Haven, CT), December 18, 2006

Columbia Students Design Products for Luxury Brands

For the twelfth year in a row, MBA students from the Columbia Business School have teamed with students from the Parsons School of Design to propose new products for designer labels including Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lalique, and Hermes.

Students submitted their projects through the Product Design and Design Management course, a collaborative program supported by the Luxury Education Foundation and taught by Columbia Business School and Parsons faculty.

The student teams are asked to design a product and marketing plan in response to a challenge posed by a participating firm. Their experience helps them understand the relationship between creating and marketing luxury goods.

This year, student creations include an updated version of the classic Vara women's shoe from Ferragomo; Louis Vuitton travel cases for DJ equipment; and new variations on Hermes bags and belts, meant to make those products more appealling to younger buyers.

Source: "Parsons Partners with Columbia Business School to Design Innovative Product and Marketing Concepts for Leading Luxury Goods Companies" - press release, Parsons The New School of Design (New York, NY), December 11, 2006

Wharton Dean Harker Named U. of Delaware President

The University of Delaware has selected Wharton School Dean Patrick Harker to serve as its next president. Dean Harker will leave Wharton to take up his duties at the University of Delaware on July 1. The Wharton School has not yet announced plans to identify his sucessor.