The 2015 Olin Women in Business Charity Auction in support of The Scholarship Foundation hit a homerun again this year. While many excellent events were auctioned off by faculty members, those of us at Greg Hutchings’ gourmet dinner party are certain we got the best deal.

Guest blogger: Steve Pinkham, MBA’15

Greg Hutchings

Greg is the Assistant Dean and Director of Specialized Masters Programs, but a true member of the whole Olin community. This past Friday February 13th, he welcomed 17 students across the PMBA, MBA, JD/MBA, and Architecture/MBA programs into his home for fine dining, wine pairings, and most of all, a lot of fun.

I was very excited to bid on this event, having lost out in the auction the year prior. In fact, during my candidate visit to Olin two years ago I met with another military veteran escorting me on the program visit who raved about having just taken part in Greg’s famous scholarship dinner. Suffice it to say, the meal and the party lived up to its billing.

In addition to an excellent three course meal with terrific wine pairings, Greg proved a tremendous host showing us the nuanced and unique facets of his home and its layout.  With such a wide variety of students in attendance, many of whom are in their final semester and preparing for life after Olin, it was a nice opportunity to get several of us together and connect before the spring semester rolls to an end.

Moreover, it provided many of us a great example of what hosting an intimate dinner should truly look like.  Even though we had 17 student attendees plus our host, the entire experience was familial and, again, quite fun.

For those who are not members of the Olin community, I believe this dinner provides yet another example of a top caliber business school finding a way to make each of its individual students feel welcome and at home. And of course, the funds raised in celebrating the night went to benefit a great cause. Dinner this past Friday will surely be remembered by all in attendance as they begin looking at post-graduation plans, with the only regret being they didn’t bid higher to take part last year too!