Tag: installation

Hillary Anger Elfenbein, professor of organizational behavior in Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, has been installed as the John K. and Ellen A. Wallace Distinguished Professor. A ceremony and reception to mark the installation was held June 7 at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education & Conference Center.

Elfenbein, whose research focus includes emotion in the workplace, leadership and negotiation, joined the Olin faculty in 2008. She works with Olin’s MBA, Professional MBA and Executive MBA programs.

Dan Elfenbein, Associate Professor of Strategy and Hillary’s husband,
is flanked by their sons at the Installation Ceremony.

Her professorship was made possible by John K. and Ellen A. Wallace, who made a generous commitment in 1997 to establish the position. The Wallaces are pictured above with Prof. Elfenbein, center.

“The Wallaces have long been great friends of Olin Business School,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said. “Their Washington University roots run deep; John earned his MBA from Olin, his siblings graduated from our university, and John’s grandfather, Henry Brookings Wallace, served as acting chancellor. We are thankful to the Wallaces for their remarkable generosity and philanthropic spirit.”

 

“Hillary Anger Elfenbein has made a deep and lasting impact on Olin Business School and its students,” said Provost Holden Thorp. “Her vast knowledge of key business and societal issues has made her a tremendous asset to Washington University. She is a widely admired teacher and her scholarship has had enormous influence. We’re also extremely thankful for John and Ellen’s support of Olin and the university as a whole.”

Elfenbein earned her undergraduate degrees in physics and Sanskrit language; a master’s degree in statistics; and her doctorate in organizational behavior, all from Harvard University.

Her work has appeared in leading academic journals, such as the Academy of Management Annals; Academy of Management Journal; Current Directions in Psychological Science; Journal of Applied Psychology; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Psychological Bulletin; Organizational Psychology Review; Organization Science; and Psychological Science, as well as the Harvard Business Review. She also has served as an associate editor at Management Science.

The U.S. House of Representatives has discussed Elfenbein’s research due to its implications for the armed services, and she has testified before Congress as an expert witness on federal funding in the social sciences.

About John K. and Ellen A. Wallace

After graduating from Yale, John K. Wallace served in the military and then attended Olin Business School. He joined Cupples Company, a diversified manufacturer, and rose quickly to become president of the charcoal-products subsidiary. In 1981, he purchased the subsidiary, renaming it Imperial Products. When he sold it in 1989, it was the largest industrial charcoal operation in the United States. That same year, Wallace founded the Regency Group, a holding company.

In 1992, Wallace received Olin’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and, in 1999, he was awarded Olin’s Dean’s Medal. His efforts on behalf of the school and university are unwavering. He led Olin’s alumni organization and chaired its campaign committee during the Campaign for Washington University. He is a long-serving member of Olin’s National Council and the university’s Board of Trustees, where he is currently an emeritus trustee. Wallace has also served as chair of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, and, in 1998, received the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Ellen Wallace also enjoyed great success in business. In 1990, she became a founding partner of Farmhouse Collection Inc., a manufacturer offering high-end, handcrafted furniture to the designer trade. She and her partners built the business into a nationally recognized company. She also has been active in the community, volunteering extensively across St. Louis with organizations dedicated to helping disadvantaged and at-risk youth. Her community leadership also extends to the Center for Contemporary Art (COCA), where she has served as a board member.

Over the years, the Wallaces have made many significant contributions to Olin Business School. In addition to establishing the John K. and Ellen A. Wallace Distinguished Professorship, the couple has provided substantial support for business scholarships and for ongoing needs at the school. In recognition of their generosity and service to the university, the couple was honored in 2007 with the Robert S. Brookings Award.

Guest blogger: Erika Ebsworth-Goold

Hong Liu, professor of finance and director of the master’s in finance program at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School, has been installed as the Fossett Distinguished Professor. A celebration to mark the occasion was held May 6 at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education & Conference Center.

Liu, whose research focuses on asset pricing and market microstructures, has served as a member of Olin’s faculty since 1998.

The professorship was made possible by a commitment in 1996 from Olin alumnus and world-renowned adventurer Steve Fossett. Steve, who served as a Washington University trustee, died in a plane crash in 2007.

“I am deeply grateful for the Fossett Distinguished Professorship and for the opportunity to remember Steve’s many contributions as a dedicated alumnus and generous benefactor,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said. “I also wish to thank Peggy for her ongoing support. As we all continue to push the limits of academic excellence and personal achievement, we can be assured that Steve’s legacy lives on at Washington University.”

“We are pleased to recognize Professor Liu’s many accomplishments, and all that he has done for Olin Business School and its students with this prestigious position,” Provost Holden Thorp said. “He’s a leader in his field, he’s a leader at Olin, and we’re fortunate to have counted him among our faculty for the past 18 years.”

Liu earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1987; master’s degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1990 and the University of Connecticut in 1994; and his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998.

His research interests are primarily in optimal investments and asset pricing in markets with frictions. On the topic of portfolio choice with transaction costs, he is one of the most prolific authors in terms of publications in top finance and economic journals. He and his co-authors are the first to explain some long-outstanding puzzles, such as why bid-ask spreads can decrease with information asymmetry and why investors may under-diversify.

Liu’s recent research topics include why short-sale constraints may decrease equilibrium prices and why portfolio re-balancing can potentially explain the well-documented disposition effect – that is, why investors tend to sell winners and keep losers.

Liu has served as a referee for leading journals in the finance field, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Finance and Review of Financial Studies. Currently, he is an associate editor at Management Science and Re­view of Finance. Liu also serves as an academic director on the board of directors of the Midwest Finance Association, and as an academic director of the Master of Science in Finance program at Olin Business School. He has consulted for various organizations, as well as written dozens of research articles and lectured at universities around the world.

About Steve and Peggy Fossett

Steve Fossett

An accomplished adventurer and successful businessman, Steve Fossett earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University in 1966 and went on to attend Olin, where he earned an MBA in 1968.

He began his professional career in computer systems with IBM before entering the world of the commodities broker, first with Merrill Lynch and then for himself. He founded and managed Lakota Trading Inc., and was a member of the New York Stock Exchange for 26 years.

While he made his mark on the business world, specifically in the field of investments and commodities, Fossett achieved global attention as a record-setting aviator, sailor and adventurer. The holder of official world records in five sports — balloons, airships, sailboats, gliders and jet airplanes — Fossett was perhaps best known as the first person to fly around the world alone, nonstop, in a balloon. He was declared dead in 2008, five months after his small plane vanished over the Nevada desert. He was 63.

A committed leader and generous supporter of Washington University, Fossett served on the university’s Board of Trustees and on Olin’s National Council. In addition to establishing the Fossett Distinguished Professorship, he and his wife, Peggy, provided funding for the Fossett Pathfinder Fellowships for undergraduates studying environmental sustainability and for the Fossett Laboratory for Virtual Planetary Exploration. He received the university’s Olin Business School Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995 and an honorary doctor of science degree from the university in 2006.

Peggy Fossett is a native of St. Louis and an alumna of Webster University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1966 and later served as a member of the board of trustees. At Washington University, she has continued her husband’s legacy of philanthropy. She is a life member of the Danforth Circle Chancellor’s Level of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society and has made generous contributions through the Peggy and Steve Fossett Foundation in support of Antarctic research and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Guest Blogger: Erika Ebsworth-Goold

Photos by Jerry Naunheim Jr.