Tag: provost

Provost Holden Thorp has appointed a nine-member committee to identify candidates for the position of dean of the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Mahendra R. Gupta, dean and the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management at Olin Business School, announced this month that he will conclude his deanship at the end of the academic year, June 30, 2016.

Gupta, who has served as dean since 2005 and on the Olin faculty since 1990, will remain at Olin as a member of the accounting faculty and continue his research.

Ralph S. Quatrano, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences, will chair the Olin School dean search.

Thorp and the committee will work to have a new dean in place by July 1, 2016.

In addition to Quatrano, the committee members, who are all affiliated with Olin, are:

• Nicholas S. Argyres, the Vernon W. and Marion K. Piper Professor of Strategy;
• Michelle M. Duguid, associate professor of organizational behavior;
• Daniel Henry, first-year student in the MBA program;
• Clifford Holekamp (MBA ’01), senior lecturer in entrepreneurship and director of the Entrepreneurship Platform;
• Jessica J. Landzberg, junior in the Olin School;
• Robyn LeBoeuf, associate professor of marketing;
• James O’Donnell (BSBA ’74, MBA ’74), member of the university Board of Trustees and of Olin’s National Council; and
• Anjan Thakor, the John E. Simon Professor of Finance and director of doctoral programs and the Wells Fargo Advisors Center for Finance and Accounting Research.

–  Story from the WUSTL Newsroom

The Chronicle of Higher Education delves into WashU’s admissions policies, Pell Grants history, and commitment to diversity in an article and video interview with Provost Holden Thorp. The article, “A Distinction Washington U. Wants to Lose: Least Economically Diverse” includes interviews with students and the Provost who says, “We have an obligation to do what we can to address the persistent inequality that plagues America.”

Watch video with Provost Thorp here.

WUSTL Newsroom release on University’s commitment to socio-economic diversity, affordability.

Wondering who that bespectacled bass player wearing leather pants, army boots, and a Ramones T-shirt was in the band at the recent student production of “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”? It was none other than Wash U’s multi-talented Provost, Holden Thorp, who is profiled in Raleigh, N.C.’s The News & Observer.

The cast of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Photos by Jonathan R. White Photography

Did you know that Wash U’s new provost, Holden Thorp, is a successful entrepreneur and plays keyboards in a jazz band? Find out more in the first installment of the Domain Tech Report  – a weekly video cast on the Techli website that is dedicated to covering the startup community in St. Louis.

Washington University, Olin, and the School of Engineering & Applied Science are partnering with Techli to promote entrepreneurship online, on campus, and in St. Louis.

“We are so excited to be partnering with a great research institution like Washington University. Their involvement in the St. Louis startup community is one of the big drivers behind the success our city is currently experiencing,” says Edward Domain, COO of Techli (pictured above left with Provost Holden Thorp).

The partnership will feature a series of videos and stories on the Techli website showcasing the entrepreneurial spirit of the entire St. Louis ecosystem, which is becoming widely recognized as a startup mecca and a great place for recent college graduates to create their own ventures.

The first show features Holden Thorp, PhD, provost of Washington University. A successful entrepreneur himself, Thorp, author of the 2010 book Engines of Innovation, discusses the role universities can plan in helping to further entrepreneurial innovation.

Future show topics will include how the St. Louis startup support system, from access to funding to mentorship, has grown over the past year; the increase in teen entrepreneurship; and the importance of getting the established business community involved with the startup community.

“The robust culture of entrepreneurship at Olin Business School is helping to launch our undergraduate and graduate students into career paths we could not have imagined a decade ago,” says Mahendra R. Gupta, PhD, dean of Olin Business School and the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management.

“I look forward to highlighting our student’s successes, as well as the many other innovative ventures being developed here in St. Louis, through this partnership with Techli,” Gupta says.

“While the School of Engineering continues to emphasize advances in theoretical knowledge, we are more actively promoting the application of new discoveries by enhancing the climate of entrepreneurship,” says Ralph S. Quatrano, PhD, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science and Spencer T. Olin Professor.

“Through our annual Discovery Competition, our entrepreneurship course for undergraduates and faculty mentorship, we are taking an active role in advancing entrepreneurship in the St. Louis region,” he says.

About Techli
Techli delivers news and in-depth editorial on the technologies, businesses and ideas that are changing the way people live, work, and play. Techli knows that cutting edge technologies and vanguard businesses are emerging around the world, not just in Silicon Valley.  Techli covers innovation wherever it happens, whenever it happens.

Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis
Entrepreneur magazine has ranked Washington University No. 8 in undergraduate programs and No. 12 in graduate programs. Degrees in entrepreneurship are offered at the undergraduate and graduate level at Olin Business School. A minor degree in entrepreneurship is an option for all WUSTL undergraduates. The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies hosts two annual business plan competitions that together award nearly $250,000: the Olin Cup for commercial ventures and the YouthBridge Social Enterprise and Innovation Competition for social ventures. The School of Engineering & Applied Science hosts its Discovery Competition with the goal of promoting new and innovative solutions for real-world problems and allowing students to compete for financial resources that could help turn their ideas into businesses. The winning team is awarded $25,000. Students and alumni regularly participate in the Arch Grants competition in St. Louis.

Neil Schoenherr, WUSTL Public Affairs contributed to this post.