Tag: Simon Hall

John E. Simon, for whom Simon Hall is named, was a St. Louis investor and philanthropist. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1896, Mr. Simon attended Smith Academy in St. Louis. After serving during World War I and graduating from Harvard University in 1918, Mr. Simon joined the firm of I.M. Simon & Company in St. Louis in 1919. Founded in 1874 by his great uncle, the firm is believed to have been the third oldest New York Stock Exchange member firm and the oldest continuous member firm west of the Mississippi River.

Mr. Simon became a partner in 1925 and guided the firm through the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Depression, and World War II. The firm helped form and finance many national and local companies, including Delta Airlines, Litton Industries, and McDonnell Douglas Corp.

Simon directed the firm as General Partner for nearly 50 years and remained active in the firm as a Limited Partner for many years after that. Simon & Co. merged with R. Rowland & Co. in 1988, and the firm was acquired by Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in 1989.

Click on image above to watch the video of Dean Emeritus Bob Virgil talking about his friend John Simon.

John Simon with business school students in newly opened Simon Hall, 1987.

John Simon with business school students in newly opened Simon Hall, 1987.

In April 1984, a reception in honor of Mr. and Mrs. John E. Simon was held to announce the naming of the new business school building under construction. It would be named John E. Simon Hall thanks to their generous gift to support the school.

Link to complete profile of John E. Simon on the Olin100 website. centennial logo redFlag

Olin Business School - Simon Hall

When Simon Hall was dedicated in April 1987, it was one of the largest academic buildings on the Danforth Campus with 80,000 square feet of usable floor space.




“Filling white space with fresh and trendy graphics can add excitement to a space,” says architect Adriana Perrone, “but most companies and campus architects want their budgeted dollars to do more than pay for fancy wall paper.” Perrone of Mackey Mitchell Architects, knows what she’s talking about. She designed the colorful murals on the walls in Simon Hall’s lower level.

Major renovations have transformed Simon Hall over the past two summers with new classrooms, lounges, the Undergrad Programs Office and more. The new hallways in the lower level opened up a once dark maze of offices into a bright, welcoming space. But the makeover wasn’t complete until Perrone’s graphic designs hit the walls.

"Thoughtful graphics can shape space and add visual depth while sparking the interest of the passersby and serving as a conversation starter." -Adriana Perrone

“Thoughtful graphics can shape space and add visual depth while sparking the interest of the passersby and serving as a conversation starter.” -Adriana Perrone

“Adriana has amazing graphic design abilities and created those graphics digitally from Wash U campus stock images we were provided through Public Affairs,” says Marcus Adrian, Principal at the Mackey Mitchell firm. “The whole composition was printed on 3M vinyl wall covering material by local graphics and signage company Engraphix, and installed by them in mid-April of this year.  The install is only slightly more sophisticated than hanging wallpaper, though the final product is considerably more durable.”

In a blog post titled, “Walls Can Talk: 3 Ways To Get More Out Of Your Hallways” Perrone writes about the Simon Hall project:

“It is imperative to remember that environmental graphics aren’t just for decoration.  Decoration is fine…When designs incorporate learning, emotion, storytelling, or community, an environmental graphics budget can suddenly add intellectual depth and purpose to a space that was once just an empty hallway.”

Tell us what the walls to say to you!

 


Now that you’re all moved into your new dorm room, it’s time to explore campus so you look like you know where you’re going on the first day of classes! Here’s a quick tour of Simon Hall. If you’re walking from the South 40, it’s the building on the left when you cross Forsyth at Wallace Drive. Or if you take the underpass (under Forsyth), go straight and you will run right into Simon.

Here are a few of the things you’ll find inside:

  • Einstein Bagel Bros
  • Undergrad Program Office
  • Undergrad Lounge
  • Management Communications Center (they can help you with presentation and writing skills)
  • Faculty Offices on 2nd floor: Accounting, Finance
  • Classrooms
  • Center for Experiential Learning
  • Olin Behavioral Lab (for marketing experiments, focus groups etc)

Experiments in the new organizational behavioral lab will not involve furry little creatures. Subjects will be a two-legged species that can be found in classrooms, libraries and dorms on campus. Yes, faculty and PhDs will study human students in this cool new lab with two-way mirrors, face recognition technology, and cameras every where. Joe Goodman, associate marketing professor gives us a tour of the new Taylor Lab and expanded Organizational Behavior Lab in the lower level of Simon Hall.

Located in the former BSBA program offices, the spacious new lab was completed this summer as part of Phase II of the Simon Hall renovations that began in the summer of 2014. Tarlton Corp., the St. Louis-based general contractor, responsible for the renovations and the construction of Knight Hall and Bauer Hall, published a news release about the Simon Hall project that stretched from May Auditorium to the Cupola. Link to news release

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Tarlton completes Washington University project
10/29/15

Image: The tears of the lab mouse, by Elizabeth, From The Mouse written and illustrated by Iliane Roels, Grosset & Dunlap,1969, Flickr Creative Commons.


From the top of the cupola tower to the lower level of Simon Hall, Tarlton construction teams have been busy renovating Simon Hall this summer. The transformation of the former Weston Career Center, BSBA program offices, and McWilliams Computer Lab on the lower level will be complete by mid-August. We got a preview – click on the video above. Six new classrooms, a new Taylor Lab for Marketing Research, and a new north side entrance to Simon with a stairway to the lower level are all part of the facelift.

Check back here in a couple of weeks to see the completion of Phase II of Simon Hall’s renovations.