Author: Erika Ebsworth-Goold

​Crunching big data, especially from social networking sites, is one of the hottest areas of study in business schools right now.  A new center at Washington University in St. Louis is teaching students best practices when it comes to data mining and analysis. Seethu Seetharaman, PhD, the W. Patrick McGinnis Professor of Marketing, is the center’s director.

Ramesh Agarwal, PhD, the William Palm Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis, will receive an honorary fellowship from the Royal Aeronautical Society, the highest distinction for global aerospace achievement.

The world of collegiate and professional sports combines some of the most important facets of business, including financing, marketing and media. On Friday, Sept. 25, Washington University in St. Louis will take attendees off the sideline and into the action with a panel of top local and national sports executives for the inaugural Olin Sports Business Summit. Patrick Rishe, director of the Sports Business Program, is helping to organize the panel.

​While the economy has rebounded, the recent market upheaval in China, and the resulting ripple effects felt globally, raised concerns. The Fed’s decision to hold rates steady buys more time to gauge global markets’ strength, and possible volatility, should a rate hike be put into place in the near future.

Anheuser-Busch InBev approached rival SABMiller about a possible takeover that would result in a mega-brewery worth $275 billion. But William C. Finnie, adjunct professor of strategy at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis and a former brewery executive, says there are looming antitrust issues.

Leading international figures in climate change research, including Peter Raven, PhD, the George Engelmann Professor of Botany Emeritus in Arts & Sciences, will gather at Washington University in St. Louis Thursday and Friday, Sept. 10-11, to examine climate change and what it could mean to future biodiversity. Hosted by the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES), the Symposium on Biological Extinctions and Climate Change will take place at Hillman Hall on the Danforth Campus.

​Washington University hosts two special events next week, both highlighting entrepreneurship and innovation on campus, and in the community.

Fuzhong Zhang, PhD, assistant professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has received an early-career faculty award from NASA.

The Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis has announced a unique partnership Boeing’s Phantom Works Ventures, an entrepreneurial arm of the corporation. Students will be given an opportunity to commercialize Boeing patents in non-aerospace applications – with total prizes of $5,000.

​​Deanne Bell’s career has taken her from the science lab to the television studio.  Once again, the Washington University alumna proves she’s ready for primetime with a new CNBC series.