Business & Entrepreneurship

Alumnus Robert Frick and his wife Barbara have established a professorship in the Olin School of Business. Todd Zenger, authority on business strategy and organizational design, will be formally installed as the first holder.

William PeckThe economic future of St. Louis as well as the nation hinges on successful innovation and entrepreneurship. That’s part of the message Dr. Bill Peck, former director of Washington University School of Medicine and new chair of Technology Gateway, a regional economic development organization, will deliver Thursday, February 10. In his talk Peck will explore our definition of “entrepreneur” and examine the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to education, medical and social progress. Peck will also challenge economic development policies and the current focus on corporate America.

Philadelphia but up a good fight during Sunday’s Super Bowl, but in the end the New England Patriots and Diet Pepsi were the clear winners–that’s according to the votes cast by faculty and students from the Olin School of Business during the annual Super Ad Bowl event.

Family structure may have an effect on educational outcomes.Educational outcomes of children in stable blended families are substantially worse than those of children reared in traditional nuclear families, according to a study published in the most recent issue of the journal Demography. Both stepchildren and their half-siblings who are the joint children of both parents achieved at similar levels, well below those of traditional nuclear families where all the children are the joint offspring of both parents, according to economists Donna Ginther of the University of Kansas and Robert Pollak of Washington University in St. Louis.

MacDonaldShaken by numerous accounting-related scandals in recent years, some investors are clamoring for better legal protection for their investments. But does investor protection through government regulation foster economic growth? To assess the widely-held view that it does, WUSTL economics professor Glenn MacDonald and two colleagues have completed a study concluding that the positive effect of investor protection on economic growth is stronger for countries with fewer restrictions on international capital flows.

Streams of junk mail with personalized offers for a myriad of services seem never-ending. While annoying, these solicitations raise significant privacy concerns about how these companies know so much about the recipient’s life. Many legislators and legal experts shy away from legislation that would protect the privacy of American’s personal information claiming that such rules would violate the First Amendment. But Neil M. Richards, noted privacy law expert and associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, denies such assumptions.

Students from Washington University in St. Louis Olin School of Business will have a shot at being Donald Trump’s next “Apprentice.” Recruiters for the popular NBC reality series, “The Apprentice,” will be on campus Feb. 10 to interview MBA students from the Olin School of Business.

Super Ad Bowl 2005: Super Bowl advertising will be critiqued and ranked by Olin School of Business MBA students, faculty and local advertising professionals during the game on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 5:00 p.m.

NeumanShula Neuman, an award-winning National Public Radio journalist, has been appointed director of News and Information for the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, effective Jan. 10. As a member of the university’s Public Affairs staff, she will develop and execute public information strategies for the Olin School and other business-related programs. Neuman comes to Washington University from WCPN-FM, a National Public Radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, where she had been a reporter and producer since May 2002.

From helping start-up companies grow into strong businesses to guiding inventors as they obtain patents, students in the Washington University School of Law’s new Intellectual Property and Business Formation Legal Clinic, working under the supervision of experienced intellectual property law attorneys, will offer a variety of services to the University and St. Louis community.