Olin Business School

The largest award pool for social entrepreneurship in the U.S. was split five ways on April 23, 2009 when winners of the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition were announced at Washington University in St. Louis. The five finalists were chosen from an original field of 42 entrants and represent diverse ventures with missions to provide educational and cultural and vocational training.

Washington University in St. Louis will bestow honorary degrees on four pioneers and leaders in their respective fields during its 148th Commencement May 15. During the ceremony, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Brookings Quadrangle, the university also will bestow more than 2,700 academic degrees on more than 2,600 students. Wendy Kopp, chief executive officer and founder of Teach For America, will deliver the Commencement address and receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

Washington University will bestow honorary degrees on four pioneers and leaders in their respective fields during its 148th Commencement May 15.

Paul Morigi/BrookingsThe Brookings Institution and Washington University will begin offering joint programs, including internships, lectures and other educational activities, the institutions announced April 21. The Olin Business School also will lead management of Brookings’ executive education activities, effective July 1. Strobe Talbott (left), president of the Brookings Institution, meets with Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton in Washington, D.C., the day the new partnership was announced.

What do a choreographer, a bank president, an investment banker and the president of America’s largest brewer have in common? They are all graduates of the Olin Business School and will be honored tonight at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Clayton. In addition to the distinguished alumni awards, the Dean’s Medal will be presented as well as the 2009 Olin Award for faculty research with the greatest potential to advance business.

The Brookings Institution and Washington University in St. Louis will begin offering joint programs including internships, lectures and other educational activities, the institutions announced today. Washington University’s John M. Olin Business School will also lead management of Brookings’ executive education activities, effective July 1, 2009.

Taking the political pulse of the nation has been the purview of pollsters for decades, but now a new internet site called Civic Science makes it easy for everyone. Software created with the help of a professor at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis allows users to track votes in Congress and compare their views with elected officials across the political spectrum.

Envy is at the root of the financial sector’s problems according to a new study. Greed has been blamed for most of Wall Street’s woes and the banking sector’s recent collapse, but two professors at Washington University in St. Louis say envy is really to blame. And, they warn, envy is driving top talent from the financial sector and could wreak even more havoc on the economy in the months to come.

Croson “The Status of Women in Academia” will be the topic of one of two lectures when Rachel T. A. Croson, Ph.D. visits the Danforth Campus April 14 and 15 in a new series launched by The Center for Research in Economics and Strategy at the Olin Business School.

When Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970, calls for “corporate social responsibility” and environmentally friendly policies fell mostly on deaf ears in the business world. Today, the green movement has moved from the fringes to the mainstream of society and to prove that point, the Olin Business School chapter of Net Impact is hosting an event, April 23, featuring major corporate executives charged with promoting corporate responsibility and sustainability.