School News

Thirteen New Faculty Members Join Wharton
The new faculty joining Wharton this fall include: Christopher Armstrong, Assistant Professor (Accounting); Alex Edmans, Assistant Professor (Finance); Nikolai Roussanov, Assistant Professor (Finance); Anastasia Kartasheva, Assistant Professor (Insurance and Risk Management); Gregory Nini, Assistant Professor (Insurance and Risk Management); Andrea Matwyshyn, Assistant Professor (Legal Studies and Business Ethics); Olivier Chatain, Assistant Professor, (Management); Martine Haas, Associate Professor (Management); Evan Rawley, Assistant Professor (Management); Jonah Berger, Assistant Professor (Marketing); Omar Besbes, Assistant Professor (Operations and Information Management); Devin Pope, Assistant Professor (Operations and Information Management); and Mikhail Traskin, Assistant Professor (Statistics).

Multimillion Dollar Gift from Anil Dhirubhai Ambani to Name Auditorium in Jon M. Huntsman Hall
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, WG'83, chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has given a multimillion dollar gift to name the 300-seat, state-of-the-art auditorium in Jon M. Huntsman Hall. The auditorium will be named the Dhirubhai Ambani Auditorium, in honor of Mr. Ambani's father. read news release

Senior Leadership Appointments in Executive Education and Finance and Administration Announced
Dean Tom Robertson has appointed Thomas J. Colligan as vice dean of Executive Education and Peter J. Degnan as senior associate dean for Finance and Administration. Thomas Colligan will oversee Wharton’s offering of non-degree executive education programs, including open enrollment and custom programs. Peter Degnan will oversee Wharton’s operating and capital budget, human resources, computing, and facilities. read news release

Indian School of Business Association Renewed
Wharton's association with the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad, India was renewed for five more years. ISB is a one-of-a-kind institution created in June 2001 with support from 50 of the world's top corporations and two U.S.-based business schools - Wharton and Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. The initial success of this association between Wharton and ISB prompted its renewal as well as the launch of an ISB-Wharton Joint Research Initiative that will encourage joint research between Wharton and ISB faculty, including curriculum development. read news release

Knowledge@SMU Launched and Collaboration between Wharton and SMU Renewed
In May, the Singapore Management University (SMU) launched a new online research and analysis journal - Knowledge@SMU - an Internet resource portal that brings together a collection of the latest business insights and research findings from a variety of sources. Developed in collaboration with Knowledge@Wharton, the new SMU knowledge portal is the first Asian academic partner and member of the Knowledge@Wharton Network. The launch also marks the renewal of a key collaborative relationship between the two universities for the continued development of the SMU undergraduate pedagogy and curriculum which is based on the Wharton model. In addition, the renewed collaboration includes joint research, faculty development, student exchange programs and executive education. read more

Wharton Business Plan Competition Grand Prize Winners Ring the NASDAQ Stock Market Closing
read news release

Wharton Online Data Service Reaches New Milestone
read news release

Wharton and Gartner Launch CIO Academy to Prepare the Chief Information Officer to Partner with the CEO
read news release

Recognition

Prof. Fader Wins Outstanding Educator Award
Marketing Professor Peter Fader was the winner of the 2007 Robert B. Clarke Outstanding Educator Award, the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation's award to honor an academic's overall achievement in direct/interactive marketing. read more

Profs. Pauly and Volpp Win Awards from AcademyHealth
Health Care Professors Mark Pauly and Kevin Volpp have been awarded the Distinguished Investigator Award and the Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award, respectively, by AcademyHealth. read more

Prof. Wind Receives Buck Weaver Award
Prof. Jerry Wind was the 2007 winner of MIT's Buck Weaver Award. The award was established by General Motors in honor of Henry Grady "Buck" Weaver and recognizes the person who best combines theory and practice in marketing. read more

Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs Bestows Inaugural Wharton Venture Award to Support Summertime Entrepreneurship
Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs (WEP) announced the winners of its inaugural Wharton Venture Award, which is dedicated to financially supporting undergraduate juniors, first-year MBA students, and doctoral candidates so they can continue development of their venture over the summer in lieu of a traditional full-time internship. A committee consisting of alumni venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and the donor bestowed six venture awards of $10,000 each. read news release

NP Solutions Wins Wharton Business Plan Competition Grand Prize
Student team NP Solutions, which has developed a polymer based injectable hydrogel treatment for back pain related to degenerative disc disease that is less invasive, more effective with fewer side effects than current approaches, won the $20,000 grand prize of the 2007 Wharton Business Plan Competition. The prize was awarded at Wharton's annual Venture Finals April 24, 2007 where student finalists received a total of $70,000 in combined cash prizes, access to capital and in-kind legal/accounting services. read news release

Undergrad Student Wins Paper Competition
Gordon Su, W'08, a student in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, was one of the winners of the 2007 Carl Marks Student Paper Competition, which recognizes outstanding student achievement in the field of corporate renewal. Su won in the theoretical/conceptual category for his paper, "The Bankruptcy Implications of Second Lien Loans." read more

Knowledge@Wharton

Trouble in Toyland: New Challenges for Mattel -- and 'Made in China'
Asked whether one of the most famous dolls on earth is going to be hurt by Mattel's recalls of more than 10 million toys in the U.S. over the past three weeks, Wharton marketing professor Stephen Hoch offers this reassuring response: "Barbie is bulletproof." read more

Rivals Set Their Sights on Microsoft Office: Can They Topple the Giant?
It's open season on Microsoft Office. Google is distributing Sun Microsystems' StarOffice, a rival productivity software suite, and also has its own web-based productivity suite called Google Docs and Spreadsheets. read more

'If Brands Are Built Over Years, Why Are They Managed Over Quarters?'
Wharton marketing professor Leonard Lodish admits he is somewhat to blame for the erosion in brand pricing power that has hit many consumer-goods companies -- but not entirely to blame. read more

Wharton School Publishing

Competing in a Flat World: Building Enterprises for a Borderless World Written by Victor Fung, William Fung, and Prof. Jerry Wind
In the "flat world," everything changes… above all, what it takes to run a winning company. Success is less about what the company can do itself and more about what it can connect to. Find out how it's done from the company that pioneered "flat world" success, Li and Fung, which produces more than $8 billion in garments and other goods for the world's top brands and retailers — without owning a single factory.

Victor and William Fung and Prof. Jerry Wind, author of the best-selling The Power of Impossible Thinking, reveal how they have replaced "old-fashioned" infrastructure and huge employee bases with a fluid, ever-changing network that can design, manufacture, and deliver almost anything, anywhere. The key to success in this world is a set of principles for "network orchestration," described for the first time in this book.

Wharton faculty and staff can take advantage of expanded benefits, including discounts and free domestic shipping. Those who register to become a member can get free access to audio summaries, author interviews and other valuable member-only content. Visit www.whartonsp.com/facstaff to register and access benefits. All WSP books also are available at the Penn Bookstore.

For more, visit the Wharton School Publishing website.

Wharton in the News

The Washington Post
June 7, 2007 — Nancy Rothbard, assistant professor of Management, was quoted in an article about start-of-the-day mood and its effect on work performance. Her report, "Walking in the Door," was also discussed.

Reuters News
June 8, 2007 — Susan Wachter, Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management; Professor of Real Estate, Finance and City and Regional Planning, was cited in a story regarding the rise in mortgage rates and its unfavorable effect on the economy.

Associated Press Newswires
June 10, 2007 — Justin Wolfers, assistant professor of Business & Public Policy, was quoted in an article about death penalty studies

BusinessWeek
June 11, 2007 — Mary Benner, assistant professor of Management, was mentioned in an article for her research on Six Sigma, a series of management techniques aimed at increasing efficiency, and its correlation with innovation.

The Wall Street Journal
June 11, 2007 — Research about failed mergers by Uri Simonsohn, assistant professor of Operations and Information Management, was cited in an article for his research on eBay selling and bidding practices.

CNBC
June 15, 2007 — Thomas Donaldson, Mark O. Winkelman Professor; Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, appeared on "Morning Call" to discuss bills proposed by Congress to regulate taxation of private equity firms

Alumni in the News

Sangeeta Desai, WG'04, was featured in an article about the top 35 women in business that are under the age of 35. Desai specializes in leverage buyouts in the retail, consumer and media sectors at the private-equity firm, Apax Partners. (Management Today, 7/1/07); Trey Devy, WG'05, was featured in an article about the Alabama Symphony Orchestra of which he is the orchestra's executive director. (Associated Press, 7/11/07); Heather Weiss Frattone, W'94, was featured in an article about her appointment to associate dean for career planning and placement at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. (US Fed News, 7/6/07); Margaret A. Hostetler, WG'80, was featured in an article about her appointment to deputy commissioner for policy for the Social Security Administration. (US Fed News, 7/18/07); Walter Hulse, W'86, was quoted in an article about globalization and banking. Hulse is the new vice chairman of UBS' investment banking department. (TheDeal.com, 7/9/07); and Choi Soon-hong, WG'89, was featured in an article about his career as chief information technology officer for the United Nations. (Associated Press, 7/1/07).

If you have news or events you'd like considered for inclusion in the e-newsletter, please e-mail editor@wharton.upenn.edu.

Guest Speaker: Sam Zell -- The Legend, The Man, The Grave Dancer
(September 17, 2007)

Wharton Leadership Lecture: Kris Tompkins, Founder and Former CEO, Patagonia
(October 11, 2007)

Wharton Leadership Lecture: Maurice Flanagan, Executive Vice Chairman, Emirates Airline and Group
(October 25, 2007)

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