GSB | Chicago: A message from Dean Robert S. Hamada

OFTEN, MY MESSAGES in this space have focused on what’s new. I talk about powerful trends like globalization, innovations like our distance learning venture, and unique programs like our International Executive M.B.A. Program in Singapore. While I feature the innovations, I don’t often highlight our core competencies. I have focused on the things I have wanted to expand or change about the school, but I don’t give equal time to the fundamental features that, as dean, I want to preserve.

One thing I hope will never change is the very essence of this school–our reliance on the fundamental disciplines of business. That, in turn, depends on what I see as the school’s greatest asset: our faculty.

This school creates and teaches the underlying principles of business decision making that will endure across space and time. How do we do that? Year in and year out, we hire the best faculty in the world that we can find who are steeped in the essential disciplines of economics, accounting, psychology, statistics, sociology, political science, and other fields that are essential to understanding business. With every faculty hire and promotion, we think of four sigma. Faculty above 2 sigma make for a good school; above 3 sigma, a very good school; and above 4 sigma, a great school. Jim Lorie and the late Allen Wallis adopted that attitude in the 1940s and 1950s when they set out to build a great faculty, and we have followed it ever since.

When I talk with alumni, they often mention a well-remembered professor who profoundly influenced their thinking, their careers, perhaps their lives. The names mentioned are among the intellectual giants who have produced a great body of business knowledge: Sidney Davidson, Walter “Bud” Fackler, Eugene Fama, Robert Fogel, John Jeuck, Jim Lorie, Merton Miller, Harry Roberts, George Shultz, George Stigler, Arnold Weber, and more–too many more to mention.

Many of those giants are gone now and others, such as Sidney Davidson, are just retiring after long and stellar careers (see related story). Yet the power of their ideas, their methods, and the high standards they set remain at the core of this school. New generations of professors pursue knowledge with the same depth and intellectual rigor that first made our faculty famous 40 years ago. I would argue that we have the future Millers and Stiglers right here. Often, independent sources confirm my assessment by honoring faculty achievements. To name just one outstanding example, Kevin Murphy won the prestigious John Bates Clark award in 1997 for his deep, broad, and influential work on income distribution. Since this award is given to the top economist under the age of 40 only once every two years, people have claimed it is a great forecaster of future Nobel laureates.

While firmly rooted in disciplines, our faculty is not mired in pure theory and abstraction. In and out of the classroom, they apply the principles of their discipline to real business problems. And professors choose Chicago not only for the strength of our disciplinary areas but also for the long tradition of cross-disciplinary debate and inquiry. They enjoy testing their ideas in the crucible of many bright minds with very different perspectives.

Together, these traits mean that our faculty routinely combine aspects of many disciplines to create highly relevant, topical courses that don’t fit in any one area. The half-dozen new courses we are offering this year in areas related to technology are an example of that. Such courses are tailored to trendy new business settings, but they are based on the essentials of economics, statistics, accounting, and behavioral science necessary to make any business succeed.

It is the application of fundamental disciplines to business problems that makes this a business school instead of an economics or sociology department. And it is that depth of knowledge in those fundamental disciplines, creatively applied to broad problems and issues, that makes our faculty great. I hope it will always be so.

Robert S. Hamada
Dean and Edward Eagle Brown Distinguished Service Professor of Finance

A message from Dean Robert S. Hamada

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		OFTEN, MY MESSAGES in this space have focused on what’s new. I talk about powerful trends like globalization, innovations like our distance learning venture, and unique programs like our International Executive M.B.A. Program in Singapore. While I feature the innovations, I don’t often highlight our core competencies. I have focused on the things I have wanted to expand or change about the school, but I don’t give equal time to the fundamental features that, as dean, I want to preserve. One thing I hope will never change is the very essence of this school–our reliance on the fundamental disciplines of business. That, in turn, depends on what I see as the school’s greatest asset: our faculty. This school creates and teaches the underlying principles of business decision making that will endure across space and time. How do we do that? Year in and year out, we hire the best faculty in the world that we can find who are steeped in the essential disciplines of economics, accounting, psychology, statistics, sociology, political science, and other fields that are essential to understanding business. With every faculty hire and promotion, we think of four sigma. Faculty above 2 sigma make for a good school; above 3 sigma, a very good school; and above 4 sigma, a great school. Jim Lorie and the late Allen Wallis adopted that attitude in the 1940s and 1950s when they set out to build a great faculty, and we have followed it ever since. When I talk with alumni, they often mention a well-remembered professor who profoundly influenced their thinking, their careers, perhaps their lives. The names mentioned are among the intellectual giants who have produced a great body of business knowledge: Sidney Davidson, Walter “Bud” Fackler, Eugene Fama, Robert Fogel, John Jeuck, Jim Lorie, Merton Miller, Harry Roberts, George Shultz, George Stigler, Arnold Weber, and more–too many more to mention. Many of those giants are gone now and others, such as Sidney Davidson, are just retiring after long and stellar careers (see related story). Yet the power of their ideas, their methods, and the high standards they set remain at the core of this school. New generations of professors pursue knowledge with the same depth and intellectual rigor that first made our faculty famous 40 years ago. I would argue that we have the future Millers and Stiglers right here. Often, independent sources confirm my assessment by honoring faculty achievements. To name just one outstanding example, Kevin Murphy won the prestigious John Bates Clark award in 1997 for his deep, broad, and influential work on income distribution. Since this award is given to the top economist under the age of 40 only once every two years, people have claimed it is a great forecaster of future Nobel laureates. While firmly rooted in disciplines, our faculty is not mired in pure theory and abstraction. In and out of the classroom, they apply the principles of their discipline to real business problems. And professors choose Chicago not only for the strength of our disciplinary areas but also for the long tradition of cross-disciplinary debate and inquiry. They enjoy testing their ideas in the crucible of many bright minds with very different perspectives. Together, these traits mean that our faculty routinely combine aspects of many disciplines to create highly relevant, topical courses that don’t fit in any one area. The half-dozen new courses we are offering this year in areas related to technology are an example of that. Such courses are tailored to trendy new business settings, but they are based on the essentials of economics, statistics, accounting, and behavioral science necessary to make any business succeed. It is the application of fundamental disciplines to business problems that makes this a business school instead of an economics or sociology department. And it is that depth of knowledge in those fundamental disciplines, creatively applied to broad problems and issues, that makes our faculty great. I hope it will always be so. Robert S. Hamada Dean and Edward Eagle Brown Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
	A message from Dean Robert S. Hamada
Email GSB Chicago -GSB Chicago Front Page - GSB Home