School Notes: School of Management
May/June 2019

Economist named SOM dean

Economist Kerwin Charles of the University of Chicago will become the Indra K. Nooyi Dean of the Yale School of Management on July 1.

The Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, Charles has studied and published on topics including earnings and wealth inequality, conspicuous consumption, race and gender labor market discrimination, the intergenerational transmission of economic status, worker and family adjustment to job loss and health shocks, non-work among prime-aged persons, and the labor market consequences of housing bubbles and sectoral change.

(Read a Yale Alumni Magazine article about Charles.)

Faculty survey calls for action on climate change

A survey of faculty experts in the Global Network for Advanced Management found support for urgent action to address climate change on the part of businesses, governments, and business schools.

In the December 2018 survey, faculty overwhelmingly agree that climate change and its impact on business and society should be incorporated into the core MBA curriculum. They also agree that climate change poses a material risk to businesses, which, respondents say, must take action on climate risks, regardless of government policy.

In response, most said, companies should incorporate climate risk when making decisions about investments, innovation, relationships, and talent acquisition. About half of the faculty experts backed a global carbon tax.

MBA and art students study cryptocurrency together

Students from the Yale School of Management and the Yale School of Art took part in an independent study last semester, exploring the role of cryptocurrency.

The workshop course, organized by the two schools, investigated the relationship between art and money by creating new “currencies,” based on the cryptocurrency structure that has produced decentralized digital currencies like Bitcoin. Renowned German conceptual artist and filmmaker Hito Steyerlworked with the students.

Twenty-five students participated—20 art students and 5 MBAs—following separate curricula and then collaborating on creative projects.