College News

#savvywomen

Leila Whitley (MBA ’16) developed a social media platform out of a concern that many young women are overlooking business schools as a path to achieving their larger career goals. #savvywomen, launched Feb. 18, is intended to encourage women to consider an MBA or other graduate business program. The website savvywomenmbas.com and the related Twitter hashtag reached more than 300,000 women in its first 10 days.

“We need more women in MBA programs,” Whitley says, citing the fact that women make up the majority of overall undergraduate students, but only a third of graduate business students. “The MBA is such a flexible degree and valuable for so many women with many types of experience. Women need to know about this option.”

The website offers resources provided by the Forté Foundation, a consortium of companies and business schools that encourages women to pursue MBAs. Along with the Mendoza College, colleges and universities including Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate Business School and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University also are participating in the project.

Launch of a New Institute

This spring, the University and Mendoza College launched a new institute that will greatly advance investment-management research and educational outreach on a global scale. The Notre Dame Institute for Global Investing will leverage three key strengths — the top-rated finance faculty, the innovative finance curriculum and extensive strategic partnerships — to form a platform for both learning and influencing the way investment managers the world over think about global finance.

The Institute’s goals include expanding internship and career placement opportunities; leveraging key partnerships among the College, the Notre Dame Investment Office and ND’s extensive alumni network; furthering faculty research and thought leadership, especially related to ethics; attracting prospective finance faculty; and adding depth and breadth to Mendoza’s already strong finance curriculum.

Associate Finance Professor Shane Corwin has been named as the Institute’s director. Corwin, who joined Notre Dame in 2000, teaches and researches in the areas of security market design and investment banking. He has published articles in numerous finance journals, including the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Markets, the Journal of Financial Intermediation, and Financial Management. In recent articles, he studied the role of limited attention in securities trading, the measurement of transaction costs and conflicts of interest related to maker-taker fees on U.S. stock exchanges.

Corwin has served as a member of the Nasdaq Economic Advisory Board and has been awarded research grants from the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, Morgan Stanley and the Q-Group. He received a B.S. and an MBA from Mankato State University, and a Ph.D. in Finance from The Ohio State University.

“The Notre Dame Institute for Global Investing provides that vital nexus for research, the classroom, our alumni and other partners so that we can leverage all of it for a greater impact than the sum of its parts,” said Mendoza Dean Roger D. Huang. “I’m confident that under Shane’s experienced leadership, we will be able to expand opportunities for our stakeholders and become a significant voice for ethical business in the area of global investment.”

The Art of Fundraising

Nearly 200 leaders from area nonprofits attended “Fundraising for Nonprofits,” a half-day conference in January organized by Mendoza’s Nonprofit Executive Program (NEP) and the Notre Dame Office of Public Affairs. Lou Nanni, vice president of Notre Dame University Relations, served as featured speaker, discussing lessons he learned from his experience in fundraising for both the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, Indiana, and for the University.

The event was the third in a series of annual breakfasts offered to area nonprofit leaders. Previous conferences addressed topics also of critical interest to community organizations, such as how to be an effective nonprofit board member and effective communication. Attendees included leaders from a range of arts and human-service organizations, including the American Cancer Society, Hannah’s House and the Jewish Federation of St. Joseph County.

“The breakfast series for nonprofits has been a great success,” said Marc Hardy, NEP director. “The goal for the 2015 program has been to give those attending nuggets of information they could immediately use in their fundraising efforts.” Participants learned that first, fund development is a long-term process and a successful effort is created over years, not months; and second, all fund development begins with establishing a connection between the donor and the organization’s mission. Building relation- ships based on shared interest is key to building a fund development plan.