Archive for the ‘Press Releases’ Category
Thursday, April 11th, 2013
The A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University will honor longtime faculty member and entrepreneur John B. Elstrott Jr. at this year’s Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Awards Gala. The ceremony will take place on Friday, April 19, at the Audubon Tea Room.
 Longtime faculty member and entrepreneur John B. Elstrott Jr. will be honored at this year’s Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Awards Gala. Elstrott, a professor of practice and emeritus executive director of the Freeman School’s Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship, will receive the Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the ceremony. This marks the first time in the history of the event that both awards have gone to a single individual.
Freeman School Dean Ira Solomon and Levy-Rosenblum Institute Executive Director Ralph Maurer will present the awards.
Elstrott earned his PhD in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1975. He joined Tulane in 1982 and has taught entrepreneurship at the Freeman School since 1986. In 1991, Elstrott became the founding director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship, which was established to coordinate entrepreneurship initiatives at the school and in the community.
In addition to his career as an educator and administrator, Elstrott has also had a long career as an entrepreneur and investor. In the early 1970s, Elstrott was part of the management team that helped build Celestial Seasonings into the world’s largest specialty tea company. Today, Elstrott continues to be an active investor and board member in the venture capital, wetlands mitigation banking, pharmaceutical, financial services, medical and functional food, and herbal remedy industries. He currently serves as chairman of the board of Whole Foods Market, the world’s leading retailer of natural and organic foods. Elstrott has served as a director of the company since 1994.
The Levy-Rosenblum Institute presents the awards each year to highlight outstanding entrepreneurs. The Distinguished Entrepreneur of Year Award honors individuals who embody the true spirit of entrepreneurship and philanthropic generosity, while the Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognizes individuals dedicated to improving their communities through entrepreneurial initiatives.
For more information about the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship, visit http://freeman.tulane.edu/
Tags: entrepreneurship, John Elstrott, social entrepreneurship, Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Awards Gala, Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year, Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year
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Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012
Got an idea to solve a social or environmental problem in New Orleans? Register for PitchNOLA, Propeller’s annual social innovation “elevator pitch” competition, and you could win up to $6,000 to make that idea a reality.
 PitchNOLA contestant Tamara Prosper delivers her pitch for Sheaux Fresh Sustainable Foods at last year’s competition. This year, PitchNOLA features two different tracks dedicated to addressing two different community challenges. PitchNOLA 2012: Community Solutions is designed to identify sustainable ventures that solve pressing social or environmental problems in New Orleans. PitchNOLA 2012: Lots of Progress is intended to develop creative ideas to utilize the city’s abundant vacant lots in ways that benefit the community.
The 10 best proposals received in each track will earn their submitters the right to pitch their ideas to a panel of celebrity judges in front of a live audience on Nov. 14 and 15. The best pitch in the Community Solutions track can win up to $6,000 to develop the idea, while the top three pitches in the Lots of Progress track will receive vacant lots on which to demonstrate their ideas.
If you think you might have an idea, don’t delay. The application deadline for Community Solutions is Monday, Oct. 15, and the application deadline for Lots of Progress is Monday, Oct. 22.
PitchNOLA is an annual presentation of Propeller, formerly SENO (Social Entrepreneurs of New Orleans), and is co-sponsored by Tulane University’s Social Entrepreneurship Initiatives, the A. B. Freeman School of Business and the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship.
For more information about PitchNOLA 2012 and to register online, visit http://www.seno-nola.org/pitchnola2012.
Tags: Levy-Rosenblum Institute, PitchNOLA, social entrepreneurship
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Tuesday, September 18th, 2012
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has named Jasmijn C. Bol, associate professor of accounting at Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business, recipient of this year’s Best Early Career Researcher Award.
 Jasmijn C. Bol, associate professor of accounting, is the recipient of this year’s Best Early Career Researcher Award from the American Institute of CPAs. The award, which was presented at the annual meeting of the American Accounting Association (AAA) in National Harbor, Md., is given to the researcher with the best overall body of research in management accounting. Eligible research must have been completed within the first five years of joining a faculty.
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in the United Kingdom and the Society of Management Accountants of Canada (CMA) co-sponsored the award. It was granted in collaboration with the Management Accounting Section of the AAA.
Bol’s award winning research includes the use of accounting information for managerial decision making, with a special focus on performance measurement and compensation systems. Recent papers include “Spillover Effects in Subjective Performance Evaluation: Bias and the Asymmetric Influence of Controllability” (2011), “The Forward-Looking Role of Subjectivity in Performance and Promotion Evaluations: Evidence from Professional Services” (2011) and “The Dynamics of Incentive Contracting: The Role of Learning in the Diffusion Process” (2010). All were published in Accounting Review. The third paper was also published in Accounting, Organizations and Society.
“This award reflects our commitment to the next generation of researchers that will advance the profession of management accounting,” said Scott Moore, AICPA senior manager, college and university initiatives, who presented the award. “Bol’s research will help CPAs and CGMAs working in business and industry, many of whom are CEOs and CFOs, make better financial decisions.”
Bol joined the faculty of the Freeman School in 2012. She previously was assistant professor of accountancy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a PhD from IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain, and a master’s degree in International Business from Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
Tags: accounting, awards, Jasmijn Bol
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Friday, June 8th, 2012
Nationally recognized entrepreneurship expert Carl J. Schramm and Hancock Holding Co. President and CEO Carl Chaney highlight a distinguished lineup of speakers on tap for the 33rd annual Tulane Business Forum.
 Carl J. Schramm  Carl Chaney The forum, an annual presentation of the Tulane Association of Business Alumni (TABA), will take place on Friday, Sept. 28, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.
“This year’s forum, ‘Scoring Big: Building on Business Victories,’ highlights recent economic successes in the greater New Orleans region,” says David Kearney (MBA ’08), forum chair. “We’re excited to explore the idea of making American capitalism more entrepreneurial with keynote speaker Carl Schramm, and with other presentations on sports-related economic development, public policy and politics, and the regional banking sector, we hope to help attendees better understand how these business victories might impact their own organizations and activities.”
Schramm is a leading authority on entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth. As president of the Kauffman Foundation for 10 years, Schramm built the organization into the world’s premier foundation dedicated to the development of high-growth firms and understanding the role they play in economic growth.
Chaney has served as CEO and director of Hancock Holding Co., the parent company of Hancock Bank, since 2006 and as president since 2008. In 2011, he guided Hancock through its acquisition of Whitney Holding Co., parent company of Whitney Bank.
This year’s forum will also feature a panel discussion on sports and economic development with Jay Cicero, president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation; Rick Dickson, director of athletics at Tulane University; Doug Thornton, senior vice president of SMG; and Hugh Weber, president of the New Orleans Hornets.
In addition, Beth A. Brooke, global vice chair of public policy at Ernst & Young, will discuss public policy, politics and business; John C. Sheptor, president and CEO of Imperial Sugar Co., will discuss repositioning to create value, and Scott S. Cowen, president of Tulane University, will discuss the state of intercollegiate athletics.
The 33rd annual Tulane Business Forum is sponsored by Whitney Bank and the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University. For more information and to register online, visit http://www.tulanebusinessforum.com.
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Monday, May 14th, 2012
The Freeman School has signed an agreement with China’s Xiamen University to begin offering two new dual education master’s programs for Chinese students.
 Ira Solomon, dean of the Freeman School, and Xiaohui Qu, dean of the Institute for Financial and Accounting Studies at Xiamen University, at January’s signing ceremony in Xiamen, China. Beginning this year, students at the university will be able to earn a Master of Accounting or a Master of Finance degree from the Freeman School along with a graduate certificate from Xiamen’s Institute for Financial and Accounting Studies. The agreement calls for Freeman to admit up to 30 students per year into each of the two master’s programs, with the students beginning their studies in China and then completing the degree requirements during a nine-month residency at the Freeman School. The first cohort of students is scheduled to arrive from Xiamen in August 2012.
“Building a strong network of global alumni is one of our priorities,” says Freeman School Dean Ira Solomon, who traveled to China in January to finalize the agreement. “This new agreement connects us with a population of outstanding students designed to be among China’s next leaders in business, government and professional organizations, so we’re delighted to have Xiamen University as a strategic partner.”
Xiamen is widely considered to be among the top universities in China. According to University Undergraduates Teaching Assessment and Chinese Universities Evaluation Standings, Xiamen is ranked 11th in China, and a recent study by Brigham Young University ranked Xiamen No. 1 in China for accounting research.
“This will be a great program for Tulane University,” adds Solomon. “I’m looking forward to working closely with the administration and faculty at Xiamen and the Institute for Financial and Accounting Studies to develop additional opportunities for partnership and collaboration.”
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Friday, May 4th, 2012
The A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University is the top school in the nation for MBA employment according to the latest U.S. News & World Report survey of business schools. The job placement data were published in March as part of the magazine’s annual report on America’s best graduate schools.
 In 2011, 98.1 percent of the Freeman School’s full-time MBA class who were seeking employment were employed three months after graduation. That percentage was the best of the 135 business schools that reported employment data to U.S. News and had at least 20 graduates seeking jobs.
Since 2008, the Freeman School has invested significant resources in its career services area, hiring additional corporate outreach personnel and rolling out a host of new initiatives to connect and engage with more recruiters and hiring managers.
“Placement is just one measure of an MBA program’s success, but I’m delighted to see that the hard work of our students is being rewarded,” said Ira Solomon, dean of the Freeman School. “Our Career Management Center does an outstanding job connecting students with employment opportunities, and it’s important to note that many of those opportunities have come, either directly or indirectly, from our alumni. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this exceptional level of success without their tremendous involvement and support.”
Tags: Ira Solomon, rankings, U.S. News & World Report
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Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
The Tulane chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honor society recognizing business excellence, welcomed its newest members at a ceremony in Goldring/Woldenberg Hall II on April 23, 2012.
 Beta Gamma Sigma inductees included, left to right, Wendi Zeng (MFIN ’12), Jordan Lambert (PMBA ’12), Guanqi Li (MFIN ’12), Josh Rupert (MBA ’12) and Xuanhao Huang (MFIN ’12). Beta Gamma Sigma is recognized by the educational and corporate communities as the highest recognition a business student can receive in a program accredited by AACSB International — the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Since its founding in 1913, Beta Gamma Sigma has inducted more than 675,000 members from 507 collegiate chapters and 24 alumni chapters. Members currently reside in all 50 states and more than 160 countries throughout the world. The Tulane chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma was established in 1924.
This semester’s inductees, including students from the BSM, MACCT, MBA, MFIN, MNRG and PMBA programs, are as follows:
- Dylan Blackford
- Haley Burke
- Sam Capone
- Stephen Denis
- Richard Diamond
- Michael Dupin
- Maggie Ehrenreich
- Andrew Goltzer
- Lyndsey Grubb
- Seth Hamstead
- Xuanhao Huang
- Yuanze Huang
- Andrew Ip Ping Wah
- Jordan Lambert
- Stephen Lee
- Guanqi Li
- Weikang Li
- Jiazhang Liu
- Seth Lowinger
- Ronald MacWillie
- Daniel Rice
- Courtney Robinson
- Brittany Rosen
- Joshua Rupert
- Caitlin Ryan
- Savanna Speciale
- Hayley Tilton
- Charles Wilder
- Alexander Wolf
- Wendi Zeng
Tags: Beta Gamma Sigma
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Thursday, March 29th, 2012
Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business will honor Jerry M. Greenbaum (BBA ’62) as Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year and Jay Altman as Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2012 Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Award Gala, which will take place on Friday, April 13, at the Audubon Tea Room.
The Freeman School’s Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship presents the awards each year to highlight outstanding entrepreneurs in the community. The Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of Year Award honors individuals who embody the true spirit of entrepreneurship and philanthropic generosity, while the Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognizes individuals dedicated to improving the community through entrepreneurial initiatives. Ira Solomon, dean of the Freeman School, and John Elstrott, executive director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute, will present the awards.
 Jerry Greenbaum Greenbaum is chairman of CentraArchy Affiliates, a family-owned business that includes upscale restaurants, retail alcohol outlets and industrial real estate companies throughout the Southeast. Last year, he opened his latest restaurant, the acclaimed Chophouse New Orleans steakhouse, to be closer to Tulane and New Orleans. Greenbaum and his wife, Barbara Axelrod Greenbaum (N ’63), are lifelong supporters of Tulane University. They played a pivotal role in the construction of Goldring/Woldenberg Hall II, the business school’s center for graduate and executive education, in 2003, and they provided significant support for new facilities for baseball, basketball and football in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In 2011, Greenbaum joined the Board of Tulane and donated the lead gift to develop a hospitality curriculum at the Freeman School. In addition to his business pursuits, Greenbaum is a stand-out golfer with more than 50 Senior Amateur tournament wins to his credit. He has been ranked as high as the No. 2 Senior Amateur by Golf Digest, and in 2004, he was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame. Jerry and Barbara Greenbaum have three adult children, Gregory, Tracey and Jeffrey, and eight grandchildren.
 Jay Altman Altman is co-founder and CEO of FirstLine Schools, a charter organization that seeks to create and inspire great open-enrollment public schools in New Orleans. FirstLine currently operates five open-enrollment public charter schools in the city, including Samuel J. Green Charter School, Arthur Ashe Charter School, John Dibert Community School, Langston Hughes Academy, and Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School. Since 1990, Altman has partnered with like-minded parents and educators to provide quality educational opportunities for students in New Orleans public schools. He taught in the city for several years before co-founding New Orleans Charter Middle School. He was also a founder of James Lewis Extension School, New Orleans Outreach, New Orleans Summerbridge and Leading Educators. He served as director of education for London-based ARK schools from 2005 to 2008, where he helped develop a network of British academies, charter-like schools located in complex urban environments in the U.K. He also was instrumental in establishing two training programs there: Future Leaders, a training program for aspiring principals of open-admission schools, and Teaching Leaders, a training program for mid-level school leadership.
The Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship (LRI) inspires and trains prospective entrepreneurs through coursework, community service projects and internships. Students have the opportunity to work with experienced faculty members, network with a regional board of entrepreneurs and participate in a student-based entrepreneurial association which provides a training ground for business development. In 2011, the Freeman School’s entrepreneurship program was ranked 14th in the nation by Entrepreneur magazine/The Princeton Review.
For more information about the Entrepreneurs of the Year and the Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Awards Gala, contact Lina Alfieri Stern at 504-865-5455 or Lina.AlfieriStern@tulane.edu.
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Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
The Freeman School has signed an agreement with China’s Zhejiang University to begin admitting students from its School of Management to the Freeman School’s Master of Accounting and Master of Finance programs.
 Freeman School Dean Ira Solomon, left, and School of Management Executive Dean Xiaobo Wu signed an agreement in February outlining a host of joint programs and activities. The new agreement, signed in February by Freeman School Dean Ira Solomon and School of Management Executive Dean Xiaobo Wu, expands a relationship the Freeman School had previously had exclusively with Zhejiang’s Honors College.
“Zhejiang University is one of the top universities in all of China, so it’s a privilege to be able to bring these outstanding students from the School of Management to the Freeman School,” said Dean Solomon. “These students will enhance the classroom environment, and they will also be great connections for U.S. students interested in learning about China and expanding their careers internationally.”
Since 2010, the Freeman School’s Zhejiang Advanced Placement Program (ZAPP) has admitted a select number of students from Zhejiang’s Honors College to the Master of Accounting and Master of Finance programs each year. Under this new agreement, students from the School of Management — the Freeman School’s counterpart at Zhejiang — will now be able to gain admission to those programs as well.
The partnership doesn’t stop there. In addition to the master’s programs, Dean Solomon and Executive Dean Wu signed a memorandum of understanding outlining a host of initiatives officials at Zhejiang hope to pursue with the Freeman School, including executive MBA exchange programs, joint research activities, faculty exchanges, and new energy management and Latin American programs.
“Zhejiang is very interested in Latin America, and that’s an area we have a lot of connections in,” says John Trapani, executive director of the Freeman School’s Goldring Institute of International Business, who helped draft the agreement. “We plan to assist them in setting up programs for entrepreneurs from Zhejiang to visit entrepreneurs in the southern part of Latin America, most likely Chile and Brazil.”
Located in Hangzhou, a center of entrepreneurial activity in China, Zhejiang University is widely regarded as one of the top schools in China. In its 2011-2012 survey, QS World University Rankings ranked Zhejiang as the seventh-best university in China, and in 2011 China University Rankings named Zhejiang the top university in China.
According to Trapani, a strategic partnership is in the best interest of both institutions. “Given the growing importance of China in the world, I think it will be a great benefit for us to bring these very bright students to New Orleans and let our students bond with and become friends with them,” Trapani says. “And from the perspective of the Chinese students, they’re getting a graduate degree from a prestigious U.S. institution, and U.S. business schools still represent the gold standard for management education in China. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
Tags: Goldring Institute for International Business, Ira Solomon, John Trapani, ZAPP, Zhejiang University
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Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
The Tulane Entrepreneurs Association (TEA) has announced the six finalists for the 2012 Tulane Business Plan Competition and Domain Companies New Orleans Entrepreneur Challenge, which together will award $70,000 in cash prizes to two promising new ventures.
 The Tulane Business Plan Competition is the nation's only business plan competition dedicated to the principles of Conscious Capitalism. The competitions will take place at the A. B. Freeman School of Business on Tulane University’s uptown campus on Friday, April 13, with the winners to be announced later that evening during the Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Awards Gala at the Audubon Tea Room.
The Tulane Business Plan Competition, now in its 12th year, will award a grand prize of $50,000 to the most promising new venture that embodies the principles of Conscious Capitalism. In addition, competition partner and sponsor the Domain Companies will award a prize of $20,000 to the venture with the greatest potential economic impact on New Orleans.
“We received 52 applications from 18 universities in three countries for this year’s competition,” said Court Robinson (MBA ’12), president of TEA. “Narrowing those outstanding entries down to six finalists was difficult, but the exceptional quality of this year’s entrants is a testament to both the growth of Conscious Capitalism and the growing reputation of the Tulane Business Plan Competition.”
The three finalists in each competition are listed below.
TULANE CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION – $50,000
Calcula, Stanford University
Calcula is developing novel urological medical devices for the removal of kidney stones without anesthesia. The opportunity is a disruption in the field of urology and has significant patient impact.
EpiQi Sciences, Brigham Young University
EpiQi Sciences is a drug repositioning firm formed to reposition an already-FDA-approved drug from its existing disease to treat anemia of chronic inflammation (ACI). After a projected three-year window to complete repositioning, EpiQi Sciences will license its patent rights to pharmaceutical companies and collect royalties over an extended 20-year patent life.
SODI-CAN, Tulane University
SODI-CAN is a dual-purpose water vessel that stores and disinfects water utilizing solar energy. The project was developed through the Tulane University School of Medicine’s Medical Science Innovation Competition in 2011 with the purpose of conceptualizing a novel method of providing clean water to people. The idea began in Tanzania, where people walk miles carrying water to-and-from water springs, only to suffer from microbial related illnesses with inadequate water disinfection. The introduction of water disinfection methods has been hindered by cost-effectiveness, design limitations, community scale-ups and cultural appropriateness.
DOMAIN COMPANIES NEW ORLEANS ENTREPRENEUR CHALLENGE – $20,000
Bideo, Loyola University
Bideo.com (bid + video) is the world’s first auction exchange for real-time trading of news video and photos. Bideo allows user-creators and citizen photojournalists to protect and sell exclusive images to news publications in a competitive bidding environment. The C2B platform combines free market dynamics, digital rights management, consumer technology and transparency to provide owners of rare, high-demand footage with the framework and tools needed to monetize big media’s soaring demand for this emerging source.
Nanofex, University of New Orleans
NanoFex, a Tulane University spinout based in New Orleans, is a for-profit company that addresses the demand for groundwater treatment by providing a novel, affordable, effective method for remediating hazardous chemicals commonly found in soil and groundwater.
ReactWell, Tulane University
ReactWell develops, manufactures and operates energy efficient underground geothermal reactor systems to economically produce and sell crude oil, bioproducts and other high-value oils, while increasing biomass growth rates. ReactWell is pioneering algae-based advanced biofuel technology by combining proven geothermal technology, bulk open-pond algae raceways, and solar energy to naturally, safely, and cost-effectively cultivate algae to produce valuable crude oil. ReactWell’s proprietary technology converts total biomass and waste into crude oil and other co-products that are cost competitive compared to conventional oils derived from fossil fuels, plants, or animal fats.
The 2012 Tulane Business Plan Competition is made possible with the generous support of the following sponsors: Domain Companies, Freeman School Graduate Business Council, Freeman School Dean’s Office, Baker Donelson, Tulane Association of Business Alumni, Tulane Business Forum, Jones Walker, Legacy Capital, New Orleans BioInnovation Center, Crescent Bank and Trust/Gary Solomon, Tulane Graduate and Professional Schools Association, Oracle Capital, Ron Ondechek Jr. and Ian Jones.
For more information about the event or to register to attend, visit http://tbpc2012.eventbrite.com/
Tags: Levy-Rosenblum Institute, Tulane Business Plan Competition, Tulane Entrepreneurs Association
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