WHARTON MAGAZINE Return To the Final Frontier A NEW SPACE RACE HAS BEGUN, WITH HELP FROM WHARTON ALUMNI Astronaut Garrett Reisman NEWS ENG90 W90 Summer Programs On Campus 18 (And Beyond) IDEAS Is Your Business Ready 28 To Scale? PEOPLE Inspiring the Women Leaders 50 Of Tomorrow SPRING/SUMMER 2019 “More than ever, YOUR Wharton allowed me to bridge my MORE THAN EVER entrepreneurial, MOMENT? analytical, and leadership interests beyond my wildest “…taking my life to a whole new level…” — Davit Ninikelashvili WG19 expectations!” —Jamison “JJ” Vulopas W19 Author and James G. Dinan Endowed “…pivoting into a new career…” Scholarship II Recipient — Milo Tong WG19 “…learning I can achieve so much more…” — Jerina Coku WG19 Watch JJ’s interview with Jamie Dinan Investor, philanthropist, and More Than Ever co-chair Jamie Dinan W81, has supported the dreams of nearly two dozen students, including JJ Vulopas, MORE THAN EVER through his contributions to financial aid. The historic $1 billionMore Than Ever MOMENT: comprehensive fundraising campaign is supercharging Wharton’s ability to create leaders who will change the world. whr.tn/my-mte whr.tn/my-mte #MoreThanEver spring/summer 2019 wharton magazine 1 from the dean the inbox ulty director and Ronald O. Perelman Professor in Finance David Musto, the Stevens Center will work editor’s letter The Future to ensure that innovation in finance is a force for good among businesses and communities around Of Finance the globe. harton alumni often find themselves standing at the vanguard—of industry, social change, global progress. In With the partnership of alumni and friends our cover story on the new space race, we hear from some graduates with front-row seats as private companies like Josh and Ross, Wharton will always be compete against each other and work with public entities to reenergize our collective wonder about what lies far “The Finance School.” Their support adds to beyond Earth. (And in the case of our cover model, NASA/SpaceX alum Garrett Reisman ENG90 W90, we mean Wharton’s core research advancing the under- W“front row” literally.) ↓ ince our founding, Wharton has standing of finance through the Jacobs Levy Equity Brexit, the U.S. In 1999, a different kind of revolutionary launch took place on campus with Knowledge@Wharton’s debut as an online- been celebrated the world over as “The Management Center for Quantitative Financial war on Huawei, only journal, long before traditional media scrambled to adopt a digital-first philosophy. In the two decades since, K@W has how to tackle Finance School.” But the pace of change Research as well as the Rodney L. White Center populism—these become an essential resource, spreading academic research and insights from business leaders—both Wharton-affiliated and in financial services today is breathtak- for Financial Research. But Wharton is also about are just some otherwise—to a worldwide audience. Meet the visionary behind K@W and learn more about its many offerings, from radio ing, and the consequences are profound much more than finance. That is why our campaign of the topics shows to podcasts to high-school programs, on page 42. Dean Garrett has not only for investment profession- is highlighting other major initiatives, including covered in his Speaking of high schools, they’re a big reason why campus is still bustling after classes end in the spring. Our feature on als, but also for society as a whole. Wharton must data and analytics and innovation and entrepre- recent LinkedIn Wharton’s summer programs includes those for undergraduates and MBAs, of course. But it’s the young scholars who are Scontinue to define and redefine the cutting edge of neurship. With your support, Wharton will shape columns. For the heart of a diverse cast—teens who come here to sharpen their talents, expand their horizons, or get their first glimpse advice from financial innovation, leveraging our incredible his- not only the future of finance, but also the future of his piece on into the world of higher education. Whether those students end up back on Locust Walk or at another institution someday, if tory and heritage to transform the future. business and, with it, the future of society. rethinking their time here ignites a passion for learning, it’s “mission accomplished,” as our friends in the space industry would say. leadership Alternative asset classes like private equity, hedge clichés, see —Richard Rys, editor funds, and venture capital are transforming invest- Geoffrey Garrett is Dean and Reliance page 38. ment opportunities, often out-performing portfolios Professor of Management and Private based on publicly traded stocks and bonds. At the Enterprise at the Wharton School of Game On Recognizing ENIAC’s Legacy same time, financial technology—fintech—is revolu- the University of Pennsylvania. t’s great to see Wharton Magazine ecently in the New York Times, there was a wonderful tionizing the business models of financial services, cover e-sports [“Welcome to cover story about ENIAC, the first general-purpose from mobile payments to microcredit, from lending R electronic computer ever invented, which was to insurance, from cryptocurrencies to financial I the Billion-Dollar Business of constructed and operated at the University of Pennsylvania. planning. As Nobel laureate Bengt Holmström put it E-Sports,” Fall/Winter 2018]. The Times piece followed a thoughtful essay about ENIAC to me recently, data is the new collateral, decentral- In 2015, I joined Battlefy, which a few months earlier by Myron Weiner WG51, published on izing and democratizing finance. the Wharton Magazine Blog Network [“The ENIAC Legacy: That is why the Future of Finance is one of the is now the largest open e-sports Past, Present, and Future”]. It’s difficult to imagine how top priorities for our More Than Ever campaign, competition platform in the world. we could manage without such electronics in our lives Wharton’s commitment to remaining in the global Through our many partnerships today—from our smartphones and touch screens to vanguard of finance research and education. In this with game developers and brands, automobiles and medical equipment. And it all happened letter, I want to highlight two major new initiatives at our own alma mater. Come see the 40 original panels made possible by alumni who share our vision, pas- we’ve come to evangelize one of ENIAC on the ground floor of the Moore School of sion, and commitment. message—“Win the hearts and Engineering and Applied Science, and be amazed! Wharton Overseer Josh Harris W86 and his minds of the grassroots competitive Tom Hadlock WG66, New York, NY wife, Marjorie, have extended their long history of generosity to the School with a new gift to name community.” It is the broader player the Joshua J. Harris Alternative Investments base that baptizes a video game into Program. Earlier, Josh co-founded the Wharton the e-sports tier. The probability Inspired to Aim Even Higher Private Equity Professorship, currently held by of someone playing Overwatch Bilge Yılmaz, a professor of finance who will serve hank you, Wharton Magazine, for telling my as faculty director of the Harris Program. A global after watching Overwatch League story [“Team Players,” Fall/Winter 2018]. hub for world-leading research and teaching in is immensely greater than that It’s such an honor to be featured along with alternative investments, the Harris Program will of someone playing football after T so many impactful alumni and faculty from build on our foundation of hugely popular courses watching Monday Night Football. and co-curricular offerings, growing this critical Wharton who are trailblazing in different fields. work that brings together students, alumni, aca- Consequently, brands that want Their stories showed me how much more I could, demics, and practitioners. to be successful in engaging in and should, do in my own field and inspired Working at the center of technological disrup- this space need to focus on both tion and new thinking in finance, the Stevens Center me as lights on the road ahead of me. Thank for Innovation in Finance, with the support of Ross spectators and players. you once again to the Penn GSE Education Stevens W91, will enable faculty and students to Carlos Alimurung W98, New York, NY Entrepreneurship Program, especially Jenny Zapf, study and catalyze the fintech revolution, working Bobbi Kurshan, and Christian Talbot! in real time with the companies that are transform- ing the delivery of financial services. Led by fac- Cindy Liu WG18 GED18 via Facebook, Mountain View, CA shareTo your thoughts on this email issue, [email protected] 2 wharton magazine spring/summer 2019 spring/summer 2019 wharton magazine 3 Contents Spring/Summer 2019 people 3 WHARTON MAGAZINE 42 Editorial Staff feature editor news Celebrating Richard Rys Knowledge 1 associate editor Malcolm Burnley 58 Braden Kelner cover story Return 3 class notes editor “ The social experience To the Leigh Sacco the inbox insulates us a great Final Frontier editorial board 8 deal from the impact David Jonathan Katzenbach watchlist Gambacorta of online shopping.” Peggy Bishop Lane Charitable Kirk Griswold WG88, p.16 Mukul Pandya Fashion, Self- Gloria Rabinowitz WG78 Driving Tractors, Jagmohan Raju And a Men’s Maryellen Reilly Health Unicorn Catherine Schrand 12 creative services photo gallery Justin Flax On the Scene design 13 Luke Hayman, Jenny Hung, indicators Pentagram Innovation Incubation 16 student interns the report Sophia Clark, Maria Fagliano Key data from Freeze for All Penn Wharton The enduring ideas Administration Entrepreneurship. business of ice Geoffrey Garrett cream and frosty 2 Dean and Reliance Professor of 14 treats. Management and Private regions Janine White Enterprise Wharton’s Global Impact Sam Lundquist 28 32 Vice Dean, External Affairs whiteboard syllabus At the The Forces 33 Katherine A.