SPRING/SUMMER 2012 Office of Public Affairs 44 West Fourth Street, Suite 10-160 New York, NY 10012 the Alumni Magazine of NYU Stern STERNbusiness In It to Win It Alumni Scoring Big in Sports Competition, Rivalry & the XXX Olympiad ■ Larry Ritter's Home Runs in Finance & Baseball ■ Michael Spence on the Global Jobs Picture ■ Cathy Minehan Leads Simmons SOM ■ Tips for CFOs a letter fro m the dean This year, we challenged As for mental gymnastics, your School is bring- our incoming MBA students ing home gold. Last fall, the School celebrated to consider the great prob- when Tom Sargent, the William R. Berkley lems facing the world and to Professor of Economics and Business, won the raise their ambitions about 2011 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. With this their potential for impact. In turn, we promised honor, Tom joins our two other Nobel laureates in to deliver an educational experience that empow- economics, Robert Engle and Michael Spence. All ers them through an environment we describe as three are active faculty members, making for one An Education in Possible. Simply put, this deep bench. phrase symbolizes our relentless pursuit of unpar- Mike Spence is featured in this issue, starting on alleled excellence. page 12, as he engages in a dialogue with The As Olympic athletes begin to convene in Economist’s Matthew Bishop about global trends London from all over the world, I am struck by and policies in employment. what wonderful examples they are of the uncom- Cathy Minehan (MBA ’77) is yet another exam- promising pursuit of achievement. Shortly we will ple of proving what’s possible, both in her own all witness individuals who push beyond perceived career and in the field of graduate business educa- limits – on a world stage – redefining what is pos- tion. After nearly 40 years with the Federal sible in their sport. Reserve System, she is launching a second career as In fact, sports are a valuable framework for dean of the sole women-only MBA program in the teaching business – and life – lessons: teamwork, US, at Simmons College School of Management leadership, decisiveness, and courage, to name a (page 5). few. You may not realize that NYU Stern boasts a In the “news you can use” department, take a number of alumni who are leaders in the sports look at Baruch Lev’s extensively researched top 10 industry. In this issue, we interview 11, all in dif- tips for CFOs (page 18). ferent arenas, each of whom followed a different In closing, I wish to thank each and every one of path to the top. I think you’ll find it interesting you for making a Stern education not only possible reading (page 6). for others, but excellent at every level. Your contin- Our faculty are also drawing ideas and insights uing engagement, through mentoring, participation from sports. In this issue, we showcase Amitav in our events, and financial contributions, are Chakravarti’s investigation of the screening effect indispensable keys to our success. in Olympic venue selection, and Gavin Kilduff’s exploration of the roots of rivalry (page 22). With all good wishes, Our back page features Larry Ritter, the author of what’s been called the best baseball book ever written. We know him as the father of the Stern finance department (page 40). Peter Henry Dean STERNbusiness A publication of New York University Stern School of Business contents SPRING/SUMMER 2012 President, New York University John E. Sexton 2 Public Offerings Google’s Eric Schmidt discusses the technology race; experts on information networks Dean, NYU Stern School of Business convene; Paul Romer on the city and the future; John Snow and Martin Lipton on the Peter Henry economy; Sir John Vickers on UK financial regulation; 8th Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship draws wide interest Vice Dean and Dean of the 5 Shaping Business Education for Women Undergraduate College 8 Questions for Cathy Minehan, Simmons College School of Management Geeta Menon 6 Cover Story: In It To Win It Chairman, Board of Overseers Eleven alums who have scored big in the sports industry William R. Berkley By Marilyn Harris Chairman Emeritus, Board of Overseers 12 Leading Indicators Henry Kaufman Nobel Laureate Michael Spence discusses global employment trends and policies with The Economist’s Matthew Bishop Chief Marketing Officer 14 Stern in the City Beth Murray 14 Titan Media’s Bill Apfelbaum knows how to get your attention By Rika Nazem Associate Dean, Marketing 16 Isaac Zion of SL Green Realty knows New York space and External Relations By Carolyn Ritter Joanne Hvala 18 Keeping it Honest Editor, STERNbusiness Attention, CFOs: Myths and facts about managing investors Marilyn Harris 20 Prospectus Managing Editors, STERNbusiness Ernest Kurnow’s 99th birthday, Distinguished Citi Fellow, Global Systemic Risk Ranking, and noteworthy faculty papers, awards, and honors Rika Nazem and Carolyn Ritter Contributing Writers Office Hours – Faculty Research Randy Cohen, Katherine O'Malley, and 22 Behind the Olympics: Angela Parks Recent investigations shed light on the fierce emotions underpinning competition and rivalry, plus how London came to be chosen as the site of the XXX Olympiad Illustrations 24 To Buy or Not to Buy Whether selecting an Olympic venue or shopping, Michael Caswell, Ron Chan, the decision-making process is similar Bryan Leister, and Christophe Vorlet By Amitav Chakravarti, Chris Janiszewski, and Gülden Ülkümen Design 26 How Competitors Become Rivals - and Why It Matters Anne Sliwinski When competition is elevated, the results can be positive, or not By Gavin J. Kilduff, Hillary Anger Elfenbein, and Barry M. Staw Letters to the Editor may be sent to: 28 Peer to Peer NYU Stern School of Business Student Life in Washington Square and Beyond: Establishing an alumni legacy Office of Public Affairs fund and learning about technology at the source 44 West Fourth Street, Suite 10-160 30 Alumni Relations New York, NY 10012 Alumni News and Events: Photos from Reunion 2011; holiday cocktails at Christie’s; www.stern.nyu.edu/sternbusiness Haskins Award Dinner; call for Reunion 2012 [email protected] 34 Class Notes 40 Past Performance Finance Chair Larry Ritter, father of the department, was even better known for his books on baseball By Marilyn Harris Public Offerings MARQUEE NAMES VISIT CAMPUS TO TALK TECH, MEDIA, AND INFORMATION NETWORKS ahead, Schmidt hinted that medical diagnostics via mobile devices will be a bright spot. Reflecting on his own career path, he argued that most successes are the result of teamwork and that people should surround themselves with co-workers who are fun, driven, “impactful,” and smarter than they are. Google’s Eric Schmidt (left) discussed today’s technology race with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo (right). Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, and NYU Trustee and alumna Maria Bartiromo (WSC ’89), anchor at CNBC, drew a crowd of 400 Professors Scott Galloway faculty, students, and adminis- (left) and Paul Romer (top) spoke to a sold-out audi- trators from across NYU in ence at the third annual mid-December. Schmidt answered questions about the Innovation Forum. landscape of today’s technology race, how technology is evolving, and Google’s secrets of success. He also touched on issues related to privacy and patents, Google’s IPO, China’s struggles with The third censorship, and what annual Workshop the next Facebook may on Information be. As to Google’s suc- Networks (WIN) cessful formula, he Summit brought credited its 80/20 researchers to Stern in early fall. The summit was model, which allows organized by Stern Information, Operations, and Sinan Aral Arun employees to spend 80 Management Sciences Professors , Sundararajan and Foster Provost percent of their time , . WIN provides a on core projects and 20 forum for experts from various fields, including com- puter science, economics, physics, and sociology, to net- percent on innovation Professors Sinan Aral (top right) and Vasant Dhar (bot- tom) listened to experts who gathered for the third work and explore the distribution, diffusion, value, and activities. Looking annual Workshop on Information Networks Summit. influence of information in networks. Executives and 2 Sternbusiness professors from Facebook, Microsoft Research, Yahoo! The Hon. John Research, Cambridge University, MIT Sloan, Harvard Snow, who served as Medical School, and the US Military Academy dis- the 73rd US Treasury cussed issues related to social knowledge networks. Secretary from 2003 NYU Stern and L2, a digital think tank, held the to 2006, sat down third annual Innovation Forum in New York City in with Martin Lipton, November. Industry and academic speakers at the chairman of NYU’s forum presented to a sold-out audience on topics that Board of Trustees, for included digital marketing, urban development, and a frank discussion in new ideas for brands to develop. Economics Professor early November, Paul Romer, leader of the School’s Urbanization before an audience of Project, explained how “The Future belongs to the 150 students, faculty, City.” Stern Marketing Professor and L2 Founder Scott alumni, and mem- Galloway spoke about how to live to be 100 and led bers of the community. Snow referred to the current discussions throughout the day. state of the economy as “the great adjustment,” explaining that monetary policy is “out of bullets” … while the world’s movers and because interest rates can’t get any lower. He added shakers spoke of the economy, that fiscal policy is not an option for policy makers both US and global … right now in light of the country’s recent credit down- grade and that today’s economic malaise could last as long as 10 years. As for global concerns, Snow stressed the importance of maintaining good eco- nomic relations with China and said that the US’s inability to take action is a bigger threat to the US than China.