New Faculty Combine Academic Rigor and Real-World Experience

Stanford GSB welcomes seven tenure-line faculty and 17 lecturers from a range of disciplines who will infuse the school’s curriculum with fresh perspectives.

September 09, 2014

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A faculty member speaking in front of class.

Faculty at Stanford GSB contribute to the rich experience for students through a combination of academic rigor and real-world experience. | Photo courtesy of Elena Zhukova

As the 2014–2015 academic year gets underway, new tenure-line faculty are settling in at Stanford Graduate School of Business while 17 new lecturers prepare to share their real-world experiences with the school’s students this year. They will complement a faculty of more than 250 professors, adjunct faculty, visiting faculty, and lecturers who contribute to the rich experience for students in the school’s MBA, PhD, Master of Science (MSx), and other business programs.

“Our new tenure-line faculty bring a diverse set of research interests to Stanford, which will enhance our ability to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about business, management, and the global economy,” said Garth Saloner, dean of Stanford GSB. “Meanwhile, we’re able to combine their expertise with the experiences of respected practitioners, pairing academic rigor with best practices in the classroom.”

New Tenure-Line Faculty

Rebecca Diamond, assistant professor of economics, is an applied microeconomist whose research combines methods from labor economics and industrial organization to study the evolution of wage inequality in the United States.

Octavia Daniela (Dana) Foarta, assistant professor of political economy, studies how political economy considerations affect banking unions, and applies them to the general conflicts and tensions between rich and poor member countries within the European Union.

Yonatan Gur, assistant professor of operations, information and technology, focuses on analytics opportunities in information-rich environments; for example, emerging services in marketing, retail, content, and social networks.

Arvind Krishnamurthy, professor of finance, joins the GSB from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Krishnamurthy’s research interest is the mechanisms that underlie phenomena such as liquidity crises, credit crunches, and boom/bust investment cycles.

Aruna Ranganathan, assistant professor of organizational behavior, focuses on questions of work and employment in the context of economic development, and investigates the ways in which workers and entrepreneurs navigate the market in an emerging economy. (Ranganathan will defer her appointment for one year.)

Victoria Vanasco, assistant professor of finance, is a financial economist focusing on factors that lead to information and belief asymmetry in financial markets, how markets provide incentives for information acquisition, and regulatory policies.

Kuang Xu, assistant professor of operations, information and technology, focuses on analysis, design, and decision making in large-scale stochastic systems, as well as applications drawn from engineering, operations, and management. (Xu will defer his appointment for one year.)

New Lecturers for 2014-2015

Federico Antoni (MBA ’04) is a venture capital investor with extensive international experience in strategic marketing and operations in the retail industry. He will co-teach Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Developing Economies with Howie Rosen and Steve Ciesinski.

Steve Ballmer is former CEO of Microsoft (retired in 2014 after 14 years). He will co-teach Leading Organizations with Susan Athey.

Melissa Briggs is a performance coach specializing in theater as a tool for social change. Briggs will co-teach Acting with Power with Benoit Monin.

Jeffrey Brown is senior vice president of finance and corporate strategy at Summit Power Group, LLC, in Seattle. Brown will co-teach Clean Energy Project Development and Finance with Dan Reicher and Dave Rogers.

William Chace is professor of English and president emeritus of Emory University and honorary professor of English at Stanford University. Chace will teach Critical Analytical Thinking.

Stephen Davis is president and chief executive officer of PATH, an international organization that drives innovation to save lives and improve health, especially among women and children. Davis will teach Ensuring Social Innovation Scales: Across Borders, Across Sectors, and Across “the Valley of Death.”

Doug Galen is CEO of Galen Adventures and has served as an operator, advisor, board member, and angel investor to businesses in many sectors. Galen will be a co-instructor for Startup Garage, for which he has served as student advisor, panelist, and judge.

Matthew Glickman, MBA ’93, works as chairman and advisor to early stage technology firms. He is currently chairman of NovoEd. Glickman will be a co-instructor for Startup Garage, for which he has served as student advisor, panelist, and judge.

Sujay Jaswa is CFO of Dropbox, where he is responsible for leading financial operations and corporate development. He will co-teach Disruptive Innovation with Neil Malhotra.

Glenn Kramon has been an editor for The New York Times for more than 25 years, and was assistant managing editor at the newspaper from 2006 to 2013. Kramon will teach Winning Writing.

Paraag Marathe, MBA ’04, is team president for the San Francisco 49ers. Marathe will co-teach Sports Business Financing with George Foster.

Shantanu Narayen is CEO of Adobe Systems, a position he has held since 2007, and president of the board of Adobe Foundation. He will co-teach Scaling Excellence with Hayagreeva Rao.

Raymond Nasr is the former director of executive communications at Google. He will co-teach Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital with Peter Wendell.

Allan Thygesen, MBA ’88, is vice president of global SMB revenue at Google, managing Google’s advertising revenue from millions of small and medium-sized business customers worldwide. He will co-teach Monetization — Choosing a Business Model with Harikesh Nair.

Gil-li Vardi is a military historian studying dynamics of doctrinal and operational change in military organizations. Vardi will teach a new course, Modern Military Strategy: the Changing Face of War.

Graham Weaver, MBA ’99, is founder and partner of Alpine Investors, LP in San Francisco, a private equity firm managing five funds totaling $900M in capital. Weaver will teach Managerial Skills.

Don Wood, MBA ’80, is a venture partner with DFJ. Wood will co-teach Sustainable Energy: Business Opportunities and Public Policy with Stefan Reichelstein and Dan Reicher.

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