What we represent, what you can be

My favorite day of the year is the one where we welcome new students to campus. Last Thursday, I had a chance to address this year’s newcomers with a talk ending their very-full day of orientation activities. The energy that these young people bring to us is truly the fuel that drives us forward.

I bagged the microphone, in order to speak more directly to them about what it means to be a part of Cornell. I cued them to our origin story, our guiding central value paraphrased from Ezra Cornell’s aspiration to “found a university where any person can pursue any study.” Begun in another era and expanding in earnest every day and year, this ethos guides us as we seek diversity, inclusion, and community engagement, and as we drive for excellence and impact on the world.

I reminded them of their own good work which earned them a place at Cornell, and of their own personal responsibility to seek balance. I reminded them that in just a few weeks’ time they may be feeling pressured, even overwhelmed, and that if they’re prepared for this they’ll have tools at the ready for bringing down the stress level in order to proceed. I suggested that they take time to pause, reflect, and refresh, perhaps in some of our campus’s most beautiful spots (sharing some of my own favorites with them).

Young people certainly need reminders about wellness, but perhaps the most meaningful message I wanted to share was about the importance of the Cornell drive for excellence and impactfulness in our work. They are now privileged with the company and mentorship of our world-class faculty, and I invited them to get to know the experts in their midst, to check in and connect as people and colleagues. I wanted them to feel – today, tomorrow, and into the future – the gifts and responsibilities of being mentored and urged to challenge ourselves in this beautiful place.

Our faculty colleagues are unrelenting in the drive for impact

This past month, I have been captivated by Peter Goodman’s 2022 book, Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World (Custom House Press). It was a recommendation from my son, Paul, a Denver based journalist, who I think wanted to challenge me to broaden my mind. Goodman is an economics correspondent for the New York Times, based in London. The review by Columbia’s Joe Stiglitz calls the book a “biting, uproarious, yet vital and deadly serious account of the profound damage the billionaire class is inflicting on the world.” Biting is a good word for it. The central thesis of the book is that those in the global elite who actively attend Davos are engaged in “a striking form of self-aggrandizement served up as social concern.” Goodman takes aim at Davos World Economic Forum’s many panels in recent years on stakeholder capitalism, as well as the Business Roundtable’s declarations of the same to point out the incongruity of the words and deeds. Yes, he calls out many of the “Davos Men” by name, and, yes, they are almost all men, Goodman points out. As one who has dedicated himself to globalism, multiculturalism, and as a scholar focused on the economic consequences of financial globalization, I found the book uncomfortable to read. More of a polemic than a work of insight or scholarship. The treatise meanders and does not read as a cohesive effort. It distracts us with too many personal stories of over-the-top parties, real estate deals of grandeur, and wildly expensive divorce settlements. At least until the last three chapters which is where I sat up and took notice. Goodman delves into substantive issues with more balance of the important debates around a universal basic income, wealth taxes, and the rise in concentration of corporate power. To me, the last three chapters made the investment worthwhile.

Goodman refers to the Davos Men as those who “write the rules for the rest of the world.” Those who are really writing the rules are our own colleagues, three of whom have received important recognition for their exceptional research and influence.

Maureen O’Hara’s collaborative study with Berkeley law professor Robert Bartlett and Columbia Law’s Justin McCrary was featured in the Wall Street Journal in July. Their work, A Fractional Solution to a Stock Market Mystery, examines the dramatic and enigmatic leap in trading volume of Berkshire Hathaway’s “A” stock. Positing this surge to be an illusion created by RobinHood’s reporting behavior, Maureen and her co-authors point to a “misguided” Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rule that led to this and many other data distortions during the pandemic.

Last week’s Economist magazine features a cover story on rising global income and wealth inequality – a central theme in Goodman’s book – that draws on Ravi Kanbur’s work. “The basic idea behind our contribution is quite simple, yet sharp,” said Ravi to me in an email this week. “Think of inequality among all citizens of the world as being composed of inequality within countries and inequality between countries. Over the last thirty years, the within-country component has risen (we all know about US inequality). However, because of the growth of China (and India) relative to the US and other rich countries, the between-country inequality has fallen to such an extent that overall world inequality has also fallen. But as China grows (in relative terms) closer to the US, it also grows away from Africa. We show formally that eventually this aspect of between-country inequality will dominate and world inequality will start increasing. We then show with empirically based projections that this is indeed the case, and that the “inequality boomerang” point is startlingly close—as little as five years away.” Ravi added that this perspective appears to be growing in its impact, and that he is energized to be developing it in his upcoming research.

Nolan School dean Kate Walsh has been recognized by the International Hospitality Institute as one of their Global 100 in Hospitality. Given the number of world-class, world-wide hospitality leaders Kate has helped to train, this comes as no surprise to any of us. It is a great achievement! And, while on the topic of excellence in hospitality, our student team, “Cornell Cuvée,” brought home the Left Bank Bordeaux Cup in August at Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Having previously won the North American Qualification in March, the Cornell team of Kate Wang, Nolan ’22, Jerry Kim, Nolan MMH ’22, and Lukas Bredo, GRAD ’22 swept the competition to win first place, surpassing teams from UCLA Anderson, SKEMA, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, UNIL, St. Gallen, among others. Kudos to team coach and faculty colleague, Cheryl Stanley!

And I couldn’t leave without mentioning…

So sorry to note the passing of our dear friend and former colleague Tim Durnford on August 14th. A 1993 graduate of the Nolan School’s MPS program, Tim spent decades embodying EM Statler’s famous quote about living a life of service. In 2017, he helped with the launch and early leadership of the SC Johnson College of Business, serving as Associate Dean for Technology & Infrastructure. Retiring from Cornell in 2019, Tim began a new career as Associate Dean of Finance & Administration with the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In addition to his impressive career progression, Tim possessed an unforgettable personality and a caring and compassionate Cornell Big Red heart. This Caring Bridge website provides more information on Tim’s life and accomplishments.