Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing

Christopher M. Begg is the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, and Co-Founder of East Coast Asset Management, Inc.  Prior to co-founding East Coast, Chris was a Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at Moody Aldrich Partners, LLC.  Prior to Chris’s time at Moody Aldrich Partners, he was a Principal of Boston Research and Management where he served as a Portfolio Manager.

Ellen Carr has over two decades of experience as a high yield bond portfolio manager, most recently at Weaver C. Barksdale (WCB), a majority-women-owned, institutional fixed income investment management firm based in Nashville, TN. She specializes in the construction and management of high yield and core plus bond portfolios. Prior to joining WCB, she served as senior vice president and a high yield portfolio manager for institutional separate accounts and mutual funds for The Capital Group Companies/American Funds in Los Angeles, CA.

Wouter Dessein is the Eli Ginzberg Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School. He served as chair of the Economics division from 2017 until 2021 and as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Law, Economics and Organization from 2013 until 2019.

Jeff Gramm manages Bandera Partners, a value-oriented hedge fund based in New York City.  He has served on several public company boards and is the author of Dear Chairman, a history of shareholder activism that has been described as "a grand story" and an "illuminating read" by the Wall Street Journal, "a revelation" by the Financial Times, and "an excellent read" by Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times.  Jeff has taught Applied Value Investing with Terry Kontos since 2011.  He received his MBA from Columbia Busines

Professor Johnson runs Nicusa Investment Advisors, an advisory firm focused on helping CEOs and Boards of Directors deal with strategy, capital allocation, shareholder value creation, and corporate governance. Johnson applies his 35 years of experience as an investment professional, combined with his 30 years as a business school professor, to help senior managers sort through these critical strategic issues.

Julia Kimyagarov is the Director in the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing. She manages many aspects related to the Value Investing Program, including organizing classes, planning and overseeing Heilbrunn Center events, finance and operations, and administration of the student fund portfolio. Prior to joining the Business School in January 2011, Julia was an insurance broker for Marsh & McLennan, a Client Relationship Specialist at Aon, an underwriting assistant at ACE, and a property theft claim representative at Nationwide.

Daniel Krueger is a Partner at Owl Creek Asset Management, a hedge fund based in New York, where he is the Global Head of Credit and Co-Portfolio Manager. Mr. Krueger has been with Owl Creek since its inception in February 2002.  Owl Creek invests in event-driven value opportunities across all parts of the capital structure, and Mr. Krueger focuses much of his time on distressed securities. Prior to Owl Creek, Mr. Krueger worked at Angelo Gordon and Chase Securities Inc.

Michael J. Mauboussin is Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global. Prior to joining Counterpoint Global in January 2020, he was Director of Research at BlueMountain Capital Management in New York. Before joining BlueMountain, he was a Managing Director and Head of Global Financial Strategies at Credit Suisse. Before rejoining Credit Suisse, he was Chief Investment Strategist at Legg Mason Capital Management from 2004-2012. Mr. Mauboussin joined Credit Suisse in 1992 as a packaged food industry analyst and was named Chief U.S. Investment Strategist in 1999.

Professor Tano Santos is the Robert Heilbrunn Professor of Asset Management and Finance and the Academic Director of the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, where he has taught since 2003. Previously he was an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. At Columbia, he teaches courses on Value Investing, Modern Value, and Modern Political Economy.

Professor Stiglitz accepted a joint appointment to a chaired professorship at Columbia Business School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (in the Department of Economics) and the School of International and Public Affairs in the spring of 2001. He was the first Joel M. Stern Faculty Scholar at Columbia Business School from Fall 1999 until Spring 2001. From 1997 to 2000, he served as the World Bank's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, Development Economics. Prior to that, he served on President Clinton's economic team as a member of the U.S.

Meredith Trivedi is the Managing Director of the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing. In this role she handles a variety of strategic, curricular, and industry initiatives and oversees all operational aspects of the Center. She joined Columbia Business School in 2010 as a Major Gifts officer. Prior to Columbia, Meredith was the Director of University Advancement at Radford University. Meredith holds a BA from Washington and Lee University; a JD from the Charleston School of Law; and an MS from Columbia University. She is a member of the South Carolina bar.