
Letter From the Chair

Finance is at the core of making informed business decisions. Columbia GSB’s finance division provides a complete finance training with a carefully integrated core curriculum and over 100 elective courses to train students to manage their own finances as well as for career success in asset management, investment banking, real estate, financial technology firms, management consulting, and for roles in central banks and government.
Taught by award-winning faculty from all areas of finance, our professors bring a combination of research-based insights, theoretical frameworks, and practice-based understanding to the classroom. The curriculum focuses on merging the theory and practice of finance along three dimensions: understanding finance principles, an ability to use state-of-the-art data-analytical tools, and a deep knowledge of financial markets and institutions. The core curriculum provides the foundation, and then expansive electives provide more advanced and concentrated courses in the main areas of finance: investment management, investment banking, private equity, venture capital, and real estate.
Central to Columbia GSB’s finance training are Centers and Programs that curate the curriculum, connect students with alumni and industry, and mentor students along their career journeys. These include the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center, Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing, and Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, which anchor our training in entrepreneurial finance, value investing, and real estate, respectively. These programs host many conference and events, and offer significant executive education, connecting our alumni and industry practitioners with new developments and insights.
Together, our program has a long track record of producing transformative business leaders, with Warren Buffett and Henry Kravis as two leading examples who’ve revolutionized the asset management and private equity industries. Our goal is to teach and mentor the next generation of business leaders in finance.
Michael Johannes
Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Business
Chair of Finance Division
In the Media
The Partisan Divide over Value and Values in State Pension Funds
Mentioned Faculty
How stable is Stablecoin?
Stablecoins are the latest digital asset to grab headlines. Congress is considering legislation around cryptocurrency, and a Trump family-affiliated company is preparing to launch its own Stablecoin. But does this digital currency live up to its own name? Will Ma of Columbia Business School discussed his work on Stablecoins on a NPR Planet Money Podcast.
Mentioned Faculty
Elon Musk Made Tesla a Household Name. Now His Presence Is Tanking the Company
Mentioned Faculty
Trump Fires 2 Democratic Commissioners at FTC
Mentioned Faculty
Taxing Universities
Mentioned Faculty
Research
New Tools, New Rules: A Practical Guide to Effective and Responsible GenAI Use for Surveys and Experiments Research
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools based on Large Language Models (LLMs) are quickly reshaping how researchers conduct surveys and experiments. From reviewing the literature and designing instruments, to administering studies, coding data, and interpreting results, these tools offer substantial opportunities to improve research productivity and advance methodology. Yet with this potential comes a critical challenge: researchers often use these systems without fully understanding how they work.
What Makes Consumption Experiences Feel “Special”? A Multimethod Integrative Analysis
This paper addresses a simple theoretical question of high substantive relevance: What makes a consumption experience special in a consumer’s mind?
Better Innovation for a Better World
We aim to stimulate discussion on how innovation research within marketing can use a better world (BW) perspective to help innovation become a driver of positive change in the world. In this "Challenging the Boundaries" series paper, we hope to provide purposeful research opportunities for scholars seeking to bridge innovation research with the BW movement. We frame our discussion with four areas of innovation research in marketing that are particularly relevant to BW objectives.
The Data Economy: Tools and Applications
Data is the new oil. It is the fuel for AI, a firm asset, a strategic advantage, information for prediction, a productivity booster, a privacy concern, a by-product of transactions, and a means of payment. How can we update traditional economic and finance frameworks to include a role for data and use these updated frameworks to measures it economic impact?
Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games
One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in free-to-play (F2P) games, where the paid version often aims to enhance the player’s experience and to facilitate faster progression.