Building esprit de corps across the Olin campus

Almost exactly five years ago, some of the most spectacular facilities of the Olin campus opened for their first day of classes: students, faculty, staff and WashU leaders gathered in Frick Forum for free coffee and doughnuts and to celebrate the debut of Bauer Hall and Knight Hall.

In fact, exactly five years ago tomorrow, my predecessor, Dean Mahendra Gupta, drafted a blog post announcing the opening ceremony—noting that the new buildings would double WashU Olin’s footprint on the Danforth campus—and heralding a dramatic renovation to Simon Hall, which had opened as Olin’s headquarters under Dean Bob Virgil’s leadership.

On that St. Patrick’s Day in 2014, under a crisp blue sky that shone down through the atrium, WashU officials made their remarks before a banner announcing “Four Buildings, One Olin,” a sign of pride and, perhaps—in its explicit mention of Olin’s split campus—an acknowledgement of the challenge ahead.

That challenge was this: maintaining a sense of unity and esprit de corps among the faculty and staff of our extraordinary business school. With Olin employees spread among Knight Center and Knight, Bauer and Simon halls, a special commitment is required to foster collaboration among faculty, teamwork among staff members and a sense of camaraderie among everyone who passes through our hallways, our common spaces and our classrooms.

I wasn’t here for the grand opening, but I’m delighted now by what I see among my colleagues as they have taken on the challenge, with admirable results.

This academic year, for example, Hillary Anger Elfenbein has kicked off a series of “across the field” luncheons for full-time faculty. The idea was to convene on either side of Mudd Field one Friday a month. So far, the faculty has met for three such gatherings.

“The idea is for faculty to interact on an informal basis—particularly those who work in separate buildings,” Hillary said. “Ever since we moved to separate buildings, it’s been harder to have informal interchange. This initiative is meant to address that. The faculty appreciate it greatly.”

Since my arrival at Olin, I’ve also had the pleasure to meet and engage with many of the faculty and staff at a series of events the Olin Staff and Faculty Advisory Committee has arranged. Though I could only participate in the recent doughnut party through Twitter, I have enjoyed mixers in the courtyard, an ice cream social and our holiday ornament exchange in December—an extremely exuberant (and surprisingly competitive!) event indeed.

I am equally gratified by the work Sandy Vaughn has put forth in organizing a series of lunch-and-learn events that have bounced back and forth between Simon and Bauer halls.

So far, staff and faculty have had the chance to attend four such events, two of which relied on the expertise of our faculty: most recently, Hillary Elfenbein focused on negotiating and, before that, Sergio Chayet hosted a lunch-and-learn on project management.

Earlier sessions drew on WashU HR experts sharing resources for career development and wellness initiatives on campus.

Of course, none of this replaces the one-on-one interactions that happen every day, or the team-oriented projects that advance our school’s work for students, alumni, and the community at large, or the work of our faculty that advances our international reputation for path-breaking research and educational excellence. In fact, our “across-the-field” initiatives are a reflection of the fact that we indeed think and act as “one Olin.”

Pictured above: Olin Professor Sergio Chayet, director of the master of science in supply chain management program, hosts a lunch-and-learn for Olin staff and faculty on project management on January 25, 2019.