Olin’s Bear Public House comes out of hibernation

  • April 20, 2022
  • By WashU Olin Business School
  • 2 minute read

After two long years, The Bear Public House is open again.

Dean Mark P. Taylor invited first-year MBA students to a ribbon cutting and reception to celebrate the reopening of the Bear at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14.

1910-BearPub.jpg
Dean Mark Taylor offers a token of appreciation in October 2019—a miniature Bear pub sign—to Bob and Kathleen O’Loughlin.

Students joined Taylor, his team and the Graduate Programs staff over pints and British pub fare to celebrate a kickoff into our “new normal” life. The pub, off Knight Center lobby, shut down in March 2020 as the pandemic spread.

The Bear was officially dedicated on October 2, 2019, with a toast to Bob and Kathleen O’Loughlin, whose financial contribution made the project possible. Emeritus WashU trustee Bob O’Loughlin, CEO of Lodging Hospitality Management Corp., also collaborated with Taylor on the design.

Bear Pub Sign
Sign in the Knight Center lobby for The Bear Public House.

The Bear is modeled after a pub Taylor recalls in Warwickshire, England, the county of his birth—and that of William Shakespeare. That UK pub gets its name—The Bear and Ragged Staff—from the iconography of the county’s official flag and coat of arms. The Knight Center’s pub incorporates similar imagery into its sign.

Overstuffed chairs and leather sofas divide the pub into nooks for conversation. High-topped tables are tucked into corners and along the walls. An antique clock ticks in the corner, and busts of Shakespeare and his contemporaries adorn the windowsills.

About the Author


WashU Olin Business School

WashU Olin Business School

WashU Olin has been a leader and innovator in business education and research for over a century. We offer a global education in the heart of America that transforms the way students look at business. Our esteemed faculty produces research that makes an impact on the world of business and beyond. We are proud to collaborate with organizations in our home community of St. Louis and worldwide to effect meaningful, constructive change.

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