I wanted to share some exciting news about our incoming faculty member, Michael Mazzeo, dean designate of WashU Olin Business School and professor of business economics.
Mike Mazzeo will be appointed as the Knight Family Endowed Professor in recognition of his leadership in research and teaching. He joined Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 1998 after completing his PhD in economics at Stanford University.
Most of Professor Mazzeo’s research includes empirical industrial organization, developing new statistical methodologies for examining the relationship between product differentiation strategies and market competition. His work spans a variety of industries, including airlines, banking, healthcare, lodging, retail and telecommunications.
Leading researcher
Professor Mazzeo’s research has been published in leading journals, including The RAND Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Marketing Science, The Review of Economics and Statistics, the Review of Industrial Organization, Quantitative Marketing and Economics and The Journal of Industrial Economics. Mike is also a renowned teacher. He is a three-time recipient of the Chairs’ Core Course Teaching Award at Kellogg. He also won three best elective teaching awards in Kellogg’s MBA and executive MBA programs.
The Knight Family Endowed Professorship was established this year, and Mike will be its first holder. Joanne Knight and her late husband, Charles F. Knight, have also established the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professorship in Neurology and the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professorship in Orthopaedic Surgery.
Longtime benefactors
Joanne, Charles, and their son, Lester, have been longtime benefactors of Washington University in St. Louis. The Knight family’s history of giving has left an indelible mark on the university. The Knights have been pivotal in establishing WashU Olin as one of the premier institutions of business education and research in the world and ensuring its continued success among top business schools. The family has also contributed significantly to the School of Medicine, where much of their support, and Joanne’s ongoing generosity, has been focused on Alzheimer’s disease research.
Joanne was a charter member of the Siteman Cancer Center Community Advisory Board and served on Washington University’s School of Art National Council. She received an honorary doctor of humanities degree from the university in 2010 and a Second Century Award from the School of Medicine in 2019. Joanne and Charles received the Dean’s Medal from Olin in 2012.
Please join me in congratulating Professor Mike Mazzeo. We will have a formal installation ceremony at a later date.
