Photo by Spencer Lum
Sris Chatterjee, Ph.D., professor in the finance and business economics area at Fordham, has been named the inaugural Gabelli Chair in Global Security Analysis as of September 1, 2014. The chair is endowed by a $6 million gift from Mario J. Gabelli, a 1965 summa cum laude graduate of what was then Fordham’s undergraduate College of Business Administration, and chairman and CEO of GAMCO Investors, Inc., the firm he founded in 1977.
“The creation of the Gabelli chair and the selection of Dr. Chatterjee as its inaugural holder are important milestones for the advancement of business education, not just at Fordham, but across the nation,” said Stephen Freedman, Ph.D., provost, and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Fordham. “We are deeply grateful to Mario Gabelli, both for his generosity in making this appointment possible, and for his vision for Fordham Business.”
Chatterjee has served as both an associate dean for graduate business education and as finance area chair at Fordham Business, where he oversaw the graduate finance programs, the Fordham Wall Street Council, and increased the area’s emphasis on research and top-journal publications in recruiting new faculty. He has taught a variety of courses, including Mergers and Acquisitions, Principles of Modern Finance and Behavioral Finance, at the undergraduate, graduate and executive MBA levels. In 1995, he received Fordham’s Gladys and Henry Crown Award for Faculty Excellence at the graduate school.
Before joining the Fordham faculty in 1989, Professor Chatterjee taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Rutgers University and Columbia University. He has also taught in the Key Training Program at UBS Wealth Management, and in executive MBA programs at other universities. Professor Chatterjee received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur and his postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He received his M. Phil. degree and his Ph.D. from Columbia Business School.
“I very much look forward to working with Professor Chatterjee in this highly visible role,” said Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., dean of the Gabelli School and business faculty and interim dean of Fordham Schools of Business. “His broad experience in research, teaching, curricular development, and education make him a stellar choice for the inaugural Gabelli Chair, and I know the University community joins with me in celebrating this latest advancement at Fordham Business.”
Professor Chatterjee’s work will complement that of the Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis at Fordham, which was established in 2013 with a $6.5 million gift from Mario Gabelli. The center’s focus is on the study of value investing, and is directed by James Kelly, who is a lecturer in finance at the Gabelli School, where he teaches courses in value investing and global investments. Before coming to Fordham, Professor Kelly had a long career in the global capital markets, including senior-level positions at Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Auerbach Grayson & Co.
The gifts that established the Gabelli chair and center were both part of Mario Gabelli’s $25 million gift to Fordham in 2010, the largest in the University’s history. The chair’s installation lecture will take place in early 2015.
“I would like to thank University President Joseph M. McShane, S.J., and the Provost, Dr. Stephen Freedman, for their strong support of business education at Fordham,” Rapaccioli said. “I also am grateful to the search committee members: Mario Gabelli; Columbia School of Business professor and value investing expert Bruce Greenwald; and Fordham professors Iftekhar Hasan, Gayane Hovakimian, James Kelly, James R. Lothian and An Yan — for their assistance in selecting Professor Chatterjee as the first faculty member to hold the Gabelli Chair.”
