Over 250 students insist that the incoming Dean of HBS commits to examining capitalism’s blindspots: climate change, inequality and the erosion of democratic institutions.
There are many factors that should go into the appointment of a new Dean. Chief among them are virtues such as honesty, empathy, a respect for diversity, and an ability to lead and manage with vision. We feel confident that the Dean Search Committee will value these traits well.
But, as co-chairs of the Next Generation Capitalism group on campus, we wanted to add one more trait to that list: we want a Dean who is keenly aware of the pressing issues facing both capitalism and the world today and is insistent on championing conversations on how we might make our market system work for all. Dean Nohria has had many such conversations with us; we hope that the new Dean builds on Nohria’s legacy.
Below is our open letter, signed by over 250 of our peers.
To the HBS Dean Search Committee:
We represent over 250 students from more than 42 countries across the world. Before arriving at HBS, we’ve come from jobs in private equity, high technology, the United States military, philanthropic foundations, consulting, human rights organizations, banking, government, venture capital, start-ups, NGOs, media & sports, workers’ cooperatives, utilities, oil & gas and other industries.
While we believe strongly that capitalism and markets have been powerful engines of prosperity, we also believe there are structural blindspots that require our attention. Simply put, the imminent threat of climate change, the widening wealth gap and the erosion of democratic institutions necessitate a different orientation towards our stakeholders.
We have been encouraged by the steps that HBS has been taking in adapting the required curriculum to further these conversations. But the reason we are writing to you today is that these efforts risk being diluted if the new Dean does not continue to champion this cause. We hope that the new Dean ensures that our learning model is grounded in the discussion of the structural adaptations required of capitalism.
We therefore ask that the incoming Dean:
1) Values and builds trust across a spectrum of diverse stakeholders—including employees, labor unions, local communities, governments and shareholders
2) Takes the challenge of revamping the curriculum to reflect environmental and societal challenges seriously
3) Has a sustained track record of challenging orthodoxy, especially and even when it is uncomfortable
If Harvard is to remain competitive in the 21st century and continue to attract both student and faculty talent, we strongly believe a Dean who holds the aforementioned truths to be self-evident will be the best positioned to lead HBS.
Best regards,
Tarun Galagali, MBA ’21
Tomas Rosales, MBA ’21
Kim Patel, MBA ’21
Namya Mahajan, MBA ’21
Michi Ferreol, MBA ’21
Priyanka Chaurasia, MBA ’21
Ethan Hirsch, MBA ’21
Nimisha Ganesh, MBA ’21
Florian Schalliol, MBA ’21
Kelsey Roberts, MBA ’21
Antonina Vykhrest, MBA ’21
Carla The, MBA ’21
Shyamli Badgaiyan, MBA ’21
Brian Mongeau, MBA/MPP ’21
Nick Rosenbaum, MBA ’21
Allie O’Shea, MBA ’21
Sarika Mendu, MBA ’20
Radhika Lokur, MBA ’21
Sacha Langer, MBA ’21
Sid Singh, MBA ’21
Megan Kemp, MBA ’21
Natalie Ferguson, MBA ’21
Michael Butka, MBA ’21
Juan Carlos Lopez, MBA ’21
Linda Li, MBA ’21
Rodolfo Diaz Cabello, MBA ’21
Barton McGuire, MBA ’21
Patricia Jiang, MBA ’21
Manoj Kanagaraj, HMS MD, MBA ’21
Ashley Cohen, MBA ’21
Stephanie Myles, MBA ’21
Zack Jacobson, MBA ’21
Holly Fetter, MBA ’20
Azeem Ahmed, MBA ’21
Vimala Nandula, MBA ’20
Morgan Sheil, MBA ’21
Ronnie Wimberley, MBA ’21
Christopher Wolfram, MBA ’21
Matthew Shackelford, MBA ’21
Ivan Salinas, MBA ’21
Stivaly Gomez, MBA ’21
Abena Anima Nyantekyi-Owusu, MBA ’21
Rodolfo Diaz Cabello, MBA ’21
Alex Neuber, MBA ’21
Lucas Mackey, MBA ’21
Elie Elian, MBA ’21
Dorianne Erazo, MBA ’21
Maxim Skudarnov, MBA ’21
Blaise Buma, MBA ’21
Victoria Moroney, MBA ’21
Cathy Basquel, MBA ’21
Truc Nguyen, MBA ’21
Fahad Al-Sabah, MBA ’21
Jose Mena, MBA ’21
Arine Schmidt, MBA ’21
Giuseppe Stefani, MBA ’21
Alex Lawrence, MBA ’21
Scott Southern, MBA ’21
Marcia Ambrosi, MBA ’21
Jenny Zhou, MBA ’21
Miranda Morrison, MBA ’21
Cathy Chukwulebe, MBA ’21
Alex Lawrence, MBA ’21
Jerren Chang, MBA ’21
Phillip Jones, MBA ’21
Mallika Saharia, MBA ’21
Daniell Montes, MBA ’21
Charlie Greene, MBA ’21
Wesley York, MBA ’21
Troy Ameen, MBA ’21
Michelle Battipaglia, MBA ’21
Emily Pipes, MBA ’21
Idelès Kaandorp, MBA ’21
Ali Kokot, MBA ’21
Marta Zwierz, MBA ’20
Daniel Campos, MBA ’21
Sadhana Athreya, MBA ’21
Shrey Kapoor, MBA ’21
Michael Bernstein, MBA ’21
Alec Forbes, MBA ’21
Guillaume Aman, MBA ’21
Nehemias Luna, MBA ’21
Ariel Carmeli, MBA ’21
Andrew O’Connor, MBA ’21
Poorvi Vijay, MBA ’21
Brittany Becker, MBA ’21
Lia Rolnik, MBA ’21
Alec Forbes, MBA ’21
Omar Aboulezz, MBA ’21
Vivien Sung, MBA ’21
Alex Green, MBA ’21
Cory Dunton, MBA ’21
James Smith-Dingler, MBA ’21
Travis Britain, MBA ’21
Rob Self, MBA ’21
Mauricio Serna, MBA ’21
Daniel Baiz, MBA ’21
Mo Safdari, MBA ’21
Alejandra Martinez, MBA ’21
Emily Malkin, MBA ’21
Kristie Tom, MBA ’21
Katherine Wang, MBA ’21
Cem Pektas, MBA ’21
Alice Wang, MBA ’21
Danny Youssef, MBA ’21
Soltan Bryce, MBA ’21
Ashley Chang, MBA ’21
Jotthe Kannappan, MBA ’21
Nadia Ahmad, MBA ’21
Shaaina Dayal, MBA ’21
Eufern Pan, MBA ’21
Daniel Yamada, MBA ’21
Michael Mancinelli, MBA ’21
Silvia Adam, MBA ’21
Nikita Jagadeesh, MBA ’21
Lau Skovgaard, MBA ’21
Behram O’Habib, MBA ’21
David Summer Reiff, MBA ’21
Anna Mire, MBA ’21
Scott Glover, MBA ’21
Camille Gregory, MBA ’21
Adi Raghunathan, MBA ’21
Juan Botero, MBA ’21
Molefe Choane, MBA ’21
Cagla, Kaymaz, MBA ’21
Ernesto Vereau, MBA ’21
Kanako Sakai, MBA ’21
Katie Ragan, MBA ’21
Sylvia Atsaves, MBA ’21
Carlos Sanchez, MBA ’21
Ivana Miao, MBA ’21
Lilli Beard, MBA ’21
Harshini Jayaram, MBA ’21
Leo Wendling, MBA ’21
Ananya Zutshi, MBA ’21
Betty Vo, MBA ’21
Elizabeth Zwart, MBA ’21
Anthony Yim, MBA ’21
Veronica Polin, MBA/MPP ’21
Umang Sota, MBA ’21
Dandi Zhu, MBA ’21
Cassidy Tanner, MBA ’21
Emily Schlichting, MBA ’21
Wahid Masri, MBA/MPP ’21
Thabo Mavundla, MBA ’21
Samuel Enumah, MBA ’21
Caroline Frisch, MBA ’21
Iara Guzman, MBA ’21
Raseem Farook, MBA ’21
Noor Khalidi, MBA ’21
Isabella Wechsler, MBA ’21
Guy Gershon, MBA ’21
Anada Lakra, MBA ’21
Gregory Russell, MBA ’21
William Layden, MBA ’21
Sam Eisler, MBA ’21
John Roberts, MBA ’21
Luqzan Mustafa Kamal, MBA ’21
Caleb Bradford, MBA ’21
David Perez-Hernandez, MBA ’20
Julia Loughlin, MBA ’21
Michael Mancinelli, MS/MBA ’21
Ryan Brellenthin, MBA ’21
Vipul Agarwal, MBA ’21
Fred Jones, MBA ’21
Shuai Li, MBA ’21
David Zhai, MBA ’21
Casey McGinley, MBA ’21
Megan Murday, MBA ’21
Christina Bracht, MBA ’21
Tyler Logigian, MBA ’21
Laura Humphrey, MBA ’21
Youssouf Camara, MBA ’20
Nealy Nimocks, MBA ’21
Alex Sneider, MBA ’21
Tanvika Gupta, MBA ’20
Amyra Asamoah, MBA ’20
Nealy Nimocks, MBA ’21
Anoothi, MBA ’21
Sophia Lien, MBA ’21
Fred Jones, MBA ’21
Simon DeBere, MBA ’21
Kaz Sakai, MBA ’21
Tannya Cai, MBA ’21
Bukie Adebo, MBA ’21
Aditya Todi, MBA ’20
Elyse Propis, MBA ’21
Nicole Granet, MBA ’21
Brendan Lind, MBA ’21
Amy Villasenor, MBA ’20
Yoonjin Min, MBA ’20
Emma Hodge, MBA ’20
Jake Weisenthal, MBA/MPP ’21
Miryam Godoy, MBA ’20
Abigail Mayer, MBA ’21
Ella Thompson, MBA ’21
Mike Turner, MBA ’21
Kate Aufhauser, MBA ’21
Christopher Wyatt, MBA ’21
John Michael Cassetta, MBA ’21
Ryan Flamerich, MBA ’21
Nikki Yurkoski, MBA ’21
Jesse Pagliuca, MBA ’21
Ryan Yu, MBA ’21
Ayush Bhargava, MBA ’21
Burjis Godrej, MBA ’21
Amy Varney, MBA ’21
Laura Carlson, MBA ’21
Uwais Razack, MBA ’21
Kamal Wheeler, MBA ’21
Dio Handoyo, MBA ’21
Lauren Buchanan, MBA ’21
Rachel Naylor, MBA ’21
Erica Payne, MBA ’21
David Odell, MBA ’21
Andrea Bertoni, MBA ’21
Lyle Gangemi, MBA ’21
Lailah Thompson, MBA ’21
Sally Sorte, MBA ’21
Suhayl Chettih, MBA ’21
Kangmin Cho, MBA ’21
Danielle Cosentino, MBA ’21
Niharika Bhargava, MBA ’21
Ariel Yoffie, MBA ’21
Ravi Kurani, MBA ’21
Sayed Hassaballah, MBA ’21
Christine Jiang, MBA ’21
Gregorio Gomez, MBA ’21
Dahye Choi, MBA ’21
Elina Rodriguez, MBA ’21
Syed Shahrukh Tauqir, MBA ’21
Farah Azmi, MBA ’21
Kathy Yuh, MBA ’21
Bowen Williams, MBA ’21
Jawad Shujaatali, MBA ’21
Amelia Elverson, MBA ’20
Kohei Takatsuka, MBA ’21
Kaylee Carpenter, MBA ’21
Adrian Armas, MBA ’21
Teddy Bommarito, MBA ’21
Jesse Carmichael, MBA ’21
Berten Verbeeck, MBA ’21
Ade Popoola, MBA ’21
Annie Plachta, MBA ’21
Jeffery Wang, MBA ’21
Monique Freitas, MBA ’21
Chris Megrue, MBA ’21
Mindy Huynh, MBA ’21
Daire Manning, MBA ’21
Erin Ellis, MBA ’21
Reg Jones, MBA ’21
Tuedy Wilson, MBA ’21
Pranav Tadi, MBA ’21
Emily Burklow, MBA ’21
Erin Livesey, MBA ’21
Danielle Cosentino, MBA ’21
Niharika Bhargava, MBA ’21
Aaron J Ramsden, MBA ’21
Luis Ramos, MBA ’21
Andrew Stephenson, MBA ’21
Isha Chowdhary, MBA ’21
Anamika Singh, MBA ’21
Leonardo Daniel Leal, MBA ’20
Kriti Gupta, MBA ’21
Rob Byrd, MBA ’20
Joy Chen, MBA ’21
Robert Baldwin, MBA ’21
Patrick Deem, MBA ’21
Javon Tai, MBA ’21
Abhay Divakaruni, MBA ’21
Tarun Galagali (MBA ’21) grew up in Cupertino, California, and earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, studying both English literature and economics. His career started off with four months at Bridgewater Associates, which was followed by a return back to his hometown to help Ro Khanna get elected to the United States Congress. While serving as Khanna’s Senior Political Advisor, Tarun also pursued a career in business, including consulting at Parthenon and, most recently, product marketing at Google for the last three years. He was working on the Google News Initiative, the team responsible for strengthening quality journalism around the world. While at HBS, he is hosting a podcast called “Remaking Capitalism” and he is hoping to build out a service that helps improve the mental health of high school students (www.pass-the-torch.org).
Tomas Rosales (MBA ’21) is Norwegian with Guatemalan parents. He has earned degrees in applied economics and finance from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. He has worked across a range of industries, starting off with the United Nations Office for Project Services in Myanmar. He then joined Boston Consulting Group, followed by two years at Nordic growth equity fund Verdane Capital. His career has been focused on digitalization and technology, but he also drove a responsible investment initiative at his last firm, focusing on driving financial and societal returns in parallel. He invested in several circular economy and green mobility focused companies and built out sustainability projects in all his portfolio companies.
