May 17, 2005

A Million Dollars at Their Fingertips

Gift Gives MBA Students Sizeable Portfolio with Which to Gain Real World Investment Experience

Master of Business Administration students in the School of Business will soon manage a real $1 million investment portfolio thanks to a gift from alumnus, GW trustee, and local financier W. Russell Ramsey and his wife, Norma, to the University endowment.

“We are grateful to Russ and Norma for having the vision and drive to make this opportunity a reality,” said GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. “Launching a student-run investment portfolio is one of several steps our business school has taken to add experiential opportunities to its well-regarded finance curriculum.”

Susan M. Phillips, dean of GW’s School of Business, added, “Practical experience plays an important role in our students’ academic pursuits. I can’t think of a better way for students to learn about finance and investments than to work alongside investment professionals and to manage a portfolio with real dollars at stake.”

In addition to the financial gift, Ramsey and his firm will provide research support and investment expertise to students who are selected to manage the Ramsey Fund. Donald W. Lindsey, GW’s chief investment officer, began teaching Applied Portfolio Management to MBA students in the business school this spring. His students are developing an investment policy and plan for the Ramsey Fund and will begin investing later this year.

“We’re learning about and using the same tools that investment managers use to manage real money,” said Atul Jain, a second-year MBA student and president of GW’s Finance and Investment Club. “This type of learning can’t be taught with a textbook.”

Ramsey is chair, CEO, and CIO of Ramsey Asset Management. He also is managing general partner of the RNR Hedge Funds, specializing in long/short equity strategies. Ramsey attended GW on a baseball scholarship and earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in 1981. He was inducted into GW’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 and was an honorable-mention member of its All-Century Baseball Team. He also is vice-chairman of GW’s Board of Trustees.

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