Columbia Business School’s Eugene Lang Center

Columbia Business School’s Eugene Lang Center
Name	Eugene Lang Center
Affiliation	Columbia Business School
Location	Manhattan, New York City
Established	1997
Director	(see Leadership and Governance)
Website	(see Columbia Business School)

Columbia Business School’s Eugene Lang Center is a campus institute based at Columbia Business School focused on social enterprise, corporate responsibility, and nonprofit management. The center connects faculty, students, alumni, and external partners through coursework, research, and experiential programs that intersect with finance, law, public policy, and philanthropy. It has hosted collaborations and events with leading universities, corporations, foundations, and international organizations across New York City and worldwide.

History and Founding

The center was founded in 1997 with support from philanthropist Eugene Lang and links to institutions such as Columbia University, Columbia Business School, and Teachers College, Columbia University. Early collaborators included The Ford Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and The Aspen Institute. Initial programs drew faculty from Columbia Law School, Columbia College, and SIPA and engaged practitioners from McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Goldman Sachs. The center’s launch paralleled initiatives at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, and Wharton School to integrate social impact into management education. Notable early affiliates included scholars linked to Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, and Princeton University.

Mission and Programs

The center’s mission emphasizes social innovation, nonprofit leadership, and sustainable investing through programs with partners such as The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, and Open Society Foundations. Core programs include executive education co-developed with Harvard Kennedy School, fieldwork placements with United Nations, and fellowship tracks partially funded by donors like Eugene Lang and institutions such as Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Curriculum collaborations have been established with Columbia Law School, Columbia Engineering, and SIPA while alumni networks link to Barclays, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and Goldman Sachs. Programmatic emphases have aligned with initiatives from International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Economic Forum, and United Nations Development Programme.

Academic and Research Activities

Research activities have included working papers, case studies, and seminars drawing on faculty from Columbia Business School, Columbia Law School, SIPA, and visiting scholars from Harvard Business School, London Business School, INSEAD, Kellogg School of Management, and Booth School of Business. The center has sponsored research on impact investing with collaborators like PRI signatories, asset managers such as BlackRock and Vanguard, and think tanks including Brookings Institution, Urban Institute, and Center for Strategic and International Studies. Projects addressed topics connected to United Nations Global Compact, Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement, and policy frameworks discussed at venues like UN General Assembly and Davos hosted by World Economic Forum. Faculty affiliated with the center have published with presses tied to Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and journals associated with American Economic Association, Academy of Management, and Journal of Finance.

Student Engagement and Extracurriculars

Students engage through experiential labs, consulting practicums, and clubs such as the Social Enterprise Club and partnerships with student groups linked to Columbia University Student Affairs and external organizations like Net Impact, Ashoka, and Echoing Green. Fieldwork placements have been arranged with UNICEF, UN Women, Oxfam, CARE International, Red Cross, Mercy Corps, Habitat for Humanity, and social enterprises like Kiva and Grameen Bank. Competitions and case challenges included collaborations with Hult Prize, Schwab Foundation, Echoing Green, and corporate partners such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM, and Accenture. Alumni networks connect student leaders to employers including Bain & Company, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, EY, and international NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Notable Events and Partnerships

The center has hosted conferences and symposia featuring leaders from United Nations Secretary-General offices, executives from BlackRock, Mastercard, Microsoft, and philanthropists from Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates initiatives. Partnerships have included memoranda with United Nations Development Programme, corporate collaborations with Citi, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and programmatic alliances with foundations such as Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. Public events have featured speakers connected to Clinton Foundation, Obama Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Gates Foundation, and academics from Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, and Princeton University.

Leadership and Governance

Governance has involved Columbia Business School leadership, faculty affiliates from Columbia University, and advisory board members drawn from finance, philanthropy, and nonprofit sectors including executives from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Ford Foundation. Directors and chairs have coordinated with deans at Columbia Business School and administrators at Columbia University while liaising with trustees and donors such as Eugene Lang and foundations including Mellon Foundation. Oversight practices paralleled governance models at centers within Harvard Kennedy School, Yale School of Management, and Stanford Social Innovation Review affiliates.

Category:Columbia University