Clark University Graduate School of Management was honored to have alumnus Dr. Wolfgang Hammes, MBA ’89, CEO at The Vangi Group LLC and a Clark Board of Trustees Member, share his expertise with the GSOM community on the dangers and opportunities of economic inflation. Dr. Hammes also spent part of the day meeting individually with students to offer networking and career advice.

Dr. Hammes previously authored a book on Strategic Alliances and has published several articles on strategy, finance, and risk topics. He is about to publish a second book on what companies and individuals should do to prepare for the return of inflation. He has several years of consulting and investment banking experience.

GSOM graduate and undergraduate students packed a classroom to listen to Dr. Hammes, and after a warm welcome from GSOM Dean Catherine Usoff, he began his talk with a review of past financial crises. He emphasized the importance of critical thinking and of learning from the past, so as to avoid a financial crisis in the future. “Very few people focus on risk when they’re feeling good,” Hammes noted. He then shared his thoughts on how companies and individuals can be better prepared for the return of inflation.

As an MSF student here in the Graduate School of Management, I was quite interested in Dr. Hammes’s insights on inflation and critical thinking. Afterwards, I felt more confident in my knowledge about how it is a vital part of economy and can closely affect our professional and personal lives. His visit was an excellent addition to our classroom work!

-Contributed by student, Hayley Gao, MSF candidate, 2016