Titan Series
Studying the literature that has shaped the titans of industry
A dozen finance and accounting students have formed a Ben Franklin-style junto to develop a series of courses from the greatest literary works in general business, investing and financial theory. Called the Titan Series, courses are expected to launch as soon as fall 2007 and will include study of the top 10 written works and the top 10 practitioners in each of those key business areas.
The concept emerged when investments pro and A&M finance graduate Britt Harris, CEO of Bridgewater Associates, asked industry acquaintances what literary classics were most influential to their leadership. The resulting list of 200 works of wisdom, compiled from the responses of 70 heralded business people from heads of major investment banks to economists and academics, are what today's investing management is founded upon. This spring, Mays students began an experiment to examine those classics, paring them down and deciding which to focus on to make the concepts within them accessible to their peers in future Titans classes.
"Wisdom is cheap," Harris says. "All of modern-day finance and corporate governance stands on the back of these books, some written 50 years ago. You couldn't buy it if it was a rare coin or work of art, but students can check these out of the library and get this free. They just need to know that it exists."