Messiah College announces Ralph S. Larsen Finance Lab
To prepare students for exciting careers in finance, the new Ralph S. Larsen Finance Lab will equip future financiers with state-of-the-art technology and market data in a Wall Street trading floor atmosphere. Students will become proficient with how to use a Bloomberg terminal to research historical and real-time data on stocks, bonds, economic indicators, foreign currencies, commodities and options.
The 1,065-square-foot learning space will contain 26 computer workstations with dual monitors and instructor podium; 10 Bloomberg Professional terminals; three large-screen televisions showing CNBC, Bloomberg and other financial markets media; and a stock ticker continuously displaying market information.
For real-world experience, finance majors will participate in the annual Bloomberg Trading Challenge, a nationwide stock-trading simulation in which teams invest $10 million for two months based on a defined trading strategy they develop on the Bloomberg terminals.
The Student Investment Club—another hands-on learning opportunity for finance majors—also will use this state-of-the-art lab to manage a $275,000 portfolio of stocks.
The lab is funded by generous trustees, alumni and business leaders along with a matching gift from Dorothy Larsen, former trustee and wife of the late Ralph Larsen, former CEO of Johnson & Johnson, for whom the lab is named. The Larsens are Messiah parents and longtime generous supporters of the College.
Dwayne Safer, professor of finance and business at Messiah College, said, “I’ve talked to a number of professors from colleges and universities all over the country that aren’t willing to take the effort to teach students finance using Excel spreadsheets, primarily because their classes are too large and they don’t have the time.”
Classes at Messiah, however, will focus on solving financial problems using spreadsheets; building complex forecast and transaction models; and the practical application of how current events drive the financial markets.
- Danielle Ran, director of communications