February 10, 2012

Book Recommendations

What should a well-rounded B-school undergrad read?

Karen Newman's Picks "This book, in novel form, takes a critical look at the data in support of and not in support of global warming..." On State of Fear

There's more to the undergraduate learning experience than studying textbooks. That's why BusinessWeek Online asked professors from a variety of backgrounds for a list of their favorite books, whether related to their field of study or not. These texts inspired, taught, or influenced instructors' careers or personal lives, while others simply provided entertainment. But all come highly recommended from leaders in the business and academic worlds.

Some of this year's results were surprising. While classics like Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, Burton G. Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street, and various Thomas L. Friedman titles populated the list, children's favorites, a guide to running, Danielle Steele novels, and a book about human mating also made the cut.

Each professor's recommendations are included along with his or her biography. Happy reading!

Andrew Watson's Picks

Northeastern University

"Don't tell my colleagues, but I do read some books which have little to do with business or with academia."

— On Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Craig Newmark's Picks

North Carolina State University

"It gives brief but solid introductions to a number of important contemporary policy issues."

— On The Economics of Public Issues

David A. Gautschi's Picks

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

"This is a comprehensive analysis of the confluence of three major factors that promoted widespread prosperity for the first time in modern history."

— OnThe Birth of Plenty

David L. Deeds's Picks

University of Texas at Dallas

"Markets may be efficient, but as this book so gleefully demonstrates, the actors in those markets are far from the rational, profit-maximizing robots of classical economic theory."

— On Barbarians At The Gate

David L. Garrison's Picks

Georgetown University

"Paul Celan is the clearest and most painful poetic voice rising from the heart of the Holocaust."

— On Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan

Gloria Barczak's Picks

Northeastern University

"A great how-to-guide for managers interested in improving their new product development processes."

— On Winning at New Products

Harold H. Zhang's Picks

University of Texas at Dallas

"A classic investment guide for long-term investment strategy and personal money management."

— On A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Iris Mack's Picks

Florida International University

"It is a painful eye-opener as to what is going on in American schools."

— On The Shame of the Nation

James Danko's Picks

Villanova University

"It's always interesting to analyze effective leadership within different contexts, such as athletics, family life, and, in this case, music."

— On The Art of Possibility

Jeff Furman's Picks

Boston University

"This is the most overwhelming, fantastic, and mind-twisting novel I have ever read."

— On Gravity's Rainbow

Jerome Katz's Picks

Saint Louis University

"Great stories of the hits -- and especially the misses -- of the now superrich."

— On Accidental Empires

Jim Parco's Picks

U.S. Air Force Academy

"If you want to understand why we are where we are in the Middle East conflict, start here."

— On A Peace To End All Peace

John Zdanowicz's Picks

Florida International University

"Milton Friedman's writings convinced me that I was a libertarian and that personal and economic freedoms were two sides of the same coin."

— On Capitalism And Freedom

Karen Newman's Picks

University of Denver

"Only because it gave me a feel for pre-revolution Afghanistan that I never would have know about (or cared about) before reading the book."

— On The Kite Runner

Michael Curme's Picks

Miami University

"Anyone bothering to read my assessment of this book certainly doesn't need to."

— On Catch-22

Neeli Bendapudi's Picks

Ohio State University

"This funny, insightful book explores how to maintain creativity and originality -- the true sources of competitive advantage -- while operating within the confines of the hairball that is organizational bureaucracy."

— On Orbiting the Giant Hairball

Peter Arnold's Picks

Boston University

"It is simply the most understated of the great literary works of the past millennium. Whenever I feel like spending time on my eccentric side I read a prose-poem or three."

— On Paris Spleen

Raymond P. Fishe's Picks

University of Richmond

"This classic treatise on efficient markets is required reading for any investor impressed with his or her own or someone else's stock-picking ability."

— On A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Sheila M. Puffer's Picks

Northeastern University

"David Granick's work provides in-depth insights into the professional and personal characteristics of this industrial elite, as well as the structure and operations of major Soviet industries and their ruling bureaucracies."

— On The Red Executive

Stan Liebowitz's Picks

University of Texas at Dallas

"It shows that the undergraduates don't have anything on the faculty when it comes to boorish behavior."

— On Straight Man

Suchi Chandran's Picks

Boston University

"For anyone interested in business, this is one book that is hard to ignore."

— On Competitive Advantage

William J. Kehoe's Picks

University of Virginia

"This book is a practical, straightforward, easy-to-use guide for framing, analyzing, and solving complex problems based on the McKinsey & Co.'s approach."

— On The McKinsey Mind

  COMMUNITY >>

Undergrad Forums

Ongoing conversations about college life, finding internships, landing a job, and more