As classes begin at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this week, not only has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the format of some courses, it has also assumed a prominent focus in the content of many courses throughout the university. In keeping with the Institute mission to prepare the next generation of world-changing leaders, students will learn how a range of disciplines might respond to the most pressing global health challenge of the modern era.

Providing managers with the freedom to be entrepreneurial and take risks is essential to corporate innovation, according to recently published research conducted by faculty members in the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an alumnus of the Institute.

Professor Thomas Begley has been invited to serve as chair of the management discipline of the Management Curriculum for the Digital Era (MaCuDE) project, which was initiated by Stevens Institute of Technology and is sponsored by PwC and AACSB. Its premise is that business schools have not kept up with the digital transformation of business and therefore, cannot provide students with the most up-to-date skills.

Consider this scenario: A vaccine for the novel coronavirus has been developed that is 91.27% effective. If public health officials present this information using the specific number, people are likely to think the vaccine is actually less effective than if it is presented as being 90% effective.