GBA Adds Office Space in Midtown Manhattan, Creates Trading Floor

Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA) has acquired 8,500 square feet of space in a building at 1790 Broadway near 58th Street in midtown Manhattan that now houses more than two dozen faculty offices and features a financial trading floor for students.

The renovation of the 13th floor of the office building was completed in August and faculty members relocated from the sixth and fourth floors of the Lowenstein Center at the Lincoln Center campus, where the business school is headquartered, before the start of the academic year.

Howard Tuckman, Ph.D., dean of GBA, said that the ability to expand to new offices that feature advanced technology is essential for the business school.

“Our location in the cultural mecca of New York City has created opportunities for Fordham business to work with some of the top business schools and business leaders in the world,” Tuckman said. “As we continue to grow, both in size and program offerings, we look forward to becoming a major platform for business education throughout the world. Our new space in 1790 Broadway is an important step toward achieving this goal.”

A centerpiece of the new location is the trading floor, which has 28 double-display computers that have a live Reuters news feed. A Bloomberg Financial monitor station will be available elsewhere on the floor.

The trading floor is also outfitted with executive-style wireless access points, high-tech projectors and a live feed that relays up-to-the-minute stock quotes.

“The top flight business schools seek to create an environment in which students use their theory and education to master state of the art technologies and ideas,” Tuckman said. “Our new facility will offer our students a unique opportunity to learn by doing. This is especially important given that the modern use of ‘quants’ in the trading room requires students with strong analytic and mathematical skills who can also learn the culture and the trading mores of Wall Street.”

Sris Chatterjee, Ph.D., associate professor and area chair of finance for the Schools of Business Administration, said that 10 GBA students who are enrolled in the Master of Science in Quantitative Finance program are the first to use the high-tech classroom.

As part of the quantitative finance program, students must complete a six-credit internship, so Chatterjee is hopeful that the trading-floor experience will give them a “leg up” on the competition.

“We’re building the future,” Chatterjee said. “Students will be able to work with data that they would use if they were out in the finance world. They get to see exactly what they’ll be using in the banks on Wall Street. They’ll test models using real-live data.”

GBA is not the only school to make a move to new space.

Several of Fordham Law School’s administrative offices have also relocated. The Law’s School enrollment services operation, which includes admissions, financial aid and the registrar’s office, is now located on the 9th floor at 33 West 60th St., a block from the Lowenstein Center.

In addition, the Feerick Center for Social Justice and Dispute Resolution has moved into new office space on the 9th floor of 33 W. 60th St. The Law School has also converted its Moot Court Room into two classrooms.

Overall, Fordham now leases 150,000 square feet of academic and residential space at various locations in Manhattan. In addition to the 33 West 60th St. and 1790 Broadway locations, the University also leases two floors at 888 Seventh Ave. in midtown Manhattan. That location houses the development, alumni relations and marketing and communications operations.