42 Comments
Sunil Gulati
In case you haven’t thought about him enough while studying for Principles, Bwog brings you the next victim of Actual Wisdom: Sunil Gulati, Econ Prof and president of the US Soccer Federation. In addition to these commendable achievements, Bwog would also like to personally thank Professor Gulati with the idea for this series. Cheers!
Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: Planning for the US to win the World Cup, while watching a soccer game (or teaching principles of Economics), free of everyday guilt for having failed to save the world.
Claim to fame: I guess it’s the split personality between the soccer world and teaching at Columbia. And in a strange way friends in either of half of my life are envious of the other half of it. My soccer friends think it’s pretty cool that I teach here while many of my Columbia colleagues would much prefer to talk soccer.
What’s your most valuable or unexpected college experience?: Spending a semester abroad at University College at Buckingham. It was three months of a motivating academic experience followed by the usual 17 European capitals in three weeks on $5 a day.
What’s the craziest student excuse/extension story you’ve heard?: Some years ago, a student in Principles of Economics missed the mid-term exam (without much of an excuse) and wanted a make-up. I agreed but she then missed the make-up. At the scheduled time for the 2nd make-up, she called and said couldn’t take the exam because she had broken up with her boyfriend the previous evening before and he needed consolation.
Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese?: My cardiologist has recommended a low cholesterol diet.
Back in my day… I lived in a frat for a few weeks followed by Ruggles for a year, Intro Principles of Economics classes were taught in the basement of Butler Library, the University GPA was less than a 3.6 and Professor Elmes was chasing Guns and Roses around the country.
Three things you learned at Columbia:
1. NYC is the center of the Universe
2. Columbia is the center of NYC
3. Alma Mater is the center of Columbia; ∎ Alma Mater is the center of the Universe.
What’s your advice to students/academics/the human race in general? Whether it’s at Teach for America or Goldman Sachs, be passionate about what you do and optimistic about the future. It makes getting out of bed every day a whole lot easier and life generally a lot more fun.
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42 Comments
@Certain People I Know When are they doing Jose Sanchez?
@i mean... he’s sometimes a good teacher, sometimes a good-humored guy, and sometimes intelligent and keeps you awake during lectures, and sometimes a bit cocky. what i never understood was why columbia students are crazy about him – he’s not a star, just a good teacher.
@Anonymous Maybe it’s because we’re so starved for good teachers in these large intro classes. I mean, i’ve had some good profs in small classes, but Gulati is honestly the only really great professor (one of two or three in the “halfway decent” category) I’ve had in any class with over 25 students in it.
@Ugh, He’s not even that pretty!! I have this theory that if you cut off all his hair he’d look like a British man.
@Anonymous d-bag, but an excellent teacher
@LOL U mad?
@Anonymous Are you so pissed at him because you didn’t do well principles of Econ?
and yes, Mercer is the master. She should be a jedi.
@Anonymous ooo you should get mercer to fill out one of these! shes pretty hilarious
@what an insufferable prick god… let me get this straight. he approached bwog and said, hey, why dont you guys ask me questions so i can talk about how awesome I am? You guys can call it actual wisdom since, you know, I’m so wise
this guy would not be more obviously arrogant if he had TOOL written on his forehead. So his main characteristic is that all his friends envy him?
well I’m sure he envies the shit out of xavier sala i martin, president of fc barcelona (a football institution people actually care about) and is a million times cooler. he’s also egocentric as fuck, but at least he’s suave as hell, and is one of the world’s most cited economists.
gulati, on the other hand, is just a big head. and a pretty ugly one too. I mean look at the man’s face. yeah that last comment was petty but still…
@Anonymous I’ve taken both Gulati’s and Sala-i-Martin’s classes… they do both think pretty highly of themselves, but Gulati sort of deserves to–he’s the best professor I’ve ever had. Sala-i-Martin is a disorganized disaster; he may have made important contributions to the field, but in that case he should stay holed up in his office doing research, because he can’t teach.
@Well, I’ve taken two classes with each of them (one intro level each, one senior/grad level each) and found that while both were a bit tooly, xavier’s classes ended up teaching me more and led to my eventual career choices and annoyance with the econ department. More econ-with-a-heart, less finance and douchebagery please!
@To each their own, I guess!
@the mere fact that you call it “cheese” tells me you’re not ready.
@Anonymous The completely, self-centered dauchebaggery is what I like most about him. It adds character and makes him interesting.
@Anonymous Bwog, can you please please please work on getting wisdom from Professor Marianetti? He’s kind of amazing.
@Well, in his defense He actually holds professor lunches (which no one else does).
@False Props to him for trying, but other professors do lunches, too (shout out to an AWESOME prof lunch with Patty Kitcher! made Sophomore year so great)
@DAE Does anyone else not really care for this guy? He’s a fantastic lecturer and I learned a lot in Principals, but I found him smug and self-centered. At one of those lunches he has with undergrads (which all teachers should have btw) he was basically like “what are your names? now someone ask me how great I am.”
@THANK YOU Completely agree. I’m not falling for his crappy act anymore. He’s a complete;y self-centered dbag who knows exactly how to get people to like him.
@isn't that the point of being at Columbia?
@:) I loved his class last year, his final not so much!
@Anonymous THIS GUY IS MY HERO
@Enrique Iglesias But would he dance, if I asked him to dance?
@If he doesn't dance then he’s no friend of mine.
@Did you hear that Starbucks has a new drink specifically for econ majors?
The Gu-latte!
@and home depot called, they want all their tools back, including u
@The Commission on Wondrous Retorts called, and it wants all its witty comebacks returned, including–ah, sorry, wrong post.
@and the shack of dicks called, I’m really embarassed that they have my number…
@open mind huh “whether it’s at teach for america or goldman sachs”
@Tony Lee Love the man. His tests, not so much. :P
@Anonymous Tony why would you put your real name on bwog…
@Anonymous “Professor Elmes was chasing Guns and Roses around the country”
YESSSSSSS
@Anonymous What does this mean? Susan Elmes was a hippie?
@Anonymous i’m pretty sure a hippie would have had nothing to do with gnr
@anon more like headbanger.
@Ha One of the best answers to the oral sex VS cheese question yet
@Anonymous so NYC = alma mater
@yay finally some wise wisdom! never had him as a prof but wish i did… there’s a reason why people wait over 24 hours in advance to get into his econ seminar
@I dunno I’ve had second thoughts (many thoughts, really) about waiting so long and whether it was worth it to take that seminar….
@Anonymous yo this guy really likes soccer apparently
@Broski No shit broski
@Anonymous sort of love this. Not gonna lie.