Be the CEO of Goldman Sachs.
Lloyd Blankenfein, the chairman of a major multinational investment banking firm, was a history major at Harvard and used his undergraduate degree as a springboard to law school. Just the other day Blankenfein’s name came up at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Switzerland. Here is a taste of a Bloomberg Businessweek article on the usefulness of a history major:
Business majors who are beavering away in college on accounting and finance in hopes of becoming the next Lloyd Blankfein might like to know that the original Lloyd Blankfein was a history major long before he ran Goldman Sachs (GS).
Today at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust cited Blankfein’s college studies to make her case that humanities—including history—“are more important than ever.” She said the study of history helps students understand change.
Of course, she would say that. Faust got her Ph.D. in history and wrote six history books, mostly about the Civil War and the antebellum period. She said her history training has been “absolutely essential” during her leadership of Harvard.
Thanks to Grady Breen for calling this article to my attention.
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