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Thomas Jefferson University unveiled a $1.8 million finance lab on Wednesday, made possible by a donation from alum and philanthropist John Thackrah.
The Thackrah Capital Markets Research Lab will be housed in the School of Business. The lab is designed to prepare students for jobs in artificial intelligence–driven industries by expanding access to live market data, financial news and research tools used in the finance sector.
“This is the most wonderful time and a new chapter for the School of Business; a dream that has been realized through the extraordinary vision,” said Philip Russel, the business school’s dean. “We are profoundly grateful for John’s transformational gift, which provides unparalleled educational and technological resources. His generosity equips our students with a vital competitive advantage, empowering them not only to succeed but to soar in today’s data and AI-driven business world.”
The research lab aims to enrich curriculum by engaging with 12 Bloomberg terminal data feeds to help students to make informed financial investments. Dr. Geoffrey Cromarty, senior vice president of operations at the East Falls campus, said the lab will help students gain confidence in their investment decisions at the JeffInvest Club.
The club meets weekly to invest $1,000 into stocks based on students’ consensus. They propose trades, analyze the macroeconomic environment and receive their professor’s expert opinion.
Raina Mehta, a junior and co-president of the club, says club members have already used the Bloomberg terminals extensively and have seen significant approval in investment making.
“These terminals in our class were used for a merger, analysis and acquisition project,” Mehta said. “We went through other mergers and acquisitions, and their details of how much they were bought for. We learned that from those terminals, you don’t get that kind of information easily.”
Russel said the lab has been in development for 15 years. The final funding came from Thackrah who, after a campus tour, decided there was a significant gap in students’ educational experience and that they were at a disadvantage because of a lack of resources, Russel said. Within 48 hours, he offered to fund the project.
“It is now a different trajectory [for students] because they’ll be interacting with data on a very live basis. They do not have to use different modes to do the research,” Russel said. “It’s the same data that anyone working on Wall Street would be getting — it’s not just the data, but also how they can use the data to make decisions and have insight.”
In his speech, Thackrah credited his wife, Doris, for making his donation possible. The couple was married for 67 years, and Doris died five years ago. Thackrah also thanked his father, uncles and grandfather, all Jefferson alumni, for paving the path for him forward.
“I hope that all the students who go to this new laboratory and take a course in this new laboratory will be better equipped to go out and obtain employment in this incredibly complex capital market that we all live in today,” Thackrah said. “I’ve heard some people say it can take a year to learn how to use one of these machines. I know it’s not easy, and I hope this lab helps them. Just as importantly, I hope they learn about investing because that will serve them well for the rest of their life.”
Thackrah graduated with a degree in chemistry and dyeing from Philadelphia College of Textile and Sciences in 1953. He was a third-generation graduate of the school. After graduating from Jefferson, Thackrah worked at DuPont for nearly 40 years, specializing in textile dyes, colored pigments and chemicals business. He said he has continued his philanthropy to Jefferson through the Thackrah Endowed Scholarship. He continues to give guest lectures twice a year for a personal financial planning class.
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