Areas of Expertise (9)
Data Analytics
Blockchain
Complex Adaptive Systems
Behavioral Law and Economics
Alternative Investment Strategies
Data and Analytics Strategy
Business Model Innovation
Evolutionary Decision Theory
Behavioral Corporate Finance
About
At Berkeley Haas, Greg La Blanc teaches primarily in the areas of finance and strategy in the MBA and Masters of Financial Engineering programs and in Executive Education. La Blanc has also worked in competitive intelligence and litigation consulting and has advised consulting teams in finance, marketing, and strategy. His research interests lie at the intersection of law, finance, and psychology, in the area of business strategy and risk management. La Blanc is the recipient of teaching awards including the Earl F. Cheit Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Berkeley EWMBA Graduate Instructor of the year.
La Blanc received a BA (History, Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) and a BS Economics (Business Administration) from the University of Pennsylvania, where he continued his education as a University Scholar and graduate fellow, studying in the schools of Arts and Sciences, Business, and Law. He later pursued a JD at the George Mason University and an LLM at UC Berkeley Law School. La Blanc has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in all areas of business. Prior to arriving at Berkeley Haas in 2005, La Blanc taught at Wharton, Duke, and the University of Virginia.
Education (5)
Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley: LLM Program
George Mason University: JD
University of Pennsylvania: ABD, Financial History
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania: BS, Political Science
University of Pennsylvania: BA, History/Economics/Philosophy
Links (1)
Honors & Awards (7)
UC Berkeley Presidential Teaching Fellow
2009
Earl F. Cheit Award for Outstanding Teaching
2009
Haas EWMBA Core Graduate Instructor of the year
2004 – 2005
John Olin Fellow
Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley 2004 – 2005
Robert Levy Fellow in Law and Economics
George Mason University School of Law 1996 – 1999
Mellon Fellow
University of Pennsylvania
University Scholar
University of Pennsylvania
Selected External Service & Affiliations (1)
- Faculty Director at Berkeley Fintech Institute
Positions Held (1)
At Haas since 2005
2005 – present, Lecturer, Haas School of Business and Berkeley Law 1999 – 2005, Instructor, Department of Economics, University of Virginia 1995 – 1999, Lecturer, Department of Economics, Duke University 1994, Lecturer, Departments of Finance and Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Media Appearances (10)
Data Analytics Gains Prominence in MBA Programs
Find MBA online
2022-04-11
It has become increasingly clear over the last decade that MBAs need an understanding of data on the business side. “MBAs that understand data well enough to design and implement data strategy but also to communicate and manage the technical side have a profound advantage in the job market,” said Lecturer and Distinguished Teaching Fellow Gregory La Blanc.
How recent technology developments and transformations in AI in the education industry have been affecting UC Berkeley
CIO Applications online
2021-07-14
The future of education lies in technology that will help deliver better outcomes for students, the author writes. Gregory La Blanc, Distinguished Teaching Fellow of Economic Analysis and Policy at Haas, said there is "a huge opportunity in education for anyone who can gather the appropriate AI-enhanced training data and run the right experiments."
Education: at university, can technology replace the teacher?
Challenges online
2020-07-08
What will the university be used for? Can we do without teachers? The future of education is debated between Marie-Christine Levet (Educapital) and Gregory La Blanc (Berkley Haas), guests of the Live Event organized by Challenges and the Franco-American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco.
Facebook has a lot of questions to answer about Libra, its new cryptocurrency
Business Insider online
2019-06-19
Facebook has a lot of issues that could make or break Libra, or even doom it before it gets off the ground. Many of them have to do with how the cryptocurrency will fit into the financial regulatory system. "Finance is the most regulated industry on the planet," said Gregory La Blanc, a teaching fellow at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Citing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's famous mantra, he continued: "You can't move fast and break things in this space."
Data science in MBA programs: Rosy job prospects
Find MBA online
2018-08-06
At Berkeley Haas, lecturer Gregory La Blanc says he does not expect most MBAs to become true data scientists. “But we do expect them to know enough to be able to build and manage teams of data scientists, to design business strategies around data, and design organizations that make all of their decisions using data and experimentation,” he said.
For financial peace of mind, look no further than your iPhone
OZY online
2018-07-26
Fintech is becoming a part of life, aided by synergy with banks. “While fintech startups are more agile and less encumbered by legacy technology, [big banks] have enormous amounts of data and can use that data to make better decisions,” Lecturer Gregory La Blanc said.
7 Ways MBA Programs Work to Make Investment Pay Off
US News online
2018-03-28
Gregory La Blanc, a lecturer at Haas, has launched three in the last four years, in data science; the future of the workplace; and blockchain, the secure, decentralized ledger of online transactions that is behind bitcoin and that many experts say will transform a host of industries. "The outside world is moving very, very quickly," he says. "If students feel like the stuff they're learning isn't relevant or is outdated, they'll be frustrated...
Millennials Ride the Bitcoin Rollercoaster: ‘I Just Did It Kind of Blindly’
SF Gate online
2018-02-15
That energy from Millennial and Gen Z investors is to be expected, according to Gregory La Blanc, professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley...
The 5 Best US Business Schools For Blockchain Courses
Business Because
2018-02-14
After last year's drastic surge, the value of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other similar assets has proven to be volatile in early 2018. Both because, and in spite of this, the emerging cryptocurrency market remains a controversial and exciting topic. For the uninitiated, blockchain—cryptocurrency's underlying distributed ledger architecture—may still be regarded as esoteric, but it's certainly acquired a strong foothold within leading MBA curricula. Here are the five best US business schools for blockchain courses...
Cryptocurrencies Come to Campus
The New York Times online
2018-02-08
Because developments in the field are moving so fast, the business school professor also teaching the class, Greg La Blanc, said the students would have to forgive the teachers if they got things wrong on occasion. “We aren’t waiting until we perfect it,” he said. “Don’t compare it to the perfect blockchain course. Compare it to having no blockchain course at all.”
Selected Papers & Publications (1)
In Praise of Irrational Investors
In The Law and Economics of Irrational Behavior, edited by Vernon Smith
Jeffrey Rachlinski
2005
Teaching (12)
Data science and data strategy
MBA 236
Data and decisions
MBA 200s
Analytics of workplace, workforce, and wellness
MBA 296
Strategic leadership
MBA 299
Microeconomics for decision making
MBA 201
Financial Institutions and Markets
MBA 232
Behavioral Finance
MBA 237
Introduction to Finance
UGBA 103
Corporate Financial Management
EWMBA 231
Competitive Strategy
EWMBA 299E
Financial Strategy
UGBA 137
Corporations I
LAW 250A
Social