Miami business school opens

Miami University dedicated the new home of its Farmer School of Business this weekend, opening the doors to a building that combined gifts from private donors of $50 million, nearly 80 percent of the project cost, the university said.

Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York City and Moody Nolan, Inc. of Columbus, the building took 30 months to build, the university said.

“The building is designed to provide students with a variety of real world experiences that are an integrated part of the curriculum,” Miami said in a statement. “This includes participating in financial market activity through the Chaifetz Trading Center which simulates transactions based upon real-time electronic feeds from Bloomberg and Reuters via dozens of dual-monitor computer stations.”

The 1,800-square-foot center also features scrolling stock market tickers, projection screens and more, the university said.

In a 2009 BusinessWeek survey of the nation’s best undergraduate business programs, the Farmer School of Business ranked 18 overall and 6 among those offered by public universities and colleges, making it the highest-ranked undergraduate business program in Ohio, the university said.