Education

Barnes & Noble named Tulane University president Scott Cowen to its board a after a major shareholder disclosed it was dumping 90% of its stake in the company and relinquishing a seat on the board of directors.

Cowen serves as president of Tulane University in New Orleans and also holds the titles of Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor of Business in Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and Professor of Economics in the School of Liberal Arts.

Bentonville, Ark. -- One-in-three microbusiness owners (31%) depend more on a second job for their personal income than they do on their business, yet 69% say owning their business is the ideal job. In collaboration with Gallup, Sam’s Club has unveiled a new quarterly tracking poll focused on America’s smallest businesses, or microbusinesses, with five or fewer workers.

Run Jump Throw is the name of new youth activity initiative The Hershey Company will begin next year when its existing Hershey’s Track & Field Games program undergoes a transition.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation (NRF) has publicly called Senate legislation aimed at increasing the federal minimum wage by 40% an anti-job tax that would lead to higher labor costs for employers and fewer opportunities for young and entry-level workers. NRF will include votes on the minimum wage as “Key Retail Votes” in its annual voting scorecard used to measure legislative support for the retail industry’s public policy priorities.

Juliet Johansson, a former executive with a dental implant manufacturer, is Office Depot’s new EVP and chief strategy officer.

Mars Chocolate’s global president Grant F. Reid has been named by the company’s board of directors as president, effective Jan. 2, 2015. Reid will take over for current Mars president Paul S. Michaels, who plans to retire at the end of the year.

College Station, Texas -- The Center for Retailing Studies (CRS) at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School has united with GameStop and IBM to found the GameStop Technology Institute (GTI), a consortium of technology corporations and academic institutions focused on discovering and delivering business innovation and technology solutions to better address the needs of today’s empowered consumer.

Hasbro has elected Richard Stoddart, CEO, North America at Leo Burnett Worldwide, to its board of directors.