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Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis Expands its Impact on Value Investing and Its Offerings to Alumni and Students

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he Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis was established in 2013 with generous support from Mario Gabelli, GABELLI ’65, as part of a $35 million gift to the Gabelli School of Business. Through the leadership of James Russell Kelly, the Center’s founding director, and Sris Chatterjee, Ph.D., the Gabelli Chair in Global Security Analysis, the Center established itself as a leading voice in value investing, an investing strategy that involves purchasing stocks, which are trading for less than their calculated intrinsic value.

A panel of three young professionals and a moderator at a Fordham Gabelli School of Business event.
On October 3, 2025, alumni, students, faculty, and members of the NYC business community, flocked to the Third Annual Graham, Dodd, Murray, & Greenwald Conference, which focused on Value Investing & AI. Audience members heard from some of the most progressive minds in the industry (l to r) Brett Caughran founder & lead trainer, Fundamental Edge (a sponsor of the event); Tarun Amasa, cofounder & CEO Endex: AI For Excel; Kris Bennatti, founder & CEO Hudson Labs; and David Plon, co-founder & CEO Portrait Analytics.
Over the past decade, the Center has cultivated a community of value investors through partnerships with organizations such as the Museum of American Finance, the CFA Society New York, and the Value Investing Association. The Center’s events have sparked dialogue among scholars, students, and industry leaders, and its undergraduate and executive-level value investing programs have become known for training rising leaders in finance.

Paul Johnson joined the Center as a fellow in 2020 and assumed the role of executive director in 2024 when Kelly became chairman of the Center’s advisory board. With more than two decades of experience teaching value investing as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and the Gabelli School, Johnson seeks to energize the next generation of investors while connecting them to a larger ecosystem of professionals, academics, and, especially, alumni. He believes that fostering such connections will encourage students to become engaged alumni themselves. “That’s the flywheel effect we’re aiming for,” Johnson asserted. “There’s so much opportunity here. We want our alumni to be part of it.”

In recent years, the Center has focused heavily on enhancing the student experience, supporting student groups such as the Value Investing Club and Smart Woman Securities, which will begin investing a $500,000 fund endowed by Mario Gabelli this spring; bringing in guest speakers; launching the annual Roger F. Murray Stock Pitch Competition; and providing hands-on learning opportunities.

The Center also holds virtual and in-person events featuring eminent authors, financial practitioners, and academics, including Nobel laureates. This fall, the Center hosted the Financial Issues Forum webinar series and a conference on AI in investing. “We’re really leaning into how AI is reshaping investment research, how geopolitics are influencing markets, and how students and alumni can be at the center of all of it,” Johnson commented.

—Michelle Livingston
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