Laura M. Born
Adjunct Professor of Finance
Biography
Laura M. Born held the title of Managing Director in Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan Chase until 2007. Over her 16-year tenure, she worked in the Equity Capital Markets, Leveraged Finance and Investment Banking Coverage departments. During her career, she focused on consumer, industrials, auto and financial institution clients. Her transaction experience includes mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, initial public offerings, secondary equity offerings, spin-offs, convertible bond offerings, leveraged finance bank and bond transactions, investment grade bond transactions, and interest rate swaps and derivatives. Additionally, she provided advice on company valuations, strategic direction, capital structure, shareholder payout decisions, rating agency process, equity road shows, and conducted seminars for clients.
She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Carlson Inc. (hospitality portfolio company that owned TGIFridays, Radisson Hotels and Carlson Worldwide Travel and now operates a private equity platform), and she is also the Chair of the Audit Committee. Since 2023, Born has been a member of the Board of Directors of ezCater.com, a technology company that enables corporate catering services. From 2020 to 2021, she was a member of the Carlson Travel Inc. board and worked to complete two financial restructurings of the company. From 2007 to 2021, Laura served as a member of the board of the Trustees for the Columbia Acorn Trust and the Wanger Advisors Trust (small and mid-capitalization equity mutual funds), ten years of which she was elected as Chair of the Board. From 2018 to 2020, she served on the Driehaus Capital Managment LLC Advisory Board (small/mid cap equity asset management firm).
More recently, Born provided humanitarian assistance in Poland to support Ukrainian refugees via Paracrew.org and the All Hands and Hearts organizations. Closer to home, Born was a long time board member of the Infant Welfare Society of Evanston (a not-for profit serving low income children and their families in the area) for 15 years. She has been involved in public education initiatives in her public school district, having served as: a Co-Chair of the 21st Century Learning Sub-Committee, a member of the Central School Improvement Plan Committee and a delegate to the New Trier High School Board of Education Caucus.
Born earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Duke University in 1987. She received an MBA in finance and accounting with Honors from Chicago Booth in 1991.
She enjoys Italy, Austin, the mountains, music, traveling, art history, yoga, hiking, and downhill skiing.