Huntsman School Names Finance Trading Room in Honor of Marriner S. Eccles

LOGAN, Utah — The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University officially named the Marriner S. Eccles Finance Trading Room during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 14, honoring the legacy of one of Utah’s most influential business and economic leaders while creating a dedicated space for students to gain hands-on experience in finance.

Located on the main floor of the George S. Eccles Business Building, the new trading room serves as a hub for experiential learning within the Huntsman School’s Department of Economics and Finance. The space houses nine Bloomberg terminals, providing students access to industry-leading investment and trading platforms, and will support student investment and trading practicums, case competitions, research and other applied learning opportunities.

Hope Eccles, trustee of the Marriner S. Eccles Foundation and great-niece of Marriner S. Eccles, joined Huntsman School students, faculty and leaders for the ribbon cutting. The Marriner S. Eccles Foundation continues Eccles’ legacy of philanthropy through support of organizations and causes throughout Utah, including higher education, health, arts and culture, and social services.

“This trading floor is about far more than screens, numbers, and moving prices. It offers students an extraordinary opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world situations,” said Hope Eccles. “Here, students will learn not only how markets work, but also how to think under pressure, weigh risk against reward, respond to changing conditions, and make responsible decisions when the answers are not obvious.

“Those lessons will serve them not only as investors and business leaders, but also as thoughtful and engaged citizens.”

The trading room carries forward a connection between the Eccles family and business leadership in Utah that spans generations. Marriner S. Eccles and his brother, George S. Eccles, were sons of Utah industrialist David Eccles and Ellen Stoddard Eccles and native sons of Logan. Marriner S. Eccles went on to become a prominent banker and business leader before guiding the nation’s economic policy during the Great Depression and World War II as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. 

“We are extremely grateful to have a finance trading room named after Marriner Eccles,” said Ben Blau, head of the Department of Economics and Finance. “His role during the Great Depression, both in the state and the country, is a prime example to our students of outstanding leadership and economic thinking.”

The room will provide a dedicated home for the department’s growing experiential learning programs, including state and national case competitions and hands-on experiences in investment, venture capital, real estate and trading.

“This trading room will be home to the experiential learning programs in the Department of Economics and Finance,” Blau said. “These programs, which include state and national case competitions, hands-on experience in both venture capital and real estate, and various practicum courses, will continue to grow and develop as students prepare for an ever-changing labor market. We are delighted that this trading room will serve as a home to these programs.”

Students in the department have established a strong record in experiential competitions. In 2025, Huntsman teams earned first place at the Rocky Mountain Stock Pitch Competition, Utah Real Estate Challenge and Bellwether Real Estate Case Competition. Huntsman students have also won the statewide CFA Institute Research Challenge seven of the past eight years and the nationwide Women’s Stock Pitch Competition hosted by William & Mary University three consecutive years.

The department also offers investment, real estate and trading practicums in which student teams manage real portfolios under faculty mentorship. The new trading room brings those experiences together with the technology, collaborative space and faculty support students need to put financial theory into practice.

The Marriner S. Eccles Finance Trading Room represents the Huntsman School’s continued investment in learning by doing, providing students opportunities to develop real-world skills, make complex decisions and prepare for careers in a changing financial landscape.