Network
Directory AssistanceThe above link connects to the most frequent points of contact between the School and its alumni. We hope it will make HBS services more accessible to you, as well as suggest new ways to take advantage of the HBS network.
HBS Alumni Association Board of
Directors: Presidents Report
Career Transitions, Continuing Education
Focus of Washington, D.C., Club
University Elections
Siebel Addresses HBS Northern California
Club
Save The Dates
Spring Meeting of the HBSAA Board
of Directors/Club Officers Roundtable
HBS
May 29–30, 2002
Spring 2002 Reunions/MBA Classes
of 1927, 1932, 1937, 1942, 1947, 1952, 1982, 1987, 1992,
1997
HBS
May 30–June 2, 2002
Class Day and Commencement
HBS
June 5–6, 2002
HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President's Report
Spring greetings to all HBS alumni! The arrival of April signals
the start of intense planning for spring events at HBS. The MBA
spring reunions are fast approaching, and plans for the annual
Club Officers Roundtable and spring Alumni Board meeting are coming
together.
Normally in this letter we would be reflecting on the success of another sold-out Global Alumni Conference (GAC), but as many of you already know, we made a very difficult decision to cancel the conference scheduled for March in Buenos Aires. We extend our deepest thanks to the conference organizing committee in Argentina for the enormous effort they put into arranging this event. We hope that the difficult situation in their country is successfully and peacefully resolved, and we look forward to going to Argentina at a future time. We are now turning our attention to supporting our alumni organizers for the next GACs. Be sure to mark your calendars for June 17–19, 2003, in Shanghai, China, and March 9–12, 2004, in Washington, D.C.
As I mentioned in my last letter, the Alumni Board is a working board, and I want to give you a quick status report on the important projects that our committees are undertaking this year. These efforts directly affect you as a graduate.
The Communications Committee, chaired by Paul Stewart (MBA ’87), has already made enormous progress this year. Over the last few months, committee members have been working with the School to develop an informative and interesting “road show” presentation that outlines the major initiatives currently under way at HBS. The presentation is being designed so that a club officer or a member of the board can deliver it with ease at club sessions and other meetings. In addition, the committee has supported the School’s efforts to inaugurate a new electronic newsletter for alumni as well as to revamp the Web site, a project that has already begun. Finally, the committee has offered critical feedback in the area of targeted marketing that will help the School identify the needs of specific segments of alumni and decide how best to address them.
The Lifelong Learning Committee, chaired by Perry Driggs (MBA ’61), is helping the School fulfill its commitment to enhancing its educational opportunities for alumni. The committee is developing recommendations for how best to market current learning programs to alumni, suggesting where to modify existing programs to add value for an alumni audience, and offering possible topics for new programs. In particular, the committee is focused on building attendance at The Entrepreneur’s Tool Kit, Strengthening Your Role as a Nonprofit Board Leader, and Charting Your Course: Women Reentering the Workforce. In addition, the committee is actively assisting Executive Education as it launches Breakthrough Insights, an exciting new program designed exclusively for alumni, scheduled for May 5–8. Members of the committee are also examining the current reunion model and making suggestions for improvements.
The Recent Graduates Committee, chaired by Eric Turner (MBA ’82), is addressing the School’s relationship with current MBA students and Executive Education participants and the best way to inform them about the services and programs available when they graduate. The group is soliciting input from current students as well as recent graduates to determine the most effective way to reach them. Enormous progress has been made thanks to the commitment of Donella Rapier, associate dean of External Relations, and Professor Howard Stevenson, senior associate dean and director of External Relations, to visit each of the eleven first-year section classrooms and deliver an interactive presentation about the School’s financial structure as well as an overview of alumni benefits and services.
The Global Alumni Conference Committee provides a critical oversight function to the conferences. This committee, led by Joan McCabe (MBA ’81), offered sound advice and counsel as we grappled with the difficulty of canceling the conference in Buenos Aires and is monitoring the progress of the Shanghai and Washington, D.C., conferences as they begin to come together. Subcommittees will continue to work on refining best practices for future conference hosts, including how to identify sponsors and define their role and how to provide consistency in the areas of marketing and promotion. They will also work on developing financial guidelines for future conferences.
The Nominating Committee, chaired by Ed Hajim (MBA
’64), continued its important work and has identified and
interviewed a number of impressive candidates for nomination to
the board for next year. These have been busy months for the Alumni
Board, and I am extremely grateful to all board members for their
contagious
enthusiasm, creative ideas, and endless support. The Alumni Board
exists to represent you and your interests, and I encourage you
to contact any of us to share your thoughts and ideas. In this
year of difficult events, we are reminded of the importance of
the sense of community among HBS alumni. On behalf of the board,
I want to offer my sincere appreciation for all you do to keep
that network so strong and vibrant.
Susan Luick Good (MBA ’71)
March 2002
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Career Transitions, Continuing Education Focus of Washington, D.C., Club
In 1995, Joseph L. Loughran (MBA ’83) volunteered to be the
government activities luncheon coordinator for the HBS Club of
Washington, D.C. “Little did I know what was in store for
me,” he jokes. Loughran, a Pennsylvania native, is now president
of the four hundred–member club, a position he’s affectionately
dubbed “the job that never quits.”
Founded in 1933, the Washington, D.C., club has a longstanding tradition of sponsoring evening events, downtown luncheons, and government-related activities. Since taking office in July 2000, Loughran has built on this foundation and added a handful of innovative new programs, such as the club’s “Books for Breakfast” series, which features authors from the cutting edge of academia and business. HBS professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter kicked off the program last year with Evolve!: Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow, followed by a presentation led by Professor Nancy F. Koehn on her recent book, Brand New: How Entrepreneurs Earned Consumers’ Trust from Wedgwood to Dell. Loughran’s goal is to make the series a monthly event that will serve as “an ongoing continuing education course” for attendees.
“Books” and the Tech Track Breakfast series — a staple of the club’s schedule that features speakers from the high-tech sector — both welcome graduates from other prominent business schools. “Including alumni beyond HBS gives us a chance to meet new people, to ask questions, and to be exposed to an extensive range of companies and opportunities,” Loughran observes.
Working closely with Stephen C. Messner (MBA ’80), Loughran also launched “Your Next Job/Your Next Career,” a program designed to support alumni during the daunting process of searching for new employment. “Often our first impulse at times of transition is to say, ‘Well, gee, I haven’t made it to the cover of Forbes yet,’ then run and hide. That’s the last thing that should happen,” says Loughran, a former director of research at a local investment bank whose own résumé — which includes diverse positions such as Army intelligence officer and freelance writer — was altered by this particular program.
“Helping fellow alumni go through a career transition has always been important to me, especially because I’ve been the beneficiary of so much support myself,” says Loughran, who launched YourNextCareer.net after September 11. “I realized that helping individuals and institutions with career transitions was far more rewarding and energizing than what I used to do, so I started my own firm.”
Loughran is quick to emphasize the role played by club chairman Bruce F. Avery (MBA ’69), EVP Brian R. Barnett (MBA ’83), and VP of programs Ralph E. Schofer (18th PMD), noting that “the club depends on a solid core team of people.” As part of the club’s ongoing effort to expand its social enterprise agenda, Melissa T. Williams (MBA ’95) and Ernest A. Blackwelder (MBA ’88) spearhead the Community Service Initiative (CSI), which provides pro bono consulting to five local nonprofit groups, including the National Capital Chapter of the American Red Cross. CSI also plans to organize weekend volunteer projects in order to offer club members a variety of options for giving back to the community.
With Washington, D.C., slated to host the 2004 HBS Global Alumni Conference, Loughran is already looking forward to being part of the planning team required to put together a successful event. And if preparing for the conference is anything like his tenure as club president, he expects the experience will feature three key qualities: “Great people, great fun, and a lot of work.”
— Amy Burton
For more information on the Washington, D.C., club,
visit www.hbsclubwdc.net.
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University ElectionsHarvard Business School alumni are invited to participate in Harvard University’s elections for both the Board of Overseers and the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA). The elections will determine five new Overseers and six new HAA Directors. Ballots will be mailed by April 15 and must be returned by May 31. Results of the elections will be announced on Commencement Day, June 6. |
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Candidates for Overseer
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Rozlyn L. Anderson, |
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Frederick H. Dulles, AB ‘64; MBA/JD ‘68, Columbia University. Partner, McFadden, Pilkington & Ward LLP. New York, NY. |
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Frances D. Fergusson, MA ’66, Ph.D. ’73; BA ’65, Wellesley College. President, Vassar College. Poughkeepsie, NY. |
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William F. Lee, AB ’72; JD ’76, Cornell Law School; MBA ’76, Cornell University. Attorney; Managing Partner, Hale and Dorr LLP. Boston, MA. |
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Richard I. Melvoin, AB ’73; MA ’78, Ph.D. ’83, University of Michigan. Head of School, Belmont Hill School. Belmont, MA. |
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Penny Pritzker, AB ’81; JD/MBA ’85, Stanford Law School and Stanford Business School. President and CEO, Pritzker Realty Group; Chair and CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt. Chicago, IL. |
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Jaime Sepulveda, MPH ’80, MPT ’81, SD ’85; MD ’78, National Autonomous University of Mexico. Director General, National Institute of Public Health; Dean, School of Public Health of Mexico. Mexico City, Mexico. |
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Thomas C. Werner, AB ’71. Co-owner, Carsey-Werner- Mandabach Co. LLC; Founding Partner, Oxygen Media. Los Angeles, CA. |
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Richard N. Zare, AB ’61, Ph.D. ’64. Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science, Stanford University. Stanford, CA. |
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Candidates for HAA Director |
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Peter A. |
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Walter K. Clair, |
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Angela K. Dorn, |
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Melita M. Garza, |
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John F. Irving, AB |
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Joan Z. |
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Andres W. Lopez, |
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Eleanor |
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Stephen R. |
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Siebel Addresses HBS Northern California Club
In December, some 450 alumni representing HBS and other top business
schools gathered for a talk by Thomas M. Siebel, chairman and
CEO of Siebel Systems, Inc., which produces e-business application
software. The event, sponsored by the HBS Association of Northern
California and the Wharton Club of Northern California, took place
at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame.
In his introduction, Sean W. Jacobsohn (MBA ’98) noted, “Siebel Systems was founded in 1993 with no venture capital and needed only $1.8 million in revenues to attain profitability.” The company’s success, he continued, is due in large part to its founder’s emphasis on customer relations over shareholder value. Today, Siebel has over eight thousand employees in more than 34 countries. Fortune magazine ranked the company second in its 2001 listing of the “100 Fastest-Growing Companies.”
“Building a great company is about building great products,” Siebel told the audience. “We make as many mistakes as anyone else, but this is our vision: Build a high-quality business. Do whatever it takes to make our customers satisfied. Be a market leader, a great place to work, and a good member of the community — profit will take care of itself.”
At Siebel Systems, he continued, incentive compensation is tied to customer- satisfaction scores. “Virtually every employee communication that I’ve given since the company’s founding has been centered around the absolute commitment to do whatever it takes to make sure that our customer succeeds,” he stated.
Asked if he had any advice for wouldbe entrepreneurs, Siebel replied, “Deliver a high-quality product, get it to market, and make a profit.” There’s no secret to this last task, he added. “Figure out how much revenue you have coming in and spend less than that. If only a penny, make a profit. And then two cents, and then four, and then eight.” In 2000, Siebel’s revenues were $1.79 billion.
“This was one of the most well-attended speaker events we’ve ever organized,” said Jacobsohn. “It was a great opportunity for HBS alumni to come together, meet new people, and interact with a leading innovator in the high-tech world.”
