Up to the Challenge: Profiles from the Class of 2002
Pictured from left to right: Ken Baumgartner, Ipsita Dasgupta, Martin Gonzalez, Lori Schock, Tony Sanchez, and Demola Gbadegesin
Photography by Robert Schoen
Members of the Class of 2002 graduate this June into a world transformed by recent events. The giddy economic expansion that fueled sky-high expectations at the turn of the millennium has been replaced by a climate of uncertainty marked by color-coded terrorism alerts, horrific Middle East violence, and the precipitous downfall of a seemingly indomitable corporate giant.
In terms of their ambition, intelligence, and diverse and impressive backgrounds, this year's graduates are not all that different from their predecessors. But based on our conversations with the six outstanding students profiled in the following pages — who repeatedly stressed the overriding importance of family, diverted the spotlight from their own talents to those of their classmates, and eschewed the assertion that strong leadership necessarily means “having all the answers” — there emerges a conviction that the Class of 2002 will approach the complex challenges of today's business world with a maturity that belies their youth.
