MBA Class of 2004 Celebrates Class Day and Commencement
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| HATS OFF: Jubilant Class of 2004 grads whoop it up on Baker Lawn. |
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| Student speaker Dan Heath urged his classmates to live wisely and joyfully. |
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| MBA Program Chair Carl Kester and Dean Kim B. Clark with Class Day speaker Richard Wagoner (MBA ’77), GM chairman and CEO. |
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| Once and future HBS students enjoy the proceedings. Photos by Stuart Cahill |
For the hundreds of MBA students and their families assembled on a hot and steamy Baker Lawn last June, Class Day 2004 was an occasion for mixed emotions. Several of the event’s speakers juxtaposed fond recollections of shared HBS experiences with the excitement and anticipation of new lives about to begin beyond Soldiers Field.
The day’s program started with the conferring of the Student Association Faculty Awards for excellence in teaching. Associate Professor Rawi Abdelal (Business, Government, and the International Economy), Assistant Professor Joshua Margolis (Organizational Behavior), Professor André Perold (Finance), and Associate Professor Jan Rivkin (Strategy) were the recipients of this coveted, student-voted accolade.
Student speaker Dan Heath (MBA ’04) followed with an amusing speech in which he made a fanciful request of his audience. Imagine, he asked, that you could carry in your pocket a miniature governing board composed of several individual voices and characters whose collective judgment could be called on in times of need. For his own “pocket board,” Heath chose voices that would advocate for social justice, offer wisdom based on sensible priorities and broad experience, and emphasize living a joyful and courageous life.
Guest speaker G. Richard (“Rick”) Wagoner Jr. (MBA ’77), chairman and CEO of General Motors, urged graduates not to overplan their futures. “Focus on whatever your current job is, do it well, and then take advantage of opportunities as they arise,” he advised. On management, style, and leadership, Wagoner offered several observations. The best strategy, he noted, is often not the optimal one, but the one that’s easiest to implement. Similarly, the best approach is almost always the simplest one that will get a job done.
A leader, Wagoner said, should always save the toughest assignments for herself, shouldering blame for mistakes while giving credit to others for successes. And a leader must keep in mind that “values should always win versus anything else.” In conclusion, Wagoner urged graduates to think in terms of win-win solutions. “If you can try to recognize the other person’s perspective and craft a solution that wins for both sides,” he said, “you’ll create a much longer-term model of success.”
At Commencement ceremonies the next day, 889 members of the MBA Class of 2004 received their degrees (as did four newly minted Doctor of Business Administration graduates). In bidding the class farewell, Dean Kim B. Clark praised the students for their efforts and achievements. In particular, he noted the contributions of this year’s Dean’s Award winners, Mariame McIntosh and Daniel Reed (both MBA ’04), who were honored for their community-building efforts among African-Americans not only at HBS but also at MIT and Harvard.
