The Tour of Hope is a bicycle relay from San Diego to Washington, D.C., a 3,300-mile journey intended to raise awareness about cancer research, prevention, and detection. One of the 25 participants in the October ride was cancer-survivor Meg Berté (MBA ’00), who rode a leg of some 800 miles despite the fact that her lungs, scarred from her treatments, were functioning at only 50 percent of capacity. Said Berté, who trained for four months to prepare for the Tour, “I never in a million years thought I would be on a bike again” (Los Angeles Times, October 3, 2005).
A former collegiate soccer player who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1995, Berté saw the cancer return six months after she completed her initial treatment. She then enrolled in a clinical trial including chemotherapy, radiation, and a stem-cell transplant. After this second treatment, she was told by doctors that she would never again do competitive sports. But inspired by Lance Armstrong (who took part in various stages of the Tour of Hope) and by a growing body of research that says fitness may reduce cancer recurrence rates, Berté challenged herself. “To me, and to cancer survivors, especially athletes, we look to Lance and see that there are no limits.”
An investor-relations manager at Moore Capital Management, based in New York City, Berté also helps lead an orientation group for patients preparing for stem-cell transplants. “I love my job and my life,” she said. “But when I speak to these patients, that is when I am happiest and I feel that is what I am meant to do.”
To read Berté’s journal of her Tour of Hope ride, visit www.tourofhope.org.
Benetton Brain Trust: After learning at the knee of his father, Luciano, Alessandro is taking the family business forward.
Photo by Giuseppe Pino
Working for his family’s company, whose colorful sportswear and controversial advertising made it a brand of international renown, Alessandro Benetton (MBA ’91) enjoyed a good run at a particularly glamorous assignment: managing the Benetton Group’s Formula 1 racing team. Named deputy chairman of the company last spring, Benetton has now been charged with revitalizing the firm’s line and leading its expansion into China and India, according to the New York Sun (September 16, 2005). On the need for change, Benetton said, “The company was very innovative when it began. We don’t want to change the model. On the other hand, we may want to introduce some experimentation.”
Benetton, who will remain as chairman of 21 Investimenti SpA, a private-equity firm he founded in 1993, has seen the Benetton Group’s share price and revenues decline in recent years. (Only 4 percent of the company’s revenues come from the Americas, while 85 percent are from Europe.) “The company is my highest priority,” he said. “It bears our family name and has our commitment.”
His grandfather was a Communist, and he was born to a single mother living in council housing, but David Davis (AMP 96, 1985) has grown up to become a leading figure in Britain’s Conservative Party. His humble origins may give him broad national appeal to go along with his macho image and rugged appearance: He’s broken his nose three times, once playing rugby, then accidentally in a swimming pool, and yet again, it is said, in a fight. He’s a former member of Britain’s elite SAS commando outfit and an extreme-sports enthusiast who “enjoys cartwheeling out of aircraft into parachute jumps, mountain climbing, and flying light aircraft — clearly not a man to mess with,” opined BBC News Online (September 29, 2005).
Of his party’s future, Davis said, “Modern Conservatives will show that we are not in politics for ourselves. We are not here to defend privilege or accept the status quo. We have a real purpose to change Britain and improve lives.”
Bradley
Photo Courtesy MOAD
The executive director of the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), which opened in November in San Francisco, is V. Denise Bradley (MBA ’86). Bradley (right), who came to MoAD from London’s South Bank Centre and who had previously worked at Warner Bros. and Walt Disney International, is excited about her new position and the chance to offer “a unique, world-class museum experience for everyone.” (Among MoAD’s largest individual donors are Arthur Rock [MBA ’51] and his wife, Toni Rembe.)
Through commissioned original works; global traveling exhibitions; and film, video, and multimedia presentations, the museum tells the remarkable story of the African diaspora. “This is a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Bradley said. “MoAD is designed to inform and educate people about humanity’s origins in Africa as well as about the dispersal movement that populated the world. It is a humbling challenge to present humanity’s complexities in ways that are informative, entertaining, and motivating for a broad range of audiences, but we’re eager to do the job.”
India’s finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram (MBA ’68), is presiding over an economy, Asia’s third largest, that’s chugging along nicely and projected to finish with a 7 percent growth rate this year. But as Chidambaram told Reuters News (September 15, 2005), he’s keeping his eye on three areas of concern: pressure on government spending, the need to attract domestic and foreign investment, and oil prices. “I think oil prices are outrageous,” said Chidambaram, whose country imports 70 percent of its petroleum. “Oil-producing countries are exploiting the situation caused by the high growth rates of China, India, and perhaps the United States. They are making windfall profits. As a result, they are impoverishing developing countries.”
On the subject of outsourcing, Chidambaram asserted that it helps lower taxes for Americans and that “producing goods and services in India makes goods and services cheaper in the United States” (Yale Daily News, September 23, 2005).
