Of Note
Gift of Gab
For the second year running, Jin (“PJ”) Kim (MBA ’06) won the HBS Public Speaking Competition. Kim and seven others were selected as finalists from a preliminary group of nearly forty MBA students after each delivered a four-minute, impromptu speech on a randomly selected quotation. The finalists then delivered a prepared talk on a topic of their choice. Subjects ranged from the pharmaceutical industry to the relative merits of cats vs. dogs, while Kim’s presentation took a humorous yet thoughtful approach to lessons learned in his ongoing search for a job. Kim was also selected as this year’s Class Day Student Speaker.
China Dominates HBS Business Plan Contest
The economic power and emerging opportunities in China inspired winners in the tenth annual HBS Business Plan Contest last April. Tingting Zhong (MBA ’06) won first place in the traditional track for 8Baorice, a company that aims to create an online community focused on fashion and beauty for some 45 million Chinese women. In the social enterprise track, Jose Dias de Barros and Shawn Tan (both MBA ’06) took top honors for Yashmere, a venture that would export yashmere (yak) yarn from one of China’s poorest regions to the U.S. market. Mountains for Miracles won in the social enterprise track’s pilot phase, which recognizes start-ups already in operation (www.mountainsformiracles.org).
In Memoriam
Professor Michael G. Rukstad, a member of the HBS faculty from 1981 to 1991, passed away in May at the age of 51. Rukstad taught the required courses in BGIE and Competition and Strategy, as well as courses in the Executive Education Program. Rukstad, who held a Ph.D. in economics, was also an expert pilot and avid outdoorsman.
