of Note
Conference Examines Intersection of Medicine and Business
With a focus on cutting-edge ideas shaping global health care, the HBS Health Industry Alumni Association drew some 300 participants to its annual three-day conference in early November, held for the first time on the Harvard Medical School campus. The conference, “Healthcare at the Intersection of Medicine and Business,” set the stage for a number of thought-provoking presentations on topics including regenerative medicine, stent wars, disruptive innovation, and consumer-driven health care in Switzerland. For information about the association, visit www.hbshealth.org.
New York HBS Club Donates Over $1 Million to Nonprofits
The HBS Club of New York in October announced a donation of more than $1 million to five New York City–area education-focused nonprofits and to HBS fellowship funds. These gifts mark the largest donation ever given by the New York club. Each nonprofit will receive an award of $180,000. HBS will receive $200,000 for need-based MBA fellowships and for two full scholarships for nonprofit leaders to attend the Executive Education Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management program. Said the New York club’s Bennett Goodman (MBA ’84), senior managing partner of GSO Capital Partners: “Our students and communities need nonprofit educational resources like these to be competitive in tomorrow’s business world.”
Community Partners Program Honored for Service to Nonprofits
The HBS clubs' Community Partners program, which provides free consulting services to nonprofits, has received the Volunteer Service Award from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. Several clubs have strong Community Partners programs, including Northern California, New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Connecticut. Club representatives received the award February 13 at the Pro Bono Summit in New York City.
Harvard Club of Boston Hits Historic Milestone
In the same year that HBS enrolled its first class 100 years ago, the Harvard Club of Boston welcomed its first members. Over the ensuing decades the club in downtown Boston has grown to over 6,000 members, roughly 1,200 of whom are HBS alumni. In fact, the Harvard Club and the HBS Association of Boston frequently work together to host joint events. For those HBS alumni who belong to both, it’s a dual centennial year. Visit the Harvard Club at www.harvardclub.com and the HBS Association of Boston at www.hbsab.org.
Baker’s Staff Gets a 21st-Century Name
Once upon a time, libraries collected books, and librarians checked them out. But those days are long gone as libraries have moved into the digital age. Baker Library, for example, also produces Web sites, manages audio and video resources, publishes online newsletters, and provides Web-based access to digital information. As its activities have changed, so too has the official name of Baker’s multidisciplinary staff. Since last fall, the staff has a new name: Knowledge and Library Services. “The new name better reflects the organization’s many activities that support learning, teaching, and research,” says Executive Director Mary Lee Kennedy. For more details, visit http://hul.harvard.edu/publications/hul_notes_1339/hbs_knowledge.html.
Highly Energetic
The fourth annual Energy Symposium at HBS in October brought together industry executives, venture capitalists, and consul-tants to discuss the sector’s challenges and opportunities. Winds of change are turning hearts and minds as well as turbines: While demand for coal and oil still drives the industry, forecasting its future grows ever more difficult. Three-quarters of the Fortune 500 now report on their carbon emissions, and “irrespective of what you believe about the science, climate change is a business reality,” said McKinsey’s John Creyts. Added Kleiner Perkins’s John Denniston, “Green tech is our generation’s moon shot.”
