of Note
Gordon Donaldson Remembered
An expert in corporate financial management, HBS professor emeritus Gordon Donaldson (DCS ’56), a faculty member from 1955 to 1993, died on February 12. He was 87. Donaldson, a native of Canada, taught in the MBA, Executive Education, and Doctoral programs and had enormous influence at HBS as a mentor, researcher, and administrator. In 1995, the MBA Class of 1963 established a professorship in his honor. “Gordon was an intellectual leader at the School for many years,” said HBS professor Jay Lorsch. “He had a deep understanding of and interest in corporate financial decision-making and in the values and beliefs of the decision-makers.”
Laura Alfaro to Costa Rican Post
HBS associate professor Laura Alfaro is taking a leave of absence from the School to serve as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy in her native Costa Rica. At 38, Alfaro, who has no prior service in Costa Rican public office, is the youngest of several appointees named by the country’s new president, Laura Chinchilla. An expert on international economics, including foreign direct investment, financial markets, and sovereign debt, Alfaro, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA, was honored as a Young Global Leader in 2008 by the World Economic Forum.
Fashionable Fundraising
Thirty-five HBS students and partners took to the runway in mid-April for the Retail & Apparel Club’s 7th annual HBS Fashion Show. The sold-out event packed a Boston restaurant, with the proceeds going to the Harris Center for Education and Advocacy in Eating Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital. The show featured clothes from 22 designers and retailers, including Marchesa, Marc Jacobs, BCBG, and Banana Republic. View photos and video from the show at www.thehbsfashionshow.com. Learn about the Harris Center’s programs at www.harriscentermgh.org.
NFLers Tackle HBS
More than 35 active players from a number of National Football League teams, including the Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings, spent a week at HBS in February in a custom Executive Education program. Now in its sixth year, the program is taught by HBS faculty and designed to assist players in preparing for life after football. The players cracked cases on a variety of business topics and took workshops on entrepreneurial opportunities and business management.
Also from the NFL and now in the MBA Class of 2011 is Isaiah Kacyvenski, a former Harvard linebacker who played several professional seasons in Seattle and St. Louis.
Students Reach Out to Haiti
Several student relief efforts sprang up in the wake of February’s earthquake in Haiti. Partners In Health, which has been working in the country for over twenty years, was the beneficiary of choice for many of the first-year section charity auctions. As part of his involvement with the Operational Medicine Institute, Seth Moulton (HBS ’11) collaborated on the development of an iPhone electronic health record application that doctors can use to track patients in the field. And Haiti native Jules Walter and Jean-Claude Homawoo (both MBA ’10) are heading up an effort to rebuild schools in Haiti, working in conjunction with the nonprofit organization Architecture for Humanity. Haiti native Alika Phipps (HBS ’11) will lead a task force for coordinating student efforts in the coming year.
MBA Career Office Wins Award
The MBA Career & Professional Develop-ment office has received the 2009 IBM Excellence in Career Services Award. The award “recognizes academic career centers that provide outstanding commitment and partnerships to IBM recruiters,” said Laura Sewell, the company’s manager of university recruitment and internship programs. She praised HBS as an “innovative recruiting partner.” At HBS, more than 20 full-time professionals and 34 career coaches manage a broad portfolio of career development and recruitment programs for MBA students. The School maintains recruiting relationships with hundreds of global companies.
