2011 Class Day Speaker: Kathy Giusti (MBA ’85)
“Know what your dream is and go after it.” Kathy Giusti, MBA ’85
Watch Giusti discuss her journey from business plan to fighting cancer on CNBC.
Kathy Giusti, founder and CEO of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium, will give HBS’s Class Day keynote address to students on Wednesday, May 25.
The Class Day keynote speaker is selected each year by a student committee responsible for planning the ceremony.
Giusti brings an inspiring story of healthcare entrepreneurship and the impact of business principles. A recipient of the 2009 HBS Alumni Achievement Award, she’s revolutionized cancer research on multiple myeloma, a rare and incurable blood cancer with one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers.
Giusti’s work has changed the lives of many cancer patients, including her own. A former marketing executive at Merck, Gillette, and Searle, she was diagnosed with myeloma in 1996. Given three years to live, she decided to use her business background, along with the legal expertise of her twin sister, Karen, to make a difference. Together they founded the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in 1998 to break down barriers and speed the development of new treatments.
MMRF and its sister organization, the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium, win praise for their ability to accelerate research and drug development. Under Giusti’s leadership, the two groups have helped to bring patients four new treatments and prolonged the life expectancy of thousands.
The HBS Class Day ceremony takes place the day before Harvard University’s Commencement exercises and the HBS diploma ceremony. Open to the graduating class, their guests, HBS alumni, and faculty and staff, Class Day features a welcome from the MBA Class co-presidents, faculty teaching awards, and a student speaker.
For more on Class Day and Commencement, including archives of past speakers, visit www.hbs.edu/commencement. Watch for highlights, including Giusti’s advice to our newest alumni, in June.
