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Pittsburgh Alumni Annual Meeting Features PPG’s McGarry
Clubs News
Outgoing HBSA Pittsburgh President Bill Slivka (MBA 1976) (left) stands with guest speaker Michael McGarry (AMP 169 2005), Chairman and CEO of PPG, at the Association's Annual Meeting.
The HBS Association of Pittsburgh wrapped up the year with its Annual Meeting on May 15. Michael McGarry (AMP 169, 2005), chairman and CEO of PPG, gave the keynote address to an audience of approximately 25 alumni and guests gathered at the HYP Club.
Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) was founded in 1883 and is now the world’s largest manufacturer of paints, coatings and specialty materials, with $15 billion in sales.
McGarry, a mechanical engineer who worked his way up the ranks at PPG, shared his views on the company, his career, HBS and leadership in a roundtable conversation with the audience.
It was fitting that one of the oldest manufacturers in the city was represented at the meeting, according to HBSA of Pittsburgh outgoing President Bill Slivka (MBA 1976).
“Ours was one of the original and largest HBS alumni clubs for a long time,” Slivka says. “Our records show that our first club president was Nathan Pearson (MBA 1934) who served in 1941 to 1942. So we go back close to 80 years.”
Slivka said the club was most active in the 1970s when many major corporations were setting up headquarters in Pittsburgh. “We had close to 100 HBS alumni working at Westinghouse alone,” he says. “Then we had a slump in membership in the 1990s. But we’ve had a big drive to bring membership numbers up. We now run about 10 major club events a year and use what we learn from HBS Club Leadership Conferences to keep the momentum going.”
Oregon Community Partners Pitch Night: Matchmaking for A Better World
The HBS Association of Oregon (HBSAO) held its Community Partners Pitch Night on May 22 to hear from local nonprofits seeking consulting assistance from the club’s alumni volunteers.
“We heard from three organizations,” says the program’s chair, Mark Chussil (MBA 1979). “We selected two, and will field teams for both of them, based on their needs, and the skills and experience of our volunteers.”
The winning pitches came from Relay Resources, a nonprofit organization that serves the employment, training, housing, and education needs of people with disabilities in Oregon and Washington, and Serendipity Center, a Portland school for at-risk youth. Chussil says the HBSAO program will place about six volunteer consultants in each project.
In addition, the HBSAO Community Partners program is open to volunteer consultants “from HBS and other top business schools. It’s a way to build a network across our business community here,” Chussil says. Consultants typically help clients with challenges of limited resources, effectively scaling services, or understanding the social ROI of their services.
“We’re helping one of our new clients to quantify the benefit it produces for its stakeholders, which will help in both management and marketing,” Chussil says, noting that the current projects are expected to last three months. “We're helping the other to market its services in a market that's shifting rapidly from the public sector to the private sector.”
Now in its tenth year, the program remains one of the most popular among HBSAO alumni. “We put our skills to good use when we help those who need help through Community Partners," Chussil says.
HBS Association of Thailand Hosts Collis for Strategy Talk
David J. Collis (MBA 1958), the Thomas Henry Carroll Ford Foundation Adjunct Professor of Business Administration within the Strategy Unit at HBS, treated about 70 HBS alumni and guests of the HBSA of Thailand (HBSATh) to a kind of master class in business strategy in Bangkok on May 14.
Considered a leading expert in strategy, Collis was in Thailand to lead 84 first-year HBS MBA students through their FIELD Global Immersion (FGI) in 14 local companies, according to association vice-president Thierry Lovenbach (MBA 1971). The HBSA of Thailand helped Collis with the global immersion component of the course by identifying the host companies.
“We were lucky to have Professor Collis, who was in town for a week for the FGI,” says Lovenbach.
Alumni and guests enjoyed dinner at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel, while Collis presented “The Complete Strategy Landscape” like a typical HBS lecture, though there was no case included. (View photos.) “We know the audience was quite excited and impressed with the lecture,” says Lovenbach, adding that HBS faculty speakers attract the largest audiences of all the club’s events each year. “Since the club started five years ago, we’ve hosted three HBS professors, and would love to see more.”
The next HBSATh event, "Growth Hacking: Insights from the World's Leading Firms" is set for Tuesday, June 19, at Bangkok Marriott Sukhumvit.
Dispatch from the Annual Club Leadership Conference
The HBS Clubs Team welcomed 55 club leaders and officers from across the globe to campus at the end of May for the annual Club Leadership Conference (CLC). Organized by HBS Alumni Clubs & Associations, the conference serves as a forum to connect alumni presidents and officers to discuss the inner workings and strategies of running an alumni club.
The conference kicked off with a reception and dinner at the Harvard Club of Boston, allowing alumni to socialize and network with each other as well as with directors from the HBS Initiatives and Baker Library. The next day commenced with welcome remarks given by Janet Cahill (AMP 189), executive director of HBS External Relations, who shared insights on the HBS Campaign and alumni engagement. Professor David Yoffie, Max and Doris Starr Professor of International Business Administration, presented an interactive case study discussion based on his book “Strategy Rules: Five Timeless Lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs.”
Club leaders and officers participated in breakout sessions and panel discussions focused on topics such as membership, programming, communications, and governance. The conference structure allows alumni to exchange ideas and learn strategies from one another, strengthening and advancing the alumni clubs in their respective geographic regions and interest groups.
Boris Tsimerinov (PLDA 16), executive officer for the HBS Club of Toronto, expressed three key benefits to attending the conference including gaining information from other clubs, sharing and contributing to other clubs, and connecting with the School.
“It’s an opportunity to collaborate, learn from clubs and shared interest groups, share in best practices, and think about ideas that can be transplanted back to your own region,” said Tsimerinov. “It’s valuable to connect with the School on initiatives and hear how the School is evolving. Club leaders can then help advance and share the priorities of the School with fellow alumni.”
Following CLC, many club leaders and officers stayed on camps for the annual Alumni Volunteers Leadership Conference and some stayed to participate in reunion festivities and connect with former classmates.
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