Photographed by Susan Young; Edited by Julia Hanna

MORE ON THE RECIPIENTS

Read more about the 2023 recipients, and learn about past recipients.

ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS SITE

MORE ON THE RECIPIENTS

Read more about the 2023 recipients, and learn about past recipients.

ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS SITE

The recipients of the 2023 Alumni Achievement Awards, whom Dean Srikant Datar will recognize during the HBS graduation ceremony on May 25, 2023, are:
● Reshma Kewalramani MD, FASN (GMP 18, 2015)
● Depelsha Thomas McGruder (MBA 1998)
● Raymond J. McGuire (JD/MBA 1984)
● Antonis C. Samaras (MBA 1976)
● Stephen A. Schwarzman (MBA 1972)

CEO and President, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Big move: “I was almost 12 when we flew from Bombay to the United States. My impressions of the West came from the movie Grease and Archie comics. I thought people hung around the local burger joint all day, so I was very excited. The reality was a little bit different.”

Early indicators: “My teachers on Long Island really took to me, and I bonded with them. Mr. Gallo helped with my first research project: measuring the effect of X-rays on fruit flies. In order to do the experiment, he took me to his personal dentist, and we put the fruit flies in the dentist’s chair.”

Kidney love: “In medical school, renal medicine seemed to scare other students away. It’s about acid-based imbalances. Electrolyte abnormalities. You have to work through each problem from a first-principles perspective, and I really enjoyed that.”

Pivot: “A few years after medical school, I was teaching, seeing patients, and researching interesting science problems, but I wasn’t transforming human disease. I realized that what I wanted to do is discover and develop medicines.”

Once in a lifetime: “When I came to Vertex in 2017, there was a medicine finishing early clinical trials with the potential to serve up to 90 percent of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). In October 2019 that became Trikafta. Now CF patients talk to me about getting braces and the perils of 401K plans. Few things can give me the joy that working on Trikafta has given me.”

My hero: “Barbara McClintock discovered what’s referred to as ‘jumping genes.’ She has commented how that discovery was enabled by her different outlook as a female scientist. I’m selfishly motivated to bring diverse people into STEM so others can help us with the near-impossible job of drug discovery and development.”

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COO and Treasurer, Ford Foundation
Founder, Moms of Black Boys United

In my solitude: “I was born in Rome, Georgia. I’m an only child, and I think that shaped who I am: a solid introvert who has always been comfortable spending time alone with her own thoughts. The last thing I thought I’d do is start a nonprofit with complete strangers.”

Origin story: “In 2016, I was shattered by the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. My sons were 4 and 7 years old, and I’d read that by the time Black boys turn 10, society views them as potential aggressors. I remember thinking, I have three years to solve this.”

A viral moment: “I just wanted to connect with people who could understand what I was feeling: the fear, anger, pain, and disorientation of that moment. I created Moms of Black Boys United on Facebook and in less than 12 hours it had 21,000 members. Within three months there were 150,000.”

Accelerator: “When I was at New York Public Radio someone asked what was next. I said, ‘I’m not sure, but I want to find a way to have impact at scale.’ When I got a call from the Ford Foundation, I said, ‘That’s it.’ Ford also focuses on racial justice and so many other issues I care about deeply.”

Before and after: “My husband had a stroke in October 2020 and died two months later. People supported me in ways I couldn’t have predicted. Somehow, even in the midst of a pandemic, I felt more connected to my colleagues and community than I ever had before.”

Define leadership? “Providing vision and guidance and then letting people do their jobs—so a big part of my philosophy involves trust.”

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President, Lazard

True north: “I was raised in Dayton, Ohio, by my single mother and my grandparents. We had all the basics money could buy and everything it couldn’t: love, honor, respect, values, and faith. That was the foundation, as was education.”

Level up: “In 11th grade I had a 4.0 average, was president of the school, and averaged 28 points per game playing basketball. A teacher said, ‘Why don’t you test yourself against the big boys and girls back East?’ So at 16, by myself, I flew to Bradley Field, took a Greyhound bus around New England to visit schools, and ended up at Hotchkiss.”

The great unknown: “My classmate David ‘Leron’ Anderson had been an analyst at First Boston. I was eating a Charles River po’boy at the Tasty in Harvard Square when he said, ‘You should try this investment banking stuff.’ I knew nothing about it. Zero.”

No Plan B: “On Wall Street, looking like me, you have to perform. You continue to push, because if you succeed, unfortunately you’re the exception. If you fail, it’s I-told-you-so.”

Election bid: “Would I run for mayor of New York again? Yes, unequivocally. I wanted to use my background and experience to make a difference, to increase the opportunities available to children, especially those who look like me. I was in the arena. I’m so inspired by having done that.”

Fundamentals: “How did I get where I am today? Four things: prayer, preparation, performance, and paranoia. When I mention prayer, I think of my mother, who sacrificed so much and never doubted.”

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Member, Hellenic Parliament
Greek Prime Minister, 2012–2015

A different path: “My father, the 11th son of a family of 11, came to Athens from the village of Pylos to become a cardiologist. At Amherst, I was pre-med but didn’t like it. One day a friend dragged me out of a chemistry lab to hear John Kenneth Galbraith, and I fell in love with economics.”

HBS takeaways: “Whether you’re a manager or a prime minister, I learned the importance of managing by objective in a given time frame and discerning the essential from the trivial.”

Firsts: “The dictatorship fell in 1974 and I was asked to head the youth organization of the New Democracy Party. Then I was asked, at age 26, to run for Parliament, with the choice of Athens or Messenia. I chose Messenia, was elected in 1977, and am currently serving my 14th term.”

On site: “In 1986, I was in Kalamata when a huge earthquake destroyed everything. I continued to stay on site for over a year to help, because I needed to feel the people, to talk to them. Politics is a love of people and a love of solving problems.”

Bitter pill: “When I became prime minister, we had to tackle one major issue, which was to not go back to the drachma, to stay with the euro. It was very tough. The GDP of the country went down by more than 25 percent. I think that says it all.”

3 tips: “I was taught since I was a kid to drink a little bit of olive oil in the morning, for energy. Two, stay true to who you are, whatever the position. Three, never forget about your family. Even if you only have five minutes, call and say, ‘I love you.’ Say, ‘Here I am. I’m thinking of you.’ ”

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Chairman, CEO, and Cofounder, Blackstone

Quick study: “At Yale, I got a 68 on my first English paper and was on an expressway to great misfortune. My professor told me I wasn’t dumb—I just didn’t know how to write or think critically. He taught me, and I ended up on the dean’s list.”

Momentary mentor: “When I was 21, I didn’t know what I wanted to be or do, so I wrote a letter to Averell Harriman, the former governor of New York. He told me, ‘Don’t go into politics until you can afford to be owned by no one. You should go into business.’ That sounded logical and reasonable to me.”

Yes, please: “I interviewed at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, on a high floor looking uptown. I’d never had an economics or an accounting course, and I told Bill Donaldson, ‘I don’t have any idea what you do at DLJ, but watching all these young men and women on a mission…they’re so excited. Whatever they’re doing, I want to do it.’ ”

Tough start: “When we started Blackstone in 1985 we called everyone—and did not get one piece of business. Finally, Squibb Beech-Nut hired us for $50,000, which was less than any legal bill I paid at Lehman. And I was never so grateful for $50,000.”

In retrospect: “We thought it was easy to be successful. We forgot that what we were creating didn’t exist and that there was probably a reason the world didn’t particularly want it.”

The Blackstone way: “We believe in meritocracy, openness, and horizontal management. The only difference is that some of us are a little older and have more data—but that doesn’t mean we’re smarter.”

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