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Alumni Achievement Awards 2024
Photographed by Susan Young; Edited by Julia Hanna
The recipients of the 2024 Alumni Achievement Awards, whom Dean Srikant Datar recognized during the HBS graduation ceremony on May 23, 2024, are:
● Peter Crisp (MBA 1960)
● John Hess (MBA 1977)
● Desiree Rogers (MBA 1985)
● Gerald Schwartz (MBA 1970)
● Gwill York (MBA 1984)
Cofounder and former Managing Partner, Venrock Associates
Take flight: “I soloed in a single-engine airplane at the age of 14, at a crazy place on Long Island called the Aviation Club. It was a dirt airstrip with telephone poles all around the field. I often wonder why my parents let me do it.”
WAC attack: In Crisp’s era, the Written Analysis of Cases was a biweekly ritual: “That was the most exciting place to be in Boston on a Saturday night, watching people run with their papers to put them in the Baker Library chute by 9 p.m.”
Dear sir: “In 1959, I wrote to Laurance Rockefeller after reading about his investments in Eastern Air Lines and what became McDonnell Douglas. He decided, hey, let’s have this HBS guy come clean up the files. My salary was $6,500 a year. And that began a 45-year relationship.”
In the beginning: Venrock was formed in 1969 to build on the Rockefeller family’s earlier investment success. “The initial funding was $7.5 million; one of our first investments was $250,000 in Intel.”
Apple corps: “We invested early in Apple, purchasing 10 percent of the company in 1979 for $300,000. Serving on the board for 16 years was interesting and challenging but never fun, except for the four or five days surrounding the IPO in 1980. We bet the company at every board meeting.”
Superpower: “I think I would say picking good people. I know the real thing when I see it. A lot of it is intuition.”
CEO, Hess Corporation
Roots: “My first job was pumping gas at a Hess station in New Jersey when I was age 15. I loved that job, because I met people from all walks of life and was busy every second, filling the tank, washing windshields, and popping the hood.”
Building blocks: “My father never went to college. In 1933, at the age of 19, he bought a secondhand truck and started delivering fuel oil; that was the founding of our company. I felt it was essential to go to college and business school to prepare for the business world. HBS taught me how to stand up for my views, be a good listener, and learn from others.”
International relations: “It’s important for US business leaders to respect the countries where they do business, by appreciating their language and culture. In high school, I learned Spanish; in college, I learned Arabic; and at HBS, I found a tutor to teach me Farsi.”
Fueling prosperity: “The energy industry has always fascinated me. Why? Energy is the engine that drives the world’s economy, lifts people out of poverty, and improves quality of life. Oil and gas will be needed for decades and are fundamental to an affordable, just, and secure energy transition.”
Primary care: “HBS reinforced the belief in business as a force for good in society—a belief that is core to our company’s values. In Guyana, we’re partnering with the Mt. Sinai Health System and the Guyanese government to modernize the country’s health care system, and we also have made one of the largest private-sector carbon credit agreements to protect Guyana’s vast forests.”
Co-Owner, CEO, Black Opal LLC
The Big Easy: “I grew up in the 7th Ward of New Orleans and went to school in the French Quarter. Growing up, my parents were both educators, so that was the center of everything at home. As a child, going to school and studying hard was my job.”
I will put a spell on you: “Glapion is my maiden name. We’re direct descendants of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen. I’ve been Queen Zulu at Mardi Gras twice, once in honor of my late father, who was a New Orleans city councilman.”
Inner compass: “A big lesson for me coming out of HBS was that it can take time to curate your career. So many of my classmates went to New York to pursue investment banking or consulting. I took a job in operations in Chicago because, ultimately, I wanted to run a company.”
New again: “The throughline of all my career experiences, from the Illinois Lottery to Peoples Energy to the White House, has been reimagining a mature product or experience and making it fresh for the next generation.”
More than mascara: “Our company has two brands: Black Opal and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. At the core of both is the power of building community and helping women feel confident—because when you feel good, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
Carpe diem: “I don’t have a bucket list. In New Orleans we say, ‘I’m saving my groceries,’ meaning putting them away for later. I’m all about not saving. Let’s do what we want to, every day.”
Founder and Chairman, Onex Corporation
In the blood: “My father was a through-and-through entrepreneur. He had everything from a salvage yard to a machine shop to a retail auto-parts store in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I worked at the store Friday nights and Saturdays when I was barely old enough to see over the counter.”
Mavericks: “Professor Abe Zaleznik taught what was essentially behavioral psychology. He likened entrepreneurs to juvenile delinquents because they don’t like rules or reporting to anyone. I kind of think he was right.”
Misstep: “After HBS, I took a job with a land development company in Florida, where I could make several million dollars in a few years. Very quickly, I realized I didn’t like the work or the people. What I learned is straightforward: Do something you love, with people you like. And don’t get bought.”
Two paths: “In 1984, my partner at CanWest Capital wanted to be in the television business. I wanted to be in the buyout business. We parted company on good terms, and I started Onex to do what I enjoy, which is building partnerships with people and their businesses.”
People power: “I think Warren Buffet said something about bad businesses overcoming good people. My experience has been that good people can overcome a bad business or at least get us to a position where we don’t lose.”
Campus gift: “I’ve always loved art—the warmth of it, and what you can learn from a given painting. I remember being struck by the fact that there was very little art on the walls at HBS. So I thought, let’s do something about that.”
Founding Managing Director, Lighthouse Capital Partners
Nuts and bolts: “I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio; my dad was an analyst and loved to take me on factory tours: ball bearings, auto fenders. It was part of the plan to help me become independent, practical, and self-supporting.”
First jobs: “In fourth grade I earned a dollar an hour mowing the grass on our riding tractor, walked the money down to the bank, and opened a savings account. After ninth grade, I worked on the trading floor of a brokerage firm.”
Wide open: “After college I worked at Salomon Brothers. I learned about M&As, LBOs, and venture capital, and figured out venture was best for me; there weren’t so many preconceptions around what an entrepreneur looked like and where the money needed to come from.”
Venture adventure: “When I was at Comdisco in 1994, the stars aligned to found Lighthouse Capital. My partner and I invested in more than 500 startups over the next 18 years, including NVIDIA, Vertex, Insulet, and Sirocco Systems.”
Pivot, please: “Netflix was not a straightforward investment. The founder had this crazy idea that eventually there would be streaming. Until then, he would ship very expensive DVDs all over the country. Our flexibility gave them time to figure out the business model.”
Redeployment: “I’ve shifted to working full time on things that matter to me. My brother passed away due to complications from schizophrenia; mental health is an issue I’m very invested in, which is why I sit on the boards of Alto Neuroscience and the nonprofit One Mind.”
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