Archives
March/April 2009
Director's Message
Videos and podcasts
Admitted students experience life@Johnson at DJ 2009
Alumni Career Services
Student job placement update
Hire an MBA Student this Summer
What's news with you?
Featured Alumnus: Charles Hamilton, MBA '04
News Highlights
Johnson School in the Media
Alumni in the News
Faculty in the News
Stay Connected
Events
Director's Message: International Alumni Outreach
In March 2009, Dean Joseph Thomas and others from the Johnson School took to the skies, to host receptions with alumni in eight cities in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. The tour reflects our commitment to continue to build upon our international outreach and strengthen our alumni connections globally. During the two-week trip, we met with more than 700 alumni across London, Brussels, Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Colombia. Among those traveling abroad in March were Becky Mitchell, associate dean for alumni affairs and development, Randy Allen, associate dean for corporate relations, and Wes Sine, assistant professor of management and organizations. More...
Videos and podcasts
Credit Default Swaps and AIG
Professor Jerry Haas invites you into the classroom, where he explains credit default swaps and their role in the meltdown of AIG.
"Where Were the Ratings Agencies?"
Frank Raiter, former managing director at Standard & Poor's and head of its Mortgage Backed Securities Rating operations, was a guest speaker on March 11 for "Ethics & Corporate Culture," a new course jointly offered by the Johnson School and the Law School. Last fall, Raiter testified before Congress on the role of the credit rating agencies in the current financial crisis. He was also featured in "Credit and Credibility," an episode of "NOW" on PBS, which aired in late December. View video
See related story: Cornell's Johnson School and Law School Create Ethics & Corporate Culture Course: Course explores how corporate culture can lead good people to do bad things.
Advice for President Obama: An Economics Panel Discussion
The Johnson School's Professor Maureen O'Hara and several other prominent Cornell economists from across the university gathered to provide advice to President Obama and to address questions from the Cornell community. They focused on the international financial crisis, as well as economic challenges in health care and employment policy. View video
Will the Stimulus Actually Work?
Steven Kyle, associate professor of applied economics and management and a frequent commentator on macroeconomic issues, commented on the $787 billion economic stimulus and made a few predictions in his Feb. 26 lecture, "Will the Stimulus Actually Work? -or- Are We Looking at a Rerun of the Great Depression?" View video
See related story: Economy needs an even larger stimulus for desired 'short, sharp jolt,' says CU economist.
Challenges and opportunities Generation Y faces in the workplace
Career coach Anne Loehr, a partner with Riverstone Endeavors, helps Gen Y and Boomers understand how the other side sees their actions, and what they can do to bridge cultural gaps in this episode of 10GoodMinutes. 10 Good Minutes is a new, weekly series of 10-minute career-focused podcasts created in collaboration with the eClips team at Cornell University. Designed to highlight career realities and opportunities in today's tough economy, the podcast interviews experts who provide wisdom and strategies to help young professionals succeed.
Download podcast
Alumni Career Services
Check out the new alumni career services the Johnson School added this year, in recognition of the tough job market. You'll find links to both new and established services at Alumni Career Services. Of special note:
- Career Advisor - Career consultant Lynne Allen provides alumni and EMBA participants with individual career advisory services.
- JohnsonJobs – This job posting listserv enables you to seek new positions through your alumni network, and post positions you would like to fill with Johnson School alumni.
- Alumni Résumé Database - The school's Career Management Center has contracted for this service with MBA Focus, a provider of résumé database services for top MBA programs.
- Career Guide - Getting Down to Business: A workbook for success - Six main phases of an effective job-search strategy are featured in detail in this workbook, plus a critical component integral to many of them — networking.
- Ladders.com Johnson School alumni are eligible for a blanket 20 percent discount off any length of subscription to TheLadders.com.
Admitted students experience life@Johnson at DJ 2009
Sage Hall was a happening place over the first weekend in April as the Johnson School hosted Destination Johnson (DJ), the school's premiere yield event for prospective students. More than 200 Johnson School students volunteered to host, inform, and entertain 180 prospective students and 45 spouses/partners/significant others. More than 110 admitted students were housed by our current MBA students. Highlights of the weekend included a faculty panel on the financial and real estate markets presented by Richard Marin and Daniel Quan, and a presentation on team dynamics by Professor Melissa Thomas-Hunt. Admitted students had a chance to attend overviews of the MBA and Accelerated MBA programs, meet the core faculty, and learn about the different Immersions options. Campus tours were ongoing throughout the weekend. Friday's offerings, which included a club and information fair, were capped by the annual casino night and dinner reception in Dyson Atrium. On Saturday night, current students hosted incoming students in their homes. To learn more about what the weekend entailed, see the DJ itinerary online.
Current students play a key role in making DJ the great success that it is, and this year's student planning team was nothing short of "phenomenal", according to Rhonda Velazquez, director of Student Activities and Special Events. Team members included:
- Aleda Schaffer, MBA '10 - DJ lead
- Jonathan Schaffer, MBA '10 - alumni panel sub-chair
- Charles Lo, MBA '09 (A) - programming sub -chair
- Courtney Wilkinson, MBA '10 - weekend hosting sub -chair
- Chrysoula Nigl, MBA '10 - housing search sub-chair
- Erin McCauliff, Becky Gutman, Julie McIsaac - Joint Ventures (Families/Partners)
- Kelly Quinn, MBA '10 - marketing sub -chair
- Brian McMeekin, MBA '10 - student-hosted dinners/social sub-chair
- Jackie Mecca, MBA '10 - team building sub-chair
- Connie Sintuvat, MBA '10, Megan Willems, MBA '10 - volunteer sub-chairs
Student job placement update
Given today's tough economic environment, it's no surprise that MBA students are finding it to be a challenging year for job placement. "Second-year students are lagging 15 percent behind last year's class [in terms of jobs offers] and the first year class is lagging 20 percent [in terms of internships]," reports Career Management Center Director Karin Ash.
Among the graduating students who are still looking for full time jobs, sixty percent are seeking positions in finance; 15 percent seek positions in marketing; and 10 percent seek consulting positions.
Among the first year students who are still looking for summer internships, 41 percent seek positions in finance; 19 percent seek positions in sustainable global enterprise; 9 percent seek consulting positions; and 13 percent seek marketing positions.
If your company has openings in any of these functional areas, please post jobs via our online form or submit announcements and job descriptions of your open positions via e-mail to cmc@johnson.cornell.edu..
Hire an MBA Student this Summer
The MBA Project Initiative is seeking companies with 8-10 week project experiences for MBAs who will graduate in May, but who are still seeking a full time job.
More about this program
What's news with you?
Submit your Class Note online
New job? Promotion? New business? Marriage? New child? Volunteer work? Honors? Hobbies? Passions? Visits with classmates? Share your news with your classmates via the online Class Notes form for Cornell Enterprise, the Johnson School's magazine.
Featured Alumnus
Charles Hamilton, MBA '04: The Johnson School's new Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Since earning his MBA from the Johnson School in 2004, newly named Entrepreneur-in-Residence Charles Hamilton has focused on leading high technology start-ups based on university technology. He was most recently the president of Novomer, a company based on Cornell technology that makes plastic from carbon dioxide. While at Novomer, he grew the company from 2 to 25 employees, managed over $1.4 million in grants, and closed $6.6 million in equity investment from multiple venture capitalists. He also co-founded Cornell start-up Distributed Generation Technologies during his second year of the MBA program. His expertise includes non-profit, IT, and social return on investment consulting with SVT in San Francisco. More
Two new programs show value of Cornell connections
JS PALS and JS COACHES connect admitted students, current students and alumni
Johnson School Strengthens Employer Access to Leading MBA Talent
"Just About Jobs" Provides Seamless Connection to MBA Candidates in Boston, New York and San Francisco
Sergio Fajardo lectures on Colombia's Challenges & Opportunities
Former Colombian mayor, now presidential hopeful, cites Medellín reform as proof that education is engine of change
During his tenure as mayor of Medellín, Colombia (2004 to 2007), Sergio Fajardo is credited with transforming the city of about two million people, once described as the world's deadliest city because of its homicide rate, into a showcase for new educational and architectural projects.
Business Outlook: Ithaca
US Airways Magazine - 2/1/2009
Ithaca is featured in an article that covers the city's economic development, manufacturing, quality of life and green technology, including a mention of BRV holding and past Business Idea Competition winner e2e Materials.
IPO Reform The Long Runway Approach
VC Experts - 2/24/2009
Zachary J. Shulman, visiting senior lecturer at the Johnson School, introduces some very intriguing and revolutionary ideas that could revamp and improve the IPO process.
Top Ten One-Year MBA Programs
MacQuil.com - 2/23/2009
Johnson School's one-year Accelerated MBA program comes in sixth in this look at the top one-year MBA programs around the globe.
Interest in business schools grows
Dartmouth, The - 2/26/2009
Domestic interest in several leading business programs, including the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Cornell University's Johnson School, has increased compared to this time last year, according to admissions officials.
Faculty in the News
Do the right thing for state's infrastructure
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Online - 2/27/2009
According to economist Robert Frank: 'One-hundred-and-twenty-dollars-a-year damage per year per vehicle. The potholes in the roads do more damage to vehicles each year than it would cost to fix them. That's just ridiculous that we don't fix them.'
Four pricing tricks to sell your home faster!
San Antonio La Prensa - 2/22/2009
When we look at prices, we make judgments in a fraction of a second, explains Manoj Thomas, a marketing professor at Cornell University.
Go Ahead and Save. Let the Government Spend.
New York Times - 2/14/2009
Economics Professor Robert Frank, in his Times column, advises people to go ahead and pay down their bills or save a little more, in spite of the paradox of thrift, which suggests that as people save more, less money goes into the ailing economy.
A bleak new frontier for Wall St paydays
Thomson Reuters - 2/4/2009
Professor Yaniv Grinstein is quoted in an article on President Obama's plan to cap executive compensation for recipients of bailout money. This article was picked up by Reuters UK, Reuters India, and several other outlets.
Alumni in the News
Palisadian Introduces SweetFiber, A Natural, No-Calories Sweetener
The Palisadian Post - 2/5/09
When entrepreneur Scott Taylor, MBA '90, talks 'sweet,' it is about his new food product SweetFiber, a sugar substitute that is 100 percent natural, has no calories and contains fiber.
Americans Need to Save More
A $40K income should yield three to six months of saved paychecks
ABCNews.go.com
In this video about how much savings Americans should set aside for a rainy day, money manager Wade Slome, MBA '98, president of Sidoxia Capital Management, advises: "Spend less than what's coming in the door; that will give them discretionary savings that they can put into their IRA... that way they're effectively getting free money from the government in the form of a tax deduction."
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Events
For upcoming events, check out the Alumni Events Calendar
