September 2008

Director's Message: Connecting Students with Alumni
JohnsonJobs: New Alumni Job Posting Listserv
Jobs on JAC
"Bring Your A Game"
Cayuga MBA Fund Generates 5.56% Return for the Second Quarter 2008
Fall 2008 Speakers
"The Credit Crisis 18 Months On . . . and On?"
Mannix named new vice provost for equity and inclusion
Johnson School Names Alumnus New Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Faculty Honors
Faculty Research
Featured Alumna
News Highlights
Cornell Admissions Q&A
Alumni in the News
Students in the News
Events

Karrie Borgelt Director's Message: Connecting Students with Alumni
As we reflect on Reunion 2008 and kick off another fall semester at the Johnson School, we find that our constituents want more and more interaction with one another. Our students are inspired when they communicate with alumni and our alumni benefit from learning about the latest happenings at Sage Hall.

Recognizing that this connection is rewarding for both alumni and students, we decided to create a formal Student Alumni Ambassador program. More..

JohnsonJobs: New Alumni Job Posting Listserv
Within the first week of going live, more than 280 Johnson School alumni joined JohnsonJobs, a job posting listserv created to help you to communicate with fellow alumni on job-related issues. Through JohnsonJobs, you can:

Post positions you would like to fill with Johnson School alumni
Seek a new position through your alumni network

Check it out!

Jobs on JAC
The Johnson School is proud to continue to provide our alumni with a digital bulletin board where you can post jobs for fellow alumni or search for positions in a variety of fields. Currently there are 67 jobs posted; at any given time we will have between 60 and 125 jobs listed on the board. Many of the current jobs reflect positions in consulting, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and marketing.

"Bring Your A Game"

That was the theme of the fall 2008 Kickoff, and Dean Joe Thomas summarized what it means in three words: authenticity, initiative, and excellence. "We're asking you to be authentic about your strengths and your passion," he said in his address to students. "Take the initiative to lead a student club or speak up in class and in meetings, explore Cornell's vast opportunities, actively seek inclusiveness, and perhaps most important, build your network now. Strive for excellence in your coursework and interview preparation, to hold yourself and your classmates to a higher standard, to have high aspirations and an agenda for change." Acknowledging that we're in a tough job market, he went on to announce the launch of the new Placement Partnership Initiative, a plan involving the school, alumni, and students "to aggressively help our students find the right job opportunities."

Cayuga MBA Fund Generates 5.56% Return for the Second Quarter 2008
Student-managed fund outpaces HFRX Equity Hedge Index, HFRX Equity market Neutral Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average

Fall 2008 Speakers
The Johnson School is proud to welcome several "C-level" speakers to campus this fall, including Park Leadership Speaker Series guests Dan Hesse, MBA '77, CEO, Sprint Nextel Corp., Oct. 2, 2008, and Barry Salzberg, CEO, Deloitte & Touche USA, Oct. 30, 2008. William Weldon, CEO, Johnson & Johnson, will deliver this year's Durland Memorial Lecture, Nov. 13, 2008. In addition, the Johnson School is pleased to host career success expert and bestselling author Marcus Buckingham, October 24, 2008.

"The Credit Crisis 18 Months On . . . and On?"
Maureen O'Hara, Robert W. Purcell Professor of Management and professor of finance, spoke

about the credit crisis as part of the Johnson School's Recruiters symposium on Sept. 5, 2008. In a clear, concise, one-half hour presentation, O'Hara gave an overview of where we are now in the ongoing credit crunch, what to expect next, and rounded up projections of what the final costs will be: "With the current cost totaling more than $500 billion, how much more is there to write off? Business Week estimates another $200 billion in the upcoming third quarter. The IMF estimates total losses of $975 billion when it is all over. And JP Morgan Chase estimates a final bill of $2 trillion." She goes on to discuss the fallout's impact on unemployment and inflation, and concludes her talk with a caution that "we still have a long way to go," but also offers a few bright spots: "We've seen some unexpected growth -- we grew 3.3% in the second quarter of 2008; in the fourth quarter of 2007 we saw negative growth. We're seeing increased export growth. And the U.S. dollar is stronger."
View a video of O'Hara's presentation.

Mannix named new vice provost for equity and inclusion
Elizabeth A. "Beta" Mannix, the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Management at Cornell's Johnson School and the Robert S. Harrison Director of Cornell's Institute for the Social Sciences, has been named the university's vice provost for equity and inclusion.

Johnson School Names Alumnus New Entrepreneur-in-Residence
The Johnson School is pleased to welcome Steve Benjamin '80, MEng '81, MBA '82, as the new Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Benjamin brings more than 25 years in business and consulting to the post and will mentor and advise entrepreneurially-minded members of the Cornell community including current students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Benjamin will be on campus throughout the academic year and will also assist Cornell alumni entrepreneurs on the West Coast from his California residence.

Faculty Honors
Vishal Gaur receives 2008 Best Paper Award
Vishal Gaur, associate professor of operations management at the Johnson School, received the 2008 best paper award from Manufacturing & Service Operations Management for his paper "Hedging Inventory Risk Through Market Instruments," co-authored by Sridhar Seshadri, professor at University of Texas at Austin.

Johnson School's Michael Waldman Assumes University Leadership Role
Acting Provost David Harris names Waldman chairman of Cornell's Economics Council

Faculty Research
Same Day Scheduling: Just What the Doctor Ordered
Professor Larry Robinson finds old system of scheduling appointments far in advance wastes time and money

We Are What We Buy
Economics Professors Ori Heffetz and Benjamin Ho and behavioral scientists from diverse fields try to unravel the meaning of consumption at a conference held at Sage Hall, Aug. 14-17.

Wesley Sine receives a grant from the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute to explore entrepreneurship in Latin America
Grant to fund entrepreneurship research in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico

Featured Alumni
Christina Tunnah, MBA '01: Love of travel leads to Lonely Planet

"Follow your bliss," philosopher Joseph Campbell told us. And that's exactly what Christina Tunnah, MBA '01, did when she became director of marketing for the Americas at travel guidebook publisher Lonely Planet, a job that is a perfect match for her marketing expertise, love of travel, and fluency in multiple languages (she speaks English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese). More...

News Highlights
Viewpoint -- High Oil Prices Could Help U.S. Manufacturing: Short term pain, long term gain
Industry Week - 8/8/08

Fuel crisis may boost manufacturing
San Francisco Chronicle - 8/31/08
In these two op/eds, Dean Joe Thomas shares his outlook on the effect of high oil prices on U.S. manufacturing.

(CSRwire) Aspen Institute Releases Green MBA Guide
CSRwire - 6/23/2008
Professor Stuart Hart endorses The Aspen Institute MBA Guide, a new book to help prospective students compare and contrast MBA programs that deal with social and environmental issues.

Untold Wealth
CNBC - 6/26/2008
Professor Robert Frank is interviewed for CNBC's documentary on "Untold Wealth: The Rise of the Super Rich."

Vermont Wants to Be the Delaware of the Net
CFO.com - 6/30/2008
Professor Robert Bloomfield comments on Vermont's recent law allowing virtual businesses to incorporate within the state.

More News Highlights

Cornell Admissions Q&A
Randall Sawyer, admissions director for Cornell's Johnson School, answers questions about the application process and who makes a good fit for the MBA program. Sawyer recently spoke with BusinessWeek's Daphna Behar about Cornell's application process and what the school is looking for in applicants.

Alumni in the News
Symington praised for her determination
BurlingtonFreePress.com - 10/18/2008
Gaye Symington, MBA '83, Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives, is running for the office of governor of the state of Vermont. In this profile about Symington and her career, she talks about why she decided to pursue her MBA. The article includes several video clips in which she presents her views on a variety of topics. Symington's campaign Web site includes many additional media hits.

Students in the News
Johnson School student Eunice Omole makes finals of 'The Apprentice Africa'
Cornell Chronicle - 7/28/08
Johnson School student Eunice Omole, MBA '09, beat out 16 other contestants to become a finalist in "The Apprentice Africa," making it all the way to the last episode, where she narrowly missed winning.

Events
For upcoming events, check out the Alumni Events Calendar

Archives

September 2008