2003 Headlines
Sean Neville '02 Named Entrepreneur of the Year for Ontario
Sean Neville '02, CEO of Simply Audiobooks, was recently awarded the Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 award for the Ontario region.
Along with his two partners, Sanjay Singhal '92 and Steve Sorge, Neville launched Simply Audiobooks in 2003. Together, they grew the company to become North America's largest online audio book rental provider in less than two years. Recently adding sales to its offering, Simply Audiobooks employs more than 40 people in three facilities and two countries.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program was founded by Ernst & Young to celebrate great entrepreneurs and heighten awareness of the economic impact of entrepreneurial ventures. The awards honor entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, risk taking, company development, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
Simply Audiobooks is North America's top audio book source, offering direct sales and unlimited rentals online. Launched in 2003, the company was the first to provide an unlimited rental model for audio books on CD, with free direct-to-door delivery and no due dates or late fees. Simply Audiobooks also sells audio books on tape and CD, with thousands of titles in multiple genres, including fiction, non-fiction, business, spiritual, classic and children's literature. The company has offices in Toronto, Buffalo and Las Vegas. For more information visit www.simplyaudiobooks.com.
John Hillen, EMBA '04, Appointed Assistant Secretary of State
John Hillen, EMBA 04, was recently appointed Assistant Secretary of State, Political-Military Affairs, by the Bush Administration. Confirmed by the Senate in September, Hillen will manage the international coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan and recruit nations to take part in military and political operations in the region, among other duties.
As a former military officer, Hillen is a firm believer in duty, honor and serving one's country. Now at his disposal is a $5 billion security assistance budget to provide aid to other countries for security training, joint operations and exercises, and equipment purchases. Although he reports to one of the five undersecretaries working directly for Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, he will brief Rice and travel with her on occasion.
Hillen brings stellar qualifications to the appointment. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service during Operation Desert Storm, has written extensively as a public policy scholar in political-military affairs, and has extensive management experience.
Congratulations to John Hillen!
Kwame Jackson of "The Apprentice" Here October 28
The Johnson School's Black Business Graduate Association (BGBA) will hold its 2005 Symposium, "Capital Gains: The Role of Business in Closing the Wealth Gap in America," on October 28, 2005 from 9:00 A.M. - 9:30 P.M. in Statler Hall at Cornell University. Kwame Jackson, accomplished businessman and finalist on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" will be keynote speaker.
The event starts with a networking reception featuring each of the sponsor companies. Later, participants will attend one of four panel discussions.
The panels are:- "It's Elementary: How Business Can Help Improve Educational Outcomes"
- "The Business-Government Intersection: Implications for Urban America"
- "WOW—With Ownership, Wealth: Creating Capital through Housing & Community Development"
- "The Bottom Line: Using Entrepreneurship to Spur Ownership"
The evening will culminate with a Johnson Black Alumni Connection (JBAC) reception and keynote dinner, where the Wilbur Parker Distinguished Alumni Award will be presented to Mr. Earle Bradford. Bradford is the third recipient of the award proceeded by John Clark in 2004 and Wilbur Parker himself in 2003. This event is sponsored by American Express, Credit Suisse?First Boston, Deloitte, Lehman Brothers, and Pfizer.
To register for the event visit http://forum.johnson.cornell.edu/students/orgs/bgba/.
Johnson School #9 in Beyond Grey Pinstripes Ranking
The World Resources Institute and Aspen Institute have released the 2005 Beyond Grey Pinstripes (BGP) ranking. The Johnson School has placed #9 in the world (#6 among U.S. schools). The BGP ranking is the only global ranking that evaluates MBA programs for their efforts to prepare students to be leaders in the global economy, equipping students with an understanding of the social, environmental, and economic perspectives required for business success. Criteria used in this ranking includes: courses with social/environmental content (the number of courses, the percentage of time in the curriculum dedicated to these topics, course content) and faculty publications in this field.
The Johnson School is noted for offering of a large number of courses that address social and environmental issues in business and the large proportion of students who take those classes. In addition, our Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise is cited for using "cutting edge research, outreach and engagement to connect students with leading companies and develop unique projects with partners around the world".
BGP surveyed nearly 600 MBA programs and analyzed 1,842 courses, 1,713 extracurricular activities and programs, and 828 journal articles from leading peer-reviewed business publications. A full description of the report, its methodology and individual MBA program ratings is available online at www.beyondgreypinstripes.org.
Johnson School Top in Northeast
Business Week has released its 2005 Executive MBA Rankings and the Johnson School is the top ranked program in the Northeast and #17 worldwide.
Our Cornell-Queen's Executive MBA partner, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario is the top-ranked program in Canada and #21 worldwide. Queen's is also ranked #10 worldwide for open-enrollment executive education programs. Having both Cornell and Queen's EMBA programs ranked among the world's top EMBA programs certainly underscores the tremendous value proposition we bring to the marketplace on the EMBA front.
The Business Week EMBA survey methodology is based on polling of recent graduates and EMBA program directors. The student/recent alumni data is weighted 65% and the program directors' rankings are weighted 35%. While we do not always agree with survey results, the feedback that comes with them can be helpful. In this case, some of the recent graduates highly praised the quality of the faculty but requested additional services such as a speaker series. Improving the breadth and depth of the EMBA programs is part of our long-range plan in order to ensure that our graduates continue to have a real impact in the marketplace. A description of this ranking may be found online at http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/05/emba_rank.htm.
