2007 Headlines
The Kickoff: Expect Great Things
See the Kickoff Celebration video online.
Johnson school students, faculty and staff filled the Statler Auditorium August 30 at 4:30 p.m. for the Johnson School's inaugural Fall 2007 school-wide celebration, "The Kickoff: Expect Great Things," designed to "start the year on the right foot." Dean Joseph Thomas shared his vision for the months ahead, and Johnson School alumnus and Advisory Council chair Jeffrey Parker and Professor Robert "Bob" Libby shared their perspectives on what makes the Johnson School great, all of them pointing to the active roles students, alumni, faculty, and staff play in the intellectual, career-seeking, and social activities of the school. As Dean Thomas put it, "The style of our school is to get involved."
Second-year student Shahnaz Shustari, MBA '08, introduced the first speaker, Jeffrey Parker '65, MEng '66, MBA '70, who welcomed students back to campus, saying this is "a great time of optimism and enthusiasm." Parker, a successful entrepreneur himself - he co-founded CCBN, a web-based information services company, and founded Private Equity Investments, a venture capital firm, among other ventures - noted that "Expect Great Things" is an attitude that is key to success in entrepreneurship, and could be a bumper sticker for his own philosophy. He announced the new Parker Series, networking events for alumni designed to educate and broaden perspectives on timely business issues, featuring alumni and faculty from the Johnson School and introduced the school's new Executive-in-Residence Richard A. Marin '75, MBA '76. In addition, Parker offered the following advice to students: "Work on being the best you can be. Operate with a sense of urgency. Add value. Make a difference."
Professor Bob Libby, not one to miss a teaching opportunity, got a good laugh from the audience - many of whom are enrolled in his core finance class - when he referred to Sage Hall as a great asset and the Johnson School's reputation as a world-class business school as "not an asset but an economic resource." A faculty member at the Johnson School since 1989, Libby noted how much he identifies with being part of the school, saying: "We all believe we personally benefit by making this a better place."
Drawing on the event's theme, Dean Joe Thomas spoke about "Why you should expect great things," enumerating several unique characteristics of the Johnson School, including the school's award-winning faculty plus the addition of new faculty and staff, its centers, its degree programs, its distinguished and supportive alumni, and Cornell University and all that it offers.
Noting that we live in a very competitive and changing world, and that "we must all improve and change together, and we will," Dean Thomas announced new things that are happening in each of the areas he termed the Johnson School's "3 C's" –" Careers, Curriculum, and Community:
- Careers. "We did really well in placing our graduates in May," noted Dean Thomas. "But the business environment is changing; there's a roller coaster in the markets now." In response, the school will add new career planning and counseling staff to the Career Management Center.
- Curriculum. In addition to Rich Marin as the school's new Executive-in-Residence, the school plans to hire new faculty in finance. A new class in global business will be introduced in the spring, involving guest speakers and a trip to India.
- Community. A new Distinguished Speaker Series will include Professor Maureen O'Hara, Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld, and GE CEO Jeff Immelt. Adding to the school's many existing traditions, Thursday evenings have been designated as social hours.
In closing, Dean Thomas urged students to "leave the school better than it is now. Get involved. Implement new ideas. Make yourself and others better. Be leaders!"
Vote for Big Red Ventures' holding, Systanix Inc., in the Forbes.com Boost Your Business Contest!
August 8, 2007 |Ithaca, NY| In March 2007, the Johnson School's Big Red Ventures invested in Systanix Inc., an advanced chemistry hardware company commercializing technology developed at Cornell. Of nearly 1,000 entries, Systanix was selected to be one of 20 semi-finalists for the inaugural Forbes.com Boost Your Business competition and $100,000 prize. Please vote online before August 31 to help Systanix move to the final round of the competition!
Systanix holds the exclusive license to patent-pending technology that enables pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals companies to synthesize drugs cheaper and faster and with less environmental impact than currently possible. The company will use funds from the Boost Your Business competition to develop a prototype for big pharma customers and to continue building its management team.
To vote for Systanix before August 31, visit: http://www.forbes.com/byb/byb07_systanix.html.
View the press release on BRV's investment of Systanix.
