Director's Message: Alumni Leaders Featured in Summer Programs, Regional Clubs

This month, the Johnson School hosted two programs, LEAD and Camp $tart-Up, designed to encourage promising high school students to pursue a career in business. Alumni volunteers were a key part of the success of these programs.

The LEAD participants were treated to a wonderful keynote presentation by Cynthia Williams, MBA '99, director of Vehicle Performance Management & Engineering Fleet at General Motors, who drove to Ithaca from Detroit to speak to the group. Williams, who is the GM nominee for the 2003 Women of Color Career Achievement Award, is responsible for overseeing the vehicle development process for GM's full-size, mid-size and small truck products as well as the Cadillac products and for managing a 6,500 vehicle fleet for the GM North American Engineering organization. Judging by the long line of students waiting to greet her at the podium after her presentation, Williams' keynote will long be remembered as a highlight of this event.

The Camp $tart-Up program was planned by four alumnae from the class of 2003, Heather Abbott, Shannah Albert, Colleen Costello and Racquel Lacey Nelson. Four other alumnae served as guest faculty and business plan coaches—Addys Sasserath, MBA '86, Carol Cannon Savage, MBA '00, Kimberly Stevenson, MBA '01, and Jennifer Tegan, MBA '01. The campers, several of whom were referred by alumni, were enthusiastic in their praise for the guidance they received from their business plan coaches, and many commented on what wonderful role models our alumnae business leaders are. If you know of students who might be interested in participating in LEAD or Camp $tart-Up next year, and/or you are interested in volunteering to assist with these programs, please contact the Office of Women and Minorities in Business.

In the regional clubs, alumni volunteer leadership is also flourishing. The Johnson School Club of New York debuted its web site,which was created by Craig Ewing, MBA '72, president of Ewing Consulting, LLC, www.EwingConsulting.com. Ewing, who worked for over 20 years with IBM, including in interactive marketing, now runs his own management consulting firm that focuses on developing and executing strategic marketing plans. The Johnson School Club of New York web site that Ewing developed will allow alumni to remain up to date on club events and leadership and will serve as a model for other Johnson School regional club web sites throughout the country.

We are deeply grateful to all of our alumni volunteers who give generously of their time and resources for the benefit of the greater Johnson School community. If you would like to volunteer to assist the alumni program or other programs at the Johnson School, please contact me at rmm22@cornell.edu. I look forward to working with you to help our alumni network continue to grow.

Risa M. Mish '85, JD '88
Director, Alumni Relations

Parker, a native and current resident of Newark, NJ, can list a number of other "firsts:" first African-American certified public accountant (CPA) in the state of New Jersey; first African-American Budget Director for Newark; and first African-American secretary to the Newark Board of Education, among others. Parker, who retired in 1986, also worked for Cadence Industries and Perfect Film & Chemical Corp. among other organizations. In addition, he was a self-employed CPA during his entire working career (from 1954 to 1986); during many of those years, he also taught and lectured at several universities, including Cornell, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Grambling State.

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni who demonstrate outstanding professional achievement and commitment to their community who embody the Johnson School's shared values of mutual respect, collaboration, integrity and trust, pride and accountability, professionalism and investment in self. The BGBA created the award as a legacy to the Johnson School to provide a forum for African-American alumni and students and the greater Johnson School community to come together and celebrate business and life successes. As was the case with Parker, each recipient will be selected by a committee that includes the dean, Alumni Affairs, the Office of Women and Minorities in Business, faculty representatives and the BGBA. If you would like to nominate a candidate for next year's award, please contact Kimberly C. Young at 770 329-3776.

Breakout sessions, which are sponsored and hosted by corporations and alumni, will focus on specific industries and functions such as corporate finance, marketing, banking, entertainment and consulting. Recruiters can network with students and alumni, demonstrate their employers' commitment to diversity and showcase their expertise in functional areas. The evening will culminate in a dinner and keynote address by Beverly Williamson, Worldwide Vice President for Process Excellence for the Consumer Sector at Johnson & Johnson.

If you or your organization is interested in sponsoring a breakout session or providing speakers, please contact BGBA president Kimberly C. Young at 770 329-3776.

In keeping with the Johnson School's philosophy of reality-based education, we are looking for examples of ethical dilemmas that you have encountered throughout your career to serve as the basis of mini case discussions. Please e-mail us at ethics@johnson.cornell.edu with a summary of the ethical dilemma you faced and your decision. Our research team will follow up with you to get more detail as necessary. All references to specific individuals and companies will, of course, be omitted, and we will ensure that there is no other way to trace the incident. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your support.

The directors of Triad Foundation, Inc. announced on June 13 that the Triad Foundation has assumed full responsibility for the Park Leadership Fellows Program at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and has re-named the fellowships the "Roy H. Park Leadership Fellowships." "The new name reflects the desire of the Triad directors to honor the legacy of my father, Roy H. Park," explained Roy H. Park, Jr., president and chairman of the Triad Foundation. He noted that there will be no change in the management of the fellowship program, which since 1997 has provided over $12 million to support tuition, stipends and enrichment opportunities for nearly 170 students.

The Triad Foundation was formed in February 2003 as an entity separate from the Park Foundation. At that time the trustees of Park Foundation, Inc., explained that the new structure would allow the two foundations to pursue the philanthropic objectives that best reflected the diverse interests of their respective boards.

The original Park Foundation was formed in the 1960s, Park said, adding that "Triad will base its grantmaking on the interests my father and mother expressed during the nearly 30 years they served together on the Park Foundation board."

Serving as directors and officers of Triad Foundation, Inc. are Roy H. Park Jr. and his children, Roy H. Park III and Elizabeth Park Fowler. "Therefore the name 'Triad,'" Park said, "which is defined as a 'union or a group of three, especially of three closely related persons, beings or things.' Our pyramid logo transected into three parts by the 'T' represents our three families and the three parts of the country in which we reside."

The senior Park's association with Cornell goes back to the launch of his Duncan Hines foods enterprise in the 1950s, when he used Cornell expertise and laboratories to research American eating habits and perfect his food products. In the 1960s, he served on the Advisory Council for the NYS College of Agriculture and the Agricultural Experiment Station, and from 1971 through 1972, he co-sponsored seminars in Cornell's Department of Communication Arts through his company.

In 1977, Park was named a member of the Advisory Council of the Johnson School and also an honorary member of the marketing fraternity at Cornell. And in 1983, he helped to create the Lewis H. Durland Memorial Lecture Series in honor of his friend, the former treasurer of Cornell University. Roy H. Park Jr. has continued his father's involvement with Cornell University. A graduate of the Johnson School, Park has served as a member of its Advisory Council since 1966 and as a trustee of Cornell University since 1999. Park is president and CEO of Park Outdoor Advertising of New York, Inc., headquartered in Ithaca.

Through AFA, Cornellians have free access to over 600 online reference databases, including catalogs, almanacs, encyclopedias and directories. You can browse the library's special and rare book collections through online exhibitions and digital collections. AFA also offers link to a rich array of web sites for information on a wide range of topics, all reviewed and selected by Cornell librarians and organized by subject for easy access. Cornell librarians can also provide reference and referral assistance for short questions via e-mail and phone (see web site for contact information).

Access to some full-text databases and reference assistance for in-depth research questions is also available for a modest fee. All fee-based services are clearly identified.

Palo Alto, CA
July 24
Johnson School Club of the Bay area Happy Hour. Location: Blue Chalk Cafe, 630 Ramona St., 7:00 p.m. Join us in welcoming the Johnson School Class of 2004 summer interns and the entering Class of 2005! For more information, please contact Molly Rihn.

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