The Class of '99, led by President Sarah Brubacher, MBA '99, and Reunion Chair Laura Sullivan, MBA'99, returned the largest number of Reunion participants, with 41 classmates in attendance, including the graduate who traveled the farthest distance to attend Reunion - Alaka Sundararajan, MBA '99, from Singapore!

The Class of '79, led by Reunion Campaign Chair/VP David Feinburg, MBA '79, set a new 25th Reunion Donor Record by obtaining gifts from 52 classmates

The Class of '59, led by Louis Marin MBA'59, broke the 45th Reunion dollar record with gifts totaling $320,300 from 15 donors

The Class of '69 Reunion Campaign, led by Campaign Chair/VP Lee Garcia, MBA '69, and Campaign Member, Peter Orthwein, MBA '69, endowed a scholarship in honor of Professor Jerry Hass

Carolyn Campora, MBA '89, led an enthusiastic group of Reunion participants in a Tai Chi workshop

Bob Staley, MBA '59, retired vice chairman of Emerson Power; David Officer, MBA '74, vice chairman of Dreyfus Investments; Dan Garton, MBA '84, EVP of Marketing for American Airlines; and Michael Hopsicker, MBA '89, CEO of Agway, Inc., presented a fantastic session on "Meeting Leadership Challenges," moderated by Professor Hal Bierman

Associate Dean Dick Shafer led an Executive Education workshop on leadership development

Professor Jay Russo of the Johnson School Marketing faculty instructed us in "The Confidence Game"

Professor Tom Dyckman of the Johnson School accounting faculty taught us about the key players in the collapse of Enron, and co-hosted, with his wife, Ann, the Faculty Welcome Reception

Associate Dean and Professor Joe Thomas co-hosted, with his wife, Marney, the Faculty Welcome Reception; organized and led the Faculty Follies at the Reunion BBQ; and led the Reunion Wine Tasting

Dean Robert Swieringa gave the State of the School Address, and served as the M.C. of both the Reunion BBQ and the Reunion Reception/Dinner

We thank all of the alumni and guests who made the effort to be with us at Reunion and contribute to their Reunion campaigns, and also thank the many staff and faculty who contributed their time to the success of the program. Extra special thanks go to Jennifer Thurston, assistant director of alumni relations, and Pam Staub, alumni administrative assistant, for the countless hours spent on planning and administering the Reunion program, and for the care and professionalism with which they treated our wonderful alumni before, during, and after this event.

Johnson School alumni who graduated in a year ending in a "5" or a "9" can look forward to an equally wonderful Reunion program next year, so mark your calendars now for Reunion 2005: June 9-12, 2005. We can't wait to have you join us!

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

Staley, whose MBA class included future Emerson colleagues Albert Suter '59 and Chuck Knight '59, addressed the mission of leadership in a global, diversified manufacturing organization. In that context, he said, leadership's responsibility is to effectively determine where to invest the company's resources as well as to create a management process that allows the execution of those investment decisions. There are two things that leaders can never delegate, he added: integrity and hands-on engagement in the management process.

Staley, who spent five years overseeing Emerson's business in China, also spoke about the dynamism of that market - the 10th largest world economy in 1992, the 6th largest in 2002, and projected to be the 4th largest in 2012. Leaders entering overseas markets, said Staley, should keep a number of things in mind: If your management process is good, it will work in the new venue; while your strategies should stay the same, the tactics may change to fit the locale; it's all right to talk about profitability and cost reduction; never compromise on your standards for employees; and train, train, train.

Officer spoke about a specific leadership challenge: managing people in a time of crisis. The Manhattan-based Mellon Bank and its Dreyfus subsidiary create investment products, mostly in the form of mutual funds, and distribute them to individual and institutional investors, as well as separate accounts to pension plans and warehouses. Leadership for the investment side must focus on intellectual rigor in order to deliver performance; leadership for the distribution function, by contrast, is tasked with motivating and inspiring a diverse sales force.

However, said Officer, when Manhattan was attacked by terrorists in September 2001, neither of those types of leadership were ideally suited for handling the subsequent challenge - dealing with the totally unexpected. Officer and his colleagues found that they needed leaders that were incredibly practical, extremely tactical, and project focused - typically engineers, he added - individuals who were able to calmly guide employees through unprecedented chaos and panic and maintain their trust in the organization. Since then, said Officer, the company has focused on identifying "crisis leaders" to be tapped in future situations, and on building effective business-recovery plans. During the Northeast power blackout of 2003, said Officer, the organization's crisis leaders and recovery plans proved to function quite well. Another test, he added, will occur in the form of the Republican National Convention.

Garton's organization faced a crisis of another kind: pulling itself up from the brink of bankruptcy. American Airlines, which had expanded aggressively during the Internet boom, found its business eroded by the lagging economy, the terrorist attacks of September 2001, and the remarkable growth of low-cost carriers - which affect about 85% of American's markets. In 2003, said, Garton, the company had lost about $3.5 billion, was losing about $12 million daily, and had absolutely no borrowing ability. To survive, the airline had to successfully compete against the low-cost airlines and find $4 billion, fast.

Garton and his colleagues examined the organization for possible cost savings in every area, cutting back on such things as the number of different models of aircraft the company used (which translated to cost savings in pilot training as well). Realizing about $2 billion from these cuts and raising $200 million from creditors, the airline finally turned to its last resort: cutting labor costs. Leadership made clear to the employees that this final resort was needed in order for the organization to survive, and began the difficult task of restructuring, based on thorough analysis of major competitors' organizations. Key to the process, said Garton, was communicating clearly and constantly to employees, and letting them know that the company was trying its utmost to protect their interests, through such measures as stock options and profit sharing. By American's target date of March 31, 2003, the organization had saved a total of $4 billion, staved off bankruptcy, and positioned itself for a turnaround.

Hopsicker, whose company filed for bankruptcy, chose to speak about another topic: retaining valuable talent during a crisis. Agway, he explained, had also expanded in past decades, even joining the Fortune 100 by the mid-1980s. But the organization was quite different from most blue-chip companies in that its owners were 700,000 farmers, who held non-trading shares of Agway; the company also issued public debt, which was mainly owned by retired farmers. In the late 1980s, said Hopsicker, the government buyout of dairy herds and the difficult agricultural climate combined to drastically undermine Agway's revenue base. In addition, Agway, which had diversified into many areas including energy, financial services, and insurance, found that its nonprofitable businesses were sucking the life out of the money-makers.

The company filed for bankruptcy in October 2002. Hopsicker pointed out that the process greatly erodes employees' trust in management. The loss of credibility makes it not only impossible to hire new talent, but extremely difficult to retain existing talent. The solution for getting through the situation? "Be honest, deal with facts, and get your people behind you," said Hopsicker. "It's not rocket science."

The award funds may be allocated to one or two selected eligible Johnson School MBA students with preference to:

1. One student recipient to be selected by Admissions and Financial Aid from the entering MBA class based upon past financial experience and an expressed intent to enter the investment management field. This will help admissions attract a top student with investment management talent.
2. One returning MBA second year student recipient selected by the faculty of the Parker Center for Investment Research based upon the student's outstanding performance in the finance curriculum, demonstrated performance and competency in the area of investment management, and a desire to pursue this field as a career. This scholarship award would be used to support a summer intern at the Parker Center whose work would be to help rebalance the portfolio particularly as the demands on the Cayuga Fund grow with the increased funds under management. (or)
3. One MBA second year student recipient selected by the faculty of the Parker Center for Investment Research based upon the student's outstanding performance in the finance curriculum, demonstrated performance and competency in the area of investment management, and a desire to pursue this field as a career.