Thanks for another record-breaking Reunion!

It was another spectacular Reunion weekend for the Johnson School. A record-breaking 293 alumni and guests participated in this year's program on campus and raised a record breaking $849,241 from 359 donors. Alumni contributed to this success in many ways, from leading class reunion social and campaign committees, to encouraging classmates to join them at Reunion, to serving as featured presenters, to traveling from as far away as Australia (Neil Waters, MBA '95) and Japan (Koei Ambe, MBA '75), and we are deeply thankful to you all. Highlights of Reunion 2005 included:

• The class of 2000, led by Reunion Chair Kirsten Van Sickle and Campaign Chair Doug Moon returned the largest number of participants, with 62 classmates in attendance.

• The Class of 1960, led by Reunion Campaign Chair John Spivak, MBA '60, set a new 45th Reunion record by obtaining gifts from 29 classmates.

• The Class of 1950, led by Reunion Campaign Co-Chairs Jerry Alpern '49, MBA '50, and Roy Bell, MBA '50, broke the 55th reunion dollar and donor records raising $35,305 from 12 of their classmates.

• In our third annual screening of a film produced by persons associated with the Johnson School, a "sold out" crowd viewed two films by and about Donald P. Greenberg '55, PhD '68, Cornell’s Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Computer Graphics. In addition, alumni couple Phil '62 and Maddy '65 Handler, premiered True Big Red, a personal portrait of Professor Greenberg's life and work, created by them in honor of his 50th reunion.

• David Binder, MBA '80, CEO, David Binder Research presented "How To Be a Savvy Consumer of Polling Data" Binder talked about what consumers of polling data—such as voters or purchasers—need to know about polling and market research in order to effectively inform their decision-making processes.

• Charles S. Ribaudo, MBA '00, and co-founder of Jambo Networks presented "The Future of Networking," an interactive session that showed how Jambo can notify you when other Cornell alumni are nearby.

• Robert T. Blakely '64, MBA '65, executive vice president and chief financial officer of MCI, presented "Extreme Makeover: The WorldCom Experience" discussing the steps he took to help MCI/Worldcom emerge from bankruptcy and charges of accounting fraud and to achieve dramatically reduced debt, clean accounting records, proper internal controls, and restored customer confidence.

• Professors Tom Dyckman and Joe Thomas and their wives Ann and Marney, respectively, co-hosted the Faculty Welcome Reception at their homes. Professor Thomas also led the Faculty Follies at the Reunion Barbecue, and led the Reunion Wine Tasting.

• Norman A. Turkish '56, MBA '60, graciously hosted lunch at one of Cornell's historic residences for his fellow classmates.

• Michael J. Hostetler, director of Leadership Studies and Custom Programs, presented "Scenario Planning: A Practical Tool for Managing the Future".

• Dean Robert Swieringa gave the State of the School Address, and hosted the Half Century Club and Leadership Donor receptions.

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.

Johnson School alumni who graduated in a year ending in a "1" or a "6" can look forward to an equally wonderful Reunion program next year, so mark your calendars now for Reunion 2006: June 8-11, 2006. We can't wait to have you join us!

Marybeth Tarzian
Director of the Annual Fund
mt85@cornell.edu

Panel addresses Business of Private Equity

On June 14 the Cornell Club New York was the site of the second Johnson School “Business of” event that brought together faculty, alumni, and business leaders who discussed the current state of private equity. This event was part of the school’s ongoing "Business of…" forums that will take place in locations throughout the United States and abroad and will cover a range of current business issues. For nearly 90 minutes and in front of more than 75 Johnson School alumni, four extraordinary panelists discussed several private equity and venture capital issues. Leonard Harlan of Castle Harlan; Kevin Prokop of Questor Partners; Peter Gonye of Spencer Stuart; and Zach Shulman, the J. Thomas Clark Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at the Johnson School, all answered questions and shared their thoughts on current issues surrounding private equity. To watch the event, click here.

From right to left, Johnson School Club of New York President Ken Gurrola, MBA '95, Shaun Dalton, MBA '94 , Tammy Dalton, MBA '94 President Emeritus Johnson School Club of New York, and David Upson, senior investment team member at Fairfield Greenwich Group and guest of the Daltons.

Johnson School to co-host BELL conference

Join business leaders, academics, and members of the public and non-profit sectors at the 11th annual BELL (Business Environment Learning Leadership) Conference, which will be hosted by the Johnson School and the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University together with World Resources Institute (WRI). The conference runs July 20 through July 22. This year's conference theme is Sustainable Technology Development and New Market Creation. Sessions will help develop a better understanding of how any company might become more competitive by viewing social and environmental challenges as unmet market needs that can provide business growth opportunities through innovation, entrepreneurship, and organizational change.

A summit on Financing Innovation will take place immediately before the BELL Conference, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20. The summit will present an overview of the trends and innovations taking place in the financial markets in response to an increasing awareness of and sensitivity to the issues of sustainability.

For more information, go to http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/sge/bellconference.html

Rao shares national award for working paper

Vithala Rao, the Deane W. Malott Professor of Management and Professor of Marketing and Quantitative Methods, has won the 2005 Robert D. Buzzell Best Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Working Papers Award. Rao shares the award with his research colleagues, Manoj K. Agarwal of SUNY Binghamton and Denise Dahlhoff of AC Nielsen.

Rao’s award-winning “Branding Strategy and the Intangible Value of the Firm,” which was recently published in the Journal of Marketing, examines branding strategies in 113 U.S. firms to determine which of three strategies (corporate branding, house of brands, or mixed branding) is most associated with future profit potential.

The MSI Best Paper Award was instituted in 1993 to honor the authors of the MSI papers that have made the most significant contribution to marketing practice and thought. It also serves to signal the kind of writing and research that is of lasting value to corporate marketing executives. Each year the award is given for the best MSI paper issued during the calendar year two years previous. This delay exists to allow sufficient time to assess the impact of each paper on the field of marketing. In 2002, the award was renamed the Robert D. Buzzell Best MSI Working Paper Award to honor the contributions of Professor Robert Buzzell, who has had a long-standing association with the MSI.

Professor Rao's interests lie in the development and application of analytical models for marketing research and marketing strategy. His publications have dealt with such topics as dynamic pricing; product positioning and product design; application of multidimensional scaling and conjoint models for the analysis of consumer preferences and perceptions; market structure analysis; brand equity; acquisition; and evaluation of subsets of multi-attributed items. He has consulted for various industrial firms and is currently engaged in research on issues associated with preannouncement strategies, price bundling, choices of bundles, resource allocation, and competitive reactions.

Since joining the Johnson School in 1970, he has published nearly 100 articles and five books; most recently (with Joel Steckel) The New Science of Marketing (1995) and Analysis for Strategic Marketing (1998). He received the Johnson School's Exceptional Research Award in 2000-’01.

New JS Outfitters merchandise available

The new Johnson School Outfitters merchandise is now available at Sage Hall and through the Cornell Campus Store web site. New items include logo T-shirts and sweatshirts in all sizes, steel travel mugs, and gift pens.

Fifth annual BGBA symposium in October

The fifth annual professional development symposium sponsored by the Black Graduate Business Association (BGBA) will be held Friday, October 28, at the Statler Hotel on the Cornell campus. This year’s topic is “Capital Gains: The Role of Business in Closing the Wealth Gap in America” and will cover the present state of affairs in business in America, the economic impact of business decisions on the community at large, and the social responsibility of corporations today.

Alumnus earns Bush nomination

President George Bush intends to nominate John Hillen, EMBA ’04, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of State (Political-Military Affairs). Hillen currently serves as president of CGI-AMS Secure Incorporated. Earlier in his career, he served as a senior scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Heritage Foundation. Prior to that, Hillen served in the United States Army and received a Bronze Star Medal for actions in combat during Operation Desert Storm. He received his bachelor's degree from Duke University and his first master's degree from the University of London King's College. He later received his PhD from the University of Oxford St. Anthony's College and his second master's degree from the Johnson School.

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