Director’s message: Farewell and thank you

What a privilege it has been to serve as the director of the Johnson School Alumni Relations program these past two and a half years. I am very proud of what we have accomplished together to enhance the opportunities for graduates of this wonderful school to connect with each other, and with members of the Johnson School and Cornell University communities, including current students, faculty, and staff. I leave now with a better understanding of the value of an MBA education, and with the highest possible regard for the Johnson School's mission, and its many achievements.

When I first arrived at the Johnson School in January of 2001, I announced three main priorities for the Alumni Office: (1) improving the state of the Johnson Alumni Connection (JAC), our alumni database; (2) expanding the Johnson School Regional Club network; and (3) improving and expanding the Johnson School Reunion program. I am pleased by the progress that has occurred in these important areas. We have updated over 5,000 entries in JAC; we have expanded the Regional Club Network from two to 16 clubs, and expanded the events that our clubs and Alumni Office sponsor and/or co-sponsor by over 500 percent; and we have consistently increased both the breadth and depth of Reunion program content, and the numbers of alumni, faculty, students, and staff participating in Reunion.

None of this would have been possible without the generous support that our office has received from Johnson School alumni, students, faculty, and administrators. While it would be difficult to list individually all of the Johnson School Alumni Program Heroes to whom I feel so much gratitude, here are a few standouts to whom all of us owe a great deal of thanks. Please know that every person mentioned here represents dozens of others who worked alongside them and made the growth of this program possible:

• Henry Renard '54, MBA '55, for his many years of financial support of the Johnson School Alumni Program, including Reunion and the European Symposia, and for his wise counsel, generous heart, and invaluable friendship; and Tom Schryver, MBA '02, for helping to obtain Triad Foundation funding for the Johnson Alumni program, and for being one of the most reliable and consistent sources of good humor in my day;

• Johnson School Regional Club Presidents past and current, including Ken Gurrola, MBA '95, Tammy Dalton, MBA ’94, and Jeff Fenigstein, MBA ’01 (New York); Sarah Brubacher, MBA '99 (Bay Area); Marianne Danko, MBA '99 (Boston); Deepesh Jain, MBA '02 (D.C.); Abra Benson, MBA '04 (Philadelphia); Dan Berler, MBA '02 (Atlanta); Doug Schwartz, MBA '03 (South Florida); Jeff Peterson, MBA '01 (Dallas); Greg Crowley, MBA '02 (Chicago); Scott Taylor, MBA '90 (Southern California); Jim Alsina, MBA '03, Xavier Viteri, MBA ’89 (Rochester); Keith Story, MBA ’99 (Detroit); Justin Stone, MBA ’04 (Southwest Ohio); Deanna Dukes, MBA ’00, and Mark Lee, MBA ’90 (Seattle); Jennifer Tegan, MBA '01 (Finger Lakes); Roger O'Neil, MBA '61 (European Alumni Board); K.B. Suh, MBA '87 (Seoul); Katsuhiko Hanashima, MBA '73 (Tokyo); and Jose de Sa, MBA '94 (Brazil). You have led, you have innovated, and you have generously given of your time to support the cause of connecting alumni with each other, and bringing the Johnson School to the attention of your local communities. We are all very proud of you, and grateful to you, and I am personally thankful for the beautiful friendships I have had the privilege of developing with many of you.

• Johnson School Alumni Class Officers -- thank you for all that you do to maintain cohesiveness among your classmates, and connect them back to the Johnson School, both in your Reunion years, and otherwise.

• Bob Metcalf, MBA '61 and Tom Mulligan, MBA '73 - for representing us so well on the Cornell Alumni Federation Board, and for serving as such excellent examples of alumni volunteerism.

• Members of the Johnson School Advisory Council and Dean's Leadership Committees -- thank you for the time and expertise you devote to the Johnson School, and for allowing me to be a part of your meetings and good work.

• Members of the Johnson School Faculty, particularly the many who have supported the alumni program as speakers and participants in our events. Joe Thomas, our associate dean/dean of faculty, consistently led by example in this respect, for which I have been profoundly grateful. Special thanks, too, to professors BenDaniel, Bierman, Biloski, Dyckman, Frank, Hass, Katz, Lee, McAdams, Michaely, O'Connor, O'Hara, Rao, Russo, Shulman, Sine, Stayman, and Swaminathan for consistently going out of their way to engage with alumni, include alumni in their courses, and represent the Johnson School at alumni events, and to these faculty members and others (you know who you are), whom I am now privileged and delighted to count as personal friends.

• The Johnson School Management Committee. Many thanks to deans Swieringa, Thomas, Dove, and Shafer for providing the alumni program with financial support, and making clear that engagement with our alumni is a top priority for the Johnson School. How right you are to recognize what a key role alumni play in the success of this institution, and I thank you for incorporating this commitment into the school's long range plan.

• Members of the classes of 2003-2006. What a joy it has been to share this Johnson School experience with you, and to work closely with so many of you. MBA students become alumni seemingly in the blink of an eye, and I have enjoyed engaging with you during this transition, and involving many of you as new leaders of our alumni program. Please continue your involvement with the school. We need your energy, enthusiasm, and ideas, and you are among the best ambassadors that the Johnson School has.

• Last, but hardly least, my fellow staff members. Perhaps no one but another staff member can understand exactly how much you give of yourselves to this institution. I certainly know how often I have relied upon you, marveled at your dedication, and followed the good example of professionalism that you set. Thank you to my colleagues in the University Alumni Affairs & Development Division (including, especially, my beloved friends in the Cornell Regional Offices -- what would we do without you?); to my colleagues in the Johnson School Student Services, Career Management Center, Management Library, Registrar's Office, Admissions Office, Office for Women and Minorities in Business, Corporate Programs, Parker Center, EMBA/Executive Programs; Financial Services and Human Resources; Information Technology, and Facilities Offices; to my colleagues in Marketing and Communications who help me put out SageConnection, market alumni programs, and have many a great laugh (who is going to eat all my chocolate now, talk baseball with me, and imitate me so skillfully?); and, of course, my fantastic colleagues in the Johnson School Alumni and Development office. Every one of you has been a dream to work with, and as I leave, please know that you will always be in my thoughts, and in my heart. It has been an extraordinary privilege to work alongside you, and I will cherish this experience forever.

Good luck and Godspeed, Johnson School community. I very much hope that we will stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Risa M. Mish '85, JD '88
Director, Alumni Relations
rmm22@cornell.edu

Johnson School seeks director of alumni relations!

The director is responsible for developing, marketing and implementing a cultivation program for Johnson School alumni that enhances engagement with the Johnson School and Cornell University. The Director is further responsible for overall administration of alumni class and club activities, and regional programs, including international alumni events. Duties will include creating outreach, by strategically planning, marketing and managing on- and off-campus programs and events in order to forge stronger ties between the Johnson School/Cornell University and alumni; recruiting, managing and supporting alumni volunteer leaders; recruiting speakers, and promoting events; conducting individual visits with alumni in conjunction with travel in support of alumni events; in conjunction with The Marketing Department, coordinate a wide variety of communications efforts including direct mail, electronic mail, and Web interfaces, as well as contributing to the Cornell Enterprise Magazine; identifying, recruiting And supporting volunteer leaders for clubs in the Johnson Regional Alumni Club Network, including the European Alumni Board; identify opportunities for New regional clubs, particularly in underserved regions, and identify and Recruit liaisons/participants in the Alumni Association that are currently without Johnson School alumni representation; and work closely with the Corporate Relations Team to identify and recruit alumni participants in initiatives organized by Corporate Relations, including Admissions, the Career Management Center, and Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent. An MBA is highly preferred. This position requires the incumbent to interact knowledgeably with alumni executives who are in high positions in commerce, industry, and government. A concentration in marketing with some training in operations/logistics is also desirable. A minimum of 5 -7 years of relevant full-time work experience is required in public affairs, academic administration, marketing, or events management. Necessary skills include the ability to: handle multiple tasks of a time-sensitive nature efficiently; understand how to market an idea or activity; manage multiple budgets; supervise both salaried staff and volunteers; communicate effectively orally and in writing; manage complex, lengthy events; demonstrate an enthusiastic nature; plan strategically but keep track of all details; exercise a high degree of discretion in dealing with confidential information. Experience should include: managing large projects independently with responsibility for financial and non-financial outcomes; supervision of professional as well as support staff; work with independent contractors including as contract negotiation.

Cornell University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer. If you are interested, the posting number is 03811 and please go to the following web site and input your information: http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/jobs/index.html

Congratulations to Professor Seymour Smidt on his retirement

After nearly a half-century (49 years, to be exact) at Cornell, Professor Seymour Smidt is heading for a well-deserved retirement. The Nicholas H. Noyes Professor of Economics and Finance since 1978 and director of the Leadership Skills Program (LSP) for over a decade, Smidt has become known as a trailblazer in his field. “He has the uncanny ability to see around the corners of finance and has made substantial contributions to the field – he has insights we mere mortals are still trying to get into focus,” said Professor Jerry Hass about Smidt, whose interests are in finance, managerial economics and market microstructure, and who co-authored textbooks on capital budgeting, corporate finance, and statistical decision theory. Echoes Professor Hal Bierman: “Sy needs to be working with colleagues that are comparable intellectually with him, otherwise one might find it difficult to understand the point he is making.”

In addition to being an influential academic, Smidt has been an active practitioner in his field: He served as chief of party to the Johnson School’s project at Middle East Technical University (Ankara), and was associate director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Institutional Investor Study.

He’s been an administrative mover and shaker as well: “In 1960 he insisted that the school needed a dean of the highest quality intellect and helped us have Bill Carmichael installed as dean,” points out Professor Hal Bierman. “This was the foundation for the school’s rapid future improvements.” In 1993-1995, in addition, Smidt was founding dean of the School of Business at Koç University (Istanbul), where his legacy is nothing short of legendary. “He laid the academic cornerstone for what has become one of the best universities in Eurasia, much the same way Cornell professors a century ago helped Stanford get started,” said Hass. “The folks at KOÇ are truly grateful for his contribution to their success.”

Although Smidt was notably approachable even in this lofty capacity, added Hass, “when his larger-than-life-sized portrait is hanging in the hall outside the dean’s office, as it has since he returned to Cornell, I get the urge to genuflect when I walk by.”

“Professor Smidt is part of a core group of faculty who have for years set the tone for civility and also the standard for academics at the Johnson School,” said longtime colleague Charlotte Wright Mosher, assistant director, LSP “He is a pure academic who inherently understands the importance of education, courtesy, and integrity as a package.” Added Hass, “The often-used phrase, ‘a gentleman and a scholar,’ truly applies to Sy.” Smidt, who first signed on to Cornell as an associate professor in 1956, holds his AB, MA, and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago.

Alumnus seeks 9/11 e-mails for upcoming book

E-mail is a great and quick way to keep in touch. But after 9/11, what was once a somewhat lazy and informal medium became our lightning-speed voice that, even as cell phones and long distance lines were down, worked. It was cheap, efficient, and, in the wake of 9/11, hugely democratic, allowing us to share stories at the touch of a key. Author Cyrus Copeland, MBA ’90, is editing E-Clips: A Digital Diary of 9/11, a collection of e-mail coming out of that seminal date. Escape stories, fireman narratives, letters and poems, dark humor, political diatribes, personal notes. If you have a particularly compelling 9/11 e-mail, please send it along to Mr. Copeland at: cyrus2000@earthlink.net. Contributors will receive a copy upon publication, which is anticipated to be on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 tragedy.

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

Save the date for 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.

Charity auction raises over $11,000

Congratulations to Johnson School faculty, staff, students, and clubs for making the fifth annual charity auction a success! Recipients of the auction proceeds are the Community Foundation of Tompkins County for a challenge grant to help them launch a marketing campaign; Tompkins County Community Action for a grant to help their good work in alleviating poverty & running Head Start; and a first-year student who will spend the summer interning at a non-profit organization. Thank you to all who participated.

Volunteer spotlight

Jeffrey F. Berg ’79, MEng ’80, MBA ’81, has been a power volunteer for the Johnson School and Cornell for many years. Recently elected to the Cornell University Board of Trustees, he’s been on the Johnson School Advisory Council since 2000 and the CAU Advisory Council since 2004, as well as on the NY Tower Club committee since 1995. He has also served as president of the Class of ’79 since 1999, and has played key roles on the Major Gifts Committee, the Cornell University Council, the Administrative Board, and the Tech Transfer Committee. Berg, who also has been a guest lecturer at the Johnson School and the College of Engineering since 2000, recently retired as director of consulting operations for Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath. In his nearly quarter century with the firm, he was heavily involved in operational systems for a wide range of technology-based clients, and started up and built PRTM’s consulting practices in the United Kingdom and Europe. Previous corporate experience included working for Xerox Corp., Andersen Consulting, and the DuPont Co. He is an active volunteer in his community as well, serving as finance chair, Westchester-Putnam Council, for the Boy Scouts; a trustee of the Jewish Family Congregation; and a coach for Lewisboro Soccer. He is married to Debra Paget, and the Johnson School’s Business Simulation Laboratory is named for the couple.

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