GBC 2002

2002…Goizueta and President Jimmy Carter…
The 2002 Graduate Business Conference hosted by the Goizueta Graduate Business School at Emory University was one of our finest Conferences ever. In addition to the superb planning, led by Catherine Seltzer and her Student Organizing Committee, this fantastic event, with its theme of Getting To the Future First , was a “first” in two regards. It was the first time that Emory University, a relative newcomer to the Top 30 Business Schools, hosted a GBC. And first and foremost, we had the extreme honor of a former US President—Jimmy Carter– as our keynote speaker. President Carter, current Distinguished Professor at Emory University and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner was simply awesome. He spoke softly but with heart, and fielded dozens of questions from the assembled GBC delegates. President Carter was subsequently awarded the 2002 GBF Business Leadership Award for his lifelong leadership and work with Habitat for Humanity.

 

The fabulous Carter Center was home to the first day of the Conference, which in addition to its gorgeous grounds and venerable location, provided an honored and intimate venue for a full day of keynotes and panel speakers, which included a riveting leadership discussion by Tony Charaf, Vice President of Delta Airlines, an engaging Global Trends presentation by Professor Jeff Rosensweig of Goizueta, and several corporate panel discussions, including Connie Hallquist, Founder and CEO of Gold Violin. A delicious buffet dinner followed at the acclaimed Southern Center, which was warm and engaging, and capped by the Stockholm School of Economics traditional Swedish toast and chorus of Heir Lan Gor.

 

Student Leadership Panels
Saturday’s Program got off to its traditional fast start, with student delegates divided into two groups. The President delegates separated into their all-day forum, moderated by the GBF, to discuss common issues, best practices, and initiate the year-round chat room on the Yahoo Group to continue to share information and help one another. The rest of the students were divided into teams for a separate leadership workshop Business Bowl Challenge. Their quest: to design a MBA Program for the future. The winning team, which espoused a “Reality MBA” was judged by Goizueta Dean Tom Robertson and fellow local Deans from Georgia Tech, U Georgia and Clark Atlanta. University of Michigan with its theme, Leading in Dynamic Times, won the bid to host the 2004 Graduate Business Conference, despite strong competition from Case Western University, and the UK’s Manchester University.

 

High Museum and Awards Banquet
The weekend was topped by an elegant black tie dinner at the prestigious High Art Museum in downtown Atlanta. Kristina Alkire, from the Kelley School at Indiana University, received the 2002 Student Leadership Award. She was recognized for creating a student manual and orientation program for the professional development of all Kelley School first-year MBA students. The program covered everything from resume writing and interviewing to corporate etiquette and information for the assessment process in Kelley’s Leadership Development Institute.

 

Beacons of Leadership
Because of the recent events of 9/11 the GBF inaugurated its Beacon Award for Leadership in crisis, which were also presented that evening to student delegates at the High Museum. The recipients were from the Stockholm School of Economics, Mattias Palm, and their Business Committee President, for his volunteer recruiting efforts in New York City. From the Goizueta Business School at Emory University Matt Gillett, Lowell Kahn, and Peter Ernst responded to aid the efforts of the Red Cross, and in doing so, not only organized the largest blood drive in Emory University’s history nearly overnight, but to architect a program which could serve as an example for Red Cross emergency response efforts. And from the Stern School of Business at New York University, Dan Reichman, Gigi Lai, and David Chapman. These students created a business symposium with NY area banks and created a volunteer consulting organization with their MBA peers to help New York City’s small and medium size businesses get back on their feet.

 

Our sincere thanks to the Goizueta team for a fabulous GBC 2002.


Attendees from this Conference