Alumni Celebration 2001

More than 500 alumni and friends of the GSB gathered in Chicago in October for dining and dancing, alumni accolades, and candid conversation at the sixth annual Alumni Celebration.

Dean Edward A. Snyder gave a frank keynote speech about the GSB’s strengths and challenges in a “first-quarter report” on his early months as dean. Underscoring his commitment to faculty and his aim to maintain the integrity of the school, Snyder told alumni, “I intend to do everything possible to make sure our faculty continues to set the standard for management and for management education worldwide. There will be changes at the school during my deanship, but in that commitment we won’t waver.”

Snyder reviewed recent rankings, noting the varied positions held by the GSB. “Rankings are important, and we will do better,” he said. “We need to eliminate the variance and strive for consistency. When we get the recognition I believe we deserve, I look forward to answering questions like, ‘What did you fix?’ with the real story: We believe in an environment where everyone stretches.”

Dean Edward A. Snyder

Snyder named three major challenges facing the GSB—the worsening economy, a small applicant pool, and inadequate facilities—and discussed each issue.

Snyder’s talk coincided with the start of on-campus recruiting in the fall, and he addressed the economy’s effects on M.B.A. job prospects. Although 30 new companies were recruiting at the GSB, he said, overall numbers were down because some companies were no longer hiring, and others had already hired students from summer internships. On the positive side, Snyder noted that one major firm cut the number of schools it recruits at from 70 to 7, and the GSB made the cut. Despite difficult times, Snyder said, “there’s always a market for great talent.”

With regard to applicants, Snyder said the GSB received 2,779 applications last year for 470 spots. This year, the goal is 4,700 applicants. “This is only a step toward where we need to go. We’re not right for everybody, but we are the right school for more than 2,931 people,” Snyder said. “We need to get our message out and increase the number of students who put Chicago at the top of their list.”

Snyder also spoke of plans for the GSB’s new campus. “If you’ve been to campus lately, you know that we’ve simply outgrown our existing space,” he said. “But rather than just constructing a bigger building, we’ve designed a state-of-the-art business school campus.” Fundraising for the new building is going well, he said, but the school still needs to raise more support.

The evening also included the presentation of the 2001 Distinguished Alumni Awards by Ernest R. Wish, XP-29 (’71), the 1999 Distinguished Public Service Alumnus. The 2001 Distinguished Corporate Alumnus Award went to James M. Kilts, ’74, chairman and CEO of The Gillette Company; the Distinguished Entrepreneurial Alumnus Award went to Robert C. McCormack, ’68, cofounder and managing director of Trident Capital; and the Distinguished Public Service/Public Sector Alumnus award went to Richard Spillenkothen, ’75, director of banking supervision and regulation at the Federal Reserve System. —Melissa M. Bernardoni