The Campaign for Sustained Leadership

At Wharton’s seventh Asian Regional Alumni Meeting, held in Manila on June 10, guest speaker Manuel V. Pangilinan, WG’68, began his remarks with a reference to the “I Love You” virus. In keeping with the meeting’s theme, “The Asian Century Begins,” Pangilinan – who is president and CEO of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and also executive chairman of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. – pointed out that news coverage of the virus drew international attention to the fact that the Philippines produces 150,000 computer engineers each year and is the world’s second-largest exporter of engineers to the U.S. He also shared an intriguing quote from Philippines trade secretary Manuel Roxas: “We’re not proud of what the virus authors did, but we must harness their creativity.” Pangilinan’s speech was one of several during the two-day conference, which brought together nearly 300 alums and other friends of the school for a host of seminars, panel discussions and networking opportunities. Next year’s meetings will take place in Phuket, Thailand on June 1-2.