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A Special Reunion Weekend as
Wharton Celebrates an Anniversary
If reunion attendees didn't already know, the "125 Years" banners strewn
around campus were a hint that that this was no ordinary Reunion Weekend,
but, in fact, a much larger celebration of Wharton's history. "And it's not just
125 years of Wharton," said Dean Patrick Harker at the town meeting held in
Jon M. Huntsman Hall on Saturday, May 13. "It's 125 years of business education
as we know it."
To fully recognize Wharton's 125th anniversary, this year's
Reunion Weekend was expanded for the first time to include a
Thursday, May 11, opening reception, with an address by Joel
Greenblatt, W'79, WG'80, founder of Gotham Capital and author
of The Little Book That Beats the Market. The weekend continued
with faculty addresses, networking sessions, alumni panels, family
activities, an all-class mixer, and individual class dinners, culminating
in a Sunday alumni brunch before the Alumni Processional welcoming
graduates to the ranks of alumni. More than 1,500 alumni
attended the events—a record.
On campus for his 30th reunion, Norman Gorin,WG'76, explained
why he has come back, and why, as managing principal and
CFO of Analysis Group, a consulting firm in Boston, MA, he continues
to hire other Wharton graduates. "The quality of the place
and the sheer talent it attracts is nothing if not a reflection of 125
years of history."
Gorin was among the audience at the Wharton Women panel,
the first such event ever held during Alumni Weekend. Speakers
Roslyn Courtney, WG'76, of Roslyn Courtney Consulting,
Mindy Posoff, WG'86, COO of NewMarket Capital Partners,
Lorrie King, WG'91, senior marketing director of Coty celebrity
fragrances, and Phyllis Levy, WG'76, CEO of the Outrepreneur
Group, discussed leadership, money, and different challenges women
in business face. "We share a personal mission to accomplish extraordinary
things in our careers and lives, and that gets to the core
of leadership," said Courtney. "In the spirit of the school's 125-year
history, we find amazing inspiration."
Later in the afternoon a panel devoted to entrepreneurship and
lessons learned in the field featured Farhad Mohit, WG'96, CPO,
Chairman and Founder of Shopzilla, Michael Luby, WG'98, co-founder
of Target Rx, Steven Woda, WG'01, founder and chairman
of Strategic Growth and Shelley Boyce, WG'95, CEO and
founder of MedRisk Inc.
For her part, Boyce was enthusiastic about the weekend's historic
significance. "It has been a great privilege to take part in the
gatherings commemorating the school's 125th anniversary," Boyce
said. "The education I received at Wharton has been an invaluable
asset to me personally and professionally."
At the picnic, alumni dashed out of the rain and mingled beneath
the tent in Lehman Brothers Quad with their former classmates.
Over lunch, Dan Coogan, WG'66, reunited with several members of
his class. "I was very impressed to learn that this was the 125th year
and that the school was continuing to grow," said Coogan, a financial
representative for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in
Virginia Beach, VA.
Mindy Crandus Sircus, W'81, a former corporate and securities
lawyer who is now a principal with Chicago legal search firm
Zenner Consulting Group, has attended reunions every five years
since graduating, but this time she was focused on the future as
well as the past—her oldest son, a rising high school senior, accompanied
her as part of his own college search. "I'm more aware of
Wharton's history now than when I was a student," said Sircus. "I
was looking ahead then, not at what I was leaving. Wharton is such
an important part of who I am today."
  
 
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