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Happy Anniversary to Wharton
DEAR FELLOW ALUMNI:
2006 is an important year
for Wharton. It is the
125th anniversary of the
founding of the School
and of the inauguration
of management education.
The School and the
Alumni Association have
planned a full year of
events, conferences, and
other festivities to celebrate
this milestone, starting
with a global conference in
Mumbai on January 6-7.
This event will be followed
later in the year by global
conferences in Rio de
Janeiro and Istanbul. The
Alumni Association Board
will be participating in
these events, and we look
forward to meeting many
of you.
Anniversaries are a time
of celebration, and also a
time to review our goals
and accomplishments. As
Wharton marks its 125th
year, it is appropriate for
the Alumni Board to review
its mission, as well as
the process by which we
recruit new members and
their defining characteristics.
This year we have initiated
a system to identify
students who demonstrate
a long-term commitment
to the School while they
are still on campus, to facilitate
their transition to
leadership roles after graduation.
Likewise, we are
developing programs to
identify, acknowledge and
honor those alumni leaders
who have consistently
contributed their time and
talents to their Clubs and
to other School programs
over the years.
As part of our ongoing
commitment to strengthen
the Alumni Association,
our Nominations
Committee has begun
soliciting nominations for
this year's open positions
on the Board. To build
a world-class alumni organization,
it is essential
that we recruit alumni
who share our vision and
willingness to devote significant
energy and time
to achieve the Association's
goals. We continue to
raise our expectations for
Board membership, seeking
alumni who have a
significant track record in
alumni volunteer leadership
through local or
affinity clubs, reunions,
student involvement or
development initiatives.
We seek nominees who are
willing to serve as alumni
ambassadors, to assume
responsibility for major
board projects, to regularly
attend board meetings, and
to make a financial contribution
at the Benjamin
Franklin Society level. We
will be contacting all club
presidents for nominations,
and we encourage
all interested and qualified
alumni to contact Dawn
Downing in the Alumni
Affairs and Annual Giving
Office (downingd@wharton.upenn.edu or 215-898-5571) to submit a nominee
for consideration or to
obtain an application for
self nomination.
In building our world-class Alumni Association
Board, we will also make
the path to Board membership
a more transparent
and accessible one. We
are surveying all possible
opportunities for alumni
participation, from club
leadership to campus
presentations, from board
sub-committee membership
to externship sponsorship.
We plan to create an
inventory of opportunities
this year to better communicate
volunteer pathways
and to establish a pipeline
of committed volunteers
for our Board.
In closing, I urge you
to join us in celebration
of the 125th at the global
conferences, at local club
events, and on campus. In
preparing for next year's
board elections, I also urge
you to forward nominations
to the alumni office.
As always, I welcome your
suggestions and comments.
It is only through alumni
commitment and support
that the Wharton network
will grow and flourish.
Vige Barrie,
CW'74, WG'76
Chair, Wharton
Alumni Association
315.859.4623 office
vbarrie@hamilton.edu
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