School News

Nonprofit Board Leadership Program Launched
Ten MBA students have joined the boards of directors at various Philadelphia nonprofit organizations through a pilot program of the Social Impact Management Initiative. The students are gaining experience as "visiting board members" and will work on a variety of strategic initiatives in areas such as accounting, finance, marketing, and human capital. In addition to attending regular board meetings, each student will be placed on a board sub-committee and receive one-on-one mentorship from a senior board member. visit Social Impact Management Initiative website
Wharton and NYU Stern Host Discover Business Now Events
Wharton and NYU Stern have collaborated to launch "Discover Business Now," a campaign to educate high school sophomores and juniors about the undergraduate business program experience, how it differs from liberal arts programs with economics majors, and how it opens career doors across industries and borders in the public and private sectors. The campaign launched Nov. 1 with an event in Short Hills, NJ. A Nov. 6 event follows in Philadelphia, focusing on leadership careers for women. visit Discover Business Now website

Wharton West MBAExec Students Visit Philadelphia Campus
Eighty-five MBA students from Wharton West recently came to the Philadelphia campus for three days to attend classes and participate in a joint class on leadership. The West Coast MBA for Executives Program students also participated in a dinner on Koo Plaza that included East Coast MBAExec and MBA students, Dean Patrick Harker, and MBA Division Vice Dean Anjani Jain. visit Wharton West website

Wharton School Publishing to Hold Discussion Group on "Powerful Times"
Wharton School Publishing recently published Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World by Eamonn Kelly, the CEO of Global Business Network, a futures network and scenario strategy consultancy. The book argues that our times represent the most profound inflection point in human history since the Enlightenment. Join the WSP team for a brown bag lunch and discussion of this book on Nov. 16 from 12:30 -1:30 p.m. in the Wharton Publications conference room (ground floor, SH-DH, suite 320). Space is limited and a RSVP is required by Nov. 10. To register, please e-mail publishing@wharton.upenn.edu with "Nov. 16 discussion" in the subject line. Those who register will be provided with a copy of the book.
Wharton faculty and staff can take advantage of expanded WSP benefits, including discounts and free shipping. Visit our special faculty and staff pageto register and access benefits. Register to become a member of Whartonsp.com for free access to audio summaries and author interviews and a range of interesting and valuable members-only content. All WSP books are also available at the Penn Bookstore.
Wharton Announces New Senior Board Leadership
Wharton announced the appointment of six new members to the Board of Overseers, as well as new chairs for the Graduate and Undergraduate Executive Boards. These distinguished leaders in the business world were approved to their positions by the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. read feature
Wharton Faculty Speak at Undergraduate Research Seminar
Wharton undergraduates have an opportunity to learn more about faculty research through the Joseph Wharton Scholars Senior Research Seminar, held most Wednesdays during the school year. Recent and upcoming speakers include Professors Neil Doherty, Pete Fader, Stephen Hoch, Georgette Poindexter, Lori Rosenkopf, Betsey Stevenson, and Justin Wolfers. read more
Executive Education Offers New Program with Service & Support Professionals Association
Wharton Executive Education and the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) will offer a new management education and certification program, resulting in SSPA management certification. Wharton and SSPA will lead strategic thought through research, executive forums, and publishing, creating top-caliber education and certification programs that help member company executives and managers put this thought leadership to practical use. In addition to executive and management education, the program will feature executive roundtables and other events. read more
Heard on Campus
A number of executives came to Wharton in September to discuss business and leadership. Speakers included:

Oct. 4  — Steve Farella, president and CEO, TargetCast
Oct. 4  — Bill Lawrence, CEO, Meridian Capital Partners
Oct. 4  — Nigel Page, senior vice president, Emirates Airlines North
              America
Oct. 11 — Michelle Peluso, CEO, Travelocity
Oct. 18 — Mike Luby, WG'98, president and CEO, TargetRx
Oct. 20 — Wendy Finerman, W'82, founder, Wendy Finerman Productions
Oct. 20 — Erik Feig, movie producer, Summit Entertainment
Oct. 28 — Richard H. Lenny, chairman, president, and CEO, the Hershey               Company
Oct. 28 — Mark Donovan, senior vice president of business operations,               Philadelphia Eagles

Professor Eric Bradlow named the K.P. Chao Professor
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced the appointment of Professor Eric Bradlow as the K.P. Chao Professor. Bradlow is the first professor to fill the endowed chair, funded by K.P. Chao, chairman of the board of Novel Enterprises Limited, based in Hong Kong. read news release
New Text Messaging Interface for SPIKE Wins Macromedia Award
Macromedia announced that Wharton's soon-to-be-released text messaging interface for SPIKE — dubbed SPIKEtxt — received its Higher Education Innovation award in the Mobile Learning category. SPIKEtxt gives students the option of receiving university communications about class schedules and reserving group study space via their mobile telephones, extending the School's award-winning SPIKE student portal into cutting-edge text messaging capabilities. read more
Professor Useem Named Top Leading Thinker by Best Practices Institute
Professor Michael Useem has been named one of the 10 Top Leading Thinkers by the Best Practices Institute. The institute selected individuals based on impact in the field of organization management and leadership.

AOL: In Search of a New Strategy
America Online is once again the center of Time Warner's growth strategy, and this go around there are a number of potential partners -- ranging from Microsoft and Google to Yahoo and Comcast -- reportedly interested in buying a minority stake. read more

The Ballooning Credit Derivatives Market: Easing Risk or Making It Worse?
When Delphi filed for bankruptcy October 8, investors had to start assessing their losses on more than $2 billion in the auto parts maker's bonds, which have recently traded at around 60% of their face value. read more

After Decades of Malaise, the Vaccine Industry Is Getting an
Injection
After decades of decline, the vaccine industry is gaining new interest from drug makers and the federal government in response to last year's flu-shot shortage, concerns about an avian flu pandemic, and the development of potential vaccines targeted at new markets, including cancer. read more

The Wall Street Journal
September 20, 2005 — Peter Cappelli, George W. Taylor Professor of Management; Director, Center for Human Resources, was quoted in an article about the effects on companies as baby boomer employees retire in large numbers.

The Wall Street Journal
September 26, 2005 — Michael Useem, The William and Jacalyn Egan Professor; Professor of Management; Director, Center for Leadership and Change Management, was quoted in an article about problems companies encounter when they undergo a change in management.

The Seattle Times
September 27, 2005 — Janet Rothenberg Pack, professor of business and public policy and real estate, was quoted in an article about developmental plans for Seattle's regional economy.

NPR: Talk of the Nation
September 27, 2005 — Howard Kunreuther, Cecilia Yen Koo Professor; Professor of Decision Sciences and Business and Public Policy; Co-Director, Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, was interviewed about the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the insurance industry.

Reuters
September 30, 2005 — Dan Hunter, assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics, was quoted in an article about virtual asset trading.

The Wall Street Journal
September 30, 2005 — Jeremy J. Siegel, Russell E. Palmer Professor of Finance, was quoted in an article about the importance of the position of chairman of the US Federal Reserve.

Steven Nichtberger, W'83, was featured in an article about his career as CEO of Tengion, a biotechnology company researching ways to grow vital organs from patient cells. (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/19/05); Michael Stahl, W'04, author of Early to Rise: A Young Person's Guide to Investing and Financial Decisions That Can Shape a Life, was featured in an article about his desire to teach young people about investing. (The Record, 9/22/2005); Michael Eskew, WAM'93, CEO of United Parcel Service, was featured in an article on the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the shipping industry. (The News and Observer, 9/25/2005); Alain Levy, WG'72, CEO of EMI Music, was featured in an article about changes in digital music distribution. (Newsweek, 9/26/2005); Ruilin Zhao, WG'05, vice-president for business development and strategic planning at Microsoft, was featured in an article about the shift in management from US multinational corporations to Chinese companies. (Business Week, 9/26/2005); Harprit Singh, EE'90, WG'94, CEO of Intellicomm, was quoted in an article about data recovery services in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. His Philadelphia-based company offers a service which allows businesses to set up phone systems remotely. (Associated Press, 9/28/05).

Wharton Leadership Lecture
Rob Henrikson, President, COO, Chairman & CEO-Elect, MetLife
(November 3)

Wharton Women in Business Conference
(November 3-4)

Discover Business Now: Leadership Careers for Women
(November 6)

World Negotiations Forum
(November 8-9)
Attend the Wharton-Sponsored World Negotiations Forum in New York City on Nov. 8 and 9. Speakers include: Professor Richard Shell, Madeleine Albright, and Robert Cialdini. To register, call 866.711.4476 and mention 'Wharton pricing' or register at http://www.hsm-us.com/wnf and enter code NNY/E1/WM/05. The special pricing is time sensitive.

John Wilhelm, President/Hospitality Industry, UNITE HERE
sponsored by the Wharton Center for Human Resources
(November 9)

Wharton Leadership Lecture
Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO, Xerox
(November 10)

Entrepreneurship Conference
(November 11)

Wharton Leadership Lecture
Janice Price, President and CEO, Kimmel Center
(November 17)

Gobal Business Forums: Africa, Asia, Europe, India and Latin America
(November 18-19)