Wharton School

Wharton School to Hold Leadership Conference in San Francisco
Event hosted by Wharton West, Wharton Executive Education Programs, Wharton Center for Human Resources, and Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management

SAN FRANCISCO, January 19, 2005 — Wharton West, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s campus in San Francisco, Wharton Executive Education Programs, the Wharton Center for Human Resources, and the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management will host a conference on February 2, 2005 that will discuss creative business leadership for innovation and sustainable growth – whether in the private, public, or non-profit sectors.

Sponsored by Spencer Stuart, Wharton School Publishing, and Knowledge@Wharton, the Wharton West Leadership Conference is focused on how to lead an increasingly diverse, creative, and eclectic workforce. In an ever-changing business environment, the successful leader turns uncertainty into inspiration and obstacles into opportunities. That requires creativity and conviction.

As of December 2004, speakers include (in alphabetical order): Michael Crooke, president and CEO, Patagonia, Inc.; Nancy M. Higgins, executive vice president of Ethics and Business Conduct, MCI; Jacqueline P. Kane, senior vice president, Human Resources, The Clorox Company; Ann Livermore, executive vice president, Technology Solutions Group, Hewlett-Packard Company; Vivek Paul, vice chair and president, Wipro Technologies; Susan Lucia Annunzio, chairman and chief executive officer, Hudson Highland Center for High Performance; Brent Assink, executive director, The San Francisco Symphony; John Barr, president, The Poetry Foundation; Mark Bernstein, president and Center director, Palo Alto Research Center; and Belle Linda Halpern, co-founder, The Ariel Group; co-author of Leadership Presence: Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out, Motivate, and Inspire.

“The Wharton West Leadership Conference offers attendees an opportunity to learn how leaders shape and guide creativity within their organizations, said Michael Useem, director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management at the Wharton School. “The leaders who will be speaking at the Conference represent organizations ranging from the world’s largest tech corporations to the San Francisco Symphony. There are great lessons to learn from such a diverse mix.”

Past conference speakers include Lew Platt, chairman of The Boeing Corporation; David Pottruck, former CEO of Charles Schwab; and Vint Cerf, senior vice president of Technology Strategy at MCI and chairman of ICANN.

About Wharton West and The Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized around the world for its academic strengths across every major discipline and at every level of business education. Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in the nation, Wharton has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral students, more than 8,000 participants in its executive education programs annually, and an alumni network of more than 80,000 worldwide. The executive MBA program was one of the first programs launched at Wharton West, the School’s campus in San Francisco. A residential program, students attend classes on alternate weekends and during two week-long sessions in the summer. Students based in San Francisco have the option of spending a semester at Wharton’s Philadelphia campus. Likewise, Philadelphia-based students have the opportunity to study at Wharton West. Because Wharton students live and work together during focused on-site sessions, students have an opportunity to forge close connections with classmates as well as to foster teamwork skills. In addition, the integration of work and study provides a living laboratory for applying knowledge.