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Wharton School to Hold Global Alumni Forum in
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: May 30-31, 2008
Speakers to Include Pham Viet Muon, Vice Chairman, Office of the Government of Vietnam; and Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, Former United States Trade Representative and Current Senior International Partner, WilmerHale.
Ho Chi Minh City and Philadelphia, Pa., May 12, 2008 -- The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the world’s leading business schools, will hold a Global Alumni Forum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, May 30-31, 2008, at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel.
The Wharton School holds Global Alumni Forums in centers of economic importance and business growth around the world, giving alumni the chance to learn about business opportunities and meet regional business and government leaders. Previous alumni forums have been held in such cities as Shanghai, Mumbai, London, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and Paris.
The theme of the Forum is “Vietnam: Star on the Rise.” The Forum consists of six panel discussions, four Master Classes as well as keynote presentations. Speakers will include Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, former United States Trade Representative and senior international partner, WilmerHale; Jon M. Huntsman, founder & chairman, Huntsman Corporation, chair of the Wharton School’s Board of Overseers and a recipient of Wharton undergraduate and honorary degrees; and Pham Viet Muon, vice chairman, Office of the Government of Vietnam.
In addition, business and government leaders who will speak include: Dang Thanh Tam, chairman, Saigon Invest Group; Prashant Mehta, vice president, Partner Solutions Group, Emerging Markets, Yahoo! Inc., a 1997 Wharton MBA graduate; Le Hoai Anh, managing director and Vietnam Country head, Credit Suisse Vietnam, a 1997 Wharton MBA graduate; Nguyen Duy Hung, Chairman & CEO, Saigon Securities Inc., Ho Chi Minh City; and Shang-Hung (Ryan) Shen, chairman & CEO, Ta Ya Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd.
Dean Thomas Robertson, Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise and Professor of Marketing, leads a contingent of Wharton faculty attending the Global Alumni Forum. “I am excited to join our alumni in Ho Chi Minh City to mark the first-ever Global Alumni Forum in Vietnam and my first ever Forum in Asia as the dean of the Wharton School,” said Dean Robertson. “The theme of this Forum is fitting as Vietnam is indeed a rising star poised for continued economic growth.”
Panel discussions at the Forum will include topics such as “Entrepreneurship in Vietnam,” “Real Estate Industry in Vietnam,” and “Vietnam Equity/Loan/Bond Markets – Insight from Bankers.” Sesto Vecchi, managing partner, Russin & Vecchi, who received his undergraduate degree from Wharton in 1958, and Dam Bich Thuy, general manager, ANZ Vietnam, who received her MBA from Wharton in 1996, are the organizing co-chairmen.
Other speakers include high-level business leaders and senior Wharton faculty including:
- Franklin Allen, Nippon Life Professor of Finance; Professor of Economics; co-director, Financial Institutions Center, the Wharton School
- Janice Bellace, Samuel A. Blank Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, Professor of Management; (and an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania’s College for Women and Law School), the Wharton School
- David Blackhall, deputy managing director, VinaCapital Real Estate
- Frederick R. Burke, principal, Baker & McKenzie LLP
- George Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor, Professor of Marketing; co-director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation, the Wharton School
- Tony Diep, director, Indochina Capital Corporation, chief investment officer, Indochina Land, who received his Wharton undergraduate degree from Wharton and Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1993
- Pham Quang Dzung, deputy general director, Treasury & Investments, Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, Hanoi
- Horst Geicke, chairman and co-founder, VinaCapital Group
- Le Hong Hanh, vice dean, Hanoi Law University, deputy-director, Institute of Law Science, Ministry of Justice, chief editor, Journal Law & Development Hanoi
- Chris Harvey, general manager, Vietnamworks.com
- William E. Heinecke, chairman & CEO, the Minor Group, Thailand
- Hoang Xuan Hieu, senior vice president, CMC Corporation, Hanoi, a 1995 MBA graduate
- Andy Ho, Managing Director, VinaCapital
- Hoang Thi Mai Huong, chairman & CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Vietnam
- Ha Kieu, expansion director, Big C Vietnam Hanoi, a 2000 MBA graduate
- Nguyen Quoc Khanh, founder, chairman & CEO, AA Corporation, Ho Chi Minh City
- Stephen J. Kobrin, William H. Wurster Professor of Multinational Management (and a 1962 MBA alumnus), the Wharton School
- Marshall W. Meyer, Richard A. Sapp Professor; Professor of Management and Sociology, the Wharton School
- Henry B. Nguyen, managing general partner, IDG Ventures Vietnam
- Khoi Phu Pham, director, Vietnam Head, Investment Banking Group, Merrill Lynch, a 1999 MBA graduate
- Don Lam, CEO & co-founder, VinaCapital
- Peter R. Ryder, co-chairman & CEO, Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings, Hanoi
- Tommy Tan, CEO, TC Capital
- Albert K. Ting, chairman, CX Technology
- Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, chairwoman & CEO, REE Corporation
- Marc Townsend, managing director, CB Richard Ellis (Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh City
- Phil Tran, chairman & CEO, Egg Digital Media
Wharton Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas R. Caleel, a 1994 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts & Sciences and a 2003 Wharton MBA alumnus, will present a session on applying to the Wharton School. For a full listing of speakers and topics, please visit http://www.whartonhcmc08.com.
The number of Wharton graduates from Vietnam is growing, reflecting the heightened interest in management education among Vietnamese. Wharton currently has more than 3,667 alumni who reside in Asia and about 25 in Vietnam. There are numerous Wharton activities aimed at sharing knowledge with and learning from the Vietnamese people. Some of these include visits by MBA students in the Global Immersion Program which is designed to provide MBAs with an in-depth exposure to the business environment of a significant global market; MBA Admissions Receptions and Forums throughout Asia including Vietnam; the University of Pennsylvania’s Undergraduate Admissions Office recruiting visits in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi; and the Penn-Wharton Club of Vietnam.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school -- is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The school has more than 4,700 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 10,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 82,000 graduates.
For further information visit the Wharton Global Alumni Forums website.
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