Wharton School to Hold Global Alumni Forum in Cape Town, South Africa: June 26-27, 2008
Speakers to Include Honorable Ebrahim Rasool, Premier Western Cape Provincial Government; Stafford Masie, CEO Google South Africa; Nkosana Moyo, Partner, Actis; and Malose Kekana, CEO, Umsobomvu Youth Fund

Cape Town and Philadelphia, Pa., June 16, 2008 -- The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the world’s leading business schools, will hold a Global Alumni Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, June 26-27, 2008, at the Table Bay 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 this Forum is "Africa Emergent: Transformational Leadership." The Forum consists of seven panel discussions, four Master Classes, as well as keynote presentations by Manu Chandaria, chairman, Comcraft Group and Carmel Schrire, professor, Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University. Speakers will include the Honorable Ebrahim Rasool, Premier Western Cape Provincial Government who is presenting a Keynote talk; Stafford Masie, CEO Google South Africa; Nkosana Moyo, Partner, Actis; and Malose Kekana, CEO, Umsobomvu Youth Fund

In addition, business and government leaders who will speak include: John J. Teeling, executive chairman, African Diamonds and 1969 MBA graduate; Roger Baxter, chief economist, Economic Advisory Unit, Chamber of Mines of South Africa; Dabing Chen chairman, Chenshia Industries Ltd., Wuhan, Hubei, China; and Eric Kacou, managing director, OTF Group and a 2004 MBA graduate.

Dean Thomas Robertson, Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise and Professor of Marketing, leads nearly a dozen Wharton faculty members, including South African born Professor Ian MacMillan, attending the Global Alumni Forum. “This is a momentous time to join our alumni for the first-ever Global Alumni Forum in Africa and my first-ever Forum in the region as the dean of the Wharton School,” said Dean Robertson. “Wharton has much to learn about Africa, and I look forward to joining my colleagues in hearing from so many transformational African leaders.”

Panel discussions at the Forum will include topics such as “Mining and Natural Resources,” “South African Real Estate Opportunities,” and “Societal Entrepreneurship.” Anthony Hamilton Russell, proprietor, Hamilton Russell Vineyards and founder/owner of Ashbourne and Southern Right Cellars, who received his MBA degree in 1990, is the organizing chairperson. Other speakers include high-level business leaders and senior Wharton faculty including:

• Raphael (Raffi) Amit, Robert B. Goergen Professor of Entrepreneurship; Professor of Management; Academic Director, The Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Programs; Academic Director, The Wharton Global Family Alliance
• Larry D. Bailey, President, LDB Consulting, Inc
• George Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor, Professor of Marketing; Co-Director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation
• Christian F. Eidem, Private Investor, and a 1994 undergraduate alumnus
• Andrew Golding, Chief Executive, Pam Golding Property Group
• Richard J. Herring, Jacob Safra Professor of International Banking; Professor of Finance; Co-Director, Wharton Financial Institutions Center
• Dawn Hines, co-founder & partner, Aventura Investment Partners
• Gareth Huckle, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Strategy, SUN Mining
• Dionne Kerr, Founder & CEO, Kerr International Consulting
• George Shimane, Khunou Managing Director, Royal Bafokeng Sports
• John W. Lane, Chief Executive, World Wide Sports
• Stephen Lussier, Managing Director, External and Corporate, De Beers
• Ian C. MacMillan, Dhirubhai Ambani Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Lerato Mbele, Anchor, CNBC Africa
• Leigh Meinert, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA)
• David Noko, Managing Director, De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM)
• Richard Okello, Principal, Makena Capital Management
• Thomas N. Papenfus, Shell Africa Stephen Priestly, Managing Director, JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A.
• Malcolmn D. Pryor Sr., President & CEO, Southern African Enterprise Development Fund
• David J. Reibstein, William Stewart Woodside Professor; Professor of Marketing
• Kgomotso Selokane, Independent Consultant
• Kenneth L. Shropshire, David W. Hauck Professor, Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics; Director, Wharton Sports Business Initiative
• Jeremy J. Siegel, Russell E. Palmer Professor of Finance
• James D. Thompson, Associate Director of Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs;
• Director of Societal Wealth Program
• Rob Urbach, Executive Vice President, Octagon Worldwide and a 1991 MBA alumnus
• Eugene Wade, Chairman, CEO & Co-founder, Platform Learning, and a 1999 MBA alumnus
• Pamela Watson, Managing Director, Strategy Safari Limited, Managing Director, Afrikoko Papers Limited, Australian Honorary Consul, Lagos, Nigeria
• James Wilson, Chief Executive, Dubai World Africa Services
• J. Eric Wright, Founder & CEO, Africa Venture Partners, and a 1992 MBA alumnus

There are a number of Wharton activities aimed at sharing knowledge with and learning from Africa. 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 Africa including South Africa; Wharton’s Societal Wealth Program’s research into “societal entrepreneurship”; the new Goldman Sachs-Wharton-American University in Cairo collaboration called “10,000 Women” aimed at providing entrepreneurial education for deserving women; and the Wharton Alumni Club of Africa.

Several Wharton undergraduate and MBA student groups are focused on Africa including the Wharton Africa Business Forum which celebrated its 15th anniversary last year. In addition, this year the Doctors of the World (DOW) bestowed their Health and Human Rights Leadership Award to the student-alumni Wharton Health International Volunteer Project (WHIVP), citing as an example of WHIVP’s impact over the past decade, a 2007 summer project in Kenya that helped reduce maternal mortality.

The number of Wharton graduates from Africa is growing, reflecting the heightened interest in management education among Africans. Wharton received 107 MBA applications from Africans for the Class of 2009. There are more than 172 alumni who reside on the continent and about 63 in South Africa.

For a full listing of Forum speakers and topics, please visit: http://www.whartoncapetown08.com/

For further information visit the Wharton Global Alumni Forums website

About the Wharton School
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.