ROBERT S. MCNAMARA CHARLES F. MYERS JR. JOSEPH C. WILSON ROB-INSON F. BARKER EDWARD W. CARTER ALDEN W. CLAUSEN DONALDS. PERKINS STEWART S. CORT CHRISTIANE SCRIVENER WILLIAM M. AGEE HENRY B. SCHACHT CHARLES E. SPAHR WILLIAM H. WENDEL WALTER A. HAAS JR. SAMUEL C. JOHNSON LUCIUS THEUS JOHN W. HANLEY JOHN L. WEINBERG JOHN C. WHITEHEAD PETER HARF FLETCHER L. BYROM JAQUE-LIN H. HUME RENE MCPHERSON WILLIAM H. DRAPER III JAMES L. FER-GUSON ROY M. HUFFINGTON ANDREW L. LEWIS JR. ROBERT H. MALOTT DONALD C. PLATTEN JULIA M. WALSH DANIEL JANSSEN RICHARD H. JEN-RETTE ROBERT E. KIRBY BURTON G. MALKIEL PHILIP CALDWELL WILLIAM 2 0 1 1 A L U M N I A C H I E V E M E N T A W A R D S G. MCGOWAN KANEO NAKAMURA JOHN S.R. SHAD EDSON D. DE CASTRO CAROL R. GOLD-BERG PETER LOUGHEED C. PETER MCCOLOUGH ENEKO DE BELAUSTE-GUIGOITIA ARTHUR ROCK LUTHER FOSTER JOHN J. NEVIN C.D. SPANGLERJR. VINCENT L. GREGORY JR. CHRISTOPHER HOGG DANIEL B. BURKEALAIN M. GOMEZ THOMAS S. MURPHY JESSE PHILIPS GEORGE B. BEITZELROBERT M. HALPERIN SANDRA L. KURTZIG SETH KLARMAN DENNIS F. HIGHTOWER K.J. LUKE DEAN O. MORTON ROBERT D. ORR FRANK SHRONTZHAROLD TANNER ELAINE L. CHAO ROBERT CIZIK WALTER Y. ELISHACHARLES D. ELLIS DEAN F. LEBARON ERLING S. LORENTZEN AMOS B.HOSTETTER JR. RICHARD L. MENSCHEL DONALD M. STEWART WILLIAM P. WILDER RICHARD P. WOLLENBERG JEAN BERNHARD BUTTNER CHARLES R. LEE ROBERT KRAFT BERT N. MITCHELL RATAN N. TATA THOMAS C. THEO-BALD SCOTT D. COOK MARLENE R. KRAUSS ANDREW K. LUDWICK YAWAND-WOSSEN MANGASHA MATTHEW W. BARRETT CHARLES A. COVERDALE VIC-TOR K. FUNG WILLIAM W. GEORGE STEPHEN P. KAUFMAN RUTH M. OWADES JOHN C. WADDELL RALPH M. BARFORD FRANK BATTEN DAVID J. DUNN ANN M. FUDGE ELLEN R. MARRAM ROBERT F. MCDERMOTT W. DON CORNWELL BRUCE W. FERGUSON JOHN F. KEANE SR. ARTHUR C. MARTINEZ DAVID W. THOMPSON JEANETTE SARKISIAN WAGNER SCOTT L. WEBSTER KAREN GORDON MILLS GORDON M. BINDER PETER A. BROOKE ORIT GADIESH ROBERT L. LOUIS-DREYFUS THOMAS G. STEMBERG WILLIAM F. CONNELL T.J. DERMOT DUNPHYRICHARD B. FISHER AMY SCHIFFMAN LANGER BERT W.M. TWAALFHOVENRAYMOND V. GILMARTIN ORIN C. SMITH MARJORIE M.T. YANG EGON P. S.ZEHNDER JAMES E. BURKE HOWARD E. COX, JR. WILLIAM ELFERS DANIELS. GREGORY LILLIAN LINCOLN LAMBERT HENRY F. MCCANCE CHARLESO. ROSSOTTI DANIEL L. VASELLA CHARLES P. WAITE D. RONALD DANIEL BARBARA HACKMAN FRANKLIN A.G. LAFLEY MINORU MAKIHARA DONALD P. NIELSEN RAHUL BAJAJ NANCY M. BARRY LOUIS V. GERSTNER JR. JUDITH R. HABER-KORN JOSEPH J. O’DONNELL SIR RONALD M. COHEN WILLIAM H. DONALD-SON ANN S. MOORE PHILIP L. YEO DONNA L. DUBINSKY A. MALACHI MIXON III SIR MARTIN S. SORRELL HANSJÖRG WYSS JAIME AUGUSTO ZOBEL DE AYALA HÜSNÜ ÖZYEGIN JOHN DOERR JEFFREY R. IMMELT ANAND G. MA-HINDRA MEG WHITMAN JAMES D. WOLFENSOHN WILLIAM K. BOWES JR. KATHRYN E. GIUSTI ROBERT F. GREENHILL JORGE PAULO LEMANN HENRY M. PAULSON JR. CARLOS A. SICUPIRA MARCEL H. TELLES SUSAN L. DECK-ER JAMES DIMON ALLAN W.B. GRAY JAMES A. LOVELL MARVIN S. TRAUB

H E M I S S I O N O F

Harvard Business School is to educate leaders who

make a difference in the world. Every day more

than 70,000 HBS graduates strive to make these

words a reality in a wide array of organizations that

affect the lives of millions of people around the

globe.

Since 1968, with the help of suggestions from

alumni, students, faculty, and friends, the School

has selected a number of outstanding men and

women to receive its most important honor, the

Alumni Achievement Award.

Throughout their careers, these distinguished

graduates have contributed significantly to their

companies and communities while upholding the

highest standards and values in everything they

do. As such, they represent the best in our alumni

body. Exemplary role models, they inspire all those

who aspire to have an impact on both business

and society.

T

PETERHARF

CHAIRMAN AND CEO, JOH. A.

BENCKISER SE

MBA 1974

Harf is the chairman and CEO of privately held Joh. A. Benck-

iser SE, which owns Coty, Labelux, and stakes in Reckitt Benck-

iser and Burger King. He serves as chairman of Coty, the global

beauty company and leader in fragrance.

He began his career at The Boston Consulting Group in San

Francisco in 1974. In 1981, he joined Benckiser, focusing the

company on consumer goods. “We had a lot of marginal pieces in

our portfolio,” explains Harf. In those early years, Harf acquired

around 25 companies. “I’m not afraid of taking risks. I’m not

afraid of losing. I’m not afraid of buying something,” says Harf.

In 1997, he and Bart Becht took the detergent part of Benck-

iser public. Subsequently, in 1999, this company merged with

Reckitt & Colman, forming Reckitt Benckiser. The new firm

thrived, reaching a total shareholder return of 16.5 percent per

year over a period of 10 years.

In 2002, Harf joined the board of Anheuser-Busch InBev,

then Interbrew and today the largest brewer in the world. He has

served as chairman there since 2006.

Peter Harf was born in 1946 in Cologne, Germany. He grew

up an only child living right after the Second World War in the

completely destroyed Cologne. “My mother, 21 years young when

I was born, did the cooking and washing for 14 people,” he re-

calls. “She had tremendous energy. There was no money, but

lots of love and happiness.” As a boy, Harf shared a room with a

great uncle, born in 1886, who instilled in him an avid interest in

With entrepreneurial energy, Peter Harf has left

a mark on consumer goods industries such as

household products, cosmetics, quick-service

restaurants, luxury goods, and beverages. He has

also had an impact on tens of thousands of blood

cancer patients by facilitating bone marrow trans-

plants. Whatever the task at hand, Harf arrives

with a passion for creative thinking and a commit-

ment to getting the job done.

3

history and politics. “My uncle died in 1957. I was 11 years old.

No day passes that I do not remember stuff he told me as a little

boy. It is amazing how a great human being can shape a child and

guide him through life.”

After graduating first in his class from the University of Co-

logne, he earned a PhD in economics. Despite a consuming, life-

long passion for economics, Harf decided to become a business-

man. He had recently married the love of his life, Mechtild, whom

he had been dating for 10 years. The pair moved to Cambridge

so he could attend HBS. “We had a fantastic time. Madly in love,

lots of friends, great parties, smart professors, and the Cape in

the spring,” Harf recalls. He savored working with smart fellow

students. “Research into theoretical economics tends to be very

lonely,” he observes.

After graduation, Harf moved to San Francisco. When his wife

became pregnant with the first of their two daughters, fittingly

named Viktoria, she decided they should return to Germany. “In

family matters, Mechtild held the reins and I was riding shotgun.

She wanted our daughter to have a clear sense of belonging.”

In 1990, tragedy struck, when Mechtild was diagnosed with

blood cancer. She needed a bone marrow transplant, but there

was not a matching donor. Eventually, she received a transplant,

after Harf and his friends had started to frantically recruit po-

tential bone marrow donors all over Germany. On her deathbed,

Mechtild demanded that Harf stay committed to the fight against

blood cancer. “What happened to me should not happen to any-

one,” Harf recalls her saying. “Put your business smarts to work.

There is more to life than making money.”

Harf and his wife’s physician, Gerhard Ehninger, launched

DKMS, the cure blood cancer bank. “DKMS is not a charity, but

a high-performance, nonprofit company driven by an impossible

dream and a strong culture,” says Harf. Today, DKMS has more

than 2.8 million registered bone marrow donors worldwide and

has facilitated some 26,000 transplants. “So many people tell

me they wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for my father,” says Harf’s

daughter Katharina, who serves as DKMS’s COO.

Like the happy endings that Harf has brought to many blood

cancer patients, there is a silver lining to his personal struggle

with loss. In 1995, while promoting a line of cosmetics for wom-

en with cancer, he met Tina, a creative advertising director and

writer who had also lost a loved one to cancer. They hit it off

immediately and today are happily married, dividing their time

between Milan and Manhattan.

“O NE OF MY MAJOR STRENGTHS IS A LACK OF FEAR. LIKE MOST STRENGTHS, IT IS ALSO A WEAKNESS.”

TIMELINE

1946 BORN, COLOGNE, GERMANY

1973 EARNS PHD, MON-ETARY ECONOMICS, UNI-VERSITY OF COLOGNE

1981 JOINS JOH. A. BENCK-ISER GMBH

1988 NAMED CEO & CHAIR-MAN, JOH. A. BENCKISER SE

1991 LAUNCHES DKMS, THE CURE BLOOD CANCER BANK

1993 BECOMES CEO, COTY INC.

2001 APPOINTED CHAIR-MAN, COTY INC.

2006 APPOINTED CHAIR-MAN, ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV

4 5

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: VISITING DEREK LAM TO LOOK AT THE NEW COL-LECTION; HARF LEAVES THE HOUSE AT 6:30 AM, SAYING GOODBYE TO TINA; HARF AND HIS DAUGHTER KATHARINA (LEFT) REVIEW DOCUMENTS AT DKMS.

SETHKLARMAN

PRESIDENT,THE

BAUPOSTGROUP

MBA 1982

At Baupost’s Boston headquarters, Klarman spends most of his

time on the trading floor — not making trades per se, but taking

in what’s going on in the 165-person company he helped launch

shortly after earning his MBA. Rarely using his private office, he

begins each day reading four to six newspapers, surrounded by

colleagues. The atmosphere at Baupost is serious but also kind-

hearted. “We pride ourselves on mutual respect,” he says. “If

someone comes in and is on their Blackberry and is too busy to

say hello to the receptionist, that’s not okay.”

That level of compassion can be seen in all aspects of Klar-

man’s life. A devoted father of three, he has made family a top

priority over the years, taking time to coach his daughters’ soc-

cer teams and attend his son’s piano recitals. Together with his

wife, Beth, he has also given generously to causes they believe

in. “Giving back has been a theme for us from a very early stage,”

says Beth, who met Seth on a cruise around Boston Harbor in

1982. “We care about the urgent needs of our local community.”

The foundation bearing the family name, run by Beth, has sup-

ported medical, educational, religious, and social service organi-

zations, including McLean and Beth Israel Deaconess hospitals

and Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

“There comes a responsibility with success, and that is leaving

the world better than you found it,” says Seth Klarman, who sees

giving back as one of the key metrics to consider when gauging

success. Another is whether one has created value for others. At

Baupost, he says, “We’ve managed to do really well for ourselves

Seth Klarman wrote the book on value investing.

Literally. His 1991 Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful In-vestor, now out of print, is so sought-after that it

is available for rent on eBay. Klarman’s legendary

success as both an investor and a philanthropist

belies another aspect of his personality: he enjoys

living his life out of the spotlight.

7

by putting clients first, by charging a fair fee, and by focusing on

their best interests. I’m proud of the fact that virtually everybody

who has been connected with the firm — employees, clients, ad-

visers, business partners — has benefited from that experience.”

Klarman’s long-term outlook has served him — and others —

well. His approach relies primarily on research and discipline.

“Value investing, the strategy of buying stocks at an appreciable

discount from the value of the underlying businesses, is one strat-

egy that provides a road map to successfully navigate not only

through good times, but also through turmoil,” he observes. “It

requires deep reservoirs of patience and discipline.”

Seth Klarman was born in New York City and grew up in Bal-

timore. His father, a health economist, taught at Johns Hopkins

and NYU; his mother began her career as an English teacher and

then became a psychiatric social worker. His own interest in busi-

ness started early: family lore has it that four-year-old Klarman

organized his room into a commercial space, putting price tags

on his belongings. At 10, he was intrigued by the stock listings in

the newspaper and bought his first stock, in Johnson & Johnson.

As a teenager, he delivered the weekday afternoon and Sunday

Baltimore Sun and ran a snow removal/lawn mowing business.

In high school, he took an interest in coin and stamp collecting,

horse racing, and baseball, and he remains passionate about the

latter two activities to this day.

After studying economics at Cornell, Klarman headed to Wall

Street to join Mutual Shares Corporation, where he worked closely

with Max Heine and Mike Price, two legendary figures in the area

of value investing. The position was a good fit, so the decision

to leave to attend HBS was not an easy one. Doing so, however,

changed the course of Klarman’s life. “HBS teaches you about

leadership. It immerses you in a series of real-life business situ-

ations. Even now, 30 years later, I draw on my experiences from

business school to handle complicated managerial situations,”

says Klarman.

Also at HBS, Klarman met Professor William Poorvu, who re-

cruited him to manage a pool of capital in the newly formed Bau-

post Group. While the job initially didn’t pay particularly well, it

gave him a platform on which to put his value investing strategy

FROM TOP LEFT: KLARMAN TAKES KUGEL FOR A STROLL AROUND HIS CHESTNUT HILL NEIGHBORHOOD; REVIEWING HIS CALENDAR AT HOME (WITH A BASKETBALL GAME ON IN THE BACKGROUND);KLARMAN AND HIS DAUGHTERS ATTEND A RED SOX GAME.

to work. Over three decades, Klarman has built one of the most

successful hedge fund companies in the world. While such ac-

colades are important to Klarman, he is equally proud of the cul-

ture at Baupost. “We have a very collaborative environment where

people support each other,” he says. “We reward people for being

team players. I’ve always viewed my employees as partners of the

business.” For Klarman, success is clearly a team effort.

“I T’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHEN TO STAND BACK AND EMPOWER OTHERS.”

TIMELINE

1957 BORN, NEW YORK CITY

1979 JOINS MUTUAL SHARES FULL TIME

1982 BAUPOST IS LAUNCHED

1990 CREATES KLARMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION

1991 PUBLISHES MARGIN OF SAFETY

1995 BECOMES CHAIR OF FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES

2008 SELECTED LEAD EDITOR OF GRAHAM AND DODD’S CLASSIC SECURITY ANALYSIS, 6TH EDITION

8 9

ROBERTKRAFT

FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN, AND CEO,

THE KRAFT GROUP

MBA 1965

The decision to buy the Patriots fits a pattern that Kraft devel-

oped at a young age. He is a man who believes that anything is

possible, and he is willing to take risks. Over the years Kraft has

made bold bets that have paid off, including what he sees as his

all-time best: pursuing his future wife Myra even though she was

on a date with someone else at the time. Their legendary 48-year

partnership was a source of inspiration to their family, friends,

and the community that continues to mourn the loss of Myra

Kraft, who succumbed to cancer in July.

While Bob Kraft’s remarkable successes in the paper and pack-

aging business, as a sports team owner, and as a philanthropist

have made him a beloved figure in the Boston community, he says

it is his failures that have taught him the most. “Don’t be afraid

to fail,” is the advice he doles out most often — be it to kids at

the local Boys & Girls Clubs, to the recipients of his fellowships

at Columbia and HBS, or to his four sons. A native of Brookline,

Massachusetts, who grew up in a modest household, Kraft also

frequently encourages others to “be passionate,” and to “collect

good people around you.” The words gain credence through Kraft

because he is a living example of his playbook.

The Kraft Group is a family business run by Kraft and sons

Jonathan (MBA 1990), Daniel, Joshua, and David (MBA 1999).

The seeds of the privately held company’s diverse concerns were

sowed in 1965 when Kraft went to work at Rand-Whitney, a pack-

aging company he later acquired in a leveraged buyout. Seven

years later, he founded International Forest Products, now one of

In 1994, Robert Kraft paid a record amount —

$172 million — for one of the worst football teams

in the NFL. The New England Patriots had lost 36

of their last 50 games and had the lowest revenues

in the league. Initially, the purchase appeared to

be an extremely risky decision made by a sports

fanatic, but in time it proved to be a winning busi-

ness move.

11

the largest privately held paper trading companies in the world.

Kraft gradually expanded the company, adding holdings in sports

and entertainment, real estate, and private equity. Today, the

company employs more than 5,000 globally and does business

in 80 countries.

Kraft’s deep commitment to the community is evident in the

halls of medical, educational, and cultural institutions through-

out the Boston area. The Kraft Family Blood Lab at Dana Farber

Cancer Institute, for example, is one of the largest blood platelet

centers in the world and through the New England Patriots Chari-

table Foundation, last fall the Krafts launched a “Kick Cancer”

awareness campaign. They endowed a chaired professorship in

Jewish studies at Boston College and a chaired professorship in

Christian studies at Brandeis. All told, the Krafts have donated

over $120 million to causes they believe in.

Robert Kraft grew up in a tight-knit family, the son of a deeply

spiritual man and philanthropist. “My father was a man of great

integrity who was very well-respected in our community,” says

Kraft, noting that his mother, a homemaker, doled out discipline

and love in equal measure. He received a full scholarship to Co-

lumbia, where he studied economics and history.

It was during a college break that he first met his lifelong part-

ner, Myra. He was out with friends and she was on a date, but

when they caught each other’s eyes, Kraft felt a spark that he

couldn’t ignore. “I married my trophy wife the first time around,”

he says with a smile. “She was 19 years old and I was 20. She

proposed to me on our first date.”

Kraft went directly from Columbia to HBS, fulfilling a lifelong

dream. “I’ll never forget walking around campus those first days,”

he says. “Everyone was so smart.” Despite his initial intimida-

tion and the growing family responsibilities — the Krafts first

two sons were born while he attended HBS — he thrived. “The

case method taught me great discipline in how to study, how to

prepare, how to think,” he says.

Combining that preparation with tenacity, Kraft has become

a pillar of the community, and it is that role that brings him the

most joy. Donating to causes important to the family is one tan-

gible marker of his success, but Kraft believes that revitalizing

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: KRAFT HOSTS A FUNDRAIS-ER WITH 500 GUESTS; POS-ING WITH A PATRIOTS FAN IN BOSTON; KRAFT AND HIS SON JOSH WHO LEADS THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON

the Patriots is also a powerful contribution. After the team won its

first of three Super Bowls, he notes, “We had a million-and-a-half

people come celebrate in the streets of Boston on the coldest day

of the year. These people were from all social and economic back-

grounds and everyone was so excited to be celebrating together

as one. Sports franchises, especially in Boston, are tremendous

communal assets and each of our Super Bowl victory parades has

provided undeniable evidence to that claim.”

“THE SUPER BOWL TROPHIES TRULY BELONG TO THE WHOLE COMMUNITY.”

TIMELINE

1941 BORN, BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS

1965 JOINS RAND-WHITNEY

1972 FOUNDS INTERNA-TIONAL FOREST PRODUCTS

1994 BUYS NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

2002 PATRIOTS WIN FIRST OF THREE SUPER BOWLS

2010 LAUNCHES “KICK CANCER” SEASON-LONG CAMPAIGN

12 13

KARENGORDONMILLS

ADMINISTRATOR,US SMALL BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION

MBA 1977

A hands-on leader who has met with business owners in 36

states in the two years since President Barack Obama appointed

her to head the US Small Business Administration (SBA), Mills

has had many poignant encounters with people she calls “the

builders of the American dream.” From a Gulf of Mexico shrimp

fisherman who stayed in business with low-interest economic in-

jury loans after the BP oil spill, to a Pennsylvania drill bit manu-

facturer whose SBA-financed technology was instrumental in res-

cuing the trapped Chilean miners, to a couple whose Arkansas

saw mill was saved by an SBA loan when the credit crisis hit,

small business owners inspire Mills daily with their determina-

tion, she says.

“The people we work with are tightly woven into the fabric of

their communities,” notes Mills, whose career has been influ-

enced by her paternal grandfather, who came to the United States

from Russia to build a textile business. “Half the workers in this

country are employed in small businesses. We need to make sure

they have the tools to grow their companies, create stable jobs,

and move our economy forward.”

Mills serves as the 23rd administrator of the SBA, an agency

founded in 1953 that has delivered millions of loans, loan guar-

antees, contracts, counseling sessions, and other forms of assis-

tance to small businesses. She leads a team of 3,000 employees

who help small businesses across the country. The agency also

employs 2,000 on-call staff who work on disaster relief. Along

Throughout her career, Karen Gordon Mills owned,

managed, mentored, and invested in small and

growing businesses of all descriptions. “For most

of the eighties,” recalls the unflappable mother of

three and wife of a college president, “I was preg-

nant, walking through steel mills, and buying com-

panies.” Now working with small business owners

on a national scale, she believes their job-produc-

ing sector is critical to rebuilding the US economy.

15

with a portfolio of more than $90 billion in loan guarantees, the

SBA is responsible for ensuring that 23 percent of all government

contracts are awarded to small businesses. “That’s $100 billion

dollars a year,” she stresses.

Reflecting on her preparation for her current role, Mills says,

“At MMP Group, I had the privilege of buying, owning, and advis-

ing businesses one at a time — investing in them in ways that

would help them grow,” she muses. “So when I walk into a small

business today, I understand the issues very well.”

Karen Gordon was born in Boston. Her father (Melvin Gordon,

MBA 1943) ran a textile business before taking over Chicago-

based Tootsie Roll Industries, which he continues to run jointly

with her mother, Ellen Gordon. After graduating from Harvard

with a degree in economics, business school was the natural next

step. “When I started reading HBS cases about efficiency on the

factory floor,” she recalls, “I felt like I was back at the family

dinner table.” Her professional DNA includes a consulting role at

McKinsey & Company, a stint at General Foods, and considerable

venture capital experience.

Mills finds working in the public sector to be extremely reward-

ing and is deeply committed to helping small US manufacturers

who operate in large corporate supply chains. “We cannot lose

their expertise,” she emphasizes. “If we do, we’ll lose even more

jobs to competitors abroad.” By providing mentorship and financ-

ing that ranges from micro loans to help home-based businesses

buy delivery trucks to sophisticated loans to build factories, she

believes the SBA can stimulate “not just initial product creation,

but production innovation, manufacturing innovation, and the

process that turns US inventions into US jobs.”

Mills’s introduction to government service came while she was

still working in New York but living in Brunswick, Maine, with her

three sons and husband, Barry Mills, the president of Bowdoin

College. In 2007, she was asked by Maine’s then governor John

Baldacci to put her venture capital skills to work developing new

jobs to soften the economic impact of a local Navy base closure.

While she had no idea that entree would lead to working for the

president and representing small business on Capitol Hill, saying

yes to the challenge was in keeping with the increasingly nuanced

FROM TOP LEFT: LEAV-ING A MEETING AT THE WHITE HOUSE; WITH HER HUSBAND, BARRY, AND SON GEORGE; LEADING A MEET-ING IN HER SBA OFFICE.

career philosophy that Mills — who graduated from HBS at a time

when women managers felt driven to follow the fast track to “hav-

ing it all” — has come to embrace. “I’ve learned that the right

next step might be an evolution, or it might be a new direction,”

she observes. “In the end, the best choices are those where you

can succeed and help others to do the same.”

“WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE EVERY DAY IN SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS’ ABILITY TO CREATE JOBS.”

TIMELINE

1953 BORN, BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS

1977 JOINS GENERAL FOODS

1981 JOINS MCKINSEY & COMPANY

1983 JOINS E.S. JACOBS & CO.

1993 BECOMES PRESIDENT OF MMP GROUP

1995 JOINS US COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

2007 BECOMES CHAIR OF MAINE’S COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS AND THE ECONOMY

2009 NAMED ADMINISTRA-TOR OF THE US SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

16 17

HÜSNÜ ÖZYEGIN

FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN,FiBA GROUP

MBA 1969

One of Turkey’s most successful business leaders, Özyeğin is

a self-made man. After earning his MBA and working at IBM and

Arthur D. Little, he returned to his native land to complete his

military service. He then worked his way through a series of rapid

advancements in the banking world. In 1985, he took the helm

of Yapi Kredi Bank, where he turned a deficit into a $60 million

profit in two years. Two years later, he invested all of his personal

assets in the launch of a new bank, Finansbank, selling both his

homes and moving his wife, son, and daughter into a rental.

“Entrepreneurship really means taking risks,” says Özyeğin,

who during that first year successfully opened four branches, fo-

cused on corporate clients. By expanding regionally and diversify-

ing interests, Finansbank grew to become one of Turkey’s largest

private banks, with 200 branches in 10 countries. Although he

sold his interest in the bank in 2006, he remained chairman until

last year.

Özyeğin now oversees FiBA Group, a $6 billion portfolio of

investments in the financial services industry that includes su-

permarket chains, shopping malls, wind energy, and banks. Both

his son, Murat (MBA 2003), and daughter, Aysecan (who holds

an MBA from Stanford), work closely with him. “I’m still a hands-

on manager of my businesses,” he says, noting that he enjoys

the challenge of building enterprises. “Employees and managers

want to work in companies that grow,” he says simply. “They want

to grow with the company.”

Hüsnü Özyeğin’s grandfather was a Turkish cloth-

ing merchant who didn’t go to college, but he in-

stilled in his progeny an appreciation for the value

of education. The younger Özyeğin pursued his

studies in the United States — attending Oregon

State University and HBS — and then returned to

Turkey, where his enormous impact in business is

matched by his commitment to improving access

to quality education.

19

In 1990, he launched a foundation to support Turkey’s social,

cultural, and economic development. While the nonprofit bears

his name, Özyeğin’s children and his wife, Aysen, are very much

involved. The family’s primary philanthropic focus is eliminating

disparities in education. Their multipronged approach includes

serving students at every level, from preschool through university.

“After learning that only 5 percent of girls who graduate from pri-

mary schools in rural areas attend high school, we knew we had to

do something,” says Özyeğin, who has built 25 girls’ dormitories

next to high schools in 20 provinces. “It’s been very gratifying,”

he says, noting that 40 percent of these girls continue on to at-

tend universities.

Hüsnü Özyeğin was born in Izmir, Turkey, the son of a medi-

cal doctor and a homemaker. At the age of 10 he went to Robert

Academy, a prep school in Istanbul, and upon graduation he re-

ceived a scholarship to attend Oregon State. With $1,000 from

his father, Özyeğin made his way to Canada by boat and then to

Portland, Oregon, by Greyhound bus. He thrived socially, joining

the soccer team and, in 1966, becoming the first non-American

to be elected president of Oregon State’s 14,000 student body.

Realizing that his choice of study, engineering, didn’t suit him,

he applied to business school.

Özyeğin arrived at HBS with little work experience, but he made

up for it by taking over the Gallows Grill, a student concession in

Gallatin Hall. His business smarts and hard work — he opted to

stay late and clean the grill himself rather than pay someone else

to do it — were immediately evident. Adding pizza to the menu,

for example, was a smart move. “The pizza cost us 25 cents and

we could sell it for over a dollar,” he says. “It ended up being the

most profitable product at the Grill.”

In addition to cutting his teeth as an entrepreneur and earn-

ing enough money to pay off his student loans, Özyeğin gained

skills at HBS that propelled his future successes. “I learned how

to make decisions,” he says. “It was not just a classroom expe-

rience. It was the campus atmosphere that added tremendous

value to me.”

Not surprisingly, Özyeğin’s latest, and most ambitious, phil-

anthropic endeavor is building a bilingual university outside of

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: VISITING A CLASS AT ONE OF HIS SCHOOLS IN SANLIURFA; BIDDING AYSEN GOODBYE; LEADING A MEETING AT FiBA HEAD-QUARTERS.

Istanbul. Offering engineering, hotel management, business, psy-

chology, and law, the university currently has 1,700 students en-

rolled in a temporary space while the campus is being completed.

Eventually, Özyeğin University will serve 6,000 students. “We will

give a first-class education to students whose families cannot af-

ford to pay,” he says.

Özyeğin has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to help

Turkey thrive, but he believes that it is not financial contributions

that change the world, but intention. “You don’t have to have a

lot of money to be involved in social responsibility,” he observes.

“You have to have a good mind and a good heart.”

“LIFE IS FULL OF COINCIDENCES AND LUCK AND FATE.”

TIMELINE

1945 BORN, IZMIR, TURKEY

1966 ELECTED STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT AT OREGON STATE

1972 RETURNS TO TURKEY FOR MILITARY SERVICE

1987 LAUNCHES FINANSBANK

1990 ESTABLISHES FAMILY FOUNDATION

2008 OPENS ÖZYEĞIN UNIVERSITY

20 21

1968Robert S. McNamara, MBA ’39

1969Charles F. Myers Jr., MBA ’35

1970 Joseph C. Wilson, MBA ’33

1971 Robinson F. Barker, AMP 30, 1956Edward W. Carter, MBA ’37

1972 Alden W. Clausen, AMP 50, 1966

1973 Donald S. Perkins, MBA ’51

1974 Stewart S. Cort, MBA ’36

1976 Christiane Scrivener, AMP 66, 1973

1977 William M. Agee, MBA ’63

1978 Henry B. Schacht, MBA ’62Charles E. Spahr, HBS ’39William H. Wendel, MBA ’40

1979 Walter A. Haas Jr., MBA ’39Samuel C. Johnson, MBA ’52Lucius Theus, AMP 57, 1969

1980 John W. Hanley, MBA ’47John L. Weinberg, MBA ’50John C. Whitehead, MBA ’47

1981Fletcher L. Byrom, AMP 21, 1952Jaquelin H. Hume, MBA ’30Rene McPherson, MBA ’52

1982 William H. Draper III, MBA ’54James L. Ferguson, MBA ’51Roy M. Huffington, AMP 76, 1977

1983 Andrew L. Lewis Jr., MBA ’55

Robert H. Malott, MBA ’50Donald C. Platten, AMP 50, 1966Julia M. Walsh, AMP 41, 1962

1984 Daniel Janssen, MBA ’62Richard H. Jenrette, MBA ’57Robert E. Kirby, MBA ’56Burton G. Malkiel, MBA ’55

1985 Philip Caldwell, MBA ’42William G. McGowan, MBA ’54Kaneo Nakamura, AMP 50, 1966John S.R. Shad, MBA ’49

1986 Edson D. de Castro, HBS ’63Carol R. Goldberg, AMP 57, 1969Peter Lougheed, MBA ’54C. Peter McColough, MBA ’49

1987 Eneko de Belausteguigoitia, AMP 95, 1985Arthur Rock, MBA ’51

1988Luther Foster, MBA ’36John J. Nevin, MBA ’52C.D. Spangler Jr., MBA ’56

1989 Vincent L. Gregory Jr., MBA ’49Christopher Hogg, MBA ’62

1990 Daniel B. Burke, MBA ’55Alain M. Gomez, PMD 20, 1970Thomas S. Murphy, MBA ’49Jesse Philips, MBA ’39

1991 George B. Beitzel, MBA ’52Robert M. Halperin, MBA ’52Sandra L. Kurtzig, OPM 4, 1980

1992Dennis F. Hightower, MBA ’74K.J. Luke, MBA ’38Dean O. Morton, MBA ’60Robert D. Orr, HBS ’42Frank Shrontz, MBA ’58

Harold Tanner, MBA ’56

1993 Elaine L. Chao, MBA ’79Robert Cizik, MBA ’58Walter Y. Elisha, MBA ’65Charles D. Ellis, MBA ’63Dean F. LeBaron, MBA ’60Erling S. Lorentzen, MBA ’48

1994Amos B. Hostetter Jr., MBA ’61Richard L. Menschel, MBA ’59Donald M. Stewart, AMP 91, 1983William P. Wilder, MBA ’50Richard P. Wollenberg, MBA ’38

1995 Jean Bernhard Buttner, HRPBA ’58Charles R. Lee, MBA ’64Bert N. Mitchell, OPM 10, 1985Ratan N. Tata, AMP 71, 1975Thomas C. Theobald, MBA ’60

1996 Scott D. Cook, MBA ’76Marlene R. Krauss, MBA ’67Andrew K. Ludwick, MBA ’69Yawand-Wossen Mangasha, MBA ’56

1997 Matthew W. Barrett, AMP 85, 1981Charles A. Coverdale, MBA ’71Victor K. Fung, Ph.D. ’71 (Harvard University)William W. George, MBA ’66Stephen P. Kaufman, MBA ’65Ruth M. Owades, MBA ’75John C. Waddell, MBA ’65

1998 Ralph M. Barford, MBA ’52Frank Batten, MBA ’52David J. Dunn, MBA ’61Ann M. Fudge, MBA ’77Ellen R. Marram, MBA ’70Robert F. McDermott, MBA ’50

1999 W. Don Cornwell, MBA ’71Bruce W. Ferguson, JD/MBA ’81John F. Keane Sr., MBA ’54

PREVIOUSRECIPIENTS

22 23

Arthur C. Martinez, MBA ’65David W. Thompson, MBA ’81Jeanette Sarkisian Wagner, AMP 90, 1983Scott L. Webster, MBA ’81

2000Gordon M. Binder, MBA ’62Peter A. Brooke, MBA ’54Orit Gadiesh, MBA ’77Robert L. Louis-Dreyfus, MBA ’73Thomas G. Stemberg, MBA ’73

2001William F. Connell, MBA ’63T.J. Dermot Dunphy, MBA ’56Richard B. Fisher, MBA ’62Amy Schiffman Langer, MBA ’77Bert W.M. Twaalfhoven, MBA ’54

2002Raymond V. Gilmartin, MBA ’68 Orin C. Smith, MBA ’67 Marjorie M.T. Yang, MBA ’76 Egon P.S. Zehnder, MBA ’56

2003James E. Burke, MBA ’49Howard E. Cox Jr., MBA ’69William Elfers, MBA ’43Daniel S. Gregory, MBA ’57Lillian Lincoln Lambert, MBA ’69Henry F. McCance, MBA ’66Charles O. Rossotti, MBA ’64 Daniel L. Vasella, M.D., PMD 57, 1989Charles P. Waite, MBA ’59

2004D. Ronald Daniel, MBA ’54Barbara Hackman Franklin, MBA ’64A.G. Lafley, MBA ’77Minoru Makihara, AMP 75, 1977Donald P. Nielsen, MBA ’63

2005Rahul Bajaj, MBA ’64Nancy M. Barry, MBA ’75

Louis V. Gerstner Jr., MBA ’65Judith R. Haberkorn, AMP 111, 1992Joseph J. O’Donnell, MBA ’71

2006Sir Ronald M. Cohen, MBA ’69William H. Donaldson, MBA ’58Ann S. Moore, MBA ’78Philip L. Yeo, MBA ’76

2007Donna L. Dubinsky, MBA ’81A. Malachi Mixon III, MBA ’68 Sir Martin S. Sorrell, MBA ’68Hansjörg Wyss, MBA ’65Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, MBA ’87

2008John Doerr, MBA ’76Jeffrey R. Immelt, MBA ’82Anand G. Mahindra, MBA ’81Meg Whitman, MBA ’79James D. Wolfensohn, MBA ’59

2009William K. Bowes Jr., MBA ’52Kathryn E. Giusti, MBA ’85Robert F. Greenhill, MBA ’62Jorge Paulo Lemann, A.B. ’61 Henry M. Paulson Jr., MBA ’70Carlos A. Sicupira, OPM 9, 1984Marcel H. Telles, OMP 10, 1985

2010Susan L. Decker, MBA ’86 James Dimon, MBA ’82 Allan W.B. Gray, MBA ’65 James A. Lovell, AMP 62, 1971Marvin S. Traub, MBA ’49

24

Writers: Deborah Blagg (Mills) and Susan YoungPhotographer: David TurnleyDesigner: Allen Carroll

TO EDUCATE LEADERS WHO

MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD