Georgetown Business Winter 2008

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winter 2008–2009

McDONOUGHBUSINESS

THE McDONOUGH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Georgetown University

Department of Communications

Box 571147

Washington, dc 20057-1147

Non Profit Org.US Postage

PAIDWashington DCPermit 3901

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

The Georgetown University McDonough Schoolof Business has many unique assets that enable us tostand apart from our competitors: a community of

achievement; a focus on leadership; a location in the city at the center of worldpolitics and business; and a global mindset.

First, and foremost among these, is that the School is part of the Georgetown com-munity, with world-class faculty from academia and business, a network ofhighly successful alumni in high-profile positions, and students, all of whomembody the rich Georgetown tradition of inquiry, dignity and excellence. Next,our curriculum is designed to teach students the skills necessary to succeed inthe business world but is also structured to enable students to develop theirleadership potential. The third asset is Georgetown’s stature and location inWashington, DC and its proximity to the international institutions and organi-zations that are part of the business, political and cultural life of the world. Andlastly, our emphasis is on preparing students to take their places in careers in aconstantly growing and changing global marketplace.

It is to that last quality we have devoted this issue. Inside you will find articlesin which students talk about their global residency projects, an integral part ofthe graduate curriculum that no other school has the ability or the resources toduplicate. These projects are actual international consulting projects with inter-national clients, not just country visits. Other articles profile the research beingdone by members of the faculty, our new Georgetown-ESADE Global MBA program,and the international make-up of our student body.

The School has made great progress in enhancing its students, staff, faculty and pro-grams, and more is on the way. Moving into our new facility in the spring will allowus to take even greater advantage of our unique qualities. And as we begin ourcapital campaign to support undergraduate scholarships and provide faculty andprogram support, I encourage you to visit us on the Hilltop often, keep track of whatwe are doing, provide your thoughts and suggestions, and give generously.

With much appreciation and warm regard,

George G. Daly, Ph.D.Dean

DEAR FRIENDS,

1

Global Leadership

International Executive MBA Executive Master’s in Leadership Georgetown-ESADE Global Executive MBA

Custom Programs Open Enrollment Programs

GeorgetownMeans Business.

McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University3520 Prospect Street NW, Suite 214, Washington, DC 20057

Georgetown University has a 220 year history of dedication to academic excellence and innovative, principled leadership. Today,

Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business reinforces that focus through its Executive Education programs, producing extraordinary

graduates destined for global leadership. The evidence is overwhelming.

For the past nine years, Business Week has recognized Georgetown’s IEMBA program as one of the top 12 Executive MBA programs

worldwide, reflecting the caliber of the McDonough School’s entire curriculum. The same world-class faculty that puts the lessons of

global business into practice in the school’s degree programs also delivers the same level of excellence in our custom and open enrollment

programs. And some of the world’s most successful organizations depend on Georgetown for Executive Education programs year after year.

Perfectly positioned in the nation’s capital, Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business offers executives a unique world perspective on

the constant transformations taking place in the global economy.

Lead your organization to the next level. Visit GeorgetownMeansBusiness.com/alum or call 866-674-1942.

McDONOUGH BUSINESSwww.msb.edu

deanGeorge Daly

editor and director,marketing andcommunications

Keith S. Collins

writersSenior Writer:Zia MoralesWriter and Editorial Assistant:Evan Regan-Levine

designLisa Carey Design, llcwww.lisacareydesign.com

printingMosaic, www.mosaicprint.com

McDonough Business welcomesinquiries, opinions and commentsfrom its readers. Correspondenceshould be addressed to:

Editor, McDonough BusinessMcDonough School of BusinessGeorgetown University3240 Prospect StreetWashington, dc 20007202-687-4080202-687-7039 [email protected]

Alumni should send addresschanges/additions/deletionsto [email protected], orcontact Alumni Records at(202) 687-1994.

McDONOUGH BUSINESSMcDONOUGH BUSINESS

winter 2008–2009McDONOUGH BUSINESS

1 Letter from the Dean

4 Strengthening Global Management:The International Work of McDonough Alumni

14 The McDonough School of Business andThe Walsh School of Foreign Service:Working Together to Prepare Global Leaders

19 In the Classroom & Beyond:Professors Transform Global Business Thinking

22 McDonough Students: Consultants to the World

26 Educating World Citizens

30 Robert Emmett McDonough

31 New Faculty, Newly Tenured Faculty, New Deans

37 A Real Structure to Show Off

38 Alumni Notes

Graduates of the McDonough School are prepared to make

serious contributions to the world of management. They do

so in traditional corporate roles, working at high levels in

marketing, finance and other functions. But they also guide success-

ful operations with non-profit organizations and help break new

ground in fields such as education, government relations, healthcare

and conservation.

Take a look at a few of our graduates and you’ll appreciate the depth of

the contributions that McDonough alumni are making in the world.

McDONOUGH BUSINESSMcDONOUGH BUSINESS

STRENGTHENING

4 5

The International Workof McDonough Alumni

GLOBALMANAGEMENT:

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transmitted diseases treated at our clinics,”she says.

She sees social marketing as having a bigimpact in India. “The big difference herefrom the past is the focus on research,” shesays “knowing what behavioral determinatesare correlated to people adopting these behav-iors.” She has been so successful that she was

promoted to director overseeing all PSI/Indiaprojects, including safe deliveries in ruralareas, diarrhea treatment and prevention,home water treatment, health insurance forthe very poor and others. She also handlesAsia Regional HIV Communication for PSI,traveling to Papua New Guinea, Vietnam andCambodia to build marketing planning andcommunication strategy in the region.

She gets frustrated sometimes with more tra-ditional approaches to development aid, suchas focusing on how many people have beentalked to or how many meetings have beenheld. “These are not the right deliverables,”she says. “We should be held accountable onchanging behavior.”

Hess loves her work. She is headed to Kenyasoon to become East Africa ReproductiveHealth Marketing Advisor. “I’m excited tobring things that have worked in India andsee if we can apply them in Africa,” she says.“Lots of money has been spent in the devel-opment field with no result. We really need tobe more effective at changing behavior.”

ican countries, and then landed in the top 10of fixed income underwriters in Latin Amer-ica, in the same league as Goldman Sachs,Merrill Lynch, Citi and others. In 1999 hefounded LW Securities.

Zalles describes LW as a boutique investmentbank focused on the middle market corporatesector. “It’s a sector that big commercialbanks don’t want to focus on,” he says. “Theywant to focus on deals of $500 million orlarger, dealing with big companies or sover-eigns. The $20-50 million sector is too smallfor them.” LW, with offices in Miami, Milanand throughout Latin America, originates,structures and distributes high-yield prod-ucts to institutional investors in Latin Amer-

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Branding and BehaviorChange in India

RISHA HESS mba 2003

Director of Research & CommunicationPopulation Services International, India,New Delhi, Indiawww.psi.org/where_we_work/india.html

“It’s one thing to change people’s beveragechoice from tea to Coca Cola,” says Risha

Hess. “But a more important issue for me is,how do you change people’s social behavior?”

Hess has been in love with social marketingsince her undergraduate days at Boston Col-lege. After majoring in marketing, she movedto Oakland, California to take a job with Bet-ter World Advertising, working on advertis-ing campaigns about HIV-AIDS and drug-related issues.

She learned a lot at BetterWorld, she says, suchas what audience segments watch TV, how todo research in social marketing (there oftenisn’t enough, she says), and the differencesbetween selling consumer products and sellingsensitive projects.

After rising to vice president, she realizedshe had a strong international interest. Shehad heard about the McDonough School andits strength in social marketing and appliedfor the MBA program. “Georgetown exposedme to more people from outside the US,” shesays. “The student body is so international.Building relationships with people inside andoutside McDonough was invaluable.”

After graduation she took a fellowship withPopulation Services International (PSI), anonprofit organization that uses private sec-tor approaches, particularly in marketing, toaddress health problems in the developingworld. She started running a communica-tions campaign on HIV for PSI in India,including branding a chain of clinics andpharmaceutical products. She says sheapplied the marketing skills she learned atMcDonough, such as using audience seg-mentation, consumer insights and brandingto get people to adopt healthier behaviors.

While at Georgetown she had used a model todevelop a branding campaign for the World-wide Wrestling Federation. When she joinedPSI she started using the same model to edu-cate her Indian staff on how to brand a prod-uct. The aim was to get people to treat theirsexually transmitted diseases (STD) by quali-fied doctors. “We needed to brand the doctorsas well as the treatment and clinics,” she says,“to help build their confidence that they willbe treated. But doctors don’t want to be labeledas just STD specialists, and consumers don’twant to be seen going to STD doctors. So wefaced a dilemma: How do you brand some-thing without telling people what it is?”

After research, she concluded that one pow-erful factor in many people’s choice of doc-tors in India was perceiving the clinics to bemodern and English-speaking. Hess gave thenetwork of clinics an English name that waspronouncable in various languages: Key Clin-ics. “After five years, 34 percent of the fourmillion men we targeted got their sexually

6

Finding New Funding Sourcesfor Middle Market Companiesin Latin America

CARLOS ZALLES bsba 1975

CEO & Founder, LW Securities, Ltd.Caracas, Venezuelawww.lwsecurities.com

President & Chief Investment Officer,LW Investment Management, Inc.(subsidiary of LW Securities), Florence, Italywww.lwfunds.com

Middle market companies in LatinAmerica have more funding sources

today because of Carlos Zalles.

During his time at Georgetown, Zallesbecame convinced he didn’t want to work inand eventually run the family businesses inPeru, Bolivia and Argentina. Boring and notat all lucrative, he thought. Plus, he’d beworking in the shadow of his father. Hisbrother had already worked at Citibank, andbanking seemed much more interesting.

After graduation from Georgetown he took aposition as a management trainee withAmerican Security Bank, becoming a vicepresident at the age of 27, running the LatinAmerica division in Washington, DC. It wasa small portfolio, and by the late 1970s he hadreached a plateau. He jumped at the chanceto run a division at Bank of America in 1980in Venezuela, overseeing the CorporateBanking and Financial Assets Group thatmanaged the distressed loan portfolio forVenezuela and, later, Mexico.

As he puts it, though, he couldn’t bridge thegap between the money he was making forthe corporation and the money that wasreaching his pocket. In 1987 he started Vest-corPartners, an investment banking institu-tion covering all of Latin America. He beganconverting commercial bank debt to securi-ties, helping create a wave of corporateinvestment for the region. The companygrew, creating offices in several Latin Amer-

LOTS OF MONEY HASBEEN SPENT IN THE DEVEL-OPMENT FIELD WITH NORESULT. WE REALLY NEEDTO BE MORE EFFECTIVEAT CHANGING BEHAVIOR.”

Risha Hess, MBA 2002, with friends at ancient city of Fatehpur Sikri, India.

Carlos Zalles, BSBA 1975

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technical. Professionals were trained in thebiological sciences and in schools of forestry.More recently, the field came to terms withhow the world’s ecosystems operate, andorganizations are prioritizing what must besaved and what critical threats must be miti-gated. Conservationists have learned to moreclearly define the problems, rather than justdecry them, and this prepared the ground fora new phase of conservation.

“The next generation of conservationistsrealizes that behind every threat is humanbehavior,” he says. But how do you changehuman behavior? Here is where consumermarketing comes in.

“The art of behavior change wasn’t devel-oped by conservationists,” Jenks notes, “butby the commercial marketing field. Creativemarketing strategies that sold soft drinks orcigarettes have also been used to increaseseat belt use, cut teen smoking and make theuse of contraceptives socially acceptable.Now that we’ve used commercial marketingto create changes in the health and safetyarenas, it’s time to see what it can do for envi-ronmental conservation.”

Jenks and his team at Rare are working todevelop a systematic approach to enablelocal conservation leaders not only to identi-fy threats and prioritize them but also tochange behavior surrounding them.“Changing behavior means helping anotherperson see the benefits of adopting a newbehavior, helping them see that the benefitsare greater than the perceived costs. How doyou get fishermen in the Pacific Islands whouse dynamite as their fishing tackle to seethe benefits of not blowing up a reef to max-imize their catch? By helping them seeenough short-term benefits to wait aroundfor what are clearly long-term benefits of ahealthy fishery.”

Jenks has tried to take conservation back toits roots of emotion while updating itsapproach to human behavior. “We want peo-ple to celebrate their homeland and in that

way develop a respect and emotional attach-ment to the environment,” he says. “Thismakes discussions with farmers, fishermen,mayors, about short- and long-term gains fareasier to manage. Local environmental prideis a kind of social capital. It creates the confi-dence needed for better decision-making.”

The conservation field has led some goodeducation efforts, Jenks believes. People justneed a broader perspective. “The environ-mental movement has focused most of itsoutreach on educating people about prob-lems,” he says, “such as damage to coral reefs,pollution in our cities, the plight of the envi-ronment. It has helped build a movement andopen up purse-strings.” Now, he believes, it istime for action. “In the next phase,” he says,“we have to use more strategic marketingtechniques to promote solutions.”

A New Day forJapanese Politics

ERIKO TAKAHATA mba 2008

CEO & Chief Analyst,Political Marketing Laboratory, Tokyo, Japanwww.pm-lab.co.jp (in Japanese)

Eriko Takahata says she took the job asCEO of the new firm Political Marketing

Laboratory (PMLab) reluctantly. All she real-ly wanted was to be an analyst, she says.Besides, she had only just received her MBAand was nearly the youngest person in thefirm. But no one else had the marketing andmanagement training she did.

PMLab is a cross between a marketing firmand a political consulting firm, helping politi-cians learn what voters want, and helpingthem develop manifestos (platforms) thatvoters will respond to. With national andTokyo metropolitan elections coming upsoon, it’s an opportune time to grow.

PMLab is not the first political consultingfirm in Japan. What’s new, says Takahata, isthat the information the firm provides itsclients is based on quantitative data. “Before

9McDONOUGH BUSINESS

ica, Europe and the US. The company createscredit oriented, structured transactions—asset-based securities — geared to hedgefunds and high yield investors. Zalles saysyields surpass 16 percent with relativelyshort tenors.

Meanwhile, in December of 2007 Zalles setup a new asset management operation, LWInvestment Management (LWIM). By Marchof 2008 he had launched his flagship fund,LW Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund,managing about $40million in assets, whichhe wants to take to $200 million. It is a bal-anced fund, he says, with fixed income andequity components. Asset-based lending inemerging markets is the focus, along withequities based on natural resource invest-ments across emerging markets. Zalles saysLWIM is also helping Latin American naturalresources and mining companies fund theirprojects via private placements or publicofferings in the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Zalles will soon be moving to Florence fromVenezuela and working out of Milan. “This isa family project,” he says, “and Italy is a goodcountry for my family and myself.” He alsoappreciates the political climate in Europe.“Europe has a better understanding of LatinAmerica,” he says. “The whole political envi-ronment in Latin America is changing, mov-ing toward the left, and Europeans can stom-ach that more than the US. He also feelsEurope is a good market to raise money forhis fund.

He is still enthused by LW’s possibilities. “Weare pioneers in asset-based lending, andwe’re venturing into mining and naturalresource plays,” he says. “For the last 15 yearswe have been attacking segments abandonedby large investment banks, who have littleinterest in going after smaller companies. Weare bringing these companies somethingthey’ve lacked: nontraditional investmentbanking resources.”

develop ecotourism and promote environ-mental awareness,” he says.

During this time he met the executive direc-tor of Rare, who asked him to help developnew training programs. Jenks agreed and wasnow working two jobs. He was back to his 17hour days, but he was making one fifth themoney—and loving it. Soon he joined Rareexclusively, and by 2000 he was asked tobecome CEO. He had never run an organiza-tion before and set out to read every manage-ment, strategy and finance book he could gethis hands on. He decided he needed somevalidation for his self study and enrolled inthe McDonough School’s International Exec-utive MBA program.

“It was a terrific experience,” he says. “Itgave me a number of tools I use today, as wellas a network of friends and colleagues.” OneMcDonough professor, Ed Soule, joined hisboard and another, Brooks Holtom, hashelped him develop and write a business caseused in training Rare’s partners.

Jenks believes the conservation movement isat a point where marketing principles canhave a major impact. “Early pioneers for themovement wrote emotionally about the needto care for Yellowstone and Yosemite,” hesays. “It was more poetry than plan.” But bythe 1970s, conservation had become more

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Transforming a NonprofitThrough Marketing Techniques

BRETT JENKS mba 2004

CEO, Rare, Arlington, Virginiawww.rareconservation.org

In 2000 Brett Jenks took Rare, an$850,000 conservation organization with

a staff of seven, and began applying com-mercial marketing principles to the problemsit faced. After eight years it’s now an $8 mil-lion organization with a staff of 50, workingaround the world.

His story starts in 1991. As a professionalfilmmaker, he had spent 15 straight 17-hourdays producing television commercials. Wak-ing up in his apartment after a late nightwrap party, he discovered he had written onthe wall, “Get out of the film business now!”

Listening to his saner, if not sober, self, heleft the lucrative and exhausting world ofcommercial entertainment and moved toCosta Rica to volunteer as a rural schoolteacher. The organization he worked for sawthat Jenks was capable of organizing com-plex projects and asked him to become direc-tor of its entire program in Costa Rica, work-ing with the government’s ministries ofeducation and the environment. “It was soinspiring to be able to bring ideas, resources,and whole programs to help Costa Rica

Brett Jenks, MBA 2004

NOW THAT WE’VE USEDCOMMERCIAL MARKETINGTO CREATE CHANGES INTHE HEALTH AND SAFETYARENAS, IT’S TIME TOSEE WHAT IT CAN DOFOR ENVIRONMENTALCONSERVATION.” Eriko Takahata, MBA 2008

‘‘

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

His work as a marketer is only part of his job.He is also amanager, running teams and build-ing relationships internationally. His teamsconsist of managers in marketing, finance,sales, product supply, product development,consumer insight (research) and design.

“You have to qualify an idea and make surethe financials work before you invest in thecreative side,” he says. “There is the businessside, the general management side, and thereis the marketing side, making sure the con-sumer is at the heart of what you are doing.Design is becoming more and more impor-tant: packaging and aesthetics are what con-sumers see and therefore what the brandstands for. You cannot design products withthe lowest common denominator in mind.Consumers want products designed forthem, not for everyone.”

No one is more engrossed in his job thanKarches. “I love cosmetics,” he says. “I canmake consumer dreams come true. That’sthe fun of consumer packaged goods.”

Educating Middle EasternChildren for the Future

APARNA VERMA bsba 1993

Chairman & CEO,Scholars International Group, Dubai, UAEwww.scholarsinternational.com

Education is Aparna Verma’s passion.Ever since she graduated from George-

town she has worked to create a better wayfor the children of the Middle East to receivean education for the 21st century.

A year after graduating in finance and inter-national relations she formed Scholars Inter-national Group (SIG) in Dubai and opened aK-12 school called Dubai Scholars. She nowhas a second school, Scholars InternationalAcademy, and is planning to expand furtherin the Middle East and elsewhere.

The sustainability of her efforts is importantto Verma. “My financial education at George-

town helped me make the school sustain-able,” she says. SIG owns all the propertyused by the schools, and she notes that “realestate in Dubai has gone through the roof.”The group even buys housing for teachers.Indian by ancestry, Aparna has lived all herlife in Dubai, but she flies regularly to Bom-bay as well as New York and is an active realestate investor in both cities.

But education is what gets her excited.“When I look at the younger generationtoday,” she says, “and I look at what is hap-pening in the world, I don’t find a direct cor-relation between what kids are learning andwhat they should be learning.” She wants tocreate an environment where children candeal with the future and understand andshape what it will be for them. “Everyone inDubai has drivers and maids, and the chil-dren are not as self-sufficient as they shouldbe. How can we give these kids the skills totackle the future? It’s only getting harder.They need skills for the future.”

She has served Georgetown as president ofthe alumni group in Dubai, and she has inter-viewed many potential Georgetown studentsfrom the Middle East. “They were straight Astudents,” she says, “but nothing else. I toldthem they needed more than A-levels. Theyneeded to be multi-skilled with sports andcharity work and other activities.” She makessure some of her students participate everyyear in the Global Youth Leaders’ Conferencein Washington, DC, where artists, directorsand other professionals talk to them aboutlife and work.

Verma has a business education, but her workisn’t about the money, she says. “A lot of pri-vate schools just want to make money,” shesays. “They are not giving back. We are reallytrying to do something different, give back tochildren. I pride myself on being different.”

11McDONOUGH BUSINESS

this,” she says, “politicians would claim theyknew what voters wanted, but the assertionwas based on their own agenda. Now it’sbased on numbers.”

Takahata is ecstatic about what she learnedat the McDonough School. “I tried to imple-ment everything from my marketing class-es,” she says.

Before Georgetown she worked as an Eng-lish-Japanese translator, working with politi-cians in Japan. She could see that Japanesepoliticians were not meeting the needs ofvoters. Once at McDonough, she internedwith political consulting firm JamestownAssociates and attended think tank and poli-cy meetings to learn the American system.She realized that basic political notions, suchas the desirability of laying out policy in sim-ple terms so everyone can understand, werenew to Japan. There, Takahata says, peopleworship complexity. “If it’s complicated,” shesays, “people think it’s good. In America,simplicity wins the day.”

She went back to Japan after graduation andstarted working for a parliamentarian run-ning for re-election. They had talked aboutstarting a political marketing firm together,but then he was elected. Takahata thoughtthe idea was dead. Then he resigned, andthey started the firm together.

PMLab has only four full-time and two part-time workers, Takahata says, but she hopesto grow bigger soon. Her aim is to recruit 100clients among the 300 electoral districts fornational elections. Yet she longs for morerestful days.

“Right now I do everything,” she says. “Iwould rather be doing data analysis. Hope-fully we will get big enough that I can goback to that.”

Making Consumer DreamsCome True

DAN KARCHES mba 2002

Brand Manager, Cosmetics Global Design,Procter & Gamble, Baltimore, MDwww.pg.com

It was an epiphany when Dan Karches real-ized that marketing could combine his two

loves, math and design. He had majored inpolitical science in college and worked inbanking in London and New York, but hiscreative side lay dormant. Dutifully he pur-sued an MBA and arrived at the McDonoughSchool. When he took Prof. Ken Homa’smarketing course, he said, his life becamemore interesting. He realized marketingcould be both rigorous and creative. Market-ing became his passion, and he stepped into anew career with Procter & Gamble.

Working with Folger’s coffee, then Pringles,then Pantene Hair Care, he is now one of theBrand Managers for Max Factor and CoverGirl at P&G cosmetics, creating products thatmake the beauty dreams of women aroundthe world come true.

“The needs in Sweden and Greece may be dif-ferent from those of users in the US,” he says.“Consumers in the UK can be very skeptical,whereas to Americans the glass is usually halffull. Americans will try anything.”

When Karches goes into a new country, hedoes three things. “I talk to our people andget the P&G perspective,” he says. “I go tostores to understand the in-store experiencefor customers of both P&G and competitors.And I talk to consumers. When I can, I evengo into their homes to find out what they loveand what they don’t. I’ve met women who go

through a 15-step process, with 15 products,to look natural. Others go through four stepsto look glamorous. It doesn’t matter, as longas it makes them happy.”

If Karches has one secret, it’s that he lovesmaking people happy. “When I was workingon Pantene I realized that if a woman has abad hair day she has a bad day. I really want-ed to help these women. Now that I’m withcosmetics, I realize that women are trans-formed every morning through cosmetics.And they look to us to help transform them.This is a real energy booster for me.”

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Dan Karches, MBA 2002

YOU CANNOT DESIGN PRODUCTS WITH THE LOWESTCOMMON DENOMINATOR IN MIND. CONSUMERS WANTPRODUCTS DESIGNED FOR THEM, NOT FOR EVERYONE.”‘‘

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Finding the UnlovedBusiness and Helpingit Grow

JOSEPH BARATTA bsba 1993

Senior Managing Director,The Blackstone Group, London, Englandwww.blackstone.com

In the early days of private equity invest-ing, the field became synonymous with

hostile takeovers. Investors bought business-es simply to break them up. Joe Baratta, whomanages corporate private equity for TheBlackstone Group in Europe, is glad thosetimes have changed.

“Our approach to private equity is different,”he says. “We aim to be friends to large corpo-rations and never undertake hostile deals.”

Baratta has helped to build Blackstone’s rep-utation as one of the premier private equityfirms in the world. “We try to find an unloved

business and provide the capital it needs tomake strategic acquisitions and grow. Someof our companies we’ve turned into industryleaders.” He cites Southern Cross, whichBlackstone helped turn into the largest nurs-ing home operator in the UK, as well asMerlin Entertainments Group, which ownsLegoland, Madame Tussaud’s and other busi-nesses and has become the second largestvisitor attraction company in the world nextto Disney.

After graduation from Georgetown, Barattaworked as a mergers and acquisitions analystat Morgan Stanley for two years, then took ajob at a small middle market private equityfirm, McCown De Leeuw & Co. After mov-ing to Tinicum Inc., where he managed pub-lic and private investment for a wealthy

family, he watched the private equity marketdouble in size every 5–6 years and in 1998decided to join Blackstone, a major invest-ment house, with $119 billion under manage-ment in 2008. He moved to London in 2001to start a private equity practice for the firmin Europe.

Baratta describes his approach to invest-ment: “In simplest terms, we take our limit-ed partners’ money and buy companies withit. We look for suitable investment candi-dates, do the due diligence, decide if we wantto buy and what to pay. We structure thetransaction, negotiate with the sellers, thenbuy the business, usually keeping existingmanagement. We capitalize the company andsit on the board and help management plantheir strategy. We build value over 3-5 years,then sell the business.”

Blackstone sometimes becomes a minorityinvestor, he says, supplying capital to help acompany finance acquisitions or a project.But the firm prefers to gain majority control.

Baratta has built up Blackstone’s Europeanprivate equity business from three people in2001 to 25 today. The firm’s European privateequity portfolio consists of 10 portfolio com-panies in which Blackstone has investedapproximately $3.8 billion.


Creating a SeamlessInternational Real EstateFranchise

MICHAEL J. GRAZIANO bsba 1988

Co-head, Real Estate DepartmentGoldman, Sachs & Co., New York, NYwww.gs.com

Michael Graziano didn’t set out to gointo real estate. He just wanted a job at

Goldman Sachs. But in his 18 years at thepremier investment bank he has seen thefield emerge from one controlled by familiesand private companies into a dynamic, entre-preneurial industry driven by multi-billiondollar public companies.

“The field has gone through tremendouschange in the last 15 years,” he says. “Whencompanies went public in the 1990s manywere public companies in format only. Withfamily members on boards and private com-pany infrastructure and mindset, they werereally still private entities but with publicclothing. Now, with the widespread equityand debt securitization of real estate assets,there is much broader coverage of the indus-try, which brings with it a detailed focus thatdemands a tremendous amount of discipline.We’re in an era now where these companies,with their extensive boards and professional,deep management teams, are an integral partof corporate America. Yet a number of com-panies are still run by the founders, some-times second or third generation, so they still‘have lots of skin in the game,”and they haveperformed incredibly well on all relativereturn metrics, standing toe to toe with therest of corporate america.

The industry is also now more internationalthan ever. “Our real estate group used to becomprised of geographically isolated business-es,” Graziano says, “but in the last four years ithas been globally structured, integrated andcoordinated. It is no longer just US, European,Asian, or Australian businesses operatingindependently. All our US clients are looking

overseas as the next avenue of expansion, andfolks overseas are looking to the US market.Our job is to maintain our leading position asstrategic advisor to our clients, especially nowduring the tougher times resulting from theliquidity crunch, then ultimately into the nextstage of international growth. At some point,liquidity will return to the system.”

Graziano works hard to create and maintainwhat he calls the Goldman Sachs culture in hisreal estate department: seamless, selfless coor-dination around the world. “It would be veryeasy to act in fiefdoms—but that’s not veryhelpful to our clients. Delivering the wholeenchilada is hard.We try to do it in an integrat-ed way, making sure every client has access tothe enormous expertise available at GS,regardless of where it exists.”

He sees his job as twofold: client advisor andoverall internal business manager. “My job isto be the strategic advisor to CEOs as theyface important decisions and need strategicthinking,” he says. But he also has to managea growing department, and he sees his biggestchallenge as making his worldwide opera-tions run smoothly. “The number one task isto put the right people in the right seats,” hesays. “Then you need to make sure everyoneviews the business as a global business. Thismeans, for one thing, adjusting compensationand promotion systems to reward the rightbehavior. We hold people to task to makesure that they’re coordinating, and that theydon’t view the business in any sort ofparochial way.”

Graziano acknowledges it’s a challenge. “Get-ting people not to worry about what’s in it forthem isn’t always easy,” he says. “We wantthe individual in Asia to help with the Euro-pean operation, and vice versa, without wor-rying about ‘credit’ or ‘P&L.’ If we’re doingthe job right, we differentiate ourselves toour clients, and the overall franchise bene-fits, which is good for all the individuals Imanage, regardless of where they sit.”

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Michael J. Graziano, BSBA 1988

Joseph Baratta, BSBA 1993

WE TRY TO FIND AN UNLOVED BUSINESS ANDPROVIDE THE CAPITAL IT NEEDS TO MAKE STRATEGICACQUISITIONS AND GROW.”‘‘

IBD

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

strategy investment fund dedicated to the emergingmar-kets, affiliated with The Albright Group and chaired byformer Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; and thispast summer with Goldman, Sachs as a summer associ-ate with the Investment Banking Division.

Kingsley has found, though, that his most valu-able work experience was a consulting project as partof a joint MSB/SFS team.

I was a volunteer consultant for Agora Partner-ships during the Spring of 2007. This non-profitorganization, co-founded by MSFS alumnus BenPowell, seeks to provide entrepreneurs in devel-oping countries with the funding and businessskills to launch small and medium enterprises.My consulting team, staffed by both MSFS andMBA students, was assigned to work with theowner of a small shoe-making workshop inGranada, Nicaragua. Over the course of thesemester, we analyzed his business to identifybest practices and outlined a plan to expand theworkshop into a small factory that would helpkick-start the local shoe-making industry. Afterour consulting work, the company obtainedfunding and an important contract, and it hasbegun offering shoe-making day laborers with aformal employment program, a boon for localindustry and the community.

With the dramatic changes going on in the field ofinternational finance, students like Juan who canmove comfortably between industry, government andinternational institutions are getting themselves readyfor very productive careers.

International Business Diplomacy(IBD) Certificate

Students in both schools can earn an honors certifi-cate in International Business Diplomacy as part of aprogram begun in 1978. Its purpose is to train future

leaders in international business, public policy andbusiness-government relations.

Courses in the program, which is run by SFS, aretaught to more than 600 graduate and undergraduatestudents each year, from both MSB and SFS, but onlyabout 90 enter the honors program that yields the IBDcertificate. Here they learn in depth how to analyzepolicy issues and manage business opportunities inter-nationally. Students from the McDonough Schoolbegin to master non-market issues in greater detailthan they do in MSB courses. SFS students becomemore adept in finance, accounting and other technicalfields. The courses are taught largely via cases (see“Gerber: Investing in the New Ukraine” on page 17 fora sample of one case used in an IBD course).

“The IBD program is very rigorous,” says JettPihakis, Associate Dean for MBA Programs. “Studentswho enter it feed off the intellectual energy.”

Alexis Carrico is anMBA student in the IBD Hon-ors Certificate Program:

I have learned that there are so many factors indoing business internationally. Most of us MBAstudents limit ourselves to thinking about finance,marketing, accounting, operations, etc. My firstSFS class, however, taught me that there are manyother aspects of international business to consid-er, such as international trade laws, labor stan-dards, environmental principles, and cultures.

Carrico has found the interaction with SFS studentsparticularly valuable:


Business and international affairs

have had a long relationship at

Georgetown. As far back as the

second decade of the 20th centu-

ry, even before there was a business school,

the School of Foreign Service offered trade

and diplomacy studies.

Today, the McDonough School and the

Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

work together to provide a variety of pro-

grams tomeet the needs of students whowant

careers in international business, internation-

al government or their intersection. “The

School of Foreign Service is the best in the

world at what they do,” says Dean Daly. “Our

relationship strengthens us both.”

The Schools offer a range of possibilities,

and students respond enthusiastically:

Joint MBA/MSFS Degree

SFS and MSB offer a full-time, three-year joint MBA/MSFS degree. Designed for students with strong inter-ests in foreign relations and global business, the pro-gram focuses on the growing global interdependenceof business and government. It is the most popular ofthe McDonough School’s joint-degree programs andoffers terrific summer internship opportunities.

Juan Kingsley, a native of Costa Rica, is one of fivejoint-degree students atMcDonough today. He describesthe program:

It gives me the context and understanding toapply professional business skills globally. And Ican leverage two alumni networks that oftenintersect in both my areas of interest, interna-tional finance and private sector development.

Kingsley loves the summer jobs he’s taken during theprogram: first, with the International Finance Corpora-tion, the emergingmarket investment group of theWorldBank; next with Albright Capital Management, a multi-

14

Working Together to Prepare Global LeadersTHEMcDONOUGHSCHOOLOF BUSINESS THE WALSH

SCHOOLOF FOREIGNSERVICE

AND

IT IS AMAZING HOW DIFFERENT THE SFSAND MBA STUDENTS’ BACKGROUNDS ARE. INTHE BEGINNING, I THINK THE STUDENTS WEREALL PRETTY INTIMIDATED BY ONE ANOTHER.

Geo

rgetow

n-ES

ADE

McDONOUGH BUSINESS


It is amazing how different the SFS and MBAstudents’ backgrounds are. In the beginning, Ithink the students were all pretty intimidated byone another. The SFS students could talk forhours about the WTO, FTAs, BITs, BIPs etc., andwe MBA students were well-versed in financials,operations, stats, and marketing. By the end ofthe course, however, we were going to happyhours together and learning to appreciate ourdifferences. I have learned so much from my SFSpeers, and I look forward to working with manyof them in the future.

Prof. Marc Busch, the Karl F. Landegger Chair in Inter-national Business Diplomacy from SFS, loves the pro-gram. “We give students exposure to non-marketissues that are so important,” he says. “There are a lot

of factors that will decide if a given investment is asafe one, and we take them up directly. There is a ter-rific reward from combining two groups in a singleclass and getting them to work together. Theyapproach material from their own vantage points.Each asks different questions and pursues differentlines of thinking.”

Georgetown-ESADE GlobalExecutive MBA

Beginning this year, the McDonough School teamedup with the School of Foreign Service, along withESADE Business School in Spain, to offer a new exec-utive MBA program. The launch was successful andthe reaction so far has been beyond expectations.

The Georgetown-ESADE program develops thenext class of world managers and leaders—it’slike an executive boot camp. You stretch beyondanything you thought you could do. I wanted aneducation to help me engage more effectively withthe global community, and the program hasexceeded my expectations.

Raamel MitchellCentral US Engagement Manager,Microsoft Corporation, Dallas, Texas

The Georgetown-ESADE program has been designed toaccommodate executives with demanding professionallives. Delivered in modules over 16 months, it enablesparticipants, many of whom are not from the UnitedStates, to study global business in depth withMSB, SFSand ESADE professors and accomplished peers.

Each of the six, 11-day sessions takes place in acommercial center in Spain, Russia, Latin America,the United States, India or China (the latter two on arotating basis). In every session participants explorethe complexities of business in an industry or country,integrating coursework with real-world, real-timechallenges presented by working business executives.

In the first module, for example, students come toWashington and examine the factors that shape anddrive the global economy and the implications forbusiness. Topics include:

The Global Environment of Business• Political and regulatory influences

• Comparative institutional analysis

• Structure of the macro economy: consumption,saving, government taxing & spending,exports and imports

• Aggregate supply & demand, growth and productivity

• Balance of payments, exchange rates

• Regional and supra-regional economic integration

International Business Management• International trade theory: policies and practices

• Exporting, foreign direct investment and foreignmarket entry

• Economic, social and political contexts ofinternational business

• Challenges of sales and distribution in globalmarkets

• Corruption, ethics, local vs. universal values,sustainability

16

HOW WOULD YOU DEAL WITH THE NON-MARKETISSUES IN THIS SITUATION?A hypothetical but realistic case from the IBD Program

Gerber: Investing in the New Ukraine

The history of modern Ukraine began in the fall of 2004 when Katherine Chumachenko Yushchenko(GU SFS IBD ’93) thought she noticed a medicinal scent on the breath of her husband VictorYushchenko, candidate for President. Victor had been poisoned. As he recovered in the closing

months of 2004, a peaceful mass protest—the “Orange Revolution”—forced the authorities to overturn arigged election. Yuschenko was swept into power. Subsequent internal turmoil in the Yushechnko campallowed his rival Viktor Yanukovych to engineer a comeback in parliamentary elections and become primeminister in August of 2006.

By May of 2007, Samuel Heck and Robert Duncan were caught in a delicate position. For months, Heck,the chief financial officer of Gerber Products Company, and Duncan, the company’s general counsel, had beenshuttling between Michigan and Kiev, putting together a deal that would allow Gerber to acquire Nutricia S.A.,one of Ukraine’s largest and most successful food processing plants. On all sides, the deal had seemed to makesense. Gerber would modernize the aging plant, boost its sagging export trade, and give the Ukraine govern-ment $11million of the hard currency it so desperately needed. In exchange, the world’s largest baby food pro-ducer would gain a low-cost base in one of the largest and most fertile agricultural regions, adjacent to thenewly-enlarged European Union and with historical ties as the breadbasket for the former Soviet Union.

Until this point, the negotiations had progressed smoothly. After winning a competitive bidding processsponsored by Ukraine’s Ministry of Privatization, the Gerberofficials had signed a Purchase and Sale agreement on May 1.Under the terms of this agreement, Gerber had formally com-mitted itself to the Nutricia deal and agreed to work with thegovernment in resolving a series of complicated issues such asproperty ownership, worker retention, and taxation. Everyoneinvolved in the negotiations had acknowledged that theseissues were critical to the deal’s success, but because the dis-cussions were going so well both sides were confident thatthey could resolve all issues by the end of the year.

Then on May 24 politics had intervened. After months ofinternal squabbling, Kateryna Vashchuk, head of the AgrarianParty, prevailed upon Prime Minister Yanukovych to revisitthe idea of turning a crown jewel of Ukraine’s agribusinesscomplexes over to foreign ownership.

Heck and Duncan found themselves reconsidering theiroptions. They knew, at a minimum, that the new government was going to want to renegotiate the Purchaseand Sale agreement and take a tougher stance on the issues of ownership, employment, and taxation. Mostlikely, the government would also tinker with existing policies on profit repatriation, currency devaluation, pri-vatization, and worker compensation—all of which could have a serious impact on Gerber’s bottom line. Like-wise, it was clear that the new government would be unable to deliver many of the promises that had beenmade in the May 1 agreement.

In principle, Heck, Duncan, and the rest of the Gerber team were still committed to Ukraine and the Nutri-cia plant. The facilities were in good shape, the enterprise was well-managed, and the entire operation fit nice-ly with Gerber’s plans for global expansion. But before they spent $25 million for an overseas acquisition, theGerber officials needed to reevaluate the merits of investing in such an uncertain situation.

THE PROJECT WORK, EXPECTATIONS OF PROFESSORS,DRIVE OF OTHER STUDENTS — IT ALL MAKES YOU WANTTO USE YOUR TIME HERE WELL.

Analysis of Financial Statements• Global comparisons: ratio and cash-flow analysis,long-term debt, bond ratings, consolidation andintangibles

• Global management: pro forma financials, model-ing growth, cash for growth

• Decision-support tools/prediction models

• Executive decision-making and responsibility,fraud and Sarbanes-Oxley, bankruptcy

The module ends with a practical session on thegeopolitical business climate. This year the classbecame immersed in the dispute among Airbus, Boe-

ing and Northrop Grumman that erupted early in 2008over a $40 billion contract for a US Air Force tanker.Participants argued the case, taking sides before amock panel of the United States Senate. Very seniorindustry participants became involved to provideexpertise and act as judges.

Georgetown-ESADE is much more than a typicalMBA program. It gives you a good foundation,but it also enables you to think about problemsin a new way. A whole host of solutions come tomind that you hadn’t thought of. The projectwork, expectations of professors, drive of other

students—it all makes you want to use your timehere well. Each residency is 11 days, and in thebeginning you say that’s a lot, but at the end youthink it’s not enough.

Teresa GendronVice President, Financial OperationsNII Holdings, Inc., Reston, Virginia

SFS Prof. Busch helped design the program. “It’s pret-ty exciting,” he says. “Students are very experiencedand very international. It’s a novel MBA. Rather thanbeing international in just one course, internationalinfuses all six modules.”

As Dean Daly says, “This is one of the best singleexamples of intellectual synergy on campuses I knowof. It allows us to do something no one else does. It’sthe only MBA program I know between a businessschool and an international affairs program.”

Daily Interaction

Aside from the joint degree, IBD and Georgetown-ESADE programs, students and faculty from the twoschools interact on a regular basis. For example,Sandeep Dahiya, an MSB finance professor, preparesSFS students for case interviews each year, where a jobapplicant must read a real-life case and suggest a courseof action. He teaches them how to ask intelligent ques-tions, perceive what information is needed, and comeup with the best strategy. “Pose a set of assumptionsand justify your conclusions,” he tells them.

SFS and MSB students attend each others’ class-es, and professors from both schools teach in each oth-ers’ courses. SFS faculty participate in the MSB globalresidencies, too.

“Working with SFS has made me think morebroadly about all the relevant stakeholders in businessand government dealings,” says Devin Kalman, a cur-rent MBA student. “It’s made me realize just how com-plicated doing business in our global economy is.”

Marc Busch of SFS is enthused about what liesahead. “The MSB/SFS relationship is getting strongerall the time,” he says. “We’re likely to see more actionbetween the schools. The future could be exciting.”

“STUDENTS ARE VERY EXPERIENCED AND VERY INTER-NATIONAL. IT’S A NOVEL MBA. RATHER THAN BEINGINTERNATIONAL IN JUST ONE COURSE, INTERNATIONALINFUSES ALL SIX MODULES.”

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

The global nature ofbusiness education attheMcDonough Schoolcomes in part from its

professors. They are a variedand dedicated lot, and throughtheir research and work withstudents they are transformingthe way people and organiza-tions think about internationalbusiness.

Stanley Nollen

Professor and Director,MBA Global Residency Program

Stan Nollen’s focus is the program that, prob-ably more than any other, has come to definethe McDonough School MBA—the globalresidency program. As director he keeps itsquality high and its growth consistent, but he

has also led many of the program’s editionshimself, accompanying students to citiessuch as Dubai, Prague, Ho Chi Minh City,Delhi and Bangalore since 1997.

“These residencies let me see transfor-mations in students’ lives,” Stan says. “Theyare, I believe, the most distinctive feature ofour entire graduate business education, and Ifeel privileged to be a part of it. They offer menew experiences, variety and close contactwith top managers from different cultures.”

Stan will publish a book in 2009 aboutthe Indian and Chinese software and hard-ware industries. Its conclusions may surprisemany people. “The conventional wisdom isthat Indian software is successful because ofample supply of technically well educatedlabor paid low wages in dollar terms,” Stansays. “That is true. But China also has thesame thing—ample supply of technically welleducated labor paid lowwages in dollar terms.Why wasn’t the Chinese software industryequally successful as an export industry?The Chinese industry is as big if not biggerand as fast growing as the Indian industry.


18

Stanley Nollen

IN THE CLASSROOMAND BEYOND:

TRANSFORMINGGLOBAL

BUSINESSTHINKING

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

Latin America. The board oversees the LatinAmerican Alliance, a forum in which George-town alumni, Latin American friends of theuniversity, and other members or the George-town community with an interest in LatinAmerica can converge.

Ricardo has also put together a programto bring young people between 24 and 32years old from the region to Georgetown for16 weeks of training on social, political andbusiness leadership. Participants attendclasses and visit multilateral organizationssuch as The World Bank and the Inter-Amer-ican Development Bank, as well as the WhiteHouse and the Pentagon. Then they returnhome and develop projects in their countriesbased on what they learned at Georgetown.“The program has had a multiplying effect,Ricardo says.

He recently created a virtual academicjournal called “Globalization, Competitive-ness and Governability” at gcg.universia.net.It’s an academic, refereed journal, withabstracts in English, Spanish and Portuguese.The journal aims to become a source of newideas about the effects of globalization on thecompetitiveness and governability of busi-nesses and countries in Latin America. It isparticularly focused on tools for managersand politicians to design better strategies tobenefit their businesses and countries.

J. Bradford Jensen

Associate Professor, Strategy

Brad Jensen examines how firms engage theglobal economy. Recently, he looked at howmultinationals price exports, comparing thesame firm shipping the same product to thesame country two different ways: at armslength and through internal channels.Unsurprisingly, there was a big difference—40 percent—between the price charged tothe outside firm and the price charged inter-nally. One reason is government policy (taxtreatment and tariffs), another is how com-petitive the market is.

Brad also finds that countries’ legal sys-tems affect whether firms import from relat-ed parties or at arm’s-length—especially forsophisticated products.

Before coming to Georgetown, Brad wasat the Peterson Institute, where he producedpolicy briefs on trade in services and is writ-ing a book on the subject. Why did he decideto devote his full time to academia? “I want-ed to spend more time doing research,” hesays. “Being in Washington, DC is great forthe kind of work I do.”

His research helps academicians andexecutives understand how firms behave inthe international marketplace, he says, andhow trade costs, tariffs or changes in theinternational economy influence the com-petitive landscape. And it helps policymakerslearn what to do and what not to do.

Prashant Malaviya

Associate Professor, Marketing

Prashant Malaviya loves the academic life.After earning his MBA from the Universityof New Delhi he took a position for a time atNestle but decided that working with stu-dents and researching his favorite subject,consumer psychology, was more rewarding.He went back to school and got his Ph.D.from the Kellogg School before launchinghis teaching career.

His classroom philosophy is simple:Teaching is telling people stories. He hasmany. As an associate professor of market-ing at the French business school INSEAD heresearched and wrote teaching cases andarticles on the Norwegian telecommunica-tions company Telenor and the challenges itfaced privatizing the Bangladesh telephonecompany; on the Grameen Bank and itsinformation technology initiatives; and onthe challenges Lay’s Potato Chips facedbuilding a brand in Hungary.

Prashant’s academic research deals withconsumers and how they use informationand make judgments, whether the informa-tion comes from advertising, web pages,store aisles or other avenues.


The difference between the two countries isthe management of the Indian firms—moreacquainted with western markets and pursuitof foreign alliances, more experienced in proj-ect management, quicker to recognize thevalue of quality certifications, more fluent inthe English language, and able to take advan-tage of Indian national culture.”

Michael R. Czinkota


Both inside and outside academia—in corpo-rate, government and university positions—Michael Czinkota has built his career aroundinternational trade. Early on he ran a fur-trad-ing company in Bavaria before selling thecompany and traveling to the US to earn hisPh.D. at Ohio State. In 1979 he began teachingat Georgetown, then took a leave of absenceto join the Reagan Administration as DeputyAssistant Secretary of Commerce.

“It was rewarding to implement policyon trade,” he says. “You build up theories, sowhen you have the chance to try them outand see theory drive behavior it’s exciting.”Michael is co-developer of the stages theoryof internationalization, a model for how com-panies go international. It postulates that theydon’t do so overnight but over time, startingin an entrepreneurial mode and graduallybecoming more and more international.

Trade characterizes his research, too.Recently he has explored the outcome of theKorean government’s promotion of foreigntrade. “Governments are not good at takingon corporate functions like marketing,” hesays, “but they are good at bridging marketgaps.” For example, a company new to inter-national trade might find the initial period inthe market so risky as not to want to contin-ue. Here the government can help reduce therisk through programs like the US govern-ment’s Overseas Private Investment Corpo-ration. Or the government can increaserewards, such as through permitting defer-ment of taxes on earnings abroad.

Paul Almeida

Associate Professor, Strategy andInternational Business

Paul Almeida spends a lot of his time runningthe new Georgetown-ESADE Global Execu-tive MBA program. He’s also a dynamicteacher and persistent researcher. Among hislatest investigations: a study of the IndianDiaspora in the United States and its influ-ence on innovation in the high-tech field.

Indians in the US create many differentkinds of networks, he says—ethnic, social,organizational, both personal and virtual—helping them build on their knowledge andshare it. They collaborate with other Indiansand write papers with them. What surprisedPaul was that, contrary to economic rationale,the networks are less valuable in economicterms the more they are used. “The peoplewho participate most in these networks tendto be the more senior people,” Paul says.“Rather than producing valuable patents,” hesays, “they want to give back, help other Indi-ans, even if it means it hurts their own work.The sense of identify, the social aspect, drivesthem more than economic gain.”

Ricardo Ernst

Deputy Dean, Professor andCo-Director, Global LogisticsResearch Program

Ricardo Ernst is an expert in supply chainmanagement, and he continues to teachenthusiastically in his field. But teaching isnot the only thing on his mind these days.

Determined to keep Latin Americanalumni involved with the McDonoughSchool, Ricardo, a native of Venezuela, hascreated and serves as executive director of theLatin American Board. The board, whichconsists of Jose Maria Aznar, former presi-dent of Spain, along with a distinguishedgroup that includes 10 corporate presidents,helps develop Georgetown’s relationship with

20J. Bradford Jensen

Ricardo Ernst

“IT WASREWARDING

TO IMPLEMENT POLICY ONTRADE… YOU BUILD UPTHEORIES, SO WHEN YOUHAVE A CHANCE TO TRYTHEM OUT AND SEE THEORYDRIVE BEHAVIOR, IT’SEXCITING.”

Michael R. Czinkota

CONSULTANTS TO THE WORLDCONSULTANTS TO THE WORLD

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

Tunch, who now works as a consumer developmentmanager for Moët Hennessy in New York City, says helearned lessons that have helped him in his career.“The integrative experience has allowed me to be amore established marketing manager,” he says. “I con-stantly use the tools and strategies that I learned bothin the classroom and on site in Vietnam. Learningbusiness methods in the classroom is one thing, but toactually apply them to a real-life scenario at a leadingglobal company is priceless.”

Drinking to Health

With over 700 million people poised to enter the mid-dle class by 2015, emerging markets in Latin America,South Asia and the Asia Pacific have become majordrivers of growth for companies like PepsiCo. In2008, a group of Georgetown MBA students helpedthe company develop marketing and production strate-gies to communicate the health and wellness aspectsof the company’s beverages to Vietnamese consumers.The group included Lauren Adamo, Jeffrey Cullen,Kelly Dirks, Paul LaRusso, Robert Marshall andNivedita Patel.

The students started off by studying beverage trendsin the US as well as other parts of the world. “We dis-covered that with rising incomes and changinglifestyles, about 82 percent of demand for soft drinksin Vietnam has yet to be exploited,” one student says.“Vietnamese consumers are also showing a greaterawareness of their health and drinking more non-car-bonated fruit-based, vegetable and fibre drinks. Withall the tropical fruits such as longgan, blue dragon,mango, coconut and rambutan in the country, and aproduction capacity that only meets 18 percent of Viet-namese demand for fruit juices, the potential forgrowth was tremendous.”

To get a better feel for the Vietnamesemarket, the groupconducted field research in the streets of Ho Chi MinhCity. They observed both Pepsi and competitor productsin the marketplace and drew conclusions about con-

sumer preferences toward health and wellness bever-ages. Based on their research, the group recommendedthat PepsiCo educate Vietnamese consumers on low-calorie and health-beneficial product offerings, bolsterits partnerships with mini-marts, supermarkets andhypermarkets, vary container sizes to facilitate on-the-go purchases, explore market opportunities for iced cof-fees and teas, and gradually replace glass bottles withPET (polyethylene terephthalate) packaging.

South Africa

Selling the Nation to American Tourists

In2000, the International Marketing Council (IMC) ofSouth Africa began trying to create a strong, positive

and united image for the country. In 2008 they called onGeorgetownMBA students Jenny Lee, Victoria Gelfeld,Angela Mellon, Alisa Srikacha and Vanessa Ting tohelp them. The students’ task: provide the IMC withresearch to help build a brand for the country.

The group conducted interviews, desk research andanalysis and incorporated the perspectives of students,academicians and international development and nation-branding professionals from the US and overseas. “Ourresearch focused on general marketing aspects,” saysVanessa Ting. “We outlined the strategies used by othercountries and highlighted best and worst practices.”

The students say they were intimidated by theprospect of taking their limited knowledge of brand-ing, which was focused on the private sector and US


FromVietnam and South Africa toBrazil and the Arab Gulf Region,Georgetown MBA students aretaking their business expertise to

the international market and helping solvereal-world problems. Required global inte-grative projects, which allow studentsdirect access to executives in internationalorganizations through consulting work, are

a highlight of their McDonough experi-ence. What 2007 McDonough graduateRenee Baioronus says of the global projectshe undertook can probably be said byevery student who has been through it: “Ireally valued the chance to take on sophis-ticated challenges and execute everythingwe learned on a global scale.”

Here are a few examples of what studentshave been doing lately on their global inte-grative teams:

Vietnam

Creating a Snacking Culture

Crab pellets, shrimp crackers and lobster chips maynot tantalize North American taste-buds, but

these snacks are preferred fare in Vietnam. Just 12months after being launched by Pepsi Cola, the Pocabrand’s seafood snacks grabbed market leadership. Toget insights in order to sharpen their long-term mar-keting strategies, Pepsico Vietnam drew on the expert-ise of a group of five Georgetown MBA students in2007: Tunch Doker, Emily Cunningham, John Lally,Renee Baiorunos and Darren Cogan. The students’aim was to create brand awareness and equitythroughout the country and come up with an effectivepricing and packaging strategy.

“We started by analyzing the market and getting accli-mated to the demographics of this country of 83 mil-lion,” Tunch Doker says. “We looked at the consumers’ages, genders, income levels and how people lived incities. We noticed that family dynamics were changing,and that life was becoming more fast-paced, with moreandmore people on the run. This was the perfect oppor-tunity to introduce a snacking culture.” The group pre-sented its proposed strategy, which included creating anicon associated with the brand and introducing vendingmachines to the line-up of distribution channels, infront of a panel headed by PepsiCo Vietnam’s CEO.

“We learned how incredibly important clear communi-cation is,” says Renee Baioronus, “especially in cross-cultural situations. From simply defining the scope ofour project, to developing recommendations that wereapplicable to the Vietnamese market, down to thedetails of conveying those recommendations to ourclient, establishing clear and effective methods ofcommunication was more valuable than any of uswould have imagined.”

22 The MBA team focused on branding South Africafor an American audience.

Pepsico products sold by vendors on the streets of Vietnam.

McDONOUGH STUDENTS:McDONOUGH STUDENTS:

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

Brazil

Exploring Opportunities in Brazil

In 2007, Ugo Amoretti, Edward Crnkovich, PaulDe Young, Florin Jichi and Joe Varadi explored

strategic expansion opportunities for Brazilian compa-ny Santos Brasil. The company manages and operatesTECON 1, the leading container terminal in SouthAmerica, handling more containers in 2005 than thenext five largest Brazilian ports combined. With con-tainer traffic projected to grow annually by 12 percentto reach 6.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units(TEUs) by 2010, Santos Brasil had the potential formajor growth.

To help the company get a clearer picture of itsprospects, the team studied the country’s infrastruc-ture data and analyzed the South American port indus-try in depth. According to Ed Crnkovich, the work wasintense. “None of us had knowledge of the shippingindustry, so we had to learn about the history of glob-al shipping, South American ports, the transportationinfrastructure in South America, container shippingand the kinds of products produced in Brazil, amongother things,” he explains. “We used public records,government records, industry reports, public financialstatements and port authority projections.”

In the end, they produced five expansion scenariosthat ranged from building a container terminal todiversifying into value-added logistics. Their recom-mendations, which were presented to eight decisionmakers within the company, were accompanied by alist of criteria to guide the company’s opportunity-selection process, as wellas a detailed opportunitymatrix. The panel waspleased with the group’sanalysis and shocked thatnone of the students hadworked in shipping priorto the project. “One ofthem commented that thisshows Santos how quicklythey needed to act—they said the fact that five stu-dents with no previous industry knowledge couldcome up with this analysis and these conclusions tellsus that our global competitors could do the same.”

More than a year later, the experience continues tomakea difference, at least in the student’s lives. “It was a greatopportunity and a great project,” Crnkovich enthused.“We learned that handling group dynamics and helpinga team to gel are things that have real implications in theprofessional environment. And we saw first-hand theimpact of globalization on transportation.”

25

national brands, and applying it to a nation. So it waswith trepidation that they presented their work to apanel of seven brand managers at the IMC and onemember of the Board of Directors.

In their presentation, the group stressed the need to beconsistent in the brand message, better utilize publicrelations, leverage partnerships to garner maximumfinancial support and manage perceptions by tacklingnegative issues head-on with concrete facts.

The IMCwasmore than receptive to their recommenda-tions. “Throughout the presentation we saw a lot ofheads nodding, and at the end we got an enthusiastic‘fantastic job!’” says Vanessa. “They gave us glowingfeedback, including a comment from the Board memberthat they should workwith Georgetown again next year.”

As with the Vietnam snack team, the IMC teamlearned lessons in communication. “This was a greatlesson on the importance of keeping open dialoguewith your client,” says Vanessa. “We learned you haveto establish expectations up front and then remindyour client of those expectations at the right time.Then, if expectations weren’t aligned, it was prettyeasy to get back on the same page. I can imagine if wewaited until the end to check expectations, we wouldhave faced a difficult situation.”

Arab Gulf Region

Selling Japanese Cars in the Desert

With booming economies driven by oil rev-enues, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),

which consists of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait,Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, is a key market for luxu-ry car manufacturers. And as one of the leadingJapanese players, Nissan Middle East F.Z.E has amajor stake in the market. To improve its prospectsin the region, Nissan enlisted McDonough studentsSuk Won Kim, Jeong Hwang, Jimi Taylor, ChrisZheng and Saran Raksincharoensak to improve theaccuracy of its Total Industry Volume (TIV) yearlyforecasting model.

During the course of the project, the group researchedhistorical automotive sales as well as industry and eco-nomic data for the GCC region automotive industry,reviewed the existing forecasting model against alterna-tive forecasting frameworks and selected an appropriatemethodology for the GCC region. The result was a newand more accurate TIV forecasting model for Nissan inthe GCC Region.

Happy with the outcome of their engagement withMcDonough, Nissan Middle East invited GeorgetownMBA students back in 2008 to further refine the fore-casting model to project automotive demand by mar-ket and segment. Jason Chi-Hung Cheng, KaiHuang, Jill Kiatbaramee, Koichi Kitashita andSeung Ho Lee did in-depth research on industry andeconomic data, analyzed Middle Eastern markettrends to better understand fluctuations and othervariables and evaluated alternative forecasting frame-works and methodologies. The group developed a newTIV forecasting model that included “explanatoryeconomic variables that could better estimate TIVdemand by market, year, month and segment level.”The group also produced a TIV forecast for the GCCregion at the market-annual-month-segment level forApril 2008 to March 2013.

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

24 Nissan vehicles await shipment from Japan to the Gulf CooperationCouncil member states.

The Georgetown MBA team had to learn the ropes of the Brazilian shipping industry.

IN THE END, THEY PRODUCED FIVE

EXPANSION SCENARIOS THAT

RANGED FROM BUILDING A CON-

TAINER TERMINAL TO DIVERSIFYING

INTO VALUE-ADDED LOGISTICS.

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

to work all around the globe. And I hope to benefitfrom the international network I have gotten here atGeorgetown, while at the same time being of service tomy fellow students and alumni in my future jobs.”

Cindy Cui

Beijing, China

Cindy was drawn to Georgetown because of its tra-dition of excellent education, curricular focus on

global business and the resources it offers to interna-tional students. “Because there are so many studentsfrom different countries, the McDonough Schooloffers a great opportunity to learn from internationalpractitioners and share ideas,” she says.

Cindy brings experience working in operations andcustomer support at IBM in Beijing to the business

school. Despite the initialchallenges presented bythe language barrier and avery different educationalsystem, Cindy believesthe training at McDo-nough has enriched herprofessionally. “Duringmy undergraduate yearsin China,” she says, “wewere always told veryclearly what to do and

what the deliverables were, and classes were conduct-ed as lectures. Here, the professor posts the syllabusand we are expected to figure out on our own what todo. Also, there’s more discussion. I’ve already learnedhow to see things from different perspectives.” Shesays she thinks more broadly now. “I am more inde-pendent,” she says, “and I’ve already expanded myskills base to include marketing, strategy managementand consulting.”

Mike Evans

Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

American students like Mike have also thrived inMcDonough’s global environment. “The interna-

tional student body offers exposure to different cul-tures, work ethics and personalities that I might nototherwise be exposed to,” he says. “From playing soc-cer to working in groups, I have gained perspectivesfrom people who live in Europe, South America, Africaand Asia,” Evans, who helped start the school’s soccerclub, recently returned from an internship in Mongo-lia, where he worked in the Economic Section of theUS embassy, investigating Mongolian economic policyissues and writing reports on inflation, mining, avia-tion and other topics for the Department of State. Histraining in international business under ProfessorNollen, he says, made it easier for him to meet his jobrequirements, and his exposure to myriad cultures inthe business school helped him adapt quickly andwork well in a foreign environment.


With roughly a third of each full-time MBA class comprisinginternational students, theMcDonough School is a truly

global institution. Every year, aspiring businessleaders from countries such as China, Kenya,Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile and Japan enroll in theschool to take their careers to a new point. Withits global network of alumni, a roster of profes-sors with substantial international experience, acurriculum that provides opportunities for cross-border business experience and a diverse and live-ly academic and cultural environment, the schoolgives students the tools they need to succeed.

Here is a glimpse of a few international studentswho are members of the MBA class of 2009:

Bruno Sobral

Brasilia, Brazil

Global opportunities havealready begun to blossom for

Bruno, a civil engineer and econo-mist with experience working forthe Brazilian federal government. “Almost everythingI know about finance, operations, strategy and market-ing, I learned at the McDonough School,” he says.“The training I had here was crucial in getting me thechance to work at [the Brazilian oil company] Petro-bras and helping me perform well during my timethere. Georgetown gave me a ‘real-life’ view of busi-ness. And my experiences here, from the soccer gamesat Yates to beers on the Car Barn rooftop and the life-long friendships I’ve made with people from aroundthe globe, have turned me into a true world citizen.”

Andreas Hjelde

Oslo, Norway

Anative of Oslo, Norway,Andreas came to the McDo-

nough School because of its inter-national orientation, excellent rep-utation and the opportunities it offered. “Mybackground is in political science, and I worked in gov-ernment as an advisor prior to business school,” heexplained. “I realized that even though my job wasgreat, it would only take me so far. An MBA from ahighly recognized school such as Georgetown wouldprovide me with the opportunity of working interna-tionally in the corporate sector.”

For Andreas, the school has lived up to its reputation.“The professors are readily available. In fact, oneaccounting professor complained that too few studentswere coming to his office so he moved to the Car Barn.That kind of accessibility sets McDonough apart.”

Andreas says that while the corporate world may behighly competitive, the discourse at McDonough isshaped more by cooperation than cut-throat competi-tion. “I’ve askedmany ofmy peers for career advice, andevery student I asked made a serious effort to help me,”Andreas relates. “I believe the cooperative spirit at theMcDonough School sets us apart from other top tierschools.” He tells of one student who drove 30 minutesfrom home and conducted a practice interviewwith himfor more than an hour on the student’s day off. Hisclassmate’s help paid off when Andreas landed a jobdoing financial modeling for a high-tech company dur-ing the summer. He was thrilled to be able to take theholistic approach to solving complex business problemsthat he learned at McDonough and use it on the job.

Andreas wants to be able to pay forward the advan-tages he has gained at the business school. “I hope thatwith my education, I will find a job that will enable me

26

EDUCATING WORLD CITIZENS

—Bruno Sobrai

—Cindy Cui

Mike Evans, second from left, in Mongolia

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

On New Year’s Day, 2003, McDonough Schoolstudent and missionary Mike Kim packed a

couple of duffle bags and set out from Southern Cal-ifornia for the China-North Korea border on a one-way ticket. He would spend the next four years lead-ing North Korean refugees through the 6,000 mileunderground railroad, an experience that wouldbecome the basis of his recently released book,Escaping North Korea: Secrets of the World’s MostIsolated Country.

“During my time there I met and interviewedhundreds of North Koreans and documented theirhorrific stories of famine, oppression, imprison-ment and sex trafficking,’ he says. “But I was alsoinspired by how many of the North Koreans had anamazing will to survive and overcome adversity intheir lives.” His book, which draws on first-handaccounts as well as his extensive access to govern-ment officials, journalists and aid workers, is aglimpse into a hidden world of torture, gulags, reli-gious oppression and famine.

His desire to help the people he met drove him toset up Crossing Borders Ministries, an organizationdedicated to aiding North Korean refugees. Original-ly a vehicle for helping North Koreans navigate theperilous escape route and gain asylum, the non-gov-ernmental organization has since established severalshelters and orphanages along the border to providefood, clothing, medicine and shelter.

Kim’s leadership for the organization, whichinvolved “vision-casting, recruiting, fundraising andmanaging the excellent talent that it had,” enabledCrossing Borders to evolve from a small operation toa self-sustaining, independent NGO. He has since

handed the reigns over to amanagement team, but hestill serves as a donor andconsultant to the organiza-tion from time to time.

Kim says his consult-ing work for the organi-zation has been greatlyenriched by his time atthe McDonoughSchool. “I did a brandmanagement internship at John-son & Johnson McNeil in Fort Washington,Pennsylvania. As a result of that, as well as the mar-keting classes I took at Georgetown, I’m able tothink broader and bigger when it comes to market-ing Crossing Borders.” He also has found the com-munication training at McDonough invaluable. “Ihad a lot of public speaking experience coming intoGeorgetown,” he says, “but I still have made signifi-cant improvements through doing presentationsamong my peers and the management communica-tions class in particular.”

In the future, the missionary turned NGO organ-izer and author wants to continue making a differ-ence by writing books and serving as a consultant toNGOs. He also hopes to inspire his peers to go aftertheir own dreams. “Whatever success I’ve achievedto this point,” he says, “I consider it a result ofdreaming big, never giving up and surroundingmyself with great people. I have never been one whois afraid to go after my dreams or attempt extremelychallenging tasks. Sometimes I fail, and other timesmy efforts reap great dividends.”


Sue Choi

Seoul, South Korea

Aveteran of the Asian videogame industry, Sue’s intro-

duction to diverse cultures at theMcDonough School included a

crash course in football. “In class, there would bemany references to American culture, TV shows,

movies, sports,” she says.“It was sometimes hardfor me to relate. I finallylearned what a touch-down means.” She alsolearned how to communi-cate better with her class-mates. “Respect for lec-turers in the classroom isvery important in Asianculture, but in the US, thisattitude is sometimesmisinterpreted as beingtoo shy, or difficult to talkto, or not very smart,” shesays. “Eventually I gotused to the collaborativeenvironment in Americanclassrooms. Knowledge ismeant to be shared. And ifyou aren’t proactive aboutthings, you lose opportu-nities.”

In her first year at theMcDonough School, Suemade the most of her

opportunities, garnering meetings with leading techcompanies and Hollywood executives thanks to theGeorgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance.

Shiro Omichi

Tokyo, Japan

Like Cindy, Shiro’s perspective has been changed byhis interactions at McDonough with fellow busi-

ness professionals from all over the world. “In class,when we talk about what’s happening in places likeChina in terms of business ethics, having Chinese stu-dents talk about their opinions and actual experiencesis invaluable,” he says. “In a sense, we have access toinsider knowledge of business realities.” His notionsof leadership have also gained an added, more Ameri-can dimension. “Many Japanese blue-chip compa-nies think as a group, so strong leadership at the topisn’t a necessity,” he says.“I strongly believe that weneed both. The balancebetween the top-downand bottom-up approachis important.”

Shiro’s training at McDo-nough has already bene-fited Mitsubishi Corpora-tion, his educationalsponsor and a companyhe has worked at for nearly a decade. During his sum-mer internship at Mitsubishi Motors in California, hesays he was able to apply what he learned in market-ing and statistics to make suggestions and fill gapsthat existed between current and best practices.

28

GEORGETOWNMSB STUDENTCROSSES BORDERSWITH NEW BOOK

J A PA N T R E KThe McDonough School is home to a wide range of international

organizations and activities. Here a group of MBA students gather

during Japan Trek, an eight-day tour through Japanese economic

giants such as Sony and Toyota as well as tourist highlights such

as Osaka and Kyoto.

—Sue Choi

Preeti Choudhary

Assistant Professor, Accounting

Preeti Choudhary joins the McDonoughSchool after completing her Ph.D. in Busi-ness Administration (Accounting) at theFuqua School of Business, Duke University.She has taught courses in financial account-ing, accounting information systems andmanagerial accounting at Fuqua, the McIn-tire School of Commerce at the Universityof Virginia, and the Robert H. Smith Schoolof Business at the University of Maryland.She has also worked as an internal auditorat The Washington Post Company and as anauditor on the Enterprise Risk Services staffof Deloitte & Touche.

In addition to her Ph.D., Dr. Choudharyreceived an MS in Accounting and a BS inCommerce from the McIntire School at theUniversity of Virginia. She has co-authoredseveral teaching cases on accounting issuesand customer satisfaction for Harvard Busi-ness School.

Dr. Choudhary has presented papers onaccounting at several conferences. Herresearch interests include earnings manage-ment, information quality and accountingchoices.

McDonough school namesakeRobert Emmett McDonough,who passed away on Novem-ber 21, 2007, was not only a

great friend of the school but also one of itsmost faithful workers.

“Bob McDonough was a man of excep-tional intelligence, grace and generosity wholived the American Dream and worked tomake it possible for others to do so,” DeanDaly said in a message to the school. “Hiscontributions to Georgetown University andthe McDonough School went far beyond hisnaming gift. He visited the school often,

always in the spiritof optimism andgood will that col-ored his personalityand world view.”

McDonoughwas a 1949 graduateof the School ofForeign Service,

and he served on both the university’s boardof directors and the business school’s boardof advisors. Every year he and his wifeSimone welcomed incoming Georgetownstudents at a party at their California home.“It is an understatement to say that he will bemissed by all who knew him,“ Daly said.

After his graduation from Georgetown,McDonough began establishing himself inthe business world. By 1965, he had served asan oil executive and had opened the firstoffice of Remedy Intelligent Staffing, a tem-porary agency. This Riverside, Californiafirm has grown to more than 260 officesacross the United States.

Despite his success in business, McDo-nough never forgot his connection to theHilltop and remained an active and devotedmember of the Georgetown community. His1998 gift to name the school was the largestsingle gift in Georgetown’s history, arisingfrom his desire to do “something special” forthe university. The volunteer leadershippositions he held at Georgetown includedmembership on the Alumni AssociationBoard of Governors and leadership roles inthe Georgetown Club of Orange County. Atthe time of his passing, he was serving hisfourth term on the Georgetown UniversityBoard of Directors.

Georgetown will not forget the stalwartservice and generous contributions of Mr.McDonough, and generations of businessstudents will know his legacy and example.

ROBERT EMMETTMcDONOUGH

“BOB MCDONOUGH WAS A MAN OF EXCEPTIONALINTELLIGENCE, GRACE AND GENEROSITY WHOLIVED THE AMERICAN DREAM AND WORKED TOMAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR OTHERS TO DO SO.”

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

NEW FACULTY

Daniel Brooks Baer

Visiting Assistant Professor, Strategy

Daniel Baer arrives at Georgetown after a yearas a faculty fellow at the Edmond J. SafraFoundation Center for Ethics at Harvard. Hebrings experience as a consultant and projectleader in consumer goods and strategy withThe Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and as aspecial assistant in African affairs to the U.S.Ambassador to the United Nations. Whilewith BCG, he undertook a series of studiesfocused on issues related to U.S. public educa-tion and international economic development.

Dr. Baer received his Ph.D. in Interna-tional Relations from Oxford University,M.Phil in International Relations fromOxford, and AB in Social Studies and AfricanAmerican Studies from Harvard.

Dr. Baer graduated summa cum laude andPhi Beta Kappa from Harvard, and attendedOxford as a Marshall Scholar. He has writtenfor a number of international newspapers,including The Christian Science Monitor, TheGuardian and The Sydney Morning Herald.His current research focuses on the intersec-tion of political theory and global business.


30

NEW FACULTY,NEWLY TENURED FACULTY,NEW DEANS

The McDonough School has recentlyrecruited a number of distinguished

faculty members, given tenure

to others, and brought on board

dynamic new deans.

Jason D. Schloetzer


Jason D. Schloetzer joins the McDonoughSchool faculty from the Joseph M. KatzGraduate School of Business at the Univer-sity of Pittsburgh, where he recently earnedhis Ph.D. in Accounting. He received anMBA from The George Washington Univer-sity and a BS in Mechanical Engineeringfrom The University of Kansas.

Dr. Schloetzer’s research interestscover inter-firm relationships, performancemeasurement systems, managerial incen-tives, corporate governance and auditing.He has worked as an internal auditor andcost analyst for Equant N.V. and as an inter-nal auditor for Sprint Telecommunications.He conducted audits in over 30 countriesand integrates this perspective into hisresearch and the classroom.

Jason Sturgess

Assistant Professor, Finance

Jason Sturgess arrives at Georgetown fromLondon Business School, where he recentlyearned his Ph.D. in Finance as well as anMResandMSc in Finance. He also received anMScinWeather, Climate &Modelling from TheUniversity of Reading and a BSc in Mathemat-ics from the University of Nottingham.

Dr. Sturgess has presented papers atthe European Finance Association, at theEuropean Doctoral Research Conferenceand at the Transatlantic Doctoral Confer-ence in London. He was awarded stu-dentships from the Economic and NaturalEnvironment Research Council and the Eco-nomic and Social Research Council.

Dr. Sturgess conducts research in theareas of corporate finance, corporate gover-nance, international finance, banking andcapital budgeting. His recent work hasexamined whether multinational firms suc-cessfully export corporate governance, howcapital market regulation impedes efficiencyand the link between ownership, gover-nance and value. Prior to completing hisPh.D., Dr. Sturgess worked in the corporatefinance group at Royal Dutch Shell wherehe was involved in international M&A andproject finance.

James Wade

Professor, Strategy and Economics

James Wade taught at Rutgers Universityand the Universities of Illinois and Wiscon-sin before coming to Georgetown.

Dr. Wade’s research interests includetop management team issues, industry evo-lution, social movements, the technologicalevolution of standards and the impact ofinter- and intra-organizational personnelflows on organizational and industry-leveloutcomes. His articles have been publishedin Administrative Science Quarterly, Strate-gic Management Journal, Academy of Man-agement Journal, Organization Science,Rand Journal of Economics, Journal ofLabor Economics and other outlets, and heis on the editorial boards of AdministrativeScience Quarterly, Strategic Organization,and Journal of Engineering and TechnologyManagement. He also was a senior editorfor Organization Science and served as thedivision chair of the Technology and Inno-vation Management Division of the Acade-my of Management.

Dr. Wade holds a BS from Rice Univer-sity in Mechanical Engineering and workedas a design and field engineer in the oilfieldservices industry. He received an MBA fromthe University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D.in Business Administration (OrganizationalBehavior and Industrial Relations) from theUniversity of California at Berkeley.

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

J. Bradford Jensen

Associate Professor, Economics andInternational Business

Brad Jensen comes to Georgetown fromthe Peterson Institute for InternationalEconomics, where he was Associate Direc-tor. His research focuses on the effects ofinternational trade and capital movements.Dr. Jensen received his Ph.D. in Economicsfrom Stanford University and BA fromKalamazoo College.

Dr. Jensen’s recent work examines theeffect of increasing import competition onU.S. manufacturers and the impact of tradein services on the U.S. economy. His researchhas been supported by the National ScienceFoundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundationand the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthurFoundation and has been published in theAmerican Economic Review, Review of Eco-nomics and Statistics, Journal of Internation-al Economics, Journal of Monetary Econom-ics and Harvard Business Review. Dr. Jensen’sresearch has also been cited in popular presspublications including The Economist, TheWall Street Journal, The New York Times,Fortune and Business Week.

Prior to joining Georgetown in 2007,Dr. Jensen served as director of the Center forEconomic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau,on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon Universityand as a visiting professor at the Tuck Schoolof Business at Dartmouth College.

Korok Ray


Korok Ray comes to the McDonough Schoolfrom his most recent position as SeniorEconomist for the Council of EconomicAdvisers at the White House. Before arriv-ing in Washington he served as AssistantProfessor of Accounting at the University ofChicago’s Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Ray earned his Ph.D. in Economicsfrom the Stanford Graduate School of Busi-ness and his BS in Mathematics from theUniversity of Chicago, where he graduatedsumma cum laude. He has given presenta-tions on accounting and organization theoryat Duke University, Kellogg School of Man-agement, INSEAD, Singapore ManagementUniversity, University of Aarhus, Universityof Bonn, University of Chicago and theWharton School.

Dr. Ray has published articles in TheAccounting Review and the Journal ofAccounting Research. His research interestsinclude managerial accounting, perform-ance measurement, financial regulation andpolitical economy.

32

Prashant Malaviya


Prashant Malaviya comes to Georgetownfrom INSEAD in France, where he was anAssociate Professor of Marketing. He hasserved as a Visiting Associate Professor atthe Wharton School and ALBA GraduateBusiness School in Greece and has heldappointments at Northwestern Universityand the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Dr. Malaviya received his Ph.D. fromthe Kellogg School of Management atNorthwestern University, his MBA from theUniversity of Delhi and his B.Tech. from theInstitute of Technology, Benaras Hindu Uni-versity in Varanasi, India. His researchfocuses on how consumers use informationto form product evaluations and make judg-ments. His recent research examines howmeta-cognitions and feelings influencethese evaluations and judgments. He hastaught courses in marketing management,marketing strategy, brand management, cus-tomer focus, consumer behavior, advertisingand related topics.

Dr. Malaviya has published articles inAdvances in Consumer Research, Journal ofConsumer Psychology, Journal of ConsumerResearch, Journal of Marketing, Journal ofMarketing Research, Journal of MarketingTheory & Practice, and Psychology & Mar-keting. He was a finalist for the Best MBACore Teacher award at INSEAD and wasnamed Outstanding Reviewer by the Journalof Consumer Research. He currently serveson the editorial review board of the Journalof Consumer Psychology.

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

33

Jeannette Frett

Assistant Dean,MBA Career Management

Jeannette Frett comes to Georgetown withextensive experience in corporate, govern-ment and non-profit organizations. A DCnative, she returned to the District in 2007after being hired by Fannie Mae to serve asVP for Recruiting. Prior to Fannie Mae, shewas Senior Vice-President of HumanResources at Banco Popular and a directorin international and domestic HumanResources at Verizon, where she held posi-tions in human resources strategy andmergers & acquisitions, leadership develop-ment, staffing and labor relations. Jeannetteworked in the 1996 U.S. Olympics as anenvoy and community organizer and as aU.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. Shereceived her BA from Wells College in Auro-ra, New York and studied Spanish at theUniversity of Sevilla in Spain. She receivedher MBA from the University of Maryland.

Her new job energizes her because shewill be able to focus on her passion: thedevelopment of value-based, global leaders.As assistant dean, she is committed to help-ing MBA students (full-time and eveningprograms) realize their career goals. Shewill work with employers and alumni toidentify career options for future leaderscoming out of Georgetown’s MBA programs.

Cindy McCauley

Assistant Dean and Director,MBA Student Services

Cindy McCauley worked in day-care man-agement before entering the world of busi-ness schools. She arrives at the McDonough

School from Fox School of Business at Tem-ple University. A graduate of Robert MorrisUniversity in Pittsburgh, she has spent mostof her professional life in Pennsylvania.

As assistant dean for MBA StudentServices, Cindy intends to establish better“structure and services” in her area. “I wantto help students have a good experiencehere,” she says. “This means supportingthem but also empowering them to succeed.”

FACULTY RECEIVING TENURE

George Comer

Associate Professor, Finance

Professor Comer has been on the faculty ofthe McDonough School since 2001 andteaches Business Financial Management atthe undergraduate level. He has been amember of the PhD Project Finance Doctor-al Student Association since its inceptionand serves as a faculty advisor for theorganization. Previously, Professor Comertaught in the analyst training program forJP Morgan and currently serves as thefinance instructor for the training programof First Manhattan Consulting Group.

He has a Ph.D. in finance from NewYork University, an MA in economics fromStanford and a BA in economics from theUniversity of Chicago.

Professor Comer’s research focuses onthe performance and behavior of institu-tional money managers. Past research proj-ects have focused on hybrid mutual fundsand exchange traded funds. His currentresearch focuses on municipal bond funds,international mutual funds, and unit invest-ment trusts.

In 2006, Professor Comer was awardedthe Robert E. McDonough School of Busi-ness Joseph LeMoine Award for Undergrad-uate and Graduate Teaching Excellence.

Robin L. Dillon-Merrill

Associate Professor, Operations andInformation Management

A member of the McDonough School facul-ty since 2001, Professor Dillon-Merrillteaches Decision Support Systems at boththe undergraduate and MBA level.

In her research, Professor Dillon-Mer-rill seeks to understand and explain how andwhy people make the decisions that they dounder conditions of uncertainty and risk.This research specifically examines criticaldecisions that people have made followingnear-miss events in situations with severeoutcomes (i.e., hurricane evacuation, NASAmission management, etc.). Her pastresearch in risk has included supporting theDepartment of Energy’s selection of a newtritium supply facility, aiding NASA’s JetPropulsion Laboratory in decision makingfor the Mars Exploration Program, anddeveloping a quantitative decision supporttool for the management of software projectresources based on an analysis of both theinformation system and the design. She hasreceived research funding from the NationalScience Foundation, NASA, and the Depart-ment of Defense. She has also served as arisk analysis and project management experton several National Academies Committeesincluding the Review of the New OrleansRegional Hurricane Protection Projects.

She has a B.S./M.S. from the Universi-ty of Virginia in Systems Engineering and aPh.D. from Stanford University.

NEW DEANS

Valeria Bellagamba

Assistant Dean, Academic Planning

Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina,Valeria Bellagamba worked in consumerbanking at Citigroup before coming to theUS for graduate school at the University ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign, where sheearned her MBA. She speaks Spanish, Por-tuguese, Italian, French and German andloves to run, ski and read “lots and lots.”Most recently she served as Director ofEnrollment Management at The GeorgeWashington University School of Business.

At the McDonough School she over-sees scheduling and planning of curriculumofferings, including analyzing supply anddemand for courses as well as revising newofferings. She also administers the globalresidencies and the hiring of all adjuncts.Her attitude toward work: “Smile and getthe job done the best you can!”

“I WANT TO HELP STUDENTS HAVE A GOODEXPERIENCE HERE…. THIS MEANS SUPPORTING THEMBUT ALSO EMPOWERING THEM TO SUCCEED.”

Cindy McCauley, Assistant Dean and Director, MBA Student Services

McDONOUGH BUSINESS


35

McDONOUGH BUSINESS


“Last year we just had renderings ofwhat we expected the building tolook like,” says Virginia Flavin,Director of Facilities Planning and

Special Events. “Now we have a real struc-ture to show off!” With the dramatic glass,brick and stone edifice of the new McDo-nough School building essentially com-plete, the building is on target for openingin mid 2009.

Work now focuses mainly on interiorfinishes, such as flooring and wood trim, aswell as creating spaces that will both func-tion well and be aesthetically appealing. Thedesign theme is sophistication with a senseof excitement and fun. While the building isan academic structure, there has been a con-certed effort to mirror a corporate atmos-phere, especially in many of the building’ssignature spaces: the atrium, the colloquium,student commons and office reception areas.

Flavin is working withthe Washington, D.C. officeof a prominent design firm,RTKL, to select the furnish-ings for the building. “Theinterior of this beautifulstructure is wonderfullyarticulated by some stun-ning architectural ele-ments,” Flavin says. “Thereare support columns thatspan four floors, an excitingcentral atrium, bridges thattake one from the central stairway that ‘floats’in the atrium space into a beautiful wood-cladpavilion. The furnishings will both comple-ment and energize all the interior spaces.They’ll enhance the state-of-the-art technolo-gy in the building and offer everyone a wel-coming and exciting place in which to studyand work.”

The designers havepaid special attention to theaudio/visual technology inthe auditorium, includingthe state-of-the-art high-definition television sys-tem. The structure for thethird floor plaza linking thenew building to the LeaveyCenter was finished in thesummer, with the entireplaza slated for comple-tion by spring 2009. Plans

include finishing the roadway and the grad-ing around the building before the groundfreezes in winter.

Construction has been largely trouble-free, with only minor construction delaysstemming in part from the complexity of theauditorium design that includes a veryadvanced technology plan, unexpected belowground excavation issues, and sequencingwork in the large, complicated atrium space.When the building is completed, it will serveas a dynamic space for communication andcollaboration for the McDonough Schoolcommunity as well as a recognizable symbolof the school for many years to come.

36

Anthony Pirrotti

Assistant Dean,Undergraduate Program

Anthony Pirrotti says he was drawn to theMcDonough School because of its opennessto innovation. He sees creativity as a hall-mark of the McDonough community, some-thing that sets it apart from traditional aca-demic culture.

He graduated from Georgetown with amajor in Renaissance literature, then workedas an editor, actor, high school teacher, andstudent services employee for the George-

town Law Center. He continues to researchand teach Renaissance literature in additionto his duties at the McDonough School.

Anthony works primarily with juniorsand seniors to assist them with professionaldevelopment and networking. He has alsorevitalized the Young Alumni Mentor Pro-gram, where alumni help students developmeaningful careers. “Alumni have a lot tocontribute to the undergraduate educationof our students,” he says.

Mary Anne Waikart

Assistant Dean,Executive Master’s Programs

Before coming to Georgetown, Mary AnneWaikart worked at London Business Schoolas Associate Dean and Director of the MBAprogram. She has also served as Chair of theBoard of the GMAC, the organization thatowns the GMAT test, and MBA Director atthe University of Maryland College Park.Earlier in her career she was president of astart-up company taking government dataand turning it into marketable products.

In her current position, Mary Anneoversees all the executive master’s pro-grams at the McDonough School, includ-ing the International Executive MBA, theGlobal Executive MBA and the ExecutiveMaster’s in Leadership. She says she isworking to involve alumni from all threeprograms in both the admissions and themarketing processes at the school. She isproud to say she has a son who is an armyofficer in Iraq.

Kelly Wilson

Assistant Dean and Director,Full-Time MBA Admissions

Kelly Wilson directed admissions for full-time and part-time MBA programs at theUniversity of Pittsburgh for nine years, ris-ing to assistant dean, before coming toGeorgetown. Prior to her time at Pitt sheworked for Pricewaterhouse-Coopers and inadmissions at George Mason University, thelatter position while getting her MBA. Shehas served on the board of directors of theGraduate Management Admissions Councilas well as on the selection committee forthe Muskie Fellowship for students fromformer Soviet nations.

Kelly now oversees marketing andrecruiting for the full-time MBA programand is working to implement a customerrelationship management (CRM) system forthe program. Her aim is to “make everystudent applying to the MSB feel that heor she is the only student applying.” TheCRM system will serve up customized web-content based on individual students’interests and questions.

“THE INTERIOR OF

THIS BEAUTIFUL

STRUCTURE IS

WONDERFULLY

ARTICULATED BY

SOME STUNNING

ARCHITECTURAL

ELEMENTS”

The glass facade will make a bold state-ment to the campus and the world.

The academic structure reflects an effortto mirror a corporate atmosphere.

“ALUMNI HAVE A LOT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNDER-GRADUATE EDUCATION OF OUR STUDENTS.”

Anthony Pirrotti, Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Program

IEMBA 2006Jen McDonald recently left Revo-lution Health and is moving westwith her husband and daughter toKansas City, Missouri to be closerto family. She’s accepted a positionat the marketing/advertising agencyVML (part ofNASDAQ:WPPG)as a Group Account Director.

MBA 2006Lawrence Pearlman headed toRome after graduation to work forthe United Nations World FoodProgram on a year-long contract.After his contract ended, he tookhis motorcycle and embarked ona year-long journey from Scandi-navia to Australia. Currently inEurope, he is moving back to theUS soon.

Yousef Shamoun started an onlinerecruitment company called Akhta-boot.com, which has been activesince June 2007. Akhtaboot, whichis Arabic for Octopus, is dedicatedto finding a user-friendly way oflinking the right person to the rightcareer opportunity. He also recentlylaunched a website for card gamestailored to the Arab world called

We encourage you to send updates about yourself for inclusion in future issues of McDonough Business.

Please send to [email protected], or post notes to hoyasonline at https://alumni.georgetown.edu.

To submit a class note to the university alumni magazine Georgetown Magazine, please mail your note

to Classnotes, 2115 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20007, or fax it to 202-687-2311.


Cheryl Contee recently launchedFission Strategy, a bicoastal socialmedia communications consultingfirm based in San Francisco andWashington DC. Fission Strategyconsults clients on integrating Web2.0 and social media techniquesincluding blogs, Facebook, Twitter,Bebo, and other sources into theiroutreach and communicationsinitiatives.

Jeff Ezell was recently promoted toDirector of Worldwide Public Rela-tions for BD (Becton, Dickinsonand Company), a leading globalmedical technology company head-quartered in Franklin Lakes, NJ.

Lea Kirkwood was promoted toLieutenant Colonel in April 2008and took command of the UnitedStates 422 Air Base Squadron inthe United Kingdom at RAF

Croughton. Lea also married DrewRaw in July 2008. Drew is fromYorkshire, England.

Thomas Pablo and his wifeJennifer delivered their third boyCallum Thomas on 15 Feb 2008.Callum is joining his brothersBurke and Reilly. Thomas also justrecently completed his first Hoodto Coast Relay Race. His team fin-ished with an impressive 25:21:21

Sujat Sukthankar has accepted anew position as General Managerof Best Nomos, a company thatdevelops products used in thedetection and treatment of cancer.In addition to his GM duties atNomos, Sujat is also responsible forall new product development with-in the Best Medical Internationalfamily of companies worldwide.Although the offices are located inPittsburgh, PA, Sujat will continueto live in New York while managingstaff in Pittsburgh and worldwidelocations.

Dave Weinreich and his wife Jenhad twin boys Alexander Stevenand Zachary Michael on 16 April2008. Welcome to the newadditions.

Larry Williams completed two fullIronman triathlons during the firsthalf of 2008. Larry completedIronman South Africa on April5th in a “mind-boggling”11 hours, 13 minutes and34 seconds. Then “themachine” finished theLake Placid Ironman in11:19:25 on July 26th.

IEMBA 8 (2003)Class Correspondent:Tina Elsner,[email protected]

Oscar Avalle and his wife, Erica,welcomed their first child, MateoAvalle, on August 18, 2008.

Robert Burger and his wife,Debra, welcomed their first child,Seth Jacob Burger, on August 11,2008.

Stephanie Cinocco married JoeNorrell at the Kona Village Resorton the Big Island of Hawaii onApril 26th, 2008. Stephanie andJoe have moved to Placitas, NewMexico.

Mark Damato and his wife,Kristin, welcomed their first child,Collin Mark Damato, on November8, 2007.

Ronaldo Ferreira married MariaLeopoldina Machado in Curitiba,Brazil on December 8, 2007.

Lisa Gomez has returned toDeloitte Consulting as a SeniorManager in the Strategy and Oper-ations practice. Lisa and her familyhave also moved to a “countryestate” in Waterford, VA.

Greg Hamilton and his wife, Mau-reen, welcomed their third girl, JulieCadwallader Hamilton, on Novem-ber 6, 2007.

Kamonte McCray has accepted apromotion as Vice President, NewEngland Operations for XeroxCorporation in Boston, MA.

Ali Sadrieh has been promoted toGroup Vice President, Environmen-tal Services Group, at Plexus Scien-tific Corporation, an Alexandria-based employee-owned company.

MBA 2002Joanne Perlman has been accept-ed into the prestigious Broad Resi-dency in Urban Education. Theprogram places early-career execu-tives from the private or civic sec-tors into two-year, full-time paidpositions at the top levels ofurban school systems across the

country. Joanne will be work-ing with the Chicago Pub-lic Schools to improvemanagement practicesand advance change ini-

tiatives, such as creating newschools, improving human resourcemanagement, overhauling districtbudgeting processes and rolling outmajor technology systems.

IEMBA 6 (2001)Class Correspondent:BobWagoner,[email protected]

Terri Stafford Thomas was pro-moted to Chief Executive Officer ofBRTRC in November 2006. Sheand the four other senior officersthen completed a full managementbuyout of the company, signing onthe dotted line in June 2007.BRTRC, headquartered in Fairfax,Virginia, provides focused profes-sional services to Federal Govern-ment agencies. The company hasgrown steadily over the past 20years to an organization with over180 employees and revenues inexcess of $27M in 2006. Terrireports she’s having a great timewith this—the buyout was like get-ting a 2nd MBA and the CEO jobhas been an entirely new level oflearning as well. Congratulationsto our new CEO.

John and Sarah Meekhof’s start-up company, Capstone ConsultingGroup, LLC received the Depart-ment of Homeland Security’s SmallBusiness Achievement Award fromthe DHS Undersecretary for Man-agement in the spring 2008. Theaward recognized their support tothe DHS Office of Health AffairsAvian and Pandemic Influenza Pro-gram. Capstone also won 2008’sBusiness Plan Contest through theCommunity Business Partnershipin Springfield, Virginia. As a resultof winning this competition, Johnand Sarah were interviewed on the“Arnett Report” for August, a pub-lic service television show thatspotlights unique business and mar-keting in the DC metro region. VisitCapstone at www.capstone-cg.com.

David Messina has taken on a newjob as Managing Director of theGlobal Security Division for Lock-heed Martin UK. David relocated toLondon in June 2008 and figureshe’ll be putting his IEMBA skills toexcellent use in his new position.

Bob Wagoner was promoted toVice President and Manager of the

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

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Jawaker.com (plural for Joker inArabic), which has been onlinesince August of this year. Bothwebsites were developed throughhis web development company“Boundless.”

Overjoyed parents RaymondSulentic and Angela Sulentic(Fajardo), both 2006 MBAs, wel-comed the newest addition to theirfamily on August 14, 2008: ChaseFajardo Sulentic. Chase anticipatesbeing a Hoya in 2037. Angela isstill at L’Oreal Paris and Raymondat UBS O’Connor Hedge Fund.

Rachel Rettman, true to form,is doing some interesting thingsthese days. After working at Levi’s,Barclays Global Investors, andUBS private wealth managementin San Francisco she moved to LAand is currently becoming a highlytrained Pilates instructor with thegoal of opening her own studio orstudios, as well as possibly becom-ing a Licensed Massage Therapist.She plans to also possibly becomea life improvement coach of sorts,helping people to overcome what-ever they might need in order topotentiate themselves—combiningfitness with her business prowess toimprove people’s lives. Feel free tobe in touch at [email protected].

Undergrad 2004Kirk and Ashley Syme (bothB’04) were married on August 2,2008 at Saint Ignatius Church inSan Francisco. Rev. Philip L.Boroughs, S.J., Vice President forMission & Ministry, was the Princi-pal Celebrant, assisted by Rev. EricA. Zimmer, S.J., former AssistantProfessor of Communications. Inattendance were over a dozenfellow Hoyas.

IEMBA 9 (2004)Class Correspondents:Mike Willhelm,[email protected] Appleby,[email protected]

Myleeta Aga and her family havemoved to Mumbai, India whereMyleeta will be starting up a newtelevision network calledWhat’sOn TV. Myleeta, previously nomi-nated for an Emmy award, is theCo-Founder and Channel Head forWhat’s On TV.

Alice Boyer Wiewel has relocatedto Portland, OR and will be work-ing for the Oregon University Sys-tem in their Capital Constructiondivision. Alice had previouslyworked for Georgetown University.Additionally, Alice’s husband Wimwas named to the distinguishedpost of president of Portland StateUniversity.

Webb Dryfoos married EmilyElizabeth Barrett in Bluemont, VAin March. Webb still works atNeuStar, Inc..

Lea Kirkwood waspromoted to LieutenantColonel in April 2008.

ALUM

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Larry Williams

Kirk and Ashley Syme (both B’04) were married on August 2,2008. First row (L-R): Christopher R.M. Henderson '03, ChristianR. Jenner ’03, Stephen M. Feiler '02, Katie Mullaney ’05, KirkSyme ’04, Ashley Syme ’04, Shannon Cunningham ’04, JessicaSchatz ’04, Aimee Scott ’04, Jen Rooke ’04, David Childs ‘04Second row: Aimee Harris ’98, Greg Mullaney ’05, Rev. PhilipL. Boroughs, S.J., Rev. Eric A. Zimmer, S.J., John V. Coghlan ’06,Glenn Schatz ’04. Third row: Jim Harris ’99, Jim Gregoire ’04

Angela and RaymondSulentic, both MBA ’06, withtheir new son, Chase.

Lawrence Pearlman

Webb (IEMBA 9) and EmilyElizabeth Dryfoos were mar-ried in March, 2008.

A WEEK END OF SOCI A L, CULTUR A L A ND INTELLECTUA L ENGAGEMENT

Interact with international, business and political leaders and enjoy a host of educational panels, cultural tours and social events in the company of Georgetown University alumni, stu-dents, faculty and friends.

At the Georgetown Global Forum, gain exclusive access to renowned philanthropists and leaders from academia, NGOs and the public and private sectors as they address the ques-tion “Profi t, Policy and Philanthropy – The Key to Global Development?” Join us in New York City for this one-of-a-kind educational and networking opportunity.

To learn more, visit http://jcw.georgetown.edu.

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITYALUMNI ASSOCIATION

John Carrol Weekend | April 16–19, 2009 | New York

Don't miss the chance to learn, network and reconnect with classmates.

Reunion Panels and Networking May 28th-31st

Magis Alumni and Classes of 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004

http://reunion.georgetown.edu

The events feature a new format with special attention to the needs of our alumni in challenging market conditions.

Find an event near you:

http://msb.georgetown.edu/alumni/

McDONOUGH BUSINESS

40

Advanced Systems and Technol-ogy Division at Science Applica-tions International Corporationin February, 2007. Bob’s divisionof 100 scientists and engineersis based in Arlington, VA andgenerates $35M in annual rev-enue. The division supports over30 projects in diverse fieldsincluding theater air and missiledefense, radar performanceassessment, adaptive signalprocessing, systems engineer-ing, hydrodynamic code devel-opment, dynamic simulation,threat assessment, defense poli-cy analysis, and distributed andnetworked system development.

Chris King retired from theArmy recently and took a posi-tion with BAE Systems focusedon International Business Devel-opment. Chris reports he foundthe IEMBA schooling helpfulwhile in the military and is surethat trend will continue in theprivate sector. BAE Systems isa global company engaged in thedevelopment, delivery and sup-port of advanced defence andaerospace systems in the air,on land and at sea.

MBA 1992Debbie Mercer Cifone has beenworking at Taco Bell/Yum!Restaurants for 13 years. Recent-ly, she worked on the team thatlaunched the brand into its firstnew country in years, in Mexicoof all places. Currently, she’sleading the team and agenciesthat produce all the merchandis-ing and signage you see in therestaurants. She’s also leading acomplete redesign of the packag-ing, something you will all get tosee next year at your local TacoBell. Debbie is married to RockyCifone and they have one son,J.R. (3 1/2) and are expectinganother child next year. Theylive in Laguna Niguel, CAand can be reached [email protected].

Karen O’Such Gorman iskeeping busy in San Franciscowith her husband Bill and theirtwo young children, Trip (6)and Elizabeth (3). If you arevisiting the Bay Area, she wouldlove to hear from you at

[email protected]’s also comparing child-related notes with [gettingexpertise from!]…Valerie Parkerregularly, especially whentheir two families get together.Valerie’s married to PeterMellen (MBA ’98). Valerie’sbusy in Bethesda with her twochildren, Elisabeth (4) andWill (3). Negotiating skills fromschool sure do come in handyfor both of them these days.Valerie can be reached [email protected]

Eser Ozdeger is the AssociateDirector of Communications forthe Maret School in Washing-ton, DC. Her son Taylon is 10.

In April, Mitchell Rubensteinbecame Managing Partner/Executive Producer of 1KStudios—a 10 year old entertain-ment marketing firm specializ-ing in DVD and Blu-ray inter-face design, behind-the-scenesfeaturettes, and interactive con-tent. This year, the companyhas worked on films such asThe Dark Knight, Ironman, andIndiana Jones and the Kingdomof the Crystal Skull.

Amy Wright is married andliving on Capitol Hill in Wash-ington, DC. She is currentlythe CEO of an InformationTechnology consulting firm shefounded in 2000, Macro Solu-tions, focused on EnterpriseSystems (Accounting, HR/Pay-roll, and Supply Chain systems)for the Federal government.Their offices are in Arlington,VA, and the company hasachieved steady growth forthe past 8 years.

MBA 1984Since graduating, CarolynGriffin has been involved withMetroStage, a professionaltheatre in Alexandria, servingthe Washington metro area andbeyond. She is the ProducingArtistic Director and has pro-duced world premieres and areapremieres in the 130 seattheatre. In 2007, she was hon-ored as a “Living Legend ofAlexandria” for her work as“a champion of live theatre.”

When he was an undergraduate student in the

McDonough School, Jim Gregoire wasn’t sure

what kind of career he wanted. He ended up liking the

direction he finally chose—he is now a senior consult-

ant with Infrastructure Management Group—but he

couldn’t get out of his mind the turmoil he’d gone

through. “I wish I’d had someone to talk to about all

this,” he says.

Jim went to Dean Daly and asked if there was a

way he could do something for current students.

Indeed there was. Dean Daly put Jim in touch with the

undergraduate office, and Jim ended up working with

Anthony Pirrotti, the new Assistant Dean for the

Undergraduate Program. One of Anthony’s initiatives

was to revive the Young Alumni Mentor Program. The

match was perfect.

The YAMP involves about 40 alumni in the DC area,

almost all of whom graduated within the last 10

years. Current undergraduate students are matched

with alumni according to the students’ fields of inter-

est, with no more than four students per alum. The

program has several formal events each year as well

as informal get-togethers. Alumni help students by,

among other things, looking at resumes, hosting vis-

its to their workplace and setting up interviews.

Last year 110 students participated, and Anthony

expects even more this year.

“Students seem to have really loved it,” Anthony

says. “And alumni have heard about it and want to

participate.” He hopes to start a chapter in New York

City next summer for students interning there.

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IMEN

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Alumni, take note!SUPPORT YOUR REUNION:Ensure a strong class turnout and help advise and support theMcDonough reunion events. Contact us at [email protected] or202-687-4983.

BECOME A CLASS OR REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE:Please contact [email protected] to become a class or regionalrepresentative.

Documents

Georgetown Business Winter 2008