2003 Headlines
Johnson School Alumna Takes Helm of Kraft Foods
On June 26, 2006, the board of directors of Kraft Foods, Inc., announced the appointment of Irene B. Rosenfeld as chief executive officer. Rosenfeld holds a Ph.D. in marketing and statistics from the Johnson School, as well as an MS and BS from Cornell University. She comes to Kraft Foods, the world's second-largest food and beverage company, following a two-year stint as chairman and CEO of Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo. Prior to heading Frito-Lay, Rosenfeld spent 20 years with Kraft and General Foods. During her prior years at Kraft, Rosenfeld led the integration of the $19 billion Nabisco acquisition, along with the restructuring and turnaround of several key businesses. She has been a regular speaker at the Johnson School, in support of the student-run Hispanic-American Business Leaders Association, and the Park Fellows program.
Professor Stu Hart on Earth & Sky
In early June, Stuart Hart, the Samuel C. Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise at the Johnson School, was interviewed on the national syndicated radio program Earth & Sky. In his interview with hosts Deborah Byrd and Joel Block, Hart described how technology involving light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and small solar panels can bring nighttime lighting to some of the billions on earth, who currently use only candles, kerosene lanterns, or dry-cell batteries for light. "So you combine [LEDs and solar panels] with some wiring, some switches and controls and a little battery, you can essentially go to market with a rural lighting system," Hart says.
Read or hear the Earth & Sky program featuring Hart or read a more in-depth interview with Professor Hart on the Earth & Sky site.
Professor Robert Frank Scores Monthly Column in Times
The Johnson School's Robert H. Frank, Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management, and Professor of Economics, writes monthly for the New York Times' "Economic Scene" column. His latest column, "Right for the Wrong Reasons: Why Galbraith Never Got the Prize," appeared May 11, 2006, in the paper's Business section and on its web site. Frank writes about the thinking of the late John Kenneth Galbraith, who died in April, and postulates as to why the widely read economist never received the Nobel Prize. Galbraith wrote The Affluent Society in 1958, the groundbreaking commentary on the American society's obsession with consumer luxuries. Professor Frank has pursued similar lines in his research, which he writes about in his 1998 book Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails to Satisfy in an Era of Excess.
Frank's previous "Economic Scene" column have covered the economic realities of polygamy and terminating life support for indigent patients.
Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital in the Spotlight
Johnson School students, faculty, and guests, are among the distinguished idea leaders participating in Entrepreneurship@Cornell 2006 Celebration, a two-day event that highlights the growing role that entrepreneurship plays in the life of Cornell University. Events include finalist judging of BR Venture's Business Idea Competition, keynote address by Helen Johnson-Leipold, chairman and CEO of Johnson Outdoors, Inc., and the Capitalizing on Innovation forum, sponsored by the Johnson School's Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital and Net Impact student clubs. The Johnson School's Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise presents its annual Career Forum, as well as a panel on careers in sustainable enterprise.
Johnson School Wins CMU Case Competition
A team from the Johnson School won the 14th annual Corporate Finance Case Competition held at Carnegie Mellon University this weekend. The team featured MBA students Archil Gachechiladze, Justin Charise, Kiran Prasad, Ralph Leung, and Sendur Sellakumar. This is the first time Cornell has won this case competition.
Teams from top MBA schools participated in this event, including Northwestern's Kellogg, NYU/Stern, and Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School. Each was asked to recommend a financing strategy for an aluminum production project in the Middle East. They had six hours to solve the case, and then present their solution to a panel of judges. Teams were evaluated according to their quality of analysis, professionalism of presentation, and responsiveness to judges' questions and comments.
The judging panel consisted of four representatives from academia and industry, including Johnson School assistant professor of finance Yaniv Grinstein.
