HBS Leaders on HBS | Alumni on Leadership | Community Memories

Community Memories

A collection of poignant, humorous stories and reminiscences on the HBS experience from our community members, including alumni, staff, and MBA students.

1-17 of 17 listed alphabetically by storyteller's last name

STAFF

Sharon Black Story VIDEO: 7 minutes

Story regarding her experience working in the Campus Planning department at HBS for 20 years, making note of the caliber of staff, the schedule for revising the campus plan, and the impact this residential campus has on the student experience.

 

MBA2010

Oliver Bladek Story VIDEO: RT: 08:58

Story regarding his initial attraction to the "HBS mystique" and how he has managed to deal with the demands and joys of the MBA Program. After a former professor and HBS graduate recommended the program to him, he decided he was not ready yet and worked as a consultant in Toronto. The application process enabled him to reflect on his long-term career goals. For him the people of HBS are the core of the School. The faculty act as facilitators and expect the students to discover the answers together. The ninety members of his section are also his teachers and co-pilots on this intense yet also delightful adventure and will be his partners in life's journey.

 

CLASS OF1972

Terry Bloomsburgh Story VIDEO: 11 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 1970s, when women on campus were few but the population was diverse. These independent women did not often "coalesce." She discusses a case study based upon her government employment, her years as a stay-at-home mother, and her return to work at a time when most of her classmates are retiring.

 

CLASS OF1983

Steve Brownell Story VIDEO: RT: 07:03

Story regarding how his HBS experience melded the intellectual stimulation with the enjoyment of student activities into the enduring benefits of superior business skills and a life companion. The demanding intensity of the case method and the rich interchange of perspectives among students and faculty furnished a problem-solving model which he implements in his own firm. He admires the faculty's display of a lively sense of humor and cites one example related to the case of a mystery student. His most important take-away from HBS is his wife and business partner, Jana Kirlin Brownell, MBA 1983.

 

CLASS OF1977

Jody Dyer Story VIDEO: 2.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience as the first person to attend HBS in a wheelchair, in 1975, in terms of his few special accommodations, and taking a shower.

 

CLASS OF1957

Bob Fetter Story VIDEO: beginning 6 minutes, second half 13 minutes, total time 19 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1950s, including the "black period" that all HBS students endure. He discusses how attending the new Creative Marketing Strategy course impacted his life in terms of understanding the psychology of group effort and discovering a way to make a career in the railroad industry. He discusses the "ministry of encouragement" that section mates provide each other throughout a lifetime.

 

CLASS OF1998

Randy Fine Story VIDEO: RT: 04:15

Story regarding his proceeding directly from Harvard College to HBS and the entirely new world he found across the Charles River. His classmates challenged him as a young student with little business training, but this spurred him to catch up. He found the case method better suited to his learning style than the paper writing and textbook approach. His HBS education has opened up entrepreneurial opportunities for him and he is grateful to HBS for taking a chance on a young person from Kentucky.

 

CLASS OF1942

John W. Fisher Story VIDEO: 8.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience at HBS during World War II, his impressions of the modern campus, and his business directives to improve the declining status of the United States as a world power.

 

STAFF

Jane Gibson Story

Story regarding her tenure at HBS as a staff member in the Typing-Secretarial Pool and as a secretary in the Accounting Department during the 1940s. After graduating from Boston University, she joined the HBS staff in 1942 and then became the secretary for Prof. Windsor Hosmer and Prof. Arthur Hanson of the Accounting Department. Her assignments included typing drafts of cases and proofreading them. During World War Two, Army and Navy officers received basic accounting training at the School, and she and her colleagues watched the soldiers marching to and from Soldier's Field. During lunch breaks, she learned to play bridge in the staff recreation room in Morgan Hall. In 1947, she married and moved to Rhode Island.

 

CLASS OF1987

Mitch C. Hill Story VIDEO: 8 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1980s, in terms of the bonds he made in Section F ("F Troup"). He discusses the diversity of the section, the importance of integrity of business leaders, and the necessity for today's business students to prepare for multiple careers.

 

STAFF

Frederick Hughes Story VIDEO: 8 minutes

Story regarding his experience working in the Operational Support Services department since 1965; a history of the evolution of that department and of the HBS campus.

 

CLASS OF1998

John Bo Kemp Story VIDEO: RT: 05:47

Story regarding how he fulfilled his father's wish that he follow him at HBS. Before passing away, John Kemp, MBA 1981, expressed his desire that his son also attend the School. As a member of the student senate, he co-coordinated Class Day 1998, at which Dick Spangler announced his gift of a new center at HBS. At reunions, he delights in reconnecting with faculty members, such as Prof. Joshua Lerner, and to reflect on the past decade.

 

CLASS OF1947

Donald B. Korb Story VIDEO: 6.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a V-12er attending HBS during World War II (the Navy Supply Corps school). He also talks about how his two years of graduate school were divided by service on a Navy tanker in Okinawa.

 

STAFF

Erika McCaffrey Story VIDEO: 4 minutes

Story regarding her experience working at the Baker Library, featuring nesting pigeons, a rug heist, and an inventive attempt to evade photocopying fees.

 

STAFF

Marty O'Sullivan Story VIDEO: 4 minutes

Story regarding his experience working in the Operations department at HBS for 20 years, and his path there through landscaping. He makes note of the community spirit of HBS, and professorial paperwork.

 

CLASS OF1957

Bill Riley Story VIDEO: 9 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1950s, including the rush to get papers in on time for WAC (Written Analysis of Cases), and the founding, in California, of the Harvard Business School Bachelors for postgraduate professional development and society.

 

STAFF

Rachel Vargas Story VIDEO: 03:40

Story regarding her starting work at HBS in the Finance Unit. She recounts how a co-worker, who was out sick and had not yet met her, called to sing her 'Happy Birthday.' She was made to feel very welcome, and she extends the same warmth to new staff members. A friend introduced her to Shad Gymnasium, and she takes full advantage of its facilities.