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.

1-32 of 32 listed alphabetically by storyteller's last name

CLASS OF1977

Lloyd Baroody Story VIDEO: 6 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a young graduate attending HBS in the 1970s, which he refers to as "my Vietnam." He notes that the "scary" first year started with the dean's welcome of the students; by the second year he had gained self-confidence that has seen him through 30 years as a businessman and entrepreneur. He discusses the derailment of a case study discussion during class, which later turned into a new case study. He also touches upon the sale of his business, early retirement and his current philanthropic work.

 

CLASS OF1978

Adele Bozza Story VIDEO: RT: 05:48

Story regarding how she honors the memory of deceased classmates and celebrates the life of her husband, Joseph Grasser, MBA 1976. Her section truly consolidated its unity following a party before the last day of class when no one expected Prof. David Reibstein to present any cases. However, when he called on her, she had to pass as she was unprepared as was most of the class. Her classmates as a group supported her by revealing to the professor why they had not studied the case. To commemorate the achievements of her husband, whose dream was to create his own company, she has endowed the Joe Grasser Entrepreneurial Leadership Fund to empower and encourage new graduates to pursue their dreams and to follow their passions.

 

CLASS OF2008

Privahini Bradoo Story VIDEO: 5.5 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, especially organizing and traveling on the India Immersion Experience, and learning that a business leader can change the world for the better.

 

CLASS OF1973

Geraldine Brown Story VIDEO: RT: 08:45

Story regarding how she prevailed over her reluctance to contribute her ideas in class and has continuously applied the principles of her HBS education in her many roles in the world. When she began the MBA Program, there were not many African American students or women students. When Prof. Wickham Skinner returned a paper with the comment that her analysis represents the caliber of ideas he wanted to hear in class discussion, she immersed herself totally in the case method and advanced greatly thereby. She has capitalized on the concepts from her Human Behavior and Organizations course throughout her career as a lawyer and consultant. The School's presentation of business history has furnished her with many points for innovative entrepreneurial departures and the School's preparation for change has inspired her to seek out leadership responsibilities.

 

CLASS OF1993

Michele Browne Story VIDEO: RT: 05:31

Story regarding the competition to pick the perfect seat in class and the self-confidence she attained from the HBS experience. Eager to arrive at class early on the first day of the program, she was surprised to see she was the second to last person there. She recounts additional anecdotes about the lengths to which other students strove to secure the optimal position in the classroom. Her HBS credentials provided her with the self-assurance to take a break from her career to start a family and then to develop her own entrepreneurial ventures.

 

CLASS OF2008

She-Rae Chen Story VIDEO: RT: 09:08

Story regarding how her experience at HBS has been one of experimentation and exploration. She pushed herself to take classes with no immediate appeal for her. With the idea of starting her own company, she participated in the Business Plan Competition. Through activities such as the student show, she has formed close friendships, one of her lifelong "take-aways" from HBS.

 

CLASS OF1952

Cliff Crosby Story VIDEO: 8 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1950s, where he enjoyed football and benefitted from the case study method. He also talks about his varied career where he turned failure into opportunity.

 

MBA2010

Yinan Du Story VIDEO: RT: 07:08

Story regarding his first impressions of HBS through the Harvard University reputation, his adjustment to and total engagement with the case method, and his entrepreneurial pursuits. Growing up China, he became acquainted with the Harvard name and observed the respect accorded to those who attend the University. The transition from the lecture style of instruction to the case method was challenging until he fully understood the model of students learning from each other with the professor as guide and leader. He finds the additional types of teaching modes at HBS to be complementary to the case method, such as the Best Reflected Self exercise in his Leadership and Organizational Behavior course. His original goal of coming to HBS was to develop his entrepreneurial acumen and so he has availed himself of the School's numerous resources, the faculty's guidance, and his classmates' knowledge and expertise.

 

CLASS OF1992

John Dyment Story VIDEO: 9 minutes

Story regarding his international experience attending HBS in the 1990s, pursuing a summer job in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall, forming a small company with fellow students to privatize regional telephone services in Hungary, and the complexities of running a business from a dorm room.

 

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 OF1997

Jennifer Scott Fonstad Story VIDEO: 6 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 1990s, as a member of the committee that launched the Business Plan competition.

 

CLASS OF1972

Bob Fulton Story VIDEO: 7.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1970s, a former foreign service employee with a family, paying his own tuition, trying to scramble up a local summer job. He falls into a scheme to buy and resell student furniture, which shows him the contentments of and prepares him for entrepreneurship.

 

CLASS OF1962

Robert Gordon Story VIDEO: 15.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1960s, in terms of having no work experience whatsoever, trying to decide between a career in business or academia, and Army obligations of young men then. A classmate started CVS; he gives an overview of his employment there in its early days. He describes changes in the business climate in Ukraine from the 1990s to today, from the perspective of an entrepreneur.

 

STAFF

Susan Hamilton Story VIDEO: 12.5 minutes

Story regarding her experience working in the development department of HBS since 1992. She elaborates on her first business trip, the international travels of a "road warrior", getting to know alumni, and the solidarity of HBS staff.

 

CLASS OF1947

R. Miller "Buck" Hicks Story VIDEO: beginning 11 minutes, second half 8.5 minutes, total time 19.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS during World War II, the popularity of Professor De Haas such that a guard was posted at his classroom door, his varied career as an entrepreneur, and how business competition has expanded from domestic to international, creating an interdependence between countries that may prevent a future world war.

 

CLASS OF2008

Warren Hogarth Story VIDEO: RT: 00:00

Story regarding his capitalizing on his HBS education to combine his lifelong academic and career goals of effecting change in the energy industry through the invention and introduction of clean technologies. With the dream of developing a new fuel cell, his PhD program took him to Princeton University, where he won a business plan competition. This event led him to think more deeply about the role of business in technological innovation and decided to apply to HBS to expand his ability to make a difference in the green energy transformation and plans to do so through infusing venture capital in clean energy resources.

 

CLASS OF1992

Myron Howie Story VIDEO: 3 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1990s, in terms of a classroom experience where he learned that "Harvard Business School means business", and how that lesson impacts his effectiveness as an entrepreneur.

 

CLASS OF2009

Shelly Kanhai-Trench Story VIDEO: RT: 06:36

Story regarding her family's focus on the power of education and her goal of applying her HBS education to making the world a better place. Her father's achievements with a technical school education inspired her to strive for the highest levels through her school and college years. After working in the petroleum industry, her husband, David Trench, MBA 2009, and she decided their long-term vision is to make a difference in the world and to do so through the skills and principles of the MBA Program. HBS has introduced her to many options for implementing her strategy. Being exposed to new cultural experiences, she has developed in a deeply personal way through her friendship with a gay classmate. She hopes to return to Trinidad and Tobago and to exert a large-scale impact on the life of her country and to bring about change in her nation's society.

 

CLASS OF2009

Netta Kivilis Story VIDEO: 9 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, a discussion of Career Treks organized by students, and the impressive helpfulness and responsiveness of HBS alumni (some, very powerful and busy people) to participate in treks and give career advice. She and other students from Israel were inspired to organize a trek there.

 

CLASS OF2008

Joanne Leung Story VIDEO: 3 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, testing and strengthening her business plan for philanthropy advisory services. HBS provides students with resources and support for self-discovery and pursuing one's interests.

 

CLASS OF2008

Johnita Mizelle Story VIDEO: 6 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, encompassing leadership opportunities (serving as chair of the Financial Club Conference, and CFO of the Entrepreneurship Club) and what she learned from teaching and mentoring Harvard College sophomores with Wall Street aspirations. Being the first person in her family to attend Harvard is a meaningful achievement.

 

CLASS OF1957

David Morehead Story VIDEO: 9 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1950s, including how an Army friend (later classmate) persuaded him to apply, enrichment of his retail background that enabled him to work in manufacturing and to become an entrepreneur, and how a working wife financially supported this "Doriot disciple" through graduate school.

 

CLASS OF1968

Gerry Nathe Story VIDEO: RT: 05:55

Story regarding how he, having grown up in a small community in Montana, was introduced to a diverse and international environment at HBS which inspired him to embark on a global career in manufacturing. Prof. Malcolm Salter's class opened up a world of possibilities that he had never even imagined. He voices concern about the School's shift toward an emphasis on finance and consulting. Together with the strong moral values with which his family raised him and HBS teachings, he has always accentuated ethical business conduct, stressed the well-being of his staff, and prioritized giving back to his community and family.

 

CLASS OF2009

Marc Oman Story VIDEO: RT: 09:30

Story regarding his reaction to the contrasts in educational methods from his upbringing in France and his confidence in the strength of his connections to the School. Although he harbored concerns about the efficacy of the case method, his direct participation terminated any doubts and he discusses one of his favorite cases. He illustrates the entrepreneurial spirit of the students and the School. One highlight of his first year was assisting with the planning of the European Immersion trip. He details the differences between the first and second years of the MBA Program. Perusing his grandfather's student records reinforced his sense of membership in the HBS community which he is certain will remain vibrant throughout his life.

 

CLASS OF2002

Cinzia Rascazzo Story VIDEO: 8 minutes

Story regarding her experience at HBS as an international student from Italy and her decision to be an entrepreneur in her community.

 

CLASS OF1982

Stan Roach Story VIDEO: 9 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1980s. He notes that the experience gave him opportunity to consider a career change, and the confidence and breadth of exposure to enable him to become a "serial entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley." Buying an Apple II Plus personal computer from a classmate was the impetus for this career; attending HBS was the "incubator" that cultivated him for success in it.

 

CLASS OF2008

Carlos Roman Story VIDEO: 3.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 2000s, where he reflects on the power of business to transform lives and raise the standard of living in developing countries. He talks about the effectiveness of the case study method in teaching entrepreneurs to wield such power in a responsible manner.

 

CLASS OF1983

Alexandre Samii Story VIDEO: RT: 09:03

Story regarding how he came to HBS in order to bridge his field of civil engineering and business and to prepare for a renaissance life combining the arts and sciences as a path to creating innovative knowledge. He recalls the shock of being introduced to the case method in Prof. John Quelch's Marketing class and his bumpy yet rewarding road from the scientific mode to the HBS model of learning. Attributing his personal achievements to the "broadness of spirit" of HBS, he sketches the broad strokes of his career from McKinsey and Company through his teaching at the University of Louvain and honors from the Belgian government. His encouragement to everyone striving to achieve their personal goals is never to give up.

 

MBA2010

Wilfred Segovia Story VIDEO: RT: 08:13

Story regarding his resolution to come to HBS following a campus visit and his itemization of the School's facilitation of his goals to make a difference on his return to Asia. While he was definite about obtaining a business education, he was doubtful of his potential academic success at HBS because of the case method. His friend, Karen Ong MBA 2008, urged him to see the School for himself, and when he witnessed the debate over a case, he gravitated to that quintessential nature of the HBS educational process, and through his meetings with students and faculty members, he felt an affinity with the School's sense of community and shared sense of commitment to tackling today's major issues and questions. The inspirational examples and encouragement of his classmates and professors will galvanize him into actualizing his entrepreneurial dreams.

 

CLASS OF1947

Charles Edward Sigety Story VIDEO: 18 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a V-12er attending HBS during World War II (through the V-12 Navy College Training Program). He elaborates on Naval operations during that time, and discusses his varied career as an entrepreneur.

 

CLASS OF1998

Tony Tjan Story VIDEO: RT: 03:54

Story regarding how HBS created a risk-free platform for him to pursue his passion for entrepreneurship. In his first year, he started an Internet company, Zefer, with two classmates, Matthew Burkley and Alexandre Scherer, with the encouragement of several professors, who remain his mentors till today. Despite the vagaries of the business cycle, his courage to search for and grow fresh innovations has persisted through the pleasure of collaboration with close associates.

 

CLASS OF1958

Howard Wenzel Story VIDEO: RT: 05:14

Story regarding his lifelong dedication to the issue of the North-South economic imbalance. Through Professor Ray Miller's connections, he attended a government meeting on international aid at which he met Bill Graham of Private Enterprises Overseas who offered him his first job after HBS. This position launched his fifty-year career in starting enterprises in Latin America. He recalls a memorable saying by film producer Mike Todd from Prof. Georges Doriot's class.