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.

1-58 of 58 listed alphabetically by storyteller's last name

CLASS OF2009

Durdana Achakzai Story VIDEO: RT: 03:22

Story regarding her smooth transition into the flow of HBS through the Pre-MBA Program and her intentions of carrying forth the principles of business ethics and corporate social responsibilities into her role as a business leader. She commends Pre-MBA staff members, Maureen Walker and Joyce Majewski, for their dedication to ensuring the success of the experience and the international faculty for sharing their stories of acclimating themselves to life in the United States. The multiplicity of ideas and opinions expressed during class discussion serve as the basis for truly informed decision making. In her future capacities, she will construct her leadership on the foundational teachings of courses such as Leadership and Corporate Accountability.

 

CLASS OF2002

Joaquin Altenberg Story VIDEO: 5 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 2000s, which was a fun time of international adventures, and then graduating during the market downturn of 2002.

 

CLASS OF2001

Daniella Ballou-Aares Story VIDEO: RT: 08:50

Story regarding how her Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship in Liberia transformed her thinking about her role as a citizen of the world. She worked on a HBS project to obtain medicines for the AIDS epidemic in Malawi. She co-founded a consulting firm to work on humanitarian issues. She speaks about the HBS community's responsibility to lead such efforts and to have a global impact.

 

MBA2010

Courtney Bass Story VIDEO: RT: 07:58

Story regarding how her voyage to HBS was started by her mother and her long-term aim is to devote her HBS education to the service of bettering the lives of others. Her mother, Paula Sneed MBA 1977, always expected she would join the Harvard community, and she attained that goal by graduating from Harvard College in 2003. While pondering the next stage in her life, she determined that she desired to have an impact on the world on a grand scale, and the School's prominence in nurturing leaders was the deciding factor for her. She is gratified by the School's commitment to diversity and celebrating diversity, and she will go out into the world to work to open minds as hers has been at HBS. She believes that her mother and she are one of the first African American mother-daughter couples at HBS. Her mother's accomplishments as a business leader and ethical leader who has achieved "results and goodness at the same time" stand as a profound inspiration for her.

 

CLASS OF2009

Mohit Bathija Story VIDEO: 9 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 2000s, in particular the diversity and humor of Section J, and his recollections of the Middle East Immersion Experience (Middle East: Egypt and Dubai).

 

CLASS OF2007

Annie Bertrand Story VIDEO: RT: 04:18

Story regarding how her trek to India led to her to found with classmates a nonprofit organization, the Indian School Fund. They raised the resources to build a school and they designed a successful educational system that incorporates entrepreneurship into the curriculum.

 

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 OF2008

Ethel Chen Story VIDEO: 5 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s and the friendships and networking that gave her firsthand experience of business people all over the world, enabled her to secure an internship in London, and helped her to make career decisions. She reflects on her feeling that an international perspective gained by personal experience surpasses learning of the world by reading and watching television.

 

CLASS OF1972

Michael S. T. Chen Story VIDEO: 7.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a "global citizen" attending HBS in the 1970s. While studying to become an academic, this son of a diplomat decided to become a businessman; even though, as he notes, a businessman is at the bottom of the social pyramid in the Confucian hierarchy. Today he is the Executive Director of the HBS Asia-Pacific Research Center in China.

 

CLASS OF2009

Adam Chepenik Story VIDEO: 5 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a domestic businessman attending HBS in the 2000s, who develops an international and broad perspective through case study discussions with diverse people, including military veterans. Even participation in incidental sporting events, such as learning the Indian sport Kabaddi from a British classmate, promotes international understanding.

 

CLASS OF1987

Edmundo Costa Story VIDEO: 11 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1980s, especially the discipline of brevity instilled by Professor Pearson that impacts him today as a leader of high technology businesses in the Silicon Valley. He also talks about the value of the international perspective, gained at HBS, when he conducts multi-national business negotiations.

 

CLASS OF1967

Rafique Dawood Story VIDEO: 5.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1960s, a discussion of his delay in arrival because of war in Pakistan, main lessons learned, endurance of friendships made, caliber of teaching, and the welcome and commitment HBS accords its alumni. He recounts with satisfaction the schooling and return to Pakistan of his children, to take part in running the family business.

 

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 OF2008

Brian Frimpong Story VIDEO: 4 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a native of Ghana attending HBS in the 2000s, and as co-president of the ABC (Africa Business Club) that hosts the increasingly popular Africa Business Conference.

 

CLASS OF2009

Luke Fuszard Story VIDEO: RT: 03:50

Story regarding how international scope of HBS infuses the learning process. On his first day, he was impressed by the array of flags representing the countries of the student body. He especially values the unique forum at HBS for students from across the world to exchange ideas. This sharing of perspectives will shape his conception of leadership in a global society.

 

CLASS OF1982

Philippe Goetschel Story VIDEO: 7.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a Swiss legal and economics graduate attending HBS in the 1980s, mainly how the capabilities of the single Atari 800 computer at HBS piqued his interest during a quiet winter break and led to his career in the computer software industry. Story includes a comparison of the European and HBS methods of teaching business, and the characteristics that define an HBS graduate.

 

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 OF1997

Jamal Hussein Story VIDEO: 12 minutes

Story regarding his experience as an international CPA attending HBS in the 1990s, including the preparation HBS gave him for dealing with competition and stress in his work, and how he contributes to the betterment of his homeland, Somalia.

 

MBA2010

Yiwen Jin Story VIDEO: RT: 06:16

Story regarding her transformational self-discovery during her Pre-MBA Program experience. The safe, risk-free, and congenial atmosphere of the program empowered her to bolster her self-confidence and to transition into the cultural milieu of the United States. Overcoming her initial nervousness, her first contribution to classroom discussion was brief but liberating. She is very proud of her election to the position of section international representative. The section flag ceremony was one of the highlights of her section's activities. As a result of the program, she views herself as a completely new person.

 

CLASS OF1997

Allison Johnson Story VIDEO: 12 minutes

Story regarding her experience as an international public policy worker attending HBS in the 1990s; including some student misunderstanding of her humanitarian perspective, the heartening assurance of Professor Moss of the future benefit to her peers of her differing viewpoint, the impact of business training in her work, and the community spirit and global contributions made by HBS Alumni clubs.

 

CLASS OF2008

Constance Jones Story VIDEO: 9 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, including opportunities for international travel, especially a personally meaningful trip to Jerusalem. She discusses organizing a Black History Month presentation for her section, and the personally revelatory method of learning in the Authentic Leadership Development course.

 

MBA2010

Nana Kankam Story VIDEO: RT: 04:10

Story regarding her pride in her capacity as a student at HBS of representing her parents' achievements and ensuring that all students' voices are heard. Her mother and father immigrated from Ghana to the United States, and she sees her being an HBS student as "the fruit of their hard work." In the year when Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, her family's accomplishments show the possibilities of this country. Aiming to attain the highest echelons in the new media field, she will invest all she has learned from her classmates from around the globe about how they use new technologies to achieve that goal. One of her great pleasures at HBS is to observe the diversity of the School and to amplify the ideas and concerns of minority and women students.

 

CLASS OF2005

Monisha Kapila Story VIDEO: RT: 03:03

Story regarding her experiences in the HBS Leadership Fellows program at Accion International in the microfinancing industry in Latin America and on the hindrances to MBAs working in the nonprofit sector. She encourages students to build their careers on their passions and urges the faculty to seek innovative ways of developing students into leaders.

 

STAFF

Ani Kharajian Story VIDEO: 08:01

Story regarding her years managing international Executive Education programs. She recounts the transformational experience of leading the Senior Executive Program for Southern Africa and how she convinced HBS to extend the program so that the participants could come to the School. She describes her professional growth through these programs and their global impact.

 

CLASS OF1982

Naina Lal Kidwai Story VIDEO: 8 minutes

Story regarding her experience as an Indian woman attending HBS in the 1980s, assimilating to American places of business, such as a supermarket. She discusses the benefit of "two years of perpetual competition" on one's ability to "deliver" in business, especially as the one woman in Investment Banking management in India. Having attained this "globally recognized degree" gives her credibility and impresses prospective clients.

 

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 OF1973

Masao Konomi Story VIDEO: RT: 07:16

Story regarding how he was attracted to HBS because of his design to attain English fluency through the verbal tussle of the case method. As part of an exchange program, he led a group students from France on a tour of Japan and he took umbrage at their reaction to his capacity to debate in French. The intensity of case discussions acted as an English immersion process, including a dispute about the viscosity of ketchup. He surmounted the impediments to acclimating himself to a new language and culture and he assures international students that they too can accomplish this.

 

CLASS OF1992

Margaret Langan Story VIDEO: 5.5 minutes

Story regarding her experience at HBS in the early 1990s, from the perspective of the classroom, study groups, and a field study in Belgium.

 

CLASS OF2002

Rodrigo Lara Story VIDEO: 12 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 2000s, from the perspective of an international non-English speaking student who benefited from the Pre-MBA program and the bonds made within his student section.

 

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.

 

STAFF

Pat Light Story VIDEO: 08:32

Story regarding her thirty plus years at MBA Support Services working with students to ensure the best possible HBS experience for them. She narrates a story of helping a student's brother after the tragedy of September 11th. She describes the School's "culture of support" and how Harvard and HBS are "in her blood."

 

CLASS OF1952

Ilmar J. Martens Story VIDEO: 5 minutes

Wife's story regarding the experience of her husband (now deceased) as an Estonian attending HBS in the 1950s, and his co-founding, in 1988, of the Estonian Business School established upon Western business practices.

 

CLASS OF2009

Kristin Meyer Story VIDEO: 4 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, encapsuled in the international perspective she gained from attending the Middle-East Immersion program.

 

CLASS OF2008

Andres Meza Story VIDEO: RT: 11:08

Story regarding how his section jelled as a team when they organized their charity auction. On his student treks, he was moved by the need to balance and combine business and culture. He shows a picture of his younger self to represent how he has changed through his time at HBS.

 

CLASS OF2009

Limor Moshkovich Story VIDEO: 2.5 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, encapsuled in her organization of and participation in the China-Vietnam Immersion program (China and Vietnam: Faces of Revolutionary Change), and her hopes for the impressive elementary school children she met on that trip.

 

CLASS OF1993

Kathleen Murray Story VIDEO: RT: 04:07

Story regarding how she accords a prominent position to her membership in the HBS community among her multiple life affiliations. She devotes a great amount of time and energy to her HBS alumni network and responsibilities, including serving as AMP class secretary and working with various HBS and Harvard organizations. The lifelong intellectual stimulation, learning, and friendships from her Advanced Management Program experience continually reinvigorate her connection to the School. She has even transmitted that commitment to her nephew, whom she persuaded to select HBS from among the business schools to which he was accepted.

 

CLASS OF2009

Bernardo Novick Story VIDEO: RT: 07:26

Story regarding his endorsement of the Pre-MBA Program to prospective students and his recommendation to all students to manage their time wisely and to regard their HBS years as a cornerstone of their lives and not just a career stepping-stone. The Pre-MBA environment was the setting for developing tight bonds that have carried on into the MBA Program and was a productive introduction to the case method. The India Immersion program was a unique platform for learning deeply about a country and its people. With the multitude of options at HBS, he exhorts students to steer their HBS course prudently and efficiently.

 

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 OF2009

Efe Pazarceviren Story VIDEO: RT: 06:48

Story regarding the academic and social benefits he derived from participation in the Pre-MBA Program. As the program dates conflicted with his wedding plans, he at once modified his schedule, and so the program improved his problem-solving skills even before it started. In this risk-free environment, his classmates and he had a platform from which to grasp the fundamentals of the case method and to develop study and classroom discussion strategies. He formed relationships and initiated networks that will persist through his HBS years and beyond. The rapid pace of the Pre-MBA Program simulated the intensity of the MBA Program and honed his time management skills. Through the program, he has already forged his bonds with the HBS community.

 

CLASS OF1982

David Peck Story VIDEO: 7 minutes

Story regarding his experience as an engineer of international employ attending HBS in the 1980s. Dissuaded by an HBS administrator from applying a second time after initial rejection, he was surprised to be accepted, surprised to pass his initial exams, and surprised to realize he was of the caliber of his fellow students. HBS instilled him with confidence and powers of observation that enabled him to further his career "trying to make a difference" overseas; "a very interesting 25 years" experiencing culture, work and war in Saudi Arabia. Never owning a cellular telephone or having a business card sets him apart from his peers.

 

CLASS OF2008

Sridevi Raghavan Story VIDEO: 6 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, regarding her dream to manage day care in India. Her inital insecurity about her business plan was transformed into confidence by the community of HBS that took an active interest in her ideas and encouraged her to enter the HBS business plan contest. She is awed by this powerful spirit emanating on campus. "The only thing that stops me at HBS is how much I believe in myself and my ideas."

 

CLASS OF2009

Thomas Rajan Story VIDEO: 4 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 2000s. The weighty sense of history and responsibility that accompanies an HBS education inspires one to accomplish great things that change the world.

 

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 OF1995

Albert Rodriguez Story VIDEO: RT: 06:01

Story regarding how his section played a prank on a new professor. He encourages students to demand deeper community involvement and social responsibility from firms and recommends that HBS broaden its international and global outreach.

 

CLASS OF2009

Esther Rodriguez-Fernandez Story VIDEO: RT: 04:13

Story regarding how the Pre-MBA Program provided her with an invaluable head start before being immersed in the HBS experience. At her MBA interview, she met a number of fellow Spaniards who wholeheartedly endorsed the program as an avenue to creating her first HBS family. She availed herself of the profusion of services to prepare herself academically and to arrange the everyday details of residence in a new country. Faculty members explicated the mechanics and nuances of the case method in classroom scenarios without the stress of close observation of her performance, and this introduction has been priceless to her. Her classmates and she have coalesced into a supportive group on which they can rely throughout their MBA years.

 

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.

 

MBA2010

Gordon Ross Story VIDEO: RT: 05:22

Story regarding his skepticism about the concept of HBS as a transformational experience and his rapid realization that just the first stage of the program had already substantially changed him. He was very happy to be accepted to the School but he had early doubts concerning the likelihood that he would become a different person at HBS. Now he believes that it is not a question of "whether I've changed but how haven't I changed." He ascribes this process to the amazing array of academic, social, and professional opportunities at the School. During "thunderbolt moments," he is struck with the degree of impact on him, such as the twenty-four hours from watching the presidential election to discussing with Jack Welch in class a case in which he is the protagonist. To anyone pondering applying to HBS, he urges them to go forward.

 

CLASS OF1982

Lisa Rubin Story VIDEO: 3 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 1980s, including her reflection upon business ethics and humanity as encapsulated in an evening at the Pub. She recounts a story regarding a television news report broadcast when she was at school that Anwar Sadat had been shot, and how another student reacts to her gloomy response.

 

CLASS OF2008

Andrew Saunders Story VIDEO: 7.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 2000s, as an international citizen born in the United Kingdom, raised in Australia and schooled in Japan in Japanese. He characterizes HBS as "a celebration of diversity" and "a school of doers." To him, inspiration abounds here, from student and professor relationships to cultural events on campus. Accumulated personal experience--gained from role playing in Professor Kaplan's classroom and a student-organized trip to Israel--is an invaluable part of his education.

 

CLASS OF2009

Lena Sene Story VIDEO: 10.5 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, the realization of a childhood dream. HBS has exceeded her expectations in terms of her fellow students, the caliber of the faculty, and the "richness" of the case study method.

 

CLASS OF2008

Emmanuel Simon Story VIDEO: 12.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a former aerospace engineer attending HBS in the 2000s, from his path to applying to HBS, to deferred acceptance with conditions. He recalls a case study discussion where the teacher abdicated leadership to a student, and his long struggle to the perfect summer internship.

 

CLASS OF1982

James Sinclair Story VIDEO: 5 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1980s, after working on farms in Latin America. He discusses how being "put in a pressure cooker" is excellent preparation for working in business. He notes that the case study method defines the common ground he has with all HBS graduates: developing a way of thinking; and the emergence of Brazil as a business economy, which is reflected in the establishment of an HBS alumni club in Brazil, and in the number of case studies which emanate from there today.

 

CLASS OF1997

Caty Szyman Story VIDEO: 5.5 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 1990s, from the perspective of being the first person in her family to attend Harvard and as a Midwesterner ("a girl from Minnesota") who gained an international perspective and experience.

 

CLASS OF2007

David Tudehope Story VIDEO: RT: 05:49

Story regarding how he reached the half-time break in his career and the Advanced Management Program served as a spring training for recharging his entrepreneurial skill set. The broad range of cases exposed him to the issues and perspectives of other business sectors, nations, and regions and thus has enabled him to study his own field and country from a new angle. With a group of students from around the globe, he assembled a rowing team that defeated the Kennedy School of Government but more importantly renewed his fondness for teamwork and collaboration. In terms of the AMP mission, he exhorts the School to continue to innovate and to evolve as the world changes.

 

MBA2010

Sofia Valdivia Story VIDEO: RT: 06:12

Story regarding her sharing academic and cultural learning and idealistic goals with her classmates. Originally from Peru, she earned an engineering degree at Stanford University and worked in supply chain operations until she determined that she needed a "broader perspective" and applied to HBS. Expanding on the joy of cultural exchange at the School, she is organizing a student trek to Peru with a classmate. At first she was skeptical about the effectiveness of the case method. Having observed the faculty's preparation of case materials and engaged in case discussions, she admires the invaluable interplay of multiple viewpoints and the mutual learning of the case method. She intends to employ her HBS education in the service of improving the lives and opportunities of the people of Latin America.

 

CLASS OF1992

Marc Zablatsky Story VIDEO: 5 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a local lower middle-class student attending HBS in the 1990s. Topics include the decision to reapply after initial disappointment, the reaction of friends and relatives to his acceptance to HBS, the transformation of his perspective and career from local to international, and his identity as the "wildcard" of his student section.