Leaders Bring Real-World Lessons to the Classroom

San Francisco Giants President Larry Baer, Blue Shield of California CEO Bruce Bodaken, and Infosys Consulting CEO Stephen Pratt are among the top executives sharing front-line wisdom as guest speakers in Haas classrooms this fall.

Blue Shield’s Bodaken will address students in Healthcare in the 21st Century, taught by Kristiana Raube, executive director of the Graduate Program in Health Management. Infosys' Pratt will address Lecturer Wasim Azhar’s International Marketing course and also speak to the entire Haas community on Oct. 20 as part of the Dean's Speaker Series. NBC Bay Area News Anchor and Haas School Lecturer Diane Dwyer will bring the Giants’ Baer and Pet Food Express CEO Michael Levy to speak in her undergraduate course on Why Media Matters to the Bottom Line.

Tech Speakers

From the tech sector, Judy Estrin, CEO of JLabs and former CTO of Cisco Systems, will speak in Topics on Open Innovation, taught by Henry Chesbrough, executive director of the Center for Open Innovation. The guest lecturers that will visit Jennifer Walske's undergrad course Perspectives on Entrepreneurship include former Adobe Systems Chairman Bruce Chizen and Katherine Hays, CEO of GenArts, a provider of visual effects software that has been used in the Spider-Man and Matrix movies.

Several guests from tech firms also will speak in Azhar’s course on Internet Marketing and E-commerce, including Haas Professor Hal Varian, on leave to serve as chief economist with Google; Sue Bostrom, chief marketing officer for Cisco Systems; and Patrick Crane, VP of marketing for LinkedIn.

In the Management of Technology (MOT) Program, the students in the Managing the New Product Development Process course taught by Sara Beckman, co-faculty director of MOT, will hear from design professionals including Michael Barry, principal of PointForward, and Lionel Mohri, a consultant at IDEO. IDEO Chief Marketing Officer Whitney Mortimer will speak in Lecturer Randy Haykin’s course on Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship, which also will include visits by Electronic Arts Founder Trip Hawkins and NetFlix Founder Patty McCord.

Marketing Speakers

In the marketing arena, management consultant Rohit Dube of Bain & Company and Marc Singer, BS 96, director with McKinsey & Company will speak in Professor Miguel Villas Boas’ Marketing Strategy course. Lecturer Lynn Upshaw’s Strategic Brand Management course will feature Debbie Cantu, vice president of brand management and advertising for Kaiser Permanente, and Lisa Hammann, director of managed care marketing for Genentech.

Entrepreneurs

Students will hear from successful Berkeley MBA alumni entrepreneurs such as Pete Vlastelica, MBA 06, CEO of the sports site Yardbarker.com and Matt Caspari, MBA 07, co-founder and vice president of business development for Aurora Biofuels, who will be speaking in Lecturer David Charron’s Business Model Innovation and Entrepreneurial Strategy course.

Numerous venture capitalists also are coming to campus to share insights with undergraduates and MBA students on funding entrepreneurial ventures, including partners from Sequoia Capital, Claremont Creek Ventures, Palo Alto Investors, and Hummer Winblad.

Nonprofit Speakers

From the nonprofit arena, Melinda Tuan, consultant to the Gates Foundation, and Elizabeth Sturcken, managing director of corporate partnerships for the Environmental Defense Fund, will address students in Strategic Management of Nonprofit Organizations, co-taught by Nora Silver, director of the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, and Visiting Assistant Professor Jane Wei-Skillern.

Students interested in visiting a class to hear a guest speaker should contact the professor teaching the course.

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