Category: Alumni News

A selection of news highlights about alumni of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business

Leffler Named Among 30 Most Important Women in Tech Under 30

| by Laura Counts
Libby Leffler

Libby Leffler, BS 06, a strategic partner manager at Facebook, was recognized this year by the online publication Business Insider as one of 30 most important women under 30 in technology.

After joining Facebook in 2008, Leffler served as chief of staff to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg for three years. Today, she leads Facebook’s partnerships with public figures, nonprofits, and media organizations. Prior to Facebook, Leffler worked at Google as a strategist in the online sales and operations group.

Leffler was named to the same Business Insider list in 2013, the year she also received the UC Berkeley Foundation’s Young Bear award, presented to an individual who demonstrates outstanding achievement in fundraising or community outreach.

Read a profile of Leffler in CalBusiness magazine.

Stephanie Fujii Named New Assistant Dean, Full-Time MBA Program and Admissions

| by Haas News
Stephanie Fujii

Stephanie Fujii, MBA ’04, has been named the first assistant dean of the Full-time MBA Program and Admissions, a newly created position at Haas.

Fujii was appointed by Haas Dean Rich Lyons, effective Aug. 1, 2014.

An alumna and nine-year veteran at Haas, Fujii served most recently as executive director of Full-time MBA Admissions. In her new role, she will oversee both the full-time MBA admissions and the full-time MBA program office.

Fujii has held a number of roles at Haas over the past decade. As executive director of admissions for the Full-time MBA program, she led her team in integrating the school’s Defining Principles into the admissions process. She also helped streamline the admissions process, moving to an online evaluation system, and consolidating application rounds from four to three.

“Under Stephanie’s leadership, Haas has maintained one of the highest selectivity rates among top MBA programs while continuing to bring in a richly diverse class,” said Jay Stowsky, senior assistant dean for instruction.

Fujii and her team have strengthened the diversity of the applicant pool, significantly increasing applications from international candidates, women, underrepresented U.S. minorities, and military candidates in particular.

Prior to her promotion to executive director of admissions for the Full-time MBA Program, Fujii served as senior associate director and associate director of admissions.

Before returning to Haas to continue her career, she served as the executive director of Kokoro Assisted Living, a 54-unit assisted living community in San Francisco.
She has remained on the board of Kokoro, and has chaired its Nominating Committee since 2013.

As part of the new Full-time MBA Program and Admissions department structure, Erin Kellerhals will become the executive director of Full-time MBA admissions and Dan Sullivan will be the director of the Full-time MBA Program Office.

Contact Stephanie Fujii at [email protected]. (510) 642-1405.

Keeping Haas ‘Haasome’ Spurs MBA Giving

| by Haas News

Graduating Full-Time and Evening & Weekend Berkeley MBA students raised some $43,000 as part of the 2014 graduating gift campaigns.

Michael Larcher and Ryan Schultheis, both MBA 14, led the full-time MBA campaign and focused their messaging on keeping Haas “Haasome.” They used a cohort competition, social activities, and multiple videos to encourage classmates to donate so that other students can have the same life-changing experience at Haas that they had. In this 26th year of the campaign, the full-time MBA graduating class achieved 90 percent participation and raised more than $31,000.

In the Evening & Weekend Berkeley MBA Program, 24 percent of the graduating class raised almost $12,000 for their gift campaign, which was led by Katie McMahon and Jathurshun Sivaloganathan, both MBA 14. The campaign featured a lively cohort competition and focused on the importance of supporting Haas.

The totals raised by Full-Time and Evening & Weekend MBA students include a 1:1 matching gift from UC Berkeley.

Read an earlier story on the undergraduate Feed the Bear Campaign.

Social Entrepreneur Priya Haji, MBA 03, Passes Away

| by Amy Marcott
Priya Haji

Haas alumna Priya Haji, MBA 03, the co-founder of Free at Last, World of Good, and SaveUp, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, July 14. She was 44.

Born in Detroit, Haji earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and pre-med at Stanford. After earning her MBA at Berkeley-Haas, she pursued her vision of improving economic opportunity and equality by co-founding three companies.

Free at Last is a national model program for substance abuse treatment and HIV/AIDS intervention in the African American and Latino communities. Under Haji’s leadership, the company served 3,000 people per year in East Palo Alto and raised more than $20M in special investments.

World of Good, a retail marketplace and wholesaler of sustainable and fair trade products, improved the lives of thousands of women artisans in 55 countries. It was acquired by eBay in 2010.

SaveUp, where Haji was serving as CEO at the time of her death, is the nation’s first rewards game for saving money and reducing debt.

Haji fully embodied the Haas School’s Defining Principles, especially Beyond Yourself as she was a consistent contributor to the Haas community. Haji shared her wisdom and insight at various events, most recently by delivering a keynote address at the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) in April 2014. Haji won the GSVC competition in 2005 with her startup World of Good. She also inspired students and served as a mentor for the Young Entrepreneurs at Haas (YEAH) program.

“Like many other Berkeley MBAs in the past decade, I was so inspired by Priya’s vision and leadership,” says Ellen Martin, MBA 07, who met Haji when she served as her Berkeley Board Fellow for World of Good. “She really pushed us all to approach entrepreneurship—not just social entrepreneurship—in an entirely different way. We owe her a huge debt of gratitude for that.”

Haji’s honors include being named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum; a Social Innovation Leadership Award by the World CSR Congress, a non-profit organization whose annual conference celebrates corporate social responsibility; and inclusion in GOOD magazine’s GOOD 100, a list of people driving change in their communities in creative and inspiring ways.

“Priya was such a vibrant force in life—undaunted by challenges, willing to give voice and energy to her ideals and vision,” says Haas Lecturer John Danner, who taught Haji in his “Workshop for Startups” class where she co-developed World of Good. “What a profound loss first to her family but to all of us as well who were touched by her example.”

Haji is survived by two young children: a two-and-a-half-year-old son, Zen, and an 11-month-old daughter, Omi; her parents, Karim and Asha Haji; and a sister, Amina.

A celebration of her life will be held at Haas in the coming weeks. Details will be published as they become available. Friends are encouraged to share memories on a Facebook memorial page: https://www.facebook.com/priyahajimemorial.

The Priya Haji Memorial Fund has been established to honor her inspiring life and will support an MBA student focused on entrepreneurship and social innovation. Donate at http://givetocal.berkeley.edu/fund/?f=FM8347000.

Julia Min Hwang Takes Helm of MBA Career Group

| by Pamela Tom

After leading the Full-time Berkeley MBA Program for a decade, Julia Min Hwang has taken the helm of the Haas School’s Career Management Group.

Hwang became executive director of career management services and corporate engagement on June 2, a role that serves all students and alumni in the Full-time Berkeley MBA, Evening & Weekend MBA, and Berkeley MBA for Executives programs. Hwang also will be responsible for overseeing corporate engagement for the Haas School. This includes stewarding and cultivating strategic, multi-faceted partnerships with employers to increase opportunities for student careers, speaking engagements, and experiential learning projects.

“I am thrilled to be joining this amazing team and working with our entire MBA student population and alumni,” says Hwang. “I also look forward to working with our internal and external partners to enhance our corporate engagement.”

Under Hwang’s leadership, the Full-Time Berkeley MBA Program has consistently improved and innovated student experiences — both in academics and student activities. Hwang co-led the Berkeley Innovative Leader Development (BILD) initiative, which created a structure for the school’s strategy to develop innovate leaders. She closely collaborated with the faculty to better integrate core classes and to provide an array of courses to meet student demand and interest. She also provided support and guidance to students for such activities as conferences, competitions, and club life.

In addition to her responsibilities in the Full-time MBA Program, Hwang has served on various school-wide committees such as the Senior Leadership Team, Leading Through Innovation Brand Council, and Culture Implementation Team.

During the transition, Dan Sullivan, senior director of academic affairs in the Full-time Berkeley MBA Program, will serve as interim executive director.

Energy Institute to Honor Borenstein with Seminars

| by Pamela Tom

Haas alumni and energy professionals are invited to attend a day of seminars on everything energy—from electricity metering to the effects of fracking on local economies—on June 26 in the Wells Fargo Room.

Hosted by the Energy Institute at Haas, the seminars are part of the annual week-long “Energy Camp” at Berkeley-Haas, where energy economists will be gathering from around the country. The day of seminars is open to the public and will be held in honor of Haas Professor and outgoing Energy Institute Faculty Director Severin Borenstein.

The seminars aim to encourage and enable collaboration between researchers who are focused on pressing energy and environmental challenges. Topics to be represented include the potential for market manipulation in the California greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program, the local effects of hydraulic fracturing, and the environmental impacts of algae biofuel.

June 26 will be specifically dedicated to a series of seminars showcasing work that has been influenced by Borenstein during his 20 years in a leadership position at the Energy Institute. The seminar day in Borenstein’s honor will culminate in an invitation-only dinner at the Shattuck Hotel to recognize his 20 years of leadership.

Borenstein is stepping down as the institute’s faculty director on June 30.  Associate Professor Lucas Davis will assume the role alongside Professor Catherine Wolfram, who has shared the role with Borenstein since 2009. Borenstein will remain an active member of the Energy Institute community. He plans to spend more time on energy economics research and participation in the policy process.

For more information on the June 26 day of seminars in Borenstein’s honor, visit ei.haas.berkeley.edu/seminars.html.

In Memoriam: Pat Murphy, Longtime Staff Member at Institute for Business Innovation

| by Pamela Tom
Pat Murphy

Pat Murphy, a longtime Berkeley staff member who was instrumental in the development of several centers on campus, passed away May 21 after a private battle with cancer.

During her approximately four decades working at Berkeley, Murphy worked with Haas Professor David Teece to create many programs, including one of the first entrepreneurship programs on campus; the Law and Technology Program; and the Management of Technology Program, a joint program between Haas and the College of Engineering. She managed the Center for Research and Management Science as well as its successors: the Center for Research and Management, the Institute for Management Innovation and Organizations (IMIO), and the Institute for Business Innovation (IBI).

In addition, Murphy organized many conferences and seminars, hosted visitors, and managed PhD student scholarships. She also was instrumental in the founding of the St. Petersburg University’s School of Management, the first business school at a major Russian university, six years after helping to create a student exchange program between UC Berkeley and the university in 1987.

Murphy initially joined the Berkeley staff in a word processing role but was also enrolled in MBA courses, according to Teece. Recognizing that she had an “intellectual capability far beyond” that position, Teece hired her for an administrative position in the Center for Research and Management Science. She then moved up to a senior position after her predecessor retired.

“We took what was a moribund organized research unit with a budget of less than $300,000 a year to $5 million to $7 million by successfully raising grant monies and creating an endowment,” said Teece. “Pat’s role was considerable.”

“The institute under her control essentially was the incubator for many of the programs that the university is most proud of today,” Teece added. “Pat showed intense loyalty to the broader purposes and goals of the Haas School.”

One thing Teece says he appreciated most about Murphy: “She could get stuff done.” “Once she understood what our vision was, you didn’t have to tell her what to do,” he explained. “She showed incredibly strong initiative across the board.”

Teece is currently raising an endowment fund for visiting scholar and a staff award in Murphy’s honor.  He has already received significant contributions from faculty and alumni.

Murphy is survived by her daughter, Jennifer, who held a family-only funeral service for her. The Haas community is invited to attend a celebration of life in honor of Murphy at 3 p.m. June 9 in the Wells Fargo Room.

Alumni Brainstorm for GO Public Schools

| by Pamela Tom
Jonathan Klein, MBA 06, Founder, GO Public Schools

Every week, Jonathan Klein, MBA 06, gets a call from someone in another city challenged with trying to improve urban education. “How does the model Klein started at GO – Great Oakland Public Schools Leadership Center – work?” they inevitably ask.

Since Klein founded the nonprofit in 2008, GO has helped make school board operations more transparent to the public, put muscle behind winning ballot measures and school board elections, and started initiatives to measure outcomes.

Now Klein, executive director since 2012, and his growing staff of 11 are grappling with a question of their own: How do you scale up so other urban districts achieve the same results as GO without ignoring your current client?

Last week at GO’s Jack London Square headquarters, a team of seven Haas alumni helped answer that question in a pilot program called Solutions Lab, started by the Haas School’s Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership. Solutions Lab queries Haas alumni in a cross-section of professions during a two-hour brainstorming session intended to help the nonprofit achieve its goals.

“We are confident Solutions Lab will be successful in several areas, including helping a nonprofit with some ‘high power’ thinking on a critical business issue; providing an avenue for our alums to go ‘beyond themselves’ by using their talents, skills, and educational training to improve their community; and building the Haas brand through the networking,” says Cathy Garza, director of alumni engagement at the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership.

Volunteers at the session  were alumni with expertise in marketing and product management and  past and current consultants. “Education is about the toughest nut to crack,” said one volunteer, Himawan Gunadhi, PhD 90, CEO and founder of Sankia Inc., a marketing analytics startup. “I admire anyone who is trying to make it better.”

After presenting its mission, operating structure, and goals, GO posed two key questions to the alumni volunteers:

  1. How might GO ensure that new staff and new stakeholders are aligned with GO’s core mission and mode of operation?
  2. How might GO expand into new locales without raising concerns about diminishing its impact in Oakland?

Alumni had seven minutes to independently brainstorm solutions on Post-it notes. Then they paired off to cluster their responses into categories, choosing the top two to present to Klein and Iman Mills Gordon, GO’s director of special projects.

Centralization was a topic of debate. Talking with three alums, Klein pondered moving into other communities and putting someone else in the lead in Oakland. “I don’t feel like I can put out a job announcement for a new Executive Director. People would say, ‘Where is Jonathan?’”  Klein said.

Alumni said the strategy session fell in line with their day-to-day careers.

The design-thinking process was similar to real-world consulting, said Belinda Lyons-Newman, MBA 12, principal of Lyons-Newman Nonprofit Management Consulting. And, she added, “It feels great to be a part of Haas and building capacity for nonprofits.”

The group generated a market research idea that prompted Gordon, GO’s director of special projects, to say, “We could put that in a work plan and do it tomorrow.” A few other ideas about decision-making mechanisms and managing people differently also piqued the GO leadership team’s interest.

Klein said he was grateful for the help: “The feedback was a mix of good ideas and questions.”

Volunteer consultants can participate in additional Solutions Labs planned through the end of the year. The next session will be held in San Francisco at the Foundation for Sustainable Development on June 5. To join this or a future Solutions Lab, visit nonprofit.haas.berkeley.edu/alumni/create-impact.html.

Jonathan Klein, MBA 06, Founder, GO Public Schools

Senior Gift Campaign Attracts Record Participation

| by Pamela Tom

Senior Gift Campaign Fundraisers: Alessandra Demmons of Haas Alumni Relations; Lucky Sandhu BS 96; Roschelle Lowe, Caleb Kenney, Lauren Closson, and Rosemary Hua, all BS 14; Steve Etter, BS 83, MBA 89; Michelle Kaliski, Shubhit Noor, and Jackie Zhou, all BS 14; Debby Budiman, BS 15; Evan Santiago, BS 14; and Tim Carlson, BS 63.
The annual Senior Gift Campaign set new records this year in overall participation, helping to raise a total of $44,123.01 for Berkeley-Haas.

A committee led by campaign President Roschelle Lowe, VP of Logistics Jackie Zhou, and VP of Marketing Shubhit Noor achieved 57 percent participation, surpassing its 55 percent goal and last year’s 53 percent participation.

The campaign drew donations and pledge from 179 seniors, 24 juniors, one sophomore who will begin studies at Haas next year, and two professors, bringing the total raised by individual donors to $9,018.13. The total donated by seniors climbed 12 percent from last year, and the amount donated by juniors jumped even more–41 percent.

A 3:1 “Beyond Yourself Challenge Match” by a group of undergraduate alumni raised an additional $27,250 for the Senior Gift Campaign. The alumni in that group, who committed to the match for three years, are Dean Rich Lyons, BS 82; Haas Lecturer Steve Etter, BS 83, MBA 89; Tim Carlson, BS 63; Brad Howard, BS 79; Tara Kramlich, BS 03; Kathryn O’Connor , BS 98; Lucky Sandhu, BS 96; and Kinman Tong, BS 03. The Haas Development and Alumni Relations Office is seeking additional alumni to participate in the future.

In addition to the “Beyond Yourself Challenge Match,” a university-wide 1:1 match of senior gifts contributed $7,854.88 to the Senior Gift Campaign.

To acknowledge donors, Haas hosted a Senior Sendoff Party with the theme “Oh the Places You’ll Go,” the name of a well-loved Dr. Seuss book. The campaign committee [UF1] presented a check to Etter because Dean Lyons was out of town. Since then, even more donations have been received.

“You’ve done so much work to get us here,” Dean Lyons told the students via video at the sendoff party. After urging students to continue leaning into the school as alumni after they graduate, Lyons left them with a few parting thoughts from Dr. Seuss:

“Congratulations, today is your day.
You’re off to great places, you’re off and away.
You have brains in your heads, you have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own and you know what you know.
And you are the guide who will decide where to go. …
And will you succeed? Yes, you will succeed.
98 and three-quarters percent guaranteed.
Kid, you will move mountains …
You’re off to great places, today is your day.
Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.”

Haas Raises $250,000 for Socially Responsible Investment Fund

| by Haas News

Tapping into a new Berkeley crowdfunding platform, the Haas School’s Center for Responsible Business successfully raised more than $250,000 to scale up its Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Fund this semester.

The center surpassed its $100,000 goal, ultimately raising $126,209 from individual donations and corporate matches. That amount then was doubled thanks to a matching gift from alumnus Charlie Michaels, BS 78, bringing the total raised to $252,418. Michaels and his wife, Doris, originally seeded the fund in 2008 with alumni Al Johnson, BS 62, MBA 69, and his wife Marguerite; and Larry Johnson, BS 72, and his wife, Victoria.

Since its launch as the first and largest student-led SRI fund at a top business school, student managers of the Haas SRI Fund have grown the initial investment of $1.1 million to more than $2 million—a return of more than 50 percent over six years. From 2011 to 2014, the fund’s cumulative return beat the KLD social index (used as a benchmark for SRI investing) by almost 5 percent.

“I’ve never dreamt they would take it this far,” Michaels said in a recent article in The Guardian. Ultimately, he hopes the fund will become self-sustaining and also provide funding for the Center for Responsible Business.

As a result of the crowdfunding campaign and Michaels’ gift, students will be able to diversify the Haas SRI Fund’s assets beyond publicly traded stocks into fixed-income and social-impact bonds, gaining rare real-world experience managing a multi-asset class fund.

Students who have managed the fund have gone on to leadership positions at such firms as the Calvert Social Investment Foundation, Cambridge Associates, and Citi Community Capital.

Those interested in supporting the fund can still donate here and contact the Center for Responsible Business for questions at [email protected].  Donations can also be made toward general CRB programming here.

Haas Alumnae Named Among Top Women Business Leaders in Bay Area

| by Haas News

The San Francisco Business Times released its 2014 list of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business, and six are Haas grads, representing a variety of industries: real estate, consumer goods, financial services, biotech, e-commerce, and accounting. The women will be feted at a gala dinner on June 12 in San Francisco.

The Haas alumnae who made the list are:

Rhonda Diaz Caldewey, MBA 88
Managing Director and Principal, Cassidy Turley / Terranomics Retail Services

Joy Chen, BS 87
CEO, Yes To

Carrie Dolan, BS 87, MBA 97
CFO, Lending Club

Shelly Guyer, MBA 88
CFO, Veracyte

Teri Llach, MBA 89
CMO, Blackhawk Network

Laura Martinez, BS 89
Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Two Entrepreneurs Become Haas Executive Fellows

| by Haas News
New Haas Executive Fellows Guy Kawasaki and Paul Rice

Haas alumnus Paul Rice, MBA 96, founder of Fair Trade USA, and serial entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki will share their experiences and knowledge with the Haas community as the business school’s newest executive fellows.

“We are thrilled to bring Paul and Guy back to our campus as executive fellows,” says Haas School Dean Rich Lyons. “Both have blazed their own paths as innovative leaders and will enrich our school with their insights.”

The Berkeley-Haas executive fellow is considered a part-time, professional faculty position. It was created in 2007 for respected executives and thought leaders to serve as advisers to the dean, faculty, and staff. Students also are exposed to the trailblazing ideas and expertise of Haas executive fellows through their participation in various events and programs throughout the school year.

Other Haas executive fellows include Twitter co-founder Biz Stone; IDEO General Manager Tom Kelley, MBA 83; and John Hanke, MBA 96, a serial entrepreneur who founded and led Keyhole, which later became Google Earth.

With 11 years of experience working with impoverished farmers in Nicaragua and less than a month’s tuition in his bank account, Paul Rice was an improbable MBA candidate when he arrived at Berkeley-Haas in 1994. But he used his business school training to accomplish his audacious goal: building a Fair Trade movement in the U.S. similar to what he had seen in Europe. Since building a business plan at Haas, Rice has gone on to turn Fair Trade USA into one the most successful and fastest-growing social enterprises in the nation, certifying around $1.5 billion worth of imported products last year.

Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and was one of Apple’s first evangelists in the early 1980s. After leaving Apple, Kawasaki ran a Macintosh database company; wrote for Macworld and Forbes; started a software company called Fog City Software; and created the emailer and a listserv called LetterRip. He also started an angel investor matchmaking service called Garage.com, now known as Garage Technology Ventures, and founded Alltop, an online magazine rack. A longtime friend to Haas who has previously visited as a speaker, Kawasaki is the author of Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions.

New Haas Executive Fellows Guy Kawasaki and Paul Rice

MBA Students to Toss Caps May 23

| by Haas News

On Friday, May 23, about 500 students in the Full-Time and Evening & Weekend MBA programs will celebrate the end of their studies at Haas at 2 p.m. at the Greek Theatre. The number of graduates is evenly split between the two programs.

Commencement speaker Cathie Lesjak, MBA 86, CFO of Hewlett-Packard, will share the story of her rise within HP and discuss her experiences helping to lead one of the world’s largest tech companies.

During the ceremony, outstanding MBA students will receive awards for excellence in three areas: academic achievement, for the student with the highest GPA from each program; community service, for the Beyond Yourself fellows who contributed the most volunteer hours; and service and leadership, for full-time MBA students who made the greatest lasting impact in improving their community and the school.

Haas also will announce the winners of the Cheit teaching awards for faculty and graduate student instructors during the MBA commencement ceremony. (Please see related article about Cheit Award winners)

The job outlook for this year’s graduating class is strong, says Jennifer Bridge, director of MBA recruiting. “We continue to see demand from employers with new job opportunities in the technology, health care, and real estate industries,” Bridge says. “In the increasingly popular startup space, offers can take longer to materialize. Students need to dig deeper into their networks and be patient for the right opportunity to present itself.”

Bridge adds, “Some students are receiving multiple offers and accepting right away, while others are declining offers and holding out for the perfect opportunity; they’re interested in making the right decision, even if it means they have to wait a little bit longer.”

Students to Cheer Culmination of Undergraduate Journey

| by Haas News

More than 375 undergraduate students will receive their diplomas May 19 in a ceremony beginning at 9 a.m. at the Greek Theatre.

Entrepreneur Mark DiPaola, BS 99, will deliver the commencement address. The chairman and co-founder of inMarket, founder of Vantage Media, and member of the Dean’s Advisory Circle at Haas has established a strong career in startups since launching his first company at the age of 15.

Graduating students who will be recognized at the ceremony include Departmental Citation winner Ja Yoon (Staci) Heo, who had the highest business and cumulative grade point average, and Haas Community Fellows winner Adena Ishii. Nishan Budhraja was selected by his classmates to be the student speaker.

Staci Heo held leadership positions in the Berkeley Business Society; helped prepare tax returns for lower-income families; tutored elementary school students; and provided pro-bono consulting services to CommunityGrows, a nonprofit involved in environmental education of lower-income children.

Adena Ishii logged 1,800 volunteer hours during her time at Haas—more than double those of the student with the second highest number of hours. She served as a Haas public service leader and the program coordinator of the Transfer Service Community (TSC), a program she co-founded that helps students get involved in their communities and transfer from community college to four-year universities.

Nishan Budhraja, the student speaker, has most recently served as president of Berkeley Consulting after participating on several teams with the nonprofit, student-run consulting organization on campus.

In addition, Champion of Culture awards will be given to four graduating seniors who exemplify the four Haas Defining Principles:

Cody Feng: Beyond Yourself
Feng served a leadership role in Berkeley Project, one of the largest community service organizations on campus.

Raymond Wong: Student Always
Wong will be honored for always looking for the next opportunity to figure something out, whether it's a new skill, a new gadget, or a deep lesson about himself, and also was credited with a desire to help others learn as well.

Tyler Coster: Confidence Without Attitude
Coster will be recognized for his willingness to help others and share his knowledge, experiences, and ideas with genuine delight.

Kiron Chandy: Question the Status Quo
Chandy will be recognized for her combination of scholarship and world citizenship, demonstrated through her leadership in co-founding and expanding Consult Your Community, a program in which college students provide pro bono consulting services to low-income and minority small business owners in their communities.

Job Market

The graduating seniors, meanwhile, are entering a job market where demand remains firm on the heels of a strong 2013, says David Woodward, the UC Berkeley Career Center counselor for Haas undergraduates.

“The traditional areas for higher levels of recruiting — accounting, consulting, and finance — show an increased or sustained demand. Other areas, such as sales and marketing, showed an increasing level of activity," Woodward says. "Organizations have stated a desire to start or grow their recruitment activities at Haas, which suggests the demand for high-caliber Haas students is set to continue to grow.”

Haas to Provide Executive Program in Shanghai

| by Pamela Tom

The Haas School of Business is providing an executive-level program in Shanghai that presents a Silicon Valley perspective on business, innovation, and leadership topics to top Chinese leaders. The program is taught by Berkeley-Haas faculty, starting May 6, 2014.

This Partnership for CELAP and Berkeley-Haas is a three-year pilot program between Berkeley-Haas and the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP) in Shanghai, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by Berkeley-Haas Dean Rich Lyons and Professor Feng Jun, executive vice president of CELAP. CELAP is one of three preeminent Chinese government leadership academies and provides international, contemporary leadership development for China’s senior officials.

"We are creating a powerful educational partnership by bringing together the #1 public research university in the U.S. with China's premier leadership academy for developing high-level public officials," said Rich Lyons, dean of Berkeley-Haas. "Our partnership is further strengthened by the culture we share, one that emphasizes innovative leadership and a commitment to long-term, positive impact on our societies."

Professor Feng Jun, executive vice president of CELAP, said, “It opens a new chapter for strengthening our partnership in leadership development. And I’m confident that our partnership would help both Berkeley-Haas and CELAP bring about more potential opportunities for future collaboration such as scholar exchange, joint research, joint training, joint publication, and so on.”

Four times a year, a member of the Berkeley-Haas faculty will travel to Shanghai to teach an intensive course focusing on current issues in business, innovation, and public policy.

As part of the first course Professor Andrew K. Rose, Haas associate dean for faculty, is presenting on the impact of European and U.S. monetary policy on the Chinese economy for Chinese ministers and district governors from May 6 to May 7. Dean Rich Lyons is scheduled to present the next course on innovative leadership in September.

Haas board member Mr. Wu Hsioh Kwang, executive chairman and director of Straco Corporation Limited Singapore, was a key driver and architect of the partnership, conceptualizing the program and engaging CELAP senior management to help bring this partnership to fruition.

Professor Teck Ho, chair of the Haas Marketing Group and faculty director of the Haas School’s Asia Business Center, coordinates the curriculum. The collaborative nature of the partnership means the sessions are designed based on input from CELAP senior management and participants.

“The partnership is a win-win situation,” says Ho, “We are excited to have the opportunity to work with China’s leading academy for training the country’s senior government officials.”

The partnership will also help Berkeley-Haas explore future opportunities for providing internships, scholarships, international education programs, and study trek trips for its students to participate in CELAP programs.

Partnership for CELAP and Berkeley-Haas is made possible by Mr. Wu Hsioh Kwang and the Wu Hsioh Kwang Family Foundation.
 

Shanghai/Wikimedia Commons

Haas Honors Faculty with Bakar Fellowships

| by Pamela Tom

The Haas School has recognized five faculty members as Barbara and Gerson Bakar Faculty Fellows.

“The Bakar Fellowships recognize associate or assistant professors who demonstrate a record of accomplishment and a very bright future,” says Prof. Andrew Rose, associate dean for academic affairs and chair of the faculty.

The new Bakar Faculty Fellows are:

In 2007, alumnus Gerson Bakar, BS 48, and his wife Barbara, donated funds to the Haas School to provide five new faculty positions and enable the tenure-track faculty roster to gradually reach an all-time high of 86 members. As a part of the gift, the Bakar Faculty Fellowship was created to acknowledge young professors with extraordinary potential.

Gerson Bakar is a prominent real estate developer and pioneer. In 1965, he developed the country’s first multi-family housing complex called Woodlake in San Mateo, Calif. The garden community model marked the first of its kind and breakthrough in American housing. Bakar also developed a new facility for Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco that was widely regarded as a “a gift to the city.”

Bakar is also a longtime adviser to the Haas School and founding and advisory board member of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics.

 

Berkeley MBA Alumni Have Most Job Satisfaction, Says Forbes

| by Haas News

Berkeley MBA alumni have the highest job satisfaction of full-time MBA alumni in the U.S., according to a Forbes survey released April 16. They are the second most satisfied alumni overall among U.S. full-time MBA programs.

The findings are based on a prior survey of 4,600 alumni for 2013 for Forbes’ biennial ROI ranking. In addition to current job satisfaction, the survey measured alumni’s level of satisfaction with their education and with the preparation their education gave them.

“Alumni of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley had the highest level of job satisfaction,” rankings editor Kurt Badenhausen wrote in an online article that will appear in the May 5 issue of Forbes. “Haas’ top employers are heavy on consulting and tech, led by Google, eBay, McKinsey, BCG, and Deloitte.”

The article quoted alumnus Bonghun Lee, MBA 08, who said he went to Berkeley-Haas to strengthen his financial knowledge and entrepreneurial skills after working for the Korean government as an investment banker. “Haas provided me with opportunities to interact with diverse professionals with various insights and also helped me to form global networks, which function as a strong leverage for my career,” Lee told Forbes.

Read more about the Forbes ranking

Alumnae Share Career Lessons on Women Empowerment Day

| by Haas News

Nine alumnae returned to Haas to inspire and prepare nearly 60 young undergraduate women for success at the second annual Women Empowerment Day April 4.

Speaking to students at small, intimate tables over tea in the Wells Fargo Room, the alumnae talked about everything from the value of mentors to their different experiences working with male and female bosses and supervising male and female employees. Students also heard about a huge variety of career paths in such fields as consulting, technology, and even the caviar business.

“What is investor relations?” undergrad Chelsea Itaya, BS 14, asked alumna Wendy Lim, BS 99, who oversees investor relations at Yelp and has had several roles at the company since it has grown from about 50 employees to 1,500.

After explaining that her main responsibility is to communicate to the investment community (current investors, potential investors, analysts, etc.), Lim estimated that community, about one out of every 100 is a woman. But Lim says she might make only slight adjustments to the way she acts in that male-dominated world. “I think there is something about projecting an air of confidence and making sure your voice is heard,” she advised.

Lim also explained how her career path didn’t lead directly to Yelp. She worked at Bain directly after graduating from Haas but felt unsatisfied developing recommendations for clients and not seeing the results of those recommendations put into action. After working at eBay, Clorox, and Yelp, and earning her MBA, she now knows exactly what she likes to do: “I like to build new functions and teams and solve really messy problems.”

After the half-day event, Jesar Shah, BS 15, who is double-majoring in business and computers science, commented on how it provided a rare opportunity to be in a room with so many women.

“A lot of my professors are male,” says Shah, so “meeting all these women in powerful roles was a great opportunity. It was really refreshing.”

One big theme, she says, was balancing family and work. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive, alumna Shaoching Bishop, BS 97, CEO of Sterling Caviar, told Shah and the other students at her table. Bishop, the mother of two, had arrived at the event fresh off a plane from Asia. “She said that due to different cultures people may not accept what you are doing, but at the end of the day what’s important is what makes you happy,” Shah recalls.

“It was very inspiring to be there, and it helped me think of things a little differently,” Shah adds.

The event also featured talks by nationally renowned coach and author Valorie Burton and screenwriter and author Gina Grant. It was organized by Haas Lecturer Krystal Thomas, BS 94, and Undergraduate Program Director Erika Walker.

“Your number one job at Cal is to discover who you are and what your purpose is,” Thomas told students after Grant’s keynote talk. “Don’t have the world tell you what your story should be.”

 

– Lecturer Krystal Thomas, BS 94

UC Berkeley Foundation to Honor Eight Haas Alumni and Friends

| by Haas News

Gerson Bakar, BS 48, and Barbara Bakar will be recognized with the Chancellor’s Award from the UC Berkeley Foundation and six additional Haas alumni will receive awards from the foundation at a special event May 8 at the Claremont Resort & Spa.

The Chancellor’s Award is the Berkeley Foundation’s most prestigious award, honoring an alumnus or friend of UC Berkeley who has given consistently distinguished service to numerous major fundraising programs or campaigns of the university. In 2007, Bakar, a prominent San Francisco real estate developer, and his wife gave $25 million to the Haas School to create at least five new faculty positions. The gift is the largest individual donation in the Haas School’s history.

To honor the Bakars, the Haas School named its faculty wing the Barbara and Gerson Bakar Faculty Building. He also was honored as the Haas School’s Alumnus of the Year in 1991.

After earning his undergraduate business degree at Berkeley, Bakar went on to develop several notable projects in California, including Levi Plaza, San Francisco’s Northpoint Apartments and Mall, Stanford’s Oak Creek Apartments, Carmel Plaza in Carmel, and Park Newport in Newport Beach.

Bakar has been an adviser and consultant to the Haas School for more than 20 years and has served several terms on the Haas School’s advisory board. He also was a founding member and continues to serve on the advisory board of the Haas School’s Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. In 2007, friends and colleagues of Bakar established the Gerson Bakar-Fisher Center Policy Advisory Board Real Estate Scholarship in his honor. Each year, the fund provides a $10,000 merit scholarship to a Berkeley MBA student with entrepreneurial drive and a passion for real estate.

In addition to Bakar, four members of the Haas community will receive Trustees’ Citation awards to recognize their years of service and support to UC Berkeley: Leo Pircher, BS 54, JD 57; Dato’ Sri Prof. Dr. Tahir; Michael A. Torres, BS 82, MBA 86; and Mike Wood, BS 79.

Two Haas alumni – Kinman Tong, BS 03, and Tyler Wishnoff, BS 13 – will be honored with Young Bear Awards, which are given to a current student, young alumnus, or friend who has demonstrated outstanding achievement on a fundraising project or has accomplished successful outreach to the community or alumni.

  • Tong’s devotion to development at Berkeley started when he was a student leading his Senior Gift Campaign, in which he presented then Chancellor Robert Berdahl with a check for $73,000 raised from his fellow classmates. Since graduating, he has served Berkeley-Haas on several committees, including the Haas Alumni Council, the Development Council, his 10th year reunion committee, and the first Haas Undergraduate Leadership Committee. A CPA by training, Tong is a devoted ambassador to the Haas School who has strengthened the culture of philanthropy among young alumni and current students.
  • Wishnoff began giving back to Berkeley virtually the moment he enrolled as a transfer student his junior year, when he joined the class of 2012 Senior Gift Campaign and then applied his knowledge the following year when he co-chaired both the Berkeley-Haas and the campus-wide senior gift campaigns. As a student, he was a member, and then president, of the Haas Business Student Association, and highly dedicated to building awareness among undergraduates of the Haas School’s Defining Principles. He also managed the Haas Undergraduate Student Blog highlighting student life at Haas. His love for Cal didn’t end when he graduated: While working at Cisco, he has continued to serve the school as his class engagement officer, reaching out to classmates on behalf of the university.

Learn more about the UC Berkeley Awards.

Haas Helps Prof. Alan Cerf Celebrate 90th Birthday

| by Haas News
Haas Professor and alumnus Alan Cerf

Even today living to be 90 years old is still a major milestone. Add teaching a Taxation class to 60 undergraduates each semester to that milestone and you have a rare and impressive accomplishment recently achieved by Haas Professor and alumnus Alan Cerf, who was celebrated at a surprise birthday party earlier this month in the Wells Fargo Room.

Students, alumni, faculty, staff, and family members came out for the festivities, sharing heartfelt words about Cerf, BS 44, who earned his degree when the business school was called the College of Commerce and the dean was E.T. Grether.

“This is an extraordinary lifetime of contribution not just to this institution but to so many people’s lives,” Dean Rich Lyons said at the party. “He’s advanced the careers and made better lives for an awful lot of our students.”

Cerf has taught an estimated 14,000 students since joining the Berkeley faculty in 1955. He currently teaches the Federal Income Taxation in the undergraduate program.

“I’ve seen the school grow, and now Rich is leading us in great new directions,” Cerf told the well-wishers.

Alumnus Brian Rowbotham, BS 72, MBA 73, is among those 14,000 students whom Cerf has taught. He marked the occasion by presenting a $3,000 check to the Center for Financial Reporting and Management.

“When you look on Professor Cerf’s bio for the school, it says, ‘On Duty,’ which really says it all,” Rowbotham added. “You’ve got a lot of miles, but you are still young at heart.”

Rowbotham noted that a big jump in women in business school is among the many changes Cerf has seen over the years. Indeed, the school’s Center for Financial Reporting and Management has is now led by Maria Nondorf.

“I’ve been here for 11 years, which is a tiny drop in the bucket compared to Alan’s experience,” Nondorf said. “My first day, Alan stopped by my office. He made me feel so welcome and has been a great colleague and a great mentor for me throughout my time here.”

Another alumnus, Paul Reshke, BS 82, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, credited Cerf with shifting the direction of his career 32 years ago. He already had landed a job at a Big 8 accounting firm when he decided to take Cerf’s tax class his senior year. “Little did I know that (would) put a seed in my head and within five months of starting … I moved out of auditing and transferred to tax and ended up making it my career,” Reshke said.

For the last several years, Reshke has returned to Cerf’s class to sit on a tax panel and guest lecture on estate and gift taxes. While describing that experience, Reshke alluded to one possible secret to Cerf’s longevity, recalling how during one visit, Cerf asked if he could interrupt the talk for a short exercise break.

“Sure enough one of his students comes down halfway through the lecture, and she leads the class through some exercises,” Reshke recalled lightheartedly.

“When I sit in the classroom,” Reshke added, “it’s clear that the students really enjoy your never-ending enthusiasm and that you still enjoy teaching young people. It’s neat to see.”