A Message From The Dean

Commencement 2007

Commencement on Friday August 3rd was a wonderful day! We graduated our 33rd class from the MBA program --- women from around the world, inspired and equipped with their MBA skills and knowledge, set to strike out and make a difference as leaders in business, not-for-profits, and government.

As we welcomed our newest class of alumnae, we also shone the spotlight on the achievements of two Simmons alumnae who have built powerful careers, shaped their organizations, and stand out as wonderful role models for our recent graduates as well as for all of us.

Elizabeth (Beth) Mora '89 received the prestigious Phyllis Rappaport Alumnae Achievement Award. The award, established in honor of Phyllis Rappaport '75, honors an alumna "whose significant deeds and accomplishments have helped to further the School's tradition of creating broader opportunities for women."

Beth Mora was recently appointed as Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer for Harvard University, working directly with Harvard's new President, Dr. Drew Faust. Beth was a retail analyst before joining Simmons. She leveraged her MBA to move into public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where over eight years she developed a new consulting practice focused on higher education. She then went to Harvard University where she oversaw research grants administration and then continued to expand her responsibilities within financial management. Today she is responsible for all of the University's financial operations, research administration, internal audit, treasury, debt management, financial systems, and budget functions. She also serves on the elite Board of the University's Harvard Management Company. In her acceptance speech, she called out three lessons she has learned from her career:
* Sign up for the hard assignments
* Listen a lot before offering opinions
* Learn and use the "soft" skills of management as you develop yourself technically.

We are honored to have Beth Mora as an SOM alumna and as our most recent Rappaport Alumnae Award winner.

We were also privileged to have Ann Fudge '73 UG as our SOM Commencement Speaker. Ann is an alumna of the undergraduate management program and former student of founding Dean Margaret Hennig. Ann recently retired from her positions as CEO and Chairman of Young and Rubicam Brands and Chairman and CEO of its largest division, Y&R Advertising. Prior to Young & Rubicam, she served as President of the Beverages, Desserts and Post Division-a $5 billion unit of Kraft Foods. Ann has been widely recognized for her leadership and business accomplishments. She has been named among the 50 most powerful women by Fortune magazine, as one of the Top Global Business Influencers by Time, and as one of the Top 20 Women in American Industry by the New York Times. Ann is a powerful role model for our undergraduate and MBA graduates, modeling strong leadership, integrity, business acumen, and her commitment to "giving back."

Ann delivered an inspiring message to our graduates, including her daughter-in-law Cheryl Fudge, a member of the 2007 graduating class. Drawing on examples from her own career, she encouraged our graduates to recognize and use their personal power both to advance their careers as well as to do the right thing for their businesses, their employees, and for society more broadly. I have quoted Ann's views on personal power in earlier graduation speeches: "My power is based on my ability to connect with people. My power is manifested [not within me] but outside of myself in what I am able to create in developing people and developing businesses." This is a powerful message for our graduates and for each of us within the SOM community.