Wharton brings alumni back for first leadership conference

The Wharton School kicked off its first Alumni Leadership Conference over the weekend. The conference was held to provide alumni with a taste of the current state of education at Wharton and to educate them about upcoming changes to the curriculum, according to Wharton Associate Dean for External Affairs Jordan Tannenbaum. "The genesis of the idea was to stress the importance of alumni leadership and to bring them back to campus," Tannenbaum said. "This was important because there had never been a conference with all the various stripes of alumni leadership." He explained that the conference was especially effective because of the timing. "This was the right time because of our recent No. 1 rankings in Business Week and U.S. News and World Report," he said. "People are feeling very positively about the school, so it was the right time to bring the alumni together." The conference was spread over two days. On Friday, keynote speaker Michael Tarnopol, the managing director of Bear Stearns and a Wharton graduate, "set the tone for the conference," according to Tannenbaum. Tarnopol spoke about the importance of leadership among alumni. "I do not think that becoming a leader is as easy as waking up one morning and deciding that that is what you are going to do," he said. "Being a leader has much more to do with being able to identify needs and seizing the opportunity to do something about them." Tarnopol explained the importance of alumni dedication -- adding, however, that taking on such responsibility requires effort. "It is because Wharton is the best of business schools that we need to be the best alumni," he said. "Being the best is not always easy. It often comes with a cost. And at times it can even feel like a burdensome obligation. "What keeps me going are two things -- the role models I have around me and the fact that I have always gotten back a lot more that I have put in," he added. Tarnopol ended his speech with an anonymous quote encouraging Wharton alumni to strive for greatness. "To lead is to serve?to give?to achieve together," he said. Tarnopol was then given the first Wharton Graduate Association award for distinguished service by an alumni. The day was concluded with a reception in the Tarnopol Room, which was attended by faculty, students and alumni. A dinner followed the reception at the University Museum. On Saturday morning, the attending alumni participated in three seminars -- on persuasion, brand equity and leadership in the 21st century -- that mirrored courses held in Wharton's executive education program. Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity spoke to the alumni, giving them a view of what the school has accomplished, and where it is going. During the afternoon, several workshops were held on reunion planning, club management, career planning and interviewing, according to Tannenbaum. Approximately 200 alumni attended the conference, including international alumni from Norway, New Zealand, France and England, said Tannenbaum. He described the conference as "extremely successful." "We had initially planned to have the conference every two years," he said. "However, the major suggestion was to make it every year, and to make it longer, so alumni could attend more workshops."

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