As we start out the New Year in 2012, we pay tribute to the Columbia Business School Alumni who equipped with their CBS MBA degrees and courage ended up making a difference in their organizations.

Here’s to seeing many of you on this list in the coming years!

Lulu C. Wang ’83, Founder and CEO Tupelo Capital Management L.L.C.

Wang was managing some $4 billion in assets for pension, endowment, and mutual funds for Jennison Associates Capital Corporation when she set out on her own in 1998 to found Tupelo Capital Management, a New York–based firm that invests globally in public equities. Wang has been honored for her professional and volunteer work by such organizations as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Asia Society, the China Institute, Girls Inc., the NY Women’s Agenda, and Ernst & Young. She serves as a board member for the Rockefeller University, WNYC Public Radio, the Asia Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a trustee emerita of Wellesley College, a consulting director of the New York Community Trust, and president of the Shoreland Foundation.

“Education,” she says, “has always been an important part of my life and of what I’ve been able to accomplish.”

Gail J. McGovern ’87 (EMBA), President and CEO American Red Cross

Recognized by Fortune magazine in 2000 and 2001 as one of the top 50 Most Powerful Women in Corporate America, McGovern joined the Red Cross in June of 2008 after more than two decades as a corporate executive. From 1998 to 2002, McGovern was president of Fidelity Personal Investments, a unit of Fidelity Investments that serves four million customers with $500 billion in assets. Previously, she was executive vice president for the consumer markets division at AT&T, where she was responsible for the company’s largest business unit, the $26 billion residential long-distance service. She began her career at AT&T as a computer programmer and moved up through sales, marketing, and general-management assignments.

“My experience at Columbia transformed my career,” McGovern says. “For the first time, I saw how financial and management concepts could be applied to the real world. I became a completely different business leader.”

Rochelle B. “Shelly” Lazarus ’70, Chairman & CEO Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

During her 30-plus years with Ogilvy & Mather, marketing guru Shelly Lazarus has worked in every product category in both the general-advertising and direct-marketing disciplines. She has also played a significant role in the management of the company, running O&M Advertising and O&M Direct in North America. In 1997, she was named chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.

Among her many honors and awards, Lazarus was named Business Woman of the Year by the New York City Partnership in 1996. She is one of two women to have served as chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and she has been listed in Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of the 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business since its inception in 1998.

 “I discovered marketing within the walls of Columbia Business School,” Lazarus says. “It was really interesting and really creative — I fell in love with it.”

Together with the Black Business Students Association and CBS Golf Club we are co-hosting the CBS Annual Golf Classic, which will be held in Westchester County on Friday, April 13th, 2012 at the Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle. Experienced golfers can register to play 18 holes and rookies (or those looking to brush up on their skills) can register for a day-long golf clinic. Both golfing options also include tennis, bowling, contests, an open bar cocktail reception, and Manhattan after party. The event is open to both current students and CBS alumni. We hope to see you on the green!

Follow this link for more information and to register: http://cbsannualgolfclassic.wordpress.com/

The theme for the 2012 CWIB Conference is “Success in Action: Seizing Opportunity and Rising to Challenges.” This year’s conference will be held on February 24 at the Marriott Marquis and will focus on the role of networking and forming relationships in achieving greatness.  Women are still in the minority in the business world and we aim to highlight the benefits both professionally and socially of forming close business and personal relationships.

For more information and to register, visit the conference website.

The Levo League is a relatively new online platform created by two former McKinsey consultants that provides resources to Gen Y women who want to be balanced and successful businesswomen. The content ranges from career and recruiting advice to news, health, relationships and more.

Corporette is a fashion and lifestyle blog for young professionals. Working near Wall Street, lawyer and writer Kat Griffin helps young women dressing for a corporate setting to walk the line between frumpy and unfortunate.

Brazen Careerist, created by entrepreneur Penelope Trunk, is a career management website for young professionals. It gives members access to virtual recruiting and networking events, and the Brazen Life blog gives career, entrepreneurship, job search advice and more.

85 Broads describes itself as a global women’s network which provides career and networking workshops, industry panels, and conferences for its members. Started by a group of women at Goldman Sachs, the network is now open to undergraduate, graduate and professional women of all sectors.

What websites and blogs inspire you?

Laura Hawkins, AVP Membership & Finance

In its curriculum, CBS has built more awareness around what “business” actually means, making it a great place for a woman to thrive in her professional development. The variety of classes in the core curriculum (corporate finance, marketing, operations, accounting, leadership, among others) reflects the diversity of business challenges that all workers face in the business world, regardless of industry and function.  While it is no secret that CBS has long been regarded for its finance and value investing program, Columbia has focused on developing a breadth of industry-specific programming and academic centers over the last decade. Here are just a few that you may not have heard of yet!

• The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center has provided a supportive platform for countless women with a good business idea over the years. Success stories include the cofounders of Red Flower, Peel Snacks, Harlem Lanes, Art for Refugees in Transition, Blow hair salons, among others.
• The Social Enterprise Program helps students develop a perspective on how to apply business skills to social enterprise challenges and how to align personal and professional values in careers that result in social benefit to a broader community. Some of the programming that the SEP offers are as follows: (i) The Summer Fellowship Program aids students in procuring a summer internships, (ii) The Nonprofit Board Leadership Program offers students unique insight into the world of non-profit management, and (iii) a variety of consulting projects both in New York City and around the world.
• The Center on Global Brand Leadership addresses the challenges of building and sustaining great brands in an ever evolving marketplace. Its annual BRITE conference gathers executives and researches from around the world and therefore provides a unique opportunity for MBA students to get involved in recent branding trends.
• The Program for Social Intelligence is a series of extracurricular activities and academic courses designed to enhance student’s abilities as leaders throughout their forthcoming careers. The curriculum is anchored in experiential learning and executive coaching in order sharpen students’ self-awareness, decision-making and expand their abilities to solve complex problems.

There are so many different ways and industries in which students can leverage their MBA degree; Columbia’s location in New York City, focus on experiential learning, career management center and academic programming all facilitate finding your own unique career path!

As your finishing up your applications, make sure to avoid these common application pitfalls!

• Be sure to answer the exact question that the essay question asks! For instance, for your career essay, tangibly describe both short and long-term career goals.
• Don’t self-censor too much and let your personality shine through the application! For the essay about your personal interests, have fun with it and let admissions know something truly unique about you.
• Proofread, proofread, proofread! Make sure that you don’t accidentally mistake Columbia Business School with Colombia the country – believe it or not, Admissions has seen it happen…
• In sum, use the application to get Admissions’ attention in a good way! Just tell your story in a concise, clear and genuine manner.

Good Luck to everyone and looking forward to seeing you on campus next Fall!

VP of Mentoring, Liz Wise

As part of the CWiB mentoring program, CWiB arranges small group meals with female students and senior women as a way to allow students to connect with leaders in a more casual, intimate setting.  Early in November, fifteen first and second year MBA students had lunch with Professor Laurie Hodrick.  Professor Hodrick is the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics and the Founding Director for the Program for Financial Studies at Columbia Business School.  From 2006-2008, Professor Hodrick was a managing director at Deutsche Bank, where she was global head of alternative investment strategies.  While traditionally these meals have hosted women from outside of Columbia, this lunch was a great opportunity to realize the amazing women we have within the CBS community.

Over the course of the lunch, Professor Hodrick passed along many great lessons.  Below are some paraphrases of the highlights:

• Think of life as chapters (inspired by Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson)
• Develop a flexible and agile skill set
• You can have everything, just not all at once
• Everyone is talented, some people just work harder
• Treat every presentation like a job talk – you never know what opportunities strong performance will lead to
• Be careful about what you say (be it in person, online, etc)
• When you’re in the room, be in the room
• Because it’s your life, you’ll make it work

This lunch is part of a Mentoring Meals series.  If you know someone who would be good for this forum, please contact Liz Wise ewise12@gsb.columbia.edu or Jamie Swango jswango13@gsb.columbia.edu.

Women Hold Few Top Jobs at N.Y. Firms, Wall Street Journal

A study led by Columbia Business School Professor Ann Bartel showed what she called “disappointing” increases in women holding leadership positions at the top 100 publicly traded firms in New York. In 2010, 15.9% of companies had women in top leadership, only a slight increase from 14.7% in 2006. Sixty nine of the top 100 firms did not have a woman in any of their top six leadership positions (CEO, CFO, COO, chief information officer, chief investment officer, and general counsel). Bartel says she hopes this research will force companies, particularly those with no female leaders, to question why they don’t have more women in leadership roles. Access the article here.

TED Talk: Sheryl Sandberg: Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders

In this inspirational Ted Talk, Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg addresses why there are so few women in leadership roles, across industries and sectors. She provides three pieces of advice for women hoping to reach the C-suite:

• Sit at the table
• Make your partner a real partner
• Don’t leave before you leave

Watch the full video here.

Chart Focus: What Women in Business Want, McKinsey Quarterly

A recent McKinsey survey shows that women who move from entry-level to middle management roles are more likely to be interested in leadership roles and also more likely to believe they’re capable of attaining such positions. View the chart here.

Closing the Gender Gap at Business School, New York Times

Business schools across the globe are focused on increasing the number of female students. While enrollment in law and medical schools has become balanced, business school remains skewed. Herminia Ibarra, professor of organizational behavior at Insead (a school whose efforts to attract female students have begun to pay off, with female enrollment growing from 17% in 2005 to 33% in 2011) explained one of many reasons it is critical to attract more female students: “When women are only 17 percent of the group, they are far less likely to speak up. When they are over 30 percent you can be sure they are raising the issues important to them.” Read the full article here.

CWIB President, Jamie Schermerhorn

Why is CWIB important to you?

In my career prior to business school I had very few female colleagues, and even fewer female leaders. Over time I realized that being successful in business requires more than just putting your head down and working hard; it requires actively managing your career. To do this well, I believe you need great relationships. You need trusted peers to bounce ideas off of, and you need mentors to help coach you. These peers and mentors can be both men and women, but I think at least some need to be women because of the unique choices and challenges that we face. Helping women develop these relationships is incredibly important to me, and that’s exactly what CWIB does.

(A side note: last year Catalyst published some research that shows even mentorship isn’t enough, but rather sponsorship is necessary.)

What are you excited about for the club this year?

There are quite a few things that I’m really excited about this year. We have some fantastic corporate partners, both new and old, which makes me optimistic that more and more companies realize the value of supporting talented women. In addition to our professional development line-up, we are also hosting more informal events such as happy hours and community service events, which is key to building a strong network. Most of all, I am incredibly excited that we’re moving the 19^th Annual CWIB Conference (February 24, 2012) off-campus. Stay tuned for details!

Who are some of your businesswomen role models?

No one seems more relevant than Sheryl Sandberg. Not only is she a brilliant executive who gave Facebook a legitimate business model, but she also does a great job of articulating why organizations like CWIB continue to be important for women. I agree with her theory that the number of women leaders has stagnated because women take themselves out of the workforce. Her messages, such as “sit at the table” and “don’t leave before you leave,” really resonate with me and are lessons I hope to carry with me in my career after business school.  (If you’re interested, here’s a clip of her discussing her philosophy.)

MBA Early Insights Participants will explore key areas of Morgan Stanley’s business, including Investment Banking, Global Capital Markets, Sales & Trading, and Research. You will have the chance to gain insight into the recruiting process, learn resume tips and interviewing techniques, and network with senior leaders.

Eligible candidates include Black, Hispanic, Native American, LGBT and female students who are beginning an MBA program in Fall 2011.

Mark Your Calendars
July 19–July 20, 2011
New York City

Application Deadline
June 13, 2011

Click here to apply.

Questions? MBAEarlyInsights@morganstanley.com.

Learn more at www.morganstanley.com/diversity

“Why Do Men Outperform Women at Harvard Business School?”
A recent study reveals that a sizable academic gap exists between men and women at Harvard Business School,  despite the fact that female students place greater importance on academics and spend more time studying. John Byrne, of poetsandquants.com, explores possible factors behind this common issue at many top business schools. Read the full article here.

“Where Are All the Senior-level Women?”

The Wall Street Journal shares insights from a panel  of business leaders regarding the issues that are keeping women from reaching senior-level positions and how those barriers can be overcome. The panel includes Vikram Malhotra of McKinsey & Co., Harvard University economics professor Claudia Goldin, Saadia Zahidi of the Women Leaders and Gender Parity Program at the World Economic Forum, and Nancy Carter of at Catalyst Inc. Find excerpts of the panel here.

“A Club for Women Atop the Ladder”

The New York Times features Belizean Grove, a rare and exclusive club connecting powerful business women across all industries.  The article discusses the benefits and risks of focusing networking energy in all-female circles. Read more here.