HBS ONLINE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Orbis Investment Management / MBA 1965
Allison Ciechanover oversees the team that develops teaching cases and supports faculty research on West Coast companies, and has written over two dozen cases on tech companies. She also serves as the School's liaison with the West Coast entrepreneurial community, assisting with MBA admissions, alumni relations, and MBA job search activities. She received her B.A. (magna cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania, her MBA from Harvard Business School, and a Masters of International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies.
After graduating from Harvard Business School, Allison worked in the Goldman Sachs Investment Management Division. She later led Process Improvement efforts in the Finance Group at Invitrogen (now Life Technologies). Most recently, Allison was a VP for Investments at Pacific Corporate Group, a La Jolla-based private equity fund of funds. Prior to her years at HBS, Allison was an Analyst in Goldman Sachs's Executive Office, and a Researcher for the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs.
Job Titles:
- Dubai Staff Member
- Associate Director, Dubai
Amal Enan (MBA 2014) has been making a difference in the Egyptian startup scene with her thoughtful and strategic investments. As Executive Director of the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund, Enan works to promote financial inclusion, job creation, and private sector development in Egypt, with a strong focus on supporting female entrepreneurs. She says, "we need to build sustainable businesses and create a competitive track record for the country, if we're going to improve opportunities for the next generation." Learn more about the work she is doing in the MENA region through her alumni story here.
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- SynOptics Communications / MBA 1969
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- Chief of Operations
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
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- Professor of Business Administration / Senior Associate Dean for External Relations
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- Executive
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Executive Dean for Administration
- Title Executive Dean for Administration
Angela is the Executive Dean for Administration at Harvard Business School, leading an organization of nearly 2,000 staff with an operating budget of $925M. She oversees the execution of the School's strategy ranging from academic programs to research, and the management of areas including diversity & inclusion, external relations, financial, human resources, information technology, library, marketing and communications, operations and others.
Angela has overseen the implementation of innovations from curriculum changes to faculty initiatives and digital transformation. During her tenure, the School has expanded to include 17 global locations; opened 8 new buildings; and launched HBS Online, a groundbreaking online education platform. Angela also served as Chief Planning Officer, directing the creation and development of the campus master plan and she has been active in the School's two capital campaigns, the most recent of which surpassed its $1 billion goal.
Angela has held a succession of roles at HBS including serving on the MBA Admissions Board and directing the offices of Financial Aid, Housing, Registrar, Student Affairs, and Community Relations. She was Secretary of the Academic Performance Committee and a founder of the Community Values Initiative.
Within Harvard University, Angela serves on the University Risk Management Council, Presidential Committee on Sustainability, and Allston Planning groups. She was part of the core team that created the Harvard Innovation Labs, a cross-university initiative to foster entrepreneurship. She has twice served on the Staff Advisory Committee for the Harvard University President search.
Before joining Harvard, Angela led the introduction of new manufacturing practices at Waters Chromatography, a division of Millipore Corporation. Dedicated to leadership in education and nonprofits, she serves on the Boston Symphony Orchestra Trustees, Gettysburg College Board of Trustees, Boston Medical Center's Trust Board, Harvard Business Publishing Board of Directors, and is an evaluator on the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. She has presented various talks to students at HBS and Harvard Graduate School of Education. She holds a BA from Boston College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director of the Harvard Business School India Research Centre
Anjali Raina is the Executive Director of the Harvard Business School India Research Centre. In her leadership role at the IRC, Anjali focuses on building and maintaining relationships with senior business leaders in the region to facilitate the work of the center in research, educational programs, community building and faculty development.
Under her leadership, the IRC has facilitated the writing of over 168 case studies on Indian Business Practice and supported half a dozen research projects. Anjali has co-authored several case studies such as Aadhaar: India's ‘Unique Identification' System, TeamLease: Putting India to Work (II) Legally; Pratham - Every Child in School and Learning Well; Naina Lal Kidwai: Investing in Her Country; Tech Mahindra and the Acquisition of Satyam Computers (A); HN Agri Serve : Growing Prosperity as well as an HBR Article on The Ordinary Heroes of the Taj.
Anjali wears several additional hats. She is a Director on the Board of Harvard Business Publishing, India, the Regional President (Western Region) of NHRDN, an Advisor to The Akanksha Foundation, Trustee to LIFE Trust, an Advisory Member on the Board of HBS Club of India, and on the Advisory Board of the Indian Business School.
Prior to joining HBS IRC Anjali spent 15 years with Citigroup India, most recently as Country Director, before which she worked for more than a decade with ANZ Grindlays Bank PLC. Anjali holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, a bachelor's degree (Eng. Hons) from Loreto College and is an alumnus of HBS having completed the Advanced Management Program.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Financial and Business Administration
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- Chief Information Officer
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
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- Hong Kong Staff Member
- Researcher
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- Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
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- Founder & CEO, Bedrocket Media Ventures, Classic Sports Network
- Founder and CEO of Bedrocket Media Ventures
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- 3G Capital Management / OPM 9
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- Managing Director, MBA Admissions
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- Shop It to Me, Inc. MBA 2006
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- American Management Systems
Maria Fernanda Miguel is the Christopher P. Torto Executive Director for the Latin America Research Center (LARC). Her responsibilities include leading research activities for the LATAM region, and providing programmatic support to different areas of HBS including admissions, executive education, and immersion programs. Fernanda is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Job Titles:
- Hong Kong Staff Member
- Office Manager
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- Member of the HBS Online Leadership Team
- Senior Director of Marketing and Product Management
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- Sycamore Networks / MBA 1976
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- Senior Associate Director, Research and Administration
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- Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration / Senior Associate Dean for HBS Publishing
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- Associate Director
- Hong Kong Staff Member
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- Dean
- Member of the School Leadership Team
"It is this community and its commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve our mission that gives me confidence that we can draw on all our past strengths and look forward to a remarkable future."
Job Titles:
- Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration / Senior Associate Dean, Business and Global Society
- Professor
In this article, Professor Debora Spar discusses the subject of a new Harvard Business School case study, "The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Sweden's Utopia at a Crossroads," supported by Emer Moloney and Vincent Dessain of the Europe Research Center. In this case, Professor Spar examines recent shifts in Sweden's political views and economic forces and what they mean for the country's future. Is it the end of the Scandinavian business-welfare model as we know it?
Job Titles:
- Business Administration, Harvard Business School
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- the International Culinary Center
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- Professor of Business Administration Senior Associate Dean for HBS Publishing
Das Narayandas is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He is currently the Senior Associate Dean, Harvard Business Publishing. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Technology degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB), a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB), and a Ph.D. in Management from Purdue University.
Das previously has been Senior Associate Dean, External Relations, Senior Associate Dean, Executive Education, Chair of the Executive Education Advanced Management Program and the Program for Leadership Development. He has also served as course head of the required First-Year Marketing course in the MBA program. Prior to that, he taught the Business Marketing Elective in the MBA program. Das has twice been selected as the Class Day faculty speaker, and has received the award for teaching excellence from the graduating HBS MBA Class on several occasions. Other awards include The Robert F. Greenhill Award for Outstanding Service to the HBS Community, the Charles M. Williams Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Apgar Award for Innovation in Teaching. Das has also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IITB and IIMB.
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- Data General Corporation / MBA 1963
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- GameChanger Media, Inc. MBA 2006
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- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Chief Human Resources Officer / Executive Director, HBS Initiatives
- Chief Human Resources Officer of Harvard Business School
- Title Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Director, HBS Initiatives
Ellen Mahoney is the Chief Human Resources Officer of Harvard Business School and the Executive Director, HBS Initiatives. She is responsible for managing all aspects of the School's human resources function for the 1,200 administrative staff who support the School's mission. As a member of the senior administrative management team, Ellen works closely with the School's leadership on organizational design, human resources strategic initiatives, talent management, recruitment, compensation, professional development, and labor relations. Ellen also oversees seven Initiatives that support cross-School collaboration around key topic areas including Social Enterprise, Entrepreneurship, Healthcare, Leadership, and Business and Environment.
Ellen participates in the senior human resources management team at Harvard University, where she contributes as a member of a variety of committees and task forces. Ellen's previous experience at Harvard University includes running a career and professional development office that served Harvard's 12,000 administrative staff.
Ellen serves on a variety of non-profit boards including the Soldier's Field Park Children's Center Board of Directors, chairing the Belmont Youth Lacrosse program, and the Belmont After School Collaborative. Ellen holds a BS from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a JD, cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School. She is a member of the Massachusetts bar.
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- Neurotrack Technologies / MBA 2005
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- Scratch Wireless / MBA 1982
Erling Lorentzen relates his experience growing up in Norway as part of family of shipping magnates and industrialists, his service during World War II, his educational experience at Harvard Business School, his marriage into the Norwegian royal family, and his eventual move to Brazil in 1953. There, he pursued a career in the petroleum industry and in shipping. In 1968, he founded the Aracruz Celulose company, which became a massive manufacturer of pulp and paper. Lorentzen oversaw the construction of the largest pulp mill in Brazil and the acquisition of large forestry operations. He describes the difficulty of growing the business amid periods of rapid inflation, the challenges of raising money overseas (including by becoming the first Brazilian company listed on New York Stock Exchange), and by facing and confronting issues of sustainability. This interview is part of the Creating Emerging Markets project which provides a unique research and teaching resource on business leadership in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East over recent decades.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director of the Harvard Business School Middle East & North Africa Research Center
Esel Çekin is the Executive Director of the Harvard Business School Middle East & North Africa Research Center. She received her PhD in Economics in 1997 from City University of New York Graduate School after she earned a BA in Economics at Boğaziçi University. She started her career as a consultant at Bain & Co. Management Consultancy in the Istanbul office. In 1999, she joined Boyner Holding, the largest non-food retail group in Turkey, as the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. She served as the Chief Executive Officer of Beymen, the luxury department store chain of Boyner Holding from 2004 to 2009. In her former role, she taught retail management and merchandising and served as the Executive Director in the Graduate School of Business at Koç University. Esel completed Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 2013.
Job Titles:
- Dubai Staff Member
- Research Associate
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- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Assistant Dean for Administrative and Educational Affairs
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- Professor Senior Associate Dean, HBS Online Senior Associate Dean, Executive Education
- Senior Associate Dean, HBS Online Senior Associate Dean, Executive Education
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- George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking
The Africa Research Center and Middle East and North Africa Research Center co-hosted a virtual event with Professor George Serafeim. With his new book Purpose and Profit: How Business Can Lift Up the World, Professor Serafeim provided answers to the following questions: Are purpose and profit in conflict, or can both be achieved simultaneously with the right mindset and tools? What are the forces that are reshaping the relationship between the two? What can we all do to strengthen the relationship between purpose and profit as entrepreneurs, managers, employees, consumers, and investors? Approximately 50 HBS alumni and community members attended the event.
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- Coastview Capital / MBA 1962
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- Professor of Business Administration / Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Promotions and Tenure
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- Business Administration, Harvard Business School
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- Pacific Lake Partners / MBA 1983
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- Associate Director, Educational Programs
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- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Executive Director of the MBA and Doctoral Programs at Harvard Business School
- Executive Director, MBA and Doctoral Programs
- Title Executive Director, MBA and Doctoral Programs
Jana Pompadur Kierstead is the Executive Director of the MBA and Doctoral Programs at Harvard Business School. She brings over 25 years of experience to this role, with more than 20 years dedicated to leadership in business education. In her role as the Executive Director, Jana leads a team of over 120 full-time professionals who manage the student experience from admissions and financial aid, to student life and career services.
In 2013, Jana was selected to lead the School's online learning initiative, Harvard Business School Online (formerly HBX). In that role she collaborated across the school to shape the initiative and lead Harvard Business School's online learning program as the landscape of e-learning continued to evolve. HBS Online aims to establish a standard of excellence in online business education by creating sustained and differentiated value for individuals and organizations that make a difference in the world. HBX advances Harvard Business School's reputation for excellence in business education and the broader business community, as well as the vast intellectual property, academic pedagogy and faculty talent of the School as a premier provider of high quality online business education. Since its inception in January 2013, HBS Online has launched twelve products on two distinct platforms and has reached over 50,000 learners from more than 170 countries.
Just prior to assuming the role of Executive Director of the MBA Program in February 2012, Jana oversaw the MBA Career and Professional Development team at HBS. Under her leadership, the group created a broad portfolio of career development, recruitment programs, and global engagement opportunities for HBS students and maintained strong recruiting relationships with hundreds of global organizations.
Before HBS, Jana worked in the private sector as a director at A. T. Kearney's media and entertainment executive search practice and held management positions with CBS Corporation and RP Companies. Jana earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. She currently serves as a Trustee for the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham and an Overseer for the Museum of Science, Boston.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Executive Director, External Relations
Job Titles:
- Jesse Philips Professor of Manufacturing / Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community
- Jesse Philips Professor of Manufacturing and Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community, Harvard Business School
Job Titles:
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs
Job Titles:
- Jesse Philips Professor of Manufacturing / Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community
- Jesse Philips Professor of Manufacturing and Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community, Harvard Business School
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- Shanghai Kangkanghui Technology Company / MBA 2011
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- Co - Founder, Spruce & Co
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- Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Promotions and Tenure
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- GP Investimentos, 3G Capital Management / OPM 35
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- Co - Founder & CEO, Janus Biotherapeutics
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- Planetary Power / MBA 2007
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- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Executive Director, Baker Library
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- Executive Secretary
- Hong Kong Staff Member
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- Member of the HBS Online Leadership Team
- Managing Director of Business Operations and Strategic Alliances
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- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Chief Executive Officer, Harvard Business Publishing
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- Co - Founder & CEO, Earnest
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- Member of the HBS Online Leadership Team
- George E. Bates Professor
- Senior Associate Dean, HBS Online and Executive Education
Luis M. Viceira is the George E. Bates Professor in the Finance Unit and Senior Associate Dean for Executive Education at Harvard Business School, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research, course development, and teaching focus on the areas of investment management and capital markets. A member of the faculty of the Harvard Business School since 1998, Professor Viceira has taught an array of Finance courses in the MBA program, Executive Education programs, and the Business Economics Ph.D. program, and has served in several leadership positions. He is currently the instructor for the Investment Management for Professional and Personal Investors course in the Elective Curriculum of the MBA Program, co-chair of the HBS-CFA Institute Investment Management Program for leaders of asset management firms, and co-chair of the Asset Management Conference for HBS Alums. He also serves as co-chair of the NBER-NBIM Conference on New Developments in Long-Term Asset Management.
Prof. Viceira has developed extensive research and case writing in long-term asset allocation, asset pricing, fixed income markets, household finance, international finance, the management and organization of large institutional investors, and innovation and disruption in the money management industry. He is currently studying the implications of financial globalization for long-term asset management; the impact of monetary policy on bond and equity market risks; the disruptive power of fintech in the asset management industry; the growth in index investing and in activist investing, and the impact of such growth and the interaction between the two on capital markets and corporations.
Professor Viceira is the author of multiple journal articles published in leading academic and practitioner-oriented finance journals, book chapters, Harvard Business School case studies, and the book Strategic Asset Allocation (with John Y. Campbell). His research has received several awards recognizing its contributions to the theory and practice of asset management, including the 2002 TIAA-CREF Paul Samuelson Award, the 2005 Graham and Dodd Award by the CFA Institute, the 2004 Prize for Financial Innovation of the Q-Group, Inquire Europe, and Inquire U.K., and more recently the 2014 Arthur Warga Award by the The Society for Financial Studies.
Professor Viceira holds a bachelor degree from the Universidad Autonoma in Madrid, and a M.A. degree and a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Harvard University. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a fellow of the TIAA-CREF Institute in New York.
Professor Viceira is currently a member of the Asset Allocation Advisory Board at NBIM, the manager of the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Norway, a Governor (Public) of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Harvard University Trustee of the Charles E. Cotting Trust, a Trustee at Milton Academy. He is also a past trustee of the Financial Accounting Foundation and Belmont Day School, among others. He also serves as director, external consultant, and advisor to asset management firms, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, international organizations, insurance companies, and not-for-profit organizations.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, LM Invest
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- 3G Capital Management / OPM 10
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- Assistant Director, Research
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- Co - Founder & CEO, Bluemercury
María Emilia Correa is co-founder of Sistema B, a Latin American organization promoting new economies and B Corporations. In her interview, she recalls how after returning to Colombia in 1985 after finishing her masters in New York City, she took a job with The Nature Conservancy and the Natura Foundation where she pursued her interest in biological resource conservation. After attending United Nations Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, Correa became inspired by the idea that the business sector could be a positive agent to build a balanced and sustainable society. After working with in several civil society organizations focused on helping business to become more sustainable, in 1999 she became the first sustainability vice president at Grupo Nueva, a multinational investment holding company specialized in forestry and wood derivatives. This experience enabled her to acquire expertise in many key business functions. This interview is part of the Creating Emerging Markets project which provides a unique research and teaching resource on business leadership in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East over recent decades.
Job Titles:
- Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling Professor of Business Administration / Senior Associate Dean, Chair, MBA Program
In October 2022, he HBS Club of Singapore hosted a Global Networking Night for alumni. Professor Mattias Fibiger from the Business Government and International unit presented on the topic of the semiconductor wars between the U.S. and China. Starting with the origins and the development of the semiconductor industry, Professor Fibiger traced the participation of various key countries in the semiconductor industry, and the decisions and events that brought about today's US-China rivalry in semiconductors. The presentation was followed by an energetic Q&A session. More than 50 alumni from the Asia-Pacific region participated in this in-person event.
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- Co - Founder & COO, MBAs across America
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- Your Score Indicates That You Are an Intermediate Strategist. to Further Develop Your Strategy, We Recommend the Following Selections
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- Scoot Networks / MBA 2007
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- West Africa Vocational Education
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- Managing Director and Executive Director, Harvard Center Shanghai Executive Director, Asia - Pacific Research Center
Nancy Dai has 15 years of experience in doing business and management research in China. She has led a team of researchers to conduct research and develop cases in the Asia-Pacific region for HBS in addition to writing over 30 cases about companies in China. From November 2018 to March 2020, she worked at TencentX University and led the development and execution of executive education programs for start-up founders and Chairman/CEOs of well-established companies in China. She was a co-author of two books: "Gains and Pains: Globalization of Chinese Firms" and "Winning by Talent". Nancy has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business in Canada and an M.A. in English Language & Literature from Shanghai International Studies University.
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- Founder & President, Enterprise Solutions to Poverty
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- Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration / Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research
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- Executive Director
- Executive Director at Harvard Business School Japan Research Center
Nobuo Sato is Executive Director at Harvard Business School Japan Research Center. Prior to joining HBS in August 2009, he was a global partner at Egon Zehnder International, a worldwide executive search and assessment firm. During his more than 15-year tenure there, he launched the firm's Tokyo-based financial service practice group and oversaw all executive searches in the financial sector. In addition, he managed a corporate governance practice group and oversaw the firm's Japan-based industry sector research team. Prior to Egon Zehnder, Nobuo worked for 15 years in the Tokyo and London offices of the Industrial Bank of Japan (now part of Mizuho Financial Group).
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- Assistant Director, Administration
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- Brazil Office & Regional Program Manager
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- Executive Director
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Member of the HBS Online Leadership Team
- Executive Director, Harvard Business School Online and Executive Education
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- Co - Founder & CEO, StorageNetworks
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- Corporate Relations Director, HBS Career & Professional Development
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- Executive Director
- Harvard Business School in 2017 As Executive Director
Pippa Tubman Armerding joined Harvard Business School in 2017 as Executive Director for the HBS Africa Research Center, opened this year in Johannesburg, South Africa. Pippa's work spans sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the development of cases and support for faculty research in the region. She also plays an important role in establishing and fostering relationships with companies and alumni in Africa on behalf of HBS.
A lawyer and strategist with 20 years of experience as an attorney and business professional operating across Africa, Europe and North America, Pippa has held a number of leadership roles with large multinationals working across the continent. Prior positions includes serving as Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs for Microsoft South Africa, and Director of Pan-African Strategic Initiatives for Coca-Cola South Africa.
As a graduate of Harvard College, Pippa has been an active alumnus, serving in a number of volunteer roles for the alumni community in South Africa. In addition, Pippa holds a JD from New York University, specializing in international law, and is fluent in French. Raised in Liberia, Pippa returned to Africa 13 years ago and has since lived in South Africa and Kenya.
Prof. Louis Wells, Jr. is named the first Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Business.
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- Associate Director, Community Engagement
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- Senior Associate Director, Research
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- Co - Founder & CEO, Xometry
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- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
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- Co - Founder & CEO, Hourly Nerd
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- George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking
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- CEO, Peek.Com
- Founder and CEO of Peek
Ruzwana Bashir is one of those talented people who could have taken a variety of paths to success. But Bashir, who grew up in North Yorkshire town in a small community of British-Pakistani families, knew from a young age that she wanted to become an entrepreneur and start her own business.
Bashir fulfilled that entrepreneurial dream before she turned 30. As founder and CEO of Peek, Bashir has gotten the full startup experience in a short time. With Peek.com she is already disrupting the $100 billion global activities market. Peek.com is one-stop shop where travelers and locals can book the best experiences (from wine tours to swimming with dolphins), and the company provides robust online booking tools for activity operators to help them better run their businesses. The company has already been labeled "The OpenTable of activities" by CNBC, and selected as one the ‘10 Most Innovative Companies in Travel' by Fast Company alongside Airbnb and Google.
Bashir used her experience and contacts at startups like the Gilt Groupe and Artsy to secure millions in funding from the likes of Google's Eric Schmidt, Twitter's Jack Dorsey and TPG's David Bonderman. By 2014, she'd been interviewed by Charlie Rose and was named by Fortune as one of the 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs and by Forbes as one of their "30 Under 30" in Technology
Bashir credits HBS as the source of her decision to leap into a high tech venture. Having excelled academically, Bashir studied Economics at Oxford and became the first British Asian woman to become president of the Oxford Union, the famed debate society that spawned a long line of notable British political figures. "At Oxford, I didn't have a firm idea on my career path," she told an interviewer. "I just knew I wanted to work with smart people and learn about how to build a business."
After graduating, Bashir moved to London, joined Goldman Sachs and later the Blackstone Group with the intention of a career in finance. But the entrepreneurial itch she felt as a child returned when she attended HBS (MBA 2011) and became intrigued by the startup culture, specifically in the high tech space, and made the decision to eschew the lucrative world of private equity for the lure of the Silicon Valley.
While at HBS, she had a chance to work with Kevin Ryan at Gilt Groupe which inspired her decision to head to San Francisco with little more than an impressive resume and an idea. The idea for Peek came to Bashir after she had been planning a trip to Istanbul for her birthday. "I spent 20 hours looking up things to do and I wished there was a one-stop shop to book amazing activities online," Bashir told Charlie Rose. In her typical relentless fashion, she searched for the perfect partner with the technology savvy to build the company. She teamed up with Oskar Bruening, an MIT graduate with vast technology experience in the startup world.
The goal today, Bashir said, is to move the world from one of materialism, where we buy products (such as houses or cars or clothes), to one of experiences, where we focus on having special moments with the people we care about. Despite all the consumerism of the last 50 years, numerous studies have shown that spending our money on experiences makes us much happier than buying things. Part of the allure of Peek is to not only make sure we're able to more easily access and book the experiences that increase our well-being, but also to help small activity businesses all over the world to come online for the first time (as many don't have websites and less than 20% have online booking,)
Job Titles:
- Member of the HBS Online Leadership Team
- Managing Director of Technology, HBS Online and Executive Education
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- Dubai Staff Member
- Research Associate
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- Chairman and CEO of Hikma Pharmaceuticals
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- IronPort Systems / MBA 1995
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- Senior Program Coordinator / Singapore Staff
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- Member of the HBS Online Leadership Team
- Senior Managing Director
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- Member of the HBS Online Leadership Team
- Senior Director of Program Services
Srikant M. Datar became the 11th dean of Harvard Business School on 1 January 2021.
During his tenure at the School, he has served as Senior Associate Dean for University Affairs (including Faculty Chair of the Harvard Innovation Lab), for Research, for Executive Education, for Faculty Development, and for Faculty Recruiting.
A graduate with distinction from the University of Bombay, Datar received gold medals upon graduation from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India. A Chartered Accountant, he holds two masters degrees and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Datar's research and course development have been in the areas of cost management and management control, strategy implementation, governance, and, more recently, management education, design thinking and innovative problem solving, and machine learning and artificial intelligence. He has published his work on activity-based management, quality, productivity, time-based competition, new product development, bottleneck management, incentives, and performance evaluation in journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, Contemporary Accounting Research, and Management Science. He is a co-author of the leading cost accounting textbook, Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis (Prentice-Hall) and of Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads (Harvard Business Press). He has authored more than 30 cases on topics ranging from Data Science at Target to Nippon Steel.
Datar has taught MBA and executive education classes in design thinking, innovation, big data, and strategy implementation. Before joining the HBS faculty he held appointments at both Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University, where he received the George Leland Bach Award for Excellence in the Classroom and the Distinguished Teaching Award, respectively.
Datar serves on the Board of Directors of ICF International, Novartis AG, Stryker Corporation, and T-Mobile US, and has worked with many corporations on consulting and field-based projects. He was honored by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as the Public Company Director for 2020. He is a member of the American Accounting Association and the Institute of Management Accountants. He has served on the editorial board of several journals and presented his research to academic and executives audiences in North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
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- Research and Program Assistant
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- Research and Educational Coordinator
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- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
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- Business Administration, Harvard Business School
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- Assistant Manager for Administration
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- Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration / Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research
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- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Executive Director, Division of Research and Faculty Development
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- Founder & CEO, TrustRadius
Vincent Dessain, a Belgian national, is the Executive Director of the Europe Research Center (ERC). Vincent has extensive management and business education experience. He is a co-author of two books in finance, a book chapter on intercultural management and a co-author of a wide variety of articles in academic journals, case studies and course development notes (cases can be found on www.hbsp.harvard.edu or here). He is a frequent guest speaker invited by academia, business and government to speak on topics in management and education.
Prior to his appointment at the Europe Research Center, he was Senior Director of Corporate Relationships at INSEAD in Fontainebleau and elected as the representative of the INSEAD administration on the School's Board of Directors. Earlier in his career, Vincent has been active as a management consultant with Booz-Allen & Hamilton in New York and Paris. His field of consulting was international market entry strategies, financial products, strategy, negotiation and implementation of cross border alliances, financial restructuring, mergers and acquisitions. He has also been active as a Foreign Associate with the law firm Shearman & Sterling in New York in Banking and Finance and as an Advisor to the President of the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
Vincent speaks five European languages (French, English, German, Dutch and Italian). He holds a law degree from Leuven University (Belgium), a Business Administration degree from Louvain University (Belgium), an MBA from Harvard Business School (Boston, USA), and a PhD in management and communication from Université Paris VIII, France, on corporate social responsibility.
Job Titles:
- Motion Computing / MBA 1995
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Educational Programs