Myra M. Hart '62, one of the founders of Staples and a member of the Cornell Board of Trustees, will speak on entrepreneurship and visit with students during a lecture and reception Wednesday, Oct. 30, in the Statler Auditorium.
Hart's lecture, "Taking the Risk Out of Entrepreneurship," will begin at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a pizza reception from 7 to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Hart's speech is part of the Moses and Loulu Seltzer Speaker Series hosted by Cornell's universitywide Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Program (EPE) and the Cornell Entrepreneur Organization (CEO).
Before obtaining her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1995, Hart was one of four founding officers of Staples, the Office Superstore. She participated in raising the initial venture funding, served as the company's first vice president of operations, then took responsibility for the company's geographic and business expansion as group vice president of growth and development.
Currently the Class of 1961 Professor of Management at Harvard Business School, Hart teaches several courses in its MBA program. In 1998, she and a fellow faculty member received the Apgar Award for Innovation in Teaching for a new course entitled "Starting New Ventures."
In 1999 Hart was elected to the Cornell Board of Trustees and serves on the Investment Committee and the Committee on Alumni Affairs and Development. She also is an active member of the President's Council of Cornell Women.
Hart is a director of the National Foundation for Women Business Owners and a member of the Boston Club and the MIT Enterprise Council.
The Moses and Loulu Seltzer Speaker Series was established in the mid-1980s by Sam Seltzer '48 to honor his parents for their commitment to education. The series brings outstanding business creators, developers and leaders to campus to interact with students.
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