Business summit marks 20th anniversary of Sam Johnson's gift

By Linda Myers

Top business leaders will convene for a summit on the transformation of business at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management Wednesday, April 14, and Thursday, April 15.

The summit marks the 20th anniversary of the $20 million endowment gift to the school from university alumni Samuel C. Johnson '50, Imogene Powers Johnson '52 and the Johnson family. The school, which was founded in 1946, added "Samuel Curtis Johnson" to its name in 1984 to recognize the extraordinary generosity of the Johnson family. Sam Johnson is now chairman emeritus of the Johnson Family of Companies, familiarly known as Johnson Wax. The school's name honors Johnson's great-grandfather, namesake and the founder of the company.

In announcing the gift, Johnson, who earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell but his MBA at Harvard, said he chose Cornell as the recipient over his other alma mater and other institutions because he thought he had a better opportunity to make an impact here and because the school was "not encumbered by the cobwebs of tradition." While the gift came with no strings attached, Johnson said he hoped some of the endowment pay-out from the gift and the capital campaign that it sparked would help the school carve a niche for itself in such areas as entrepreneurship, international business, business ethics and businesses adapting to rapidly changing technologies. He also wanted to see MBA students continue to take advantage of the rest of the university, particularly the sciences, to expand their knowledge base and become better managers.

Now, 20 years later, Johnson's vision for the school seems almost prophetic, with initiatives in all the areas he identified, a series of immersion courses and other innovative programs in MBA education, superlative resources in Sage Hall, and continuing recognition as one of the best MBA programs in the United States.

Among those speaking at the summit's events commemorating the Johnson gift are graduates of the school and Cornell who have gone on to become corporate leaders -- many of them creating, transforming and sustaining successful organizations around the world. The talks and panels are free and open to the public, but seating is limited. The full summit schedule is available at this Web site: http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/anniversary/.

Opening the summit next Wednesday will be Sanford I. Weill '55, chairman of Citigroup, who will deliver an address at 4:30 p.m. in Kennedy Hall's Call Alumni Auditorium, with overflow seating in PepsiCo Auditorium, 305 Ives Hall.

Robert Swieringa, the school's Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean, will begin Thursday's events at 8 a.m. in the Statler Auditorium, that day's venue. Among the speakers are Walter LaFeber, the Tisch Distinguished University Professor at Cornell; Jay Walker '77, founder and chairman, Walker Digital, LLC, and founder, Priceline.com; Warren Staley, MBA '67, chair and CEO, Cargill Inc.; Abby Joseph Cohen '73, managing director, Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Stephen Friedman '59, assistant for economic policy to President George W. Bush and director of the National Economic Council; Jeffrey P. Parker '65, M.Eng. '66, MBA '70, chairman and CEO, CCBN; TV personality Bill Nye '77, "The Science Guy"; and Peter Knight '77, director, Medicis Pharmaceutical and other firms. For times, see the Web site listed above.

The summit ends Thursday after the Hatfield Address by Jeffrey Immelt, chair and CEO of General Electric Co., at 4:30 p.m. in Call Auditorium of Kennedy Hall. (Read related story.)

For further information, contact event coordinator Lauren Pecoraro at 254-6454 or lkp8@cornell.edu.