The Lauder Institute is a unique joint-degree program at the University of Pennsylvania where students earn an MBA from the Wharton School or a JD from Penn Law, combined with an MA in International Studies from the School of Arts & Sciences. Lauder students join a small, tight-knit community passionate about international management issues and global studies, receiving the education they need to conduct business and law confidently in global markets. Learn more at http://lauder.wharton.upenn.edu/. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-39404701-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();
Lauder's 30th Birthday Bash: The Largest Gathering of Lauder Alumni in History!
Lauder Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Alumni Gathering, New Capital Campaign
by Ying Wang WG’14
It was over 30 years ago that brothers Leonard and Ronald Lauder were caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic on their way to visit an Esteé Lauder plant in Long Island. As they inched along the expressway, the brothers began talking about the increasing need for globally-minded business leaders and the lack of educational institutions that emphasized the combination of business, finance, foreign language and cross-culture proficiency. Thus, in what may be the “most productive traffic jam in history” according to Ronald, the concept for the Lauder Institute was born. Three decades and over 1,500 alumni later, the Lauder Institute is recognized internationally as one of the world’s premier intuitions for grooming global business leaders.
This past weekend in New York City, over 700 alumni, students and distinguished guests gathered to celebrate this milestone and plan for Lauder’s bright future. The three-day affair was organized by the Lauder Institute Alumni Association under the leadership of Leonardo Navarro (Lauder/WG ’11) and Matthew Axelrod (Lauder/WG’11) and would not have been possible without the generosity and support of the Lauder family. Festivities kicked off with a reception at the Neue Galerie, co-founded by Ronald Lauder and continued into Saturday with a Lauder alumni forum during the day, a spectacular gala at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), addresses by iconic global business leaders PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi and Executive Chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies William Lauder, and a variety of activities to connect and engage the Lauder community.
“It’s a rare thing for me to see a dream fulfilled…but I see it tonight,” Ronald Lauder opened up to guests during the gala. “You make me very proud. You are the very best.”
Lauder Director Mauro Guillen with Class of 2013 Lauder alumnae Lisa Lovallo, Paula Herrera, and Alicia Figueroa.
A Gift to the 21st Century
A global leader, according to Nooyi, is not simply someone with passport full of stamps, but rather someone who can feel at home in every city. The key is to have empathy for different cultures and communities as well as to be constantly curious. With products in over 150 countries, a consumer company like PepsiCo needs to “be local in every country,” says Nooyi, making investing in understanding and giving back to the local communities in which they operate extremely important.
The theme of “giving back” was echoed throughout the weekend’s events, as alumni were encouraged to help shape the future of the Lauder Institute through contributing their ideas, time and resources. During the evening Alumni Gala, Lauder Advisory Board member René Kern WG/Lauder ’90 unveiled the Institute’s first ever capital campaign to raise $20 Million to invest in building the next generation of global leaders. The Lauder family will match dollar for dollar the first $10 million raised by Lauder alumni and friends. Contributions will go towards increasing the already strong financial aid provided to Lauder students, promoting innovation through developing new programs like the global program, investing in new technology and more.
Feeling the Lauder Love
The 2013 Lauder Alumni Weekend represented the largest gathering of alumni in Lauder history, with attendees traveling as far as Asia and Europe to attend the celebrations. The strength, diversity, and vibrancy of the Lauder community was on full display as the tight-knit community celebrated Lauder’s first 30 years and looked forward to the future.
For current Lauder students in the classes of 2014 and 2015, it was encouraging to see the strength of the alumni bonds and to fell the momentum of three decades of Lauder love. As one alumnus perfectly encapsulated: “I may be a bachelor, but I have the largest family in the world.”
By Sarit Henig, Lauder/Wharton Class of 2015 and member of Lauder’s French program
I landed in Philadelphia on July 31st after spending two of the most fulfilling, packed months of my life in Paris on the Lauder summer immersion. I had four days to assemble furniture, unpack and fully stock my apartment before Wharton pre-term started. I spent my last few free days organizing my life and reconnecting with Lauderites from different tracks. Our small bubble of 70-odd students was about to be surrounded by more than 700 who were fresh off their jobs or extended vacations and ready to start their MBA experience. I had no idea what to expect.
Wharton pre-term was a loud, energetic, exciting and exhausting three-week experience. Our class of over 800 students was broken into 4 clusters of 200, and we spent most of our waking hours getting to know each other over different social mixers and sport games. Our cluster leader, a former football coach, is one of the most enthusiastic people I’ve ever met in my life. He set the tone by teaching us cluster cheers and making sure we let everyone else know we were here to win. Coming from a small liberal arts college that didn’t even have a football team, I felt like I’d landed on another planet. I couldn’t have been further away from my Paris experience—where are my cafes and pastry shops?!?!—but I was finding my way day by day.
By the time Wharton classes started at the end of August, I was a pro at new beginnings—this was my 5th since May! I’m taking my Wharton courses with a cohort of 70 students from my cluster, including several Lauderites and another French tracker. I have a learning team of 5 students I work with on group projects. And of course I have my two Lauder classes (this semester French and International Political Economy of Business Environments) as well. After the intense summer, I felt like I’d already been in school for a long time and it was easier for me to transition into study mode. As someone who is entirely new to business and hasn’t taken a math course since high school, I’m definitely studying more than others, but I’m fortunate to have a very tight-knit group of friends I can count on to help get through the tough subjects (meaning, every class). Some of my closest friends at Wharton are my fellow Lauder French trackers I spent the summer with in Paris, and I’m so glad I have the Lauder community within the sea of 800 in our Wharton class of 2015. I couldn’t imagine my experience without them!
Wharton has many big parties throughout the year and each one is the party to go to. Our first was the Red and Blue Ball in early September. I really enjoying our first class-wide party with everyone dressed up in red and blue, UPenn’s colors, and dancing aboard a historic sailing ship stationed in Philadelphia’s Old City. The next was the White Party, sponsored by Wharton’s LGBT club and known as one of the best parties of the year. Everyone—every single person—wore white from head to toe and we danced and drank from night until earning morning. Among the ridiculous chaos of such a huge party, we grabbed a Lauder corner and took a group picture. Wharton has so many great opportunities for us, and we are each finding our own niches within the craziness (and it sometimes does feel crazy), but we always end up together at the end of the night. I’m very excited to continue my Wharton-Lauder experience and can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store.
Mark for calendars for upcoming Lauder admissions events! Lauder will be a part of Wharton’s Military Visit Day on October 3rd and the LGBT Visit Day on October 24th. I will also be hosting a Lauder informational webinar on October 22nd at 5PM EST to share more about this amazing program. Please join us! Registration is on Wharton’s Events Page. http://mbablog.wharton.upenn.edu/events
Remember, we also host campus visits all year!
Thanks!
Meghan Ellis
Associate Director for Admissions and Student Affairs at Lauder
Email: [email protected]
Mauro Guillen at the Aspen Institute Faculty Pioneer Award ceremony, with Leonard and William Lauder; Linda Johnson; friends from the Lauder Institute's board Jan Burns and Norm Savoie; and Kim Conroy, Lauder's Global Relationship Advisor.
Mauro Guillen, Lauder's Director and recipient of the Aspen Institute's 2013 Faculty Pioneer Award, talks about his Lauder INTS 721 class (International Political Economy of Business Environments). This class is one of two core classes all first-year Lauder students take. We welcome prospective Lauder applicants to Professor Guillen's class every Tuesday and Thursday in the fall.
As many of you already know, the Wharton/Lauder Round 1 application deadline of October 1st is quickly approaching. This is a very exciting time for the Lauder admissions team as we prepare to receive your applications and begin the process of crafting the Lauder Class of 2016. Our office is always available to answer questions you may have as you put the final touches on your application (or at any stage of the process). I can be reached at [email protected], and I look forward to getting to know many of you during the upcoming admissions process.
Aspen Institute honors Lauder Director Mauro Guillen
We are thrilled to announce that Lauder Director Mauro Guillen has been honored with the Aspen Institute's 2013 Faculty Pioneer Awards from the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program for their demonstrated leadership and risk-taking in integrating complex business and society issues into their teaching.
Read more here: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/news/2013/09/18/wharton-esade-professors-honored-aspen-institute-business-society-program-faculty
By Sarit Henig, Lauder/Wharton Class of 2015 and member of Lauder's French program
Picture: Pernod Ricard corporate visit, end July 2013
Our summer was extremely busy, and I did not have the budget or physical space in my Parisian apartment to prepare or purchase elaborate meals. Still, I ate better than I have in most other places because the standards for food quality in France are exceedingly high. Additionally, I am a serious chocolate fan and I was very excited to do a tour of the city’s best spots, but I was even happier to discover I didn't need to rush anywhere and one bite from the corner shop was enough to satisfy me. Indeed, you ask Parisians what are their favorite restaurants or food shops, and each person will give you an entirely different list of spots that are all singularly excellent.
Through our program, we were able to have several finer French dining experiences. A classic French meal has three courses—appetizer, main course, and cheese or dessert, all accompanied by wine bien sûr—and can take upwards of two hours. Dishes are filled with rich meat, cheese, and cream sauces but portion sizes are small, so you can eat these dishes and feel indulgent without ruining your health (really- I promise). It could also be because we were so busy each day that we had no time to grab snacks, and we reached each evening meal exhausted and ready to do justice to the menu. And wine was an ever-present part of our lives—an accompaniment to every meal that emphasized quality and variety even at low prices.
A two-hour lunch break used to be de rigueur but today, more and more French people are seeking faster, lighter options for their afternoon meals. The French culinary scene has responded with bistros all over the city and even food trucks that serve less expensive, simpler fare without compromising quality. Many French are whole-heartedly attached to their culinary traditions, and some decry these new establishments as an invasion of fast food à l'américain. As an American, I can say these spots have nothing to do with fast food as we define it in the United States.
I really understood the depth of French culture’s value for food during our week-long trip to Morocco. I shared a home-stay with an older couple who were very traditional in most respects. But for breakfast every day they had bread, cheese, and coffee—a very French way to start the day. Although Morocco ended its French colonial period decades ago, their daily eating habits are decidedly marked by French influence.
I don’t mean to say that unhealthy eating habits do not exist in France. France is McDonald’s largest market outside the US, and the chips and cookies aisle in the grocery store is ever expanding. Economic uncertainty and the increasingly fast pace of life pressures more people to cut out lengthy lunches in favor of a quick sandwich. But for me, as someone who is tired of years of bland lunches eaten in front of my office desk, it was extremely refreshing to experience a culture that still prioritizes taking a pause in the day and enjoying food as one of the finer things in life. This value is something I’m trying to integrate into my daily perspective at Wharton. This remains one of my favorite aspects of my whole summer experience, and the way in which I most markedly felt the vast differences between France and the US.
Are you interested in gastronomy and globalization? Check out a recent Global Knowledge Lab (GKL) from the Lauder Class of 2013 titled ‘Gastronomy and Global Cities’.
By Nimish Shukla, Lauder/Wharton Class of 2015 and member of Lauder’s Hindi program.
There’s a famous Urdu couplet that reads:
Justaji jiski thi hume, woh nah mila
Is bahanne se magar dekh li duniya hum ne
Which, when translated reads:
I didn’t find what I was searching for
But on that pretext, I saw the entire world
I joined the Lauder Hindi track nearly three months ago, spending the last two months with the other Hindi trackers on our summer immersion program. When I applied to Lauder late last year, I was working with a not for profit in Mumbai through the American India Fellowship for Service after a radical career change. Previously, I had spent four years working in energy investment banking with a mid-market firm in DC. While I enjoyed the work and the people I worked with, I found myself yearning for something more. I wasn’t exactly sure what that was, but I knew I wanted more international experience and I wanted to try my hand in the development sector. When I was thinking about business school, I realized the Lauder program was the perfect fit--allowing me an opportunity to continue to build my business understanding and skill set, while also working on improving command of Hindi and incorporating an international scope to the business school education.
The Hindi Track with Mr. Shiv Khemka (From Left to Right: Amar, Vidya, Akshay, Nimish, Nachiketa, Malika, Mr. Khemka)
The Hindi track spent eight weeks in India completing a mix of Hindi classes, cultural immersions and meeting with business and political officials. We spent the first two weeks in Delhi, and besides the excruciating heat, all settled in and began working on bettering our Hindi. The next two weeks were spent in Mumbai where we had the unparalleled opportunity to meet business leaders in a range of industries including healthcare, real estate, investment banking, private equity and non-profits. My personal favorite was with Mr. Shiv Khemka a Lauder graduate and the Vice Chairman of the Sun Group. Mr. Khemka was able to provide a unique lens for us as a veteran of the Lauder program and as a business pioneer in South America, Russia and now India.
After spending a rainy two weeks in Mumbai we head back to Delhi where we continued to focus on our Hindi classes and meetings with political officials. We were fortunate to meet with M.S. Ahluwalia the Deputy Chairman of India’s Planning Commission, Mr. Shashi Tharoor a famed author and currently the Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Wharton’s own Mr. Sachin Pilot (WG 2002) the Minister for Corporate Affairs. I left each of these meetings with a renewed excitement for myself for my next couple of years at Wharton and for the next several years pursuing potential opportunities in India. Gaining the insight from these leaders in the political space provided us invaluable insight into some of the difficulties India faces and the resulting opportunities that are going to be available to individuals like ourselves.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the last couple of months and quickly realized the opportunity to see India through a new academic framework, meeting and conversing with leaders of politics and business and of course spending time with the four other amazing Hindi track Lauderites is one that will continue to be a turning point in both my personal and professional life. And now back in Philly and starting up classes at Wharton, I’m still a bit unsure as to what exactly it is “I’m looking for” but I’m positive that I couldn’t have picked a better place and program to help me see and better understand the world. And hopefully I’ll be able figure out exactly what it is that I’m interested in looking into for the next several years.
By Kamran Mahmood, Lauder/Wharton Class of 2015 and member of Lauder's German program.
Throughout the Lauder summer immersion in Germany, we could feel the role America plays in the world. Especially in Berlin, America is everywhere. From Checkpoint Charlie to the U.S. embassy at the Brandenburg Gate, America not only lives in prominent landmarks, but also the hearts of Berliners. Coincidentally, Barack Obama also visited Germany for the first time as President while we were there in June.
Just as omnipresent as America is the powerful Wharton/Lauder network. Our Lauder group was invited to the US Embassy in Berlin by His Excellency the Ambassador of the United States of America, Mr. Philip Murphy, who is also a Wharton alum.
We also had the honor of joining the official Fourth of July celebrations organized by the U.S. Embassy! The celebrations took place at the American Academy in Berlin, located at the historic Wannsee, and served as a modern symbol of the amicable relationship between America and Germany. The beautiful evening with the American community in Berlin culminated in fireworks. Fireworks usually signify something important--they mark the beginning of a new life, new pledges and goals, and important events. To me, these fireworks signaled a new chapter in my life. I had packed my bags; said my final goodbye to Singapore, my adopted home for the last eight years; and was about to begin my new life in the U.S. For at least the next two years, while I study at Wharton, July 4th will be an important date on my calendar.
About Kamran: Kamran was born and raised in Pakistan and attended the National University of Singapore. Prior to Lauder/Wharton, Kamran worked at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) out of Singapore. In addition to speaking Urdu, English, and German, Kamran also speaks intermediate Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
Wharton's newly launched website features several profiles of Lauder students. Visit the new page to read about our students (Lauder students include Lisa Lovallo, Jeanne Chen, Ajay Anand, Tom Baldwin, and Azita Habibi).
A new Lauder Institute program reflects the changing face of business
This May we welcomed our first group of Global Program students to Lauder. The exceptionally accomplished and diverse group, with students hailing from Brazil to Cameroon, just completed their summer immersion in Washington D.C., South Carolina, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Tanzania, and London. Their summer immersion is a departure from the language-centered immersion experienced by their Lauder peers and emphasizes strategies for navigating the interconnected world of modern business and the role of regulation and government within it. We are excited to welcome them (and all the Lauder students) back to Philadelphia for the start of Wharton’s Pre-Term.
To learn more about the Global Program check out the recent article in Wharton Magazine! http://whartonmagazine.com/issues/summer-2013/total-global/
Seratis, a healthcare technology startup founded by Lane Rettig (Lauder Chinese/WG '14) and Divya Dhar (WG '14), recently graduated from Philadelphia-based DreamIt Health's inaugural accelerator class and pitched to a full house of press, investors and other supporters at DreamIt Demo Day. Seratis, a patient-centric mobile communication platform, brings doctors and nurses out of the pager era. Seratis leverages smartphone capabilities to allow healthcare providers to coordinate, track and analyze care across the team, getting patients out of hospital faster. The startup was featured in TechCrunch today and you can read the article here.
Skillbridge, co-founded by Brett Lewis (Lauder '13), was featured in TechCrunch today. Read the whole article here.
The Lauder Institute currently offers advanced coursework in nine languages that correspond to five regional areas of the world. Soon, the Institute may need to add Burmese to the mix: The newly opened economy of Myanmar (Burma) has the potential to be the next big growth story in Asia.
Not so long ago, China’s emergence as an economic power convinced me and many of my classmates at Lauder to look East and learn Mandarin. Being in the Chinese track, I became aware of Myanmar early on because it had nearly become a client state of China. Its huge neighbor to the north was extracting its resources and coveting it as an overland bypass to the shipping chokepoint of the Malacca Strait.
China was ratcheting up its economy by the time I graduated from Lauder, and I entered the world of private equity to get a piece of the action. I spent years living in such places as Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Macau, keeping an eye on Myanmar even though I was immersed in Chinese ventures.
Rich in resources and wedged between China and India, Myanmar’s eventual rise seemed inevitable. When a reformist government arrived on the scene a few years ago, the historic old country’s potential to reset its international alliances and rebalance its relationship with China suddenly became realistic.
At that point, I needed some on-the-ground intelligence and headed to Mandalay, the epicenter of Myanmar-China trade. Relying on my Chinese language, I huddled there in conversation with Chinese residents and influential Burmese to assess Myanmar as a potential investment opportunity. In due course, I relocated to Singapore to get closer to the action. My investment partner and I then made our first move, creating a travel website designed to help reshape the image of Myanmar as a destination.
Here’s the point: Without my time at Lauder, I likely would not have recognized the business opportunity in Myanmar—or might have done so too late. I’m pleased to help Lauder plant its flag in this country early on.
In partnership with Priceline, I launched MyanmarBurma.com to give others an opportunity to visit and learn about this fascinating ancient country. If I were in school today with Asia in my career sights, I probably would be thinking about learning Burmese....
Go, Lauder!
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