Johanna Gnall '03 Speaks at Smith School Commencement Ceremony
[Transcript of address, May 23, 2003]
Good morning! Dean Frank, distinguished faculty, family,
friends, and members of the graduating class of 2003! I am
honored to speak to you on this exciting day. Today we are
celebrating our growth and achievements after 4 years at the
University of Maryland and our bright futures as we move
toward the next chapter of our lives.
As you are sitting here today amongst friends and family, I am
sure that you are reflecting on not just one great moment or
hilarious adventure from your college career, but a multitude of
memories that together form a kaleidoscope of colorful
experiences, people, and events.
As a community we have all grown immensely through our shared experiences on
campus. We have shared the sadness of September 11 and the tornadoes that hit our
school. We also endured the stress of the sniper attacks and random crime that riddles
College Park. While these are not the happiest memories, they are just one part, one angle
of the kaleidoscope that forms our history here at Maryland.
The other angle, or more glittery, spectacular piece of our kaleidoscope, which
overshadows those events, is all of the great memories or what I like to call “good
times.”
The first experience that comes to mind, aside from living in a triple in Denton Hall my
freshman year, was running like a wild banshee with thousands of other basketball fans
across North campus to Fraternity row where the infamous Maryland Duke Basketball
riots took place. Never have I experienced so much chaos. And, I think we will all
remember where we were during the 2002 Men’s National Championship basketball
game (I was sitting on the floor of Cole Field house watching the game and wondering
what it would be like to eventually leave Cole for Comcast.) And how we were taunting
our poor friends at other schools who didn’t have a Juan Dixon on their team…
We all have shared late-night study sessions and infamous group projects in the Van
Munching Computer lab, where ten million projects are all buzzing along at once. I have
made great friends in my group projects, and in the professional business organization
Phi Chi Theta.
I think these relationships can be added to our great memories, along with formal dances,
fraternity pranks, workouts at the CRC, dollar Bud nights at Santa Fe, and yes, even
classes.
Perhaps the most important thing we learn, our last lesson from the Robert H. Smith
School of Business, is that after all of the hours of classes, academic clubs, and parties, it
is the relationships we have developed and all of the wonderful people we have met,
which have made our University such a great place.
As we head off in our different directions, some to new jobs others to graduate school, or
even to explore Europe, we can all be assured that we are ready for whatever life
challenges and opportunities lie ahead. We are prepared because of our fine education
and life learning experiences here at Maryland—a place of rich diversity, constant
change, and dynamic people. If there is one thing I have learned from my professors, and
friends here at Maryland it is that being a little crazy and having big dreams are the only
way to live your life. Every business major here today has this enterprising spirit of
change, which is best articulated through the ‘Think Different: Apple Computers Ad
Campaign: (which I have changed to include our class of 2003)
Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in
the square holes. The ones who see things differently.
We’re not fond of rules, and we have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote us,
disagree with us, glorify, or vilify us. But the only thing you can't do is ignore us.
Because we change things. We push the human race forward.
And while some may see us as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the
ones who do.
To my dear parents, my sisters Shannon and Grace and my two best friends Rachel and
Pete I give you my sincerest and most appreciative thank you for all of your love,
support, and heartfelt laughs!
And to my fellow graduates, I say craziness is a great personality trait, always get your
Dr. Nickels 2 hours of fun everyday, and GOOD LUCK in everything you do!
Cara Mattison, MBA '03, Speaks at Smith School Commencement
Ceremony
[Transcript of address, May 23, 2003]
Good morning.
Following this morning’s graduation speakers, we will enjoy the
pleasure of hearing almost 1000 names called, individually, to
become the newest graduates of the Robert H. Smith School of
Business.
In many cultures, one’s name holds much significance. My
mentor and former boss, Rob Goldberg, taught me that in the
Jewish tradition each person has three names:
1) The name we are given
2) The name that others call us
3) The name that we make for ourselves
PERSONAL NAMES:
Today the school will announce the name that our parents gave to us. These are the same
names that our teachers use on the first day of each class.
We also have the names that others call us, or nicknames. I remember being surprised
during the first week of school with our Asian classmates who assumed American
nicknames. My name is Jinhai Hou, a Chinese student said to me, but you can call me
Tony.
Our time in the Smith School has provided a great opportunity to start fresh, to “reinvent”
ourselves, and to learn and practice new skills. So, as we celebrate our graduation today, I
want to focus on the names that we make for ourselves.
Before our first class, Professor Joyce Russell warned the full-time MBA students that we
should work hard on our first team project because our classmates would form
impressions of us from the beginning.
These first impressions were the foundation of the names that we would make for
ourselves while members of the Smith community.
In a short time, we did form opinions about who was smart, who was stubborn and who
was fun…and many of these impressions proved true.
SMITH’S NAME:
Not only do we have individual names, but we are part of a school that is striving to
develop a name linked with excellence.
Together, we create what that Smith name means to the rest of the world. Developing
Smith’s brand is based on our ability to find jobs, on our faculty’s research, and on
excellence in every program that interacts with the community. As the newest alumni of
the Smith school, we have a responsibility to speak highly of our experience, to recruit on
campus, to give money, and to support student, faculty and administrative efforts.
Fulfilling these responsibilities for Smith adds value to our own name and to our
collective reputation as Smith alumni.
IMPORTANCE OF REPUTATION:
If we accept that we are known by our name, then recent corporate scandals illustrate
how quickly even a good name can be tarnished. Enron, for example, shows how a oncereputable company can quickly lose all of its brand equity and become a corporate pariah.
Our ethics visit to the prison also demonstrated how bad decisions in gray areas can
forever taint a person’s good name.
Being passive is just as bad as making a bad decision. In October, I heard Ben Cohen of
Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream speak to MBA students at the national Net Impact conference.
He observed that in Europe, churches were the first buildings in most communities and
were the center of town life. Then, during the 1800s, government buildings became
prominent. During the late 1900s, business assumed architectural significance and
dominated downtowns. He said that people in those towns looked to the leaders of
churches, then government, and now business for social support and for direction.
Mr. Cohen said that business leaders have not adequately used their positions to influence
the communities in which they operate, and that today is a new time in which government
and religious leaders are looking to business skills and corporate financial resources to
improve the communities in which we live.
A recent Wall Street Journal article mentioned that not one corporate CEO had taken a
public position regarding the war in Iraq. This demonstrates that Mr. Cohen’s comment
was true, and that there is a lack of willingness among today’s leaders to get involved and
accept responsibility for their new, prominent role in our global community.
After graduation, we will once again have the opportunity to start over, to introduce
ourselves to new colleagues and to establish our name in our new professional roles. I
challenge each of you to consider the following as we take this step:
What is the name you want others to call you?
What do you want that name to mean?
How can you use your skills to enhance and bring honor to the name of your company, to
the Smith School of Business, and, to yourself?
And when complex issues come up that require the business community to act, how will
you use your name and your company’s name to make a difference?
I am proud to link my name with yours as a Smith Alumna. With that, I want to
congratulate each member of the class of 2003 on all of your hard work and success, and
I wish you the best of luck.
Dave Goldfarb, CFO of Lehman Brothers,
Speaks at Smith School Commencement Ceremony
[Transcript of address, May 23, 2003]
Thank you, Dean Frank (pictured, right with Goldfarb),
and congratulations to all of you. You should be
extremely proud of your accomplishments and that
today you graduate from one of the top business schools
in the world. To that point, I’d like to acknowledge the
terrific momentum the Smith School has gained under
Dean Frank’s leadership. I have spoken on this campus
several times in recent years, and have been extremely
impressed by the students and faculty members I’ve
met. In fact, this year, for the first time, Lehman
Brothers came to the Smith School to recruit, and I’m
thrilled that 12 of you will be joining our firm this
summer. As an alumnus, I’m proud that our school has
made such impressive strides. So congratulations, Dean
Frank, and the rest of the faculty and administration.
It’s been a while since my College Park graduation day
in 1979, which is probably the year a lot of you were born. The 24 years that have passed
since that day have provided me with a huge range of experience both personally and
professionally. Which, I suppose, is why Dean Frank asked me to speak: I’m supposed to
have gained some wisdom that I can share with you.
I’ll try to do that, but first let me tell you about that moment in history, 1979: Jimmy
Carter was president. The economy was awful. There was a crisis in the Middle East.
There was a little problem in the energy industry. Does that sound familiar? There were
also differences between then and now—interest rates were at record highs, while today
they’re at record lows; the only “reality” show on TV was watching the Terps lose
another basketball game to Dean Smith’s UNC Tar Heels; Saddam Hussein had just been
named president of Iraq; and the first-ever rap song, “Rapper’s Delight,” was released.
The world may have looked a bit different, but my classmates and I faced similar
economic and business conditions to what you face today. I’m here to tell you that, as
was the case in 1979, the current challenging economic and business environment will
improve. I’ll come back to that, but first, let me do my job as a graduation speaker, which
is to impart some of that wisdom I’m supposed to have gained over the last quarter
century.
I believe strongly that there are a few key attributes that are crucial to true long-term
success. The degrees you’re receiving today, everything you’ve learned in this great
university’s classrooms, and the relationships you’ve forged are all extremely beneficial
in giving you a leg up. You’ll make use of this education every day. But by itself, your
education is not enough to ensure success. We all define success differently. I’m not
talking about money or titles, but something bigger: equating success with doing what
you love, making a difference, feeling a real sense of accomplishment.
This applies whether you are in business, politics, public service or the arts. It’s as true
for Eminem as it is for Michael Jordan or for Hillary Clinton or for Warren Buffett. In
any endeavor you may choose; a common set of characteristics are key to success. To
me, these attributes are passion, commitment, teamwork and common sense.
This perspective was shared by the late Robert F. Kennedy, who once said, “The future
does not belong to those who are content with today and timid and fearful in the face of
bold projects and ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and
courage.”
I’d like to share an experience of mine which illustrates the Senator’s point. I apologize
in advance for dredging up the awful events of September 11, 2001, but that horrendous
day taught me many lessons, and it severely challenged me and our Firm. We relied upon
the passion and commitment, the teamwork and common sense, and the courage of our
13,000 people to get Lehman Brothers through the challenges of 9/11.
No one will ever forget that day. I was in my office in the World Financial Center, which
is across the street from the World Trade Center site, and I witnessed, up close, the
terrible tragedy unfold. Some of the other senior people at Lehman Brothers and I stayed
in our building far too long, in retrospect. We were trying to figure out what to do to
protect our people and to ensure business continuity when we should have been finding
safety. When the first tower collapsed and crashed into the northeast corner of our
building, we were still there. In fact, we thought our building had also been attacked—
there was smoke everywhere, there was no light, and our building was shaking violently.
Eventually we got out, and all but one of our employees escaped the area.
But we couldn’t go back. The building was severely damaged, and the destruction around
it prevented access. So our 6,000 New York-based people had no place to work. Our
industry is heavily dependent on technology and sophisticated telecommunications
platforms, and most of that stuff isn’t mobile—our stock and bond traders and our sales
people have to be at their desks, on the trading floor, and on the phone with their clients,
to do business—and suddenly we had no trading floors, no phone lines, no space and no
connectivity to our clients. The senior people of the Firm convened the next day in our
backup facility in Jersey City, directly across the river from the burning wreckage of the
Trade Center. We were fortunate that we had backup office space in Jersey City, but it
was not configured for capital markets or investment banking activities. None of our
clients knew how to reach us there, and we didn’t have any of the technological and
telecommunications capabilities we needed to conduct business.
Over the next several days, our people re-created our firm, basically from scratch, and we
were open for business when the markets re-opened. Our people created full trading
floors where there had been only empty cubicles. We struck a deal to house all of our
investment bankers in two hotels in Manhattan—they took out all the beds and moved in
desks. Other firms—even some of our competitors—lent us office space, and we ended
up with people working in 45 different locations in the metropolitan New York area, and
that doesn’t include the many people who worked from home. Everybody did whatever
they could to help: investment bankers carried computers; people who were used to
dealing with clients served as security guards; and some of my finance managers went
shopping for calculators and pencils.
In the end, we held the Firm together, even though we never did return to the World
Financial Center. Eventually, we bought a new building in Times Square, and we finally
have everyone back together again. Those first months after 9/11 were the most
challenging times of my life, and I think almost everyone who works at Lehman Brothers
would tell you the same thing.
So how did we do it? With those exact attributes I talked about before.
Demonstrating their passion, our people worked literally around the clock to get us up
and running. Our bankers and sales people traveled to see their clients when traveling
was incredibly difficult and stressful. Demonstrating their commitment, our 6,000 New
York area employees crammed themselves into space that really should have housed a
third that many people. Through teamwork, we accomplished this Herculean recovery—
no small group of people could have done it alone, and there was no room—at all—for
“me first” thinking. Common sense and reason were more difficult commodities to find
than you might expect in those initial days after the attacks—remember, our people had
seen the entire episode, close up, and their emotions were extremely frayed. But our
business needed common-sense thinking more than ever, and our people responded
brilliantly. They responded to these enormous changes simply by figuring out the best
solution and constantly thinking outside the box. And finally, I think you can infer the
importance of courage. Just going to work in a tall office building was very difficult then,
but our people showed up and soon Lehman Brothers thrived again.
Of course, I hope none of you—and no one else—ever has to face challenges of that sort
again. But be assured that you will face your share of stiff challenges, and that to
overcome these challenges you will need to heed Robert F. Kennedy’s words—the future
is not for the timid and fearful, but rather for the passionate, the reasonable, and the
courageous.
We face many challenges today, which you are all too well aware of. The entry-level job
market is extremely difficult, which might make all this talk about success seem a little
distant. Since the middle of 2000, the economies of the world have faced an almost
perfect storm: the bursting of the Internet bubble, September 11, very anemic global
economic growth, geopolitical issues all over the globe, a long string of corporate
governance scandals, even the investigation into Wall Street research practices. Every
piece of good news seemed to be countered by something worse; every time the economy
seemed ready to move forward, we were forced to deal with a new setback.
But, as history has demonstrated again and again, this challenging environment will
improve and the economy will begin to recover again. I saw a pretty dim picture when I
graduated in 1979, and it was hard to see beyond the bad news. But we have been
through several cycles since then, including the longest period of expansion in U.S.
economic history.
We will get back to a healthier economic climate, and we at Lehman Brothers think that
we have already started to turn the corner. We think the worst is behind us, barring
another severe shock to the system. Since the war in Iraq ended, markets have felt more
stable, consumers have regained a little confidence, and, while corporate spending is slow
to pick up, the labor markets have probably bottomed.
We think these trends of improvement will continue, as strong fiscal and monetary
stimulus from the government will help fuel growth and as corporations and their boards
begin to regain confidence. We don’t expect a booming recovery, but we do expect a
gradual one. And more broadly, in the long run, we believe strongly in the human
condition, that people will always eventually develop new great ideas that will make the
world’s economies grow. Economies are cyclical—and to be sure, we’re going through a
long bottom-of-the-cycle right now—but the overall trend line goes up over time. The
economy grows, and that’s not going to change.
So things aren’t as gloomy as they might appear. But no matter what conditions we’re
living with now, no matter what challenges you may face over the course of your
working lives, the future will belong to you if you approach it with passion and
commitment, with the ability to work as part of a team, with common sense, and with
courage.
Enjoy your graduation celebrations. Today I’ve talked about a roadmap for success. Just
remember, as you achieve success in your chosen endeavors, enjoy it along the way.
Thank you for letting me share this day with you.