AUSTIN, Texas—Austin’s growing and influential high-tech community and the highly ranked information management program at the University of Texas Graduate School of Business combined to woo the 1999 Graduate Business Conference to town today (March 11) through Sunday.
Titled “Hooked on High Tech,” the conference will draw student leaders from MBA programs around the world and an array of speakers from the high-tech community. “It’s really an honor for UT to host the Graduate Business Conference,” says Robert G. May, dean of the Business School. “It raises the national visibility of the Graduate School of Business and gives our students the opportunity to showcase the program’s strengths.”
Keynote speakers include Michael Dell of Dell Computer, Ron Harris of Pervasive Software, Ross Roberts of Ford Motor Company, Deborah Willingham of Microsoft and Jack Wilson of Andersen Consulting. In addition, representatives of AOL, American Airlines, Andersen Consulting, The Alexander Group, Austin Ventures, Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard, KPMG, Knight Ridder, P.O.V. Magazine, Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP, Trajecta and Wal-Mart are slated to speak and participate in breakout panels.
Michael Dell will speak on e-commerce and the Internet. In addition, Dell will be honored with the Graduate Business Foundation Business Leadership Award. This honor recognizes leadership and innovation from the perspective of the potential leaders of the future — the Graduate Business Conference student delegation. Willingham will discuss her experience as the top female executive at Microsoft, and what type of MBA skills Microsoft will be looking for in the future.
The Graduate Business Conference is an annual forum for MBA students to discuss relevant issues affecting top business programs and the world-wide business community. Leadership skill-building is the second major component of the conference. Student delegates will spend a day in leadership forums where they will share ideas about ways to make each program better in terms of diversity, core class requirements, alumni support and recruiting.
Delegates from the top 50 MBA programs in the United States and from 20 international programs are invited to the conference each year. This year marks the 17th Graduate Business Conference, and The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Business is the only program to host the conference twice.
UT’s Graduate School of Business has long been a leader in information technology. Computerworld currently ranks the school second only to MIT among Techno-MBA programs. The mission of the Graduate School of Business is to be a preeminent institution for business education in the world. Both the undergraduate and graduate programs are consistently ranked among the top 20 business programs — public or private — in the nation.
