A personal 'Voyage' to Washington

After being sniffed by security dogs and emptying our pockets down to loose string and chewing gum wrappers, we trudged up two flights of marble staircases, carrying cardboard boxes, easels, and laptops.

Breathless, we arrived at the Cannon House Office Building Caucus Room, then gasp again. The room was awe-inspiring—lofty ceiling, gilded moldings, crystal chandeliers—and already filled with people busily preparing for our November 18 presentation of Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database.

Clangs and bangs bounced off the walls and ceiling as the tech company assembled a 12-by-9-foot projection screen and the catering staff lined up chairs. Stepping carefully around ethernet cables and electrical wires duct-taped to the floor, my Emory co-workers Julie Delliquanti and Julie Braun unpacked and set up the exhibit posters, while Nafees Khan 10PhD and I plugged in and checked (and rechecked) the computer kiosks to be used for searching the nearly 35,000 slaving voyages recorded in the Voyages database.

Two hours later, boxes and wires and supports were hidden away under draped fabrics, black velvet and glossy gold, the room communicating an atmosphere both celebratory and solemn. Along the walls, oversized posters depicted Africans liberated from slave ships, statistical graphs, and maps charting the volume of the trans-Atlantic slave trade were gathered.

As the most comprehensive resource on the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and available freely online for public research and contribution, the Voyages database is a powerful tool for discovering the global and personal impact of this once legitimate business, and a growing memorial to the over 12 million enslaved Africans whose lives were devastated or destroyed.

I don’t recall when guests started arriving, only that one moment I was surfing through the database (above) with a few early arrivals and the next I found myself surrounded by conversations and questions ...

-- Liz Milewicz 09PhD, project manager, Voyages

To read more, visit the December 2009 issue of EmoryWire.

See the photos.

90 years old and still looking good

From its inception 90 years ago as a regional school of business, to its role as an internationally recognized institution preparing principled leaders for global enterprise, Goizueta Business School has a long tradition of breaking new ground.

Goizueta celebrated its 90th anniversary with a gala on Wednesday, December 2 at the High Museum of Art. The event honored distinguished alumni, faculty, staff and friends of Goizueta, toasting the last 90 years through awards and a video program on how the school has helped shape the lives of many.

The following individuals were honored for their time, talent and contributions:

Outstanding Staff Impact Award:
• Julie Barefoot, associate dean and director of MBA admissions
• Andrea Hershatter, associate dean and director of BBA program

Outstanding Faculty Impact Award:
• Art Dietz, Mills B. Lane Professor of Finance and Banking (posthumous)

Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award:
• John Spiegel 65MBA, vice chairman and CFO of SunTrust Banks Inc. (retired)

Outstanding Corporate Partner:
• The Coca-Cola Company

During Goizueta’s first 90 years, the U.S. survived both the Great Depression and World War II, proving that crisis-driven change is not new. In the challenges of today’s economy, the future of business education remains strong.

Dean Larry Benveniste said there has been no drop-off in applications to Goizueta, underscoring the significance of business education and the Emory degree. “I believe Emory has always been a place with strong values and commitment to leadership. The education remains very valuable. As we celebrate our 90th anniversary, we look forward to another 90 years of excellence.”

Goizueta through the decades

1919-1929
On Feb. 18, 1919, the dean of Emory College, Howard Odum 1904C, recommended the creation of a “school of economics and business administration” to the Board of Trustees. The new school, in conjunction with the college, offered courses in economics, accounting, and business law. By 1925, there were 145 students.

1930-1939
In 1938, the business school moved to its home in the C.L Fishburne building. Three women earned degrees from the BBA program.

1940-1949
The school, reduced to one faculty member during WWII, merged with the college. Walter H. Rich, president of the Rich Foundation, donated $250,000 for the construction of a building. In 1949, the school was admitted to the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business.

1950-1959
After a lapse of two decades, the school began accepting female students again in 1954. In the same year, the MBA program commenced with 19 registered students.

1960-1969
In 1961, the Evening MBA program was introduced. When the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business began accrediting master’s programs, Emory’s program was one of the first to be approved. Four years later, Emory appeared on the list of the top American colleges and universities producing U.S. executives. The school also hosted the Intercollegiate Business Games—computer games whose format mimicked war games developed by the Rand Corporation.

1970-1979
In 1977, the school dedicated a $2 million addition and renovation of the Rich Memorial Building, incorporating two important features: the Management Center and the Computer Center. The Executive MBA program was created in 1979, and the school introduced the joint JD/MBA degree.

1980-1989
The school developed the first MDiv/MBA degree in the country. Years of thoughtful and steady expansion improved rankings: In 1986, the Gourman Report ranked the Emory graduate business program 26th in the country, and the Executive MBA program was ranked in the top 15 in a BusinessWeek survey.

1990-1999
In 1994, the school was renamed for Roberto C. Goizueta. A $20 million gift from the Goizueta Family Foundation and another $20 million from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation in honor of Goizueta ensured years of financial security for the school.

2000-2009
The millennium brought about a new PhD program in business administration and a new program in real estate. Goizueta installed its current dean, Larry Benveniste, in 2005.

Source: Goizueta Magazine Fall 2009

To read more about the school’s past, present and future, see the latest issue of Goizueta Magazine.

Sugar plums dancing

After the bustle of the day's-worth of meetings, walking into the Alumni Leadership Reception last Friday night was a welcome sight to see.

Hosted by the Emory Alumni Board (EAB) it was a holiday gathering of sorts for the EAB members and their counterparts from Emory's school and unit alumni boards. The festive decorations at the Miller-Ward Alumni House set the scene for a beautiful evening.

We made a beeline for the appetizers (I’m a sucker for tiny pastries), grabbed a glass of champagne and made the rounds. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and I was delighted to see such a diverse group of alumni gathered in the holiday spirit.

Once everyone had grabbed their gifts and been hurried onto the shuttle (which was no easy task to steal people away from their food and new friends) to attend the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, we counted the evening a success and headed off to Joia for the Young Alumni Holiday Party.

The Atlanta young alumni celebrated the seasons with festivities at Joia Restaurant and Lounge at the aptly named “Joia to the World” (haha, get it? Yeah, it’s a stretch, we know) holiday party.

Roughly 160 Atlanta young alumni piled into the Midtown joint, which boasts living window models, (yeah, awkward if you don’t realize that they’re alive until they move), picked their list (naughty or nice), ate from a cupcake tower by Love n’ Cupcakes with flavors only Keebler Elves could dream up: champagne wedding, southern red velvet, and homemade hohos (all of which give the dancing sugar plums a run for their money), and took advantage of the several mini-class reunions which seemed to be centered around the open bar.

The official party wrapped early--around 10:00 p.m., after all, with a migration across the street to the Irish pub Ri Ra for the unofficial after-party. After all, leprechauns are the new elves.

-- Kelley Quinn 08B, coordinator, Emory Alumni Board, and Cassie Young 07C, coordinator, alumni programs

Photo of the Day: Through a window

This rendition of the Emory crest decorates the window next to the elevator on the first floor of the Miller-Ward Alumni House (MWAH). (It may look like stained glass, but in truth, it's not ... it does look sharp, though, and when the sun shines through, the hallway glows Emory blue)

A three-dimensional crest is located just around the corner over the fireplace in MWAH's Walt Davis Room.

(Emory) presidential commission

Big news happens at Emory even when EAAvesdropping is on Thanksgiving break.

On Tuesday, November 25, the White House announced that President Barack Obama appointed Emory President Jim Wagner as vice chair of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.

Click here to read the official release.

In this position, Wagner and other members of the commission will advise the president on bioethical issues that may emerge from advances in biomedicine and related areas of science and technology.

Wagner has championed the role of ethics in Emory's mission by significantly enhancing the prominence of the Emory Center for Ethics and including ethical engagement as a pillar of the University's strategic vision. Emory also offers a master's program in bioethics.

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

It's time to give thanks

Thanksgiving brings feasts of buttery turkey, tasty stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, and warm pumpkin pie. And for us college students, Thanksgiving is also a much-needed, mini break—a time to take a deep breath before plunging into the hell that is finals.

No matter what you do or where you go, Thanksgiving break is important to any college student — freshman or super-senior, graduate or undergraduate, American or international.

But this year, Thanksgiving break is bittersweet for me. As a senior, it’s my very last. It’s yet another mark on the list of things that I’ll soon have to say goodbye to at Emory.

While I’m looking forward to graduation and all that awaits me in the years ahead, it breaks my heart to think of all I have to leave behind at Emory: walking through the beautiful campus; lounging on the grassy Quad; enjoying lunch in the sun outside Cox Hall; catching up with girls in the Tridelta lodge; and so much more.

So I’d like to say, Emory students, savor your time here. These years fly by in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, you’ll be in my shoes—heading into your very last semester at the University and wishing you could do it all over again.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for Emory.

--Cory Lopez 10C, communications intern, EAA

A voyage to Washington

Event planning is serious business. Especially when you are talking to people with guns.

Such are the complications of holding events on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. For sheer atmosphere and proximity to both power and impressive architecture, the location is tough to beat ... once you get in.

Destinations: Washington, DC -- Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, a partnership between the Emory Alumni Association and the Emory Libraries, took place Wednesday night, November 18 in the Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building. Some 250 people attended, and the stories told (many of them previously unknown) of millions of Africans' voyages to the Americas in chains were horrifying, riveting, educational, and shocking all at the same time.

One of the hosts for the evening was Rep. John Lewis, whose Georgia congressional district includes Emory. We'll have more on his appearance as well as photos and other reflections on the EAA's latest (and one if its most successful) visit to DC in future EAAvesdropping posts.

Stay tuned.

But for now ... back to our discussion of security.

Vehicle access to the Cannon House Office Building requires passing through checkpoints run by the U.S. Capitol Police. If the stern looks of the officers aren't a strong enough deterrent of funny business, the guardrails and retractable steel and concrete barriers should be.

Getting through the checkpoint requires a hefty list of approvals, which is understandable. Among the last officers to approve entry are a couple who have four legs.

"We were told we need to be sniffed by canines," was the line spoken to one of the human officers by a co-worker--a person who obviously hasn't experienced too many law enforcement interrogations (not that *I* have, mind you, but I've heard stories).

Apparently the dogs didn't find anything suspicious other than minivan exhaust and the overpowering smell of cardboard from the dozen or so boxes we were hauling, because after a moment (albeit a long one that included a few calls to verify we were who we said we were), the police lowered the barriers and waved us through.

Once inside the Cannon building and after climbing the stairs to the third-floor Caucus Room, the Libraries staff went to work. They assembled several Voyages workstations and the display board visuals accompanying them with such speed and ease, it was if they'd been practicing set-up for a month.

It was something that would impress even the most stoic U.S. Capitol police officer. Or his dog.

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA