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Fuqua Launches in Europe
February 26, 2009
By Alexis Mellon, Regional Manager Europe
Scroll down to view photos of the event
Maya Angelou said "Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, 'I'm going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that's tough. I am going to snow anyway.'" On February 2, 2009, nature took a similar standpoint and London, to the amazement of the non-indigenous population, came to a shuddering halt under 30cms of snow.
The last time it snowed so heavily in London was February 1991: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically-elected President of Haiti, was being sworn into office, the people of Lithuania voted for their independence, and Coach K was on the road to winning his first National Championship.
But for a number of us in the city that Monday, snow was not the only thing on our minds. Dean Blair Sheppard and Senior Associate Dean Bill Boulding's flight was due to land at Heathrow that morning, and in the evening the event to launch The Fuqua School of Business in Europe was scheduled.
Mission one was accomplished with surprising ease: Deans Sheppard and Boulding made it to our London office on 165 Fleet Street - in fact, their plane was one of the last to land at Heathrow and their train into London one of the last to depart. Mission two was the one that seemed impossible.
As the day progressed, the snow continued to fall. We started to receive apologetic emails from guests who simply could not get into the city, and some battle cries from those who pledged to celebrate with us whatever the weather. More than one person demanded, "Does no one in this town own a shovel?!" Apparently not.
By the time I skated my way down towards the River Thames to Royal Horseguards on Monday afternoon, the streets were deserted and an eerie hush had descended over the city. Royal Horseguards was chosen as the location to welcome Fuqua to London because it is an unmistakably British venue. Its cantilevered marble staircase is the oldest in Europe, and it is adorned with oil paintings of Winston Churchill and Queen Victoria. It is seething with history and culture; both crucial elements for understanding how global business operates and one of the insights the creation of regional hubs is intended to provide.
The main goal of the Europe launch event was to meet people living in Europe who love Duke, and to tell them what Duke's plans are, for Europe and beyond. The 'formal' part of the evening was a series of speeches, introduced by Professor Liz Mellon, Fuqua Head of Europe. She spoke about the experience of physically bringing Duke to Europe, and what it will mean for both current and future students, as well as alumni. The 'informal' part was food, wine and good conversation with old and new friends.
By the time Dean Sheppard began presenting his vision to the assembled group, there were more than fifty people in the room. Given the weather and transport conditions, this was a phenomenal attendance and represents an enormous effort on the part of all our guests. What was even more gratifying is that they were a mixture of alumni*, current students, corporate colleagues, staff and prospective students - an accurate cross-section of all the people involved in Duke's legacy.
After Dean Sheppard spoke, Constantine Zepos (Daytime MBA 1993) took the floor on behalf of the alumni in his role as a leader of the Fuqua Alumni Club of London. He spoke about what Duke meant for him and what the London Alumni Club is doing now; the Fuqua Europe office is looking forward to supporting and joining these activities. Following Constantine was Jonathan Barnett, the Fuqua Regional Director for the Middle East, who gave some insight into the intricacies of representing Fuqua in his region. Then it was back to the eating, drinking and conversation.
This launch proved why our brand has such strength: it is truly loved by people who are associated with it. And if it's true what they say that "it's not what you know, it's who you know," then Duke people are definitely the kind of people you want to know.
Oh, and what is Dean Sheppard's vision? To be the first truly global business school by having an embedded presence in the regions of the world that matter economically, culturally and historically. And using that presence to develop and nurture future leaders of consequence. This is no small undertaking and, as someone in the thick of it, I can assure you that it's a vision which is very quickly becoming a reality.
If you would like to know more about Fuqua's activities in Europe, or help and support these activities, please contact Alexis Mellon, Regional Manager Europe, at alexis.mellon@duke.edu.
*There are two alumni I want to anonymously but specifically mention. Before I do so, I want to reassure you that no alumni were harmed in the making of Fuqua in Europe. The first was trying to make her way to Royal Horseguards by car and was bumped into by another vehicle. The second flew in for the event from New York but was prohibited from disembarking the aircraft for 8 hours as there were not sufficient ground crew to organise their immigration. Needless to say, neither of these alumni managed to attend the event and both were sorely missed.