Why have Mexican companies become such powerhouses? What are the challenges of family businesses? In markets like India and Brazil, will company efficiency suffice? Wharton’s Global Alumni Forum addressed serious questions in a sparkling setting as hundreds of alumni and friends gathered in Rio de Janeiro August 10-11.
This year’s Latin American Forum was part of the School’s ongoing celebration of its 125th anniversary. Robert Mangels, WG’75, chairman and CEO of Mangels Industrial, served as chairman of the Forum’s Organizing Committee, which attracted major business and government leaders.
Notable speakers included Henrique Meirelles, governor of the Central Bank of Brazil; Alain Belda, chairman and CEO Roberto Civita, W’57 Abril Editora; Pedro Henrique Mariani, CEO and president of Banco BBM; Arminio Fraga Neto, founder of Gávea Investimentos; Hector Medina, EVP Planning and Finance, CEMEX; Mary Anastasia O’Grady, member, Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal; Pedro Moreira Salles, vice chairman and CEO of Unibanco; Ernesto Silva, COO of Coca-Cola FEMSA; and Wharton professors Raffi Amit, Xavier Drèze, Dawn Iacobucci, Kenneth Shropshire, and Jitendra Singh.
Odemiro Fonseca, WG’75, President of the Organizing Committee, had a huge impact on the success of the Global Alumni Forum. Set in the elegant beach-front Copacabana Palace Hotel, the event attracted the School’s largest contingent in Latin America with 526 registered participants. Don’t miss the 2007 Wharton Global Alumni Forums in Hong Kong, Costa Rica, and Zurich.
Visit www.wharton.upenn.edu/alumni/forums for updates.
