|
|
|
Club Purpose The continuing mission of Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration, founded in 1908, is to train general managers. This mission is enhanced by its local alumni clubs that give their members the opportunity to participate, learn, socialize, and network through a variety of activities each year. During the past seventy years, the Harvard Business School Club of Michigan (formerly the Harvard Business School Club of Detroit) has offered its members diverse activities including:
Club members work with students of all ages to interest them in careers in business, as well as raise scholarship funds for local students to attend Harvard Business School. This year marks the twenty-first anniversary of the Harvard Business School Club of Michigan's Business Statesman Award Dinner. The Club recognizes Michigan business leaders for their accomplishments and contributions to our community. The proceeds raised from this event are placed in the Club's Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to local students attending Harvard Business School. - A Brief History - The Early Days of the The Harvard Business School Club of Detroit began on an informal basis in the early 1920's. The June 13, 1925 issue of the Business School Alumni Bulletin reported that: "During the winter, steps were taken toward the organization of a Business School Club in Detroit. Several organization meetings were held and the club is now in a position to go ahead with a definite program of activities. The club has received a great deal of help from Charles B. Clark, Comptroller of the J.L. Hudson Company, who has entertained the members of the club at his home. Mr. Clark has been elected an honorary member." In 1927, increasing numbers of Business School graduates came to Detroit, among them, Professor A.J. Hettinger, Jr. Once a year, "Het" discussed the prospects of stocks of various companies. Donald B. Smith, who taught finance at the Harvard Business School, joined us in 1928 and strengthened ties with the school. Monthly dinner meetings were held at the Intercollegiate Club on the top floor of the Penobscot Building and featured local and national business leaders. With the coming of Prohibition, meetings moved across the river to the Norton-Palmer and Prince Edward Hotels in Windsor, Ontario. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, meetings were held in Detroit again. In January 1934, the Harvard Club of Michigan and the Harvard Business School Club of Detroit held a joint meeting at the University Club with 115 members in attendance. In the mid-thirties, the club began sponsoring one or two student scholarships to the Business School as part of a Harvard Business School Alumni Association effort. By the late forties, the club was meeting on a regular basis and electing a President and Secretary for two-year terms, and in alternating years, a Vice President and Treasurer. On March 21, 1953, the club hosted the Fourth Annual Harvard Business School Mid-West Regional Conference: Today's Challenge to Business. This event brought fourteen of the Business School faculty to Detroit and was co-sponsored by eleven Presidents of Detroit's major corporations. Conferences proliferated in subsequent years. In September, 2002, the club changed its name from the Harvard Business School Club of Detroit to the Harvard Business School Club of Michigan. The change was made to reflect the expanded geographic outreach of the club's activities and scholarship awards. The Club continues to grow as Harvard Business School graduates move to Michigan. The club hosts the Business Statesman Dinner and many other evening meetings, tours and symposia each year.
|
 |
|
|
