Prestigious 2011 GBF Student Leadership Awards bestowed upon CEIBS and Johnson at Cornell students

11 April 2011 (LONDON) – Students from S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and Indian School of Business (ISB) have walked away with top honours for their contributions to the areas of sustainability and student government at this year’s 2011 global Graduate Business Conference, hosted by the Graduate Business Forum (GBF) and ESADE Business School. Over 130 student government leaders and alumni drawn from the top 50 global business schools and MBA programs met at ESADE in Barcelona from March 30 to April 2 to share best practices on student government, global views on responsible leadership and learn from global business, industry leaders and each other.

At the annual Friday night GBF Awards Banquet and Gala, Professor Kenneth Morse, serial entrepreneur and founding Managing Director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center and Jim Deveau, GBF founder, presented the 2011 GBF Awards and Cisco and Thomson Reuters sponsored Grants.

Robert Seiler, Eric Seidner and Alex Song from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) were presented with the GBF 2011 Responsible Leadership Award and a Cisco and Thomson Reuters sponsored $2000 grant for their vision and delivery of a strategy and five year business plan to make CEIBS the first 100% carbon neutral business school in the world. Their plan estimates that at the CEIBS campus in Shanghai they can deliver a positive net present value of 18 million RMB (2,74 million USD/ 1,95 million EURO) and a reduction of 4,000 tons CO2e annually; approximately equivalent to CO2e absorption of approximately 16,000 trees, driving a car 500 times around the world, or flying the complete CEIBS MBA class in a Boeing 737 2,5 times around the world.

Hannah Dupes and Cara O’Connor from the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University received the GBF 2011 Student Leadership Award and a Cisco and Thomson Reuters sponsored $2250 grant as a result of their work to transform the student leadership program. As the President and VP of the Cornell
Student Council, they put forward a proposal to restructure and introduce a fresh take on the student leadership development program. Initially unpopular, due to a reduction in the number of leadership positions and student clubs, they were able to gain the respect and support of the MBA student body and university administration through their highly consultative and data-driven approach to the program redesign. Incoming student leaders have participated in the first leadership development program cycle and arrived at GBC2011 stating this program as an absolute best practice of their School.

Runner up and finalist Atma Shivalanka from Indian School of Business (ISB) was specifically recognized for the outstanding leadership during his Presidency. He raised the quality and professionalism of the student leadership organization to a level only a few Schools at the global level can compete with and became a highly valued ambassador of the School.

“We increasingly receive nominations for highly inspiring initiatives that are scalable and have the potential to positively affect not only the Business Schools at which they were conceived, but Business Schools and companies around the world,” said Wieteke Dupain, GBF Vice President. “We have decided this year to bestow not only the
Student Leadership Award, which we already hand out for over 20 years, but also a Responsible Leadership Award and Grants as part of GBF’s increasing focus on encouraging sustainable business practices. Our goal in 2011 is to create a GBF Responsible Leadership Fund that will connect corporations and our 3000 plus alumni, encouraging the development of partnerships to fund and support sustainable initiatives – such as the carbon neutral strategy proposed by CEIBS”.

“The GBF Student and Responsible Leadership Awards and Grants are ways of recognizing the contributions that individual students and teams make to the development of their own schools and communities on the global MBA playing field. Hannah, Cara, Robert, Eric, Alex and Atma are exemplars and role models for global Business School
students and communities on how vision, tenacity, creativity in approach and definite leadership can make a real difference and leave a lasting legacy to the benefit of all involved. Since the role of the GBF is to help graduate students to develop responsible leadership and global citizenship we will continue to support these finalists and their
causes in the future”

About the Graduate Business Forum

Established in 1983, the Graduate Business Forum (GBF) (www.graduatebusinessforum.com) is a global organization dedicated to developing responsible leadership and global citizenship, with influence, through an exclusive network of student leaders and alumni from the world’s top 50 business schools.

The GBF runs a number of activities to support the development of leadership skills for business school students through newsletters, shared knowledge platforms and networking events including the annual Graduate Business Conference (GBC) (http://gbc.esadembasa.com/gbc2011.html), hosted by one of the GBF member schools, drawn from the top 50 business schools and MBA programs globally.

Over the last quarter century, the GBF has seen:

  •  +3,000 student leaders participating in GBCs
  •  +30 countries with participating business schools
  •  +300 forums and workshops helping inspire future leaders by the exchange of leadership initiatives, improved organizational approaches for student governments, implementation of new student initiatives, and an increased consciousness towards social responsibility and ethical leadership.
  • +100 corporate executives, government officials and other leaders who have contributed time and inspiration
  • Countless projects around the world fueled by inspirations from GBF participation that made a positive difference in the world

About the Student leadership Award

The Student Leadership Award (SLA) and Responsible Leadership Awards (RLA) and Grants are ways of recognizing the contributions that individual students and teams make to the development of their own schools and associated communities.
The Student Leadership Award was introduced in 1991 by the Board of Directors of the Graduate Business Forum to recognize outstanding leadership, innovation and a commitment to the greater community at the graduate business level. The Awards are open to full-time graduate business students of GBF member schools participating in the
annual Graduate Business Conference. The award is presented at the Student Leadership Award Commemorative Banquet and Gala at the annual Graduate Business Conference. Previous presenters of the Awards include HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and President S.R. Nathan of Singapore