Harvard Business School Celebrates 95th Commencement
BOSTON, June 9, 2005 -- Harvard Business School celebrated its 95th Commencement exercises today on its campus in Boston. The graduates included 878 MBA candidates from more than 70 different countries, as well as six students who received doctorates in business administration. In addition, HBS, in conjunction with the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, awarded eight Ph.D. degrees in the fields of business economics and organizational behavior.
Among the newly-minted MBAs, forty-five -- or the top five percent of the Class -- graduated from the two-year, full-time program with high distinction as Baker Scholars, named after the School's first benefactor, George F. Baker. Another 56 received their diplomas with distinction.
Prospects in the job market for the MBA Class of 2005 continue to be strong. Preliminary estimates suggest that approximately 93 percent of graduates received a job offer by graduation day -- as compared to 94 percent for the Class of 2004. Estimates also show that about 87 percent of graduates accepted a job by graduation, up from 84 percent last year.
During Class Day ceremonies on Wednesday, Brian Kreiter -- chosen by his classmates as the Student Speaker -- talked about the impact of the Harvard MBA educational experience, while Jeff Immelt, a member of the MBA Class of 1982 and now chairman and CEO of General Electric, was the Class Day Distinguished Speaker (full story).
The Class also honored four faculty members for excellence in teaching and advising: Assistant Professor Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez (who teaches Financial Reporting and Control in the first-year required curriculum), Assistant Professor Joshua Margolis (Leadership and Organizational Behavior in the required curriculum), Associate Professor Youngme Moon (Consumer Marketing in the second-year elective curriculum), and Associate Professor Jan Rivkin (Advanced Competitive Strategy in the second-year curriculum).