Penn State, Gallup To Host Forum On Driving Business Growth

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (October 12, 2005)—Penn State's Smeal College of Business brings its executive education program to Washington, D.C. for the first time on Oct. 26 as it partners with The Gallup Organization to host a forum on fostering business growth in today's economy.

Gallup CEO Jim Clifton will open the program, which includes Albert Vicere, professor of strategic leadership at Smeal, and Yoon S. Park, professor of international finance at George Washington University, discussing the best practices companies must employ to succeed in today's complex and sometimes difficult economic environment.

The forum will be held at The Gallup Organization's world headquarters in Washington at 901 F Street, NW. A continental breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m. and the forum will officially get under way at 8 a.m. The full-day conference will be followed by a reception—hosted by Gallup's CEO—for all participants at 4:15 p.m. The invitation-only event is free of charge.

"This event is an exclusive opportunity for senior business leaders to interact with distinguished faculty in the fields of global business and organizational development," says Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education at Smeal. "Each presenter has valuable, real-world insights to share on how to achieve top-line growth at the organization, group, and individual levels within a company."

The Smeal College's Executive Education Programs have been serving the continuing-education needs of the world's leading corporations since 1954. Upwards of 36,000 executives from 43 different nations have participated in programs on topics ranging from strategic leadership to supply chain management. The college offers both open-enrollment courses and programs designed to meet the specific needs of individual organizations. It counts some of the biggest names in business and government as clients, including Boeing, ExxonMobil, ARAMARK, IBM, U.S. Marines, NASA, National Park Service, Ingersoll-Rand, Xerox, and Lockheed Martin, among others.

For more information on the Washington forum, "Perspectives on Driving Growth in Today's Economy," please contact Monica Snyder at 814-865-3436 or via e-mail at psep@psu.edu. Members of the media may contact Wyatt DuBois at 814-863-3798 or wed112@psu.edu. More information on Penn State's Executive Education Programs can be found online at http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/.

About the Presenters

The Gallup Organization's leading experts in management, economics, psychology, and sociology have been studying human behavior for more than 70 years. Since Clifton became CEO of the organization in 1998, Gallup's billing volume has increased tenfold and the company has grown into one of the world's largest think tanks with 40 offices in 20 countries.

Vicere served as founding director of Penn State's Institute for the Study of Organizational Effectiveness and is president of Vicere Associates Inc., a global consulting firm with clients including 3M, Anheuser-Busch, the Federal Reserve, and State Farm. He has published more than 80 articles and professional papers on executive development and business management and is the author of Leadership by Design, published by Harvard Business School Press.

Park's research currently focuses on the reform of multinational financial institutions in light of recent changes in the international financial environment. He has served as an adviser to organizations around the world, including the World Bank, American Express, and the International Finance Corporation.