Start of Spring Semester Sees Record Enrollment for Presidio

Our Spring '08 semester has just begun with 50 new students to bring Presidio's enrollment to an all-time high of 214 students. The entering class included students from companies such as AT&T, Cisco, California Youth Connection, Land's End, National Geographic, Wallaby Yogurt and Doctors Without Borders. The average age of the entering class is 36, and 54% of the class are women. About 20% of our entering students already have at least one graduate degree. While the majority of the new students live in the Bay Area, 28% commute each month from areas such as Washington, D.C., New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Southern California.

Presidio Team Conducts Research for State of Green Business 2008

Earlier this month, GreenBiz.com released its State of Green Business 2008 that tracks the progress of how businesses are doing in the area of environmental responsibility. We are pleased to announce that three students — Lina Constantinovici, Shripal Shah and Daniel Winokur — conducted research for the report as their final project in Macro & Ecological Economics last semester. The report, which has been covered in national media outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Wired, USA Today and CNBC, also introduces the GreenBiz Index, which tracks the resource use, emissions and business practices of U.S. companies.

Presidio Students Help Convention Centers Set Sustainability Standards

In December, three students from the Evolutionary Leadership, Collaboration and Systems Thinking course brought together decision makers from five of the largest California convention centers, the EPA, StopWaste.org, the City of San Diego and representatives from the corn plastic food supplier industry to discuss ways large-scale food venues can be more sustainable. The meeting resulted in a list of standards and practices that convention centers, hotels and ballparks can use as a guideline for attaining the EPA seal of approval for sustainable practices. The Presidio student team included Janine Kubert, Casey Martin and Lina Constantinovici.

New Year = New Jobs for Presidio Graduates

A handful of Presidio graduates have started off 2008 with new positions at companies, nonprofits and government agencies. Recent graduate, Jen Beauchamp, was just hired as the Global Sustainability Specialist at Mattel, after interning there last summer. She joined their Global Sustainability unit, which is part of their Corporate Responsibility organization. Among her responsibilities, she will be integrating sustainability into the culture at Mattel through education and messaging across the company.

This month graduate Maryline Lewett joined TechSoup of San Francisco as Director of Business Development. TechSoup, a division of CompuMentor, addresses the technology needs of the international nonprofit sector through partnerships, for which she will have primary responsibility. One of the great things about her new job, Maryline says, is the opportunity to bridge the power of technology with social sustainability on a global scale.

Steve Attinger, who had been consulting on sustainability initiatives through his firm Tapfire, was recently hired as the City of Mountain View's first-ever Sustainability Coordinator. Responsibilities of Steve's new role include convening a green team to inventory current sustainability practices and implement new initiatives within city operations and facilities, and conducting energy, waste and water audits of city facilities and establishing reduction targets. According to Steve, "What's particularly satisfying about the position is that I was chosen over 100 applicants. I believe my Presidio MBA was a big factor in my success."

Another graduate Janice Neitzel was recently hired as Corporate Liaison for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Janice will work with corporations and their shareholders to improve animal-related business practices. Examples of recent efforts include persuading Coach not to produce coyote-fur rugs and educating McDonald's and other food companies about humane production methods for animal-based products. Janice says this position is a perfect match for her passion and skillset.

Fortune 500 Consultant Jay Ogilvy Returns to Classroom

Presidio welcomes new faculty member, Jay Ogilvy, who is co-teaching the Strategic Management course with Alexander and Kathia Laszlo. As co-founder of Global Business Network, he consults with Fortune 500 companies on strategic planning based on alternative scenarios and intelligence about the global social, economic and political environments. Formerly, he was a Senior Social Scientist at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute). With a PhD in philosophy from Yale University, he has taught at Williams College, University of Texas and Yale.

After 28 years of consulting and research, Jay says he is energized to return to the classroom, especially in service of a cause as urgent and pressing as sustainability. Having co-authored a book with Paul Hawken and having known Amory and Hunter Lovins since the late 1970s, he says, "I've been on the edge of the environmental movement for decades. Now it's time to jump in with both feet. I look forward to the opportunity to teach some of the people we'll count on to save this planet."

Hunter Lovins Makes "Business Case for Climate Protection"

Faculty member Hunter Lovins has been busy finalizing the "Climate Protection Manual for Small Businesses" and its web-based learning platform — Solutions at the Speed of Business — through her nonprofit Natural Capitalism Solutions. She is working with two Presidio student teams to create businesses around this platform to deliver profitable climate solutions to small businesses. In conjunction with this, see her latest article on the The Business Case for Climate Protection. Lovins' report shows how rapidly emerging sustainable business practices can meet basic human needs and solve most of the world's environmental problems — all at a profit.

Presidio Announces Search for Academic Dean

» Back to News