Talking Sustainability in San Juan

I wear a few different “hats”: as a dean, husband, father (hopefully not always in that order). Some of you might know I was also a president. I have just completed my service as “commander-in-chief” of MAACBA, the mid-Atlantic business deans’ group that is affiliated with our accrediting body. Last week, we had our annual conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico (the island is often counted as a mid-Atlantic territory—not that I’m complaining.)

It was an appropriately beautiful place to talk about sustainability—the theme of our discussion this year. I was proud to introduce our new MS in Sustainability Management program, and its director, Dan Jacobs, to the other deans and leaders in attendance.

Everyone agreed that sustainability is a major issue for business schools; it was gratifying for me to see how many other educators viewed our program as on the forefront of all the programs in the marketplace—even those not offered through business schools.

It’s hardly news that corporations are investing huge amounts in reconfiguring what products they offer, how they produce them, and their larger company footprint. But, this was made apparent again to me last week, where I talked with invited speakers such as Don Reed, director of sustainable business solutions for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Jamie Moore, director of sourcing and sustainability at Eat’n Park.

Some photos from my trip to Puerto Rico.

It was also evident as I toured the Bacardi factory in Puerto Rico (I didn’t go purely for the free samples—though I did enjoy them!). As you can see from my pictures, Bacardi—which is the largest privately held spirits company in the world—has made significant investments in sustainability and corporate responsibility, both at its distillery and elsewhere. I’m proud to note that Facundo Bacardi, chair of the board of directors, also happens to be a Kogod alumnus (BSBA ’90).