Post by momof3 on Jan 3, 2007 16:23:57 GMT -6
I thought this was a great article. CEO of McDonald's doesn't have a 4 year degree. Some perspective for our uber-competitive district.
www.suntimes.com/news/metro/193991,CST-NWS-ceo02.article
Degrees of success
Sun-Times report shows you don't need an Ivy League degree to make it to the top
January 2, 2007
BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Business Reporter
High school kids who want their parents to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on college should lighten up: You don't need a Harvard degree to get to the top.
A survey of the CEOs of the top 20 publicly held Chicago companies found that just two attended an Ivy League school for their undergraduate degrees. Nine attended state schools, and four went to schools with a religious affiliation.
Not every CEO finished college. McDonald's' James Skinner logged two years at Chicago's Roosevelt University.
"This is the kind of article we would love to show to the parents," said James Conroy, chair of post-high school counseling at New Trier High School in Winnetka. Conroy said the pressure New Trier kids feel to get into prestigious private schools has become more intense in recent years.
Famous-name schools may add cachet and offer good networking opportunities at the start of a career. But Conroy said it doesn't matter as much later on.
"Three years out of anyplace, it's 'show me your experience, show me what you've done.' After you have something under your belt, the college degree doesn't mean as much," Conroy said. "A dud from Harvard is still a dud."
'Very hungry to succeed'
Illinois schools were well represented among top Chicago area business leaders, with DePaul University, Wheaton College, Loyola University, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign showing up on CEO resumes at both public and private firms.
At firms outside of Chicago, Chiquita Brands CEO Fernando Aguirre went to Southern Illinois, and Home Depot's Robert Nardelli went to Western Illinois for his undergraduate degree.
The results for Chicago are similar to the rest of the nation. Just 9 percent of CEOs heading the Standard & Poor's 500 companies received undergraduate degrees from Ivy League schools, according to a November 2006 survey.
Exelon CEO John Rowe, who grew up on a farm and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for both undergraduate and law degrees, said anyone with ambition should try to go to the best school possible, private or public. But he noted that good state schools "are very good indeed."
"State schools attract a lot of bright young people, male and female, who come from moderate income circumstances and who are very hungry to succeed financially," Rowe said. "That, coupled with the quality of the education, and the state school experience creates some pretty high potential."
Peg Hendershot, a director at Career Vision, a Glen Ellyn career counseling service, said while there's nothing wrong with trying for a top college, it can pose problems if a person is just working off a checklist and isn't fully engaged in planning her own life.
'I see panic in kids'
"I knew a brilliant young woman who graduated brilliantly from Princeton who didn't know what she wanted," Hendershot said. "I see panic in kids who are graduating and don't know why."
Bill Lederer, CEO of Chicago's Socrates Media and a 1987 Roosevelt graduate, said being a leader is linked with a desire to serve, wherever you go to school.
"Leading is some mixture of selling and serving and listening and absorbing risk for others, and making decisions," Lederer said. "Those are things that aren't necessarily tied to whether you've gone to a fancy school or a more modest school, but they tie directly to your willingness to put yourself on the line."
When he hires, Lederer looks at a person's commitment to lifelong learning. "I can't afford to work with people committed to a dead-end career. There's just too much changing around us," he said.
mwisniewski@suntimes.com
ROAD TO RICHES
Schools attended by CEOs at Chicago's top 20 publicly held companies, ranked by revenues. Degrees are undergraduate unless otherwise indicated:
1. Boeing Corp.: W. James McNerney Jr., undergraduate, Yale; master's, Harvard.
2. Sears Holdings: Aylwin Lewis, undergraduate and master's, University of Houston.
3. Walgreen: David W. Bernauer, North Dakota State University.
4. Motorola: Edward J. Zander, undergraduate, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; master's, Boston University.
5. Caterpillar: James W. Owens, undergraduate, master's and doctorate, North Carolina State University.
6. Archer Daniels Midland: Patricia A. Woertz, Pennsylvania State University.
7. Allstate: Edward Liddy, undergraduate, Catholic University of America; master's, George Washington University.
8. Kraft Foods: Irene B. Rosenfeld, undergraduate, master's and doctorate, Cornell University.
9. Abbott Laboratories: Miles D. White, undergraduate and master's, Stanford University.
10. Deere & Co.: Robert W. Lane, undergraduate, Wheaton College; master's, University of Chicago.
11. McDonald's Corp.: James A. Skinner, two years at Roosevelt University.
12. Sara Lee: Brenda C. Barnes, undergraduate, Augustana College; master's, Loyola College.
13. United Airlines: Glenn Tilton, University of South Carolina.
14. Exelon: John Rowe, undergraduate and law degree, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
15. Illinois Tool Works: David B. Speer, undergraduate, Iowa State University; master's, Northwestern University.
16. CNA Financial Corp.: Stephen W. Lilienthal, College of Holy Cross.
17. Baxter International: Robert L. Parkinson, undergraduate and master's, Loyola University of Chicago.
18. Aon: Gregory C. Case, undergraduate, Kansas State University; master's, Harvard Business School.
19. OfficeMax: Sam K. Duncan, no degree listed in Spencer Stuart S&P 500 2005 list; company did not respond.
20. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.: Mark A. Angelson, undergraduate, Rutgers College; law degree, Rutgers University School of Law.
mwisniewski@suntimes.com
www.suntimes.com/news/metro/193991,CST-NWS-ceo02.article
Degrees of success
Sun-Times report shows you don't need an Ivy League degree to make it to the top
January 2, 2007
BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Business Reporter
High school kids who want their parents to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on college should lighten up: You don't need a Harvard degree to get to the top.
A survey of the CEOs of the top 20 publicly held Chicago companies found that just two attended an Ivy League school for their undergraduate degrees. Nine attended state schools, and four went to schools with a religious affiliation.
Not every CEO finished college. McDonald's' James Skinner logged two years at Chicago's Roosevelt University.
"This is the kind of article we would love to show to the parents," said James Conroy, chair of post-high school counseling at New Trier High School in Winnetka. Conroy said the pressure New Trier kids feel to get into prestigious private schools has become more intense in recent years.
Famous-name schools may add cachet and offer good networking opportunities at the start of a career. But Conroy said it doesn't matter as much later on.
"Three years out of anyplace, it's 'show me your experience, show me what you've done.' After you have something under your belt, the college degree doesn't mean as much," Conroy said. "A dud from Harvard is still a dud."
'Very hungry to succeed'
Illinois schools were well represented among top Chicago area business leaders, with DePaul University, Wheaton College, Loyola University, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign showing up on CEO resumes at both public and private firms.
At firms outside of Chicago, Chiquita Brands CEO Fernando Aguirre went to Southern Illinois, and Home Depot's Robert Nardelli went to Western Illinois for his undergraduate degree.
The results for Chicago are similar to the rest of the nation. Just 9 percent of CEOs heading the Standard & Poor's 500 companies received undergraduate degrees from Ivy League schools, according to a November 2006 survey.
Exelon CEO John Rowe, who grew up on a farm and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for both undergraduate and law degrees, said anyone with ambition should try to go to the best school possible, private or public. But he noted that good state schools "are very good indeed."
"State schools attract a lot of bright young people, male and female, who come from moderate income circumstances and who are very hungry to succeed financially," Rowe said. "That, coupled with the quality of the education, and the state school experience creates some pretty high potential."
Peg Hendershot, a director at Career Vision, a Glen Ellyn career counseling service, said while there's nothing wrong with trying for a top college, it can pose problems if a person is just working off a checklist and isn't fully engaged in planning her own life.
'I see panic in kids'
"I knew a brilliant young woman who graduated brilliantly from Princeton who didn't know what she wanted," Hendershot said. "I see panic in kids who are graduating and don't know why."
Bill Lederer, CEO of Chicago's Socrates Media and a 1987 Roosevelt graduate, said being a leader is linked with a desire to serve, wherever you go to school.
"Leading is some mixture of selling and serving and listening and absorbing risk for others, and making decisions," Lederer said. "Those are things that aren't necessarily tied to whether you've gone to a fancy school or a more modest school, but they tie directly to your willingness to put yourself on the line."
When he hires, Lederer looks at a person's commitment to lifelong learning. "I can't afford to work with people committed to a dead-end career. There's just too much changing around us," he said.
mwisniewski@suntimes.com
ROAD TO RICHES
Schools attended by CEOs at Chicago's top 20 publicly held companies, ranked by revenues. Degrees are undergraduate unless otherwise indicated:
1. Boeing Corp.: W. James McNerney Jr., undergraduate, Yale; master's, Harvard.
2. Sears Holdings: Aylwin Lewis, undergraduate and master's, University of Houston.
3. Walgreen: David W. Bernauer, North Dakota State University.
4. Motorola: Edward J. Zander, undergraduate, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; master's, Boston University.
5. Caterpillar: James W. Owens, undergraduate, master's and doctorate, North Carolina State University.
6. Archer Daniels Midland: Patricia A. Woertz, Pennsylvania State University.
7. Allstate: Edward Liddy, undergraduate, Catholic University of America; master's, George Washington University.
8. Kraft Foods: Irene B. Rosenfeld, undergraduate, master's and doctorate, Cornell University.
9. Abbott Laboratories: Miles D. White, undergraduate and master's, Stanford University.
10. Deere & Co.: Robert W. Lane, undergraduate, Wheaton College; master's, University of Chicago.
11. McDonald's Corp.: James A. Skinner, two years at Roosevelt University.
12. Sara Lee: Brenda C. Barnes, undergraduate, Augustana College; master's, Loyola College.
13. United Airlines: Glenn Tilton, University of South Carolina.
14. Exelon: John Rowe, undergraduate and law degree, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
15. Illinois Tool Works: David B. Speer, undergraduate, Iowa State University; master's, Northwestern University.
16. CNA Financial Corp.: Stephen W. Lilienthal, College of Holy Cross.
17. Baxter International: Robert L. Parkinson, undergraduate and master's, Loyola University of Chicago.
18. Aon: Gregory C. Case, undergraduate, Kansas State University; master's, Harvard Business School.
19. OfficeMax: Sam K. Duncan, no degree listed in Spencer Stuart S&P 500 2005 list; company did not respond.
20. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.: Mark A. Angelson, undergraduate, Rutgers College; law degree, Rutgers University School of Law.
mwisniewski@suntimes.com
