The Johnson School Annual Report 2007–2008 - Johnson Graduate ...

Intellect, Ambition, Passion
Developing Leadership Through the Park Fellowship
THE JOHNSON SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT 2007–08
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Park Fellow Sarah Scudder, MBA ’09, had spent five years in
strategy consulting for public sector and nonprofit clients when
she chose to move into the commercial sector.
“An MBA would accelerate my career in this direction, and I
knew I wanted a smaller school—a place where I could know
the faculty and my classmates—yet have access to the resources
of a major research university,” Scudder explains. “The Johnson
School has given me that.”
She found the quantitative background she needed in the
Managerial Finance Immersion and a chance to see how much
she liked internal corporate consulting through a summer
internship with the 3M Company. She worked on three
distinct projects in marketing, finance, and broad strategic
development.
The Park Fellowship offered even more. “To go beyond the
traditional MBA courses and have a deliberate portion of
my time dedicated to leadership development—especially to
understanding under what circumstances I perform best—is
invaluable,” Scudder says.
Scudder was chosen by the faculty as a teaching assistant in
two core courses—one in finance and the other in managing
and leading organizations—because they saw her desire, along
with her ability to enhance the first-year students’ experience.
She’s also assumed leadership roles in the Student Council, Net
Impact, and Career Action Group.
For her Park Fellowship service project, Scudder is
collaborating with the Offices of Admissions and Alumni
Affairs to create the Johnson School Personalized Admission
Links, or JSPALS.
“JSPALS will give newly accepted students an instant Cornell
network of three to four people—other students and alumni
who will reach out to them, welcome them into the Johnson
community,” Scudder explains. “This program will keep giving
back to the Johnson School in the future.”