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Tulane Business Forum highlights leadership and vision

Oct. 5, 2006

This year’s Tulane Business Forum looks at two issues critical to the economic recovery of the Gulf South: leadership and vision.

 “It will take leadership and vision to create a new New Orleans and a new Gulf Coast,” says Bill Alt (MBA ’92), president of the Tulane Association of Business Alumni, which presents the annual event. “We hope this year’s Tulane Business Forum speaks to that need and fosters the necessary dialogue.”

The forum, which takes place Friday, Oct. 20, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, will feature leaders from banking, higher education, defense and the maritime industry discussing how they managed their organizations in the wake of Katrina and what they believe the future holds for the city, the state and the region.

Highlighting this year’s program is a keynote presentation by Richard D. Fairbank, founder, chairman and CEO of Capital One, which last year completed its acquisition of Hibernia Corp., the New Orleans-based parent company of Hibernia National Bank. Fairbank was recently named 2006 Banker of the Year by American Banker.

Other speakers include Scott Cowen, president of Tulane University; Sean Reilly, board member of the Louisiana Recovery Authority; and Richard J. Millman, president of Textron Systems Corp. In addition, Freeman School Vice Dean John M. Trapani will moderate a panel discussion on the Port of New Orleans featuring Conrad H. Appel III, incoming chairman of the board of commissioners of the Port of New Orleans; Michael J.S. Seymour, chairman of P&O Ports North America; and Peter I. Keller, executive vice president and COO of NYK Line (NA) Inc.

“TABA could not be more proud of the way Tulane University and the Freeman School have withstood the effects of the hurricane, but now, more than a year later, it’s time to move forward,” Alt adds. “All our speakers have demonstrated the leadership and vision the Gulf Coast needs as we move forward and reinvent ourselves.”

For more information about this year’s Tulane Business Forum or to register online, visit http://tbf.tulane.edu