FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: George M. Tomczyk, (716) 275-8189
Nadia Bolalek, (716) 273-4806
IRS CHIEF CHARLES O. ROSSOTTI TO SPEAK AT SIMON SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT
Rochester, N.Y.--May 5, 1999--The William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration will hold its commencement ceremonies on Sunday, June 13, 1999, at 10:00 a.m. in the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York. Charles O. Rossotti, 45th Commissioner of Internal Revenue, will deliver the commencement address to the Simon School graduating Class of '99.
Mr. Rossotti is co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of American Management Systems, Inc. (AMS), a leading international business and information technology consulting firm. He is the first nonlawyer or nonaccountant to head the Internal Revenue Service in its 137-year history. He assumed his duties as Commissioner in November 1997--at a time when the agency's reputation was at a low point--pledging to turn the IRS into an organization that will consistently provide first-rate service to the American public.
Changes are already apparent. Mr. Rossotti has appointed a new management team; awarded the prime contract to create IRS information technology systems, a project expected to last at least 10 or more years; created a mission statement that focuses the attention of the agency on service to the taxpayer; restructured the agency into four operating divisions, and instituted a number of other customer-service oriented initiatives designed to "reinvent" the agency.
Mr. Rossotti is a graduate with high distinction of Harvard Business School. He was a member of the Boston Consulting Group for two years in the mid-1960's, then went to the Pentagon as one of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara's "whiz kids" from 1965 to 1970. In 1970, he helped found American Management Systems, Inc., where he served as CEO from 1981 to 1993, and as Chairman from 1989 to 1997. (Currently, Simon alumnus Paul A. Brands '66--another former Pentagon whiz kid--is Chairman and CEO at AMS, which is an active recruiter of Simon students.)
The Simon School Class of '99 in Rochester, N.Y., includes 326 graduates of the full-time and part-time M.B.A. programs; 62 graduates of the Executive Development Program; 8 graduates who will receive the M.S. degree and 2 graduates who will be awarded the Ph.D. in business administration.
In addition, the Simon School's Executive M.B.A. Programs in Nyenrode, The Netherlands, and Bern, Switzerland, will graduate 41 and 37 students, respectively.
Class of 1999: Full-Time M.B.A. Program Statistics The leading areas of concentration of this year's full-time M.B.A. class are: finance, 77 percent; corporate accounting, 30 percent; competitive and organizational strategy, 29 percent; marketing, 25 percent, and entrepreneurship, 9 percent. (Graduates may have concentrations in as many as three disciplines, so the total of the foregoing numbers exceeds 100 percent.) Other concentrations include business environment and public policy, computers and information systems, health care management, international management, operations management--management, operations management--services, public accounting, and accounting and information systems.
As of May 4, 1999, the average total compensation including bonuses for accepted offers by Class of '99 graduates was $91,166. To date, offers to Class of '99 graduates by functional area are: finance, 39 percent; consulting, 28 percent; marketing, 14 percent; investment banking, 12 percent, and operations, 5 percent. Firms that have made offers to Simon students this year include: American Management Systems, Inc.; Bear, Stearns & Co.; Citibank (Citigroup); Eastman Kodak Company; Ernst & Young LLP; M&T Bank; National City Bank; PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; Procter & Gamble Company; Silicon Graphics, and Xerox Corporation.
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The Simon School is ranked among the top 25 U.S. graduate schools of business by U.S. News & World Report in its March 1999 survey, and 21st among the top 50 business schools in North America and Europe by the Financial Times of London in its January 1999 survey. With one of the most highly regarded faculties in the country, the Simon School is one of the nation's premier research institutions. The School, recognized for its leading scholarship in management, employs a distinctive approach to business education because of its flexibility, innovation, youth, size, global outlook and vision.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Seating available for representatives of the media. If you have special requirements, please call George M. Tomczyk or Nadia Bolalek.
More information about the Simon School is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.ssb.rochester.edu
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