Jim Owens, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar Inc., will be the keynote
speaker for Illinois State University’s Business Week 2007, April 2-6. Other
events during Business Week include presentations by distinguished College
of Business alumni, a professional etiquette presentation and networking
dinner and an Entrepreneurship Day. The theme for this year’s Business Week
is “Tomorrow’s World.”
Business Week is sponsored by Illinois State’s College of Business and brings corporate and industry leaders to campus to speak on important issues, trends, and developments. The week’s events help students better understand the skills needed for success in a dynamic global business environment.
Owens’ keynote address and the presentations by College of Business alumni are free and open to the public. For more information and a complete listing of the week’s events and locations visit www.cob.ilstu.edu/businessweek
Owens will speak on “Leadership in Changing Times” on Tuesday, April 3, at 2 p.m. in the Bone Student Center Braden Auditorium. A public reception in the Bone Student Center Old Main Room will follow his address at 3 p.m.
Owens, who assumed leadership of Caterpillar in 2004, joined the company in 1972 as a corporate economist. He has held various leadership positions within the company in postings in Switzerland, Indonesia, California and Central Illinois. Under Owens’ leadership Caterpillar Inc. has set ambitious corporate goals for 2010 and beyond.
A native of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Owens graduated from North Carolina State University in 1973 with a Ph.D. in economics. He is director of the Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC; a director of Alcoa Inc. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; a director of IBM in Armonk, New York; and a director of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Owens is a member of The Business Council, Business Roundtable and the Manufacturing Council in Washington, DC; and the Global Advisory Council to The Conference Board in New York. He provides local service as a member of the Community Advisory Board of Saint Francis Medical Center and the Civic Federation Board in Peoria.
Business Week activities begin on Monday, April 2 with an ice-cream social from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lower level atrium of the College of Business Building. That evening at 5 p.m. Ray Angle, director of career services at Webster University, will present a session on the “dos and don’ts” of dinner etiquette for College of Business students. Angle’s presentation is in conjunction with a networking dinner for students in the Bone Student Center Brown Ballroom.
On Wednesday, April 4, College of Business students can brush up on job interviewing skills by participating in mock interviews with company representatives from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the College of Business Building.
Thursday, April 5 activities include an alumni panel presentation in the Brown Ballroom at 3:30 p.m. followed by individual presentations by alumni panelists hosted by College of Business student organizations at 7:30 p.m. Individual presentations will be held at various locations in the College of Business Building.
This year’s alumni panelists will be Jeffrey Cavanaugh ’90, chief of staff to the Under Secretary for International Trade, United States Department of Commerce; Brett Ellis ’88, a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame and partner in the Ellis Team; Greg Heerde ’91, M.S. ’93, senior vice president, Aon Re Global; Greg Monigold ’91, manager of information systems, Harris Alternatives; and Eileen Ni, ’87, M.B.A. ’91, division marketing manager and Asia-Pacific sales manager, Adalis Corporation.
Students will visit locally-owned businesses for a behind-the-scenes look at how they operate during Entrepreneurship Day, Friday, April 6. This new Business Week event gives students a valuable opportunity to interact with local business entrepreneurs.
