Upcoming lectures feature two influential figures in business

Upcoming
lectures feature two influential figures in business

Two influential
figures in the field of business will be the featured speakers
at separate upcoming lectures at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate
School of Management.

Karl E. Weick,
the Rensis Likert Distinguished University Professor of
Organizational Behavior and Psychology at the University
of Michigan Business School, will speak at the 2004 W. Oscar
Neuhaus Lecture at Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School
of Management.

Weick is widely
regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of his
generation on organizational studies. His book “The
Social Psychology of Organizing” was designated by
Inc. Magazine as one of the nine best business books ever
written. His work has been profiled in Wired Magazine, Fast
Company and in the book “In Search of Excellence.”
In 1995, Weick expanded the organizing formulation in a
book titled “Sensemaking in Organizations.” Weick
has designed and taught several advanced modules that are
offered within the University of Michigan Business School’s
Executive Education program. He also counsels about themes
of safety and reliability with those who deal with life
and death issues in hospitals, public health, the maritime
industry and firefighting.

Weick’s
lecture will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 1, in the
Shell Auditorium, Jones School. A reception will follow
at 11:30 a.m. in the Anderson Family Commons, Jones School.

The next lecture,
part of the Dean’s Lecture Series, will feature Kenneth
Chenault, chairman and chief executive officer of American
Express Company. He will speak at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, March
10, in the Jones School’s Shell Auditorium. A reception
will also follow this lecture in the Anderson Family Commons.

Chenault joined
American Express in 1981 as director of strategic planning
and over 20 years worked his way up to become one of only
a handful of African-American CEOs of a Fortune 500 company.
He serves on the boards of American Express, IBM, the NCAA
and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health.

For more information
on either lecture, visit the Jones School Web site at <http://jonesgsm.rice.edu>.