Sanjana Kumbhani
Features Editor
As part of the James R. Wilson Lecture Series organized by the department of business economics, next week the College will be welcoming Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Pianalto, who will retire in a few months, will use this chance to reflect on her 30-year experience at the Federal Reserve. While she will focus on the Fed’s role as an organization when she addresses a business economics class taught by Dr. John Sell, her evening talk will highlight the importance of the Fed in the regional economy.
James R. Wilson, who the series is named after, is an alumnus of the College who graduated in 1963. He was an economics major who also served as the President of the Hans. H Jenny Investment Club while at Wooster. He then went on to receive a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University in 1965. He has served as a successful CEO of several companies and was also chairman of the board of trustees of the College. Along with his wife, Linda R. Wilson, he made a $2 million gift to the college in 2001. Out of this, $1.5 million of the gift was invested to recognize Dr. John Sell with an endowed chair which means that his position is paid from the revenues of the endowed fund. The returns on the remaining $500,000 were used to introduce the James R. Wilson Lecture Series and today, 12 years later, it continues to support the series by funding the speakers.
The series has three primary aims; the first is to bring in speakers of a business and finance background. Sell points out, “The College has had a lot of speakers coming in but most of them are part of the political or humanities world. However, 80 percent of our college’s students enter the business world after graduation, so we thought it would be helpful to connect students with professionals from the field.” The second aim is to have prominent speakers, such as well-known CEOs and Presidents of different companies, to visit which would help the College gain recognition. The final aim of the series is something special to Wooster; the Series brings in people that the students can personally interact with and meet with when they come to the College. For example, this time the College will hold a reception after Pianalto’s talk during which students are welcome to speak with her personally.
“I think it is remarkable how generous alumni and trustees of the college often are,” remarked Sell. “The Wilson’s gift enables us to connect the students with such inspiring professionals. Some of them have to be paid to come talk and those are certainly not inexpensive fees. While some aren’t required to be paid to speak, we have always made efforts to make sure they feel appreciated. Thanks to the Wilsons we are able to meet such expenses. It’s this ‘power of the endowment’ that allows students to enjoy such benefits without actually paying for them.”
Most often, it takes a year, sometimes even two, to arrange for a speaker to come in. Sell is open to suggestions from students regarding who they would like to see at the College, someone who fits the three criteria of the series. Pianalto’s talk will be held on Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wilson Governance Room at the Scot Center. International news agencies like Reuters and Bloomberg will also be covering a worldwide live feed of the event.