Columbia Business School has announced its newest executives in residence, tapping renowned industry leaders from the healthcare and media sectors to advise and mentor CBS students beginning this fall.
The newest executives to join CBS’s Executives in Residence program are Robert Essner, former chairman and CEO of Wyeth, one of the largest healthcare and pharmaceutical companies in the world, and Richard Zannino, former CEO of Dow Jones & Company.
As executives in residence, both will serve one-year renewable terms, during which time they will be give guest lectures, work with campus clubs, host brown-bag luncheons for students, and work one on one as mentors to students looking to enter their respective fields.
Essner, who was a proponent of research and development at Wyeth and dedicated high levels of funding to biotechnology and Alzheimer’s research, with work closely with CBS’s healthcare program. Completing a 19-year tenure at Wyeth, he retired from his position as chairman and CEO earlier this summer.
Zannino, meanwhile, brings expertise in both the media and retail sectors. He is an active member of the Columbia Business School Media Forum and brings deep media expertise from his time at Dow Jones. He also served as executive vice president of Liz Claiborne, responsible for finance and administration, as well as the company’s retail, fragrance and licensing divisions, and held executive positions at General Signal Corp., Saks Holdings, Pieter Kiewit and Sons, Emery Worldwide and Continental Group.
As part of his residency, Zannino will be available for one-on-one counseling sessions to advise students on career planning and strategy.
CBS’s Executives in Residence Program has been going strong since its founding in 1971, providing students with direct access to retired or semiretired experts in fields ranging from media to investment banking to management.
Past executives in residence have included Wolfgang Bernhard ’88, former CEO of Volkswagen, AG; Leo Hindery, Jr., former CEO of AT&T Broadband and former president of Tele-Communications, Inc.; and Philip Condit, former CEO of The Boeing Company, among others.
“They use a great deal of honesty,” said Donald C. Waite III ’66, director of the Executive in Residence Program, in a statement about the recent appointments. “Their support benefits students who are exploring potential professions and industries,” he continued. In the past five years, the number of participating executives has doubled.
To learn more about the Executives in Residence Program at Columbia Business School, click here.
