Dear Friends of CEM,
One of the highlights of the Spring semester was the CEM board meeting held for the first time in Miami, at FedEx's offices, courtesy of Luiz Vasconcelos (MBA ‘02, Pt '26), President-LAC. The program on May 15-16, 2025 included a visit to NU's Miami campus and a lovely dinner, while the board meeting was followed by a tour of FedEx's hub at Miami International airport. I am also delighted to welcome two new board members: Gianluca Pettiti, EVP and President at Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Vicente Zavarce (BSBA ‘16), Founder & CEO of Yummy, a successful Venezuelan super app.
CEM was honored that one of its board members, Vivek Sharma (Pt ‘28), was invited to deliver the commencement address to DMSB's undergraduate students on May 8, 2025. Three other CEM board members–Spencer Fung, Venkat Srinivasan, and Ed DiSanto–have been commencement speakers in the past.
On the Research front, CEM hosted the 7th Greater Boston Corporate Governance Workshop organized by Professors Ruth Aguilera and Kevin Chuah, and cosponsored the 8th Global Strategy and Emerging Markets conference in Monterrey, Mexico, co-led by Professor Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra. Our faculty continue to receive awards and accolades for their research. And, as always the Nardone Family Seminar series featured experts on diverse topics and supported the Brown Bag series for D'Amore-McKim School of Business faculty. It also hosted a special fireside chat with Gianluca Pettiti, EVP, ThermoFisher Scientific, on managing innovation in today's geopolitical world.
On the Student front, the Srinivasan Family Awards program had a successful third year, having supported cumulatively 56 students working on 42 projects in emerging markets. The CEM Student Associates program is gaining in popularity, leading to a very competitive selection process for the fourth cohort this spring. Also, four seniors were honored as CEM Student Fellows for outstanding contributions during their time at NU. This year also saw the revival of Emerging Markets-oriented student clubs in Boston and the launch of a new one in Oakland guided by Professor Evodio Kaltenecker. A highlight of the Spring semester was the inaugural Student Research Expo, organized by students under the guidance of Professor Larissa Marchiori Pacheco, in which over 25 students from all over Northeastern presented their research on different aspects of emerging markets.
Kathryn Slomski and I are grateful to our faculty, students, board members, and benefactors for their invaluable support and contributions. We hope to see many of you at the events planned for the coming year, including an India lecture and a summit on family business in October 2025, both part of the Vivek & Vandana Sharma India Initiative.
Warm regards,