Ritter, Pollack visit Asia for Cornell’s Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference

Cornell president Martha Pollack and Gretchen Ritter, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts & Sciences, traveled to Asia last month for a series of meetings with alumni and the 10th anniversary of the Cornell Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference.

Hosted by Cornell’s Office of International Alumni Relations, the annual conference draws alumni leaders from throughout Asia. Along with two April 7 panel discussions in Hong Kong, other events included an April 4 alumni dinner in Seoul, South Korea and an April 6 alumni dinner in Hong Kong.

“It was wonderful to see our alumni in various leadership roles throughout Asia gather together to celebrate their Cornell connections,” Ritter said. “I had many thoughtful discussions with alumni about the important role a liberal arts education plays in creating today’s global citizens.”

One April 7 Hong Kong panel featured Cornell faculty in the fields of psychology and economics, who participated in a discussion focusing on the emerging field of behavioral economics.

Adam Levinson ’92, managing partner & CIO at Graticule Asset Management Asia in Singapore, moderated the panel at the Conrad Hong Kong hotel, which included Ted O’Donoghue, the Zubrow Professor of Economics; Tom Gilovich, the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology and J. Edward Russo, the SC Johnson Family Professor of Management. The audience included about 130 Cornell alumni, parents and friends.

The panel explored the next steps for behavioral economics and decision research at Cornell and its ethical and philosophical implications for business and society.

A second panel April 7 focused on the future of information technology in society. That panel was moderated by Pollack and featured Ritter; Greg Morrisett, dean of Computing and Information Science (CIS) and Dan Huttenlocher, the Jack and Rilla Neafsey Dean and Vice Provost, Cornell Tech.

While focused on the challenges and opportunities that society will encounter in an ever-increasing digital age, panelists also explained some of the collaborative research and curriculum innovations happening in Arts & Sciences, CIS and Cornell Tech.

At the gala events in both Korea and Hong Kong, Ritter conducted a conversational interview with Pollack that served to highlight the president’s priorities and provide an update on recent developments and innovations on both the Ithaca and New York City Cornell campuses.