HCP Head Barbara J. McNeil, MD, PhD, was an invited speaker at the University-wide 2008 Alumni Affairs and Development Summer All Staff Conference held at Harvard Business School. During the conference, participants attended one of five faculty symposia. Speakers on the environment, the economy, health care policy, education, and foreign policy were asked to address the question, “If you had an hour with the next president of the United States, what advice would you give to him?” McNeil spoke about the major issues in health care policy that will confront our country and the next president in the coming decade, including quality of care, costs of care, and access to care, especially in light of the aging US population.
Throughout the day, the conference provided several opportunities for networking and learning. Jay Light, dean of Harvard Business School, and Tamara Elliott Rogers, vice president for alumni affairs and development for the University, welcomed attendees to the event. President Drew Faust opened the conference with remarks and a question-and-answer session. In addition to McNeil, other speakers at the faculty symposia were Robert N. Stavins from the Kennedy School, who discussed the environment; Kenneth Rogoff of FAS, who spoke about the economy; Thomas Kane, of the Graduate School of Education, who discussed education; and Tarun Khanna, of the Business School, who spoke about foreign policy.
Following the symposia and a networking lunch, all participants attended a session on data security at Harvard, presented by the University’s chief information officer, Dan Moriarty. The final event of the conference was a panel on “Alumni Affairs and Development: Fads, Trends, and Transformations,” moderated by Rogers and featuring Susan Feagin, executive vice president for university development and alumni relations at Columbia University, and Steve Oliveira, associate dean for development and alumni relations at Harvard Law School. A postconference reception provided more time for collegiality and networking and was a fitting end to a very interesting day.
