Celebrating 40 Years of the Pacific Rim Bankers Program
View and download photos from the 40th Anniversary Banquet.
On Thursday, August 17, 2017, the Pacific Rim Bankers Program (now called the Global Bankers Program), run by Executive Education at the UW Foster School of Business, celebrated its 40th Anniversary. The event was held at the beautiful Omni Hotel in San Francisco and we had alumni and guests in attendance representing over 30 banking institutions from 15 different countries (from Argentina to Vietnam!). To date we have over 2,700 PRBP alumni located all over the world.
Founded in 1977 by former UW Business School Dean, Dr. Kermit O. Hanson, PRBP is designed to provide future leaders with the knowledge and skills needed to make decisions and respond to changing markets in the banking industry. Dr. Hanson has been quoted as saying, “the Pacific Rim Bankers Program is founded on the premise that education is the wellspring of national development.”
This celebration had two Premier Sponsors; Wells Fargo and Shanghai Commercial Bank; one Major Sponsor, EastWest Bank; and several individual sponsors: Bank of China (Thai) Pcl., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, U.S. Bank, and Zions Bancorp.
At the event, current Dean, Dr. Jim Jiambalvo, welcomed the attendees and updated the audience on the exciting things currently going on at the Foster School: “In 2017 as PRBP celebrates its 40th year, the Foster School of Business is celebrating its centennial. In 1917 the School was just the second business school in the western United States. There were 7 faculty and 12 students enrolled in both Bachelor and MBA degree programs. We now have 83 faculty and over 2,500 students.”
Mr. Ashish Sharma, current PRBP Administrative Board President and Head of Strategic Payment Solutions for Wells Fargo, also addressed the audience and acknowledged the significance of this milestone anniversary for the PRBP.
UW Foster alum and long-time supporter of Foster, Mr. Gary Wipfler, Vice President & Corporate Treasurer of Apple Inc., then provided a keynote address on leadership, sharing numerous pieces of advice as he talked about his experiences in a challenging and dynamic industry.
During the keynote, Wipfler shared several valuable leadership lessons he has learned over the course of his career.
UW Foster then presented Distinguished Leadership Awards to four recipients who were selected based on their support of PRBP as well as their leadership contributions in their field. The 2017 awardees were:
- Elvira E. Ditching-Lorico (PRBP 2005), Managing Director, Human Resources Sub-sector, Bangko Sentral Ng Philipinas
- Yung-Chang (Jim) Ho, Head of Greater China Business Development & Advisory, Wells Fargo International Group
- Roosniati Salihin (PREBS 1982), Deputy President, Pan Indonesia Bank (Panin Bank)
- Thomas Liu Taylor (PRBP 1991), Senior Vice President & Regional Director, EastWest Bank
The evening ended with a celebration of PRBP, uniting current class participants, alumni, board members, sponsors, and friends.
