UW News

October 22, 2001

Publisher to address business leaders, UW faculty and alumni on future of Internet gold rush

Forbes magazine publisher Rich Karlgaard, one of the nation’s most influential technology journalists, will deliver the keynote address Thursday at the University of Washington Business Leadership Banquet.

His talk will highlight the UW School of Business Administration’s biggest annual event, which in previous years has featured the likes of Intel CEO Andy Grove and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.

Karlgaard, a frequent contributor to CNN/fn and The Wall Street Journal, will explain why he believes the Internet bonanza is no short-term flash in the pan.

“The underlying technology of chips and bandwidth has been improving at exponential rates,– he has written. “It will continue to do so, trending toward infinite power at zero cost.–

Welcoming Karlgaard at downtown Seattle’s Four Seasons Olympic Hotel will be Yash Gupta, the new UW Business School dean. Gupta was formerly head of the University of Colorado, Denver, School of Business, where he was praised for building strong partnerships between the school and business community.

The annual UW banquet draws Seattle-area business executives together with Business School faculty and alumni. It will culminate in the presentation of 1999 UW Business Leadership awards to Edward Fritzky, chairman, president and CEO of Immunex Corp., and Charles Lillis, president and CEO of Media One.

Fritzky was president of American Cyanamid’s Lederle Laboratories division when it merged with Seattle biopharmacology powerhouse Immunex in 1993. Founded in 1981, Immunex is developing treatments for cancer, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. American Home Products Corp. now holds a majority interest.

Lillis heads Media One, one of the world’s largest broadband communications companies, which merged with AT&T this year in a multi-billion-dollar deal. He earned his bachelor’s and MBA degrees at the UW.

Receiving the UW’s 1999 Alumni Service Award will be Norman Metcalfe, former chief financial officer and vice president of The Irvine Company, one of the nation’s largest real estate companies.

Metcalfe earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and MBA in finance from the UW. He now runs his own investment and real estate business in Southern California, and has served as chairman of the University of Washington Foundation the past two school years.

Karlgaard, the keynote speaker, became publisher of Forbes after founding Forbes ASAP, a technology publication for decision makers, and editing Upside, a monthly covering the computer industry and high-tech investment.

He describes the 780,000-circulation Forbes as geared toward wealth creators who are “throwing out the old rules and transforming business, not only in Silicon Valley, but in Detroit, on Wall Street and throughout the global economy.–

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The event in the hotel’s Spanish Ballroom begins with a reception at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m., awards ceremony at 8 p.m., and keynote address at 8:30 p.m. Reporters wanting to attend or obtain more information may contact Nan Beech in the Business School’s development office, (206) 543-0304 or nanbeech@u.washington.edu.