Former Chief Economist at ‘BusinessWeek’ Visits RIT May 6

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Michael Mandel

Michael Mandel, longtime business journalist, author and former chief economist at BusinessWeek, will be the second speaker in the lecture series Rochester and the Innovation Economy, sponsored by New York State Assemblyman Joseph Morelle and Rochester Institute of Technology. The series brings in leading national experts to discuss important trends in innovation policy and the opportunities and challenges for expanding the innovation economy in upstate New York.

The event begins at 4 p.m. May 6 in the Louise Slaughter Building on the RIT campus and is free and open to the public. It will include a presentation by Mandel and a panel discussion featuring Morelle, RIT Provost Jeremy Haefner, Susan Rogers, executive vice president and general manager of WXXI Public Broadcasting, and James Senal, president of High Tech Rochester.

Mandel spent two decades at BusinessWeek, where he also served as economics editor and authored over 50 cover stories on innovation, the new economy and the relationship between business and government. He received the Gerald R. Loeb Award for excellence in business journalism in 1998 and was named one of the top 100 business journalists of the 20th century. Beginning in the fall of 2010, he will serve as a senior fellow at the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School of Business.

“Michael Mandel possesses unique insights on the development of new industries and business sectors and how communities such as Rochester can take advantage of these opportunities for the benefit of local businesses and local workers,” notes Morelle. “He is the perfect speaker for this lecture series which seeks to generate new ideas on how to expand Rochester’s innovation economy, while also showcasing our many assets to leading national leaders in the field.”

The series is co-organized by Morelle and Ron Hira, RIT associate professor of public policy, and is also sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and the E. Philip Saunders College of Business. To RSVP, contact Melissa Taylor at mtmgrl@rit.edu.