Date: April 12

Time: 6 p.m.

Location: Alexander Kasser Theater

Ticket price:
$150

For more information call:
973-655-7105

By Jennifer Fusco

This year's annual dinner,"From Jeans to Pinstripes," celebrates the 25th anniversary of the School of Business. The dinner will be held Tuesday, April 12, at 6 p.m. on the stage of the Alexander Kasser Theater.

The School of Business is entering its 25th year of service to New Jersey students and employers, and the dinner will highlight the successes of its first quarter century. Under the leadership of Dean Alan Oppenheim, the school has gained accreditation by the AACSB: the International Association for Management Education (an honor held by fewer than one third of business schools in the country), has the highest admission standards and greatest demand for admittance at the University. The School also has hosted eight international business conferences in locations such as Korea, India, Slovakia, China and Thailand. Responding to a growing need by working professionals, the School developed a Saturday-only M.B.A. program and has expanded it to a satellite program at Brookdale Community College.

Scott R. Williams of PSE&G

As part of the evening's festivities, Scott R. Williams of PSE&G and Bradley T. Sheares of Merck will be honored for the roles they play as leading members of the corporate community and as role models for young men and women who aspire to careers in business and the sciences. Six outstanding seniors will receive the President's Carpe Diem Award in recognition of their commitment, passion and determination to succeed in one or more areas of academic life: Jacob V. Hudnut, Julie E. Betz, CherylAnne Piegaro, Kendra Faison, Amelia S. Teo and Melissa Velez.

Williams, who has been with PSE&G of Newark since 1972, has served as director of Customer Order Fulfillment since 2001. He developed and implemented a process for designed to meet new customer requirements and requires integrated involvement of all PSE&G customer contact organizations. Williams also was responsible for the development of a Supply Chain Management organization and implementation of a comprehensive Supply Chain Management process.

He is an adjunct professor of business at County College of Morris and Centenary College, and is a frequent guest lecturer at Rutgers. Williams earned a B.S. in civil engineering and a B.A. in economics from Bucknell University in 1972. He earned an M.B.A. in finance and accounting from New York University in 1979. In 1995, he completed the University of Virginia's Executive Program.

Williams has been a trustee of the YWCA of Orange and West Hudson since 1987. He served on the Mendham Borough Board of Education from 1983 to 1990, and as its president from 1989 to 1990. On the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' Supplier Diversity Development Council since 1997, he served as vice president, 1999-2001 and has been president since 1991. Williams spent four years as a member of MSU's Board of Trustees and serves on the University's Foundation Board.

Bradley T. Sheares of Merck

Sheares has been president of the U.S. Human Health Division of Merck, with sales and marketing responsibility for the company's portfolio of medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases.

Well recognized within Merck for his leadership abilities, Sheares recently served as vice president, hospital marketing and sales for U.S. Human Health before assuming his current position in March 2001. Sheares joined Merck in 1987 as a research fellow in the Merck Research Laboratories and moved to the U.S. marketing organization in 1990. Since then, he has held a wide range of positions in business development, sales and marketing.

A graduate of Fisk University with an B.A. in Chemistry, he earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Purdue in 1982. He was an N.I.H. Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Cancer Research at MIT from 1983-1985 and a Lucille P. Markey Scholar, Center for Cancer Research at MIT from 1985 to 1987.