People
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Thomas S. Robertson will resign as dean of the Wharton School, the prestigious business school at the University of Pennsylvania, in June 2014.
He made the announcement in a letter to the faculty Wednesday in which he said he intended to return to the school's marketing department to teach and pursue research.
"It is fulfilling to be Dean at Wharton – both exciting and challenging – and I believe that I have accomplished what I set out to do," Robertson wrote in the letter.
Named dean in June 2007, Robertson had succeeded Patrick Harker, who left to become president of the University of Delaware.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Face it. There are just too many awards given out in the business community. It’s almost as bad as youth soccer leagues. (Most Consistent Wearer of Matching Socks Award, anyone?)
For that, we should perhaps blame Ernst & Young L.L.P., which created the Entrepreneur of the Year Award 26 years ago. Now there are plenty of imitators. Still, it would be great if the firm would pick just one business go-getter to represent each major metropolitan region. Instead, we get nine.
Last week, the 2012 picks for Greater Philadelphia were announced for the following categories at an event at the Convention Center:
- Emerging — David Brussin, founder and chief executive officer of Monetate Inc., an online marketing technology firm based in Conshohocken.
- Health Care Services — Joseph Cosgrove, president and CEO of Pentec Health Inc., a Boothwyn-based specialty infusion pharmacy that was recently acquired by Norwest Equity Partners.
- Lifetime Achievement — Bill Giles, chairman of the Philadelphia Phillies.
- Technology — Richard Hirsh, CEO of Transcend United Technologies Inc., an information technology systems integrator based in Wayne.
- Real Estate, Construction and Development — Michael G. O’Neill, founder and CEO of Preferred Sands L.L.C., a Radnor provider of sands used in the hydraulic fracturing process employed by the oil and gas industry.
- Master Entrepreneur of the Year — Michael Orsinger, president and CEO of Synthes USA, the West Chester medical device maker that was recently acquired by Johnson & Johnson.
- Services — Richard G. Phillips Jr., CEO of Pilot Freight Services, a Lima-based freight forwarder.
- Distribution and Manufacturing — Brian Radwell, president and CEO of Radwell International Inc., a Lumberton seller and repairer of industrial electrical and electronic control devices.
- Retail and Consumer Products — Dan Roitman, CEO of Stroll, a Center City-based seller of language-learning tools.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Aramark Corp. is losing one of its top executives to medical-device maker C.R. Bard Inc.
Murray Hill, N.J.-based C.R. Bard said it has hired Christopher S. Holland, Aramark's senior vice president of finance, to become its chief financial officer as of May 21. Holland, 45, will succeed Todd C. Schermerhorn who announced his intention to retire last July.
Holland has been an executive at the Philadelphia-based institutional food-service provider since 2003. He was named to his current title in February 2011.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Comcast Corp. executive vice president David L. Cohen will receive the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s 2011 William Penn Award, the highest honor the group gives to a local business executive.
Before joining the media giant in 2002, Cohen, 56, had been chairman of the law firm Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll L.L.P.
He was also chief of staff to Ed Rendell, when he was Philadelphia’s mayor during the ’90s.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
FXI, the Delaware County-based maker of polyurethane foam products, has a new chief executive.
Jack Johnson, who’d been president and CEO since the privately company emerged from bankruptcy in June 2009, is retiring, but will remain chairman.
Succeeding the 70-year-old Johnson is John Cowles, who’d most recently been the CEO of Touchstone Wireless Repair & Logistics L.P., a Hatfield provider of repair services to the wireless industry that generated about $125 million in 2010 revenues. Indianapolis-based Brightpoint Inc. acquired Touchstone for about $76 million in December.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Sometimes, the life-sciences business in the Philadelphia area seems so small.
On Monday, Radnor-based Yaupon Therapeutics Inc. said it named Steve Tullman, the former chief executive of Malvern-based Ception Therapeutics Inc., as its chairman and CEO. He replaces Robert Alonso, who is no longer with the company.
Tullman was available because Ception had been acquired in April 2010 by Cephalon Inc., the Frazer biotechnology giant, for $250 million. Tullman and four others had founded the anti-inflammatory-drug developer in 2004, raising $110 million in venture capital over the years.
This would be a good time to say those investors were happy with their return on investment provided by Cephalon’s cash.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Yaupon Therapeutics Inc., of Radnor, has named Steve Tullman, the former chief executive of Ception Therapeutics, as its chairman and CEO.
Yaupon's lead product is an experimental treatment for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The mechlorethamine gel has been granted "fast-track" status as well as "orphan drug" status by the Food and Drug Administration.
The company said in a statement that it expects to file a New Drug Application with the FDA for the product in mid-2011.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Three public companies will hold annual shareholders meetings in the Philadelphia area during this holiday-shortened week.
The biggest to do so will be UGI Corp., of King of Prussia, which will summon shareholders to the Desmond Hotel & Conference Center in Malvern Thursday at 10 a.m.
Lon R. Greenberg, 60, has been chief executive officer of the propane and natural gas provider since 1995. After his first full year running UGI, the company had revenues of $1.6 billion. For its most recent fiscal year ended Sept. 30, UGI had revenues of $5.6 billion.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Frank Baldino Jr., who founded Cephalon Inc. in 1987, died Thursday night. He was 57.
A brief statement released by the Frazer-based biotechnology company did not disclose a cause of death.
Baldino had been on medical leave since late August, and the company had recently said that he would not return to his duties in 2010.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
It’s quite possible that Philadelphia has entered the era of the She-E-O.
When Campbell Soup Co. tapped Denise M. Morrison Tuesday to be its chief operating officer and likely next chief executive officer, it meant that three of the 10 biggest and best-known public companies based in the region will be headed by women as of next summer.
The others are Sunoco Inc., which hired Lynn Laverty Elsenhans as CEO in July 2008, and DuPont Co., which promoted Ellen Kullman to CEO in September 2008.
Mike Armstrong blogs about Philadelphia corporations and business-related topics. Contact him at 215-854-2980.
Reach Mike at marmstrong@phillynews.com.
