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Last modified: Friday, March 1, 2002

Five IU alumni to be honored at annual Business Conference on March 6

Five alumni of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University will be honored for professional achievement during an awards ceremony at the 56th annual IU Business Conference at the Indianapolis Convention Center on March 6 in Indianapolis.

Being named to the Kelley School of Business Academy of Alumni Fellows are David M. Baum of Short Hills, N.J., co-head of Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s mergers and acquisitions business in the Americas; Ronald W. Dollens of Zionsville, Ind., president and chief executive officer of Guidant Corp.; and John W. Eck of Southport, Conn., president of broadcast and network operations at NBC.

The 2002 Distinguished Entrepreneur Award will be presented to Scott A. Jones of Carmel, Ind., chairman, CEO and president of Escient Technologies LLC.; and to Jane H. Martin, Bloomington, Ind., managing director of capital investments for Village Ventures Inc.

David M. Baum

Since 1999, Baum has served as co-head of Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s mergers and acquisitions business in the Americas. For eight of the last 10 years and in every year since 1997, Goldman Sachs has ranked as the world's leading merger adviser. A mergers and acquisitions generalist, Baum has worked on a wide variety of transactions across many industries on a global basis during his 15-year career at the firm.

He joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in 1986 and was promoted to associate in 1988, to vice president in 1992 and to managing director in 1996. He was named a partner in 1998. Baum has served as co-head of the firm's Retail Investment Banking Practice as well as its Finance Committee.

Baum received a bachelor's degree in accounting from IU in 1986. He serves on the Kelley School Dean's Advisory Council. Baum lives with his wife and three children in Short Hills, N.J.

Ronald W. Dollens

Ron Dollens is president and chief executive officer of Guidant Corp., a $2.5 billion company that is a world leader in the design and development of cardiovascular medical products. Prior to the formation of Guidant in 1994, Dollens was president of Eli Lilly and Co.'s Medical Devices and Diagnostics Division. He also has served as president and senior vice president of sales, marketing and development for Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif.

Dollens received a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Purdue University and an MBA degree in marketing from IU in 1972. He is a member of the boards of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, Alliance for Aging Research, Healthcare Leadership Council, Indiana Health Industry Forum, Kinetic Concepts Inc. and Beckman Coulter Corp.

Active in civic affairs, he serves on the boards of Butler University, the Eiteljorg Museum, St. Vincent Hospital and the Indiana State Symphony Society. He also is a member of the Kelley School Dean's Advisory Council and the IU School of Medicine Dean's Advisory Group. Dollens also serves on the board of directors of IU's Advanced Research and Technology Institute.

He has been appointed by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to serve on the newly created Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform.

John W. Eck

Since 1998, John Eck has served as president of broadcast and network operations at NBC, where he oversees production operations, program distribution, real estate and sourcing. He joined NBC in 1993 as vice president of financial planning and analysis. He also has held the positions of senior vice president, chief quality officer and chief financial officer for NBC international and business development.

Eck started his career in GE's financial management program with GE Lighting. He also has held various positions with GE Capital, GE Power Generation and GE Aircraft Engines.

He is the recipient of the Boy Scouts of America 2001 Communication Arts Industries "Good Scout" Award and is a member of the David Rockefeller Fellows Program.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Eck received his bachelor's degree in business in 1982 from IU, where he serves as a member of the Kelley School Dean's Advisory Council. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.

The annual Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, presented by the Kelley School of Business and its alumni association, will be given to Jones and Martin. The award recognizes them for significant achievement and innovation in developing a business through individual effort, personal responsibility and ingenuity.

Scott A. Jones

Scott Jones is chairman, CEO and president of Escient Technologies LLC, a high-technology accelerator and management company he co-founded in 1996 that channels new technologies into strategic positions in the marketplace.

In 1986, he co-founded his first company, Boston Technology Inc., which he chaired until 1992. Using patented voice-messaging technologies, the firm later merged with Comverse Technologies, resulting in a multibillion-dollar company whose products are used by the majority of telephone companies throughout the world.

At Escient, Jones applies his technological savvy and business acumen toward the realization of a parallel vision -- merging Internet power with electronic appliances and devices.

He received a bachelor's degree in computer science from IU in 1984. He is chairman of the Indiana Technology Partnership, of the Gazelle Fund, and of GrowIndiana Media Ventures. He also serves on the boards of the state-funded 21st Century Fund and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. Active in civic affairs, Jones is on the boards of Art Technology Group, UNX, the Indianapolis Zoo and The Children's Museum. His charitable foundation makes significant contributions to worthy causes that include local schools and technology efforts.

Jane H. Martin

Jane Martin is managing director of capital investments for Village Ventures Inc., a Massachusetts-based network of 14 funds that is backed by four of the largest venture firms in the nation -- Bain Capital, Highland, Sandler and Janus. Village Ventures' new Indiana Fund will focus on information technology and life sciences.

Previously Martin was CEO at WisdomTools, IU's first technology spinoff, a software company that provides online corporate training. She also was a general partner at U.S. Venture Partners, a leading venture capital firm in Silicon Valley that funded Sun Microsystems, Advanced Cardiovascular, Amgen and Callaway Golf.

She received a bachelor's degree in business from Indiana University in 1972 and then joined Allstate's Investment Department in Chicago. She became a principal in Allstate's Venture Capital Division while earning her CFA designation.

Martin returned to Bloomington in 1990 and lives on a farm with her husband, children and Paso Fino horses. Her family has funded a chair and two professorships in neurosciences at the IU School of Medicine. She is a member of the executive committee of Gazelle Tech Ventures and the advisory boards of Dunrath Partners and Arch Development Partners, and she serves on the board of Indiana Technology Partners.

The honors presentation will be part of a day-long program that will focus on the theme '"Winning in Turbulent Times." Speaking at this year's conference will be Dollens; Richard Lambert, editor of the Financial Times; and John Yokoyama, owner of the world-famous Pike Place Fish Market, the fun Seattle shop that is the subject of the best-selling book Fish.

Information and online registration are available at https://kelley.iu.edu/busconf.cfm or 812-855-6340.