Leadership series features Ben Stein, honors alumni

Ben Stein

Ben Stein cracked jokes and delivered much-needed laughter with his keynote address at the Krannert School of Management’s eighth annual Leadership Speakers Series in October 2008.

The affable author, game show host, commentator, and actor — perhaps best known for his sonorous roll-call performance in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off — peppered his remarks with punch lines, political commentary, a bit of pathos, and a pep talk.

“The economic debacle happened out of good intentions: to provide more mortgages for poor people,” said Stein. “Deregulation was a mistake. The free market doesn’t always work, as even Adam Smith noted, but you don’t want to regulate with a heavy hand.”

A prolific author, Stein has written many novels and nonfiction books and several screenplays, and he regularly contributes to a variety of national newspapers and magazines. Among the topics he addresses are finance and ethical and social issues in finance, the political and social content of mass culture, the concealed messages of television, and how TV programs and films get made.

His most recent books include the bestselling humor self-help guide, How to Ruin Your Life, and How Successful People Win: Using Bunkhouse Logic to Get What You Want in Life. He also regularly discusses finance on the Fox News Channel and is a contributing commentator on CBS Sunday Morning.

“It will be a long, slow road out of this hole, but we still have an amazing level of prosperity,” said Stein. “What holds us together is our culture and a shared belief in the dignity of one another.”

Purdue Provost Randy Woodson and Krannert Dean Rick Cosier also spoke at the event, which drew a crowd of more than 750 to the Purdue Memorial Union. Several notable alumni were recognized as well, including Steve Webster (BSIM ’73), president and co-managing partner of Avista Capital Partners. Webster was honored with the Krannert Business Leadership Award, the school’s highest recognition.

Boston Scientific was lead sponsor of the 2008 Leadership Speakers Series. Other sponsors were Accenture, Air Products and Chemicals, Bank of America, Saint-Gobain Containers, WellPoint, Karl and Kathy Krapek, Susan and Bob Gadomski, Duke Realty, Grow Indiana Media Ventures, Lafayette Printing, and Purdue Alumni.

— Grant Flora