Pitt Business e-newsletter Issue 12, November 2008
Katz Experience Carries Through to Leadership in China
This fall, the University of Pittsburgh named 12 new Legacy Laureates, alumni recognized for their outstanding personal and professional accomplishments. Among this prestigious group was Frank Gaoning Ning who in 1985 earned the Master of Business Administration degree in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business. After graduating from Pitt, Ning went on to become a global business leader holding executive-level positions in some of China's largest national conglomerates. He is now chair of COFCO, a Fortune magazine Global 500 corporation that is one of the world's largest food manufacturers and one of China's leading importers and exporters of grain, edible oils, and foodstuffs. COFCO also provides real estate, hotel, and financial services and has annual sales revenues of more than $21 billion. Ning also is chair of COFCO (Hong Kong) Limited and China Foods, Limited, a subsidiary of COFCO.
In October, Ning gave a talk called Food Security, Agriculture and Business: China and Beyond to Pitt students, faculty, and staff. His experience while working on a student project for Iron City Beer served him well. "Imagine being able to use what you learned to make your beer company better," said Dean Delaney. Ning agreed, saying "The things we learn in school are so fundamentally useful. You don't realize it until you use it." He encouraged students to earn recognition with their achievements, even if they happen to be working in a small division. "Don't always aim for the fashionable division," Ning said. "Be outstanding in a small division. Your boss will know it."
Ning has been recognized five times as one of the 25 most influential business leaders by Chinese Entrepreneur magazine and served as a mentor at the second annual meeting of the New Champions, a gathering of 1,500 leaders from 80 countries sponsored by the World Economic Forum.
Ning serves as a director of BOC International Holdings, Limited, and Smithfield Foods, Inc., as nonexecutive director of Lippo China Resources Limited, and as a member of the International Association for Chinese Management Research and the Asia Business Council.
