My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: A Call for Donation from the Berkeley HAAS Alumni Network

Sunday, December 29, 2013

A Call for Donation from the Berkeley HAAS Alumni Network

Last week, I received another call from a representative of the University of California(UC) Berkeley MBA Haas Alumni Network. I have been receiving this call about once a month for the last six months asking for donation or pledge for FUNDS for the school. The call always start with a Hello and verify what year did I graduate from the school (1980 in my case). The caller then would give me the latest news and status and standing of the school compared to other graduate school in business here in the US. He said while Harvard and Stanford are getting lots of money for their school program, UC is far behind and thus depend on its alumni for support. Then at the end the caller urged me for a donation. I told the caller I am retired and have a fixed income, thus have no extra money to donate. He keep on insisting that he will accept any amount. I was almost tempted to contribute, but recovered that I really I can not afford to donate. The caller then answered that he understand but if in the future my financial condition improves, he will be delighted to receive my pledge and contribution. We indeed the phone call with me promising that if I win the lottery, I will give 20% of my winnings to the Alumni Network.

During our conversation, he indicated that UC Berkeley MBA program is now ranked #1 for this 2014 school year and the undergraduate program #7. I told him this is really good news. I was not sure if he is pulling my legs just to get a pledge so I check the Internet and I found the article dated March 12, 2013 written by Kelsey Sheehy published at www.usnews.com as follows:

"The top business schools held firm this year, with Harvard and Stanford University sharing the No. 1 spot again and University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School at No. 3. University of Chicago's Booth School of Business fell out of a three-way tie for 4th, dropping to 6th, leaving Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management tied for the No. 4 spot. Several of the top 50 schools shifted places, but few climbed higher than University of Washington's Michael G. Foster School of Business, which jumped from 35th to a tie at 23rd.( There is no mention that UC undergraduate school business program is #7 in this paragraph)

The Kellogg School fell from first to third in the part-time MBA rankings, making way for the Haas School of Business at University of California—Berkeley to claim the No. 1 rank. Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business jumped 15 places, improving its rank from 32 to 17, tied with Rice University's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. On the other end of the spectrum, Babson College's F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business dropped from 16th to 46th in the part-time rankings".

In addition to the UC Berkeley Alumni Network, I am also receiving letters and e-mails from the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy Alumni Association asking for donation( Letter of Solicitation will be posted soon). My son David III on the other hand also gets a regular call from Carnegie Mellon University Alumni Association as well as letters of solicitation asking for help. Thanks to the University of the Philippines( my other Alma mater) Alumni Association who has not bothered me for almost a decade now for financial contributions and support.

Here's an e-mail from the Dean of the Haas School of Business, Undergraduate Program.

Dear David,

As an alum of the Haas School of Business, you are our competitive advantage. Your gift is the high-powered capital that allows us to invest in our people, place, and culture—our three most important assets. Please join me in supporting Berkeley-Haas.

Thanks to the generosity of alumni like you:

Our faculty has never been stronger. Four Haas faculty were just honored in Thinkers50, Janet Yellen was nominated to be chair of the Federal Reserve, and 81 of our faculty made our prestigious “Club 6” for excellence in teaching. Your gifts allow us to attract and retain top thinkers and teachers.

Our students are putting new ideas into action. Berkeley-Haas students are learning the skills to become innovative and inspiring leaders—skills like rapid prototyping, influencing without authority, and problem framing. Today’s business climate demands a different type of classroom experience. Your gifts build flexible teaching spaces and a new curriculum centered on experiential learning.

We are changing society in meaningful ways. Our new Institute for Business and Social Impact is rethinking the role of business in society. Our Energy Institute is sparking policy change and leading breakthroughs in clean technology. Our Institute for Business Innovation is launching entrepreneurial businesses around the globe. More and more you will see path-bending enterprises begin through collaborations at Berkeley-Haas.

You make all this possible—tuition and state support keep our doors open, but the support of our alumni and friends is what brings us to greatness. Please reinvest in Berkeley-Haas today.

Regards,

Rich Lyons, Dean, Haas School of Business

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like:

Sunday, December 29, 2013

A Call for Donation from the Berkeley HAAS Alumni Network

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