Looking for hints on becoming successful leaders, more than 60 students came to hear Michael Pavia, chief technology officer of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, yesterday at the final "Lessons in Leadership" fall lecture.
Pavia, a top executive of a company that exceeded the combined market capitalization of Delta Airlines, Xerox and U.S. Steel last year is also a Penn alumnus. He returned to the University for his lecture, which was sponsored by the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program.
Throughout the talk, Pavia focused on his opinions about the type of leadership needed in today's world.
"You should learn to be a leader by trying," he said. "Look for opportunities to be a leader in a university setting."
The pharmaceutical expert also focused on the impact scientific revolutions will have on moral debates.
"Before we progress down the road of human cloning, we need to have much greater debate about ethical questions," he said. "Science and ethics should go hand in hand."
Pavia, who earned a Penn doctoral degree in Organic Chemistry in 1982, worked at various pharmaceutical companies before assuming his current position at Millennium. At the company, he is responsible for drug discovery and implementing new technology.
According to Pavia, the University's atmosphere seems to foster success.
"It depends on" the company you keep, he said. "However, Penn's record speaks for itself."
Some students were interested in following Pavia's footsteps.
"I'm thinking of pursuing [pharmaceuticals] as a career," said College sophomore Charlie Askew. "I thought [the talk] was pretty interesting."
