Jon Huntsman Sr. spoke in the building bearing his name yesterday in front of a crowd of more than 300 students and faculty as part of the Wharton School's Wharton Alumni Leadership Series.
"I have a very simple principle in my life," Huntsman said. "I believe that, when we're fortunate enough to be blessed by God, we owe society some of that, if not all. If we're fortunate enough to make something, we should be grateful enough to put it back."
Huntsman offered words of wisdom to the students in the packed auditorium.
"Don't disregard the network that you have. It is a powerful, powerful network," Huntsman said. "I give a lot of credit to our growth to this networking."
Huntsman not only spoke about business, but consistently stressed the importance of giving back to society.
"I've always felt when you help somebody, you don't get anything in return," Huntsman said. "Otherwise, it is a business transaction."
Huntsman -- who donated $40 million for the construction of Huntsman Hall, among other gifts -- said he did not intend to have a building named after him. It was the University Board of Trustees that ultimately named the building.
Huntsman encouraged students to never "underestimate yourself. You're destined to do whatever you believe you can do and way beyond that. ... Everybody's going to tell you, 'No.' Don't let 'no' bother you. 'No' is a great acronym for 'yes.'"
Despite the prominence of the Huntsman name on campus, many students are clueless as to who he is and what he does.
"I'm interested in his career path, how he did it. I know he came from humble means and I'm just curious what path he took to get to the top," said Megan MacLeod, a first-year Wharton MBA student.
Wharton junior Muchemi Wandimi was also eager to hear what Huntsman had to say.
"He has this mix of being very generous to society while at the same time being able to make a lot of money out of his business, so I just want to know exactly what drives him, ... his business and his philanthropy."
Indeed, Huntsman had much to say that kept the audience entertained throughout.
He spoke about his childhood in Idaho and the beginning of his business career at JCPenney, where he was a manager by the time he was 17 years old. He graduated from Wharton in 1957 and went on to become one of the nation's most successful entrepreneurs as the founder and chief executive officer of the Huntsman chemical corporation.
The audience gave Huntsman a standing ovation following his speech.
Byung-gun Park, a second-year MBA student, was very impressed with Huntsman. "He's more than I expected. He gave me a lot of inspiration -- how we can manage our firms and how we can contribute to our society."
