BC Council turns two

A strong showing of some 150 alumni and friends turned out for the second annual dinner of the Boston College Technology Council at Boston's Seaport Hotel, on March 27. The council was established in 2001 by Peter W. Bell '86 and Daniel J. Nova '83. It provides a forum for alumni and parents in the technology industry to come together to share expertise among themselves and support technology at Boston College.

The dinner, hosted by University President William P. Leahy, SJ, and cochairs Bell and Nova, opened on a light note. After reporting that the council now has a West Coast chapter, Bell spotted Peter S. Lynch '65, P'01, vice chairman of Fidelity Management and Research, among the guests and quipped that perhaps the investment guru's presence signaled a turnaround for the beleaguered industry.

Fr. Leahy gave a brief University update. He told the gathering that Boston College has experienced a 6 percent increase in admission applications in the past year, with a significant rise in SAT scores. To keep attracting top students, the University needs to continue to recruit outstanding faculty. He noted that while the recent capital campaign had exceeded its goal of $400 million, more will be required going forward.

Exceeding goals may be more challenging in the high tech industry, but guest speaker Steven E. Elterich, president of Fidelity eBusiness, Fidelity Investments, said that the Internet is still one of the bright spots and that Web services continue to represent a huge opportunity for business. Elterich cited the growing trend of doing business over the Internet and added that today 91 percent of brokerage trades at Fidelity eBusiness are done this way.

Nova closed the meeting with the observation that interest in technology among BC's undergraduates continues to grow. He pointed to students' positive response to the council's recent career forum, and he noted that last July the University had hosted the third annual International Conference on the Science and Application of Nanotubes.

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