Distinguished Alumni: Adolfo Autrey (Kellogg ‘70)
The story of Adolfo Autrey’s life is as unique as it is amusing. He was kind enough to take some time to talk to me about his professional life which was strongly shaped by his studies. He has worked in business all his life and has taken a strong stance in favor of education from his position at Northwestern University’s Global Advisory Council for the last 35 years.
He attended high school at St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy, where students were primarily from the Midwest. He became a fan of the Big 10 League and would hear other students talk about the most popular universities in the region. This Midwestern culture stayed with him long after he came back to Mexico.
During his last year of law school at Universidad Autónoma de México in 1968, he immediately started applications to pursue an MBA in the United States, after his father’s advice to attend business school and to later incorporate into the family business.
Eager to start this new chapter of his life, he felt he couldn’t wait until the following year to attend Harvard or The University of Pennsylvania, where he had been accepted for the coming year, but instead decided to join Northwestern’s business program just a few months after his college graduation.
When he talks about the changes he perceives from those early days, he states: “Back then, the entire class had 120 students and between the two years there were a total of 350 students in the program. Having classes with 30 students was a new experience for me coming from UNAM, which had classes of a thousand students, and I was impressed by the freedom students had to ask questions, state their opinions, and discuss issues with other students and faculty.”
Adolfo was certainly impressed by the quality of teachers. He had classes with Northwestern legends like Philip Kotler and Don Jacobs, whose books and research papers were used in class as learning materials. He also found that, at the time, the University was not as prepared for international students with just five Japanese, two French, three Swiss, one Austrian, and himself as the only Spanish speaking person in the business program.
“When I went to Northwestern, the business school was located downtown at Lakeshore drive and Superior St., which was amazing because although during the week we studied hard to do well in such a demanding program, on weekends we would enjoy listening to live music on Rush Street,” Adolfo reminisces.
Adolfo happily graduated in the Spring of 1970 and enjoyed his commencement ceremony at the football field, where they used to be held at the time. Looking back, he thinks that he acquired unparalleled analytic skills. He says, between laughs, “You won’t believe this, but after my MBA I would go to the movies and see pictures in a new light, I would analyze the scenes, the sound, the characters… and it wasn’t just the movies, my thinking expanded in such a way!”
Fast forward a couple years and Don Jacobs became Dean of the Kellogg School of Management in 1975 and invited him to be part of the Global Advisory Council, through which he has witnessed all sorts of changes. These changes have positioned Northwestern University’s Kellogg business program as one of the most prestigious in the world.
Adolfo remembers the innovating plan Donald Jacobs created with 4 main strategies:
1. Team Work Approach: which has characterized the business school ever since
2. Size matters: expanded the program to more students and built the necessary facilities
3. Continued executive education: for professionals to be updated and keep studying
4. Do research: the most important thing faculty needed in order to teach at Northwestern
After 26 years of this plan’s success, Dipak C. Jain, associate Dean for Donald Jacobs and Kellogg marketing professor was appointed the new Dean. He worked hard to develop a culture of innovation and inclusivity, he introduced for the first time the importance for students to work on “soft skills” in order to make “hard impressions”, and led Kellogg from being individual-driven to institution-driven.
As I continue interviewing Adolfo, he talks about Sally Blount and Francesca Cornelli’s contributions to the program. He has witnessed their work, passion and commitment to Kellogg and he can describe their unique characteristics and strategies to improve the MBA program and lead education into the future.
As he recalls these changes, improvements, and trajectory, he tells me that at Northwestern they take time after each Dean to choose the next right person. Even when there are interim Deans who maintain the plans, they choose someone with vision and commitment who can give the right direction for the next ten or so years.
Adolfo is a true believer in education as a means to excel in life. He strongly recommends university students to pursue Master's degrees abroad. He states: “Nowadays a college degree isn’t enough, competition has become global. These new generations will compete with other students at Cambridge or Tokyo University.” He believes that if given the possibility of living abroad, traveling, and learning more languages, one should seize the opportunity, as these experiences are key to a well-rounded education.
As we dive into what the future holds for education and the amount of information available online, Adolfo shares that teachers are the base for an MBA program, and that what you gain from the relationship and mentorship from them does not compare to anything you find online.
Although classroom learning is essential, he has no doubt that a mix between online classes and in-person teaching will prevail in the future, as digital platforms gain importance in the teaching environment. With Covid-19 we’re seeing disruption in every industry; this is the case for education too. “We will need to adapt to the geopolitical obstacles with innovation and technology,” he emphasizes. “Who knows, maybe they will be using holograms in classrooms soon,” and laughs. “Everything exists already but will be implemented in the next 5 years.” I felt like maybe he’s got a glimpse of what’s to come but is not authorized to let those secrets out just yet. It will be interesting to see.
It was a true delight talking to Adolfo and getting his broad perspective, opinion and anecdotes from something we all cherish greatly, our time at Northwestern-Kellogg.
Alejandra Avilés Soto is a 2013 graduate of the Integrated Marketing Communications Master’s program at the Medill School of Journalism.
