By Cristina Cruz - Christopher Columbus HS
MIAMI | If Christopher Columbus High School were a college, it would rank in the Top 20 in the 2015 Best Colleges.com “Most Fortune CEO Graduates” report, alongside universities such as Princeton and Purdue.
Three Fortune CEOs and one South Florida CEO will take part in the Columbus High School Business Symposium when they return to their alma mater Oct. 8.
Carlos Rodriguez, president & CEO of ADP, Inc. (Fortune #251), Robert Sanchez, chairman & CEO of Ryder System, Inc. (Fortune #407) and Jose Mas, president and CEO of MasTec Inc. (Fortune #562) are all Columbus graduates who will join Luis de la Aguilera, president & CEO of TotalBank (a subsidiary of Banco Popular Español, S.A. - the fourth largest banking group in Spain) when they return to campus for a panel discussion moderated by another alum, Jorge Ortega, executive vice-president and managing director of Burson-Marsteller, the global public relations and communications firm.
The event is part of the Columbus Connects Leadership Lecture Series that the school offers for alumni. The CEOs will discuss leadership strategies and take questions from the audience. They also will share how their education at the Catholic high school in West Dade, the Marist Brothers and the Columbus alumni relationships influenced their ascension to the highest position in their respective companies.
Columbus may be the only high school in America to have three Fortune CEOs among its alumni base.
“It is highly unlikely for a high school to have one Fortune 500 company CEO in its ranks, let alone three,” said Menachem Wecker, former education reporter for U.S. News & World Report.
"Columbus has an alumni base of nearly 14,000 and many of the universities in the ranking graduate this many every year – inclusive of all degrees, making this statistic even more impressive,” said Columbus Board Chairman J.B. Aleman.
This will be the first time all four of these executives will come together on campus.
“I believe that the reason so many of our graduates continue on to be great leaders is due to the unique Marist charism that we strive to instill in our students from day one -- presence, love of work, family spirit and in particular simplicity," said Brother Kevin Handibode, Columbus president who has served the school for more than 43 years. "These are some of the pillars that make for important leadership: being genuine, straightforward, and humble, and these men exemplify these traits."
The event will be broadcast on CCNN Live, Columbus’ national award-winning student-run television program.
Details for the Columbus High School CEO Panel Discussion:
- Date: Thursday, Oct. 8
- Time: Panel: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. (reception: 6–7 p.m.)
- Place: Christopher Columbus High School Cafeteria (3000 S.W. 87th Ave., Miami, FL 33165)
- For more information visit - columbushs.com/columbusconnects
