The University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School has created a new International Board of Advisors (BOA) of alumni who will advise the dean as the school expands its ongoing engagement with the global business community.

The board is made up of 23 UNC Kenan-Flagler alumni living in 17 different countries who will meet virtually two to three times a year. The board met virtually on April 29 and May 12.

Creating the board builds on the school’s history of creating new models of global education and fostering a deep engagement with business worldwide, noted James W. Dean Jr., dean of UNC Kenan-Flagler.

"These leaders navigate international business issues on a daily business, and they are uniquely positioned to work with the School as we deepen our ongoing focus on globalization," Dean noted. "In addition to our virtual meetings, I will travel to Europe, India, Asia and Latin America to grow our interaction with these alumni and other leaders of companies in business centers around the world."

Jeff Tucker (MBA ’00), director of Century Bridge Capital in China and a member of the School’s Alumni Council and International Board of Advisors, said that international alumni are a valuable resource for the school.

"The creation of the International Board of Advisors allows us to benefit from the local knowledge, resources and perspectives of our alumni around the world and, in turn, dramatically extend the UNC Kenan-Flagler brand for recruiting, placement and development," Tucker said.

Julio Cesar Frem Bestani (MBA ’00), CEO of Agrifirma Brazil in Buenos Aires and a member of the new board, said that the BOA is an unprecedented initiative that will allow the school to continue to expand its influence on the global business community.

"The International BOA is only one of the features of Dean Jim Dean’s committed strategy to position the school globally, which can only be done successfully by bringing in the impressions and experience from its existing network of proud and thankful alumni around the world," Bestani noted.

The members of the new International Board of Advisors are:

• Atul Aggarwal, director of Sterling Tools in New Delhi
• Gagan Bakshi, director of M&A of Interglobe Enterprises in New Delhi
• Ignasi Vivas Ballabriga, managing director of Europe for American Medical Systems in Breukelen
• Claudio Barreto, head of planning for Nitro Ltd in Sao Paolo
• Julio Cesar Frem Bestani, CEO of Agrifirma Brazil in Buenos Aires
• Charles Blocker Jr., business development director of InVision Hospitality in Thailand and Vietnam
• C. Anthony Boon, director of project finance with Dolphin Energy, LTD in Abu Dhabi
• Don-Ho Chien, senior associate of Century Bridge Capital in Beijing
• Todd Dunivant, head of regional banks/research for Asia/Pacific for HSBC Limited in Hong Kong
• Cesar Elizondo with the Capital Electronic Exchange in Mexico
• Mick Hawk, president of Bonton in Prague
• David Hicks, founder and CEO of SpaceMaker in London
• Rolf Hoffman, senior vice president of Amgen International in Zug
• Ron Martin, vice president with Asia Pacific Emerson Systems and Solutions in Singapore
• Toqueer Nawaz, CEO of Trigen Pharma in Karachi
• Hirotaka Ogawa, general manager of Kimberly-Clark Healthcare in Tokyo
• Sunil Parikh, associate director of Collabrant Incubators in Mumbai
• Mark Scullion, associate director with Quintiles in Durham
• T.J. Singla in India
• Jeff Tucker, director of Century Bridge Capital in China
• Luiz Ulrich, country manager of Peru and Bolivia at General Motors in Santiago
• Laura Voglino, vice president of growth markets at IBM in Shanghai
• Achim von Klitzing, group vice president and general counsel of DeWAG Management GmbH in Stuttgart