10th Anniversary Brings Recognition of Program
and Graduates
The tenth anniversary milestone for the FIT Master’s degree program has inspired recognition of the program’s value to industry, and the contributions of its graduates. The celebration kicked off when L’Oréal chose to partner with FIT in hosting the February 3rd panel discussion of “100,000 Years of Beauty,” and continued on February 5th at the annual Executive Mentor Luncheon, when L’Oréal Executive Vice President Beatrice Dautresme presented a $10,000 gift to the program from the L’Oréal Corporate Foundation.
In April, The Fragrance Foundation chose its 2010 FIFI Finalists Breakfast event to recognize ten current and former FIT Master’s alumni for their outstanding contributions to the fragrance industry. As Fragrance Foundation President Rochelle Bloom explained, “Each person has been recognized because they are shining examples of the role FIT’s program has filled in maximizing the potential in each of its students, giving them the tools to not only expand their own careers, but to deliver significant added value to the corporations that sponsored them.”
In addition to the FIFI breakfast tribute, the Fragrance Foundation published a retrospective article on the history of the Master’s Program in the Spring issue of its newsletter, The Fragrance Forum. In May, the leaders of the beauty industry gathered at the 2010 WWD Beauty CEO Summit, and Fairchild’s Pete Born paid tribute to the program’s 10th Anniversary and introduced a video of 12 current students and graduates in an IDEO-structured brainstorm session on the topic of Product Innovation. This was the first installment of a 10th Anniversary video project, which included a 10th Anniversary video of past Capstone projects, both produced by 2007 graduate Douglas Bender, and made possible by a gift from the Personal Care Products Council.
The Council further paid tribute to the FIT Master’s program at their annual Capitol Hill Day on June 9th, which focused on job creation and the advancement of women in business, and included the FIT Master’s Program as an industry effort to develop talent. The Council also profiled a graduate of the program, Rebecca Heck (class of 2007). Ms. Heck, Director of Fine Fragrance Technical Development for Firmenich in North America, is currently serving as Co-Chair of the program’s recently established Alumni Association.
[Article originally appeared in the Summer 2010 Edition of FIT’s MPS Leadership in Action Newsletter as well as on FIT’s Cosmetic and Fragrance Marketing and Management Website]
