Release: Immediate
Contact: David Stawasz, Beth Barszcz or Barbara Moffat (formerly Campanella)
Friendly's Co-Founder S. Prestley Blake to Discuss Harvard Case Study with Students February 25
Posted January 5, 2009
S. Prestley Blake H'80, co-founder of the Friendly Ice Cream Corporation and long-time supporter of Western New England College, will visit the College Wednesday, February 25 for a discussion of the Harvard Business School case study focusing on his shareholder action against Friendly Ice Cream. The event will take place between noon and 1:00 p.m. at the School of Law on the College's main campus, and is free and open to the public. Blake's appearance is sponsored by the Western New England College Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship.
Students from the School of Business and the School of Law will participate in a question and answer session with Blake. Professors at Harvard Business School turned Blake's legal fight with the company he co-founded into a case study of shareholder activism and corporate governance. The case study details Blake's suit against Friendly's and former CEO Donald N. Smith, hedge fund manager Sardar Biglari's proxy fight with the company, and the eventual sale of the company in 2007 to the privately held Sun Capital Partners.
Blake and his brother Curtis founded Friendly's in Springfield in 1935. The brothers sold the company in 1979 for $164 million.
Western New England University is a private, independent, coeducational institution founded in 1919. Located on an attractive 215-acre suburban campus in Springfield, Massachusetts, Western New England University serves 3,700 students, including 2,550 full-time undergraduate students. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs are offered through Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Engineering, and Pharmacy, and School of Law.
Follow Us!
Media Contacts
Dave Stawasz
AVP for Marketing Communications
office: 413-796-2026
mobile: 413-214-8001
Beth Barszcz
Assistant Director for Publicity and Internal Communications
office: 413-782-1420
In The Media
Dave Stawasz
WGGB-TV
6/6/2013
Adam Woodrow
WGGB-TV
6/4/2013
John Baick
The Tennessean
5/31/2013
Tom Hull
Plus Magazine
5/22/2013
Karl Petrick
The Republican
5/21/2013
Contact Information
For more information about a news item or to list an event, please email the Office of Marketing and Communications, or call 413-782-1626. For all other requests pertaining to the Western New England University, please use our contact forms.