Bernard Herman Lecturer: Bethany McLean

Bethany McLean, journalist and co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room, spoke to Newman’s Upper School students on November 20, 2009. A contributor to Vanity Fair, Fortune and other publications, Ms. McLean collaborated with Peter Elkind to pen the nonfiction book, The Smartest Guys in the Room, which detailed the rise and fall of the now-infamous Enron Corporation. This year’s Bernard Herman lecturer, Ms. McLean spoke with the students in the Henson Auditorium about the fact that even such a “dry” financial story could be an exciting tale of intrigue and hubris.

Digging deeper into the subject, Ms. McLean found similarities with the key players in more recent bubble bursts: ego-driven power brokers who believed that they were beyond the rules and untouchable, only to find that their world was fragile, and collapse inevitable. She also covered the deeper ramifications of the Enron collapse, including spiking gas prices, California’s rolling blackouts, even the recall of California Governor Gray Davis and the election of Governor Schwarzenegger.

The Bernard Herman lectures are made possible by the Bernard Hirsch Herman Fund, which also supports an endowed workshop in creative writing. The endowment was created to honor the memory of Bernard Herman ’04, a 13-year Greenie, the son of Mollie Herman ’71 and the late Avram C. Herman, and brother of Adam J. Herman ’00. Past Herman lecturers include journalist Andre Codrescu and poet Yusef Komunyakaa.