When Lubna Suliman Olayan '77 heard that she had been named Entrepreneur of the Year, she said, her first reaction was disbelief. "It can't be, I didn't start anything," she recalled thinking.

The CEO of the Olayan Financing Co., the holding entity for the Olayan Group's operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, delivered Celebration weekend's keynote address April 15 in Bailey Hall. Celebration, an annual event hosted by Entrepreneurship@Cornell, reunites Cornell entrepreneurs with faculty and students for panel discussions, symposiums and networking events.

Olayan has "aspired to leadership roles in the business world, and she has received enormous recognition for her business skills," said President David Skorton in introducing Olayan. And as one of the world's most recognized women business leaders, he said, Olayan has used her influence to serve as a role model for Middle Eastern women.

Olayan acknowledged that she has served as an "intrapreneur," and that she has continued to accept challenges and to keep an open mind after graduation: two things that helped her to guide the Olayan Group, which was founded in 1947 by her father.

"It is important to encourage our people to come up with ideas, and to allow people to make mistakes," she said, attributing that lesson to her time at Cornell. While reflecting on her experiences as a student, she recalled interacting with many other international students and being encouraged to take classes in business. "I very much enjoyed the diversity of the student body," said Olayan. "From my short experience here, I discovered Cornell to be a center of excellence."

Olayan's experiences beyond Cornell provided insight for her success. After graduation, she briefly worked in New York City before accepting a job with the Olayan Group, where she built her career.

Inspiration from her father, she said, contributed to her desire to serve as a role model for women in the Middle East.

"Knowing that your family needs you" can make difficult work seem less daunting, she said. When asked whether working in a family business presented personal challenges, Olayan said: "I formed a pact with my father: Once we were in the office, we were no longer father and daughter, but boss and employee." With these boundaries in place, her father became a role model by expecting a professional approach to the responsibility assigned to her and by providing guidance to help her succeed.

Olayan added that role models can be men or women, but she emphasized that even today, women account for only about 6 percent of the Saudi workforce. "Within Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest challenges is training," she said. Through a program she helped pioneer called Onward, she has helped women gain education and employment through nontraditional jobs, furthering her goal to empower women.

A member of the Cornell Board of Trustees since 2007, Olayan said she also draws on her experiences to guide her alma mater. In particular, she praised the current leadership for boosting Cornell's presence internationally and continuing to work to make education accessible to all.

Nathaniel Steele '11 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.