Climbing Above the Culture Clash

for what you got back,” said Schell. “If
you want to have a school the quality
of BU Law — and that’s important to
me — then you need alumni and parents
who are willing to contribute, not just
financially but also with their time.”
Throughout Schell’s long and successful
career, he has continued to foster strong
ties to his law school alma mater. As one
of his many contributions, he serves as a
member of the Dean’s Advisory Board, an
activity he sees both as a way to give back
to the school and to enrich his own life.
“Being a lawyer is, among other things,
about developing networks around the
country,” he said, noting that the board is
made up of “highly successful, intelligent
and diverse” graduates of the school.
In addition to his board work, Schell
has volunteered his time to help secure
graduation speakers, meet with firstyear
students to talk about his career,
and even teach a class or two along the
way. He believes this type of personal
participation is an excellent way for
alumni to help the current generation of
students find their niche in such a wideranging
profession.
“As you get older, you realize that things
come to you by dint of hard work and
talent, but also because other people
have made sacrifices and contributions,”
he said. “All of the selfless contributions
from the alumni and board members are
what make it possible for BU to continue
as one of the top law schools nationally.
If I can be useful by re-contributing some
of the benefit that came my way, I believe
that it is a good thing to do.”
“The things that I have done through
BU have been interesting, enjoyable
and enriching,” he concluded. “I believe
that participating in your school is a
combination of obligation, interest and
old-fashioned fun.” •
Schell Cites BU Law as the Catalyst for His Career
Michael Schell’s career trajectory since graduating from BU
School of Law in 1976 has been a steady upward flight.
Based on an internship following his first year, Schell landed
a position in the corporate law department of Cadwalader,
Wickersham & Taft for two years, moved on to the mergers
and acquisitions department at Skadden Arps, and became a
partner in 1984.
“Coming out of BU, I found that I was well equipped wherever
I went and whatever challenges I had to deal with as a young
lawyer,” he said. “I had great teachers, particularly in my
first year. Every teacher I had that year made an enormous
intellectual impact on me. They showed me a new way to think
about things and approach problems that I still use to this day.”
After 19 years as a Wall Street lawyer, Schell decided to try his
hand at investment banking, serving as vice chairman of Global
Banking for Citigroup. Last year Alcoa, one of his long-term
clients at Skadden Arps, persuaded him to come aboard to run
the aluminum giant’s business development efforts.
“My job is to survey industries worldwide to identify business
opportunities for Alcoa,” said Schell. The scope of his search
is enormous, since aluminum is used in a wide range of items,
from commercial airplane wings and armored personnel
carriers for the military to automobile engines and litho plates
for printing newspapers and magazines — and of course, the
production of beverage cans.
With the recent economic downturn, much of Schell’s efforts
have focused on improving the efficiency and environmental
sustainability of aluminum production. He noted that it takes a
great deal of energy to extract aluminum from the ground and
refine it into a useable form.
“Because a large chunk of the industry is energy, we have
to face up to the whole carbon footprint issue,” he said. “A
large part of my business development efforts is looking for
green energy opportunities. The cleanest source of energy is
hydroelectric, and we have a number of smelters around the
world that run on hydro. The newest one is in Iceland. We are
also investing in substantial hydro operations in Greenland,
Brazil and Western China.”
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