05-10-94 Mark Goldston Is Commencement Speaker

MARK GOLDSTON, PRESIDENT OF L.A. GEAR, TO ADDRESS GRADUATES
     COLUMBUS -- Mark Goldston, who left The Ohio State
University in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in marketing and
finance and who has led some of the biggest marketing turnarounds
in American business, will return to his alma mater June 10 to
deliver the spring quarter commencement address.
     Goldston, president and chief operating officer of LA GEAR
since 1991, will speak to about 5,800 graduates in ceremonies
beginning at 9:30 a.m. in Ohio Stadium.
     He was selected as the commencement speaker by a committee
of students appointed by Vice President for Student Affairs David
Williams.
     Goldston's specialty is performing marketing turnarounds.
He has recently written a book, The Turnaround Prescription, and
he has taught consumer marketing strategy in the executive
education program at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate
School of Management for the past five years.
     In every position he has held, Goldston has shown his
marketing acumen.  When he joined LA GEAR in late 1991, the
athletic shoe and sportswear company posed a major challenge.  It
lost $67.8 million in 1991 and $79.6 million in 1992.  By the
third quarter of 1993, it was reporting a net profit.
     Before joining LA GEAR, Goldston was a principal of Odyssey
Partners, a New York City-based investment firm specializing in
leveraged buyouts and management of over $1 billion in capital.

     Previous to Odyssey Partners, Goldston was the senior vice
president/chief marketing officer of Reebok, where he helped to
invent "The Pump," a $300 million brand of inflatable athletic
shoes, and "Hexalite," an ultralight cushioning system.  He is
co-author of the U.S. patent for the "Visible Energy Return"
athletic shoe system.  He is credited with helping to double the
price of Reebok's stock from $9 to $19 per share during his
tenure and with creating a new product development system that
enables Reebok to bring products to market in six months versus
the previous 24-month time frame.

     Prior to Reebok, he was the President/C.O.O. of Faberge,
U.S.A. Inc., then the youngest president of a Fortune 500
consumer product company at the age of 32.  He helped to
dramatically increase sales and profits at Faberge by
repositioning the company, launching a host of new products
including Power Stick deodorant, McGregor cologne and Cut Guard
shaving cream, and helping to vertically integrate the
manufacturing process.  Goldston was principally responsible for
targeting and acquiring the Elizabeth Arden Company from Ely
Lilly Inc. for $725 million in 1986, turning Faberge into a $1.2
billion firm.

     Previous to Faberge, he was the vice president of worldwide
marketing for Revlon Inc., the first person to hold that global
title at Revlon and the youngest vice president in company
history at age 29.  He is credited with conducting the turnaround
of Revlon's fragrance division, the world's largest fragrance
company, from a $7 million loss to a $9 million profit during
1984-1985 and increasing Revlon's market share from 12 percent to
17 percent during that period.

     Goldston started his career at Johnson & Johnson, and held
marketing positions at Cheseborough-Ponds and Clairol before
going to Revlon.

     He has received numerous business awards, including being
named to the American Management Dream Team by Business Month
magazine.

     After graduating from Ohio State, he earned an M.B.A. from
the Kellogg School at Northwestern University in 1978.

     He and his wife, NancyJane, live in Beverly Hills, Calif.,
with their twin sons, Adam and Ryan.

                                #
                                
Contact: Ruth Gerstner, University Communications,
         (614) 292-8424.

Photo available.


[Submitted by: GERSTNER  (gerstner@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Tue, 10 May 1994 11:48:54 -0500 (EST)]
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