Diana Green, vice-chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, says there are huge, tangible benefits from students.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Education | Bridging the town-gown divide

The brand got its first celebrity exposure in 1981, when Princess Diana--then the shy, unstylish Lady Diana Spencer--wore green Hunter boots in her pre-makeover engagement photos.

FORBES: A Brand Re-Booted

In addition to those cited in this report, the author is particularly grateful for the insights, many of them off the record, of Hal Sirkin, Nandan Nilekani, Alvaro Rodriguez Arragui, Bernard Charles, Joshua Ramo, Michelle Guthrie, Arjun Divecha, Len Blavatnik, Viktor Vekselberg, Malvinder Singh, Bill Ford, Michael Green, Lord John Browne, John Studzinski, Bill Rhodes, Diana Farrell, Mikhail Fridman, Graham Mackey, Thor Bjorgolfsson, Ram Charan, Nabil Habayeb, Diana Glassman, David Rubenstein, Eli Jacobs, Dambisa Moyo, Alastair Newton and Michael Patsalos Fox.

ECONOMIST: Sources and acknowledgments