The talks could still collapse, the executives said, but the companies appear set for an announcement shortly after Lucent's $20 billion acquisition of Ascend Communications is completed next week.

Rob Ryan (born 1948) is the founder of Ascend Communications and Entrepreneur America.

His favorite adjective: "phenomenal," which he used three times in about 30 seconds, as in "a phenomonal report for Ascend Communications."

He sold Cascade to Ascend Communications for $3.7 billion in 1997.

In February 1997, InterCon's engineering group and its products were sold to Ascend Communications.

The most actively traded stock yesterday was Ascend Communications, a developer of networking equipment that has agreed to acquire Cascade.

This led to a buyout of the company by Ascend Communications in 1998 (later acquired by Lucent Technologies).

On the Nasdaq market, Cascade lost $2.50, to $30.125; Ascend Communications fell $5.375, to $57, while Cisco lost $3.0625, to $55.0625.

His partners also advised Ascend Communications this year when it was bought by Lucent Technologies for $24 billion.

As an example of a stock dumped by a fund herd, the professors offer Ascend Communications in the fourth quarter of 1997.