At a university, spring is always special. The academic year ends. The students finally complete their dream of graduating, and parents, spouses, friends, children and siblings all celebrate this most significant of accomplishments. Shaking the hands of hundreds of graduating students and witnessing the joy that graduation brings to so many, reinforces why the faculty and staff work so hard to ensure a quality education. So as another academic year comes to an end, I want to congratulate the 724 undergraduates, 110 masters students and 10 Ph.D. students who received their degrees during the spring commencement. I also want to congratulate and thank the faculty who make it all possible. Even during this most difficult of budget years, the faculty, staff and students reached beyond all expectations and continued to put programs and policies in place that will ensure we become a preeminent business school.
I also want to report that our branding effort has begun in earnest. It is critical that we showcase the quality of our faculty, students, alumni and programs. I hope you have had the opportunity to see our public relations pieces that have been placed or will be placed in BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report, BizEd and Florida Trend. We are also sending out direct mail pieces to key constituencies.
As you will see in the following narrative, we continue to rely heavily on the support, time and help of our alumni and friends in the business community. The College continues to thrive due to your efforts. A sincere thanks from all of us.
COLLEGE NEWS
Published rankings out
The BusinessWeek undergraduate rankings are out! Our undergraduate program ranked No. 69 (climbing eight spots from last year's No. 77) among all institutions and No. 30 (moving up 12 spots from last year's No. 42) among public institutions. Most importantly, students ranked the College of Business No. 33 overall and No. 13 among public institutions. It is clear our students value the education we are providing them (read the story). Additionally, the magazine had a great story on our Professional Golf Management (PGM) Program as a niche program in academic institutions, featuring our student, Stacy Barwick, in the cover story. Please join me in thanking our PGM director, Don Farr, for all his work in getting our program spotlighted.
Extension of accreditation is official
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB International) recently extended
accreditation of the College of Business' business degree and accounting degree programs. AACSB International
accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools, worldwide. Institutions that
earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and
comprehensive peer review. AACSB International accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in management
education. Read the story.
Real Estate Program is first to meet Florida's new Appraisal Certification Standards
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) has determined students graduating from
the College of Business at FSU with a major in real estate have met or exceeded the state's 300-hour educational
requirement to become a certified general appraiser (and its 200-hour requirement to become a certified residential
appraiser). To finish the certification process, graduates must successfully complete the state's 15-hour standards
course, a 3-hour supervisor/trainee course, obtain 3,000 experience hours and pass the state's exams. FSU is the
first and only university in Florida to receive such approval.
6th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner & Ceremony
Meg Crofton ('74 MAR, '75 MBA), president, Walt Disney World Resort; James L. Massey ('65 FIN), retired vice chairman, Salomon Brothers Inc; and Bruce Redditt ('75 MAR), executive vice president, Omnicom Group were honored and inducted into the Hall of Fame on April 19. Since the inception of the Hall of Fame in 2003, the College of Business has honored outstanding graduates who embody the qualities that make the College of Business at Florida State University an extraordinary place to learn and grow. Truly our alumni continue to solidify our national reputation as a highly ranked college of business. Listen to their interviews.
13th Annual Entrepreneurial Excellence Showcase
JMI held another highly successful, sold-out JMI Entrepreneurial Showcase. This event was attended by more than 500 business leaders in the Big Bend area. The 2008 Entrepreneurial Excellence Award recipients were Yuh-Mei Liao, Golden Lighting; Fred Beshears, Simpson Nurseries; and Les Akers, Legacy Toyota. The Cade Small Business Advocate of the Year Award Winner was Ken Saxon, Saxon Accounting & Consulting, Inc.
Chick-fil-A founder speaks to students
S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, spoke at the spring MBA Ethics Roundtable. Watch his presentation.
Disney Cruise Line president gives presentation to students
Tom McAlpin, president of Disney Cruise Line, gave the presentation, "Creating a Corporate and Personal Brand,"
to students as part of the spring Dean's Speakers Series. View his PowerPoint presentation.
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
BB&T has agreed to make a $1.5 million gift to the Department of Finance and the Department of Economics (College of Social Sciences) to create the BB&T Program of Free Enterprise. We are very excited about this gift and want to thank our own Board of Governors' member Nan Hillis, region president of BB&T East Florida, and Paul Sullivan, president of BB&T Tallahassee, for facilitating the gift. A formal announcement during a joint event with Economics will take place this fall.
FACULTY NEWS
Yingmei Cheng (FIN) and James Doran (FIN) were selected as the recipients of two new Bank of America Professorships, which were created in the new Gene Taylor/Bank of America Center. Cheng has been an outstanding contributor to the Ph.D. program in finance, including teaching seminars in Empirical Methods and Valuation Theory. Her research has been published in many high-quality journals in financial economics. She was also recently appointed as the assistant director of the Gene Taylor/Bank of America Center for Banking and Financial Studies. Doran has been a successful scholar in financial derivatives. His work has been published in a wide variety of high-quality finance journals and has been presented at prestigious international conferences. He has been a valuable contributor to undergraduate and graduate programs in finance and was honored with a University Teaching Award last year.
Bill Christiansen (FIN) has been selected as the University's Distinguished Teacher. This is a significant honor and very much deserved. Read full story or listen to the interview.
Pam Perrewé (MAN) was selected for one of the five university Graduate Faculty Mentor Awards. This is an outstanding recognition and reflects on Pam's expertise and dedication to graduate students.
The following faculty won university undergraduate teaching awards:
Joe Cronin (MAR)
Jeanne Dexter (Panama City campus)
Jeff Paterson (ACG)
Bill Woodyard (RMI)
Congratulations to the following faculty members:
Ashley Bush (MIS) received tenure and promotion to associate professor
Jim Combs (MAN) was promoted to full professor
Joan Gabel (RMI) was promoted to full professor
Annette Ranft (MAN) received tenure
Doug Stevens (ACG) received tenure
Joey George (MIS) has been named to a University of Canterbury Visiting Erskine Fellowship in Christchurch, New Zealand, for May-June of this year. Fellows must have a distinguished academic career in order to serve.
Leisa Flynn (MAR) and Ron Goldsmith (MAR) received a RCPC and Professional Standards Award. Their funded proposal is aimed at improving and expanding the professional ethics and standards training in the College and at FSU! This is great recognition for the Marketing Department as well as for the College as a whole.
Jeff Smith (MAR) won the Best Paper Award at the recent Southeast Decision Sciences Conference. Smith's paper is titled, "The Contingent Nature of Service Recovery System Structures."
Chad Van Iddekinge (MAN), Jim Combs (MAN), and Annette Ranft (MAN) have been invited to serve on the Journal of Management Editorial Review Board.
Stephen Humphrey (MAN) was appointed to the Editorial Review Board of the Academy of Management Journal.
Chas LaTour (HOS) and Jim Riscigno (HOS) retired after this past spring semester and are moving on to new ventures. LaTour has been an outstanding instructor for our Little Dinner Series over the past 8-9 years, and Riscigno was instrumental in the incredible $6.4 million gift we received from the Dedman Family.
It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that I must report that Professor John Brennan passed away in April. Brennan taught many different courses while at the COB but excelled in Advanced Research. His Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) won many awards over the years. He had retired at the end of spring 2007.
STUDENT NEWS
Angelina M. Artola (ACG), Ashley L. Baltuch (MAR, FIN) and Kristin Lynn Benton (ACG) successfully completed their baccalaureate degrees in three years or less and were honored at the Degree in Three Ceremony.
The following doctoral students have accepted academic positions:
Dean Diavatopoulos (FIN) – Villanova University
Andy Fodor (FIN) – Ohio University
Chris Furner (MIS) – West Texas A&M University
Renee Pratt (MIS) – William and Mary University
Cindi Smatt (MIS) – Texas A&M University
Jamey Worrell (MIS) – University of Alabama at Birmingham
Corbitt Sirmans (RMI) is one of 13 undergraduates to receive a summer 2008 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Award from FSU's Office of National Fellowships. The award aims to foster directed research and creative opportunities for undergraduate students in all disciples. Sirman's project, "Buying into the Green Movement," is under the direction of Dean Gatzlaff (RMI).
The FSU Sales Team, led by seniors Katy Keene (MAR, MAN) and Carissa DeCruise (MAR, MAN) and program director Pat Pallentino (MAR), were crowned National Champions at the 10th Annual National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC) at Kennesaw State University. Keene placed No. 2 in the nation and DeCruise placed in the top eight, giving FSU the title for the first time in school history. This was only the College's fourth time to participate in the competition. Also attending the competition were Megan Keenan (FIN), Gabrielle Rey (MAR), Gregory Edelman (MAN) and Christina Pardo (MAR). Read the story.
ALUMNI NEWS
For the past two years, we have hosted a Leadership Day on the Friday prior to the Hall of Fame Dinner, utilizing the vast talent and knowledge of our past and new inductees to infuse our classrooms with real-world experiences and to bring our students face-to-face with industry leaders. This year we were able to have our students personally interact with five Hall of Fame inductees — Daniel Dillon ('65 COM; '67 MBA), retired president and chief executive officer of Welch's; Amos McMullian ('62 ACG), retired chairman of Flowers Foods, Inc.; Jim Massey ('65 FIN), retired vice chairman of Salomon Brothers, Inc.; Bruce Redditt ('75 MAR), executive vice president of Omnicom Group; and Jeff Rohr ('72 ACG), chief financial officer for Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu and Deloitte & Touche USA LLC.
Anne Hamilton ('79 HOS) has been voted the 2008 Alumni of the Year by the Dedman School of Hospitality's Society of Hosts Alumni Association Board. Hamilton, who graduated with a major in hotel/restaurant management, is the vice president of resort sales and services for Walt Disney World Resort. She is responsible for all sales and services efforts related to meetings, conventions and incentive programs held at the Walt Disney Word Resort and aboard the ships of Disney Cruise Line. In this role, she leads an award-winning team of 200 industry professionals who produce an enormous array of events for associations and corporations worldwide.
Alumnus Christopher Iansiti's ('92 FIN) company, Iansiti Performance Group, Inc. was featured on "Heartbeat of America," which is hosted by William Shatner on AmericanLife TV Network. The show featuring Iansiti aired for the first time April 10. His firm's success at developing better leadership in corporate America led to it being featured on this special television series. Iansiti Performance Group, Inc. is a consulting firm based in Atlanta that assesses workplaces and determines how to make employees in organizations work better. Read the story.
Several of our alumni were recently named to the State of Florida's 30 Rising Young Stars in real estate by Real Estate Florida. They were: Casey Babb ('01 REE/FIN), NAI Tampa Bay, Tampa, FL; Alison Frazier Williams ('03 REE/FIN), NorthMarq Capital Inc., Tampa, FL; Armando Gutierrez, Jr., ('00 MIS/MAN), Gutierrez Group, Miami, FL; Ryan Sampson ('05 REE), Eshenbaugh Land Co., Tampa, FL; and Genny Spies ('02 REE/FIN), The Shopping Center Group, Orlando, FL.
Jack Kerigan ('90 MAR), founder of Kerigan Marketing Associates, keynoted the College's first annual Marketing Day on March 26 with the talk, "Personal Marketing: The Brand Called YOU."
Debra Austin ('80 MBA), visiting assistant professor in FSU's College of Education, was presented the 2008 Christopher J. Campbell Distinguished Alumni Award at the College of Business master's hooding ceremony on April 25. The chosen recipient is highly distinguished in his or her business profession or life's work, has made significant community service contributions, exemplifies leadership and has high ethical standards. Austin's higher education career has included the following posts: executive vice president, then acting president, Tallahassee Community College; assistant vice president for Academic Affairs, Florida State University; chancellor, Florida's State University System; and provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, Florida A&M University.
The new MBA Early Career Board invited a panel of MBA 2007 graduates to speak to this year's graduating class about what to expect in the real world post-MBA. Panel members for the April 9 lunch session included Jamie Bertoch, an account manager at The Zimmerman Agency; Mike Shapiro, a manager at General Dynamics Land Systems; and Sherry Thompson, a financial analyst for Mainline Information Systems.
As you can see, we have had a fantastic past 100 days. Because the university is changing its data base provider, this will be the last Dean's Brief until the end of the summer. We will be back in touch, hopefully by the end of August. Meantime, here is our tentative fall calendar. I hope that you will be able to join us at several of our activities. In particular, we are reinstituting our Ray Solomon Alumni Golf Tournament with the help of our PGM students and the College Board of Governors. We will be sending out more information within the next couple of months. Have a great summer.
Caryn
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