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Retiring Faculty Leave Their Mark
Professors Mark DeRemer, John Kaliski, Paul Schumann and Roger Severns are moving on from the College of Business, but their legacies of mentorship, support and collegiality will live on.
CHAMPION OF STUDENT SUCCESS
DR. MARK DEREMER
Assistant Professor of Accounting Retiring a er ve years in the College of Business
Dr. Mark DeRemer arrived at the College of Business in 2016. e assistant professor of Accounting has been ercely committed to student success and career development ever since.
“Mark has been a very willing advisor to students, and I think he stresses to students what is at the end of the tunnel in terms of career opportunities,” says former accounting department chair Dr. Paul Brennan. “In general, our career advice tends to focus on public accounting. Mark understands this but Mark has been very active in promoting other career opportunities in industry and the alternative or supplementary CMA track as well.”
DeRemer’s commitment to student success continued out of the classroom as well. DeRemer was an integral part of the peerfacilitated academic support system MavPASS. rough MavPASS, students in traditionally challenging courses like Accounting 200 and Economics 202 can get help from a fellow student who has done well in the class in a previous semester. DeRemer took over facilitation of the program from a retired faculty member.
“Of all of Mark’s service activities, perhaps this one is the most appreciated by the department and the College of Business,” says Brennan. “Mark’s willingness to take on the task was an immense relief as this was a signature program for the department. We were one of the pioneers in the University in implementing this type of activity and letting it lapse would have been tragic. I believe Mark was motivated by his caring about student success and his loyalty to the department and the College.”
CONNECTION MAKER
DR. JOHN KALISKI
Associate Professor of Management Retiring a er 26 years in the College of Business
Dr. John Kaliski is a management professor, entrepreneur and woodworker, among other titles. But most of all, he’s a connection maker.
“John’s probably one of the most generous guys I know, especially with his time,” says Mark Bietz ’07, who studied under Kaliski in the early 2000s. “We would talk for hours and hours about business and navigating Mankato and where we thought the future was going to go in terms of technology. He was like a second father to me. He was the best mentor I could nd.”
Today, Bietz is chief marketing o cer at Mankato-based Fun.com. He gives Kaliski a lot of credit for fueling his passion for digital marketing and entrepreneurship, and for showing him what it means to work hard and get results.
“One of the biggest things he did was really just network me around town and within the College,” says Bietz. “He took mentorship to a new level. He would give me advice, but if he thought that there was someone in town that could help me more, he would introduce me to that person. at’s how I really got connected with the community and how I really fell in love with Mankato.”
Kaliski’s open-hearted approach to business extends beyond his students. Assistant professor of Management Dr. Shane Bowyer recalls Kaliski taking him under wing during Bowyer’s earliest days on the faculty.
“He was always just there to help,” says Bowyer. “I could see that work ethic in him. He was bringing that real world experience into the classroom. at really changed a lot of the ways that I taught. I kind of modeled a lot of things I do in class a er him.”
Kaliski’s legacy will live on in more ways than one. An accomplished woodworker with his own milling operation outside of Mankato, Kaliski cra ed a live edge oak conference table for the Morris Hall 215 conference room. And that’s not all. Kaliski—along with professor emeritus of management Dr. Tim Scott and another partner—is a co-founder of Oak Tree Simulations, whose program Micromatic is used by business students worldwide.
“Every student that comes out of the College of Business is impacted by John through this,” says Bowyer. “Even though they might not have had him in a class, Micromatic taught a lot of students how to run a business.”
A woodworker, an accomplished tech entrepreneur, a business teacher. Bietz put it best: “He’s unique. You’re never going to meet anybody like him.”
A MENTOR WHO SHOWS UP
DR. PAUL SCHUMANN
Professor of Management Retiring a er 33 years in the College of Business
Anna Lieck ’21 has been on the board of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) on campus for more than two years. When she thinks about Dr. Paul Schumann’s leadership as SHRM’s faculty advisor, what stands out most is simply his presence.
“He never missed a meeting,” she says.
In addition to his reliability, Lieck sees Schumann as a model leader, one she hopes to emulate as she moves into her own career a er graduation.
“When I think about what [a leader] is and what it takes to be a good leader, I can’t help but think of Paul,” she says. “He has always been welcoming, leaving his door open for discussion or questions. I can’t stress enough how amazing it is—the time he has put into helping students succeed in and out of the classroom.”
Schumann’s mentorship work extends beyond students. Dr. Angela Titi Amayah joined the College of Business faculty in 2018, and Schumann was her faculty mentor.
“He’s an awesome colleague [and] very welcoming,” she says. “He always had time for a question and showing me the ropes. I had done advising at other institutions but not at Minnesota State Mankato, and [he showed me] the intricacies and how to go about being a good advisor.”
Both students and colleagues look to Schumann as a steady pillar of the College who is generous with his time, his connections and his advice.
“Paul is transparent, consistent, extremely communicative, empowering, encouraging, always listening and passionate—and I could go on,” says Lieck. “It’s truly been an honor getting to know someone so full of knowledge and experience.”
Titi Amayah agrees.
“He’s the kind of faculty [member] that I as a newer faculty would aspire to be to my students.”
Dr. Paul Schumann with student organization Society for Human Resource Management.
THE ULTIMATE TEAM PLAYER
DR. ROGER SEVERNS
Professor of Finance Retiring a er 34 years in the College of Business
Roger Severns is known among his colleagues as even-keeled, good natured and approachable—all qualities that make him a well-loved and respected teacher and faculty leader. Over the course of his career, Severns served a number of roles within the Inter Faculty Organization (IFO), including treasurer, vice president and president. ere, he negotiated on behalf of faculty and earned a reputation as fair and open-minded.
“He has his opinions and does a good job of presenting them,” says current faculty association president Dr. Gregg Marg. “He’s always good about listening to others and comes up with good compromises.”
Professor of Finance Dr. Steve Wilcox has known Severns since the 1980s. As the two longest-tenured faculty in the department, they came up together as young faculty members.
“Roger has always had a service bent,” says Wilcox, who adds that in addition to his IFO service, Severns served as department chair and a willing mentor to younger faculty. “I was always impressed with how exible Roger was in terms of his willingness to help the department. He’d go wherever there was a need. Not everybody is willing to do that.”
Wilcox also recalls Severns’ accessible and personable nature with students and colleagues throughout the College.
“I think everybody in the department would consider him a friend,” he says. “Speaking for the department, we’re thankful to have had him as a colleague. What he did was highly valued and we’ll miss him.”
Dr. Roger Severns teaching class.
