Moore Magazine 2019

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MOORE

DARL A MOORE SCHOOL OF BUSINE SS / UNIVE RSIT Y OF SOUTH C AROLINA / FALL 2019

EMPOWERING STYLE ALSO

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE EPIDEMICS AND ECONOMICS


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DEAN PETER BREWS

am more humbled than ever to serve as dean of the Moore School as we celebrate its 100th birthday. As I end my sixth year, I still look forward every day to working with faculty, staff, alumni, corporate partners and friends to serve the students who entrust us with their education.

enjoyed by our top students becomes the norm for the average student. The results from the significant restructuring of our full-time MBA programs two years ago and the transformation of our undergraduate program are showing up where it counts — in employment data.

This year's cover article features Sali Christeson, a visionary entrepreneur who is making her mark on the women's clothing industry. She learned as an International MBA student at the Moore School how to maximize her entrepreneurial spirit and to develop the grit and determination to succeed in a competitive industry. Supporting students who can become corporate pioneers like Christeson are the reason we created the Second Century Fund to further business education at UofSC. We are thrilled to provide an opportunity for Moore School faculty, staff, alumni and friends who have benefited from the Moore School to help support our next 100 years and to honor our dynamic namesake and benefactress Darla Moore. Please consider donating.

In May, 1,086 undergrads received their diplomas — the largest graduating class ever in the Moore School. Of reporting undergraduates, 84 percent — the highest in history — were employed 90 days after graduation in 2019 compared to 67 percent in 2018. Average salaries for undergraduates were also the highest ever this year at $57,837. In 2014 before the new curriculum shift from two years to four years, undergraduate average salaries 90 days after graduation were $47,920, and job placement was just 62 percent. Data for the full-time MBAs is just as impressive. Of reporting students, 84 percent of full-time MBAs had secured jobs 90 days after graduation in 2019 compared to 71 percent in 2018. Of students reporting 90 days after graduation, average MBA salaries increased to $95,398 in 2019 from $82,694 in 2018. More than 90 percent of full-time MBA graduates earned certificates in business analytics.

Accompanying the cover story is an overview of the Moore School’s 100-year history, fitting as we celebrate our centennial. A fabulous book has been published to mark our anniversary, and if you don’t have a copy, you can acquire one at moore.sc.edu/100. It looks really good on any coffee table — why not yours? Building on the themes of transformation and innovative programming you’ve encountered in recent Moore magazines, this edition focuses on the Moore School data lab opened last spring and reveals the advanced analytics coursework sophomores will do to prepare for the data-driven world they will face. Our first year of expanding Alumni Hub Networks across the country and your generosity on the university’s second annual Giving Day are also recognized, as are other school happenings in the Moore News section. Steps to make our MBA programs more military friendly as Columbia has been named one of the five 2019 Great American Defense Communities and the latest on our Rising Scholars program for underserved students are also covered. Additionally, findings of the groundbreaking research done by our top-ranked faculty are reported. I have said for a while that our progress should be measured by how quickly the educational excellence

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We have sustained our top undergraduate program offerings in international business and supply chain. While pushing our top students to strive for excellence, we are substantially raising the expectations for the average undergraduate student. With our first four-year business school cohort graduating, next year should be even better. Notable declines in students taking five or six years to graduate and a drop in students’ overall debt should accompany the data. We believe we are the first business school in the United States to set the goal that all students graduate data proficient and analytically capable in a functional domain and equipped with the soft and professional skills for high-value, complex 21st-century work. We truly believe we are changing the world through education. Please help our students wherever you can.

Peter Brews Dean, Darla Moore School of Business peter.brews@moore.sc.edu / 803-777-3178


FALL 2019 Peter Brews / Dean Mary Ruffin Childs / Senior Director of Alumni Engagement Leigh-Anne Lawrence / Director of Marketing and Communications

CONTENTS 4 / Commemorating the Moore School’s First 100 Years

Editors: Marjorie Riddle Duffie, Leigh-Anne Lawrence Contributing writers: Dean Peter Brews, Marjorie Riddle Duffie, C. Grant Jackson, Madeleine Vath Photographer: Alex Cone Designer: Michael Belton

8 / Alumni Spotlights / Our alumni have many successes, talents and ideas — from catering to tens of thousands of Midlands' party guests and winning Miss USA to competing for the Olympics and improving the spectator experience

Office of Alumni Engagement Darla Moore School of Business University of South Carolina 1014 Greene Street Columbia, SC 29208 moore.sc.edu

14 / Hire Our Heroes / MBA program, UofSC boosting recruitment

On the cover: Sali Christeson ('12 International MBA), founder and CEO of Argent The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in educational or employment opportunities on the basis of race, sex, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, genetics, veteran status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. 19-11150 9/19

12 / Rising Scholars and support for student veterans

16 / Competitive Advantage / Focus on data proficiency equips Moore School students with sought-after skills

18 / Empowering Style / Moore School IMBA alumna elevates women’s professional apparel brand with $4 million in investment funds 22 / Epidemics and Economics / Professor researches how public health crises affect financial growth

24 / To Bailout or to Bail-In? / Moore School professor’s book examines federal, private solutions to prevent bank failure

26 / SNAP Gap / Timing of federal benefits affects student test scores, professors’ research shows

27 / Taking the Turmoil out of Transition / Moore School THE MOORE SCHOOL IS COMING TO CHARLOTTE IN 2020! 36th Annual Leadership Dinner and Awards Ceremony Thursday, April 23, 2020 Charlotte, North Carolina Join us as we celebrate award winners, industry leaders and loyal supporters of the Moore School. Learn more at go.sc.edu/moorealumnievents.

professors share valuable CEO succession tips for companies

28 / Moore News 36 / Alumni Hub Updates & Alumni Events 38 / Alumni News


CENTENNIAL

COMMEMORATING THE MOORE SCHOOL’S FIRST

100

The University of South Carolina’s business school, originally named the School of Commerce, was founded in 1919 with $3,000 appropriated by the South Carolina General Assembly. The goal was to expand the education of South Carolina’s future leaders in politics and business and, in turn, elevate and accelerate the economy of the state of South Carolina. Initial plans indicated that coursework would “include accounting, finance, including the banking and bond business; the business aspects of manufacturing and transportation, real estate and insurance, foreign trade, secretarial work, the work of consular and diplomatic officers, and other forms of public service.” The growth and success of the Darla Moore School of Business’ first century can be seen in the number of students enrolled each year, the more than 50,000 alumni proud to call it their alma mater and its many accolades. Those accomplishments include 20 consecutive years as the No. 1 undergraduate international business program and 30 consecutive years in the top three for the graduate international business program, according to U.S. News & World Report.

YEARS

The Moore School also has the No. 12-ranked operations and supply chain program, is the third-largest risk management and insurance school in the United States and is a top 20 Global Center of Insurance Excellence. Beyond rankings, job placement rates are at the highest they’ve been for Moore School students. For the May 2019 graduating class, 84 percent of both undergraduate students and full-time MBA students were employed within 90 days of graduation. Today, the opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students alike are endless with more than 180 Moore School faculty to challenge and support them; numerous hands-on projects involving real-life data to prepare them for the job market; study abroad options to expand their cultural knowledge; 50,000 alumni to mentor and hire them; and countless corporate sponsors to encourage and teach them. The following timeline highlights significant dates and accomplishments in the 100-year history of business education at UofSC.

Celebrate the Darla Moore School of Business’ historic first 100 years! A new book, 100 Years of Business Education at the University of South Carolina: A Centennial Celebration of the Darla Moore School of Business, chronicles the rich history of the Moore School from its founding in 1919 to its recognition today as one of the best business schools in the nation. The 208-page book includes interviews with more than 35 retired, former and current Moore School faculty, deans, staff and alumni. Order yours today at moore.sc.edu/100.

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CENTENNIAL

1919

1923

George Olson, a 28-year-old native Iowan just discharged from the U.S. Army, is named the School of Commerce’s first dean, a position he held for the next 26 ½ years until his death. Olson, his wife and two sons lived in the current Horseshoe structure Lieber College until 1941.

The first class, composed of nine students — including one woman, Evelyn Scott Gibbes — graduates from the School of Commerce.

The new business administration curriculum is launched within the School of Commerce and taught by a faculty of 12. The first classes begin with only nine students in Davis College, which still stands in the heart of campus today.

1937

1960 1959

The Bureau of Business and Economic Research (now Division of Research) opens.

Master of Business Administration is established.

The first dedicated building specifically for the School of Business Administration opens in what is now the Callcott Social Sciences Center behind the Russell House University Union.

1955

1965

Undergraduate Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation is granted.

James “Jim” Morris is named dean.

1961

(1946) Samuel Derrick is named dean.

The Department of Retailing is created.

1962

The Executive Development Program begins, expanding into many areas of continuing business education as the Management Center.

The School of Commerce becomes the School of Business Administration, which now has 20 faculty members and 1,374 students. The Master of Arts in Economics becomes the Master of Science in Business Administration.

1944

The Master of Arts in Economics is established.

1920

1953

1946

(1937) The Secretarial Sciences program begins, sharply increasing female enrollment in the School of Commerce. The school has 13 faculty members and 344 students.

The School of Business Administration becomes the College of Business Administration. The school has 1,902 undergraduate students, 101 graduate students and 46 faculty members.

Graduate Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation is granted.

1963

(1965) The doctorate in business administration program is established.

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CENTENNIAL

1994 1966

(1967) The doctorate in economics program is established.

The MBA-ETV (now Professional MBA) program is launched using a closed-circuit television network (one of the first programs of its kind in the nation).

The University of South Carolina Business Partnership Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, is formed to help solidify relationships between companies, students, administration and faculty.

1967

James "Jim" Kane is named dean, a post he would hold for 26 years.

1998

1969

Joel Smith III is named dean.

(1973) The first business administration tower (H. William Close Building) is completed.

The Management Center is reorganized to become the Charles E. Daniel Center for Management Education (now the Daniel-Mickel Center for Executive Development).

1973

2004 The Executive International MBA program is launched.

Darla Moore donates $25 million to the business school, and the school is renamed the Darla Moore School of Business, becoming the first business school in the country to be named after a woman.

2000

1974

1970

The Master of Accountancy (MACC) is first offered in the fall.

2007 Hildy Teegen is named dean.

The Master of International Business Studies is established.

(1983) The second business administration tower (Francis The School of M. Hipp Accounting is Building) is created. completed.

1990

1983

The Master of Personnel and Employment Relations (now Master of Human Resources) is created.

The twin structures of the College of Business Administration are dedicated as the H. William Close Building (1973) and the Francis M. Hipp Building (1983), known today as the Close-Hipp Building at the corner of Barnwell and Pendleton streets.

1986

2009

2014

Peter Brews is named dean.

The Master of International Business program is created, and the International Business and Chinese Enterprise (IBCE) track is launched.

2011 (2000) The International MBA program launches. (2004) Darla Moore donates $45 million to jump-start the construction of a new building for the business school.

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David Shrock is appointed dean.

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Ground is broken on the corner of Assembly and Greene streets for the new Darla Moore School of Business building.

(2014) The new 251,891-squarefoot building opens at 1014 Greene St.


CENTENNIAL

DARLA MOORE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS’ RESEARCH AND PARTNERSHIP CENTERS FOUNDED FROM 1982-2017 Center for Applied Business Analytics • Center for Executive Succession • Center for Marketing Solutions • Center for Sales Success • CIBER: Center for International Business Education and Research • Faber Entrepreneurship Center • Folks Center for International Business • Operations and Supply Chain Center • Risk and Uncertainty Management Center • SmartState Center for Innovation + Commercialization • The Riegel & Emory Human Resources Research Center

moore.sc.edu/centers

CENTENNIAL FUND $

In honor of the centennial, the Darla Moore School of Business established the Second Century Fund, a fund to honor benefactress Darla Moore and support the next century of business education at UofSC. To donate to the next generation of business leaders, visit moore.sc.edu.

2016

(2017) The school is named one of the top 20 Global Centers of Insurance Excellence by the International Insurance Society.

The Moore School confirms its LEED Platinum certification, making sustainability one of its core focuses.

2017

(2018) The school is ranked in the top 15 undergraduate and in the top 25 graduate operations and supply chain programs in the United States by Gartner.

(2017) The school is ranked as the No. 1 MBA program in the world for international course experience by Financial Times.

(2017) The school is ranked in the top 50 worldwide for research productivity by Financial Times.

The Moore School becomes the third-largest risk management and insurance school in the United States, according to Business Insurance.

2018

(2018) According to Google Scholar, the Moore School has the University of South Carolina’s most cited scholar in its ranks, followed by a second faculty member at No. 3 and a third at No. 11.

(2019) Darla Moore is invited to the South Carolina Statehouse to be recognized for her contributions to education and her impact on the state as part of the Legislature’s recognition of the business school’s 100th anniversary.

(2018) Five of seven academic departments are ranked in the top 25 worldwide for faculty research productivity in their respective areas of specialty.

The undergraduate international business program is ranked No. 1 in the United States for the 20th consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report.

The school is ranked as one of the top three graduate international business programs in the United States for the 30th consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report.

(2019) Darla Moore is given the Centennial Distinguished Service Award.

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SERVING UP BIG BUSINESS

by Marjorie Riddle Duffie

Alumnus reaches for new heights as VP of Midlands catering company

Alumni Spotlight

When he completed his degree a decade ago, Moore School alumnus Jesse Bullard had high aspirations as an entrepreneur. With dreams of running his own business, Bullard approached potential investors with ideas. An event staffer at the time with Southern Way Catering, Bullard even asked his boss, Jimmy Stevenson, if he’d consider investing in one of his ventures.Instead, Stevenson suggested Bullard consider working his way up to a leadership position with Southern Way. “I fell into this opportunity to take an already existing company with an incredible reputation and reach for new heights,” said Bullard (’09 entrepreneurial management and real estate). In his first year working full time with the company, Bullard, who majored in entrepreneurial management and real estate and minored in hotel, restaurant and tourism management, was the business development manager. To get an overview of how the company operated, he worked in multiple positions that ranged from floor staff and event cook to specialty station attendant and event captain. His emersion into the business paid off. Bullard was promoted to general manager in 2011 and named vice president of Southern Way in 2013. “Jesse’s work ethic is incredible, much greater than I see in today’s young people,” said Stevenson, president of Southern Way. “Probably the best thing you can have in a partner is trust, and I trust Jesse completely.”

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Stevenson’s succession plan for the company he started in 1982 is for Bullard and Stevenson’s daughter, Brittany Stuckey, vice president of operations, to run the business together when Stevenson retires. “He has earned it,” Stevenson said. “Jesse does an incredible job driving business, and my intent is for this business to live beyond me. With young leadership like Jesse and my daughter and several other young professionals we have at Southern Way, that can happen.” Bullard’s drive and ambitious plans for Southern Way have helped the company grow an average of 30 percent each year since he came on board full time. Since 2009, Southern Way has been recognized as one of the Top 25 Fastest Growing Companies in South Carolina by South Carolina Business Awards. The designation recognizes companies headquartered in South Carolina that have operated for at least three full fiscal years and have reported revenues of at least $3 million in the most recent reported year. Southern Way has grown from seven to 60 full-time employees and from 30 to 200 part-time staff members. Ten years ago, the company owned two trucks and a van. Today, it has a fleet of 15 catering vehicles. The company has contracts as the exclusive caterer for venues that include the South Carolina State Museum and the university’s Williams Brice Stadium, Founders Park baseball stadium, Colonial Life Arena and Pastides Alumni Center.


ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

"To be a strong leader in any business, you have to be present." - JESSE BULLAR D

Southern Way also caters large-scale events in the Southeast such as Hilton Head Island’s RBC Heritage Golf Tournament and Charlotte’s Democratic National Convention. At South Carolina annual Parents Weekend, the company serves more than 5,000 university guests in an hour. They also cater weddings that stretch from the Midlands to Beaufort and Georgetown. “Every time we have the opportunity to work outside of our primary market, in the greater Columbia area, it allows us to build new relationships and grow our footprint,” Bullard said. “A common question we get is, ‘What is your favorite venue?’ My answer is always, ‘One I've never worked in before.’" On a Friday in May, Bullard traveled between Midlands-area venues from morning until late evening overseeing everything from an American Heart Association luncheon to a formal wedding. Bullard said he typically oversees six to nine events each day. “To be a strong leader in any business, you have to be present,” he said. “Your employees and your customers have to see you involved and know that you care. Particularly in the hospitality business, my job cannot be done from behind a desk, at my home or on the golf course. “We're in the event business, and I go to more parties in one night than most people go to in a month. The business is somewhat seasonal, but at least 10 months out of the year, we're averaging 60-hour weeks.”

Despite a full schedule, Bullard has scaled back his hours over the past four years since becoming a father. His wife, Katie Bullard (’09 management and marketing), recently decided to stay home with their 4-year-old daughter, Emma Grace, and 1-year-old son, Anderson. “Katie supports me and my crazy hours, the serial entrepreneur with a mind that never stops thinking about the next thing,” he said. Bullard said maintaining relationships is a lesson the Moore School taught him that has been central to his success in business. “Whether it be through classmates on a project, serving as fraternity president or meeting with a professor from whom I was seeking a little grace, the ‘real world’ experience of working through life circumstances helped prepare me for similar times to come,” he said. “While very different, I can draw many similarities between those days and current situations of conflict resolution, problem solving and critical thinking.” Bullard not only focuses on his own success as vice president of Southern Way. He wants to encourage his employees to strive for excellence as well. “Growing a [once] small business and helping create opportunities for others to grow beyond where they ever thought they could go on their own is where I’ve created my foundation and what I’ve continued to work for,” Bullard said.

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

INSURING HER FUTURE Moore school alumna opens her own insurance office five years after graduation Jamesha Gore-Coggin (’13 finance) went from first-generation college student to opening her own State Farm agency over the span of a decade. Recognized as a high-achieving student from a middle-class family, Gore-Coggin enrolled in the inaugural class of Horry and Georgetown counties' Early College High School. She earned her high school diploma and associate degree before coming to the University of South Carolina. The program, which partners with Horry Georgetown Technical College, allows students to take college courses while in high school and provides them with financial assistance. Because of the program, Gore-Coggin was able to graduate college debt free. Gore-Coggin pursued a degree in finance and minored in marketing while at the Moore School. She said her time at South Carolina enabled her to gain the skills necessary to be successful and find employment as soon as she graduated.

“My experience, training, education and studies [at the Moore School and UofSC helped me develop] leadership, professionalism, work ethic, dedication, self-discipline, problem-solving, innovation and the interpersonal skills necessary to excel in a competitive and fast-paced organization like State Farm,” she said. In 2013, Gore-Coggin went to work for the Myrtle Beach Bobby Kelly State Farm Agency as an agent team member. Thanks to her participation with State Farm’s Agency Career Track Program, which grooms employees to run their own agencies, Gore-Coggin opened her own agency in North Myrtle Beach in 2018. Since taking over the agency, Gore-Coggin has been coaching, training and managing a team to help the coastal community with insurance and financial needs. “I am very blessed to have this opportunity at such a young age,” she said. “I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and this opportunity allows me to not only fulfill my dreams but help others at the same time.”

"MY EDUCATION AT THE MOORE SCHOOL PROVIDED A COMPLEX FRAMEWORK OF BUSINESS SKILLS THAT ALLOWED ME TO BE A CONFIDENT AND INTELLECTUAL YOUNG PROFESSIONAL." - MYLES HILLIAR D

NEVER MISS THE BIG PLAY Alumnus develops technology that lets fans order food from their seats Myles Hilliard ('16 finance and risk management and insurance) is working on an app to ensure sports enthusiasts don’t miss a play while they’re waiting in long lines to buy concessions. Hilliard, who majored in finance and risk management and insurance, is partnering with University of Iowa alums Will Anderson and Carson Goodale, who came up with the idea for the FanFood app in a University of Iowa entrepreneurship class. “The idea came from an experience that Carson had when he attended a University of Iowa football game,” Hilliard said. “He missed a touchdown while standing in line at the concession stand.” FanFood allows fans to order food and beverages directly from their smartphone and will notify them when their order is ready for express pick up, or in some cases, will be delivered directly to their seat.

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Hilliard and his team tested FanFood at Founders Park during a spring Gamecocks baseball game and were in contract negotiations at press time to offer FanFood at future Gamecocks athletic events. Hilliard originally worked for the Markel Corp. insurance and investment firm in Chicago after graduating from UofSC before joining the FanFood team full time earlier this year. “My education at the Moore School provided a complex framework of business skills that allowed me to be a confident and intellectual young professional,” Hilliard said. “I learn something new every day, but my business acumen was originally crafted at the Moore School.” While Hilliard would be excited to see the FanFood app at UofSC, his company’s success has begun to spread. The app is already in use at several colleges, high schools, minor league baseball stadiums and youth sports complexes around the country.


ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

TAKING ON THE WORLD AS MISS USA Alumna credits pageant success to lessons learned at Moore School Cheslie Kryst ('13 marketing and human resource management) won the Miss USA title in 2019. After graduating from the Moore School and UofSC Honors College, Kryst went on to earn her J.D. and MBA from Wake Forest University. Now a civil litigation attorney, Kryst is taking a hiatus from her Charlotte law firm, Poyner Spruill, to serve as Miss USA full time and prepare for the Miss Universe pageant, which will be held Dec. 19 in South Korea. Winning Miss USA “has turned my life upside down in the best way possible,” she said in May. “The day after the pageant, I moved to my new apartment in New York City and went on a two-week media tour.” Kryst credits part of her win to the lessons she learned at UofSC.

“The Moore School offers a plethora of resources including wellconnected and well-educated professors, career fairs and connections with internship opportunities,” she said. “If you want to succeed, you’re able to take advantage of any and all opportunities the school makes available to students. “I love the approach the Moore School has because I gained a sense of independence and drive that would not have been fostered [without] the school’s educational strategy. That independence helped me to continue to use the resources around me in law school, in pageantry and in my career so that I could find success.” While at South Carolina, Kryst was a competitor on the track and field team and is still listed as being in the top 10 all-time distances for the triple jump among past and current Gamecocks.

I LOVE THE APPROACH THE MOORE SCHOOL HAS BECAUSE I GAINED A SENSE OF INDEPENDENCE AND DRIVE THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN FOSTERED [WITHOUT] THE SCHOOL’S EDUCATIONAL STRATEGY. - CHESLIE K RYST

MAKING THE LEAP Alumna trains for 2020 Olympics while taking on new job in the Netherlands Moore School alumna Jeanelle Scheper (’17 economics, '18 MAEcon) is spending 2019 balancing a new job in data analytics for adidas in the Netherlands while training for the high jump competition in the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo. Scheper, who studied math and economics as an undergraduate, completed the Master of Arts in Economics program to refine her economics and data analytics skills and to compete another year on the University of South Carolina track and field team. “Adidas sponsored me for the last three years I competed at South Carolina, so it’s neat to be on the other side and see the business aspects of the company,” she said. In addition to competing another year as a student-athlete, Scheper chose to earn her master’s degree at the Moore School because of the atmosphere she encountered.

While finishing her master’s program, Scheper was competing and taking classes full time and working part time as a graduate assistant. Now, between her Olympics training and working full time in data analytics, she’s using the skills she gained at the Moore School every day. “My time at South Carolina really prepared me for this phase of life because it taught me how to balance all my responsibilities,” she said. Scheper encourages other student athletes to consider pursuing their business degrees at UofSC. “The professors are extremely accessible, which was one of my favorite aspects of the business school — getting to go to professors’ offices and chatting with them. They were always very interested and supportive of my competition schedule, which is really important for student athletes.” Scheper will continue training through summer 2020; she finds out in July if she qualifies for the high jump competition in the Tokyo Olympics.

“I felt very welcome, so it just seemed like the natural choice,” she said.

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AN INITIATIVE FOR OPPORTUNITY

by Marjorie Riddle Duffie

Rising Scholars

Rising Scholars Program seeks to create a more inclusive Moore School During the 2018-19 academic year, 19 Moore School freshmen participated in the inaugural Rising Scholars Program, an excellence initiative to develop future business leaders and bridge the opportunity gap for underserved students from South Carolina.

Beginning in fall 2019, the second cohort of students will live on Rising Scholars-specific residence hall floors in South Tower. The residence hall community will join more than 25 UofSC living-learning communities that enhance academic success and the student experience.

Moore School students who are selected for the program share a passion for business and a commitment to the school’s core values.

All Rising Scholars have access to peer tutors and ad hoc academic resources, and students with financial need receive a renewable scholarship each academic year.

To be designated as Rising Scholars, students must demonstrate a record of excellence, resiliency, teamwork and integrity — characteristics that are fundamental to future business leaders. “Rising Scholars are South Carolina students who have all it takes to become leaders, but because of environmental conditions, we can’t expect them to reach their full potential without adequate access to resources and opportunities,” said Alice Leri, who served as associate dean for diversity and inclusion at the Moore School through June. Leri said navigating a university can be particularly daunting for students who are the first in their family to attend college. “Many Rising Scholars are first-generation students, and their families are making huge sacrifices to send them to the Moore School," Leri said. "Some students work two jobs to afford their education, and it is not uncommon for them to lack social capital and feel isolated in a big school like ours.” To help them succeed, students attend a tailored session of University 101, network with successful alumni, are paired with faculty and peer mentors, benefit from personal finance education and obtain BB&T emerging leadership certificates.

Each year of the four-year program has a specific focus. Freshmen build a community of faculty and peers to advise and support them, while sophomores create a career trajectory and develop key skills to achieve their goals. Juniors and seniors prepare for summer internships, the job market and post-college life. Seniors also learn practical skills such as how to negotiate salaries, buy a house and budget expenses. Graduating in four years or less to minimize student debt, receiving an outstanding educational experience and getting great job offers are the main outcomes expected from the program, Leri said. “We want these students to have choices,” she said. “We want them to fulfill their dreams after graduation and have the opportunity to work for multinational companies.”

Rising Scholars is looking for corporate sponsors to support the program. Moore School partners who are interested in sponsoring the program should contact Deborah Hazzard, the new associate dean for diversity and inclusion, at 803-777-5986 or deborah.hazzard@moore.sc.edu.

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RISING SCHOLARS

PROVIDING THE TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

by Marjorie Riddle Duffie

First-generation Moore School student successfully transitions to UofSC with help of inaugural Rising Scholars Program Sophomore Ailean Salinas gained the tools needed to navigate her first year at the University of South Carolina thanks to the Moore School’s inaugural Rising Scholars Program.

Salinas was paired with a peer mentor to help her transition at South Carolina, and being with the other students in her Rising Scholars cohort lessened the anxiety of navigating campus and college life.

Salinas, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, is a first-generation college student from Elloree, South Carolina, where her parents work at a horse-training center. Salinas was uncertain about how to maneuver the college environment and jumped at the chance to be part of a business-specific program with personalized classes like University 101, mentoring and career exploration.

“The Rising Scholars program is a great program to make friends on campus who are just like you — looking to further the skills needed to become successful leaders,” she said. “[The cohort of 19] is a good size to make personal relationships and opens the door to opportunities in your field of study.”

Salinas, an economics major, called the Rising Scholars Program “one of the greatest decisions I’ve made since I started my journey” at South Carolina. “I wanted to be part of a diverse and inclusive program that helped my transition to college,” Salinas said. “As a hardworking student, I am committed to effectively taking advantage of the opportunities around me that will allow me to grow more professionally and as a person. The Rising Scholars Program just happened to be one of those opportunities.” She said Rising Scholars advisor Brian Shelton and program manager Alice Leri were dedicated and supportive in her first year. Shelton is co-director for undergraduate programs at the Moore School. Leri was the Moore School’s associate dean for diversity and inclusion and an international business assistant professor during the program’s initial year.

“Brian Shelton and Alice Leri are some of the sweetest people in the world and are all about helping you, whether it’s giving advice or providing academic support resources,” Salinas said. “They are great at what they do and have connected me with awesome opportunities related to me and my major.”

Rising Scholars’ resources and connections lay the foundation for professional and academic success, said Salinas, who will continue taking advantage of the Rising Scholars program throughout her college career. The program’s coordinators provide support in a variety of ways. They orchestrate networking events, encourage students to get involved in business student organizations and assist in securing internships. Students will also learn in their senior year how to negotiate salaries, buy a house and construct a budget. The intent is for students to bond with one another and learn about and access campus resources while expanding their networks to successfully graduate and secure a job, Leri said. Benefiting from the program’s support, Salina said she is committed to giving back and supporting others when she graduates. “I see myself investing in my community to help others who may not have the same opportunities as I do,” she said.

I am committed to effectively taking advantage of the opportunities around me that will allow me to grow more professionally and as a person. - AILEAN SALINAS U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H C ARO LI NA

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HIRE OUR HEROES

by Marjorie Riddle Duffie

MBA program, UofSC boosting recruitment and support for student veterans In 2019, the Moore School implemented a targeted initiative to encourage more military veterans to pursue their MBAs at the University of South Carolina.

Tying into the national Hire Our Heroes enterprise, the Moore School is taking the lead on a larger initiative at the university to increase recruiting of and support for student veterans. “We have a moral responsibility toward veterans,” said Jennifer Ninh, managing director for full-time MBA programs and head of the MBA military strategy team. According to the universitywide military strategy team (which began in the Moore School last fall), top global companies are seeking candidates with MBAs and military experience, and those holding top security clearance are in demand. Last year, the Moore School joined the MBA Veteran’s Network, a national networking organization that connects student veterans and alumni of the world’s top-ranked universities with prospective employers.

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Student veterans are looking for an education that can translate their military experience to a global private-sector career, Ninh said. They are choosing the Moore School because of its consistent No. 1 U.S. News & World Report ranking among international MBA programs and for its support of veterans. “Recently, the staff at the Moore School have made serving their military students a priority, and the results are immediately evident,” said Andrew Kirkland, a 2019 International MBA graduate who served for nine years in the U.S. Army before enrolling. “Their new [dedicated military MBA] webpage provides veteran students with a wealth of information to ensure they stay both informed and connected during their time at the Moore School. The exclusive support offered to military students with completing their application, obtaining financial aid and preparing for their job search is easily accessible from this one central location.” While the military-focused program provides direct support to veterans, the Moore School team plans to consider the needs


HIRE OUR HEROES

of military families as well by assisting them in finding accommodations and settling into the Columbia area. In addition, military-friendly companies are being identified so veterans will know who to target at job fairs and for internships and other opportunities. On a larger scale, South Carolina has bolstered efforts to attract and retain veterans the past several years with concentrated efforts in 2018-2019. As a Yellow Ribbon university, UofSC agrees to provide additional funds for veterans beyond the GI Bill. Veterans receive in-state tuition if they enroll within three years of service separation, and veterans and ROTC cadets get priority class registration. The university also has a memorandum of understanding with Fort Jackson, Shaw Air Force Base, Parris Island and the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station to deliver educational opportunities for service members on those bases. Beginning in 2019, incoming student veterans will have their own orientation and will be able to enroll in U-290: From Service to School, a class similar to University 101. The class will help with veterans’ transition from full-time service member to college student and ensure they’re aware of the support programs and services available. “As the flagship university of the state of South Carolina that has eight military installations and more than 400,000 veterans, it is our duty to serve and support them,” said Jared Evans, the university’s director of military engagement and veteran initiatives, a position that was created in 2018 to increase support and visibility for veterans on campus. In tandem with the university’s efforts, the greater Columbia region was one of five U.S. communities to be named a 2019 Great American Defense Community, which are communities known to go above and beyond to support military installations and populations. UofSC was an active partner in the award application. When it comes to academic performance, according to national data, veterans tend to outperform traditional and other adult students, said Evans, a Marine Corps veteran who completed his MBA at UofSC in 2017. “They bring life experiences and perspectives that enrich the overall student population,” he said. “Furthermore, they graduate with little to no debt and gain meaningful employment with higher salaries compared to traditional students.” Moving forward, Evans hopes to pool the university’s resources to create a more cohesive office of military and veteran initiatives. UofSC is also “pursuing funding opportunities to support a state-ofthe-art Veteran and Military Center of Excellence that would serve as a one-stop shop for the approximately 2,000 military-affiliated students on campus,” Evans said. “We have the potential and opportunity to be the premier military-supportive university of the Southeast.”

PROFESSIONAL MBA SITE OPENS AT PARRIS ISLAND The Moore School opened its eighth Professional MBA regional site this year at the Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Beaufort, South Carolina. The Parris Island site will allow working Marines, sailors, Department of Defense civilians, their families and community members to pursue distance MBA degrees. “Being able to earn their MBA degrees remotely gives active Marines the flexibility they need considering their deployment potential and busy schedules,” said Libby Hendley, managing director of the PMBA program, ranked the No. 1 parttime MBA program in South Carolina and one of the top 25 part-time MBA programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to the new Parris Island site, the Moore School has PMBA regional classrooms located in Aiken, Bluffton, Charleston, Charlotte, Columbia, Greenville and Spartanburg. Learn more about the PMBA program at moore.sc.edu/pmba.

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DATA ANALYTICS

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

by Dean Peter Brews and Marjorie Riddle Duffie

Focus on data proficiency equips Moore School students with sought-after skills U.S. businesses face a shortage of 1.5 million managers with the skills to capitalize on and transform massive amounts of data into insights that can guide decision making and provide value to their organizations, according to a recent study by McKinsey Global Institute. The Moore School is committed to filling that void by ensuring that its 5,400 undergraduates are equipped with the data and technology skills hiring managers seek. Undergraduates are now required to receive unprecedented quantitative and data analytic preparation. Additionally, more than 90 percent of full-time MBAs and many Professional MBA students are completing graduate certificates in business analytics. As a result of a curriculum redesign in 2015 and other steps taken over the past four years, Moore School graduates leave the school data proficient, analytically capable and functionally based — skills that are crucial for high-value business jobs. In fall 2016, the first step was implemented with a more demanding four-year curriculum and the addition of a second statistics course to the undergraduate business core. Students now take statistics courses as freshmen and sophomores to provide them with strong quantitative foundations. In their first days on campus, freshmen are invited to meet the dean and undergraduate associate dean where they are advised about the program’s rigor and encouraged to challenge themselves and to use academic resources and support. They are reminded that all students must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA and cautioned that failure is possible. Staff and faculty emphasize two of the Moore School’s

core values: excellence and resilience. Students are expected to give their best performance in their coursework. Resilience is developed when faculty academically challenge students, with success resulting from hard work. Some will struggle. Students are told that if they don’t find the work difficult, faculty are not doing their jobs. The second step, taken in spring 2017, was adding a four-course undergraduate business analytics concentration, which provides further opportunity for students to build data analytic skills while strengthening their knowledge in the functional areas of business — marketing, operations, finance, etc. The concentration has a required course, MGSC 394: Data Analytics for Business, which covers topics including database management, SQL programming and data visualization. It’s followed by three electives that focus on analytics in each field. Every undergraduate major has at least one elective, and some have two or three. In spring 2019, 329 students chose the undergraduate business analytics concentration, vastly exceeding any other concentration or minor chosen by undergraduates. The Moore School anticipates more than 500 students will register for the concentration in spring 2020. Ultimately, the hope is that every business undergraduate will select it. The third step was taken in spring 2019 when learning to code in R became mandatory as part of the undergraduate business core curriculum. R, a data analytics software, is frequently used as an Excel alternative in advanced statistical analysis. The ability to code in R gives students an advantage in the job market. Approximately 30 Moore School faculty members attended a seminar to enhance their knowledge of R so they could better use and teach it. Going forward, analytically intensive upper-level undergraduate courses will require students to use R and other advanced analytical techniques as they wrestle with data.


DATA ANALYTICS

The establishment of the data lab is a physical statement that emphasizes data as an area of excellence for the Moore School. The final step of the Moore School's drive to build data proficiency was the opening of the data lab in spring 2019. Analytics at its heart is virtual, and students can come together anywhere to work on data located on servers in the cloud. The establishment of the data lab is a physical statement that emphasizes data as an area of excellence for the Moore School. The lab is a centerpiece of the building, located on the second level next to the finance lab. Through work supervised by data lab staff, sophomores complete demanding capstone projects using R to analyze voluminous sets of real-world business data. Student teams also have the ability to use popular tools such as SQL for database management and Power BI to visualize and report data. “These types of learning experiences expand students’ data science skills and broaden their understanding that proficiency in data analysis and data-driven decision making are critical skills for everyone,” said Sung-Hee “Sunny” Park, associate professor in management science and founding director of the data lab. Doctoral and MBA candidates and undergraduates who excel in data analytics staff the lab and mentor students. “Moore School students undertake projects [with data] provided by collaborating community, governmental and industry partners,” Park said. “The projects teach students how to extract, clean, load, analyze and visualize large real-world data sets, and the mentors sharpen their skills in data science by working with students.”

Moore School students analyze large data sets in the data lab, which opened in 2018.

By the end of their sophomore year, students have an unmatched data analytical foundation as they select their majors. Confident in their ability to work with data, students are increasingly choosing to pursue the undergraduate business analytics concentration. Expectations of graduate students have also been raised. Upon graduation they are expected to be able to analyze data and draw meaningful insights that inform decision-making. Impressive placement rates reported for the Moore School's fulltime MBA program 90 days after graduation this year (see page 2) are strongly associated with nearly all graduates having added the graduate certificate in business analytics. Like their undergraduate counterparts, the vast majority of Moore School full-time MBAs are leaving data proficient and analytically capable in functional areas, as do many Professional MBA graduates. As far as administrators can tell, no business school in America is focusing on data proficiency and analytics at the Moore School’s scale and level. Moore School graduates are entering the workforce fully prepared and equipped with the skills, attitude and work ethic they need to succeed in their careers.

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EMPOWERING STYLE

EMPOWERING STYLE

Moore School IMBA alumna elevates women’s professional apparel brand with $4 million in investment funds by Marjorie Riddle Duffie

Sali Christeson has combined her innate entrepreneurial talent with skills she learned at the Darla Moore School of Business to shake up the women’s workwear world. Argent – her comfortable and bold apparel line – aims to “dropkick the glass ceiling.” And it is getting national and celebrity attention. Living in Los Angeles and traveling the country to promote Argent, Christeson (’12 International MBA) is a long way from the Hardeeville, South Carolina, farm where she grew up, but that is where the seeds of her business acumen were planted. As a kindergartner, she said all she wanted was her own stapler and her own desk. Christeson, who recently came to the Moore School to deliver the orientation keynote to incoming MBA students, was an entrepreneur before she could even pronounce the word. At 5 years old, “she was so determined at anything she

did,” said Christeson’s mother, Sarah Jane Sumer, who accompanied her to Columbia for the orientation. “She had a piggy bank business and a lemonade stand. She’s always been a little entrepreneur.” This drive is what allowed Christeson to take her idea for a womenswear company and turn it into a brand recently featured in InStyle and Vogue Business and on Yahoo Finance and CNN. In February, the 11-staff company received $4 million in investment funds through Founders Fund, which invests in “companies building revolutionary technologies” and whose portfolio contains Facebook, Airbnb and Spotify. Argent backers also include Stitch Fix chief executive officer and founder Katrina Lake, renowned investor Sonja Perkins, tennis champion Andy Roddick and actress Brooklyn Decker.

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EMPOWERING STYLE

Christeson’s vision for Argent came from her own frustrations as a young professional who couldn’t find fashionable, functional clothing to wear to the office. She emphasized fashion is primarily male-dominated, with only 14 percent of leading womenswear brands led by women. “For some reason, no one had thought to rethink the category,” she said. “The workforce is shifting to a more casual place. [Brands were still offering] black, stodgy pantsuits. [Women’s professional wear] is an unsexy category; it’s almost an afterthought.”

Most jarring for Christeson as she did research on professional women’s clothing is that women are judged based on their appearance, and it can have quantifiable results — to the tune of almost 20 percent less earnings over their career if they miss a promotion or fall behind their male counterparts. After realizing the need for a comfortable yet fashionable women’s line, she quit her job as a cloud services manager at Cisco technology company four years ago to begin Argent, named for her great-grandfather’s Hardeeville-based lumber company, which operated from 1916-1959. Argent is different from other brands in that it combines functionality such as working pockets with colorful, stylish Manhattan-designed clothes. The high-quality line includes pants ranging from $188-248, tops from $52-148 and blazers from $298-598. Christeson said the clothes hold their value and can be worn for close to a decade in some cases. Women ages 11 to 85 are buying pieces from Argent, but the main demographic is women in the prime of their career in their late 20s to 40s, Christeson said. Celebrity consumers include former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, feminism activist Gloria Steinem, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, actress Amy Poehler, Clinton political staffer Huma Abedin and rapper/ comedian Akwafina. “We want to support women in whatever they want to accomplish in their career,” Christeson said. “Our mission is resonat-

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ing, and our product is resonating. We are serving as a point of connection – people are buying into what we’re building.” Having celebrity clients has helped Argent build brand awareness, but Christeson said to raise investment funds, she’s had to tell her brand’s story through data. Analyzing data is a major skill she said she honed at the Moore School. To prove the value of Argent to investors, “I did extensive market research; I conducted a survey with 400 people and did interviews to show [the lack of professional womenswear] was an issue beyond just me,” she said. “The design starts with the customer … No one is really thinking about the customer, so it left this underserved market to surprise and delight.” As the founder and CEO of Argent, Christeson said networking is her most valuable tool, and she leverages the relationships she initiated at the Moore School. Some of her former UofSC classmates are Argent customers. Even before creating Argent, she credits the Moore School with leading to her job at Cisco, which was an educational experience that helped her fully understand supply chain before taking on her own company. Creating the Cisco cloud initiative “was really awesome. It gave me a business understanding and was where my problem-solving approach was developed,” she said. “I came out [of the Moore School] with hard skills and soft skills — my level of confidence, the experience I had hands on and in the classroom, I was able to take that into the corporate setting and be a lot more lethal.” She said her return on investment for her International MBA was immediate and was recouped within a year working at Cisco. Christeson said while running Argent has been rewarding, it’s also been one of the hardest things she’s ever done. It takes resilience, commitment and networking, she said, adding that entrepreneurs have to have conviction in what they’re building.


EMPOWERING STYLE

“Don’t just start a company to start a company. If you don’t believe in or care about what you’re doing … don’t do it,” she said.

"My level of confidence, the experience I had hands on and in the classroom, I was able to take that into the corporate setting and be a lot more lethal." - SALI CHR ISTESON

Christeson said Argent has yet to make a profit because she is growing into future demand by expanding offerings, but she has big plans for her company and hopes to be profitable within two years. While expanding Argent is more than a full-time job, Christeson is also raising a family. She has been married to her husband David, a marketer for Apple, for seven years, and they have a 1-year-old son. Being a working mother trying to maintain her company’s momentum makes Christeson more relatable for Argent customers, many of whom are also balancing families with careers. “I think becoming a mother has made it easier to understand a large part of our community,” she said. “It’s allowed me firsthand understanding of the challenges working moms face, and I try and incorporate those learnings into Argent’s offerings.” Christeson said she wants Argent to be more than just clothing. Argent’s two current stores in San Francisco and New York feature co-working spaces where women can jump on their laptop and use private phone booths. Argent also offers workshops with skill-building programming such as negotiation training and financial planning. Argent is in the process of opening another store in Washington, D.C., and hopes to open one in Los Angeles this fall. All of their items are also available on their website: argentwork.com.

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FACULTY RESEARCH

EPIDEMICS AND ECONOMICS

by Marjorie Riddle Duffie

Professor researches how public health crises affect financial growth A researcher at the Moore School is providing new understanding of how a public health crisis can impact an economy decades, or even a century, later. Robert Gonzalez, an economics assistant professor, and his colleagues have studied the detrimental effects of epidemics and the importance of containing and eliminating them to preserve health and financial well-being. Gonzalez published his findings in the American Economic Review that detail the financial toll of an 1854 cholera epidemic in a London neighborhood that contributes to housing and property prices that still lag behind neighboring communities today. He is also studying the effects of cell phone usage on spreading or containing the 2013-2015 Ebola epidemic in Liberia. Both projects encompass numerous data sets that he and his colleagues have spent hundreds of hours analyzing. For the 19th-century cholera epidemic research in London, Gonzalez collaborated with Duke University professors Attila Ambrus and Erica Field. The trio focused on the Soho area in London where a sudden spike in cholera cases quickly spread to an entire neighborhood. John Snow, one of medicine’s earliest anesthesiologists at the time of the outbreak and also a medical doctor and surgeon, lived in the affected Soho area and questioned whether cholera was transmitted by air — a common belief at the time called miasma theory.

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Snow, an important figure to present-day epidemiologists, gathered what data he could in 1854 and located the epicenter of the outbreak. He went house by house to see who was affected and who died. The data map he created helped him trace the outbreak back to a single water pump, which the majority of those suffering from cholera lived near on Broad Street. “Snow’s map was pretty convincing evidence at the time,” Gonzalez said. “[Public health authorities] weren’t 100 percent convinced, but they removed the water pump handle, and deaths immediately started declining.” After studying the cholera incident, Gonzalez and his colleagues examined housing prices in the Broad Street community impacted by the outbreak when it hit in 1854 and compared those to housing prices in 1894, 1899, 1936 and the present day. “Prices remained consistently different across the area affected,” he said. “The houses in the area whose residents would have gotten their water from the infected pump sold for 12 percent less on average than houses in other areas [as early as 1864].” Today, housing prices in the affected area, now known as Broadwick Street, near the cholera outbreak remain about 20 percent lower than in neighboring areas. Considering the cholera outbreak lasted less than a month, the impact is significant, Gonzalez said. The working-class neighborhood where the majority of cases occurred experienced 660 deaths within about a half square mile.


FACULTY RESEARCH

Approximately 90 percent of the houses in the working-class neighborhood were rental properties, so landlords had to make a choice, Gonzalez said. “Since a significant portion of the surviving residents were poor, landlords had to kick them out because they couldn’t make rent or charge them a lower rent,” he said.

tine or proper burial of the dead, cell phones contributed to the prevention of Ebola. With cell phones, “it is easier to get access to care, call an ambulance, call health workers,” Gonzalez said.

Since many of the landlords lowered the rent, the neighborhood transitioned from working class to poor since the rent was lower after the epidemic.

In addition to analyzing cell phone records, Gonazlez and his Michigan colleague sent surveys to households in Liberia asking whether they were visited by a public health official or received information about Ebola as well as the extent of their contact with individuals who had the disease.

The effect lasted for generations. Rent control laws and strong tenancy laws enforced from the 1890s until the 1980s contributed to the continued discrepancy.

Economically, being poorer may have initially helped Liberian villages because they communicated less and were less likely to spread the Ebola virus. Later, as the virus became a wider-

“The individual and long-term persistent effect on the quality of the infrastructure shows how the epidemic changes the distribution of poverty,” Gonzalez said. While finalizing his research on the London cholera epidemic, Gonzalez did subsequent research on the impact of information communication technologies on economic development. That led him to a modern-day health epidemic: Liberia during the Ebola outbreak between 2013-2015. He conducted his preliminary research with University of Michigan’s Elisa Maffioli, looking at cell phone records to see who in the villages were affected by Ebola and had cell phones. Their theory was that communities with cell phone access had higher rates of the Ebola virus. In principle, wealthier or more middle-class individuals who are more likely to own cell phones also may be more likely to spread the virus than poor residents without access to cell phones. “Cell phones can actually be detrimental,” Gonzalez said. “It would increase the likelihood of Ebola in a village. If your village is connected with a cell phone, it’s easier to communicate with people.” Easier communication means individuals would find out a relative or friend was sick and go care for them, thus exposing themselves to the virus. Individuals without cell phones were less likely to travel to another infected person’s home during the most contagious period, Gonzalez said. Cell phones also had a flip side. As the outbreak began to spread and world health officials communicated how to prevent the disease through quaran-

"The individual and long-term persistent effect on the quality of the infrastructure shows how the epidemic changes the distribution of poverty." - ROBERT GONZALEZ

spread public health crisis, cell phones helped disseminate information to prevent further spread of the virus. As a result, those who could afford a cell phone were better prepared to avoid contracting Ebola. Gonzalez said health epidemics like the Liberia Ebola crisis and London cholera outbreak can affect economics in a variety of ways, from an individual’s ability to participate and be productive in the labor force to a community’s infrastructure and monetary stability. A crisis can stunt generations of individuals’ economic growth opportunities, he said. “If individuals are affected by a negative health shock like an epidemic, then this may inhibit their ability to participate in the labor force, affect their productivity and impact their ability to accumulate human capital,” he said. “Furthermore, this effect can be persistent if the epidemic takes place in a society with low intergenerational mobility.” Gonzalez continues to explore the interconnectivity between economics and public health crises to better understand impacts long term and inform response and policy.

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FACULTY RESEARCH

TO BAILOUT OR TO BAIL-IN?

by C. Grant Jackson

Moore School professor’s book examines federal, private solutions to prevent bank failure Moore School banking and finance professor Allen Berger is publishing a book early next year about the 2008 government bailouts and the newer concept of private sector bail-ins of struggling banks. The book, TARP and other Bank Bailouts and Bail-Ins around the World: Connecting Wall Street, Main Street and the Financial System, encapsulates multiple papers Berger published over the past several years. Berger did his research and is co-authoring the book in conjunction with his former Ph.D. student Raluca Roman, now with the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia. A Carolina Distinguished Professor and H. Montague Osteen Jr. professor of banking and finance, Berger initially was going to focus his book only on the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), enacted in 2008 in response to the financial crisis and one of the biggest bank bailouts of all time. However, as the proposal was circulated, it became clear that “we should talk about bail-ins because those are also important,” he said. “That is the direction that the world is moving.” With bail-ins, the government does not provide the capital or money for the banks to recapitalize — a bail-in requires the private sector to provide the funds. “It seems to be working in terms of expectations, and banks are holding more capital, and they’re adjusting their capital more quickly,” Berger said. “But we do not know if it’s actually going to work.”

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Berger’s publisher for the book is global information and business analytics publisher Elsevier; it is already listed on Elsevier’s and Amazon’s websites for pre-order. The book “presents a theoretically-informed and empirically rich account of bailouts and their implications; uses TARP as a case study to paint a complete and balanced picture of bailout programs worldwide; and illuminates the long-run welfare analysis of a bailout program, still poorly developed in the economic literature,” according to Elsevier’s key features of the book listed on its website. The book includes a number of chapters on what the authors call the “first line of defense.” These are actions such as capital and liquidity requirements and stress tests “that the government can take in advance and in good times to keep the financial system safe, to protect it from ever having to resort to bailouts and bail-ins,” Berger said. However, both bailouts and bailins, if they are done properly, can work, Berger said. In practice, bail-ins probably are better, he added.


FACULTY RESEARCH

"We want them to maintain their capital and to recapitalize when they start to get into distress." - ALLEN BERGER

Bail-ins “can drive better incentives for the banks to maintain their capital, and that is what we really want them to do,” he said. “We do not want them to get into situations where they are going to have to be bailed in or bailed out. We want them to maintain their capital and to recapitalize when they start to get into distress.” Some banks are too big to fail, he pointed out. “If it gets to the distress point, you have to do something,” Berger said. “You cannot let them fail because it is too much of a disaster for the economy.”

TARP and other Bank Bailouts and Bail-Ins around the World: Connecting Wall Street, Main Street and the Financial System

ALLEN BERGER

Before and during the 2008 financial crisis, the investment banks behaved worse than the commercial banks, Berger said, partly because they believed they were too big to fail. “Then Bear Sterns got rescued in 2008, and I believe that Dick Fuld [of Lehman Brothers] assumed that it would get bailed out, so Lehman Brothers did not take the action necessary to keep themselves from failing,” he said. “They thought the institution was too big to fail. But it was not.”

While the forthcoming book does not focus exclusively on TARP as the authors had originally proposed, TARP was clearly successful, Berger said. He points out that the money given to the banks was all paid back. “Some banks paid, some banks didn’t, but the government got more money than they lent out,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that it is a good investment by itself, a good financial investment. It was a relatively low rate of return for a really risky investment.

“It should have been a higher rate of return for the risk. But that was not the point. The purpose of the program consisted of two main things: rescue the financial system and rescue the economy, and it did both.”

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FACULTY RESEARCH

SNAP GAP

by Marjorie Riddle Duffie

Timing of federal benefits affects student test scores, professors’ research shows A study by two Moore School faculty shows that children without regular access to food may test as much as a full grade level behind.

the month: a family always receives its benefits on either the first, second, third, etc., based on the last digit of the household’s case identification number.

The study, published by The Economics of Education Review last year, focused on when families receive their federal SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. The researchers noted that K-12 children’s standardized math scores are negatively impacted when there is a sizeable gap between when the household receives its federal assistance and the exam date.

The majority spend most of their benefits within a few days, so families, including children, tend to eat better closer to the date they receive their food stamps.

Orgul Ozturk, an economics associate professor, worked with colleague John Gordanier, an economics clinical associate professor, and Chad Cotti, the Oshkosh Corp. Endowed professor and chair of the economics department at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. “The effect of poor nutrition has been established as an important determinant of learning and achievement among school-age children,” Ozturk said. Most federal food assistance benefits are given to families on one particular day of

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grade years and were able to see how scores varied based on the duration from their receipt dates. Ozturk said that children tend to be hungrier the further they get from food assistance dissemination, so it’s unsurprising they will perform worse on tests compared to their peers who get adequate nutrition.

Using data from the South Carolina Department of Education, Ozturk and her “The cumulative effect is very significant,” Ozturk said. associates looked at a statewide mathematics assessment given to students in In addition, children are absent more grades three through eight from 2000 to the farther they get from receiving their 2012. The Department of Social Services benefits. provided the date in the month the students’ households received their benefits. Children who are not regularly eating often have weaker immune systems, Their research found that standardized making them more likely to catch illnesstest scores suffer when an exam falls near es and miss school as a result. They also the end of the benefit cycle. tend to come from less stable homes where there may not be someone who “Given that a student experiences these ensures they regularly attend school. low-food security weeks every month, the overall impact over the year can be Research is ongoing to show how poor as meaningful as being one grade level nutrition and poverty have a wide range behind on average,” Ozturk said. of effects on children. Ozturk and her colleagues also looked at the same child over the third to eighth-


FACULTY RESEARCH

TAKING THE TURMOIL OUT OF TRANSITION

by C. Grant Jackson

Moore School professors share valuable CEO succession tips for companies CEO succession planning is vital to business success and longevity, yet many companies get it wrong. Three Moore School management professors have gathered valuable evidence to compile an aggregate set of data that companies can use to plan their next CEO hire. The team included management assistant professor and principal researcher Donald Schepker; management professor Anthony Nyberg; management professor Patrick Wright, the Thomas C. Vandiver Bicentennial Chair and director for the Center for Executive Succession; and Michael Ulrich, a Ph.D. student, now an assistant professor at Utah State University. They surveyed more than 100 chief human resource officers from many of the largest U.S. companies to better understand their succession planning activities. Research based on these surveys was published in the Academy of Management Journal last year. Selecting a new CEO is one of the board of directors' most important, if not the most important, responsibilities, but boards face significant challenges in making decisions. “Really it is about information processing. The first challenge is getting appropriate information, and the second is working together as a group,” Schepker said. Having the familiarity with the company to be able to select the most appropriate person to lead it and the trials that they are likely to face in the future is a difficult proposition. This difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that boards of directors typically spend very little time together, and they often don’t spend a great deal of time with the company.

To supplement this research, they interviewed 22 members of boards of directors at some of the United States’ largest companies who, in total, had been part of almost 100 CEO hires. They asked the board members to describe the most successful and least successful CEO successions they had been part of and to provide details regarding the process with each. Their interviews and survey data provided some recurring themes. First, boards should consider a more comprehensive pool of candidates. Having a larger pool of candidates can give the company better quality candidates for the next CEO and provide greater flexibility. A larger pool also means the board is less likely to become fixated on a single individual. Second, boards need to own the process and not allow the current CEO to unfairly manage it. For instance, the current CEO can limit the number of candidates the board sees. In addition, the CEO can try to control the information the board gets about candidates. CEOs may not want to have ready successors because that may make it easier for the board to push them out. Third, boards may want to use an outside consultant to help them in the CEO hiring process. Such consultants can ensure that the firm uses a sounder process, and they can relay information to the board that is hard for the CEO to influence. “Our research has uncovered a number of best practices that should be used by boards in choosing their next CEO, as well as a number of the potential pitfalls boards face in the process,” Schepker said. “Our hope is that boards will use this research to increase their probability of making the right CEO successor decision.”

Schepker and his colleagues think their research shows that boards need to employ a “procedurally rational process” to succession planning where systematic, analytical processes are used to gather and provide directors with more accurate and reliable information.

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MOORE NEWS

MOORENEWS UPS FOUNDATION DONATES $300,000 The UPS Foundation donated $150,000 to the Moore School in 2018 and recommitted another $150,000 in 2019 to strengthen diversity among students studying international business. Hildy Teegen, executive director of the Folks Center for International Business and an international business professor, said the company recognizes its potential outside established markets in the U.S. and Europe. “They’ve recognized that they’ve got to tap into talent pools that are far more diverse,” Teegen said. “For them, diversity not only means diversity in the way we more popularly think about it in the U.S. — gender diversity, ethnic and racial diversity, etc. — but also including things like socioeconomic diversity and international diversity." At the recommendation of Folks Center board member and UPS chief operating officer Jim Barber, the donation will support U.S. students from underrepresented backgrounds and enhance partnerships with international universities that send students to the Moore School. Specifically, funds will provide undergraduate scholarships and graduate-level fellowships to recruit and retain students in international business as well as support study abroad opportunities.

2018 FORBES-SPONSORED CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER SUMMIT BRINGS TOP MARKETING EXECUTIVES TO MOORE SCHOOL

MOORE SCHOOL PART-TIME MBA TO PARTNER WITH OTHER SCHOOLS FOR NEW CERTIFICATE OPTIONS

The Moore School hosted its second annual Forbes-sponsored Chief Marketing Officer Summit in October 2018. Keynote speakers Terrance Williams, ('90 insurance and economics), CMO of Nationwide, and Vicky Free, senior vice president of Disney Home Entertainment, explored current marketing trends with faculty, students and other top marketing executives.

The Moore School’s Professional MBA program is exploring opportunities with other University of South Carolina academic departments to create new graduate certificate options for students. To diversify part-time MBA offerings, the Moore School hopes to partner with the College of Engineering and Computing to develop a cybersecurity certificate and the Arnold School of Public Health to develop a health care certificate.

In addition, a panel discussed today's top marketing issues, and attendees took advantage of networking opportunities. The summit also included a mini case competition from Epworth Ice Cream, with attending CMOs serving as coaches. The 2019 CMO Summit, scheduled for Oct. 3, will be a cornerstone of the Moore School’s celebration of the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Week.

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A third certificate focusing on innovation will be a partnership with the Moore School’s SmartState Center for Innovation + Commercialization and may be offered as early as fall 2020.


MOORE NEWS

FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE HOSTED AT MOORE SCHOOL

The first African American Leadership Conference at the Moore School, held in February, provided a forum for university students and businesses to discuss the importance of diversity in the workplace. The conference, hosted by the Black Business Student Association, featured TED Talks, panel discussions and a networking lunch for students and visiting professionals from 16 corporate partners such as Boeing, UPS, Geico and Eastman Chemical Co. Cynthia J. Walters, corporate director of diversity inclusion at Prisma Health, delivered the keynote address. Assistant professor Alice Leri said today’s increased focus on diversity reflects an important cultural shift. “We need to empower our students to select and recognize inclusive employers, build meaningful mentor relationships, effectively respond to abuses and engage with professional communities,” said Leri, who served as associate dean for diversity and inclusion at the Moore School through June. The Black Business Student Association plans to make the conference an annual event.

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MOORE NEWS

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 50 YEARS For 50 years, the University of South Carolina Business Partnership Foundation within the Darla Moore School of Business has strengthened the school’s partnerships with companies that range from local businesses to international firms. Founded in 1969, the Business Partnership Foundation has assisted with corporate sponsorships, scholarships and fellowships; provided support for grant applications and endowed faculty positions; prepared graduates for the job market; and overseen 11 centers focusing on specific areas of research and real-world experience. The BPF has a $98 million endowment to ensure future support of the Moore School.

MOORE SCHOOL RECOGNIZES EXCELLENCE IN CEO TALENT DEVELOPMENT The Leadership Legacy Award, sponsored by the Center for Executive Succession at the Moore School, recognizes influential CEOs who have committed to the development of future top senior staffers. Elizabeth "Liz" Smith, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Bloomin’ Brands, received in November 2018 the Leadership Legacy Award. The award, formerly known as the Sustaining Leadership Award, is the only one of its kind. Patrick Wright, faculty director of the Center for Executive Succession, says the award reflects a commitment to building the talent pipeline. “Our hope is that with this award, the Moore School is recognized as the place that is most known for awarding CEOs who are trying to build leaders themselves,” Wright said. “Certainly, the more CEOs who come to campus, the more they’ll be engaged with our students. Hopefully, that will help the recruiting process and so on, but I think our bigger priority is that the Moore School be recognized as a place that has the visibility and the attention of CEOs.”

SHUCK & SHAG With about 600 attending each year, Shuck & Shag is the Moore School’s largest and most popular alumni gathering featuring an oyster roast, other gourmet food, a live band and dancing. The fifth annual event will take place Friday, Oct. 18, the evening before the South Carolina vs. Florida football game. Buy your tickets at moore.sc.edu/shuckandshag.

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MOORE NEWS

ALUMNI STAFF UPDATE Bo Hart has been named assistant director for alumni engagement for the Moore School.

MOORE SCHOOL EXCEEDS DONOR GOAL The Moore School raised $75,797 from 729 donors for the University of South Carolina’s annual Giving Day in April. Surpassing its goal of 500 donors, the Moore School had the largest number of donors among academic units on campus. Moore School donors, including many current students, supported 20 different areas. Among them were student scholarships, academic departments and the Darla Moore Second Century Fund, a fund to honor benefactress Darla Moore and support the second century of business education at South Carolina, said Mark Richter, Moore School director of development.

“We want to create an engaged alumni base who want to give back and stay connected,” said Hart who began working for the University of South Carolina’s alumni association in 2016. A former student body president for Virginia Tech, Hart earned his bachelor’s in communications and worked for admissions and development at his alma mater. After completing a fellowship with Sen. Lindsey Graham in Washington, D.C., he returned to Columbia, South Carolina, his hometown, to earn a master’s degree in higher education and business administration from South Carolina. His wife, Katie, earned a master’s degree in speech pathology from UofSC.

Competing against other university campaigns and academic departments, the school received a $5,000 bonus for winning the power-hour challenge, a competition for the most donors from 4-5 p.m.

TO GIVE TO THE MOORE SCHOOL: Visit giving.sc.edu/supportmsb Mail a check payable to the UofSC-BPF to 1014 Greene St., Columbia, SC 29208 Contact development office staff at 803-777-2911 Many companies have matching gift programs available for employees and retirees, which increase the overall impact of a personal gift. Details are available at matchinggifts.com/sc. In addition, donors can commit to a legacy gift, which may be a bequest in a will or a life insurance gift. Contact the development office to learn more.

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MOORE NEWS

TRADE EXPERTS, INDUSTRY LEADERS ANALYZE INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNCERTAINTY, COMPETITIVENESS IN MOORE SCHOOL FORUM

HOOTIE JOHNSON’S LEGACY LIVES ON IN BANK OF AMERICA SCHOLARSHIPS Moore School students with an interest in a banking industry career may receive the Bank of America W. W. “Hootie” Johnson Scholarship, started last year in memory of Moore School friend and donor W. W. “Hootie” Johnson. Given to in-state undergraduate students from populations underrepresented in leadership roles within the financial services industry, the scholarship serves as a tangible way for Johnson’s legacy to continue at the Moore School. Five rising sophomores received $8,000 for the 2018-19 academic year with the opportunity to receive additional support of $8,000 for 2019-20 and $9,000 for 2020-21. This year, another group of five students will be chosen to receive the scholarship. Bank of America’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, Cynthia Bowman, will attend a Moore School diversity and inclusion panel on Nov. 14, when she and other Bank of America professionals will meet students who have benefited from the scholarships.

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In April, the Moore School held the International Strategy in an Era of Trade Uncertainty forum for business and industry leaders to address international trade trends. The forum, hosted by the Folks Center for International Business at the Moore School, focused on shifts in the global trading sphere that have impacted U.S. trade policy and practices. Co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the event featured a presentation by John Murphy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president for international policy. Joining Murphy on a panel were Wendy Cutler, vice president and managing director for the Asia Society Policy Institute; Jim Barber, chief operating officer for UPS; and George Jurch III, general counsel for Global Expert Teams and the Americas Region for Continental.

The panelists agreed that uncertainty in international trade creates many challenges for countries to stay competitive in trade and technology. The panelists also advised students on how to be successful despite constant and rapid change. They emphasized the need for agile problem solving and critical thinking, adaptability and resiliency, excellent writing skills, strong teamwork abilities and the ability to learn multiple languages.


MOORE NEWS

FACULTY AND STUDENT

ACHIEVEMENTS

MOORE SCHOOL PROFESSORS WIN BEST PAPER AWARDS Congratulations to Moore School faculty who received awards for their papers: 2019 Ralph Gomory Best Industry Studies Paper Award by the Industry Studies Association to international business assistant professor Lite Nartey with co-authors for “Status Climbing Versus Bridging: Multinational Stakeholder Engagement Strategies,” published in Strategy Science in 2018. Academy of Management’s Best Article Award to management assistant professor Lynn McFarland, professor Sherry Thatcher, doctoral candidate Jonathan Hendricks and others for “An Examination of the Prevalence and Consequences of Identity Disclosures Among Job Seekers.” Academy of Management Annals’ Best Article Award for the 2018 volume to management professor Laura Cardinal and others for “An Aspirational View of Organizational Control Research: Reinvigorating Empirical Work to Better Meet the Challenges of 21st Century Organizations.” Jeanneret Award for Excellence in the Study of Individual or Group Assessment (2019) by the American Psychological Association’s Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology to management professor Paul Bliese, co-author for “Modeling consensus emergence in groups using longitudinal multilevel methods,” published in Personnel Psychology in December 2017. 2018 Editor Commendation award from the Journal of Business and Psychology to professor Paul Bliese, assistant professor Mark Maltarich and doctoral candidate Jonathan Hendricks for “Back to Basics with MixedEffects Models: Nine Take-Away Points.” Journal of Management’s 2018 Best Paper Award to management professor Patrick Wright for “The Impact of High-Performance Human Resources Practices on Employees’ Attitudes and Behaviors.” 2018 Jack Meredith Best Paper Award to management science assistant professor Keith Skowronski and others for “Why in the world did they reshore? Examining small to medium-sized manufacturer decisions,” published in the Journal of Operations Management in 2017.

INTERNATIONAL MBA PROGRAM RETAINS NO. 1 RANKING The Moore School’s International MBA program is ranked No. 1 according to the latest U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Schools publication released in March. The International MBA program has been ranked in the top three for 30 consecutive years. “We are extremely pleased to receive this recognition,” Moore School Dean Peter Brews said. “Ranking as the No. 1 International MBA in the nation is a testament to our outstanding faculty and the educational excellence of our program. The Moore School is committed to delivering exceptional business programming that not only prepares graduates for success but teaches them the value of teamwork, integrity and resilience so that they can better lead and make a difference in markets around the world.”

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MOORE NEWS

MOORE SCHOOL PROFESSORS, DOCTORAL CANDIDATE WIN TEACHING AWARDS Two Moore School professors and a doctoral candidate won the Alfred G. Smith Awards for Teaching Excellence this year. The tenure-track faculty winner is Orgul Ozturk, associate professor of economics. The non-tenure-track faculty winner is Daniel Ostergaard, clinical associate professor of international business. Economics doctoral candidate Zehra Valencia also won the award.

ASSOCIATE DEAN CREATES MIDLANDS FILM FESTIVAL Raymond Smith, the Moore School’s associate dean for executive development and president of Corporate Solutions, launched Doko Film Fest in April to provide aspiring high school filmmakers an opportunity to show their films. The festival is named in honor of its location in Blythewood, South Carolina, which used to be known as Doko. In 2015, Smith and his son Andrew, a graduate of UofSC’s media arts program, started documentary film company, Modos Media. They were inspired to create Doko Film Fest, which in its inaugural year showed 13 films from 14- to 18-year-old filmmakers from South Carolina, Texas, California and Canada. Judges, including Blythewood native Michelle Eisenreich, picked 13 finalists from 60 entries. Eisenreich won a visual effects Oscar and British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for “Blade Runner 2049.” The winner of the Doko Film Fest, Luke Evans, will show his film at the Beaufort International Film Festival in February 2020. Doko Film Fest will host its second annual event March 1314, 2020. To view the Doko Film Fest 2019 winning videos, visit dokofilmfest.com/film-reel.

MOORE SCHOOL STUDENT ELECTED STUDENT BODY VICE PRESIDENT Sophie Davish, a third-year finance student at the Darla Moore School of Business, is serving as the University of South Carolina’s student body vice president for the 201920 academic year. Davish was elected by the student body with a 58.37 percent majority, or 4,207 votes, in February.

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“It is a great pleasure to recognize such excellent, rigorous and fair instructors,” said John McDermott, Moore School senior associate dean for research. “All of them have been instrumental in helping our students become better educated in several dimensions.”

UOFSC TEAMS WIN FIRST, FOURTH AT THIRD ANNUAL SOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL TAX CHALLENGE Two teams consisting of Moore School Master of Accountancy and UofSC law students placed first and fourth in the third annual Southeastern Regional Tax Challenge in February. They competed against 12 other teams from nine SEC schools. The winning team received a $2,500 prize, while the fourthplace team received $500. In addition, first-place team member and Master of Accountancy candidate JM Williams was one of a few students to win the Best Presenter award.

MOORE SCHOOL STUDENT’S EXHIBIT WINS RUNNERUP IN UOFSC CREATIVIBE CATEGORY Fourth-year management student Claire Fisher won runnerup in the category Creativity Explored for a data visualization she created from her Spotify listening habits at the UofSC Creativibe event. The inaugural March event highlighted students, faculty and staffs’ creative and innovative ideas. For her project entitled “Millennial Music Habits,” Fisher used an app to track her listening habits on Spotify during the fall 2018 semester and then exported the data into Excel. Using Tableau, a data visualization software, she showed the frequency and time of listen for songs from her top 16 artists and even incorporated song clips into her data visualization.


MOORE NEWS

MOORE SCHOOL DOMINATES 2018-2019 CASE COMPETITIONS The Moore School sent several undergraduate and graduate student teams to case competitions across the country — and one internationally — in the past academic year. They examined cases from Boeing, Deloitte, Disney, Eaton Corp. and FedEx. Six Moore School students won first place in the 2019 Deloitte National Audit Innovation Challenge at Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas. The team – Brendon Beach, Katie Bergey, Katie Field, Karen Gates, Jack Graham and Aaron Gulibon – began practicing for the competition in October and won their November regional round in Atlanta to advance to the final national round. The team worked for six months to prepare their audit and presentation they gave in April and walked away with first place and a $2,000 scholarship each. Another Moore School team won first place at the Technological University Dublin International Case Competition in February for the second consecutive year. Fourth-year marketing students, Allison Amen and Madisyn Horton, and Michael Martin, a fourth-year international business and finance student, presented a case on Disney creating its own streaming service. A team of Master of Human Resources candidates won the Ohio State Master of Human Resources Case Competition in February with their presentation on developing a career-coaching strategy to drive performance and retention at Eaton Corp. The team, which included Caleb Kellogg, Sarah Everhart, Will Overstreet and Kathryn Dixon, was led by Master of Human Resources managing director Sally Fulkert and coached by management lecturer Pat DeMuoy.

A team of Moore School MBA and Master of International Business candidates reached the finals of the Texas Christian University MBA/MS Supply Chain Case Competition. The team, which included International MBA candidates Laura Dorn, Wes Treiber and Bhaskar Shankar and Master of International Business candidate Dario Roosli, was coached by Pat DeMuoy. Their case dealt with how retail supply chains are likely to change in the future as companies such as Amazon disrupt the industry. Another team of MBA candidates, composed of International MBA candidates Wes Treiber, Laura Dorn, Nick Sonek and Bhaskar Shankar, earned third place at the SEC MBA Case Competition at the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee in April. The UofSC team competed against 13 other SEC teams; the University of Alabama won first place. Treiber also won a Best Presenter Award for his division. The Moore School hosted the inaugural Boeing Analytics Case Competition in April with five teams of Moore School and UofSC College of Engineering and Computing students. The 20 students took real-life questions posed by Boeing, analyzed data provided by the aerospace manufacturer and presented solutions and cost-saving measures the company could implement. The winning team included Catherine Daniels, Luke Marazzo, Nicholas Woods and Jonathan Zuraw. Each of the first-place team members won $500.

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ALUMNI EVENTS

ALUMNIEVENTS ALUMNI HUBS EXPAND TO 14 CITIES; VOLUNTEERS NEEDED The Moore School is expanding its alumni outreach to 14 U.S. cities to better connect alumni and hiring companies with graduating and current students. Known as the Alumni Hub Network, the 14 cities also were selected for their proximity to potential hiring companies and a higher volume of students’ hometowns where they may return after graduating. “These groups are exclusive for Moore School alumni and will consist of two alumni volunteers who will serve as hub leaders in each area,” said Bo Hart, assistant director for alumni engagement. “Activities planned for the hub locations will focus on leveraging the powerful Moore School alumni network to connect students with internship and full-time employment placement opportunities.” While the Office of Alumni Engagement will continue to connect alumni with each other and the Moore School, hub cities currently include Atlanta; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago; Dallas; Greenville, South Carolina; Houston; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Raleigh, North Carolina; San Francisco; Seattle; and Washington, D.C. Moore School alumni who are interested in participating or volunteering with an Alumni Hub Network should contact Bo Hart at 803-777-7045 or email bo.hart@moore.sc.edu.

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ALUMNI EVENTS

GET INVOLVED: VOLUNTEER The Mentor Program connects alumni with students looking for advice on career planning, networking and transferring skills. To become a mentor, register on mooreconnect.com.

Kendall Roth, Center for International Business Education and Research, 803-777-3604, kroth@moore.sc.edu

BADM 301: Business Careers in a Global Economy class includes a personal branding speaker series where alumni share professional advice. Panel members at the Moore School Major and Career Exploration Day share information about their majors and career path. To volunteer for either program, contact Amy Dawson at dawson@moore.sc.edu.

Beth Renninger, Center for Sales Success, 803-777-7305, beth.renninger@moore.sc.edu

At the annual Women’s Leadership Summit hosted by the Graduate Women in Business student organization, attendees hear from speakers on issues facing women in business. To speak at the summit, contact Elliott Cooper at elliott.cooper@moore.sc.edu.

John Jensen, Operations and Supply Chain Center, 803-777-6824, jensen@moore.sc.edu

As a Research and Partnership Center board member, alumni help with everything from boosting students’ sales success to contributing insight on international business curriculum. To consider serving as a board member, contact: Stacey Mumbower, Center for Applied Business Analytics, 803-777-2941, stacey.mumbower@moore.sc.edu Patrick Wright, Center for Executive Succession, 803-777-5955, patrick.wright@moore.sc.edu

Jeff Rehling, Center for Marketing Solutions, 803-777-2904, jeffrey.rehling@moore.sc.edu

Dean Kress, Faber Entrepreneurship Center, 803-777-7015, kressd@moore.sc.edu Sanjay Ahire, Operations and Supply Chain Center, 803-777-2647, ahire@moore.sc.edu

Anthony Nyberg, Riegel & Emory Human Resources Center, 803-777-5974, anthony.nyberg@moore.sc.edu Robert Hartwig, Risk and Uncertainty Management Center, 803-777-6782, robert.hartwig@moore.sc.edu The Young Alumni Board provides input on Moore School programs and initiatives. To join the board, contact the Office of Alumni Engagement at alumni@moore.sc.edu. The Alumni Hub Network cities leverage the powerful Moore School alumni network to connect students with internships and full-time employment. For information, contact Bo Hart at 803-777-7045 or bo.hart@moore. sc.edu.

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ALUMNI NEWS

ALUMNINEWS 1960 Kae Harper Childs, ('63 secretary science) is in her 15th year of teaching the physical education credit course, Beginning Shag: the South Carolina State dance, at UofSC.

1970

Michael Mazzone (’77 economics), a trial lawyer in Houston, has been named co-chair of the Litigation Practice Group at Haynes and Boone, LLP. Mark Sejman ('79 management science) retired in June 2018 from Greenville Technical College after serving more than 33 years in IT roles.

Jim Tingen ('76 accounting, '81 Felipe Adaime ('79 MBA) MBA) was hired as the accountmoved from Rio de Janeiro to ing manager for F150Leds LLC, São Paulo, Brazil, in October an international corporation 2017, where he is CFO of a that provides custom lighting consulting firm specializing in accessories for Ford trucks. law firm management. Adaime Gene White ('73 accounting, meets biweekly with Moore School MBA alumni in São Paulo. '75 MBA) was appointed as one of six U.S. executives, entrepreRay Barbee ('76 MBA) is neurs and influencers to serve president of the Western Wood as an honorary ambassador Products Association, a lumby the Greater Zurich Area, an ber-grading agency. investment promotion agency of the economic region of ZuBob Berry ('74 accounting), rich, Switzerland. As managing partner and CEO of Berry Wealth director of First Names Group, Advisors, has relocated his officWhite has assisted U.S.-based es to Lexington, South Carolina, companies with expanding and and has hired Adam Feeney operating businesses in Zurich (’12 accounting & finance) as an and its surrounding regions. advisor. B.S. "Bill" Killough ('79 MBA, ’79 J.D. UofSC) has been named to the 2018 Legal Elite list published by Charleston Business Magazine and the 2019 The Best Lawyers in America list. Noted for his intellectual property expertise, Killough is listed as a South Carolina Super Lawyer and has earned a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent rating.

1980 E. Wayne Ledbetter Jr. ('79 accounting) earned his Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis designation from the Institute of Management Accountants.

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Sherrie Andrews ('83 marketing) earned the 2018 Platinum Sales Leader award by Helen Adams Realty in Charlotte, the Top 5% of Buyer Agents Award by HomeLight and is a 5-year recipient of a Five Star Professional award.

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Laura Watkins Biggerstaff ('83 marketing) launched Mats America, an online floor-mat and carpet-tile company based in Greer, South Carolina. The U.S.-made products are sold for businesses and homes. Watkins Biggerstaff is earning her Woman-Owned Small Business certification through WBENC.org. Bob Boone (’86 management) joined the mortgage team at Renasant Bank in June 2019. Reimer Clausen ('83 MIB) retired in 2017 and moved in 2018 to Füssen, Germany, home of the Neuschwanstein castle.

Bob Corbett (’85 management, ’89 history UofSC) was named vice president - compensation and human resources business partner at RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corp. in Charlotte. Tom Cowsert ('87 MIB) The National Library of Spain (la Biblioteca Nacional de España) has acquired two of Cowsert’s artworks, including a collage on paper, for its permanent collection. Cowsert has worked as a professional artist for 22 years in Spain. Steve Cumbia ('81 management science) was named vice president of technology for ACS Technologies Inc. in Florence, South Carolina.

Jonathan Holmes ('84 finance) co-founded Mighty 8th Media, a creative and marketing agency, which won 2018 Pinnacle Business of the Year by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and was ranked in the Atlanta Business Chronicle as a 2018 Top 50 Marketing Agency.

Otis Morris Jr. ('86 insurance and economics) was named manager for new and preowned car sales at McDaniels Acura in Columbia, South Carolina. He also was named to the audit committee as a commissioner for the South Carolina Lottery.

Timothy R. Johnson ('89 MHR) has been assigned by the U.S. Department of State as a foreign affairs officer with the Office of Foreign Missions in Washington, D.C., after a 3-year tour of duty in the Republic of Chad.

Scott Sharpe ('87 management) won the 2018 South Carolina Novel Prize sponsored by the S.C. Arts Commission, S.C. Humanities, S.C. State Library, College of Charleston and Hub City Press. His novel, A Wild Eden, was published Aug. 27 by Hub City Press in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Mitch Jones ('88 insurance and economics) was promoted to team leader at R.E. Mason, a privately owned manufacturer's representative for certain Emerson products in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The company supports heavy manufacturing.

Anthony Thomas ('81 marketing, '83 MBA) was named president and chief transformation officer of Ike & Erson LLC, a professional services firm in Greenville, South Carolina.

Luke Kissam (’89 J.D. UofSC) and Kathryn Schanen Kissam ('88 marketing) co-founded the Charlotte-based Carolina Youth Coalition, a nonprofit that helps prepare high-achieving, under-resourced high school students for college and careers. Kevin Lord ('86 MHR) was promoted to chief human resources officer of FOX Corp., which includes FOX News, FOX Sports, FOX Entertainment and FOX TV stations. Bill Metzger (’89 MBA, ’89 J.D. UofSC), an attorney with Robinson Gray in Columbia, South Carolina, earned the Crusty Crab Award from Meritas, an organization of the world's leading independent law firms. The award recognizes a Meritas member lawyer who has made a significant and influential contribution as a member of the Financial Services/Creditors Rights and Bankruptcy Section (CRABS).

Gregory V. Williams (’86 marketing), legislative liaison at the Air Force Space Command headquarters, won first place in the District 26 Toastmasters International competition in Denver on May 4, 2019.

1990 Rick Altizer ('94 MBA) has been named chief executive officer of Earnnest, a technology startup. Amy Bashor ('97 international studies UofSC, '99 MHR) will publish her third book in 2019, tentatively titled Building Awesome Vacations.


ALUMNI NEWS

Kris Bennett Bradsher ('92 MBA) retired from the U.S. Navy Reserves after 23 years of service, including serving as commander in the Expeditionary Medical Facility Bethesda. She was an active duty officer with Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Her last deployment was as team chief for a Military Embedded Training Team (METT) in Herat, Afghanistan. She works with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

R. Jason Caskey ('90 accounting) was named president and CEO of UofSC’s Educational Foundation and Development Foundation. Christie Causey ('98 marketing) opened Jolly Holiday Vacations (@jollyholidayvacations), a concierge-style travel agency with Lisa Hockenberry (’99 applied professional sciences UofSC). The agency, which specializes in Walt Disney vacations and has 10 agents, is recognized as an official Authorized Disney Travel Planner by the Walt Disney Travel Co.

Randall David Cook ('96 MIB) opened the musical "Shadows" Off-Broadway at the Connelly Theatre in November. Cook created the show with director and choreographer Joey McKneely, a two-time Tony nominee and choreographer for the film "Zoolander.” Cook also premiered the play “Toto Talks” at the annual NYC Frigid Festival in February. Todd Early ('99 MBA) was named chief investment officer of Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC, a Native American-owned firm that provides investment advisory services for Native American tribes, tribal entities and nonprofits with a tribal mission. The firm is certified by the Centre of Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX). Dave Francis, CCEP ('93 MBA) was promoted to chief compliance and human resources officer at Dewberry in Charlotte. Francis earned an advanced degree in nuclear engineering and power plant operations from the Naval Nuclear Power School and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech. He is a member of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and the Society for Human Resources Management. Andrew Green ('97 MIB) was promoted to senior vice president of the consumer, pet food and paper group with TC Transcontinental Packaging in Chicago. Reggie Harrison ('99 MIB) is the owner and operator of JH Wholesale, jhwholesale.com, and owner and operator of Artisan Leaf, artisanleaf.com, both located in Wilson, North Carolina. Scott Hile ('99 MIB, ’99 J.D. UofSC) joined the renewable energy biomass company Enviva and relocated to the Washington, D.C., metro area. Elizabeth Jeter Hrubala ('95 MIB) celebrated the fifth anniversary of her independent financial planning and invest-

ment management firm, Jeter Hrubala Wealth Strategies, LLC. The firm has five employees and manages more than $160 million in client assets. In 2018, Hrubala earned the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst designation.

Ioana Tudor ('97 IMBA) was promoted in September 2018 as head of crop protection marketing at Swiss-based Syngenta, a $13 billion agribusiness leading company, where she has worked since 1997. She is a member of the Moore School's Folks Board for International Business. Steven Vaughn (’93 MBA) won the 2018 Wells Fargo Pinnacle Award as a top performer in the commercial real estate bank.

Allan McLeland ('89 psychology UofSC, ’93 MBA) retired from his position as vice president of human resources of Sonoco, one of the largest diversified global packaging companies.

John Waid ('93 MIB), who has lived in Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and the U.S. and worked for several Fortune 500 companies, is writing a series of leadership books, including ones that focus on sales cultures, management culture and leadership culture.The series will publish in late 2019.

Barbara Miller ('90 MBA) was named business consultant with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Newberry, South Carolina, in March 2019. Joe Morelli ('93 MBA) moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. Michael Oana ('93 management) completed the Certified Retirement Counselor designation. He is the owner of Michael Oana Retirement Planning Specialist in Columbia, South Carolina, providing retirement planning for corporate managers. Laura Okoniewski ('98 MBA) launched the jewelry company website sugarandlola.com. Richelle Tolton ('94 accounting, '99 MEERM UofSC) is a contractor with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria. Since November 2017, she has worked on issues related to radon gas, launching global webinars and presenting workshops in South Africa, Belgium and China. Her current focus is radionuclides in food and drinking water in non-emergency situations.

Sherry Welsh ('91 MBA) moved into leadership coaching, creating her own firm. She also published her first book Slowing Down - Unexpected Ways to Thrive as a Female Leader. Welsh relocated to South Carolina after three years in Germany and 20 years in Michigan.

2000 Dustin Akers ('08 marketing & real estate) was promoted to senior transit-oriented development project manager at Sound Transit, the Seattle region's mass transit agency. He is responsible for real-estate development and affordable housing on agency-owned land.

Alan Burgreen (’02 finance, insurance and economics) was named vice president and part owner of Robbins Construction Group, which specializes in all aspects of commercial construction with a project range up to $50 million. Lindsey Cannon ('05 marketing and management, '08 MPA UofSC), economic development and consulting partner with Quest Site Solutions, was selected for 2019 Leadership South Carolina, the state’s oldest and most-respected leadership development organization.

Brent Collins ('08 marketing) and his wife Megan (’06 criminal justice UofSC) relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina, from Houston as a result of his promotion with Cisco Systems. He is working on his MBA at Baylor University. Zlatko Custovic (’08 IMBA) earned an employee of the year award from Wizz Air Hungary Ltd., a low-cost airline carrier operating in central and eastern Europe. Andrew Dorsey ('09 political science UofSC, '11 MPA UofSC, '12 MHR) has joined C3.ai as the director of global talent acquisition. C3.ai, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is the world's leading software provider for rapidly developing, deploying and operating artificial intelligence applications at enterprise scale. Prasanna Elvis Eswara ('09 IMBA) is founder, president and CEO of Eswara Group, which will acquire Micalline, a manufacturer of stone products for the building industry since 1966.

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ALUMNI NEWS

Danielle Conroy Purdie ('09 marketing and management) was named advertising, marketing and public relations coordinator for the Visit Roswell Convention and Visitors Bureau in June 2018.

Tim Gallagher ('03 MACC) was promoted to partner at Grant Thornton LLP in Charlotte in August 2018. Gallagher is an experienced advisor in financial accounting for income taxes and corporate income tax strategies and compliance. Cady Nell Keener ('09 marketing and management) was selected as a 2019 Forty Under 40 winner by the Charleston Regional Business Journal. Winners are nominated by members of the Charleston community. Whitwell C. Kelly ('00 MBA) opened his second Allstate agency in Roanoke, Virginia. Ellis and Josh Lester (’08 IMBA) live in Chicago where Ellis is a vice president with Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits and Josh is a supervisory special agent with the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division. Anne Marie Howard Lopiccolo ('01 MHR, ’01 J.D. UofSC) was appointed the director of human resources compliance and policy at Sonoco Corp., in Hartsville, South Carolina. She previously worked in human resources with ExxonMobil and Shell Oil Co. Phil Mobley ('99 political science UofSC, '01 MBA) is the head of research and tenant experience at Building Engines, a SaaS company focused on the commercial real estate industry.

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Robby Scholes ('07 economics and finance) joined Cook Wealth Management Group, an independent investment advisory firm, as an associate wealth advisor and member of the investment portfolio team.

2010

Will Thurman (’04 finance and real estate) is the principal and qualifying broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Bay Street Realty Group. His real estate firm has expanded to include offices in Savannah, Georgia, Beaufort, South Carolina, and the Sea Islands.

Russ Shoemaker Jr. ('09 international business and management science) was promoted to senior vice president, Mergers & Acquisitions, at Jefferies LLC.

Megan Bagwell (’09 public relations UofSC, ’14 MBA), Michelin North America’s corporate affairs public relations manager, and her team won the Public Relations Society of America’s 2019 Best of Silver Anvil Award for their “Beyond the Driving Test: Teens Prove Their #StreetTread” initiative. Jeff Blethen ('17 international business and finance) is co-founder of ZzzSock, a patented bedding product that eliminates the everyday hassle of making a bed. A 2013 winner of UofSC’s The Proving Ground business plan competition, Blethen secured a manufacturing facility in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and oversees the venture’s distribution and marketing.

Melissa Simmons CPA, CFP ('89 accounting) was appointed director of banking and investments for the South Carolina Office of the State Treasurer.

DAR L A M O O R E S C H O O L O F B U S I N E SS | 2 0 1 9

Kelsey Desender (’12 management and marketing) was named executive director of the Five Points Association in Columbia, South Carolina. Emily Dunn ('18 finance), a second-year student in the Arnold School of Public Health Master of Health Administration program, married Ross Lordo (’18 public health UofSC), a former UofSC student body president and a student at the UofSC School of Medicine Greenville. Eric Dunton ('16 management science and management) was promoted to general manager of Dearybury Oil & Gas's fuel transport logistics company.

John Brady ('16 finance) was named senior production analyst in the capital markets group of U.S. Commercial Real Estate Services Group Inc. Lauren Truslow ('05 management and marketing) purchased her first commercial real estate property in Columbia, South Carolina. In June, she relocated her businesses barre3 and The Nail barre.

Robin Smith-Martin ('05 IMBA) works for Blue Eye Ventures, which acquired OurKeyWest, a premium guest services and concierge business based in the Florida Keys.

the South Carolina House of Representatives in November 2018. He serves on the judiciary and legislative oversight committees.

Darrell Ellis ('17 MBA) is strategic procurement and sourcing manager, Americas, with Metso Minerals Service, based in Finland. Chris Campbell ('12 management and marketing, '15 J.D. UofSC) is visiting counsel at Baker Hughes, a General Electric company, in Florence, Italy.

Sarah Smith White ('08 management and marketing) and Lindsey Myers Cannon ('05 marketing and management, '08 MPA UofSC) lead the site-selection consulting firm Quest Site Solutions, based in Greenville, South Carolina. Quest helps companies with relocating, competitive expansion or consolidation across the U.S.

Ashley Elmore ('13 marketing and management) was named a human resources manager with UofSC's Division of Information Technology. Micah Caskey ('11 J.D. UofSC, '12 IMBA) was re-elected to

Larry Elmore ('08 mathematics UofSC, '13 accounting) is an auditor with a state agency and is working towards his CPA.


ALUMNI NEWS

Zach Greenberger ('12 management science and finance) was named head of corporate procurement at Lyft Inc., providing cost-savings initiatives and streamlined vendor strategies to Lyft's executive team.

in May 2019 and is a senior associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Steven Lastauskas ('10 finance and management) married Dr. Tiffany Karkanen on October 27, 2018. He is a branch manager with South State Bank in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Collin Leonard ('18 management science) works for Michelin in Ardmore, Oklahoma, as a supply chain processes and tools expert.

Ravi Jha ('18 IMBA) was promoted to manager in global procurement strategy at Komatsu America in Memphis, Tennessee. He works with associates, partners and suppliers in Japan, China, Latin America and Europe, leading high-impact strategic projects and cross-functional teams in operations, supply chain, kaizen, cost reduction and system implementation. Tyler Kehoe (’11 management) was named a senior consultant with Ernst & Young in Washington, D.C., in March 2019.

Carolina. Roth focuses on development and investment sales across South Carolina and parts of the Southeast.

Daniel Peach ('10 international business and accounting) graduated with his MBA from the University of Oxford's Said Business School in September 2018. Peach joined Google as retail digitisation lead for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and is based in London. Gerrard Roberts (’15 management, MHR ’16) was promoted to human resources manager with International Paper in Tampa, Florida.

Brennan Lyles ('16 finance) started a career in financial planning with MassMutual.

Paula Sabbagha ('17 MBA) of Merrill Lynch’s Columbia office has earned the Certified Financial Planner distinction by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. Russ Sandifer ('17 MBA) wrote an article for the Center for Global Strategies about business training and entrepreneurship roundtables in Morocco and Egypt.

Alexander Knight ('15 IMBA) joined Wastequip in Charlotte where he works in demand planning/data analytics. Corrin La Bella (’16 insurance, economics and finance) graduated from Brooklyn Law School

Jonathan Mattus ('14 marketing and management) and Carly Green ('14 management and marketing) will marry in November 2019. Bret McNabb ('17 MBA) was promoted to senior director in legal affairs at Direct ChassisLink Inc. in Charlotte. Prior to that, he was the company’s lead counsel for a number of asset acquisitions and helped develop several executive-benefit programs.

James Wheeler ('15 insurance, economics and finance) relocated to New York, New York, to work with Equifax. Mary Wilbur ('18 finance) moved to Dallas to work as a merchandise distributor for Fossil Group’s men's and connected watches.

Riddhi Thakker ('16 IMBA) moved to Mumbai, India.

Nicholette R. Macklin (’13 marketing and management) was named business development manager with the South Carolina Department of Commerce in Munich, Germany. Petra Robinson ('18 management) is a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers after working as a recruiter for a marketing firm.

Steven Khoury ('12 accounting, '13 MACC), CPA, has joined the Dixon Hughes Goodman Financial Services practice as a manager in the Dallas/Fort Worth office.

Aaron Wenck ('14 IMBA) is co-founder and director of the We the Wencks commercial and digital production company in Brooklyn, New York.

Michael Roth (’12 international business and marketing) After seven years in professional baseball, Roth is a commercial real estate broker with NAI Earle Furman in Greenville, South

Vanessa S. Vaughn (’15 MBA) earned first place for the infomercial award at the Carolina Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council's 12th annual Minority Business Enterprises Summit sponsored by Denny's. She also received the 2018 Influential Business Woman of the Year award for Best Female Owned & Operated Small Business Charlotte by Acquisition International. She has a multi-media partnership with the nationally renowned Disaster Recovery Journal and hosts a podcast, Business Resilience DECODED on iTunes and Google Play.

Brad Williams ('11 finance and management) married Jenni Knight ('13 broadcast journalism UofSC) in March 2019. Brad is a banker at Wells Fargo, and Jenni is a news producer for WYFF News 4 in Greenville, South Carolina. Megan Williams ('18 MBA) is a senior project manager within Boeing Commercial Airplane's 787 division. Johannes Zeisel (’19 MIB) will start the second year of a double-degree program at ESCP European business school in Paris, France, after an internship with Continental in Munich, Germany.

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ALUMNI NEWS

2019-20 YOUNG ALUMNI BOARD MEMBERS Nick Annan (’08 accounting, ’14 MBA) Elliott Davis Lexington, South Carolina Adrianne Beasley (’05 finance) South Carolina Council on Competitiveness Columbia, South Carolina Jason Blanco (’16 management science) Manhattan Associates Atlanta, Georgia Benjamin Bowles (’15 MIB) Prysmian Group Columbia, South Carolina Kyle Brannon (’09 accounting, ’12 J.D. UofSC) Nexsen Pruet LLC Columbia, South Carolina Dillon Chewning (’15 accounting and finance) Northwestern Mutual Columbia, South Carolina Nicholas Cottrill (’17 finance) MBA candidate Columbia, South Carolina Rhett Craig (’09 mathematics UofSC, MBA ’15) Avison Young Greenville, South Carolina

Kelsey Desender (’12 management and marketing) Five Points Association Columbia, South Carolina

Yogini Intwala (’12 management and marketing) Graduate student Columbia, South Carolina

Amber Neville (’08 finance and real estate) Deloitte Consulting Washington, D.C.

Ryan Everett (’05 finance and real estate) Modern Woodmen of America Columbia, South Carolina

Steven Khoury (’12 accounting, ’13 MACC) Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP Dallas, Texas

Bryan Payne (’08 finance and international business) Credit Suisse Group New York City, New York

Anthony Fontana (’17 management science) Guidehouse LLP Atlanta, Georgia

Catherine Mubarak (’08 accounting, ’13 J.D. UofSC) Richland County Public Defender Office Columbia, South Carolina

Kyle Ritter (’13 management and finance) Colonial Life Columbia, South Carolina

Danielle Gleaton (’06 management science and international business) Equifax Atlanta, Georgia John Gregory (’09 civil engineering UofSC, MBA ’17) NAI Columbia Columbia, South Carolina Ali Groves (’16 finance) Cintas Columbia, South Carolina Clay Hammond (’12 management science) Constantia Flexibles Sales LLP Blythewood, South Carolina Sarah Hazelton (’13 accounting, ’14 MACC) Wells Fargo Securities Charlotte, North Carolina

Kevin Murphy (’10 real estate and management) Northwood Ravin Charlotte, North Carolina Laura Musselman (’11 international business and marketing) K&L Gates Charleston, South Carolina Brendan Nagle (’15 finance) Wells Fargo Securities Charlotte, North Carolina Kyle Neumann (’13 international business and finance) Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC Charleston, South Carolina

Jessica Sharp (’11 marketing) Meals on Wheels Greenville, South Carolina Daniel Spieler (’16 management science and accounting) Merck New York City, New York Shelton Wilkerson (’14 management) Master of Human Resources candidate Columbia, South Carolina Joe Wright (’12 finance and marketing) Ernst & Young Charleston, South Carolina

You studied together. Now grow together. MooreConnect is the exclusive digital platform for alumni, faculty, staff and students of the Darla Moore School of Business. Members enjoy a direct connection to more than 50,000 alumni and 300 faculty and staff in nearly 100 countries and countless organizations and businesses worldwide. This free service helps alumni find or share job opportunities, connect with classmates and fellow alumni, explore other network-building tools that can move your career forward and mentor current students.

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Our programs. Your future. The Darla Moore School of Business offers top-notch business education that prepares students to be data proficient, analytically capable and functionally grounded, so as graduates they can land competitive positions with premier companies worldwide. The undergraduate international business and international MBA programs are ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report. The undergraduate program has been No. 1 for 20 consecutive years while the international MBA has ranked in the top three for 30 consecutive years. South Carolina’s professional MBA is ranked No. 1 in South Carolina and No. 22 for part-time MBA programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report. The Moore School also is the No. 12 operations and supply chain program, has the third-largest risk management and insurance school in the U.S. and is a top 20 Global Center of Insurance Excellence. Moore School graduates join an international network of more than 50,000 alumni working in all 50 states and more than 95 countries on six continents.

UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS Accounting Economics Finance International business Management Operations and supply chain Marketing Real estate Risk management and insurance

UNDERGRADUATE MINORS AND CONCENTRATIONS Business administration minor Economics minor Risk management and insurance minor Business analytics undergraduate concentration

GRADUATE PROGRAMS MBA International MBA Professional MBA Master of Accountancy Master of Arts in Economics Master of Human Resources Master of International Business Ph.D. in Business Administration Ph.D. in Economics

GRADUATE CERTIFICATES Graduate certificate in business analytics Graduate certificate in enterprise resource management

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I am made of unlimited potential. You don’t have to have your entire life planned the first day you enter the Moore School. R.J. Cunio just knew he wanted a business degree, so he explored several majors. Through stellar internship experiences and opportunities to be mentored by outstanding alumni, R.J. found his place in the banking world and now works on Madison Avenue. He’s returning the favor, too, by serving as a mentor to current students.

I AM SOUTH CAROLINA

ROBERT “R.J.” CUNIO III

'18 finance, real estate, global supply chain and operations management Darla Moore School of Business


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