What is the most rewarding part of your job? There’s so much that’s rewarding. But one of the original things I loved about recruiting was how much fun it was to match somebody to their perfect job and the company with the perfect hire. I feel the same way today leading in HR, where the ultimate goal at Southwest is to be a great place to work for our employees and to hire happy people who serve our customers well. To be a part of that in some way brings satisfaction and is incredibly rewarding.
Why did you decide to become a University of Dallas trustee? I want to give back. I give a lot of credit to the University of Dallas for where I am today. It was an incredibly enriching experience, and the education was more than I thought it would be. It shaped me and set me up to do well in business, and gave me the opportunity to have incredible debates and dialogues, as well as the experience of different cultures during my Rome semester. And of course I give credit to Dr. Churchill for picking up the phone and setting me on the path that I’m on today. People do ask me, ‘Do you wish you got a degree in human resources instead of psychology?’ and my answer is ‘No.’
What pieces of advice would you offer to a current UD psychology major? Take some business classes. My second piece of advice is to those who are graduating today. They need to be incredibly resilient, as these are uncertain times during the pandemic. My advice is to know that you’re strong, know that you’re resilient and know that there are jobs out there. Don’t be afraid of making a mistake with that first job you take. Everything is a learning experience, and you can walk away from absolutely anything and learn. Don’t be afraid. When doing that job search, take a job that you feel will be rewarding for you. Pay less attention to the money and title, but instead, think about how it’s going to grow you and how you’re going to contribute, because all that matters at the end of the day is that you feel like you added value.
Class Notes 1970s
Edward Izyk, BA ’78, is the assistant city attorney in Oswego, New York.
1980s Jeffery Drummond, J.D., BA ’84, was selected for inclusion in the 2021 Best Lawyers in America list, based on peer reviews, and the 2020 Chambers USA Guide. Gregory Borse, Ph.D., BA ’87 MA ’92, associate professor of English and philosophy at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, was recently named to the editorial board and as associate editor of the Philological Review. His essay “‘Beloved Inmates and Happy Ways’: Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park” appears in the next issue of the review. Previous issues have featured essays by UD faculty and alumni such as Bainard Cowan, Ph.D., BA ’70, Kathleen (Kelly) Marks, PhD ’00, Gregory Marks, MA ’92, and Andrew Osborn, Ph.D. Gregory's textbook, Other Canons: A Selection of Non-Western Literary Masterpieces, features introductions by UD faculty and alumni on Chinese literature (by Bainard Cowan and Robert Scott Dupree, Ph.D., BA ’62), Babylonian myth (Kathleen Marks), the Enuma Elish (Gregory Marks), and the Tibetan epic The Epic of Gesar (Gregory Borse). The next issue of the Philological Review features Dupree's essay on “threeness” and Faulkner's Snopes Trilogy. Christina “Christy” (Rieger) Roessner, Ph.D., BA ’88, is immediate past president of the American Association of University Women and chair of the Department of English at Mercyhurst University. She teaches composition, British literature and world literature. Her essays addressing issues of gender, reading and spectatorship in Victorian literature have appeared in Victorian Culture and 19th-Century Feminisms. She also is department sponsor for Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society. Deborah Hill, MBA ’89, is a transit planner for the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association.
1990s Edward Baptista, M.D., BS ’92, is a cardiologist with Vital Heart & Vein in Humble, Texas. Since joining the heart hospital in 2003, Edward has served as chair of cardiovascular services at HCA
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