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IMPACTFUL RESEARCH
Revered former Wisconsin School of Business professor and innovator honored through an enterprise development chair
PREMIUM LEARNING EXPERIENCES How redefining learning outcomes will establish the school as a thought leader in educational innovation
LIFELONG ALUMNI CONNECTIONS
Business Badger and former General Mills executive inspires hundreds of students each year through leadership training
Sharon Vanorny
Over the past few months, events like homecoming, graduation, and many others we have held around the country have provided great opportunities for me to meet with you and connect you with one another. I very much enjoy these interactions and hearing your thoughts on how you’d like us to move forward together. You’ve told us that your success started with the inspiring experiences you enjoyed on campus, exposing you to new knowledge, new skills, and new friends. We aim to capture and build on the richness of your experiences in and outside the classroom. We are undertaking a curriculum review and redesign starting with defining the learning outcomes underpinning the success of Business Badgers along five dimensions: Knowing, Doing, Being, Inspiring, and Networking—KDBIN™. This effort will allow us to leverage our strengths and new technologies to deliver our own brand of premium learning experiences (page 5). The campus has taken notice of the school’s efforts around educational innovation, and asked to have one of our premier faculty members participate in a pilot partnership with Coursera to offer our first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). You can learn more about MOOCs on page 11. While in-person delivery remains our primary focus, MOOCs open the door for us to provide education to the world and create a platform of lifelong learning for our alumni.
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The turbulence in higher education is a perfect opportunity for us. With timely, selective investments, I am convinced we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to jump ahead of our peers and claim leadership in business scholarship and education for the betterment of the world. Your personal investments are affording us the opportunity to think big for the school and provide transformational experiences to our students. We are most grateful. Together, we shape the future. On, Wisconsin!
François Ortalo-Magné Albert O. Nicholas Dean Wisconsin School of Business University of Wisconsin-Madison P.S. The attached Report to Investors provides a broad summary of our work over the past year. A personal highlight is the increased participation in commencement campaigns, a testament to our graduates’ appreciation for the experiences we deliver together.
CONTENTS 3-4
IMPACTFUL RESEARCH
Inspiring Professor Honored by Endowed Chair Imperfect Imitation Leads to Innovation Abandoned Projects: A Product Game Changer
5-6
PREMIUM LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Five Dimensions of Learning: KDBIN™
7-10
LIFELONG CONNECTIONS
A Dream Comes True for a UW-Madison Hopeful
Alumna Creates Legacy of Mentorship
Real Estate Alumni Embrace School’s Transformation
Why I Donated My Prize Money to Our School
11-12
EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION
What About MOOCs?
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CLASS NOTES
Cover: Cover images from 2012 Gala and Homecoming Bash.
View more photos on page 7. Photos courtesy of The Traveling Photo Booth
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
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IMPACTFUL RESEARCH Inspiring Professor Honored by Endowed Chair The Robert Pricer Chair in Enterprise Development has been established to honor retired Professor Robert Pricer for his teaching excellence and pioneering academic study of entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship’s curriculum. Beloved by students and alumni, he received many University of Wisconsin-Madison honors for teaching and public service.
Named by Businessweek as one of the nation’s top 10 entrepreneurship professors in 1996, Pricer, who retired in 2002, was an innovator who designed a trailblazing applied curriculum to link his classroom to commercial business practices. His teaching methods are fundamental to the Weinert Center for
“It is our privilege to honor Bob Pricer. Successful people develop meaningful relationships, and that is what Bob did with students and supporters,” said James J. Weinert, whose endowed gift funded the Pricer Chair. “We are delighted that Bob is being recognized, and in a way that supports enterprise development and the new MBA Fellowship Program.” Jon Eckhardt, executive director of the Weinert Center, is the first recipient of the Pricer Chair.
“I want to honor the contributions of Robert Pricer,” Eckhardt said. “I am committed to building on his legacy to advance research and applied learning experiences in entrepreneurship.”
Jon Eckhardt (center) with Entrepreneurship students
Endowed chairs are vital to academic enterprises. Being named to an endowed chair is a prestigious honor that provides sustained funding for faculty to tackle complex, long-term research projects. “We are most grateful to Jim Weinert for his financial support and foresight in helping us develop a new approach to the training of MBA students,” Dean François Ortalo-Magné said. “The Pricer Chair recognizes the inspirational impact great faculty has on generations of students.”
Robert Pricer, Jane Pricer, and Jim Weinert
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As a complement to the chair, Weinert also funded a new fellowship program in enterprise development for second-year MBA students who have a passion for entrepreneurship and innovation in new ventures. The program is currently accepting applications for fellowships that will begin in the fall.
Jeff Miller
Imperfect Imitation Leads to Innovation When imitating, a perfect copy seems like a good idea. However, Associate Professor of Management and Human Resources Hart E. Posen argues that imperfect imitation can lead to a better product. “When a company copies a product without knowing how to recreate all of the product’s features, it must come up with its own solutions. This generates characteristics that may be superior to the original product,” Posen explained. Innovation is typically defined as creating a new idea, but Posen suggests putting a slight twist on another’s invention is a more common practice. “We tend to oversell innovation—and undersell imitation—as a means of improving,” he said. Posen’s research might help companies identify which competitors are their biggest threats. He said industry frontrunners should not worry about the companies just
behind them, but those competitors closer to the bottom. In most industries, companies clustered near the top are very similar. Minor players are less equipped to perfectly copy leaders’ innovations and they are more likely to invent a new set of features that disrupts the industry. For example, after the iPhone’s launch in 2006, Samsung lacked the information to copy the operating system and had to create its own. As a result, “a company once ‘a nobody’ in the industry has grown into Apple’s chief rival in the smartphone market,” Posen said. Because this type of innovation tends to be accidental, Posen can’t translate his research into a formula for a best seller. He recommended companies be open to creating novel combinations of existing features that could turn out to be perfect in their imperfection. Learn more about Hart Posen and his research at bus.wisc.edu/update/posen-imitation.
Abandoned Projects: A Product Game Changer When business students across the world study organizational behavior, they learn how companies give up on developing new products because project goals are not met along the way. Research by Jay O’Toole, a doctoral candidate in the Wisconsin School of Business’ Management and Human Resources Department, stands to change that. In his dissertation research, O’Toole found companies often stop developing a new product because they see a better opportunity elsewhere: another product idea looks more promising. Yet, the decision to drop a project in progress is not necessarily smart. “If you abandon a product, no one will ever know whether it would have been more or less successful [than the one you abandoned it for],” O’Toole said.
Students are trained to respond to negative events, but they should also be prepared to choose between two positive scenarios. For his study, O’Toole surveyed more than 500 companies in the video-game industry. The industry was chosen because of its vitality and the frequent birth and death of its companies. He asked each company about its first game-development project: how long it took to bring the game to market or, if it abandoned the product before bringing it to market, why the company came to that decision. Follow-up research could examine less-dynamic industries. O’Toole expects his findings could apply to any industry that relies on product development. O’Toole and his research have received international recognition: in 2012, O’Toole was named the winner of one prestigious dissertation proposal competition and a finalist in another.
His findings have implications for business education. “The way we think about organizational change is incomplete,” O’Toole said.
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
Learn more about Jay O’Toole and his research at bus.wisc.edu/update/otoole-development.
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PREMIUM LEARNING EXPERIENCES Five Dimensions of Learning: KDBIN™ Why should students brave the cold for an earlymorning class when they can access the same lectures from their room, on their own schedule, and at their own pace? What future is there for on-campus degree programs in the connected digital world? “The perfect storm of shifting funding models and new online technologies challenges us to address fundamental questions about how we deliver higher education,” Dean François Ortalo-Magné said. “The debate over the value of the traditional campus experience has pushed the Wisconsin School of Business to identify its established strengths and its priorities for the future.” This inquiry led the school to develop a framework called KDBIN, an approach the school is designing and implementing to invent the student experience of tomorrow. The school is currently working to articulate ideal learning outcomes for every program, degree, and major along the five KDBIN dimensions: Knowing, Doing, Being, Inspiring, and Networking. These five dimensions give faculty and staff a common language for the conversation about what it means to be a Business Badger. This framework was developed from listening to alumni reflect on what elements of their education set them up for success. They mentioned technical competence and confidence. They spoke of teamwork and presentation skills, of the ability to perform under stressful conditions and deal with ambiguity, of exposure to foreign environments.
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They remembered inspiring teachers and experiences that pushed them beyond their comfort zones and sealed lifelong friendships. They enthusiastically recalled the sense of community formed during shared experiences in the school, at the Memorial Union, in Camp Randall, on State Street, and around the world. Most institutions of higher education have already moved beyond focusing exclusively on the “K” of delivering knowledge. The “D” and the “B” reflect trends that revised the traditional model but have now spread widely. Like many of its peers, the Wisconsin School of Business challenges students to learn by doing and applying what they know, while devoting attention to ethics and self-awareness as part of the curriculum. The Wisconsin School of Business’ focus on the “I” and the “N” is what sets the school apart.
“KDBIN embodies the school’s belief that education should go beyond individual courses and tests: it should be a holistic endeavor that nurtures the human spirit by attending to the whole person, preparing students to address topics such as work-life balance and their broader values and goals,” said Suzanne Dove, special assistant to the dean and KDBIN project lead.
This comprehensive approach to curriculum design goes to the very foundation of learning, challenging the current model of delivery. An educational experience defined this broadly will require partnerships on campus and beyond. The school will not be able to rely on the experiences delivered in Grainger Hall alone, but will build many important partnerships with schools and colleges on campus, the Wisconsin Memorial Union, other universities, and international exchange programs to collectively deliver important outcomes. Furthermore, the school will make reasoned decisions to use new technology when it clearly enriches the student experience. Bucking the trend of replacing classroom lectures with online videos one at a time and without clear purpose, the school’s approach will be rooted in pedagogy. To make the best use of the latest developments in technology and cutting-edge education research, the school is enlisting expert partners from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Information Technology and School of Education; the latter is a global leader in its field. “Education is about more than pushing knowledge into young brains,” Ortalo-Magné said. “Schools that move from teaching their students a sequence of classes to helping them achieve a full portfolio of KDBIN learning outcomes will define the future of higher education. KDBIN is our pathway to leadership.”
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
KDBIN KNOWING (K) My conceptual expertise and awareness of facts, frameworks, and theories
DOING (D) My ability to execute and perform
BEING (B) My understanding of who I am and how my values fit with those of the university and my profession
INSPIRING (I) My awareness of who I could be and how I could inspire others
NETWORKING (N) My interactions with others and how I relate to them Want to learn more about KDBIN? Share your thoughts with us and read more online at bus.wisc.edu/update/kdbin.
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LIFELONG CONNECTIONS 3.
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This past year, we’ve been fortunate to celebrate our alumni at several events, including the Wisconsin School of Business Gala, the Homecoming Bash, and commencement. Photos: 1) BBA students celebrate at December commencement. 2) Alumni gather in Grainger Hall and celebrate with the University of Wisconsin-Madison marching band before the homecoming game. 3) MBA students gain insights from alumni during the M. Keith Weikel Leadership Speaker Series. 4) Alumni brought their families to celebrate at the annual Homecoming Bash. 5) Distinguished Business Alumni Award winner Ruth Nelson has a laugh on stage with Dean François Ortalo-Magné at the annual Homecoming Gala. 6) Soon-to-be graduates celebrate their participation in the December 2012 Make a Statement Commencement Campaign with Bucky Badger.
5. 4. Red Wave Photography
See more online! View more photos from events this fall online at bus.wisc.edu/update/photos.
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A Dream Comes True for a UW-Madison Hopeful Dandan Wang held the envelope anxiously. Since immigrating to Wisconsin from Yichang, China a few months earlier, she had been feverishly trying to improve her English for admission to college. Her dream was to attend the University of WisconsinMadison. Now, she held the answer in her hand…but the envelope was unsettlingly thin. Wang ripped it open to find the answer she dreaded: her application had been declined. Wang didn’t give up. She enrolled at UW-Baraboo with the intention of applying again to UW-Madison as a transfer student. In Baraboo, she excelled, earning a 3.9 GPA while working as many as five part-time jobs that, at one point, totaled more than 60 hours per week. (Wang notes that she was able to do homework during one of the jobs, as a computer lab assistant.) She formed a plan to study actuarial science for her four-year degree. “I like math,” she said, “and I like being challenged.” Two years later, Wang tried again. This time, she applied for admission to the Wisconsin School of Business…and this time she received a thick envelope in response. She ripped it open. The packet inside included an acceptance letter and a form asking her to choose the dorm in which she wanted to live. “It was very exciting,” she recalled. “It was a dream come true to attend UW-Madison and to be a Badger.” Although she misses professors and friends from Baraboo, Wang is thrilled to finally be a Badger. She appreciates the school spirit of the Madison campus, and enjoys the student body’s diversity. She has secured a summer internship at the Sun Prairie office of the property and casualty insurer QBE. This may be a step toward another dream of hers: living in New York. QBE, it just so happens, has an office on Wall Street. Wang’s story illustrates how transfer students with diverse backgrounds enrich the school as a whole: welcoming transfer students with different backgrounds, proven work ethic, and strong character benefits all students.
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
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Renckens with Ignite the Potential students
Alumna Creates Legacy of Mentorship Every spring, 200 pre-business students come together to learn more about studying—and, ultimately, working in—business. The students hear speeches by corporate executives and Wisconsin School of Business administrators, as well as attend sessions on teamwork and communication. The two-day conference, Ignite the Potential, is the brainchild of longtime General Mills executive Ann Renckens (BBA ’80). As her company’s recruiting liaison to the school, Renckens reviewed thousands of résumés and interviewed hundreds of students. With Ignite the Potential, she sought to supplement the students’ classroom education to inspire them to be more well-rounded people, job candidates, and potential leaders. The goal is not networking in the traditional sense; rather, speakers share personal stories and guide students to think about the “why”—not just the “how”—of a business career.
“It’s all about finding out who you are as a person and deciding who you want to become,” Renckens said. The conference’s success demonstrates the incredible impact alumni and friends can make when they give of their time. Admission has become quite competitive, with 325 students applying for 200 slots at Ignite the Potential this year. For Rebecca Radke, who remembers attending three years ago as a freshman, the conference cemented her interest in a business major by making the BBA program seem like “its own community within a huge school.” It also provided an opportunity to develop
9 • UPDATE Spring 2013
leadership skills; Radke—now a senior marketing major who will work as a business analyst at Target after graduation—headed the team that organized this year’s conference. Although Renckens retired last year from General Mills, she is still actively involved in the conference. Her enthusiasm for the school and commitment to its success is contagious. Colleague and fellow alumnus Kurt Johnson (BBA ’98) has assumed her recruiting duties. Johnson, a senior finance manager for General Mills, also serves on the school’s employer advisory board, helping to shape the BBA program. Johnson said he felt that the Business Scholars Program and the advising he received as a student prepared him well for his career, so he felt a desire to give back. He credits Renckens for inspiring him to get involved and finds the work fulfilling. Johnson added, “It allows me to connect with students and stay in touch with what’s happening on campus.” There are a number of opportunities for alumni to contribute to the school’s mission, both on campus and where they live. For more information on how to get involved, contact the Wisconsin School of Business Alumni Relations team: Carrie Olson (colson@bus.wisc.edu) and Heather Garrison (hgarrison@bus.wisc.edu). bus.wisc.edu/update/alumni
The Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association (WREAA), a nonprofit organization comprised of nearly 2,000 alumni and friends of the Wisconsin School of Business Real Estate program, has given $300,000 to the Innovation Fund, which supports the school’s transformation. “We are very excited about the future of the school,” said Robert Perry (BA ‘90, MS ’92), WREAA president and senior managing director for Cargill Financial Services Corporation.
“During a time of unprecedented competition among business schools, we believe the Innovation Fund will foster enhancements that will raise the visibility and prestige of the school as a whole,” Perry said. Established last year by Dean François Ortalo-Magné, the Innovation Fund leverages the school’s research strengths and intellectual talents to sponsor investments in cutting-edge technologies and projects. These innovations will enhance the school’s programs, improve learning outcomes, and reach new students on campus and throughout the world. Impressed by Dean Ortalo-Magné’s vision for the fund and the school, WREAA members enthusiastically added their organization’s strength to the effort. “We wanted our gift to show the power of what a group of dedicated alumni can do, pooling resources to make a larger impact together,” Perry said.
THANK YOU, ALUMNI! The applied learning and real-world experiences Wisconsin School of Business students receive are possible only because of our dedicated Business Badger alumni. Thanks for all that you do! To watch our alumni thank you video, visit bus.wisc.edu/update/thank-you-alumni.
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
Red Wave Photography
Real Estate Alumni Embrace School’s Transformation
Dean François Ortalo-Magné; MBA student Matt Juskiewicz; and Cindy Ihlenfeld, Dean’s Advisory Board member, artist, and community leader
Why I Donated My Prize Money to Our School by Matt Juskiewicz (MBA ‘14) As a first-year MBA candidate, I decided to join thousands of alumni who give back to the school that has already given me so much. Last fall, I entered a student photo contest highlighting the arts in our business school and the expansion of business arts administration courses to students across our campus. When I won the $500 first prize, I donated the prize money back to the Wisconsin School of Business to support the intersection between arts and business and to demonstrate how much I value our school beyond the tuition I pay. As a student in the Center for Brand and Product Management (CBPM), I wouldn’t be here without the generous support of one of our most successful alums and CBPM board members, Signe Ostby, and her husband, Scott Cook, who founded the center in 2002. Signe and Scott, along with our other center board members and many alumni, demonstrate their leadership and dedication by giving their time and money to support the center and our school. Their commitment to the program and my success played a huge role in my choosing the Wisconsin MBA. I am eager to join the ranks of the many alumni who came before me and do all I can to support future students. Today, with the business environment more unpredictable than ever, our ability to bring creativity to our work is even more important. Thank you, alumni, for helping support the growth and strength of the Wisconsin School of Business today.
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EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION What About MOOCs?
MOOCs enable the uncoupling of key functions in education: lecturing, testing, credentialing, and social interaction. Moving some or all of these functions online opens the door to new ways of delivering learning experiences to masses of students all at once. MOOCs open the door for the Wisconsin School of Business to rethink the use of live classroom interactions and the deployment of professors and lecturers. The school is proceeding carefully, paying special attention to ensure the use of MOOCs build off of the premium, often irreplaceable experiences offered in the classroom. For years, universities have been experimenting with communication technologies to rethink the delivery of lectures. In the fall of 2011, Stanford University took a popular computer science course on artificial intelligence and made it available online for free to the world. More than 160,000 students in 190 countries enrolled. This marked a turning point in the evolution of communication technology at the service of education. Since that headline-grabbing class, MOOCs have quickly found themselves at the center of the public debate about the future of higher education. The media seems to relish all the start-up and venture capital activity aimed at disrupting the traditional university. Some of this disruption is coming directly from universities. One of the professors from the Stanford computer science course went on to found Udacity, a platform that now hosts two dozen MOOCs. Two other Stanford professors founded
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Coursera, and have already attracted more than 2 million enrollments in the first eight months. Harvard and MIT are promoting their own joint venture, edX. The business model for MOOCs in higher education is still in experimental stages, and many questions are yet to be answered: who will provide the steady cash flow to grow and sustain these new ventures? How will student learning be assessed and certified? Can self-organizing online communities provide the same learning outcomes and enrichment that students gain from live interactions? And, if MOOCs prove to be successful, what will be the future of the classroom—and campus—experience?
The Wisconsin School of Business can see a clear future for MOOCs in the delivery of a redefined campus experience. The online technology offers an opportunity for the school to build its brand and extend its reach to more students. Research faculty at the cutting edge of their field and outstanding lecturers with deep
Camilla Klyve
Forbes has proclaimed Massive Open Online Courses, a.k.a. MOOCs, a “$1 Trillion Opportunity.” Universities, academic entrepreneurs, and Silicon Valley types alike are charging ahead with investments and experiments in a search for the winning technology and business models.
Amber House (MBA in Real Estate ‘14)
Jeff Miller
professional expertise teach every day in Grainger Hall. Why restrict their reach to the classroom size? The Wisconsin School of Business is delighted to announce its first foray into MOOCs with Professor Randy Wright, the Ray Zemon Professor of Liquid Assets. As part of a partnership the University of Wisconsin-Madison has signed with Coursera, Professor Wright will be among five professors at UW-Madison to open his classroom to the world. The course, titled “Markets with Frictions,” will address the imperfections of financial markets and their relevance to the design and optimization of monetary policy and banking regulation. It will build on Professor Wright’s extensive and highly regarded research contributions in the field of monetary economics. “I am delighted we are able to provide one of our star researchers a global stage to share his insights with the world,” Dean François Ortalo-Magné said. “Economists all know about his great research. Now, everyone will have access to his great teaching.” As the school positions itself to share the insights of its researchers with the world, it is also leveraging the benefits of MOOCs to expand the teaching of business on campus and in the state. With support from Innovation Fund investors, the school plans to create online offerings for the existing General Business 310 and 311 courses in the fall of 2014.
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
Currently a year-long sequence designed to equip non-business majors with business fundamentals, GB310 and 311 include modules on economics, finance, accounting, marketing, supply chain management, entrepreneurship, and ethics. Current course demand from the UW-Madison campus far exceeds the current classroom capacity of 250 seats. Enrollment in the online courses will be open first to non-business majors on campus and then potentially to students from all UW colleges. Students in Madison and around the state will be able to complement content in the online modules with discussion sections on their respective campuses. Counterintuitively, the massive online approach to teaching delivery permits an increase in customization of the learning experience. For example, a group of nutritional science students taking the course might form their own discussion section, giving special attention to issues related to their field of interest. “MOOCs create an opportunity for us to explore new ways to deliver premium learning experiences,” commented Dean Ortalo-Magné. “I look forward to building on MOOC technology to share the contributions of our research faculty with the world and further enhance the Wisconsin brand.” Want to learn more about MOOCs? Share your thoughts with us and read more online at bus.wisc.edu/update/MOOCs.
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CLASS NOTES 1950-1959 Jerald Hage, BBA ’55, spent six weeks in 2012 consulting for the Australian Business School at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The invitation came in response to his recently published book, Restoring the Innovative Edge: Driving the Evolution of Science and Technology. In January, he spent four weeks in Santiago, Chile consulting on a Fulbright grant. His focus was on how to do research idea innovation networks and how they can stimulate economic development in the country. Richard Gervais, BBA ’56, is still in high gear at the age of 85. His greatest achievement has been earning four gold medals in world competitions for figure skating. He skated for 24 years and retired in 2011. With 61 gold medals at $1,600 per ounce, he says he must be very rich. Duane Hendrickson, BBA ’56, has invested in real estate for more than 50 years and decided to give something back to the community. He recently donated 10 individual Sherman Terrace Condominiums—free and clear— to Porchlight, Inc., a Madison charity that works with homeless and poor families, as well as individuals looking for shortterm or permanent housing.
1960-1969 Frank Dirnbauer, MBA ’67, is excited about his new business, McLight Solutions LLC, which helps companies improve their operating margins, increase employee engagement, and improve overall wellness. John Henderson, BBA ’68, enjoyed a great University of WisconsinMadison alumni tour to French Polynesia with 35 or so fellow Badgers in April. He said the
13 • UPDATE Spring 2013
cruise was a wonderful way to see the islands, and the group was definitely the most noticeable of the many alumni parties on board. Jon L. Pierce, MS ’68, Ph.D. ’78, was one of three finalists for the prestigious 2012 George R. Terry Book Award. Jon, a professor of organization and management in the Department of Management Studies at the University of Minnesota, was nominated for his book, Psychological Ownership and the Organizational Context: Theory, Research and Application, which he co-authored with Iiro Jussila, a professor from the Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland. William Longbrake, MBA ’69, teaches MBA courses at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland as an executive in residence. He retired in 2008 after serving for many years as a CFO, CRO, and elder statesman for Washington Mutual. John Wright, BBA ’69, passed away November 1, 2012 at the age of 67 after a courageous battle with cancer.
1970-1979 John Kertesz, MBA ’71, took the pilgrimage of a lifetime. He spent five months on the road in Canada, four of which were during the winter on Vancouver Island. Glen Schumann, BBA ’72, founded Glen’s Workshop in 2012. The company offers handmade pens, pencils, and wood crafts for the discriminating shopper. Ken Vander Weele, BBA ’75, returned to Chicago after living overseas for almost 20 years and became a partner in Creation Investments, an emerging-market private-equity firm that invests in financial services for under-served markets.
David Beam, BBA ’76, began working as a project director for the health innovation program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. He’s fortunate to be giving back to a great institution. Lifelong learning continues! Tim Duncan, BBA ’77, in 2012 co-founded Goodlyhome.com, which strives to make getting a mortgage online easier while helping to create a fair and sustainable mortgage market. Until the end of 2011, he worked with Elizabeth Warren in the Obama Administration on the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and the launch of the new U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mary Beth Roberts Ellis, MS ’79, accepted a new position in 2012 as the assistant dean for budget, planning, and finance in the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
1980-1989 Jeffrey Hammes, BBA ’80, was recently featured for his entrepreneurial spirit in Crain’s Chicago Business as partner of Kirkland & Ellis, one of the largest law firms in Chicago. As secondterm chairman of Kirkland & Ellis, he stresses the urgency for law firms to implement top-down strategic management. Colleagues say he is focused on the entrepreneurial spirit and empowerment of younger lawyers. Bill Metzdorff, BBA ’80, MBA ’81, completed the backcountry ski trek called the Haute Route from Zermatt Switzerland to Chamonix France with fellow Badgers Laurence Levi (BA ‘91) and Chris Foreman (BA ‘88) in April. The group is pictured on day one in front of the famous Matterhorn. From left to right: Chris, Laurence, and Bill.
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David Rosen, BBA ’84, joined the Badger faithful in Pasadena for Rose Bowl “threepeat.” It was a great game and an even better fifth quarter! He is also proud to announce that record sales and profits propelled the company he works for, FLEXcon Europe Ltd., to break into the Top 500 Firms in Scotland as noted by Insider Magazine in 2012 and 2013. Starr Robinson, BBA ’85, served on the Wisconsin Alumni Association– Chicago Chapter’s board as the treasurer and completed the chapter’s nonprofit application. She also had a great time attending the homecoming festivities in Madison, including marching in the homecoming parade with the WAA float and attending the fabulous Wisconsin School of Business Gala along with the tailgate and football game. She enjoys working with her small business clients at her own CPA firm, Starr M. Robinson and Associates. Darrell Zoromski, BBA ’86, celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife Lesley (BS ’87). Darrell’s company, Miramar Labs, launched the first lasting, non-invasive procedure (miraDry) for people impacted by excessive sweating. Jon Skavlem, MS ’86, is the director of state and local taxes at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP. Tammy Young, BBA ’88, joined Alaska Airlines as the vice president of human resources on October 1 after 24 years in the public accounting and consulting industry. Paul Schlumberger, BBA ’88, opened the first commercial lending office in Madison for River Valley Bank, which has 18 branches in Wisconsin and Michigan. Lynn Blake, BBA ’89, became senior vice president and CFO in July 2012 for Analysts International Corporation, a leading
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2012 Alumni Award Winners The Distinguished Business Alumnus Award recognizes graduates who achieve outstanding success in their careers and have given back in meaningful ways to the school and their community. Ruth Nelson (BBA ’48) is a retired executive of American Family Publishers, a subsidiary of Time, Inc. She started with Time in 1954 and moved through the ranks, eventually becoming the VP for publisher relations for the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. Ruth has been an active volunteer leader with the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church and National Executive Service Corps. Ruth has been a model alumna, taking advantage of lifelong learning opportunities and coming to campus to celebrate homecoming as often as possible.
The Young Business Alumnus Award recognizes recent alumni who have achieved notable success early in their career. Corey Capasso (BBA ’09) and Andrew Ferenci (BBA ’09) are the founders of Spinback, a social commerce and analytics platform for product sharing that was acquired by Salesforce.com through its parent company, Buddy Media. Corey lives in New York City and is starting a new business in the enterprise retail software space. Andrew is the director of product development at Buddy Media in New York City.
The Shape the Future Volunteer Award recognizes alumni and friends who have given time and expertise to help create transformational experiences for Wisconsin School of Business students. Don Condon, Jr. (BBA ’74) is the VP for corporate development for Westlake Chemicals Corporation. He is a dedicated mentor and annual guest speaker and sponsors student consulting projects at his firm. Don is currently on the board of the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking. John Kenny (BS ’67, BBA ’72, MBA ’73) is the president of FreeFlow Technology, Ltd. John has played an invaluable role in creating and growing the Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management by helping place students in internships and full-time positions, as well as recruiting top supply chain executives to serve on the center’s executive advisory board. Ann Schwister (BBA ’89) is the VP for finance and accounting for global oral care at Procter & Gamble. She is a champion for Wisconsin School of Business students at P&G, and has been integral in enhancing the strong allegiance Business Badger alumni have with the school.
IT services firm.
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
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CLASS NOTES Glenn Miller, BBA ’89, was named managing partner of Wegner CPAs in January 2013. He will concentrate his efforts on the continued growth of the organization and its dedication to the community.
1990-1999 Angela Bies, MA ’90, has moved back to the Midwest after 12 years on the faculty at Texas A & M University. She is now director of international programs and associate professor of philanthropic studies at the Indiana University School of Philanthropy. Ane Ohm, BBA ’91, was promoted to president and COO of HarQen, Inc. She has been instrumental in bringing HarQen’s products to market and growing the company’s base of Fortune 500 customers. Alan Myers, BBA ‘92, was promoted to director in the Private Banking Division of Credit Suisse. Also, he joined Scott Wick, Matt Joki, and Matt Unertl to form the Buckingham Club of Chicago. The organization supports University of Wisconsin-Madison athletics through philanthropy while creating a professional network of Badgers in the Chicagoland area. The first event raised over $200,000 for the UW Hospitals and Lou Holland, Sr. Alzheimer’s Foundation. Lou Holland, Jr. was the honoree and the event was a huge success. An encore event is planned for the summer of 2013 in Chicago. Brian Liebzeit, BBA ’98, is in his third year as an entrepreneur and just launched his third company, Histuffy.com, in Las Vegas. The company gives fellow Badgers an easy way to create and share their own museums of personal objects and the memories they trigger.
15 • UPDATE Spring 2013
Carrie Leonard, BBA ’99, was promoted to partner at the CPA firm Johnson Block & Co., Inc. in January 2013. She lives in La Crosse, Wisconsin with her husband and two sons, ages five and two.
2000-2009 Amanda (Booth) Dwyer, BBA ’00, married Pat Dwyer in October 2012 at Chicago’s South Shore Cultural Center. It was a gorgeous fall day—a perfect way to celebrate the start of their next new adventure together. Julie Karg, BBA ’00, IMAcc ’01, and her husband Mike welcomed their second son, Brandon, on March 18. He joins Justin, who is now three years old. She works as a finance manager for The Walt Disney Company in Anaheim. Marisa Menzel, BBA ’00, is now a financial advisor with Wisconsin Financial Group in Madison, a position that allows her to utilize her passions of helping people and working with numbers. Gina Clausen Goldberg, BBA ’02, started a business with her husband in Volo, Illinois. They are the new owners of JumpZone and are ready to welcome all future Badgers! David Pausch, MA ’03, and his wife, Karen Saari, welcomed their second child and future Badger, Virginia Florence Saari-Pausch, on November 10.
John Surdyk, MBA ’03, continues to develop and deliver entrepreneurship programs and courses for students as the director of the Initiative for Studies in Transformational Entrepreneurship at the Wisconsin School of Business. He enjoyed participating in the University of Wisconsin-Madison delegation to Shanghai this past June to open the university’s new innovation office there. He also completed his first Tough Mudder course in September and capped off the year with a trip to the Rose Bowl. As a graduate of both Wisconsin and Stanford, he couldn’t miss it! Chad Bartell, MS ’04, is now the associate general counsel of Springs Window Fashions in Middleton, Wisconsin. He began his career as an associate in the business law practice group of the Michael Best & Friedrich law firm in Madison. Elizabeth Massaro, BBA ’05, IMAcc ’06, graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in May 2012 with a Master of Laws in Taxation (LLM). In June 2012, she started as a full-time tax associate with Sidley Austin, LLP in Chicago. Zach Mulcahy, BBA ’05, joined Protiviti, a global consulting firm that focuses on helping companies solve problems with risk and compliance. Al Johnson, BBA ’06, runs Inspiratude Coaching Solutions, a leadership development and career strategy coaching firm for motivated and ambitious young professionals who are looking to achieve accelerated and sustainable career success.
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Laura Gramann, BBA ’07, was promoted in late 2012 after expanding the Google Alumni Network’s philanthropic efforts and creating Hack4Good. She also visited friends in Denmark, England, and Japan. She continues to enjoy California’s sunshine and wine, though she definitely welcomes shipments of Spotted Cow beer. Nicole Knothe, BBA ’07, and Nathan Grede, BS ’04, got engaged in October 2012 and are planning a wedding in Madison this summer. They relocated from New York City to Chicago in January 2012. Nicole an Associate Brand Manager-Packaging Innovations for MillerCoorsand is co-chair of WAA-Chicago’s marketing and communications committee. Nathan is a senior account executive at AddThis. Dennis Hull, MBA ’09, and his wife Barbara welcomed future Badger Emma Kathleen April 3, 2012 in Chicago. Dennis works at The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, and Barbara is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Troy Vosseller, MBA ’09, recently launched Sconnie Beer, a classic American lager positioned to compete with other premium domestics such as Budweiser, Miller, and PBR in taste and price. Troy is also the founder and owner of the Sconnie Nation t-shirt company.
2010-2012 Joshua Monifi, BBA ’10, enrolled in the full-time MBA program at Portland State University. His focus is on business sustainability.
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
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Jenna Weber, BBA ’10, created an exclusive group for young professionals called Connect Madison through her involvement in Leadership Greater Madison (LGM). LGM is a leadership program that uses board service and skills-based volunteering to help young professionals learn ways to make an impact in their community. Anna Lyman, MBA ’12, recently began working at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston, and she looks forward to connecting with other business alumni in the area!
Wisconsin School of Business
Brad Glocke, MBA ’12, started a company called FiscEx (Fiscal Excellence), which provides business solutions to companies worldwide with a focus on responsible business practices, respect for cultures, and environmental sustainability. Don’t see your class note? View more online and submit your own at bus.wisc.edu/update/class-notes.
Remembering Lyle Knudson Lyle Knudson (BBA ’10) passed away on September 10, 2012 at age 96 on Marrowstone Island, Washington. Knudson is believed to be the eldest person to receive a degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Knudson, originally from Racine, missed the last two exams of his senior year when the U.S. Navy called him to active duty on June 13, 1941. A commerce student in the School of Letters and Science (the Wisconsin School of Business did not exist yet), he left the university to fight in World War II and never received his degree. Years later, fellow Badger Joseph Battenburg developed a friendship with Knudson and advocated for his friend to get the degree he had earned. Finally, in 2010, after 69 years, Knudson was awarded a BBA with a major in finance, investment, and banking. Knudson joined the Navy without any flying experience and was in training when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was assigned to the Navy’s first squadron of four-engine heavy bombers and later flew low-level solo missions in the Solomon Islands. After the war ended, Knudson worked in the construction and roofing businesses, eventually starting an industrial machinery sales business in Kent, Washington in 1962. He lived out the rest of his life on the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula. According to family and friends, Knudson was a proud Badger fan who watched the football games religiously, and he was on “cloud nine” when he finally received his diploma, Battenburg said. “I have many fond memories of my time in Madison, where I met my future wife while we were both students,” Knudson said in 2010. “I still am an avid Badger fan and don’t miss a game, even at 94 years of age.”
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DEAN’S ADVISORY BOARD
Learn more about the advisory board members online at bus.wisc.edu/update/dab.
Robert Pollock (Board Chair)
Debra Perry
President and CEO Assurant, Inc.
Director, BofA Funds Series Trust and Sanford C. Bernstein Fund Korn/Ferry International
Michael Casey Gary Rappeport
Senior Managing Director The Blackstone Group
CEO Donlen Corporation
Sean Cleary Ann Schwister
President Cleary Building Corp.
Timothy Daniels
Vice President, Global Oral Care Finance and Accounting Procter & Gamble
President Apollo Global
Richard Searer
Tom Formolo
Former President Kraft Foods North America
Partner CHS Capital LLC
Suzy Shain
Laura Francis
Owner BrandFirst Marketing
CFO Auxogyn, Inc.
Toni Sikes
Jeffrey Hammes
Co-CEO The Art Commission
Partner Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Sandra Sponem
Cynthia Ihlenfeld
Senior Vice President and CFO Mortenson Construction
Artist and Community Leader
Stew Stender Peter Leidel
Stewart Capital Partners
Founder and Member Yorktown Partners LLC
REAL ESTATE • DEVELOPMENT • INVESTMENT
Partner Stewart Capital Partners
Thomas Stevens John Mulligan Chief Financial Officer, Treasury and Accounting Target Corporation
Scott VanderSanden
John Neis
President AT&T Wisconsin
Managing Director Venture Investors LLC
John Ver Bockel
Mark Nerenhausen
Senior Vice President and CFO Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Founding Director and Professor of Practice, Art Leadership Graduate Program Syracuse University
17 • UPDATE Spring 2013
Chairman and President Los Angeles Capital
Don Walkovik Senior Managing Director Brock Capital Group LLC
Bill Nygren
Jeff Yabuki
Oakmark Fund Portfolio Manager Harris Associates L.P.
CEO Fiserv, Inc.
UPDATE CONTRIBUTORS
Lavilla Capener Elizabeth Gudrais Jenn Kallias Alison Klunick Meloney Linder Elizabeth Newman Alan Oak Denise Thornton
PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY
N Boguszewski Camilla Klyve Jeff Miller Eric Tadsen The Traveling Photo Booth Kris Ugarriza, Red Wave Photography Sharon Vanorny all others by personal submission
UPDATE is the official alumni magazine of the Wisconsin School of Business. Questions or contributions may be directed to update@bus.wisc.edu. A special thank you to our alumni and friends who have supported us throughout the past year. To view our Honor Roll donors, visit bus.wisc.edu/update/honor-roll online.
View online at bus.wisc.edu/update.
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975 University Avenue Madison, WI 53706
Stay at the Fluno Center. The Wisconsin School of Business is eager to provide alumni, donors, and friends like you with the opportunity to stay at a convenient and comfortable place during campus visits.
20 • UPDATE Spring 2013
Camilla Klyve
Make your reservation at fluno.com.