Category: Owen News

Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management placed No. 20 among U.S. programs in the Economist’s ranking of full-time MBA programs (No. 29 globally)—a jump from last year at 23 (and 34, respectively). The annual ranking is based on a student survey of four factors the Economist identifies as the primary reasons students pursue an MBA: to open new career opportunities, for personal development and educational experience, to increase salary and to build a professional network. If you prefer your stats in list form, Princeton Review named the Owen school to several of its 2015 Top 10 lists including No. 4—Best Professors, No. 9—Best Administered and No. 10—Best Green MBA.

Jessica Kennedy has joined the Owen faculty as assistant professor of management in organization studies. Previously with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Kennedy teaches Leading Teams and Organizations and Negotiation.

Kennedy’s research interests focus on power and status hierarchies, as well as ethics in organizations. She studies how groups allocate power and status to individuals, how power and status affect individuals’ decisions and how ethical compromises can negatively influence women’s attraction to business careers. Recent research has revealed the way stereotypes about women’s competence in negotiations lead women to be targets of deception.

Kennedy has published in top journals, including Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Social Psychological and Personality Science. A former investment banker, she earned her doctorate at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

See video of Jessica Kennedy at vu.edu/owen-kennedy-negotiations

The new executive director of Vanderbilt’s Executive Development Institute lists the Darden School of Business and Chevron on his resume.

Robert “Skip” Culbertson is charged with directing the school’s popular nondegree executive courses and programs for businesses and individuals.

“Skip is exactly the person Owen needs to move our nondegree executive programs to the next level,” says Dean Eric Johnson. “He brings extensive experience from a Fortune 500 leader as well as nearly a decade of experience in executive education from a world-class institution.”

Vanderbilt’s Executive Development Institute offers intensive, short-length (typically two- or three-day) programs in critical business skills such as executive leadership, marketing for strategic growth and leading change. Its programs are taught by Owen faculty and tailored for working professionals. Courses can be taken as needed for specific skills or as part of one of the institute’s certificate of excellence programs. The institute also designs and offers custom management education for organizations.

Culbertson has a comprehensive background in human resources and executive education. At the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, he was senior director of custom programs and thought advancement in the business school’s executive education department and developed $2 million in custom executive education programming annually. He also has extensive consulting experience and was chief human resources officer for Chevron for more than two decades.

The Executive Development Institute was established in 1978 to provide Vanderbilt’s world-class management education in targeted areas for nondegree-seeking business professionals. Since then, more than 3,000 individuals from over 700 companies have participated in the institute’s courses.

Owen joined an exclusive group of business schools committed to supporting and recruiting women when it became a sponsor of the Forté Foundation in July.

The foundation is a nonprofit consortium of schools and corporations dedicated to increasing the number of women in business and helping them learn and achieve. Owen underwent a rigorous application process and vetting before being invited to join. It was one of only six schools accepted for membership in 2014 and is now one of 48 business school sponsors in the United States, Canada and Europe. This was the first year the group accepted membership applications from schools since 2011.

Forté selects sponsor schools strategically, based upon their capability to reach women as prospective MBA students and their ability to provide connections to potential sponsor companies. The schools must also add diversity to Forté in some way, so the foundation also considers school location, size, undergraduate pipeline and programs, and a proven commitment to female leadership.

“The Owen School is fortunate to have strong female leadership,” Dean Eric Johnson says, noting that top positions throughout the school are held by women and that both the alumni association and Owen Graduate Student Association are currently led by women. “Joining with Forté expands our support of women and provides opportunities for our students, alumni and prospective students.”

Christie St-John, director of MBA and MS Finance admissions, led Vanderbilt’s effort to join Forté. As someone on the front lines talking to potential students, she saw how Owen’s goals and those of Forté were aligned. Nationwide, women are less likely to apply to business school than men are—something Owen and the Forté Foundation seek to change.

In addition to the foundation’s commitment to increasing the number of women in the early business pipeline, the organization helps corporations and its partners reach, recruit and retain top female talent. It also provides resources and benefits to women at all career stages and offers fellowships through its Forté Fellows program.

For more information, visit fortefoundation.org

A scholarship established to honor former Career Management Center Director Peter Veruki now bears his name.

A group that includes Georgiana and Eric Noll, MBA’90; Paul Jacobson, MBA’97; Kevin Kimery, MBA’93; Heiki Miki, MBA’96; Dave Willis, MBA’97; David DiFranco, MBA’99; and Veruki’s wife, Judy Spinella, EMBA’93, established the scholarship in 2012.

Under funding rules, scholarships can’t be named after a current staff or faculty member, so the need-based scholarship was known as the Wall Street Scholarship until Veruki’s retirement as director of corporate relations last year.

Veruki has been credited with expanding Owen’s recognition nationwide and with impacting the lives and careers of students for nearly two decades.Veruki hopes that students who receive the Peter E. Veruki Scholarship will be those “who could go to Wharton or Harvard to study finance, but instead chooses Owen because our finance faculty is second to none,” he says. “We’re looking for a person who appreciates the culture we have here—the camaraderie and teamwork.”

To contribute to the scholarship, contact the Owen Development and Alumni Relations office at (615) 322-0815.

How important is Latin America in global business? Just ask one of the MBA schools who participated in the first U.S.-based Latin Business Case Competition organized by the Vanderbilt Latin Business Association.

The student-run competition was held at Owen March 28 and welcomed MBA teams from Ohio State, Washington University, Indiana University, Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Southern California, as well as a five-person team from Owen. Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business earned first place and $5,000. Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech received $2,000 for second place.

The timing was right to launch a U.S.-based MBA case competition focusing on Latin America, says Luciana Ortega, MBA’14, Latin Business Association president. Participating teams had to recommend a strategic plan based on the actual motivations, opportunities and challenges of international expansion faced by a Latin American company. The challenge was sponsored by Deloitte, AT&T and Vanderbilt University’s Center for Latin American Studies.

Vanderbilt’s full-time MBA program is No. 25 in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. Particularly significant: Among the top 25 schools, Owen had the fourth-highest rate of students employed at graduation and the ninth highest rate of students employed three months after graduation—two key metrics used in the survey. And Poets & Quants, the online graduate business school news site, reported that Vanderbilt has seen the third largest improvement in job placement over the past five years among top-25 B-schools.

Poets & Quants also reported that Owen reduced the average student debt by 9.6 percent in 2013.

Our secret formula? The school is holding tuition and fees low, increasing scholarships and negotiating for more student internships and sign-on bonuses.

A delegation from King Fahd University in Saudi Arabia spent six days in Nashville learning how to create and build an entrepreneurship program, courtesy of an interdisciplinary group at Vanderbilt. The visit was in response to a weeklong trip that Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurship Michael Burcham took to King Fahd in October as an adviser.

Burcham set up meetings with alumni, students, faculty and staff from Owen, the School of Engineering, the College of Arts and Science’s managerial studies, and the university’s Technology Transfer Office. The Saudi Arabian team also met with representatives from the Nashville’s mayor’s office and the Tennessee governor’s office.

Congratulations to American Airlines Group CEO Doug Parker, MBA’86, and his team on the successful merger of US Airways and American Airlines. To mark the occasion when the new company’s shares began trading on NASDAQ, Parker (above, center) rang the opening bell in front of hundreds of employees gathered at American’s headquarters near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Read the Vanderbilt Magazine feature on Parker, “Flight Path.”

A video made by students about Project Pyramid spread across the Web and earned a second place award from Johnson & Johnson in the company’s “Be Vital” video contest.

Project Pyramid, a Vanderbilt organization founded by Owen students and dedicated to ending global poverty through community partnerships, education and responsive action, received $5,000 to help with travel expenses for students’ chosen projects. The video, created by students Rachel Taplinger, MBA’14, Kalen Stanton, MBA’13, Kramer Schmidt, MBA’14, and Hemant Nelaparthi, MBA’14, was posted on Johnson & Johnson’s website in November.

Videos were rated through a combination of public voting and judging by Johnson & Johnson on the basis of return on investment, best out-of-the-box solution and greatest human impact. Project Pyramid’s video was one of only two graduate school projects honored.

Representatives from Johnson & Johnson’s university relations team visited campus to present Project Pyramid members (right) with the $5,000 check held by faculty sponsor Bart Victor, the Cal Turner Professor of Moral Leadership, and Taplinger.

See  their winning video at vu.edu/2013bevital.

Administratively Speaking

Dean Eric Johnson announced several appointments and reappointments recently. Salvatore T. March, the David K. Wilson Professor of Management, has been named associate dean for faculty. Nancy Lea Hyer, associate professor of operations management, and Karl Hackenbrack, associate professor of management and faculty director, MAcc Programs, continue in their roles as associate deans. As associate dean for faculty, March focuses on faculty development and recruitment. Hyer will continue as associate dean for Vanderbilt MBA programs. Associate Dean Hackenbrack continues his work with the Master of Accountancy and Master of Accountancy Valuation programs, as well as evaluation initiatives such as Owen’s AACSB maintenance accreditation. Read McNamara is now managing director of the Career Management Center and corporate affairs. While continuing to oversee CMC efforts, McNamara will concentrate on corporate engagement to enhance Owen’s reputation, build relationships that support all of Owen’s corporate interactions and develop new placement opportunities. Additionally, Emily Anderson has been named director of operations and coaching for the CMC. Most recently senior associate director and director of internal operations, Anderson adds responsibility for the MBA/MSF coaches to her oversight of recruiting operations.

Making the top 10

The Princeton Review is out with its annual Best B-Schools Guide, complete with Top 10 lists that help students find the right fit. Vanderbilt’s Owen School appeared in three Top 10 categories: Best Administered (No. 4), Best Professors (No. 6) and Best Campus Environment (No. 8). Princeton Review also offers a list of other schools applicants considered before deciding that Vanderbilt’s Owen School was their best fit. See vu.edu/owenblog-PRtopten

Celebrating Peter Veruki

After nearly 20 years and thousands of miles on the road, Peter Veruki recently retired as director of corporate relations. The school honored his many contributions to Owen with events in Nashville and New York. Veruki joined Owen in 1988 and spent 11 years building the Career Management Center. He then took a short break before letting himself be lured back in 2005 to assist with alumni and employer relations.

Which MBA?

The Economist’s new ‘Which MBA?’ ranking places Vanderbilt at No. 34 globally and No. 23 in North America. In addition, students who were surveyed gave high marks for the school’s career opportunities (No. 15 globally), career services (No. 10 globally) and alumni effectiveness (No. 14 globally).

Prepared, competitive and successful

Owen teams are racking up top finishes in case competitions and other challenges against other top schools in a variety of disciplines. Recent honors include:

First-place wins
2013 Chicago Quantitative Alliance Challenge
Asia Brumwell, MSF’13, Chad Hooker, MSF’13, Zach Kennedy, MSF’13, and Kelly Smith, MSF’13

2013 Emory Leadership in Health Care Case Competition
Brett Pentz, MBA’13, Baxter Webb, MBA’13, and 2014 MBA candidates Alex Johnson, Kristen O’Neill and Cole Wheeler

Second-place wins

2013 Executive Leadership Forum Business Case Competition
Andre Hill, MBA’13, and 2014 MBA candidates Veronica Barnes, Sharde Miller, Shandra Scott and Ketiwe Zipperer

Other key finishes

2013 UNC Real Estate Development Challenge—Third-place honors
Greg Hill, MBA’13, Walker Mathews, MBA’13, Kalen Stanton, MBA’13, and 2014 MBA candidate Dan Bresnahan

2013 International Impact Investing Challenge—Finalist
Timothy Barbis, MBA’13, and
Lucas Wilkinson, MBA’13

Foster care executive awarded tuition-free MBA

Stephanie Barger, vice president of strategy and operations at Monroe Harding, a nonprofit that provides care and support for foster children, has been named this year’s recipient of a full-tuition sponsorship to the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management’s Executive MBA program. The Owen School funds the award, which covers the full cost of the two-year tuition, and selects the winner in partnership with the Nashville Center for Nonprofit Management.

Boxing and bonding

Five new faculty joined Owen this year. With diverse backgrounds and experience, the new Owen professors combine teaching with research interests that include finance, marketing, accounting and labor contracting.

Nicholas G. Crain

Crain, assistant professor of management, served as associate professor of naval science at the University of Idaho and as a division officer in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Augusta, a nuclear-powered submarine. His dissertation, “Career Concerns and Venture Capital,” was named runner-up for the London Business School’s 2012 Coller Ph.D. Prize. His research interests include venture capital, private equity, corporate finance and initial public offerings.

Kelly L. Haws

Associate Professor of Management Haws studies consumer behavior, with a particular focus on issues related to consumer welfare. Previously, she was assistant professor of marketing and Mays Research Fellow at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School. Her research considers self-control strategies, optimal consumption, measurement issues, and behavioral pricing.

Catherine F. Lee

Assistant Professor of Management Lee studies political influence on financial statements, particularly with regard to the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Formerly, Lee worked for JPMorgan Chase & Co. as a finance and accounting analyst and as an investment banking associate in renewable energy. She is interested in political influence, decisions around financial reporting, regulation and standards setting, managerial incentives, the effect of taxes on business decisions, and risk management. For more information on Lee, visit vu.edu/lee-newfaculty.

Michael D. Stuart

Stuart, assistant professor of management, is a certified public accountant who worked as an audit manager at Mayer Hoffman McCann and as an audit senior at Ernst & Young. Stuart’s work on the relation between CEO inside debt holdings and the riskiness of firm investment and financial policies appeared in the Journal of Financial Economics. His research interests include financial reporting, executive compensation, capital markets and corporate governance.

Edward D. Van Wesep

Associate Professor of Management Van Wesep studies the theory and practice of labor contracting, including the design of teacher contracts and performance measures. He worked as a business analyst at Capital One Financial Corp. and an associate at McKinsey & Co., and has entrepreneurial experience as a co-founder of the specialty finance firm Risk Allocation Systems. His research covers contracting, compensation, finance, game theory, microeconomics, and political economy.

Dean Eric Johnson noted that the new faculty bring important research and teaching skills to Owen. “The research our professors undertake has an important impact in the classroom—as well as the real world of business and organizations,” Johnson says. “I look forward to the contributions our newest professors will make.”