Autumn 2004 - Page Two
Retired CEO’s Share Wisdom
Albers was privileged to host three prominent retired CEO’s for its final executive speaking event of the spring. Charles Pigott, retired CEO of Paccar Inc, Frank Shrontz, Boeing’s retired president, CEO and Chairman and Jack Creighton, Retired president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser Co and former Chairman and CEO of United Airlines graced the stage together to discuss business ethics. Over 400 students, alumni and friends packed Pigott Auditorium to hear acquired wisdom from these successful executives.
Below from left: Charles Pigott, Frank Shrontz and Jack Creighton
Jennifer Sullivan: Albers own personal “Mariner”
There’s a couple of questions that people ask that crack up Jennifer Sullivan of the Seattle Mariners’ front office: the first if she instantly got her job in professional sports after graduating from Seattle University in 1998 with a finance degree. The second is if there’s anything for her to do in the off-season.
The first answer is: It took her 14 years with the Mariners to get the position she’s held for the past three years: coordinator of Pacific Rim client services. That’s right: she started with the team as a 14-year-old “Domer,” (You remember the Kingdome, right?) doing filing for the front office, handing out promotional material on game nights and other such odd jobs.
The second answer is there’s plenty to do in the off season, you’d better believe it. As Sullivan delicately puts it, it is a business. The business of baseball.
“People ask me about that al the time,” she said. “When the season is over, we immediately start planning for the next year.”
In her job, Sullivan acts as a liaison between the Mariners and companies in Japan that sponsor the team. It’s an exciting time, with three players from that country currently playing for the Mariners, including superstar Ichiro Suzuki. Sullivan spent a month after Ichiro signed with the team helping him and his wife settle into Seattle.
Sullivan admits she’s a little surprised she’s been with the team so long. While at Albers, she envisioned a career in international banking. But her senior year, she was offered a full-time position in the team’s community relations department, and it proved irresistible. In that position, she worked with players in their charitable activities, gratifying community service work in the tradition of SU, Sullivan said.
That position followed a job her junior y ear supervising 30 young teenage “Domers” with the Mariners, doing the same thing she did when she started with the team.
“I never thought I’d stay in sports,” she said. “But the Mariners offered me such a unique career opportunity.”
Sullivan credits her success not just to her time at Albers, although she calls her business studies very valuable, but also her humanities studies, plus her minor in Japanese. Her studies in humanities included considerable depth in Japanese culture, she said.
“Being able to study business and Japanese, language and culture, I was really able to get a well-rounded education,” she said.
Sullivan ties to Seattle University are strong: both her father and mother are alumni, and she’s scheduled to receive a master’s degree in international business from SU this December. The Mariners have been extremely supportive of continuing her education, paying half her graduate school tuition and letting her arrange her schedule to study and attend class, she said. And her professors at SU have been supportive as well, understanding that she occasionally must travel to Japan or attend night games.
She has some advice for students who aspire to fields like professional sports. The first is to be patient, because the turnover is often low in such organizations. The second is to consider taking a job with a coveted organization even though it initially might not appear to be a perfect position. In her case, she started out in a lower position and worked her way into a more career-oriented one.
“You have to work your way here,” she said. “It’s much easier to work from within an organization.”
Editor’s Note: At press time, Ichiro was at 256 hits in pursuit of George Sisler’s record of 257 in 1920.
Albers rolls out Exec Certificate in Financial Planning
Beginning this fall, the Albers school will offer an Executive Certificate in Financial Planning, or ECFP, program for students and members of the business community who aspire to careers in this fast-growing field.
Seattle University’s ECFP curriculum is being lunched in cooperation with BISYS, the leading provider of financial planning and educational materials, and is designed to meet the schedule demands of the working professional, said Terry Foster, Albers assistant dean and program director. The university’s move to offer the certificate program reflects a growing trend in the market for financial planners.
According to the Occupational Outlook Quarterly (Fall 2000), employment as a financial planner is expected to grow much faster than average, some 35 to 40 percent, through 2008. Further, Financial Planning Magazine noted in its July 2003 issue that among households who use financial planners, CFP practitioners were the top choice of 43 percent of clients, with stockbrokers at 30 percent and accountants 16 percent.
“The Albers School is pleased to join with other prestigious institutions, such as Georgetown and Duke University, in making this financial planning certification training available,” Foster said. “In so doing, we are responding to the demand for more intensive training in finance that has been steadily growing across the country.”
Students who successfully complete the program will be eligible to take the CFP® Certification Examination.
The next open house on Seattle University’s ECFP program is October 12 at the Bellevue campus, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
For more information, contact Peggy Allende at: (206) 296-2540 or email: ecert@seattleu.edu
Ethics Initiative holds first Workshop
The Albers Business Ethics Initiative (ABEI) held its first workshop in May. This hands-on workshop was well attended by the business community and addressed the need for proactive business approaches to ethical issues rather than the costly reactive option. The Albers School launched the ABEI last fall as a three-year initiative designed to make business ethics experts available to Northwest organizations via public workshops and online communications culminating in a Pacific Rim conference in 2006.
Nancy Higgins, Senior Vice President and Chief Ethics Officer for MCI presented the keynote address at the workshop. Ms. Higgins is part of the new executive team rebuilding MCI which, under its former name of WorldCom, suffered the largest bankruptcy in US history. Also speaking was Linda Trevino of Penn State, one of the leading experts in the country on how to design organizations to promote ethical behavior. The ABEI is funded by generous donations from Frank Shronts, Charles Pigott, Boeing, the Weyerhaeuser Foundation, the PEMCO Foundation, and several other private donors.
For more information about ABEI contact John Dienhart at dienharj@seattleu.edu
Steve Brilling, Executive Director of the Entrepreneurship Center
As the new executive director of the Entrepreneurship Center at Albers, Steve Brilling finds himself in some pretty heady academic company.
Like the Wharton School of Business and Carnegie Mellon University, Seattle University is one of a growing number of universities around the country to establish such a post. And as befits his title, much of the post will be what he makes of it.
He’s up for the challenge.
Billing’s main mission: to let students know that entrepreneurship is a smart, fulfilling career choice for the right kind of person, one that’s a good fit for the beginning of a business career.
“One of the big challenges for entrepreneurship is to legitimize it as a career choice,” Brilling said, acknowledging, “Typically, it’s a scarier path.”
But for most people, it’s a direction that’s easier to jump into when you’re 22 years old, before the demands of supporting a family or paying a mortgage must take precedence, he said.
Brilling’s passion for entrepreneurship dates to his childhood.
“I grew up with an entrepreneur,” he said. “My father had his own veterinary supply company out of Spokane. I worked for it for a few summers.”
But after college, he chose the corporate route for a while, working in banking.
“But in the early ‘80s, I woke up and said I have to do something else,” he said.
That something else was computers, and he joined some acquaintances. From that experience, he intimately learned about both the exhilaration and fear that accompanies entrepreneurship.
“It was very scary. Overnight, I halved my income,” Brilling said, all at a time he had a young family to support. “I’ve never worked so hard to make so little.”
He’s since been part of several start-up ventures, and counts 10 years of consulting experience to his credit. Along the way, he’s picked up experience in technology, sales, marketing, human resources, business development, mergers and acquisitions, forming alliances, and development of new business. He sits on the boards of five organizations, both for-profits and non-profits.
His experience has taught him one fundamental truth: the human element of any venture is often the most critical part.
“It’s the human issues people need to think about,” Billing said. “We all love to talk about the Big Idea. That’s the sexy part.”
But a Big Idea may never amount to much if business partner don’t get along, if there are fundamental disagreements on how a startup should be run, if a basic element like employee compensation isn’t addressed from the beginning.
And there’s the sticky part of handing over control of an established venture. Many classic entrepreneurs simply aren’t happy as “maintenance managers,” but identify so closely with the venture that that it’s hard to let go, he said.
“When does the entrepreneur leave?” Brilling asked. Helping students discuss and refine their thinking on these issues may help them avoid such pitfalls when plunging into their own ventures, he said.
He also hopes to bring into the mix during his work with Albers’ students his beliefs about the importance of high ethics and service to the community. Companies like Starbucks and Costco have proven that a company can make money while at the same time, significantly give back to the community, Brilling said.
“We want to challenge the classic business” mindset, Brilling said. “Our mission is certainly to enrich and enhance the student experience, but also to make a difference in the community in a substantial way.”
In the current school year, Brilling wants to ramp up interactions between the business community and Albers students, and is seeking interested volunteers. He has a wealth of opportunities for interested entrepreneurs and executives to get involved, some requiring a limited commitment, some requiring a bit more: guest lecturing, advisory boards, curriculum review, mentoring and sponsoring student internships.
“A key tenet for us is the heavy involvement of the business committee,” Brilling said. “It really is a partnership. We’re not going it alone.”
Business School receives William G. McGowan Scholarship
For the first time in Seattle University’s history, the Albers School of Business and Economics has won the William G. McGowan Scholarship (www.mcgowanfund.org). Albers received the award based on its commitment to entrepreneurship, empowering leadership skills among students, and academic rigor. The $18,000 scholarship, created to honor the late founder of MCI, William G. McGowan, supports undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a degree in business. The gift is awarded annually to selected universities who offer nationally accredited business programs.
Seattle University MBA student, Deborah Gunn, is the award recipient. Gunn was selected for the award based on her personal essay on McGowan, her academic record, and her leadership and involvement in community service.
The McGowan Charitable Fund was created in honor of McGowan, who after struggling to pay for his Harvard education received the Baker Scholarship—allowing him to complete his MBA and launch a successful business career as founder of MCI. The spirit of the scholarship, according to McGowan Fund representatives, is to help talented but financially struggling students in the same way that McGowan himself was helped.
Gunn, a native Oregonian, is a full-time MBA student and an active volunteer in several organizations, including her son’s school. She received her B.A. in psychology and international studies from the University of Oregon, and the D.E.U.G. degree in Psychology from the Sorbonne, University of Paris V, in France. She worked for several years as a real estate broker in Manhattan and later joined acclaimed director Karin Coonrod in building and Managing the Arden Party Theatre Company. As Executive Director, Gunn was responsible for building the company into a thriving not-for-profit corporation producing a regular season of plays each year.
2nd Annual Albers Alumni Golf Tournament
115 players attended the second annual Albers Alumni Golf Tournament held at Trilogy Golf Course in Redmond on July 16th. Besides beautiful weather, highlights included a putting contest, a raffle and a silent auction followed by a delicious dinner. Old and new alumni networked with business leaders raising over $4500 toward student scholarships.
C-Span Visits S.U.
Seattle University Regent and Business Management Adjunct Professor Randy Massengale was one of 25 winners of a national essay contest commissioned by C-SPAN to commemorate the cable news network’s 25th anniversary. The C-SPAN film crew traveled to the SU campus Sept. 15 to film a ceremony honoring Massengale and tape the professor behind the scenes at SU, including in the classroom, for a segment to air on future C-SPAN broadcasts. For the essay contest, Massengale wrote about being inspired by C-SPAN’s literary program Booknotes to form an executive mentorship program at Microsoft for young African American men employed at the software company. The show was also the inspiration for “Extraordinary Leaders,” a graduate-level course created by Massengale and offered at the Albers School.
Genevieve Albers Professorship recipients selected
The Albers School recently announced the inaugural recipients of the Genevieve Albers Professorships. Geneieve Albers was a supporter of Seattle University who worded thoughout her life to raise awareness of the business school, which was later named for her parents. After Genevieve passed away, in late 2001, an $8.4 million donation was made to the school through a bequest from her estate.
“Genevieve was very much a supporter of the notion of free enterprise,” said Dr. Eshelman, who served as dean of the business school from 1976 to 1986. “She always appreciated the fact that the business school was named for her parents and looked for ways in which she could make small differences: allowing us to bring in prominent speakers, funding scholarships, and helping the school connect with the business community.
The first recipients of Genevieve Albers Professorship are Dr. Rex Toh, Professor of Marketing, who will serve from 2004-2006, and Dr. Greg Prussia, Professor of Management, who will hold the professorship from 2004-2007. Professors Toh and Prussia were selected for their excellence in teaching and outstanding scholarly contributions to their disciplines.
“Both Dr. Toh and Dr. Prussia are excellent examples of the “teacher scholar” role that our faculty aspire to,” said Joe Phillips, Dean of the Albers School. “Both are highly regarded by their students and have published repeatedly in the top journals of their disciplines.”
Prussia’s articles appeared in such publications as the Journal of Applied
Psychology, the Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Operations
Management, and the Journal of Organizational Behavior. Dr. Prussia has also received awards for his teaching approach from Arizona State and Seattle U. Dr. Toh has published more than 70 articles in the fields of research methodology, transportation/logistics and tourism/hospitality management. His work has appeared in such journals as the
Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Letters, the Transportation
Journal, the Academy of Psychological Reports, and the Academy of Management
Executive.
New Accounting Chair, Susan Weihrich
It’s a problem some departments should have: student numbers rocketing upward at a near-astronomical rate, all in a major that has, shall we say, typically enjoyed more of a competent than sexy reputation.
But these days, no less august a source than the Wall Street Journal has dubbed accounting majors the new Big Men on Campus and that certainly appears true at Seattle University, where students choosing the subject as their major has shot up 110 percent between 2001 and 2004.
Susan Weihrich, chair of the Accounting Department since July 2003, views it all with pride and a touch of bemusement. It’s a heady time indeed for her department, which is racing to match all those new students up with classes, mentors and real-life working experience.
“I would say this is the hottest job market I’ve seen in 24 years as a professor,” said Weihrich, who first joined Albers as an assistant professor in 1989.
Oddly enough, recent scandals in the business world, including Enron, appear to be behind the surge in popularity of accounting as a major, Weihrich said.
“I think the importance of accounting has to the forefront,” she said. “This is a fun time to be in the field.”
In 2001, her department had 86 majors; last spring, it boasted 188, a number sure to rise higher this fall, Weihrich said.
“And at the graduate level, we increase our number of students to 48 students, up from 31 for the same period last year,” she said.
“I spend a lot of time, eight to ten hours a week, just advising students about career opportunities,” Weihrich said. “That’s not including office hours.”
It can be overwhelming, but when “I go home every evening, 99 days out of 100, I can’t wait to get to school the next day. I really like my job,” she said.
Weihrich said that discussions about ethics, both in the classroom and hallways, are happening frequently these days around Albers.
“It is a topic of conversation,” she said. Students will spontaneously begin talking about hot areas like “earnings management—is it okay or not?”
Given its Jesuit foundation and its emphasis on ethics and service to the community, Albers is well-qualified to turn out accountants who approach the job with a strong sense of values, Weihrich believes.
“It just permeates everything,” she said. “It’s a strong emphasis here…We don’t tell them right from wrong, but we give them a foundation with which to make the tough decisions”
And one way they want to continue doing that is by emphasizing and expanding programs that help the community around them, Weihrich said. One such program is their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, now the second largest in the state. That program, which began 30 years ago, has accounting students assist in preparing income-tax returns for 600 to 700 people a year.
Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams off to an Amazing Start
The Seattle University men’s and women’s soccer teams are off to an amazing start. They are one of just two schools in the nation to have both of their soccer programs ranked in top 10 in the nation.
The men have opened the year with a 9-0-1 record and are ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II West Region and No. 5 in the nation. Albers student Pat Doran is nearing the SU all-time top 10 scoring leaders with career totals of 13 goals and 17 assists.
The women are currently 8-1-2 and are ranked in a tie for first in the West Region with crosstown rival Seattle Pacific as well as ranked No. 7 in the nation. Albers student Tafara Pulse is currently tied for second in Redhawks history with 113 total points (30 goals, 35 assists).
Albers' People
Diane Lockwood and Al Ansari had their paper, “Toward a More Comprehensive Model of Inventory
Management?” co-authored with Batoul Modaress, accepted for publication in the
Review of Business Research.
Gareth Green’s article, “Economic Hysteresis in Variety
Selection,” co-authored with Timothy J. Richards of Arizona State University, has won the Outstanding Article Award for the
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics for 2003.
Jot Yau’s article on the performance of hedge funds, “Do Hedge Fund Managers Display
Skill?” was recently featured in a story appearing in Financial News
Online. The story explained that hedge funds do not provide unusual returns to investors once costs, survivorship, and performance smoothing are taken into account.
An article by Bob Callahan and Colette Frayne, “Safeco CEO Mike McGavick on Leading a
Turnaround,” was published in the latest issue of the Academy of Management
Executive.
Sarah Bee’s paper, “Using the Jeopardy Game to Enhance Student Understanding of Accounting Information Systems Exam
Material,” received a Best Paper Award at the Accounting Information Systems Education Conference and will be published in
The Review of Business Information Systems.
Rex Toh’s article, “Respondent Non-Cooperation in Surveys and Diaries: An Analysis of Item Non-Response and Panel
Attrition,” has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Market
Research. The article is co-authored with Michael Hu and Eunkyu Lee.
Dean Peterson received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the 2004 SU graduation seniors. The university wide award was made at the Commencement Brunch on June 12th.
Susan Weihrich has received the Teacher of the Year Award from this year’s Beta Gamma Sigma inductees.
1400 students graduated from Seattle University at Seahawk Stadium on June 13th. 279 undergraduate students graduated from Albers, along with 242 graduate students. Albers accounted for 33% of undergraduate grads, 44% of grad students, and 37% of all University graduates. Economics major
Maria Peiretti received the Provost’s Award as the university’s top transfer student.
Dominic Draye received the Paul A. Volpe Award as the outstanding graduating senior from Albers.
David Huelsbeck received the Jerry A. Viscione Awards as our outstanding graduating graduate student.
Nicole Michele Stevens has been awarded a $1,750 scholarship by the Seattle Society of Financial Analysts. Nicole is one of two students to receive this award, which is given to grad students at SU and UW who have an interest in finance and investments.
Susan Gibson has been appointed the first Genevieve Albers Executive in Residence. Previously, Susan was on the faculty of Bellevue CC, worked in HR for such firms as Nordstrom’s and Starbucks, and developed a consulting practice. This position is being funded by the Albers endowment, and Susan will work out of the placement center. She will also do some adjunct teaching.
Upcoming Events
Executive Speakers
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Mike McGavick, Chairman and CEO Safeco Corporation
6:00 - 7:00 - Campion Ballroom
No RSVP Needed
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Jeff Raikes, Group Vice President, Information Work Business Microsoft
6:00 - 7:00 - Campion Ballroom
No RSVP Needed
October 28, 2004
Guest speaker: Jim Vesely, Seattle Times Editorial Page Editor
7:30 - 9:00 a.m. - Grand Hyatt Hotel, Seattle
RSVP to Alumni Relations at 206-296-6127
October 22, 2004
All SU Graduate Programs Open House
5:00 - 7:00 pm - Student Center
RSVP 206-296-5998
<<Previous Albers Brief, Summer 2004
Albers
Brief Editor: David N. White
Feature
Writer: Elaine Porterfield
Contributors: LeAnne Agne, Sterling Peaker, Kevin Eubanks
For a copy, or to be put on our mailing list, Contact David White.