the executive

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 1

In thIs Issue:studying and working abroad give Culverhouse students a unique view of the world and themselves

Fal l ’09–Winte r ’09

Culverhouse College of CommerCe

executive >>Magazine

Z a c B r a g g f i n d s g o l d

in the Microsoft hills

our students. Y o u r F u t u r e .

WhenZacBragggraduatedfromTheUniversityofAlabamalastspring,hewaslookingforanemployerasdedicatedtoresearchandinnovationasheis.Thatledhimtothegreat

Northwest,totheSeattlearea,whichinlate1890swasthenorthernmostdeparturepointinthecontinentalUnitedStatesfortheworld-famousKlondikeGoldRush.LikeZac,alotofpeopleheadedforSeattleinthosedays,

lookingtofindthemotherlode. Zac,23,ofMcCalla,hasadegreeinmanagementinformationsystemsandaminorincomputerscience,whichmakeshimagreatfitforBillGatesandcompany.MicrosoftCorp.isbasedinRedmond,Wash.,partofthegreaterSeattlearea,andisaglobalcompanywith89,809employeesin60countries. Now,ZacisatechnicalaccountmanagerwithMicrosoft.Assuch,

heworkswithcustomerstoresolvetechnicalissues,providestimelyadviceandformsandmaintainsworkingrelationshipswithMicrosoftpartners. Whennotworking,ZacplaysultimateFrisbee,ridesamountainbikeanddoesgraphicdesigns. “Evenintimesofreducedspending,Microsoftplanstoinvest$9.5billionthenextfiscalyearinresearchandtechnology.Thiswasassuringtome,that

Microsoftwouldexpandwhatcanbedonewithtechnology.Iwantedtobeapartofthat.Iwantedtohaveglobalimpact.” So,Zac,howistheSeattleweather,really,andhaveyoumetGates? “Seattlesummersareabest-keptsecret...possiblythebestsummerweatherinthecountry.” Andno,butdoIgetpointsformeetingSteveBallmer?”

For more information about our graduates and how they can contribute to your success, contact Linda Johnson, director of employer development and relations, Culverhouse College of Commerce, at 205-348-3455 or by e-mail at [email protected].

4 c u l v e r h o u s e c o l l e g e o f c o m m e r c e

Fall ’09– Winter ’10V o l u m e 1 4 • I s s u e 2

The Executive is published twice annually, in the spring and fall, for alumni and friends of The university of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration.

Dean:J. Barry mason

eDitor:William R. “Bill” Gerdes

Graphic DesiGn:Travis Gibbsoffice of Design and ProductionThe university of Alabama

contributinG Writers:Caroline BeardCarmen shea BrownTiffany FountainBill Gerdes

contributinG photoGraphers:Zack Riggins, laura shill, samantha Hernandez

oFFice oF Development, alumni anD corporate relations:Charlie Adair, lindsey Blumenthal, Kathy Deshazo, Kyle Fondren, Diane Harrison, Amy Henderson, laura Rector

Culverhouse College of CommerCe and Business administrationBox 870223Tuscaloosa, Al 35487-0223

Comments, suggestions, questions: [email protected]

The University of Alabama is an equal-opportunity educational institution/employer. MC7884

2 Dean’s Message

3 A Successful Capital CampaignThanks for all your help in supporting the school of

business

5 College International Business ProgramsStudying and working abroad give Culverhouse students

a unique view of the world and themselves

14 Alabama International Trade Center Students go global with careers after completing

internships on campus

16 Hall of FameFour distinguished business figures inducted

25 Tide-FiMIS class develops a free wireless Internet service for

the Strip

28 Alfonso Yuchengco Friend of the University has long and distinguished

history of philanthropy’

29 Alumni Notes

31 In the NewsNation’s economic woes make Culverhouse faculty

popular with media

35 Dennis LauschaCulverhouse graduate finds football in the Big Easy to

his liking

Culverhouse College of CommerCe

executive >>Magazine

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 5

5o n t h e C o v e r

College International Business Programs

37 Faculty and Staff NewsAppointments, recognitions, honors and awards keep

coming

41 Boardroom DisputesTurmoil in the boardroom can affect company performance

45 Academic Business Library Directors Conference

Angelo Bruno Business Library hosts library director from

major business schools

47 Women’s Initiative

Program provides female business students with the tools

for success

49 Entrepreneurship CampHigh school seniors get a feel for college and careers in

business

51 Distinguished Alabama SportsmanRonald Bruno tapped for honor by Alabama Sports Hall of

Fame

53 Student HighlightsAward, conference and internships demonstrate students’

commitment to excellence

57 Staying AbreastKeeping in touch keeps getting easier

E x E c u t i v E c o n t E n t s>>


our safety is our speed

J. Barry Masondean and thomas d. russell Professor of Business Administration

>>


f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 2f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 2

My first order of business is to give a huge “thank you” to all who contributed to

our recently ended capital campaign. We raised nearly $85 million, no easy task in these daunting economic times. Thanks to your generosity, we will now be able to develop a plan that will take the college to the next level of excellence, and that is exciting. We are re-examining each facet of what we do: organizational structure, our mission, our programmatic priorities and possible new directions for the college. These are unusual times and the college faces a unique set of challenges. For example:

Despite the fact that we are operating •on a flat budget for the second year, our enrollment continues to increase. We have more than 6,000 students enrolled this fall, including our online students.Our endowment support has been stable •for 2009–10, but we have been advised that it will decline next year and the year beyond. We have reserves so we will meet our minimum needs for the time being. But we have gone two years without merit salary increases. A third year may cause some defections.The job market is soft across the board, and •our undergraduate placement is roughly 50 percent.

But on the other hand:We have added some intellectual firepower •by hiring three traditional faculty members and one clinical faculty member, while at the same time increasing our faculty and staff diversity.To take some economic burden off the •students and their families, we have developed a way to offer the last two years of our general business program online to the state’s two-year colleges. That allows some students to remain at home to earn a four-year degree.

We all know that the economy will turn around. Until then, we are taking several steps to make sure we do not lose momentum until it happens.

We are strengthening our regional presence •as the university of choice for state students, while at the same time making sure we recruit the quality of students we need. We are doing that by focusing on our recruiting system and intensifying our contact with alumni and friends, encouraging them to hire our students.We are looking for new revenue sources, •such as certificate programs, executive education, industry-specific training programs and more online training.We are turning to our centers and institutes •to bring in more grants and other assistance.We are looking at our existing courses for •ways to meet market demand, streamline costs and partner with other colleges in new program offerings we can launch without investing more resources.And we are looking at how to more •effectively use professionally qualified faculty as opposed to academically qualified faculty. And of course, we will continue to look for ways to reduce our costs by combining jobs in some instances and not filling others.

But we must focus on market-driven strategies and avoid short-term, budget-driven decisions. We must continue to attract good students with prosperous futures, hire quality faculty and staff, strengthen our regional appeal, enhance our revenue and manage our costs effectively. I urge you to remain in contact with the college and share with us your thoughts about the possibilities for the future. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “In skating over thin ice, our safety is our speed.” We are moving quickly to make sure we reach the other side of the lake.

dear friends of the College:

D E a n ’ s M E s s a g E>>


A successful capital campaign is in the books. The

University of alabama raised a total of $612,672,016 million, including $84,787,590 in gifts to the culverhouse college of commerce. More than 100,000 people donated to the University’s campaign, and there were 130 gifts of $1 million or more. Ua employees donated $11.6 million, and students gave $289,093, according to Ua data.

Those are great numbers, but the most important number for the business school may be 6,714. That is the number of people who joined in the culverhouse effort and showed their faith and confidence in our stewardship of their contributions. The college development staff, led by dean J. Barry Mason and director of development charlie adair and joined by diane Harrison, development officer, and John snider, assistant to

the dean, worked long and hard on the campaign. They traveled throughout the nation to meet with potential donors to articulate the need to support a strong business school that is not only a major economic engine for the state but one that produces bright and capable business leaders for the future. contributions came from 45 states and Puerto rico, demonstrating the reach of the culverhouse college of

a successful capital campaign Thanks for all your help in supporting the school of business

>>

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 4

commerce. as might be expected, the bulk of the gifts came from the 3,890 alabama donors who chose to contribute. a core group of executives was

instrumental to the success of the business school’s efforts. They were Will Brooke, of Birmingham, chairman of the culverhouse college Board of Visitors and executive vice president and managing partner of Harbert Management corporation; c. Kemmons Wilson Jr., of Memphis, principal and executive vice president of Kemmons Wilson inc.; charles E. “Eddie” adair, of Montgomery, a partner in cordova Ventures; Harris Morrissette, of Mobile, president of china doll rice and Beans; and carl Jones, of Birmingham, retired cEo of regions financial. “one of the great truths in fundraising is that people give to people. Those five gentlemen opened a lot of doors and kept us pointed in the right direction,” charlie adair said. “and they led by example. all were very generous, and we are deeply appreciative.” The gifts came in all shapes and sizes, from individuals to corporations, from employees and faculty, from new graduates to retirees. Here are some examples. Each campaign has a category called “major gifts,” and few gifts were more important to the college capital campaign than those of

lewis M. and faye Manderson. They have made gifts in excess of $12 million to support the Manderson graduate school of Business, which is named in lewis

Manderson’s honor. The gifts are the third largest in the University’s history. “faye and i are pleased to partner with the University in educating and supporting the brightest business leaders of today and tomorrow,” Manderson said. “We want our gift to support many generations of The University of alabama family and continue a tradition of academic excellence at the capstone.” Manderson is the founder of creative displays inc., one

of the largest outdoor advertising companies in the United states. in 1983, Manderson sold creative displays and went on to serve as president of Manderson and associates inc., a private investment company in atlanta. He also founded cordova capital inc., a venture capital fund, and various other businesses. Manderson received an honorary doctorate from Ua in 1984 and was inducted into the alabama Business Hall of fame in 1994. a native of cordova, he and faye Manderson now reside in atlanta. another example is a gift that came toward the end of the campaign from the current partners, retired partners, principals and employees of Ernst & Young. The gift was one of several from leading accounting firms such as Pricewaterhousecoopers and the reznick group. “The accounting profession has always been exceedingly generous to The University of alabama and to the culverhouse school of accountancy,” Mason said. “That generosity has been exhibited in a number of ways — internships, mentoring initiatives, employment of Ua students — as well as in monetary contributions.”

and there was the grant from the Protective life insurance co. foundation that will be used to support the business school’s developing program in insurance and financial services, risk management and actuarial science. funds will be allocated to add to existing faculty resources in actuarial science and insurance and to provide important infrastructure for the program. dr. William H. rabel, head of the insurance program, said, “We are elated that Protective is helping out at this critical juncture in the program’s development. over the years, Protective has been a wonderful resource for the University. They hire our students for internships and full-time jobs, assist us with speakers for student programs and provide volunteers for our committees.” The contributions to the campaign will be used several ways, including maintaining a level of excellence in business education as judged by national standards; retaining our ranking as one of the premier public business schools in the nation; continuing to upgrade our world class teaching facilities; retaining and adding to the ranks of our outstanding faculty; and providing scholarships to deserving students. Hank rosso, author of “achieving Excellence in fund raising,” wrote many years ago, “fund raising is values-based; values must guide the process. fundraising should never be undertaken simply to raise funds; it must serve the larger cause. … ” our larger cause is producing the best business school graduates we can produce.

“One of the great truths in fund-raising is that people give to people.”

– c h a r l i e a d a i r

college international Business ProgramsStudying and working abroad give Culverhouse students a unique

view of the world and themselves

>>

In England, Crystal McCants didn’t

just smell the roses and take in

the beauty of a London park. She

learned to become more agile and

adaptable as a human being. In

Buenos Aires, Argentina, T.J. Murphy

didn’t just scale the Andes with his

classmates. He learned more about

cultural differences and how to

prepare for the role those differences

play in conducting business

internationally. And in Gabon, Africa,

Lauren Wilder didn’t just see an

elephant in someone’s garage while

spending four days in the middle of

a jungle. She learned what it truly

meant to see business from a global

perspective.

b y c a r m e n b r o w n


Thanks to faculty leadership and new curriculum developments, students

at the culverhouse college of commerce and Business administration at The University of alabama are proving that studying and working abroad are no longer just for the wealthy, the privileged or the brave. in fact, many of them are studying out of the United states for the first time in their lives. not only can everyone do it, they say, but it’s imperative in today’s marketplace. dr. chad Hilton, associate professor of management and marketing, has

directed international business programs in the college since 1998 and also serves as co-chair of the international Business advisory Board, which advises the college on curriculum issues. He has been responsible for internationalizing the programs both on an internal and external level and has recruited many business school students to study abroad. “The bottom line for me is, it’s impossible to talk about business in 2009 and not talk about the global marketplace,” Hilton said. “We’re in a multiplayer world now.”

Hilton said the business school now accounts for 25 percent of all Ua students who study abroad, whether on a short-term or long-term basis, whereas liberal arts students once made up the majority. Many students still participate in traditional, well-known programs such as Ua’s alabama in spain program. However, Hilton said that because the number of students earning double majors in business and a foreign language is increasing, as well as an overall awareness of key players in the global marketplace, he has seen some surprising

“International programs and related activities have

been a priority of the college for almost 50 years.

dean Paul garner was a visionary and foresaw the

accelerating importance of globalization at that

time. the college has a strong executive advisory

board that has continued to guide our international

business initiatives as they accelerate in importance.

our program leading to a double major in a foreign

language and a traditional business discipline is

popular with students and has led to more students

studying abroad. during the past year, our students

have spent time abroad in countries ranging from

Cuba to China and have returned with a profoundly

changed view of the world.”

J. Barry mason

Dean

thomas d. russell

Professor of Business Administration

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 6


new trends. “Arabic has had a big uptake since 2001, although it’s still kind of slow,” Hilton said. “A growing number of students are also interested in learning Chinese.” The business school can also take credit for having the first UA course taken in Cuba. That came in 2003 through the Cooper Cuba Initiative, which was established at UA by board of trustees member Angus Cooper and his brother David Cooper, both of Mobile. The Culverhouse College of Commerce was also the first

college at UA to send students to Turkey in 2008, as well as one of the first to send students to China in 2006 and 2007. Hilton said Culverhouse turns to leading universities, such as the University of South Carolina, the University of North Carolina, Florida International and the prestigious Thunderbird School of Global Management, to find benchmarks for its initiatives. “UNC, for example, encourages all of its MBA students to participate in an international trip during their course of study, and

there are extensive opportunities for undergraduate students that go beyond just studying abroad — their GLOBE program, for example,” Hilton said. “So, we look to such universities to get some measure of how well we are doing and to get an idea of the kinds of innovation we could successfully bring to our own programs. Currently, all of our Executive MBAs have to participate in a study-abroad experience, and we are considering international options for the regular MBA as well.”

lasse sigurd seeim, consul general of norway, delivers the keynote address at a recent meeting international business advisory board of the culverhouse college of commerce and business administration. founded in 1992, the board of business and campus leaders assists the college of commerce in furthering its international initiatives.

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 8

Culverhouse faculty members lead international learning by example When it comes to learning about business issues from a global perspective, culverhouse faculty lead by example, not only encouraging their students to immerse themselves into other cultures, but by regularly traveling and teaching abroad themselves.

dr. alex Ellinger, professor of marketing and management, teaches supply chain management at BEM management school (formerly, the Bordeaux École de Management) in france every three to four years. He is also

a member of the editorial board for supply chain forum: an international Journal published twice a year by the institute for supply chain Excellence of BEM. He described it as a unique and different experience that personifies multiculturalism. “The students at Bordeaux are some of the world’s brightest students,” Ellinger said. “They’re more globally attuned to what is going on. They come from all over the world and speak different languages, but they all understand English well enough for me to lecture in English.” Ellinger suggested Ua business students should take introduction to global Business by their sophomore year, a course that is currently an elective but one that the business school is considering making a requirement. “a lot of kids haven’t got a clue what’s going on in the world,” Ellinger said. “Maybe by their junior year they may take a class on internationalism or study abroad, but they need to start

earlier. They need to be exposed by their sophomore year.” dr. craig armstrong, assistant professor of entrepreneurship in the department of management and marketing, is teaching out of the country for the first time

this year. Through Ua’s partnership with the consortium of Universities for international studies, he is joining his wife and three children for

two years on the asolo campus in italy to teach an MBa class on entrepreneurship. He will share his experiences via his blog on culverhouse across the globe, the college’s new Web page through which faculty, staff, alumni and students can follow the international activities of their colleagues and peers via blogs, photos and videos. “Having an international intelligence is just as important as all of their other subjects, like accounting and finance,” armstrong said. “it’s a necessary literacy.” armstrong said that he has increasingly added international issues to his traditional business courses to expose students to current business topics around the world that can or will affect them in the future. He also said he plans to come back from italy with fresh ideas to incorporate into his courses at Ua. “Every class should have an international element to it because the line between local and global is disappearing, and this needs to be reflected in the curriculum,” armstrong said. dr. Benton gup, professor of finance and an international banking expert, has visited approximately 30 foreign

countries throughout his career as a financial expert, teacher and author. Having served as a visiting professor or research scholar at universities

around the world and at the U.s. comptroller of the currency, gup has often been sought after by the U.s. department of state to share his expertise with foreign governments. He most recently went to Morocco and Tunisia to explain the global financial crisis. He met with government leaders, bankers, businessmen, academicians and students. “The financial crisis is a global problem; it’s not just our problem,” gup said. “My job was to explain the causes of the current financial crises that have spread around the globe and how governments are responding to it. Both Morocco and Tunisa are affected by it because of their close relationships with Europe.” gup also recently spent four days in Vienna, austria, and athens, greece, where he discussed the U.s. economic crisis with austrian economists and financial experts. He also did an interview with English language radio station fM4 and talked with the local newspaper, die Presse. He has published or edited 28 books that deal with national and international financial issues, including his recent publication, “Too Big to fail: Policies and Practices in government Bailouts.” dr. glenn richey, associate professor of international marketing and supply chain management, teaches import-export management as part of the online MBa program. He also

dr. alex ellinger

dr. craig armstrong

dr. benton gup


teaches international issues in istanbul, an interim course that focuses on international trade issues in the third largest city in the world. The class tours istanbul, the cappadocia region and the aegean region containing the old greek cities, getting three different spins on economic issues in Turkey. richey said Turkey has one of the world’s leading emerging economies, and through the interim course, students can experience a culture where capitalism and islam merge successfully. He also noted that studying such a culture is invaluable when it comes to standing out in the business world. “if you’re going against a student from another southeastern college who went to spain, france or london, there’s a significant shock factor,” richey said. “People will think, wow, what a difference.” richey said European schools require travel for business students, and the master’s program in the culverhouse college of commerce and Business is moving in that direction. “a lot of students are apprehensive about traveling because of cost, but we’re working with the advisory board to find more ways to fund,” richey said. “Eighty percent of our students who travel have been funded through the

marketing department and the international business program.” dr. lou Marino, professor of strategic management, has also taught entrepreneurship in the BEM management school in france. “so far it is us going there, but we’re trying to make it reciprocal,” Marino said. “it’s very exciting. We get to work with executives

all over the world. not only do we get to work with them, we get to learn from them.” Marino said that through

participating in the Bordeaux program, he has discovered new opportunities in finding capital and learning how to access it. The Bordeaux program has a specialized Wine MBa, which provides students with marketing and leadership skills they can use to succeed in the wine industry. Marino said international travel helps faculty and students. “it allows faculty members to become a bridge to the network,” he said. “it shows that we have a world-class faculty.” dr. Michael adams, coordinator of the doctoral program in applied statistics, said that although he does not specialize in international courses, he has traveled to several countries including germany, spain, china, Mexico and canada.

However, he clarifies that he did not start traveling until much later in life. “When i was growing up i didn’t get a chance to travel,” adams said. “i grew up in a small town in louisiana, and it never occurred to me that there was a whole other world out there.” adams said the most intriguing country he has been to is china. “china is exploding in the global market and a major player in international business,” he said. “it has over 4,000 years of history and culture.” adams said he encourages his students to get out of alabama and into the world. “The world is an extremely fascinating place,” adams said. “i want students to look past the boundaries they have made for themselves.”

dr. lou marino

The Student Perspective for danielle Borsh, a senior double majoring in international business and italian, learning about business from an international perspective has been a passion cultivated since childhood. “if we want to go way back, my passion for international travel, communication and business began when i was in middle school,” Borsh said. “By age 20, i had traveled to africa, south america and the majority of

Europe, not only for business, but also

photography and community

service.” Most recently, Borsh was

the director of photography on a team that successfully produced a travel magazine, alpine living, which focused on france. “When i think about international business, i become so excited and pumped for what lies ahead due to the experiences i have already had,” she said. Borsh recently lived in italy for six months during which she studied abroad with the consortium of Universities for international studies. she studied topics in international business for three months. afterward she began working for Euro-fer, a multimillion dollar manufacturing company located in northern italy. Borsh served as the lead project manager in which she translated Euro-fer’s customized software-user-manual into English and then flew to the United Kingdom to present the manual to Euro-fer’s top clients. Borsh also facilitated communication between Euro-fer’s chinese counterparts and handled financial negotiations. she

aided the president of Euro-fer in understanding the chinese-English reports at one of Euro-fer’s plants in rizhao, china, a major port city. “i also participated in the decision-making process dealing with key issues of manufacturing our products, employee placement and shipping methods,” she said. she also partnered with Euro-fer’s vice president and developed a marketing plan to penetrate the australian market. “i have learned major life lessons that many 20-year-olds are, unfortunately, not able to experience this early in life,” Borsh said. “i have come back to the University with a renewed energy to bring that opportunity to our students.” one way she has brought her experiences back to Ua came after Hilton learned of an opportunity to reinstate aiEsEc, a nonprofit

organization run by students and recent graduates with a focus on world issues, leadership and management. aiEsEc offers its members customized international exchange or paid international jobs in various fields spanning 140 countries. its international office is in rotterdam, netherlands. The aiEsEc network included 35,000 students in 107 countries and territories as of June 2009. it is present in more than 1,700 universities across the globe and sends students on 5,500 international exchanges yearly. Borsh, who serves as the local committee president, is working with several of her peers to establish

an aiEsEc chapter at Ua. “We have planned a full startup by spring of 2010,” Borsh said. “We will begin with our first recruiting class in the fall of 2009. We will be extremely proactive in our start-up phases with goals ranging from sending our first student abroad to solidifying our leadership staff.” Borsh is also working on an independent project with Hilton in which she is writing a business proposal geared toward developing a joint venture between Euro-fer and an american distribution company based in Houston. “dr. Hilton as well as many of my other business professors have sat with me and helped me out a great deal in figuring out the path i would take when developing my plan,” Borsh said. “They also have served to be amazing social networkers, helping to get me in contact with key people to make

my proposal stand out.” lauren Wilder,

who graduated from the MBa program in 2007, now works in the global negotiations and Business

division for south america

and West africa for Hess corp., a leading global energy company engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. she has traveled extensively to south america but recently spent some time in a remote village outside of libreville, the capital of gabon, which proved to be a very different experience. “i was in the middle of nowhere, like in the middle of the jungle,” Wilder said, laughing. “There were elephants all over the place. i even saw an elephant in someone’s garage and took a picture of it. i thought that was interesting.” Wilder said that while her MBa degree prepared her for her career,

“I was in the middle of nowhere, like in the middle of the jungle,”–lauren wilder

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 1 0

1 1 c u l v e r h o u s e c o l l e g e o f c o m m e r c e

she never anticipated she would have a job where she would have experiences such as the one in gabon. “i never anticipated i would get a job with an international focus where i would be studying business from a global perspective,” Wilder said. “students have to be prepared. it’s important because a lot of business is global. companies are everywhere now.” Business students Wilson Boardman and austin and garrett shirey, brothers, recently studied with other Ua students in Havana, cuba, as part of the cooper cuba initiative. Boardman, a senior majoring in finance, said he was able to take classes in U.s.-cuban relations, spanish conversation and grammar, cuban culture and a review course all through Ua’s spanish department. “i carried a lot of preconceptions,” Boardman said. “i thought surely someone would have a grudge because i’m from the U.s. and, incredibly, it never happened.” Boardman said he saw connections to the United states that he did not realize before, such as the fact that many people in cuba have family in the United states. “The U.s. also does a lot of business with cuba that we don’t realize,” Boardman said. “We have that program here at Ua because a lot of alumni have a vested interest in cuba, so good relations are important.” Beardman is now considering teaching high school spanish or economics for Teach for america. “Traveling has definitely helped direct me in my future career

leanings,” Boardman said. “Thanks to The University of alabama, i was able to do it. They’re always willing to help students who want to do this.”

crystal Mccants, who graduated from the business school in 2007 with a degree in marketing, participated in the london internship program, working with Universal Pictures in the special-interest department. she also worked on a presentation for HMV group, an international entertainment retail chain based in Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. Mccants, who had previously interned with MTV networks in atlanta and radio stations WBHJ 95.7 in Birmingham, said her experience in london was a step outside of her comfort zone, but the reward was worth it. “Everything i had done was in the entertainment industry, and traveling abroad was the only thing i hadn’t done,” Mccants said. “i wanted to broaden my horizons, so going to london was like a baby step for me as far as traveling internationally.” Mccants said her trip changed her in two main ways.

“first, on a personal level, it made me more agile and adaptable,” Mccants said. “secondly, it really helped to highlight my professional career. in 75 percent of my

interviews after graduation, they asked me about my experience in london.” chela canler, a senior majoring in marketing, recently participated in an internship program in dublin, ireland. she was placed with Marketing network, the premiere marketing firm in ireland. “i honestly fell in love with ireland,” canler said. “The people, the music, the land. all beautiful.” canler said she was assigned real tasks for current projects the company was working on. she said she felt her work input really mattered to her colleagues, and she got to see quite a few projects from start to finish, which gave her a great sense of accomplishment. “i wouldn’t change it for the world,” canler said. “in the end, i left with a lot of good experience in the marketing field, but more notably, a job offer to work with them there in dublin as soon as i graduate.”

brothers garrett and austin shirey, both business school students, in havana, cuba

Executive MBA for one subset of students, those in the Manderson graduate school, travel is a requirement. The Executive MBa program, a weekend cohort that targets working professionals, requires students to travel abroad as part of their global business course in which students research and make strategic recommendations to improve business practices for a specific company or industry. in 2009, EMBa students traveled to Buenos aires, argentina, and santiago, chile. companies visited included Johnson control argentina; globant; Empresa nacional de aeronautica de chile (EnaEr, chile’s national aeronautical enterprise); X-strata; and the Viña anakena winery located at the foothills of the andes. The trip provided students with an opportunity to observe people and their cultures and interact with top business leaders. for some in the EMBa class of 2009, it was the first time they had traveled outside the U.s. “i thought i was prepared to experience a week of business study in latin america; i was wrong,” said Tim smalley, managing partner at Byrd, smalley, Evan and adams P.c. “My mental images were shattered and replaced with a love and respect for a wonderful region of the world that is aesthetically and architecturally beautiful,” smalley said. The trip affords an opportunity to really immerse oneself in the way business is conducted in another country, by understanding culture and history, while meeting with business professionals, he said. Brian Middleton, a 2009 EMBa graduate and six sigma Black

Belt at Johnson controls in Tuscaloosa, had also never traveled outside the U.s. and found it to be an exciting, yet humbling experience. “When we visited one of Johnson control’s facilities in argentina, one striking difference was the extensive and sole use of manual labor, whereas in the U.s. we would have employed computers or robots,” Middleton said. “another difference is the credit markets. Every five years they experience a dip financially, but they adapt quite well. They’re very happy because they’ve been there and they know they’ll get through it.” according to Barry Kimbrell, an EMBa 2009 graduate and safety and security manager with chevron Mining, “There is a difference in reading about latin american markets and experiencing firsthand and hearing from key executives about how it’s impacting their business day to day.” He further said, “While in argentina we witnessed the economic downturn with layoffs at coca-cola and a line shutdown at ford argentina. Meanwhile, we visited globant, and in spite of the economic situation in the U.s., they are one of the fastest-growing companies in argentina. We felt we were visiting a future power player in the internet and software industry.” amy Webb, a 2009 EMBa graduate and electrolytic area leader for Tronox llc, said her group was assigned to study globant, the google of south america. Webb said her research could not

prepare her for the actual visit to south america. “The trip impacted my career by giving me a deeper appreciation for business cultures outside of my domestic experiences,” Webb said. “i had the opportunity to participate on multicultural teams with Tronox. This experience has shown me that a little background work on the different cultures can improve the team’s performance.” another 2009 EMBa graduate, dave Patterson, manager of drs Test and Energy Management, was intrigued by his visits to EnaEr, which conducts maintenance repair for the latin american air force, and Johnson controls in argentina. “i have traveled out of the country before, but it was always to the United Kingdom. going to south america for the first time was a life-altering experience,” Patterson said. “i didn’t realize how much south america influenced world economy. for instance, Johnson controls makes 90 percent of the world’s batteries. You always hear about Europe, but you never hear about latin america. That was an eye-opener

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 1 2


Internships Abroad Kristi Wheeler-griffin, internship coordinator for the business school, said c&Ba currently offers summer internships in london and dublin, ireland. in order to enroll in these programs, students must have earned at least 60 hours, have at least a 2.5 overall gPa and be enrolled in the upper division of the business school. “although it would be difficult to pinpoint a percentage of eligible business students who intern abroad, the london program has grown significantly since it launched in 2004,” Wheeler-griffin said. “By 2005, program enrollment had increased by 84 percent. in 2008, the dublin program was added to offer another option for students.” Wheeler-griffin said london and dublin are good choices for students who have had little to no traveling-abroad experience. “These destinations combine the familiarity of an English-speaking environment with a new and unique cultural and business atmosphere. as interest continues to build, mostly through word-of-mouth among students, other destinations may be considered. Even though these countries are English-

speaking, students are often surprised at the cultural and workplace differences.” Wheeler-griffin said traveling abroad for an internship is an invaluable supplement to what students learn in the classroom. “already having work experience, especially international experience, carries a lot of weight with employers,” Wheeler-griffin said. “Working overseas cultivates an awareness of contemporary practices in the global economy, which often gives students an advantage in competing for jobs upon graduation. The unique exposure to business practices and work environments outside one’s comfort zone is prominent on a résumé. an internship abroad will surely come up during an interview because it’s an excellent example of the confidence and initiative it takes to seek out and welcome new challenges.” The seven-week program in dublin is made possible through collaboration with the European Union studies association, c&Ba, the college of communication and information sciences and Ua’s capstone international programs.

>>

alabama international Trade centerStudents go global with careers after completing internships on campus

>>

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 1 4


>>

London, Paris, maybe Tokyo. That’s not just a line from a pop

song, but places where University of alabama students have landed jobs after completing internships on campus at the W.r. Bennett alabama international Trade center (aiTc). More often, students find international jobs here in the states, thanks to this 30-year-old program that leverages University resources to help alabama firms expand internationally. “i found out about the world of

importing and exporting at the trade center,” said fiona nguyen, a recent Mis graduate. “There are many small businesses involved, not just the large ones.” nguyen had the opportunity to assist a delegation of executives from Vietnam hosted by the trade center as part of its emerging markets program. she and aiTc professional staff members accompanied the group to an international trade show in chicago and organized meetings with U.s. companies. “i met presidents of companies from Vietnam,” nguyen said. “it was interesting to hear how they will introduce U.s. products to the market in Vietnam.” Her experience is not unique. Hundreds of Ua students — both graduate and undergraduate — have worked at the campus center and

launched trade careers since its inception in 1979. The center is part of Ua’s service mission and helps existing industry increase international business and expand the state’s economy. dr. William r. Bennett, professor of international marketing, founded the center and served as its first director from 1979 to 1985. Upon his retirement, the center was named in his honor. from day one, center students developed professions as diplomats with the U.s. state department,

export managers with manufacturers, international

bankers and international business professors at universities in places far and near. Here’s how it works. students conduct research for aiTc clients — small businesses in the state and region —

interested in expanding overseas sales. research

is based on client needs and includes finding foreign distributors, locating tariff and import regulations and providing statistics on product shipments worldwide. clients use the information along with other center services to increase export sales. Today’s students are not only tech-savvy but also travel abroad and speak other languages. This summer Peter Jay, a student in the joint MBa-Jd program, had prior experience selling to russia and Eastern Europe. He speaks russian and has started two internet retail companies. “i knew the export process, but i’ve gained more knowledge about domestic and export financing,” Jay said. “i’ve helped prepare loan packages for potential bank financing for center clients.” “students play a vital role in our daily work with over 200 small firms each year,” said Michael Brooks,

aiTc assistant director of research. “They conduct research for a variety of products from candy to computer software. it’s never a dull moment at the Bidgood office.” The trade center has also been a supply pipeline for students entering the global logistics field. one top freight-forwarding firm, Expeditors international, had 10 trade center “graduates” in its atlanta office at one time. charlie aleman, a 2005 graduate from orlando, worked four semesters while studying finance. He was one of 10 people nationwide selected for a training program with global logistics firm Maersk and was recently posted to dubai, United arab Emirates. carolyn Turner, a former international business honors student, returned to Ua to complete a graduate degree in supply chain management. she works at the trade center. Turner passed the rigorous U.s. customs Exam and obtained a customs broker license. student profiles and success are posted on the aiTc Web site to help recruit new interns and sway future students to enroll at Ua. not surprisingly, children of former graduates and clients are interested in working at the trade center. a former client in guatemala recently sent an e-mail asking for Ua admissions information for his daughter. With annual public and private support, especially from the small Business administration, about 15–20 students gain practical work experience each year and continue the tradition that Bennett started in the late 1970s. That’s good news for alabama companies that want to expand sales abroad and for students that need a springboard for international trade careers.

“I met presidents of companies from Vietnam,” Nguyen said. “It was interesting to hear how they will introduce U.S. products to the market in Vietnam.”

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 1 6

>>

Hall of fameFour distinguished business figures inducted

four of the state’s leading business and civic leaders were inducted into the alabama Business Hall of fame last month at a black-tie dinner at the Bryant conference center on The University of alabama campus. This year marked the 36th anniversary of the Hall of fame, sponsored by the Board of Visitors of Ua’s culverhouse college of commerce and Business administration. The four inductees exemplify hard work and determination as well as a commitment to excellence and the betterment of their community. More than 130 prominent business leaders have been inducted into the business hall of fame, and their likenesses are embossed on plaques that line the walls of the Hall of fame room in Bidgood Hall on the University campus.

The 2009 alabama Business Hall of fame inductees are:

Mike Jenkins iv, Chairman and Chief Executive

Officer, Jenkins Brick Co.

the late thomas e. Jernigan,

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Marathon Corporation

carl e. Jones Jr., former President and Chief Executive Officer, Regions

Financial Corp.

John russell thomas, Chairman of the Board, Aliant

Financial Corp.

p r o f i l e s b y c a r o l i n e b e a r d


Mike Jenkins iVChairman, Chief Executive OfficerJenkins Brick co.

(1940–) To some, the word “green” indicates a lack of knowledge or experience. although Mike Jenkins is certainly green, with more than 40 years in the brick industry he is anything but inexperienced. as the fourth generation at the helm of Jenkins Brick co., he helped revolutionize the brick-making process in 1998, becoming one of the industry’s first manufacturers to use landfill gas rather than natural gas for firing the kilns. Jenkins Brick is the largest user of earth-friendly methane gas in the brick industry, and the company also harvests stormwater from the roofs of its manufacturing plants for use during production. as worker-friendly as he is environmentally conscious, Jenkins treats his employees in an exemplary manner. from corporate executives to workers stacking brick, everyone is an “associate,” and each associate receives the same benefits. Everyone at Jenkins Brick is on a first-name basis, and Jenkins ensures equal treatment of all associates.

Jenkins has not always been an experienced and resourceful leader in the brick industry, however. in 1960, the 18-year-old graduated from sidney lanier High school in Montgomery, ala. Jenkins attended Washington and lee University in Virginia and graduated in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and four years of roTc training. He was then commissioned by the U.s. army and served two years of active duty in Korea as an infantry officer. Jenkins received his parachutist badge as well as the Expert infantryman Badge, and he was the only officer below the rank of major to receive the army commendation Medal during the 13-month tour. after an honorable discharge in november 1966, Jenkins began his career with Jenkins Brick co., a business founded in the late 1800s by his great-grandfather. Jenkins learned every aspect of the family trade, beginning in sales and working his way up to plant manager. He also continued his education, earning a master’s degree in ceramic engineering from clemson University in 1969. in 1974, Jenkins advanced to the position of chief executive officer of the company, which at that time had three distribution locations in alabama and florida. Today, Jenkins Brick operates in nearly 30 locations throughout the southeast, manufacturing and distributing its own brick as well as brick and building materials manufactured by others.

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 1 8

Jenkins Brick co. has plants in coosada, Montgomery and st. clair county in alabama, which together produce more than 326 million bricks annually. in 1998, the plant in Montgomery was converted to run on landfill gas, and it now produces 110 million bricks each year while saving energy and benefiting the environment. The coosada plant, originally built in 1959, began to produce high-end specialty brick in 2004 and makes 80 million bricks annually. in 2006, Jenkins Brick built the st. clair county facility, placing it just six miles from the local landfill so the kilns could be fueled with the methane gas produced by the waste. The company’s current use of landfill methane reduces greenhouse gases each year in an amount equal to planting 14,700 acres of forest, removing the emission of 13,700 vehicles or preventing the use of 166,600 barrels of oil. Throughout the years, Jenkins Brick co. has been recognized numerous times for outstanding business and environmental practices. The United states Environmental Protection agency awarded Jenkins Brick with the 2006 Project of the Year, honoring the company’s earth-friendly plant in st. clair county. Jenkins Brick was selected as one of 11 businesses worldwide to participate in a Harvard University study called, “The Project on global Working families.” The green-minded Jenkins Brick is also a two-time recipient of the alabama Wildlife federation governor’s conservation achievement award for air conservationist of the Year, receiving the honor in 1999 and again in 2007. Jenkins Brick also received the alabama Technology council and Business council of alabama award for Medium Manufacturer of the Year in 2007. The same year, the Montgomery area Business committee for the arts, a national nonprofit organization uniting business and the arts, recognized the company’s involvement in the arts in Montgomery with the 2007 Business in the arts award. Then in 2008, Jenkins Brick received MaX credit Union’s EcoMax green leadership award and was also named among inc. magazine’s Top 5,000 fastest-growing Private companies in america. Jenkins, like his company, has amassed a number of awards for business leadership and community service. in 1999, Jenkins’ alma mater, Washington and lee University, selected him as one of 250 leading alumni in honor of the school’s 250th anniversary. Jenkins’ high school, sidney lanier, honored him with the title of outstanding alumnus. Jenkins received the Martin luther King Jr., community service award from the alpha Phi alpha fraternity, and the community leadership association awarded him its distinguished leadership award. in 2008, the Montgomery chapter of the american institute of architects recognized Jenkins’ outstanding contributions to the architectural profession, awarding him the Mike Barrett Memorial award. Most recently, Jenkins received the highest honor in his industry, the Brick institute of america’s lifetime achievement award. Jenkins has not only served as the leader of his company for

decades, he has also been involved in numerous civic and service organizations, generously giving his time and leadership to the community. in the past, Jenkins acted as director and vice chairman of both the Montgomery area United Way and the Montgomery red cross, and he directed the United Way’s 1999 capital campaign. He also served as a trustee for both the alabama institute for the deaf and Blind foundation and the nature conservancy of alabama. as a co-founder and an original steering committee member, Jenkins contributed to the formation of leadership Montgomery and is co-founder, past chairman and current director of leadership alabama, organizations which foster relationships that bridge social and ethnic boundaries. He is a past director of Jackson Hospital, the national Episcopal church foundation and the Montgomery area YMca. over the years, Jenkins has been involved in a number of educational causes throughout the state and the country. He was a director of the alumni board at Washington and lee and served on the board of governors for the alabama association of Private colleges and Universities. He served as president and board chairman of Montgomery academy, and he served as a director of the Montgomery city-county Public library. in business, Jenkins has served as chairman of the rebel chapter of the Young Presidents’ organization and director of the society of international Business fellows. He is a former chairman of the Montgomery chamber of commerce, a former director and vice chairman of the alabama association of Business and industry and a director of the Business council of alabama. currently, Jenkins continues to lead in numerous organizations. He serves as director of the alabama archives and History foundation and is a trustee of The University of alabama Museums. Jenkins also serves as director and vice chairman of the Brick industry association and director of the Business council of alabama. in education, he is a director of the alabama state University foundation and a trustee of Huntingdon college. Jenkins also holds memberships in the chief Executive organization, the society of international Business fellows and the World President’s organization. in 2007, the position of president of Jenkins Brick was filled by someone Jenkins wholeheartedly trusts: his son, Mike Jenkins V. The senior Jenkins said he did not want his son to feel forced into the family business. “i was very conscious to neither discourage nor encourage him to choose this path,” he said. But the younger Jenkins chose the brick-making profession, and worked his way through the ranks of the company. Jenkins said, “seeing my son now as an integral part of the company is one of the great pleasures of life.” Jenkins and his wife, Kent, have four children and 10 grandchildren, with another grandchild on the way. He lives in Montgomery where he continues to serve as cEo and chairman of Jenkins Brick co.


Thomas E. JerniganChairman and Chief Executive OfficerMarathon corporation

(1923–2008) The life of Thomas E. Jernigan was the proverbial american dream. from humble beginnings in rural alabama, Jernigan grew to become successful in every endeavor he attempted. Born in atmore, ala., in 1923, Jernigan later moved to frisco city in Monroe county. He grew up on a farm with his brothers, ferrell and carl, and sister, loretta. after graduating from high school, Jernigan joined the United states air force and served two years during World War ii. When he returned from military service, he attended The University of alabama. after completing his studies, Jernigan settled in Mountain Brook, ala., where he raised his family and emerged as a business leader within the community and around the southeast. Jernigan began his entrepreneurial endeavors by developing a line of children’s playground equipment. in 1965, he founded

Plantation Pattern co., a manufacturer of wrought iron casual furniture, which still is operating today. four years later, Jernigan founded United chair co., an office furniture manufacturer. United chair exists today as a member of the groupe lacasse family of brands. showing no signs of slowing, in 1970 Jernigan founded Marathon realty co. to build and develop commercial properties. The company primarily did business in the Birmingham market in alabama and the fort lauderdale and Tampa markets in florida. in 1971, he decided to test his skills with an additional challenge. He founded Marathon Equipment co., a maker of commercial and industrial trash compaction equipment. during the time Jernigan was at the helm of Marathon Equipment, the company was recognized as the largest commercial trash compaction manufacturer in the world and a key supplier to some of the largest waste removal companies, such as Waste Management and Bfi. like most of Jernigan’s companies, Marathon Equipment received many awards and commendations from its suppliers. from its original plant in Vernon, ala., Marathon added a new plant in Yerington, nev., in december 1985 and another

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 2 0

plant in clearfield, Pa., in 1989. The company began selling its products overseas, meeting waste management needs in australia, Mexico, central america and the Middle East. in 1972, Jernigan became cEo of delwood furniture, a corporation that consisted of six individual manufacturing companies specializing in home and office furniture. not one to rest on the laurels of his mounting business successes, Jernigan put another idea into action in 1973. He developed the concept of neighborhood convenience stores in alabama, an idea that caught on incredibly well. Jernigan founded and built a chain of 80 Quick Marts throughout the state. Jernigan started yet another successful business venture in 1976 when he founded Winston furniture co. in Haleyville, ala. Winston still is a leading manufacturer of aluminum outdoor casual furniture. The company began by making basic wrought iron furniture but soon added simple aluminum furniture with vinyl straps. Winston broadened and modified the materials it used, becoming the first company to develop cushioned fabrics for outdoor use. These new fabrics contained special mildew-resistant fibers and ultraviolet light stabilizers that helped the furniture withstand the elements. in 1982, a revolution hit the casual furniture industry, with Winston at the forefront of the trend. Winston introduced sling furniture, a type of furnishing in which panels of special fabric are pulled taut through the furniture frame, resulting in sleek, comfortable, low-maintenance furniture. The Winston furniture line includes both cushion and sling furniture in varying styles, finishes and fabrics. in addition to his other business ventures, Jernigan was active in the banking industry. He was an original director of the central Bank and Trust co., which eventually became compass Bank. Jernigan’s longtime friend and business colleague, Harry B. Brock, president and cEo of compass Bank, said Jernigan was instrumental in changing the state’s banking industry. He was a key player and investor in the formation of central and state national corp., a move that sparked the formation of bank-holding companies in alabama. in 1992, Jernigan became interested in the apparel industry. consistent with his progressive thinking, he was able to marry this new business to a philanthropic course. Marathon apparel was born under his hand and over a 15-year period donated more than $5 million to a variety of wildlife and conservation organizations, such as ducks Unlimited, the audubon society, the nature conservancy, the national Turkey foundation, Quail Unlimited and others. Marathon corp. has enjoyed several years of success, and it has consistently given back to the community. in 2001, Marathon donated $1 million to the relief centers in new York city following the attack on the World Trade center. in 2005, Marathon donated clothing and food to victims of Hurricane Katrina and has helped flood and tornado victims across the country. Through the Thomas E. Jernigan foundation, a program was started in Birmingham to help churches provide holiday relief for people in need.

Throughout his life and his many successful business endeavors, Jernigan always remembered people in need. He donated generously to the United Way, the salvation army, the american Heart association, the american cancer society, children’s Hospital, the Big oak ranch, Junior achievement, Juvenile diabetes, Habitat for Humanity, cornerstone schools and many other organizations. His grant started the first and only camp for children with cancer in the southeast. This was done in cooperation with campfire Usa of central alabama and children’s Hospital. He also funded medical research at local hospitals. in 1995, the association of fundraising Professionals presented Jernigan with the William M. and Virginia B. spencer award for outstanding Philanthropist. The United Way of central alabama honored Jernigan in 2007, awarding him membership in the alexis de Toqueville society in recognition of his generous gifts. during his long and busy career, Jernigan also gave much of his time and money to education. He was a member of the board of trustees for Birmingham southern college, and in honor of his years of service, the school awarded him an honorary doctor of laws. He also served on the Mountain Brook city schools foundation board of directors and the advisory Board at The University of alabama at Birmingham. He established endowments at Birmingham southern, samford University and The University of alabama, both the Tuscaloosa and Birmingham campuses. These endowments created scholarships that still provide deserving college and nursing students with the opportunities to pursue higher education. Jernigan also held memberships at country clubs throughout alabama, florida and north carolina. He enjoyed socializing with colleagues and friends in his spare time and was involved in the Birmingham rotary club, the Young Presidents organization, and the roMEos (retired old Men Eating out). Jernigan passed away in January 2008 after battling leukemia. He is survived by his wife of 22 years, donna conyers Jernigan, and his four children, Thomas E. Jernigan Jr., lisa Jernigan Bruhn, Mary conyers Jernigan and Jonathan Winston Jernigan. Jernigan remained chairman and chief executive of Marathon corp. until his death. frank falkenburg, a longtime business partner and friend, summed up Jernigan’s life and character: “He was as tough and sweet a man as i have ever known. He could be the most rugged person you might meet, and then he’d write a check for some little town in Mississippi that he read about in the newspaper trying to get over Hurricane Katrina.” dr. neal Berte, president emeritus, Birmingham southern college, said of Jernigan: “By any standard, the Birmingham community and beyond has benefited greatly from the quiet but generous philanthropy of one of our most successful businessmen. Thomas E. Jernigan is one of Birmingham’s most successful entrepreneurs and businessmen, and his legacy of leadership will live on in the future, including those who are fortunate enough to receive a Thomas E. Jernigan Honor scholarship.”


carl E. Jones Jr.Chairmanregions Financial corp.

(1940–) carl E. Jones Jr. graduated from The University of alabama in 1962 with a degree in finance and two job offers. He chose to take the position of management trainee at Merchants national Bank of Mobile, a small decision that set the stage for a long and extremely successful banking career. Jones began his career selling data processing services to smaller community banks and later became a commercial lender. Then in 1978, just 14 years after his arrival at Merchants national, Jones was promoted to president of the Mobile bank, making him the youngest president of a major bank in alabama. By 1981, he was president, chairman and chief executive officer of the bank in Mobile. later in the same year, regions financial corp., then known as first alabama Bancshares, acquired Merchants national, and

in 1984 Jones became a regional president, overseeing the banks in louisiana and south alabama. in 1997, Jones advanced to become president and chief operating officer for regions nationally, and in the following year, he took on the role of chief executive officer. Two years later in 2000, Jones took on the additional role of chairman of regions financial corp. at that time, regions held just more than $23 billion in assets and consisted of 435 offices in eight states. Under Jones’ leadership, the bank nearly quadrupled in size through acquisitions and internal growth, becoming one of the top 15 bank-holding companies in the U.s. as Jones reached age 65 and stepped down as cEo in May 2005, regions had more than $84 billion in assets and five million customers served by 1,400 offices in 16 states. While Jones served as cEo, earnings increased every year and the annual dividend was also raised yearly up to $1.40. When he retired, regions financial was the largest publicly traded company in alabama, as measured by stock market values. Jones, who fully retired in april of 2006, says that he was “just privileged to be there with a hand on the steering wheel while

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 2 2

all that was happening.” The hands on the steering wheel were more able than the modest banker would admit. J. stanley Mackin, the former cEo of regions, said Jones is “not only a seasoned banker, but he is a man of exceptional integrity.” Throughout his life, Jones has demonstrated true leadership qualities, as well as the motivation to succeed. in high school, he was elected president of his senior class and the student council, along with acting as captain of the basketball team. He graduated as the top student in his class from University Military school in Mobile before continuing on to The University of alabama. Jones also stood out as a leader among his peers in the college setting. He served as president of the Kappa alpha fraternity, chairman of the senate finance committee in the student government association and chairman of the student Health insurance commission. during his senior year, he was recognized with the award for outstanding sga senator, and the alabama Bankers association presented him with the award for outstanding student in banking and finance. after graduating from The University of alabama, Jones continued his education, attending louisiana state University graduate school of Banking, the national commercial lending school at the University of oklahoma and the graduate school of credit and financial Management at dartmouth. in spite of many additional years of education after graduating from The University of alabama, Jones never forgot his original alma mater. as an alumnus, he has served on the Board of Visitors for the college of commerce and Business administration for nearly 30 years. He has held a seat on every President’s cabinet since david Mathews’ term in 1969. during the University’s capital campaigns, Jones volunteered his time, including serving as one of four co-chairmen of the very successful national capital campaign completed this summer. His wife, ann, whom he met while they were both in school at the University, was another co-chairman, and the team’s combined efforts exceeded the $500 million goal by 22 percent as they raised more than $612 million. in 2005, regions financial established an endowed scholarship fund at The University of alabama in honor of Jones. The company donated $1 million for full tuition scholarships for dependents of regions employees. Jones and his wife, ann, tripled the amount with an additional $2 million gift of their own. currently, over 20 students are utilizing these awards. Jones’ generosity and years of hard work for The University of alabama have not gone without recognition. Jones and his wife received the Volunteer in Philanthropy award in november 2006. in 2007, the couple was again honored at the University, this time with the frances s. summersell award given by the Ua chapter of omicron delta Kappa. in addition to his involvement with the University, Jones has also given his time to numerous organizations throughout the years. He has served on several boards of directors, including the federal reserve Bank of new orleans, the alabama dry dock and shipbuilding co., the alabama chamber of commerce

and the alabama Bankers Educational foundation. Jones was an 18-year member of the alabama Power company board of directors, and he was also on the board of the financial services roundtable, a national trade association of the 100 largest financial institutions. Jones chaired both the alabama Bankers commercial credit committee and the Mobile area chamber of commerce, and he was a trustee for the Public affairs research council of alabama and the Economic development Partnership of alabama. somehow, in addition to serving many professional organizations throughout the southeast, Jones found time to give to numerous civic groups. He served as president for the Mobile Junior chamber of commerce, Mobile azalea Trail, Mobile allied arts council and Mobile rotary club and national president of america’s Junior Miss. Jones was very involved in education, as well, serving as a chairman for the UMs-Wright Preparatory school board of trustees and trustee for the Mobile Pre-school for the deaf. He also served as the executive vice president of the Mobile arts and sports association and vice chairman of infirmary Health system. He is currently active at the cathedral church of the advent. for his years of dedication to both the banking business and philanthropic causes throughout alabama, Jones has received much recognition. in 1972, Jones was named Mobile’s outstanding Young Man of the Year and then a year later became alabama’s outstanding Young Banker of the Year. Jones’ high school, UMs-Wright, named him alumnus of the Year in 1992. The national association for community leadership presented him with the 1997 distinguished leadership award. in november 2004, the newcomen society honored regions and its cEo by naming regions as the featured alabama company of the year. When Jones retired in 2006, operation new Birmingham recognized him with the lifetime achievement award, and then in 2007, the Birmingham Business Journal presented him with its lifetime achievement award. Today, Jones enjoys retirement in Birmingham with ann, his wife of 47 years. They have two adult children and three grandchildren.


John russell ThomasChairman, Chief Executive Officer, Presidentaliant Financial corp.

(1937–) Years before the birth of John russell Thomas, his family had already left an indelible mark on the community of alexander city, ala. The russells were among the first settlers in Tallapoosa county. in 1902, John russell’s great-uncle founded russell Manufacturing co., a small textile manufacturing operation that grew to become the international athletic apparel and equipment manufacturer known as russell corp. When John russell Thomas was born to russell and crawford Thomas on aug. 1, 1937, it seemed apparent he would continue the family legacy. He started preparing for a future career in the textile industry as soon as he could. Beginning on his 16th birthday, Thomas worked during the summers at russell corp. after graduating from Baylor school in chattanooga, Tenn., in 1956, he attended georgia Tech. four years later, Thomas graduated with a bachelor’s degree in textile engineering. He then spent 1961 and 1962 in graduate school at The University of alabama school of Business

administration. during his time in Tuscaloosa, he met Tate Jordan, whom he married in 1962. after serving two years of active duty as a first lieutenant in the U.s. army, Thomas returned home to take the position of vice president in charge of systems and engineering at russell corp., the job he had planned for and anticipated most of his life. His wife, Tate, gave birth to twin boys, John J. Thomas and russell l. Thomas in 1965. in 1966, not long after becoming a father himself, Thomas lost his own father. russell Thomas had been chief executive officer of first national Bank of alexander city, founded in 1900 by the same uncle who created russell corp., and the Thomas family held controlling interest in the financial institution. after his father’s death and issues with management succession, Thomas was forced to choose between selling the bank or running it himself. He chose the latter. although Thomas had been a director of the bank for eight years, he knew little about the operation and inner workings of a bank, and he had certainly never planned on a career in banking. His college education readied him for a future in the textile industry, specifically working in the family business at russell corp. Thomas now found himself preparing to work in the family business, but in an entirely different industry. faced with this midlife career switch, Thomas left little

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 2 4

to luck. He signed up for every available alabama Bankers association seminar and as many american Bankers association seminars as he could. He enrolled at the school of Banking of the south at louisiana state University, and he went to consumer lending school. Thomas learned everything he could from every knowledgeable source available. He realized that other banks possessed a great wealth of knowledge, and as a licensed pilot, he was able to fly around the southeast collecting advice and tips from more experienced bankers. all the hours Thomas logged trying to learn the ropes paid off; when he first took the helm at first national Bank in 1973, the bank was a small but solid operation squeezed into building it had outgrown. it had $33 million in assets and two electric calculators. in 2008, the multibank-holding company, now called aliant financial corp., reported more than $972 million in assets. in his 35 years, Thomas has seen and helped facilitate a great deal of growth for the bank. one of the issues he immediately recognized was the need for space; aliant has since expanded to three separate regional divisions, including more than 20 branches in the Birmingham, Montgomery and Tallapoosa areas. from the start, Thomas also realized that technology would play an important role in the future of banking. Within his first three months, the bank had purchased its first computer, and today, aliant offers a full range of computerized online banking services. Thomas credits the success of the bank to its attention to basics and people. Thomas believes in finding good employees and giving them the proper training, motivation and equipment. often, to find the right people, Thomas goes straight to the source, visiting local schools and recruiting talented young students to join the aliant team. He also believes in treating his employees fairly, something the Birmingham Business Journal recognized when they named aliant among the best places to work in 2008. during his time with aliant, Thomas has worked diligently to help foster and instill the corporation’s core values of serving, positive attitude, outperforming, accountability and trust and to help build the bank that is “small enough to listen, large enough to be effective.” according to Thomas, golfing has also been a major player in his banking career. a member of five country clubs around the southeast, he sees golf as not only good recreation but also as great networking; on the course, he has met and befriended other bankers from around alabama and across the country. While Thomas enjoys spending some of his free time hunting and traveling, he also gives a great deal of his time back to the community. over the years, he has worked actively to promote better banking and business throughout alabama, serving on boards of directors for multiple corporations and groups across the state. in 1986, just 13 years after the start of his banking career, Thomas was chosen as president of the alabama Bankers association. in Montgomery, Thomas served on the board for the alabama Housing finance authority, a public corporation that offers affordable financing for housing to low-income alabama

families. He served on the board of directors for Huntingdon college and spent 19 years on the board for alfa insurance corp., which services more than one million policies across 12 states. in alexander city, Thomas served on the board of russell Medical center and russell lands, and he served 40 years on the board of russell corp. He was also chairman of the alexander city Board of Education and president of the alexander city chamber of commerce. Throughout the years, Thomas has given generously to philanthropic and political causes. He chaired the fundraising campaign for the Big Brothers and Big sisters sports Ball of greater Birmingham in 2005. in recognition of his contributions to the United Way, he was honored by the alexis de Tocqueville society. currently, he is on the board of directors for the Business council of alabama, as well as a number of groups promoting education. although he graduated from The University of alabama in 1962, Thomas has never ceased to be involved with the system campuses. He served on the President’s council of The University of alabama at Birmingham, and he was a member of the Board of Trustees of The University of alabama for 13 years. Today, Thomas is a member of the board of directors for the UaB Health system. He serves on The University of alabama President’s cabinet and the Board of Visitors of the business school, as well as the athletic foundation, and he is chairman of the 1831 foundation. Thomas married claudia Paden Thompson in 1995 after the death of his wife, Tate, in 1992. Together they have four children, russell l. Thomas, John J. Thomas, laurie Mcgill and reynolds Thompson and 10 grandchildren. in the face of today’s economic turmoil, Thomas remains optimistic. He is ever confident in his employees, saying that aliant’s “great team truly has the grit to take the rough but necessary measures” to weather the storm. While the next few years may not be the easiest, Thomas notes that aliant has already survived a depression and two world wars, and he envisions a solid future for aliant. “Throughout its 109-year history, aliant has seen good times and bad. By keeping a clear head and steadily moving forward with one foot in front of the other, we expect to meet our difficult challenges.”


Tide-fiMIS class develops a free wireless Internet service for the Strip

>>

The next time you are on the strip for a meal or tailgating before a

University of alabama football game, you may notice that it’s easier to connect to the internet. a management information systems class in the culverhouse college of commerce has developed a publically available wireless internet service that is free for patrons of shops and restaurants on the strip.

The retail and restaurant area along University Boulevard near the Ua campus is a popular place for students to congregate and socialize. Except for a few spots, the strip has lacked comprehensive internet access that allows students to connect to their studies or work in groups. “The project was initiated by students who realized the value of

finding alternative environments to learn,” said dung chau, a Ua business school professor. “students wanted a comfortable place to gather for their team meetings and as an alternative to the library or dorm room.” over the course of two semesters, the junior Mis data communications students first developed the business case and technical requirements that


f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 2 6

led the chamber of commerce of West alabama, Ua President robert E. Witt, the local strip business owners and aT&T to support the project. The basic value proposition identified by the project team is that “there is a need for evening group study space and the strip restaurants and coffee shops have empty tables after the dinner rush,” chau said. “adding the internet access makes

these establishments an extension of the University’s learning centers.” The project teams also developed financial projections for future sales based on increased student patrons at the restaurants during what were previously slack evening hours. next, the team created the free wireless network called Tide-fi for all strip patrons. it provides wireless

coverage to all businesses along University Boulevard, from the start of the strip at the alabama Book store to the end of the strip at surin Thai restaurant. By creating a wireless network on the strip, Tide-fi creates more meeting spaces for groups to work on projects and stay connected to school resources. it will allow students and shoppers to stay

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 2 6


connected to their school or business life while eating or shopping on the strip. The Tide-fi project teams studied several cities that have tried to implement Wi-fi. according to chau, most failed because cities tried to compete with traditional isPs, went over budget or did not properly manage expectations for all stakeholders. With the assistance of the Technology council at the chamber of commerce of West alabama, the project teams came up with a solution that allowed all stakeholders to cooperate rather than compete. They built a coalition of partners — including the retail shops and eateries on the strip, the city of Tuscaloosa and aT&T — to develop a low-cost wireless network that would be easy to manage. Business owners on the strip were enthusiastic about the project, chau said, and many saw it as a way to boost business traffic during their slower times. david Jones Jr., owner of the alabama Book store, is an early advocate. “Businesses might get an extra drink or get a dessert out of (students staying longer). Everyone needs a better image of the strip,” he said. “it might not be as conducive to meeting as some of the library study rooms,” Jones said. “But when i was in school, we had group meetings all the time. it would have been nice to have them at a more laid-back atmosphere, and you wouldn’t have to worry about ‘oh, your 45 minutes are up.’”

The Tide-fi network promotes business for strip merchants by removing the connectivity barrier for customers. However, the Tide-fi project team took steps not to upset their partner aT&T by providing unlimited internet access for anyone who lived within range of the Tide-fi network. The solution was to limit the Tide-fi network to casual use. Users are allowed two hours of free internet access each day. after reaching the limit, users are prevented from using the network again until the next day. The network also limits the access speed and downloads. The casual-usage policy prevents residents and businesses in the strip area from relying on the Tide-fi network as their permanent internet connection. “We didn’t want Tide-fi to compete against the isPs and cannibalize their services by having residents replace their internet plans with Tide-fi. aT&T has been an incredible business partner. We could not do this project without their support,” chau said. aT&T has donated two dsl modem services for the two-year research project. The city of Tuscaloosa has provided assistance with mounting equipment on traffic lights. doug Taylor, information technology director for the city, said lessons learned from this project could be used for Tuscaloosa’s initiative to improve quality-of-life through more internet connectivity in public spaces, such as municipal parks. The Tide-fi network was launched

during the fall 2009 school semester. it is a two-year research project to study different business models for revenue sustainability, such as advertisements and sponsorship; attitude perception and use of strip areas; and management of the Tide-fi network. “students have learned to identify business value, build a business case for innovation and promote an initiative to investors and partners,” said dr. david Hale, professor of management information systems and director of the Ua Mis program. “Managing expectations of the strip merchants, President Witt, senior associate dean Mike Hardin, the West alabama chamber of commerce and patrons, the students gained real experience with communicating and managing expectations.” additionally, the team dealt with challenges of integrating software and hardware technology, legal issues of licensing models for software, vendor selection for hardware and software, installation of network equipment and U.s. Homeland security regulations. The Tide-fi project is one of 13 hands-on experiential projects that occur every semester in the Mis program. student project teams provide solutions for fortune 500 corporations and leading consulting organizations that realize similar value. The project sponsors receive technology solutions that provide business value, and the students gain experience that has lead to virtually 100 percent placement of Ua’s Mis graduates during the decade. graduates of the program are among the most sought after in the market place and receive among the highest starting salaries of all Ua graduates. “it’s a fun process when our students recognize a business need, build partnerships and apply innovative processes and technologies that exceed expectations. Everyone wins,” chau said.

For more information, visit http://tidefi.com and the MIS program at http://cba.ua.edu/mis.This article includes material from “Strip to Provide Wi-Fi in the Fall,” published in the July 11, 2009, edition of The Tuscaloosa News.

>>

professor dung chau demonstrating tide-fi

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 2 8

alfonso Yuchengco Friend of the University has long and distinguished history of philanthropy

>>

Secretary alfonso Yuchengco, chairman of the Yuchengco group

of companies, who was recently awarded the first global insurance Humanitarian award by The University of alabama, has a long and distinguished history of philanthropy. in addition to The University of alabama, which has received gifts of more than $750,000 from the former ambassador, his generosity has extended to many other institutions of higher learning, as well as to a large number of charitable institutions in the Philippines and elsewhere. Yuchengco has been a longtime friend of The University of alabama and has provided support for several important initiatives, including contributions to the culverhouse college of commerce and Business administration through the Yuchengco classroom, the insurance Hall of fame Museum and Portrait gallery, the John and Mary louise loftis Bickley Endowed Teaching chair in insurance and financial services and scholarships. He has also provided a landmark gift for the clinical laboratory area in the soon-to-be erected school of nursing building. Yuchengco’s visit to receive his award was the subject of television coverage and numerous newspaper and magazine articles, including those in the Business Mirror, the chinese commercial news, the free Press, the Malaya, the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine star and the Philippine daily inquirer. in announcing Yuchengco’s Ua award, the late dr. John s. Bickley, Emeritus Professor of insurance, noted that Yuchengco’s generosity is unparalleled among philanthropists from the field of insurance. The

Board of Trustees of The University of alabama adopted an official resolution that recognizes and expresses appreciation for his many contributions worldwide.

The former ambassador is frequently in the news in asia and elsewhere. He was featured in the Power 100 list by Business news asia at no. 12. in addition, Yuchengco and his family are listed at no. 18 on the forbes list of the Philippines 40 richest for 2008. Yuchengco serves the Philippines as presidential adviser on foreign affairs, a presidential cabinet position, and as former ambassador to Japan, the People’s republic of china and the United nations. in addition, Yuchengco has engaged in many humanitarian activities that have been recognized by awards and citations from countries and institutions around the world. The dona Maria Hao Tay Yuchengco charity Wing, a 100-bed hospital for the poor, has been established at the our land of Peace Hospital, and the Enrique T. Yuchengco Hall and the Teresa g. Yuchengco auditorium have been built at de la salle University, Manila. a substantial scholarship fund has been established at the fletcher school

of law and diplomacy, and generous contributions have been made to the asia society Usa, to the columbia University Business school, to the Pacific forum csis, for the support

of projects and scholarships involving young leaders and to the international Peace foundation. The alfonso T. Yuchengco foundation national discipline awards have been given to more than 7,500 students from more than 600 secondary schools in the Philippines in recognition of their ability and willingness to sacrifice personal interests for others and their courage to stand on personal conviction, integrity, and discipline. according to dr. William H. rabel, holder of the

Bickley Endowed Teaching chair in insurance and financial services, “secretary Yuchengco is a wonderful humanitarian who works hard at doing good works. in addition, he is an exceptionally nice guy who is a friend to all. We are proud to recognize him for the first global insurance Humanitarian award. it sets a standard that will inspire others to follow in his footsteps.” in Yuchengco’s biography, “To leave a good name: The legacy of alfonso T. Yuchengco,” his daughter Helen remembers a time when she was ill with a rheumatic heart. “i was not allowed to walk,” she said in the book. “He would carry me up and down the stairs, as we had a two-story house. He would make sure that at least we took dinner together regularly, and he’d take us on vacations.” at 85, Yuchengco remains strong and energetic. He genuinely enjoys people. He prays daily and carries a rosary wherever he goes, a practice he began as a high school student of de la salle University.

ua system chancellor dr. malcolm portera, left, and secretary yuchengco


1960Morris Dees, co-founder of the southern Poverty law center in Montgomery, has been inducted into the american Trial lawyer Hall of fame.

1969Stanley E. Cash ( Jd ’72) has been listed in “Who’s Who in Health care” by the Birmingham Business Journal.

Vann Herring has been named chief executive officer of McKibbon Hotel Management inc., based in Tampa, fla. Herring, who is also president of the company, will continue to oversee day-to-day operations, with the expanded responsibility of guiding long-range planning and strategic direction for the company. Herring joined the company in 1990 as director of operations and was promoted to president in 1996. His experience in the hospitality industry includes director of operations at Edmundson Hotel Management co. and senior vice president for United inns inc. He is a past president of Marriott’s TownePlace suites franchise council and currently serves on Hilton’s Homewood suites franchise council. McKibbon Hotel Management inc. is a privately owned enterprise that is a franchisee for Marriott, Hilton and starwood hotels. McKibbon has 83 years in the hospitality industry and currently operates more than 60 midscale and upscale brands in eight states throughout the southeast.

1972Cliff Bagwell has been appointed regional manager

of mortgage for north and central alabama for rBc Bank.

David Muhlendorf, chief executive officer for Paper and chemical supply, has been elected to the U.s. chamber of commerce board of directors. He is a member of The University of alabama’s President’s cabinet, past president of the Business council of alabama and the shoals chamber of commerce. Muhlendorf ’s parents founded Paper and chemical supply in 1949. The company has headquarters in leighton, ala., with facilities in Huntsville and athens. The company is a leading distributor of paper, packaging and industrial maintenance products.

1973Isaac William Ferniany has been listed in “Who’s Who in Health care” by the Birmingham Business Journal.

1974James F. House has been named president of BancTrust financial group inc.’s florida region of the company’s subsidiary bank, BankTrust. House served as a banking and financial consultant for several multibillion dollar financial institutions. Prior to that, he was employed by southTrust Bank as executive vice president, general Bank, where he was responsible for the design and implementation of all commercial loan functions of the general Bank. He has also served as cEo of the Birmingham Market and overseen multiple regions for southTrust, including alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas,

representing over $2.2 billion in loans and $3.5 billion in deposits. House was in commercial lending for 19 years before becoming chairman and cEo of southTrust Bank of dothan, n.a., in 1993. BancTrust financial group inc. is a registered bank-holding company headquartered in Mobile, ala.

1977Oded Gur-Arie, PhD, has been named director of the institute of Entrepreneurial studies at adrian college in adrian, Mich. He also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The University of alabama and taught at the University of Michigan at ann arbor. He also has an extensive background in business.

1979Col. James E. Granger, the former chief information officer at the United states army special operations command at ft. Bragg in north carolina, has joined Technical innovation in the newly created role of director of business development for the Ti federal group. Technical innovation is a provider of digital media technology solutions. sherrie duma leMier has been named president and chief operating officer of cahaba government Benefit administrators, a Blue cross and Blue shield of alabama affiliate in Birmingham.

Daniel E. Whitaker (MBa) received the Engineer of the Year award at the Engineering council of Birmingham’s 50th annual Engineering awards presentation.

>>

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 3 0

1982Richard F. Moody, PhD, has been named chief economist and director of research for forward capital, a real estate investment manager for high net-worth and institutional clients.

1983Harry Anderson has been selected to head the newly formed global Business and Technology services at the coca-cola company. anderson formerly was vice president and controller. He will report to gary fayard, chief financial officer, also a Ua graduate. anderson joined the company in 2001. Prior to his most recent role, he was chief financial officer of coca-cola north america from 2004 to 2007.

Stephen Earl Spratlin has been named associate dean of instructional programs at southern Union state community college in Wadley, ala.

1984Susan Cormany Angelo was named sales representative of the year with Medtronic Physio control for top sales performance for the company’s external defibrillation devices. she has spent 20 years in medical capital equipment sales with general Electric Medical systems, roche diagnostics and general Medical corporation.

Mark D. Byars has been named executive vice president of Egs commercial real Estate inc.

Jamie Ferrugia has joined the callaway Bank in columbia, Mo., as a senior

vice president and wealth management officer. He will work closely with the trust officer to manage the investments of trust customers while also being available to manage individuals’ asset portfolios. following graduation from fulton High school, ferrugia earned his undergraduate degree from The University of alabama. Prior to joining the bank, he previously worked previously at Waddell & reed, Merrill lynch, ferrell companies, W.P. carey & co., E.f. Hutton and Morgan stanley.

Wiley Mullins III was recently profiled by the Bay state Banner in Boston. Mullins is the founder of Uncle Wiley’s inc., a firm that distributes food-flavoring products to replace unhealthy salts, fats and sugars. He has also written a book on salads.

B. Todd Whisenant has been promoted to director of human resources for the U.s. information Technology group of campus crusade for christ international in orlando, fla. He is also president of the central florida chapter of the american society for Training and development.

1985Terri C. May has joined capstone Bank as senior vice president and chief credit officer. May has 25 years of banking experience, including employment with compass Bank, formerly central Bank of the south, where she was a manager of commercial loan review and team leader for bank acquisitions, and most recently with regions Bank, where she was a commercial loan officer, business banking

sales manager and remote underwriter.

1986Todd Whisenant has been promoted to director of human resources for the U.s. information Technology group of campus crusade for christ, headquartered in orlando, fla.

1988Ruena H. Thompson has been named human resources executive at regions Bank’s central region, which includes alabama, georgia and south carolina.

1995Weiwen Chen (MBa, Ma ’96) has been appointed chief financial officer for shenga Tech inc.

Toby Wann has joined duncan-Williams inc. as a managing director in institutional equity sales. He will focus on covering accounts in the Midwest and southeast U.s. with a focus on Texas. He was previously a vice president in institutional equity sales with BB&T capital Markets, a senior financial analyst with fedEx corp., an associate equity research analyst in the health care and technology sectors with Morgan Keegan & company, and a reimbursement analyst with Methodist/leBonheur Healthcare. duncan-Williams inc. is a brokerage firm headquartered in Memphis, Tenn.

1997Michael Moebes has started Moebes law llc, representing injured workers in atlanta, as well as Moebes financial llc, providing

financial counseling and debt relief.

1998Robert W. “Buzz” Jacobs Jr. has started Polisec, a political consulting firm based in florida. Jacobs served as the southeast regional campaign manager for sen. John Mccain’s presidential campaign.

2000Jonathan Denton has been named vice president of capstone companies in Birmingham. capstone is a development and construction company as well as a property management company in the student-housing arena with projects from coast to coast in north america. capstone has been in operation since 1990.

2001Chad D. Baswell has been named the chief appraiser with Morgan county. His wife, Meredith Bass Baswell (’02), completed her master’s in business administration with a focus on international business at the University of north alabama in december 2008. she is employed in the sales and marketing department at Toray fluorofibers (america) inc. in decatur, ala. The couple has a son, davis grey Baswell, born dec. 4, 2008.

2007Matt Newman has accepted a position with strategic financial Partners in Jackson, Miss. as a financial representative.


in the newsNation’s economic woes make Culverhouse faculty popular with media

>>

members of the media are close to a first-name basis with many of the Culverhouse College of Commerce professors and staff. here are some examples.

Culverhouse College of Commerce


f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 3 2

State of the auto industry makes Cashman a frequent source for comment dr. Jim cashman, professor of management and longtime observer of the auto industry, was called on for comments on the chrysler-fiat merger on national Public radio’s Marketplace program. “i hate to say it, but i just don’t see fiat as being able to offer anything that might be of value to chrysler. “number one, it probably has the lowest-quality vehicles in Europe. number two, it has no money.” given time, cashman believes other buyers would have emerged and made offers for chrysler’s strongest brands like Jeep. in July, cashman spoke with The Birmingham news about the alabama auto industry and the green movement. one issue is uncertainty about the direction of the industry’s next-generation technology and how it will play in the market, cashman said. “Whatever (the new technology) is, the speed of that transition will be faster or slower based on the urgency that comes out of the price of oil,” cashman said. “You could find yourself sitting out there with the most spectacular electric vehicle that nobody wants to buy because the price of oil has dropped to $30 a barrel.” despite those risks, however, it’s crucial for the state to be in the mix to land such projects and help its existing auto industry evolve, he said. “if you’re not in that ball game at all, you’re ultimately going to lose that base of jobs.”

Foreclosure trend is troubling for state’s real estate market dr. leonard Zumpano, professor of real estate, said the current trend of foreclosures moving into the prime loan arena is especially troubling for the

real estate market in alabama. Zumpano told The Montgomery advertiser that no longer can the state claim to be even moderately isolated from the root cause of the crisis. “The subprime crisis was limited to certain locations that had seen a great deal of home-price speculation,” he said. “That is really not the case in alabama.” Unemployment is spread throughout the state, and that means the current round of foreclosures is widespread as well. “if those folks are laid off or lose their jobs, they can’t make their mortgage payments anymore,” he said. The trend is not particularly recent, Zumpano said. it has just reached a critical mass where it is impossible to ignore.

Small towns reeling from fallout from complex financial transactions dr. robert Brooks, professor of financial management, has become a key source of information nationally as municipally owned utilities pay the price for risky variable-rate financing. Brooks was called on by The new York Times for his thoughts on a complex financial transaction aimed at lowering interest rates on a bond for new sewers in lewisburg, Tenn., one of hundreds of cities and counties across the country pummeled financially by relying on risky municipal bond derivatives that went bad. Much of the blame is aimed at investment bankers that derive large fees from handling the bond deals and acting as advisers and underwriters. “it’s like the lion being hired to protect the gazelle,” Brooks told the Times. “Who was looking after these little towns?” Brooks also told the chattanooga Times-free Press that the “entire business model is flawed” for how bond-finance deals are struck. investment banks “get paid only if there is a transaction, and the more complex the transaction the more they get paid,” Brooks said.

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 3 2


Brooks was also called on the by the Tennessean of nashville to comment on the close relationships between municipal bond fund officials and banks. Brooks said the arrangement raises conflict-of-interest questions and has the whiff of pay-to-play scenarios that have long plagued municipal finance. When there’s a gatekeeper to conduct business, he said, it drives up costs. “We as a people need to have as clean a government as we can possibly have and it’s in our interest to root these kinds of things out,” Brooks said. “it makes the markets more inefficient. There are people out there who do a very good job delivering capital to those people who need it, but have just decided that the municipal corner of the business smells too bad.” fast forward to The indianapolis star and the city-owned indianapolis Water utility and its variable-rate bond fiasco that has the utility seeking a 17.5 percent rate hike. “at the time, the swaps appeared to be cheaper,” Brooks told the newspaper. “But there is no free lunch out there. There was a certain risk the swaps were supposed to hedge. But the only perfect hedge is in a Japanese garden.” and there was this in the Tennessean: “The municipal finance industry desperately needs to rewrite their rules of engagement,” Brooks said. “That is my initial reaction.” and closer to home, Brooks was contacted by the Montgomery advertiser for comment about the decision by regions financial to reduce its exposure in the troubled florida real estate market. “The bad events have already occurred,” Brooks told the advertiser. “They are selling to get out, and that makes it a very difficult place to be.

Owners of small businesses face tough challenge getting loans Paavo Hanninen, director of the small Business development center at Ua, was contacted by The Tuscaloosa news for his thoughts on difficulties owners of small businesses are having getting U.s. small Business administration loans. “We are in an extraordinary time in terms of the credit market,” he said. Every borrower and every bank is different, he said. While some banks may shy away from sBa loans, others may be more willing to do them.

Retail experts say they expect more stores will close as retailing undergoes a major transformation

“all major retailers are now looking at the performance of all their stores,” Kristy reynolds, the Bruno associate Professor of Marketing, told The Tuscaloosa news. stores that fail to meet their chain’s expectations could find themselves getting the axe even among retailers with enough cash on hand to weather the recession, she said. Barnes & noble, the nation’s leading bookstore chain, for example, announced last month that it was closing its underperforming store in Montgomery. such announcements are not good news for shopping malls, and they definitely are not good news for the stores remaining in the malls. “Vacancies don’t make malls as attractive, so people lose a reason for going there,” reynolds said. fewer shoppers mean fewer sales for the retailers who remain, she said. The problem compounds itself. The remaining merchants become less profitable and perhaps the next victim to close. “a couple of stores in a mall can’t survive on

k r i s t y r e y n o l d s


f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 3 4f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 3 4

their own,” she said, because they depend on one another to attract shoppers.

Supermarket closings inconvenience shoppers “Typically, people will not want to travel for more than 10 to 15 minutes to reach a supermarket,” dean Barry Mason told The Tuscaloosa news. Mason, whose research includes retail strategies, said supermarket chains look at the area’s population density before opening a store. other factors, such as the population’s household income and competing supermarkets within the service area, are also analyzed before a store comes into an area, he said. Mason said there could be a potential for more supermarkets in the area, as well as Tuscaloosa’s West End, where Piggly Wiggly last week opened a supermarket, replacing a Winn-dixie. Mason said the interstate 20-59 corridor between Tuscaloosa and Bessemer, which has seen significant growth of subdivisions in communities like Vance, Brookwood, lake View and Woodstock over the past decade, is another potential site for new supermarkets. despite the closings, marketing professor Kristy reynolds said the supermarket industry may fare better than other retailers. “a lot of people are trading down. instead of eating at a restaurant, they might stop at a supermarket deli for a prepared meal to take home,” reynolds said. she noted many consumers are also trading down from brand-name products to store brands and private labels that cost less but are more profitable for grocers. “Value means different things to different people, even in this economic climate,” reynolds said. “for some shoppers, either all the time or maybe just once a week, value means convenience and location. sometimes shoppers want to be able to get in and get out quickly for a ‘fill-in’ shopping trip.” she noted that Publix, whose stores are viewed as more upscale, is doing well in the recession. “Publix has differentiated itself by its convenient locations and high levels of customer service,” she said. “at a time when many chains are cutting back on staff, Publix has not. This has allowed them to maintain fast service times.”

Alabamians 45–64 increase The number of alabamians ages 45 to 64 increased by 200,200, or 20 percent, from 2000 to 2008, according to a Birmingham news analysis of U.s. census Bureau population estimates released earlier this year. That jump includes people in their prime years for leadership and wealth, said annette Watters, manager of the alabama state data center at the University of alabama. “But it also means they will be moving into the very senior age group within not too many years.”

Black homeowners may pay higher rates on mortgages Black homeowners in Tuscaloosa county are much more likely to pay higher interest rates than whites regardless of income and amount borrowed, a University of alabama analysis of federal data shows. dr. leonard Zumpano, professor of real estate, agrees that borrowers should be able to trust banks and credible lenders. “Established mortgage companies are not going to screw people,” Zumpano told The Tuscaloosa news. “in situations of bad credit, brokers tend to be more willing to take on risks than banks.” The result is more loans with high interest rates.

Decade good economically, but has down side There’s no doubt this decade has been one of our best economically, said sam addy, director of the center for Business and research at The University of alabama. But there’s a downside, at least in addy’s opinion. He noted in The Tuscaloosa news that nearly 89 percent of the state budget relies on sales and income taxes, which rise and fall with the economy. “our tax structure is not the best; it’s not sustainable … it’s skewed to income and sales … and, finally, it’s not fair,” addy said.


A few days prior to when Hurricane Katrina swept into new orleans

on aug. 29, 2005, dennis lauscha was attending a preseason new orleans saints football game at the superdome as a vice president in the saints’ organization. “We had a preseason game,” he said. “in new orleans there was not much concern about the hurricane. at about halftime, the weatherman said, ‘We gotta get out of here.’ We shifted into evacuation mode. as an organization, we were prepared.”

lauscha, who was recently promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer of the saints, is a 1992 graduate of The University of alabama’s culverhouse college of commerce. “When we were threatened by Katrina, we evacuated the team to oakland and set up buses for family members to get out of new orleans. “i evacuated to the shortest, safest distance with the intent to return to new orleans as soon as possible. Unfortunately, i was forced to meet

dennis lauschaCulverhouse graduate finds football in the Big Easy to his liking

>>


f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 3 6

the team in san antonio and spent the season there.

“When the team returned to new orleans, we opened to the best crowd the saints had

ever had, and we beat the (atlanta) falcons. “alabama fans can understand this better than most other fans. it made everyone’s life a lot better that we were back and winning. it’s in the blood, just like the crimson Tide.” lauscha has taken the fast track to his position with the saints. He was raised in new orleans and graduated from Jesuit High school, where, he said, “The faculty emphasized looking at universities outside the area.” lauscha and his parents visited and toured several universities around the south and eventually chose The University of alabama. “i dug pretty deep,” he said. lauscha initially decided to pursue a medical career, but his three roommates at Ua were in the business school, which influenced him to pursue a business degree. “i decided to major in health care management, and Ua had one of the few programs in that area,” he said. following his graduation from Ua, lauscha decided he needed a graduate degree and enrolled in the MBa program at loyola. as he was winding down his MBa experience, serendipity stepped in. “i had an accounting class in which i did quite well. My teacher encouraged me to take the cPa exam, which i did,” he said. He subsequently joined arthur anderson as an accountant.

“i was there four or five years, and my first client was the new orleans saints. The salary cap had just been adopted by the nfl, and i was one of the first people involved in the salary cap audit,” he said. at age 28, in 1988, he was contacted by the saints and offered the job of treasurer. He has been a vice president and chief financial officer since 2003 and is one of the club’s representatives at the nfl owners meetings. recently promoted to executive vice president after having served as senior vice president since 2006, lauscha is a key member of the negotiating team that actively pursues future super Bowls for the city of new orleans, including landing the 2013 super Bowl in May. as executive vice president-cfo, lauscha maintains multiple roles within the operations of the club and other holdings of owner Tom Benson. in addition to directing all financial functions of the organization, lauscha maintains a lead position in the negotiations with government officials and has an active role in the management of new orleans fox affiliate WVUE-TV, which is owned by Benson. lauscha was part of the saints’ contingent that negotiated the agreement with gov. Bobby Jindal of louisiana on a partnership that will continue the club’s commitment to the state through 2025. The deal also creates a new sports development district in the city that includes the Benson family purchasing and redeveloping the new orleans centre and dominion Tower. Both properties are adjacent to the superdome and have sat dormant and in disrepair since Hurricane Katrina. lauscha is the principal liaison with all vendors that service the

club and also oversees several administrative and operations departments. in addition to maintaining the team’s finances, lauscha supervises the saints’ human resources, information technology, facilities and grounds departments. lauscha also negotiated the deal to bring Horizon Entertainment to new orleans. The joint venture is a television production, content development and motion graphics studio that are part of Benson’s louisiana Media co. “i am extremely happy. i am excited and lucky to have this job. This is where i would like to be for the short term and the long term,” he said. lauscha and his wife, Jennifer, have a son, dennis Patrick Jr., and a daughter, Evelyn anne. lauscha gives the University and the business school a lot of the credit for his success. “i think that for what i set out to accomplish, i needed a university that gave me a global perspective, and alabama did that. “You have to dedicate yourself to continuously learning, and the concepts of continuing to learn, of continuing to improve, were introduced to me at The University of alabama.” lauscha said he tries to return to the capstone when his schedule allows and has been impressed with the growth and progress, especially the new buildings. “it is not the same university it was when i was there,” he said.

dennis lauscha

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 3 6


Dr. J. Michael Hardin Appointed to Advisory Board of Capitalytics LLC dr. J. Michael Hardin, senior associate dean and associate dean for research, has been appointed to the board of capitalytics llc, a national provider of analytic solutions for community banks. Hardin is also the director of the institute of Business intelligence through the culverhouse college of commerce and is also the director of data analysis and data Management through the center for Mental Health and aging, both at The University of alabama. in addition, Hardin is an adjunct professor of biostatistics, computer science and health information at The University of alabama at Birmingham and serves on the board of directors of alabama Quality assurance foundation llc.

“dr. Hardin is a highly lauded and well-respected member of our local and national community. He has served as a statistical consultant to numerous governmental

entities, including the department of Health and Human services and the national institute of Health,” said Bill McKinnon, cEo of capitalytics. “We are honored to have an individual of his professional stature on our advisory board and helping to direct capitalytics’ new product offerings. dr. Hardin’s research background and his extensive business relationships will be extremely helpful as our company grows.”

capitalytics, based in Birmingham, provides business intelligence and automated analytics to community banks across america. By providing cost-effective analysis of public and proprietary information, capitalytics helps community banks reduce risks, mitigate losses due to nonperforming assets and put more capital to use. “With its Web-based service offerings, capitalytics is focused on integrating information and solving tactical problems that have strategic impact for community banks across the country,” Hardin explained. “i’m looking forward to working with capitalytics to bring innovative services to the banking industry. Together, we anticipate being able to leverage available data and information to help community banks that are positioned and ready to grow over the course of the next several years.” capitalytics provides information to community banks, helping them determine strategic direction and anticipate performance through the use of reports that cover historical and forecasted values for over 200 metrics. Using public information, capitalytics provides reports that reflect valuable statistics for individual banks and groups of banks. capitalytics also offers augmented services based on proprietary data provided by individual clients, including data mining, enterprise-risk management and credit-profile generation.

Albright Named Most Outstanding Professor in MBA, EMBA Programs dr. Thomas albright, professor of accounting and reese Phifer fellow of accounting, was selected as the 2009

Most outstanding Professor for Year one of the MBa and EMBa programs

at the Manderson graduate school of Business at The University of alabama’s culverhouse college of commerce.

He has been presented the MBa or Executive MBa Professor of

the Year award on nine occasions since joining the faculty in 1990. in 2005, The University of alabama national alumni association presented him with the outstanding commitment to Teaching award. albright’s specialty areas are managerial and cost accounting and strategic cost management. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of north carolina at greensboro; his master’s in business administration at california state University, stanislaus; and his doctorate at the University of Tennessee.

Dugan Named 2009 Outstanding Accounting Educator

dr. Michael T. dugan, Ernst & Young Professor of accounting, was selected by the alabama society of certified Public accountants as the 2009 outstanding accounting Educator in recognition of

faculty and staff newsAppointments, recognitions, honors and awards keep coming

>>

dr. michael t. dugan

dr. J. michael hardin

dr. thomas albright

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 3 8

his many years of excellence in teaching accounting. “This statewide honor is special because i was competing against my peers in accounting education in alabama,” said dugan, who has received five teaching awards during his 24 years at the University. The ascPa award recognizes college accounting educators for excellence in teaching and for active involvement in the accounting profession. The award has the dual function of extending profession-wide recognition to the recipient as well as promoting role models in academe. dugan, a classroom teacher for 30 years, joins three other Ua faculty members who have received the award since it was initiated in 1994. The first Ua recipient was dr. robert ingram (1994); followed by dr. Mary stone (2002), now head of the culverhouse school of accountancy; and dr. Barney cargile (2004), who has retired. dugan, who was born in dallas but raised in new orleans, is also the school of accountancy’s internship program coordinator. as such, dugan epitomizes accounting education, stone said. “dr. dugan is dedicated to maximizing the contribution of accounting academics to the accounting profession, while at the same time providing the guidance and mentoring that helps accounting students reach their potential,” stone said. dugan earned his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from the University of new orleans and his master’s degree in accountancy and doctorate in business administration from the University of Tennessee. “i wanted to be a math major,” dugan said, “but i spoke with an adviser my freshman year, and she suggested i go into accounting. i did, and i fell in love with it.” He said he thinks he received the award because he takes an “active” and “sincere” interest in students. “You have to be technically competent in the classroom but just as competent in helping and mentoring students and guiding them toward satisfying and rewarding careers.” dugan said his teaching career at Ua has been highlighted by “working with a great dean” and great faculty colleagues.

dugan, 51, is a certified public accountant (louisiana, inactive). His five teaching awards include the national alumni association outstanding commitment to Teaching award. He has published 45 articles in both academic and professional journals. He is a member of the ascPa and the american accounting association. dugan’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of financial accounting and reporting. dugan is married to a former student, stacie newsome dugan, and they have two children: Patrick, 11, and Bethany, 9. dugan said the ascPa award includes a plaque and $1,500.

Gene Marsh Teaches Last Law Course to Accounting Students After 26 Years‘I know I am going to miss it …’ There are a lot of

certified public accountants in the business world who probably owe their cPa designations, in part, to gene a. Marsh. Marsh, the James M. Kidd Jr. Professor of law at The University of alabama’s

school of law, is also of counsel with the Birmingham law firm of lightfoot, franklin & White llc in the area of sports law. Marsh has taught lgs 504 at the culverhouse school of accountancy since 1983 and estimates he has taught about 1,500 accounting majors. He taught the course for the last time this year. “i started teaching in 1981,” Marsh said. Marsh was recruited to teach the course at the business school by robert sweeney, who was head of the department of accounting. “Bob sweeney was a real gung-ho guy, and he got the course started because accounting majors were getting clobbered

on the law part of the cPa exam,” Marsh recalled. Marsh said the course was started with a “weird title” and then was made a regular course examining legal issues in accounting. “it brought accounting majors up to date in many areas of law and helped them get over that hurdle,” he said. “i taught one semester a year, always in the spring except for one time i taught it in the summer,” Marsh said. The course was originally offered to undergraduates working toward their bachelor’s degrees. it became a graduate-level course when the school of accountancy instituted its five-year program. “The students have been extraordinary, and i have been very lucky to have taught them. if they survive through the fifth year of the accounting program, they are good students. What drives these students in accounting is knowing they are facing the cPa exam. That is extremely critical to them professionally.” Marsh said there are numerous online cPa review and preparation courses to prepare accountants for the cPa exam, but hearing somebody talk through examples is really helpful in the legal world. “i have enjoyed working with the business school students, and i will miss the affiliation with the culverhouse college of commerce and walking across campus to the business school. i know i am going to miss it, and i really enjoyed doing it. i mean that.” “Barry (c&Ba dean J. Barry Mason) is a top dean, a really good guy, and he always makes sure everyone else gets talked about and gets the credit,” Marsh said. dr. Mary stone, head of the culverhouse school of accountancy, said Marsh “has been a huge asset for the accounting program. not only is he an excellent teacher, he is also a great colleague and friend. We will miss him a lot at the school of accountancy.” Marsh received the Burlington northern foundation award for Excellence in Teaching in 1987 and The University of alabama national alumni association outstanding commitment to Teaching award in 1988. He received

gene marsh


the student Bar association outstanding faculty Member award in 1997 and 2001. Marsh is well-known outside the University for his work with the ncaa. He served as the Ua faculty athletics representative to the southeastern conference and the ncaa from 1996 through 2003. He served as chair of the University compliance committee, the University committee on intercollegiate athletics, and the ncaa certification committee and self-study Project. He was a member of the alabama athlete agent committee. Marsh has extensive experience in the ncaa infractions process, having served as a member of the ncaa division i committee on infractions from 1999 through 2008. He served as chair of the committee on infractions from 2004 to 2006. He was also a member of the ncaa Business and finance cabinet and the ncaa ad Hoc committee on financial Penalties and forfeitures. He currently serves on an ncaa subcommittee reviewing infractions penalties. Marsh has published two law review articles on ncaa investigations and the infractions process. He has made presentations for ncaa regional compliance seminars, the national association of collegiate directors of athletics, the faculty athletics representative fall forum, the Knight commission on intercollegiate athletics, and street and smith’s intercollegiate athletics forum. Marsh received his combined bachelor’s and master’s degrees, summa cum laude, from ohio state University and his doctor of law degree from Washington and lee University. Before enrolling at ohio state, he served three years in the U. s. army infantry with the Presidential Honor guard at fort Myer in arlington, Va. at The University of alabama school of law he currently teaches contracts, sports law, consumer Protection and corporate finance. He is the author of many commercial law publications and worked in numerous cases involving business organizations, consumer credit and contracts. He has served as an

arbitrator and mediator in consumer litigation and complex commercial cases. He is married to Jenelle Mims Marsh, who is a graduate of Washington and lee University school of law and serves as associate dean for students and academic services at The University of alabama school of law. They have two children.

Campbell Wins 2009 Alfred N. Goldsmith Award for Engineering Communication dr. Kim

campbell, professor of management communication in the marketing and management department at The University of alabama’s culverhouse college of

commerce, has been named winner of the 2009 alfred n. goldsmith award for outstanding contributions to engineering communication. The alfred n. goldsmith award is given by the iEEE in recognition of service within the iEEE Professional communication society to improve the quality of engineering communication. iEEE was originally an initialism for institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers inc. iEEE is the leading professional association for the advancement of technology. Before he died, alfred goldsmith was largely responsible for establishing the irE Professional group on Engineering Writing and speech. campbell was also awarded the Emily K. schlesinger award for distinguished service from iEEE in 2007, iEEE’s other top award. The award committee noted campbell’s work on the iEEE research journal, Transactions on Professional communication. she served as editor-in-chief of the publication from 1998 through 2008. campbell is a graduate of louisiana state University, where she received her

bachelor’s and doctoral degrees. dr. rob Morgan, head of the Ua department of management and marketing, said, “scholarly publishing is one of the most important aspects of advancing technology, and dr. campbell’s work in this area has been incredible. she has been at the helm of Transactions on Professional communication through one of its most tumultuous decades, and this recognition is certainly well deserved.”

Schlesinger Authors Three of Top 25 Most-Cited Insurance Research Articles dr. Harris schlesinger, professor of finance and frank Park samford chair of insurance at The University of alabama’s culverhouse college of commerce, is the author or co-author of three of the top 25 most-cited articles in the top three insurance journals during 2000–04. The listing appears in the spring 2009 issue of risk Management and

insurance review, a journal of the american risk and insurance association. articles in which schlesinger was involved are listed at no. 7, 13 and 17.

schlesinger is past president

of the american risk and insurance association. He has served in the past as the rate-hearings officer in the state of alabama for insurance rate increases. He has held visiting appointments in Belgium, france and germany and currently holds an adjunct professorship at the University of Konstanz (germany). He was the founding editor of the geneva Papers on risk and insurance Theory and is currently an associate editor for five academic journals. His research papers have won several awards, and he has received the Minerva award as outstanding alumnus from his undergraduate college. He is currently a senior research fellow with cEsifo,

dr. kim campbell

dr. harris schlesinger

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 4 0

a European-based economic policy organization. He has published articles in more than two dozen journals. schlesinger also received Ua’s 2007 Burnum distinguished faculty award.

Drs. Armstrong, Drnevich Collaborate on Research Paper, Workshop

dr. craig armstrong, assistant professor of management, and dr. Paul drnevich, assistant professor of strategic management, teamed up to present a paper at the atlanta

competitive advantage conference hosted by Emory University. The paper was titled “small Business strategies: refining strategic Management Theory for the Entrepreneurial and small Business contexts.” The paper is among the top 10 most downloaded papers on the social science research network. The two professors were also invited by the academy of Management to conduct their workshop, “creating and sustaining competitive advantage: implications of the Environment,” for the fourth consecutive year at the academy’s 2009 annual meeting in chicago. The workshop series provides theoretical and empirical research training to doctoral students and junior faculty. in addition, drnevich was invited to deliver a workshop, “developing and defending Your research Proposal,” for the strategic Management society’s doctoral Workshop Program at its 2009 annual meeting in Washington, d.c.

Watters Wins Prestigious Minnie Miles Endowed Excellence Award

annette Watters, project manager for The University of alabama’s center for Business and Economic research and manager of the alabama state data center, was the winner of

the 2009 dr. Minnie c. Miles Endowed Excellence award. Miles, who died in 2001, was professor emerita in Ua’s culverhouse college of commerce. she established the award in 1995 to promote and recognize administrative excellence. The award is given annually to a non-faculty, administrative staff member who has performed in an exemplary manner to further the mission of the University. “The committee made an excellent choice,” said J. Michael Hardin, senior associate dean of the business school. “annette’s professionalism and her dedication to serving the community is a model of excellence and should serve as an example for all of us. “annette’s work with cBEr has been exemplary,” Hardin said. “Her work with the alabama Entrepreneurial research network has resulted in an incredible resurgence in the economies of several of the state’s economically distressed counties. she is dedicated to making the lives of alabamians better, and her work is a credit to the University, to cBEr and to the business school.” Watters has worked for Ua since 1977. in addition to her work with aErn and her management of the state data center, she is the liaison between the center and the U.s. census Bureau. she is frequently called on by the media for explanations and comments about the state’s population trends.

Ford Participates in UA’s Faculty Fellows in Service Learning Program david ford, professor of management, was selected from a University-wide pool of applicants to participate in the faculty fellows in service learning Program, where he spent the past year developing new courses. faculty fellows receive a stipend and research support for their project and

attend monthly workshops on how to teach service learning. ford’s projects were small Business consulting and students in free Enterprise. in small Business

consulting, students perform consulting work for nonprofit groups. in sifE, students engage in numerous self-directed projects to benefit fellow students, the community or the world. They present their projects at regional and national competitions.

dr. craig armstrong

dr. paul drnevich

annette watters

david ford


If you think finance research is boring, you need to hang out

for a while with anup agrawal. The internal fighting that goes on between members of the boards of directors and officers of the nation’s public companies is seldom made public. like las Vegas, what happens there stays there, and what takes place inside board rooms is essentially a black box to outsiders. “There has been a lot of research on corporate governance and much research on corporate boards,” said agrawal, a professor of finance and the William a. Powell Jr. chair of finance and Banking at The University of alabama’s culverhouse college of commerce. But, agrawal said, not much research has been done inside the black box of boards. agrawal and a team of researchers are changing that. a new paper by agrawal and Mark chen of georgia state University examines 181 board disputes between 1995 and 2006 that resulted in one or more director departures. “This is the first paper to look empirically at the inner functioning of boards,” agrawal said.

The paper has not yet been published and is going through the peer-review process, but the draft is drawing a lot of attention. “There seems to be a lot of interest in the paper,” agrawal said. agrawal has been attending conferences around the country to present the paper and defend and explain his findings. “People throw a lot of eggs at you,” he said, “but that is part of the process.” The findings presented in the paper are interesting, to say the least. The reason this research is drawing attention in academic finance circles around the nation is because turmoil on a board of directors can shed light on the causes of company performance and influence stock prices. several categories of disputes can cause directors to leave the board and perhaps impact company performance and stock price. These include board functioning, management looking more after its own interests than those of stockholders, and financial policy or corporate strategy. “in this paper, we provide the first systematic evidence on the nature, determinants and

Boardroom disputesTurmoil in the boardroom can affect company performance

>>


f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 4 2f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 4 2


consequences of major internal board disputes,” agrawal and chen write. Board room disputes can sometimes

be a good thing when they highlight serious issues facing a corporation. But, according to the study, they result in large and significant stock price declines, on average, when the fight becomes public. companies involved in these disputes have been performing poorly and face a higher probability that their stock may be delisted by the exchange during the year following news of the dispute. “Upon news of internal disputes accompanied by director departures, stock prices decline significantly,” the researchers said. The price drop

is greater when the resigning director is an insider of

the firm rather than someone from

outside the company.

agrawal said the study shows the decline in stock prices is particularly large for certain types of disputes, such as those involving agency problems, corporate strategy or financing decisions. stock prices for the companies going through the disputes show poor operating performance up to a year before and after the disagreement. The key to the agrawal-chen investigation is form 8-K of the United states securities and Exchange commission. The

document contains current disclosures that public companies must file with the commission to announce major events that shareholders should know about as they happen, rather than wait until the year-end 10-K annual report. one of these events is when a director resigns or declines to stand for re-election due to “differences involving company operations, policies or practices.” While this disclosure requirement has been around since 1979, disclosure was triggered only if the resigning director wrote a letter to the company describing

the circumstances behind his resignation and requesting that

the company make the matter public. Effective august 23,

2004, the sEc changed the disclosure trigger.

disclosure is now triggered as long as a

company officer knows the reason behind the director resignation, even if the resigning director does not write a letter to the company. agrawal said the expanded disclosure was originally proposed by the sEc in 1978, before being modified in response to strong objections from companies. But in the aftermath of Enron and other corporate scandals earlier this decade, the sEc reverted to its originally proposed rule. agrawal said he was traveling to a finance conference when he

noticed an article in the Wall street Journal about this disclosure. He discussed the issue with chen, and

they decided to pursue the

research. “We found about 1,100 director resignations with a director resignation letter during 1994–2006, and then we had to identify those caused by a dispute,” agrawal said. That number turned out to be 181, agrawal said, and the research team began gathering information on the 181 resignations. “The project took a year and half to put the data set together,” agrawal said, “and it took us a year before that to figure out a way to identify the disputes.” The descriptions of the disputes vary in detail, agrawal said. “it depends on the original letter from the resigning director describing the dispute. if that is detailed, so is often the company’s response.” But, agrawal said, the companies are not usually very forthcoming. “Their tendency seems to be to make

anup agrawal

“We found about 1,100 director resignations with a director resignation letter during 1994–2006, and then we had to identify those caused by a dispute,”

the minimum disclosure that is required, depending upon the issues raised by the resigning director. The resigning directors often don’t hold back.” The research finds that directors with shorter tenures on the board and directors who are entrepreneurs, venture capitalists or investment bankers are more likely to be involved in a dispute. does this indicate that directors with strong personalities might be more prone to originate the differences? “Probably,” said agrawal. The time frame for the agrawal-chen paper predates the current economic crisis and the stress and tension now being exerted on the market and on shareholders. agrawal said he hopes his research will help both board members and shareholders alike to recognize board room disagreements and take action before damage is done. agrawal, who earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Bombay, his master’s in business administration from Xavier institute in Jamshedpur and his doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, has researched and written extensively on corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, insider trading, corporate fraud, security analysts and market efficiency. He has presented his research at seminars and conferences around the world. His research is extensively cited in academic papers and textbooks and has been the subject of feature stories in financial Times deutschland and Wall street Journal online. He has served as a visiting faculty member at the Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a director of

the financial Management association during (term runs 2009–11. He co-chaired the corporate finance Track at the 2004 fMa annual meetings. Before coming to academia, he worked for two years with an international management consulting firm. He teaches courses in corporate finance and investments. as for those directors who leave the board during a dispute? “Well, one follow-up project that we are working on is how directors who leave amid a dispute fare subsequently in the market for directorships,” agrawal said.

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 4 4


Business library directors from some of north america’s most prestigious

business schools gathered on The University of alabama’s campus earlier this year to savor a touch of southern hospitality and admire the angelo Bruno Business library. The event was the academic Business library directors annual conference and business meeting. Programs and events took place at the Bryant conference center, angelo Bruno Business library, culverhouse college of commerce’s alston Hall and north river Yacht club. “The academic Business library directors is a highly selective membership organization comprising the directors of business libraries at leading business schools in the United states

and canada,” said lee Pike, professor and head of the Bruno Business library. “our library is a charter member of the group, which was organized in the 1980s. The University of alabama is the only deep south public university holding membership in aBld.” Pike said membership is limited to 50 institutions. The top-ranked business schools, such as Harvard Business school, Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania, stanford University, and other prestigious private schools form the core of the membership. leading business schools at a number of respected public universities complete the membership. in addition to The University of alabama, public universities represented

include Ucla, Pennsylvania state University, the University of iowa, the University of Wisconsin and the University of southern california. Examples of canadian schools in the group were the University of British columbia, the University of Toronto and Mcgill University. “The organization provides a forum for directors of academic business libraries in north america to collaborate and to discuss latest developments in business information and library research services, technology, and knowledge management and distribution,” Pike said. “other interests include the opportunity to influence development of new products and services for the academic business library market and to influence

academic Business library directors conferenceAngelo Bruno Business Library hosts prestigious North American event

>>

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 4 6

relations with corporate vendors of databases and other electronic resources.” in addition to Pike, lead planners for the 2009 conference program at alabama were Jan Wallace, University of British columbia; and corey seeman, University of Michigan. Planning support came from fellow aBld board members Millicent gaskell, MiT; Hope Tillman, Babson college; and Kathy long, stanford University. Pike said this year’s session included presentations and interactive sessions onnew learning technologiesthe academic market and the business information industryusing assessment data in aBld libraries to tailor contemporary library services, and space planning in 21st century

libraries The attendees toured The University of alabama campus, attended a reception at the Westervelt Warner Museum of american art and had dinners at north river Yacht club and the alston Hall parlor. next year’s aBld conference will be hosted by duke University. Every four years, aBld participates in a joint international conference with two counterpart associations: European Business school librarians’ group and asia-Pacific Business school librarians’ group. in 2007, the joint conference was held in denmark at the copenhagen Business school, and in 2011 the joint conference will be held in singapore. Pike said he considers the 2009

conference “a huge success by all accounts. Most conference attendees had never been to the state of alabama. “Participants’ responses were overwhelmingly positive, with many saying that the bar has been set very high for future hosts,” Pike said. “i think the angelo Bruno Business library, the culverhouse college of commerce and The University of alabama have left a lasting favorable impression with influential business library leaders from top business schools across north america.”

lee pike (photo second from left) welcomed business librarians from throughout north america to campus


The Women’s initiative Program at the culverhouse college of

commerce now has more than 90 female business students involved in the program, along with 30 successful female executives who act as mentors. “We have made remarkable progress,” said diane Harrison, advancement officer and director of the women’s program. “But with more than 1800 female business students enrolled, we need to increase our membership and the number of mentors we can provide to our students.” That said, Harrison and the women who make up the program’s advisory board are moving full speed ahead to recruit more members and more mentors. in addition to Harrison, the program is run by a new part-time staff member, amy Henderson, and a six-member planning committee. last spring, there were 1,849 women enrolled in the culverhouse

college of commerce, or nearly 35 percent of the college’s total enrollment. “The number of women in business is slowly inching up,” said J. Barry Mason, dean of the culverhouse college of commerce. “as an

institution of higher learning, it is our duty and responsibility to give our female students the tools and encouragement to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, and the Women’s initiative Program is one way to do that.” growth in leadership, career development and networking are the cornerstone activities of the initiative, whose mission is to foster the professional success of the business

Women’s initiativeProgram provides female business students with the tools for success

>>

“The number of women in business is slowly inching up”

– J . b a r r y m a s o n

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 4 8

school’s female students. “We had 24 women mentees in the 2008–09 academic year, and we expect more to apply for the current academic year,” Harrison said. students are expected to attend one educational session per month. in addition, mentees are required to meet a set number of times with their assigned mentors over the course of the year. “We plan to present monthly programs that will add value to the member’s education, make them more ready to enter the workplace and

expand their career options.” Harrison said. she said members would have the opportunity to meet with leading female executives in one-on-one situations that will open doors to possible employment and internship opportunities. “currently, students apply for membership to the program,” Harrison

said, “but we hope to soon to open membership to all female students enrolled in the business school with three different levels of membership. There will be a general membership for all female students. The second tier of membership will be the training program for those wanting to enter the mentee-mentor program. The third tier of membership will be the mentee-mentor program. The long-term vision for this program includes specific sessions tailored to the educational level of the students. freshmen will have decidedly different needs than,

say, a senior student.” Harrison said she is looking into bringing a national or regional women’s conference to campus to provide educational workshops for alumnae and female students. “We hope to find corporate sponsors for the conference and provide educational sessions as well

as recruit and promote internship possibilities. The conference would give us a chance to showcase the quality of our students as well as increase their marketability. graduate students might be assigned to plan the conference, which would add experience to their résumé.” The Women’s initiative Web site (http://cba.ua.edu/wip) is being updated to include links to the latest information published on women in business. Harrison said long-range goals include raising funds for two scholarships as well as permanent funding for the program. “We plan to contact our female alumni to support this program over a five-year period while we pursue permanent funding sources,” she said. “We have a number of female graduates in high-profile positions in business and we think that ultimately this program will have a national reputation for its ideas and programs supporting and promoting our female students.”

For more information, visit the Web site at http://cba.ua.edu/wip or contact Harrison at 205-348-2930, [email protected]; or Amy Henderson at 205-348-8897, [email protected] corr (left) a mentor in the women’s initiative, speaks with a student at a wip luncheon.


Entrepreneurship campHigh school seniors get a feel for college and careers in business

>>

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 5 0

The second capstone Entrepreneurship camp

drew 28 rising high school seniors from rural areas of the state to The University of alabama campus to gain a better understanding of entrepreneurship, work and cooperate in groups, engage in critical thinking, hone their leadership abilities and develop skills to help them later in life. and judging from the reactions from some of the campers, all the goals were met. “The camp was terrific,” said Jose lopez, a student at Bibb county High school. “i learned what it is like to be in college and about careers in entrepreneurship. all the different experiences with

the classroom sessions, visiting the businesses, and the activities were wonderful and made the camp fun and interesting.” Veronica coleman, a student at choctaw county High school, agreed with lopez. “The camp was wonderful, and i was not ready for it to end. i learned so much and made new friends that i will stay in touch with.” Tommie syx, of the center for community-Based Partnerships and the camp coordinator, said 11 counties were represented. “Most were from counties in the Black Belt,” she said, “but there were some from clay county and some from

Tuscaloosa county.” all the students attended the camp through scholarships from the office of the vice president of community affairs and the culverhouse college of commerce. The purpose of the camp was to give the high school students a challenging experience that would teach them about college life and help them better understand entrepreneurship as a career and how it can play a role in the economic development of their communities. charles Eatmon, a student at akron High school in Hale county, said, “The camp was one of the best experiences of my life.” Workshops and seminars

included What is an Entrepreneur? developing a Business Plan, Why a Business Plan, Management 101, Entrepreneurship in Economic development, Ethics and Entrepreneurship, Business and Personal finance, and share Your culture. The students also participated in rural Entrepreneurship Through action learning. “awesome camp,” said Matt roberts, a student at lineville High school. “i had a fun time and learned a lot about college and entrepreneurship.” The campers toured Bryant-denny stadium and the University’s

museums; visited with local entrepreneurs; enjoyed barbecue and games on the Quad; and went bowling, shopping and to the movies. “The camp was well-run with fun activities and sessions on entrepreneurship,” said Brianna richardson, a student from Holy family cristo rey catholic High in Jefferson county. The camp was sponsored by the division of community affairs, the center for community-Based Partnerships and the culverhouse college of commerce. david ford, clinical professor and sam Walton fellow, is the camp director. featured faculty and staff included Beverly Hawk, director of crossroads community center; gary Hoover, assistant dean for faculty and graduate students at the culverhouse college of commerce; William E. Jackson iii, professor of finance and management and the smith foundation chair of Business integrity; lou Marino, associate professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at the culverhouse college of commerce; lisa McKinney, lecturer in accounting; rob Morgan, head of the department of marketing and management; sue Parker, professor of clothing, textiles and design at the college of Human Environmental sciences; gregory singleton, director of engineering student services; chris spencer, associate director of community development; and annette Watters, associate director of the alabama Entrepreneurship institute and co-director of the alabama Entrepreneurial research network.

Persons interested in sponsoring a student at next year’s camp or participating in the camp can contact Syx at 205-348-8123 or [email protected].

high school entrepreneurship campers tour a local business.


Ronald g. Bruno, a graduate of The University of alabama’s

culverhouse college of commerce, was inducted into the alabama sports Hall of fame as the distinguished alabama sportsman for 2009. Bruno is a member of the business school’s Board of Visitors. in 1991, Bruno’s father, angelo, and his mother, ann, and their five children gave $4 million to The University of alabama to help fund a new angelo Bruno Business library and computer center on the campus at Tuscaloosa. The gift was the largest gift at that time that the University had ever received from a living donor and was the lead gift in a $40 million campaign for improvement of the culverhouse college of commerce and its facilities at the capstone. on dec. 11, 1991, angelo Bruno’s life ended when the corporate jet crashed in georgia, killing all on board, including the corporate pilots. Bruno and other executives were making the traditional holiday visits to Bruno stores throughout the southeast. during angelo’s tenure as cEo, the company expanded to more than 230 stores in the southeast, including

food World, Bruno’s food and Pharmacy, food Max, Piggly Wiggly stores in southern georgia, food fare and Vincent’s Market. ronald Bruno has been a business leader in Birmingham for more than 30 years. His family’s philanthropy efforts have enriched hundreds of thousands of individual lives in Birmingham and alabama over the years. He graduated from Ua with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. following graduation, he started working for Bruno’s supermarkets inc., holding various management positions during 1974–91. in 1991, he became chairman and cEo and held that position until the company was sold in 1995. His family’s philosophy of giving back to the community combined with their passion for golf lead Bruno and his father to start an annual golf tournament in Birmingham on the senior Pga Tour in 1992. after the accident, the tournament was renamed the Bruno’s Memorial classic. The tournament became an annual tradition for Birmingham area residents, drawing some of the largest crowds on the senior Pga

distinguished alabama sportsmanRonald Bruno tapped for honor by Alabama Sports Hall of Fame

>>

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 5 2

Tour. The Bruno’s Memorial classic was recognized as the Best champions Tour event by players, tournament officials and media in a sports illustrated poll in both 2001 and 2004, the only times the award has been given. in 2006, regions financial corp. became the event’s title sponsor, changing the name to the regions charity classic. last year’s tournament celebrated a milestone as it surpassed $10 million in charitable giving to the alabama community. after retiring from Bruno’s supermarkets inc. in 1995, Bruno founded an investment company, Bruno capital Management, where he currently serves as president. later that same year, he formed the Bruno Event Team with partner gene Hallman and serves as its chairman.

The Bruno Event Team has grown to encompass five separate divisions employing more than 50 full-time employees in eight offices throughout the United states. The five divisions include golf, five star catering, Zoom Motorsports, University of alabama gameday operations and Think + creative services. The company is also affiliated with the alabama sports foundation, managing numerous events for the foundation. The golf division alone currently manages five annual tournaments on the champions, lPga and nationwide Tours. Bruno Event Team has managed, for the United states golf association, five of the last seven U.s. Women’s opens and every U.s. senior open since 2004. They are currently managing a combined five

senior and Women’s opens through 2013. Bruno has served on numerous charitable and corporate boards over the past 25 years, including include

st. Vincent’s Hospital foundation, where he served as president, and the United Way, where

he served as campaign co-chairman, Tocqueville

society chairman, a member of the Metropolitan

development Board. He is also active with The University of alabama, where is a member of the President’s cabinet and has served as chairman of the Board of Visitors of the college of commerce and Business administration. He has sat on the board of directors for the following corporations: southTrust Bank, Bruno’s supermarkets inc. and russell corp. He currently sits on the board of directors for Books-a-Million. He was inducted into the Birmingham golf Hall of fame in 1994. Previous distinguished alabama sportsmen include Wilford Bailey, david Bronner, Bill ireland, Michael stephens, Hall Thompson and Jack Warner. Bronner, Thompson and Warner are also members of the business school’s Board of Visitors.

His family’s philanthropy efforts have enriched hundreds of thousands of individual lives in Birmingham and Alabama over the years.

ronald g. bruno

student HighlightsAward, conference and internships demonstrate students’ commitment to excellence

>>


f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 5 4

Health Care Management Student’s Essay Wins Undergraduate Division of ACHE Competition More than 100,000 people are waiting to receive a life-changing organ transplant, but many of those people are waiting in vain. despite national legislation governing the organ procurement system, a shortage of donors remains. luckily, for allison clemmons’ mother, a kidney was available when she needed it. clemmons, a senior in health care management in The University of alabama’s culverhouse college of commerce, wrote an essay about organ transplantation that won the undergraduate division of the 2009 richard J. stull student Essay competition sponsored by the american college of Healthcare Executives. “My mom had a kidney transplant when i was a junior in high school,” clemmons said. Her mother is doing fine and accompanied clemmons to chicago earlier this year to attend the acHE national congress and see her daughter present her paper at the convention and receive a $3,000 prize. clemmons was born and raised in canton, Mich., but returned with her family to alabama and now lives

in chelsea. she graduated in august and plans to attend The University of alabama at Birmingham to work on a joint Master of science in Health administration and MBa degree to prepare for a career in health care administration. she also has a minor in biology. clemmons said she wrote the winning paper as part of her class work and was encouraged by dr. Eric Williams, associate professor of health care management, to submit it in the acHE competition. she said she worked on the paper about six months and revised it multiple. it will be published in the Journal of Health care Management sometime this summer. “one of our students has finished first, second or third in this competition in seven of the last 10 years,” Williams said, “and this is the second time we have had the first-place winner.”

UA Operations Management Students Attend Toronto Conference Two students from the culverhouse college of commerce management program attended the 2009 aPics international conference and Expo in Toronto in october, courtesy of the Birmingham chapter of aPics-The association for operations Management. Michael Wilson and corey Barron, both seniors and classmates from Muscle shoals, ala., majoring in operations management, were sponsored by the Birmingham chapter to attend the conference and expo as student scholars. dr. charles r. sox, Ua professor of operations management, and William Petty, Ua instructor and undergraduate coordinator in operations management, are members of the board of directors of the aPics Birmingham chapter. “This was a great opportunity

for these young men to enhance their marketability and, at the same time, be part of the largest annual gathering of operations management professionals,” Petty said. “They were exposed to all facets of the profession, from the global aspect to forecasting to the necessity of lean operations in this economic climate.” operations management is concerned with the production of goods and services, and it is responsible for making sure business operations are as efficient as possible, conserve and save resources, and meet customer requirement and deadlines. The Birmingham chapter of aPics serves Birmingham and other communities in central alabama. The aPics organization is the global leader in operations management knowledge and is the certifying organization for people who work in the operations management arena, including production, inventory, supply chain, materials management, purchasing and logistics. Barron spent the summer working as an intern at frito-lay in the company’s supply and distribution area. “i was excited to have the opportunity to attend the international aPics conference this fall,” Barron said. “The conference featured information from some of the most well-known and respected members of the operations management field. This was an opportunity to understand how the global economy affects jobs in this field and the chance to see the role technology plays in everyday business.” Wilson, who is earning a minor in computer technology and applications, said he learned more about the international aspects of operations management. “it was a great opportunity to see the different facets of international life,” he said. Wilson said he and his family lived for several years in saudi arabia where his father was a hospital administrator.

allison clemmons


“i plan to get into the international side of operations management,” Wilson said. Wilson said he enrolled at Ua for the finance program. “i was just sort of feeling my way around. corey was in the operations management program so i talked to some people and took operations Management 300 and fell in love with it.” Wilson is president of the society of operations Management students at Ua. “There is always going to be a need for optimization of resources and helping companies reduce waste and run more efficiently,” Wilson said, “and i am excited to be a part of that.”

Culverhouse Student Receives NAPSLO Insurance Internship aimee simmons, a junior from Huntsville, ala., majoring in finance with a concentration in insurance, spent the summer doing a national association of Professional surplus lines offices ltd. insurance internship, one of only 12 awarded nationally. simmons is the second consecutive culverhouse student to receive the prestigious award. last year’s recipient from Ua was aldrich callins. simmons said her family background influenced her decision to enter the insurance field. “My grandfather was in the insurance business,” simmons said. she spent five weeks in atlanta with ace Westchester co. learning to analyze risk, followed by another four weeks with Burns & Wilcox, also in atlanta, learning the various insurance products and how to present them to prospective clients. Both are large, national organizations. simmons said she had considered attending graduate school “but i think i will forego graduate school for a while and work in insurance. “i would like to eventually work in international insurance,” simmons

said, noting that she is working on a minor in spanish and speaks some chinese. she works at calvary Baptist church’s little friends school day care, and has worked as a second language tutor in the Tuscaloosa county school system. “i eventually would like to open

and operate a school for gifted children,” she said. “aimee was an excellent choice for the internship,” said dr. William H. rabel, the John and Mary louise loftis Bickley Endowed Teaching chair of insurance and financial services at the business school. “she has been very active in university insurance student organizations, is a member of several honor organizations and dean’s list, and is enrolled in the University Honors Program,” rabel said. she is serving as president of the alabama insurance society. “These internships usually lead to employment in the insurance

industry,” rabel said. “in fact, many interns often have employment opportunities lined up before completing the program. This is primarily as a result of the excellent overall experience and networking opportunities available during the internship.” naPslo established the internship program in 1981 to

interest students in the surplus lines industry, which handles

unique, unusual or hard-to-place risks. since its inception, more than 150 students have participated in the

program and more than half of the former interns are

currently working in the insurance industry, with many employed by naPslo member firms.

Scholarship and Internship Give Culverhouse Graduate Invaluable Hands-on Experience’ scott McKenzie graduated from the culverhouse college of commerce in May 2009 with a double major in finance and economics. This fall, he is pursuing a Jd-MBa at The University of alabama with a focus on real estate

aimee simmons

“In fact, many interns often have employment opportunities lined up before completing the program.

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 5 6

law and strategy. This past summer, McKenzie had an internship with The sanders Trust in Birmingham, a privately held real estate investment trust that specializes in health care real estate, specifically on-campus, class-a medical office buildings. McKenzie met rance M. sanders, the president and cEo of The sanders Trust when he applied for The sanders scholarship at Ua two years ago. He has been one of the recipients of the scholarship for the past two years. “Beyond the monetary award, i gained a great mentor in Mr. sanders,” McKenzie said. “We have stayed in contact over the past two years, and my internship allowed me to truly benefit from his guidance. My goal is to one day own my own real estate investment firm similar to The sanders Trust, so the opportunity to intern with Mr. sanders was incredible.” While working at The sanders Trust, McKenzie worked with each department, including business development, acquisitions,

property management, accounting, marketing, and leasing and asset management. “during my time in the different departments, i was able to see the inner workings of a very successful real estate investment company,” McKenzie said. McKenzie got a look at business development through a trip with J. Bruce Bright, director of business development, and Bart starr, vice chairman, to Mobile, ala., and Panama city, fla., to visit with two hospital systems to explain The sanders Trust and discuss potential deals. He also analyzed past acquisitions by The sanders Trust as well as some opportunities the firm passed on. “i worked with david Baylot (senior vice president) and rance sanders to discuss strategies used.” McKenzie helped The sanders Trust go paperless by converting old paper files to Pdfs, and he worked with the marketing team to update The sanders Trust Web site. “We added 20 pages of pictures and

descriptions to the portfolio section of the Web site,” McKenzie said. “Beyond the knowledge gained through working with each department at The sanders Trust, i also had the privilege to spend a few days working with Mike Brandt. Mr. Brandt provides the company independent legal counsel regarding corporate and real estate matters and is a senior partner in the firm of Wallace, Jordan, ratliff and Brandt, llc,” McKenzie said. “Mr. Brandt, along with numerous other attorneys at his firm, provided me with advice and tips to be successful in law school. My internship at The sanders Trust was a great way to spend my summer before law school, and i feel it provided me invaluable hands-on experience.”

scott mckenzie, left, confers with rance sanders, president and ceo of the sanders trust.


So you have graduated, gotten a job and started your life. But

in between the e-mail hailstorms, meetings and strategizing sessions, you figure it would be nice to see how things are back at your alma mater. or, you are a parent, eager to see what is going on in the college life of your business-school student. now, you have more options than just alumni receptions or school visits.

The college has an active presence on facebook, Twitter, linkedin and YouTube, where you can interact with fellow alumni, faculty and current students and keep up with our frequent college news updates. You can find the links to our social networking sites on our newly redesigned home page at http://cba.ua.edu. and don’t be shy about writing on our facebook wall or tweeting at culverhouse. We

want to hear from you! another easy way to keep up with c&Ba is through our e-mail newsletter, culverhouse online, which is published bimonthly and covers everything from student news to updates on the ventures of our alumni. You can subscribe to the newsletter at http://cba.ua.edu/newsletter. The Web sites may be the best option if you just want to know

staying abreastKeeping in touch keeps getting easier

>>

As more and more people continue to pour into social networking sites, the college has launched several new online outlets to keep you up-to-date with the happenings at the Culverhouse College of Commerce.

f a l l ’ 0 9 c b a . u a . e d u 5 8

what is going on at culverhouse, but what if you want to get involved? The college has a multitude of programs for alumni who want to remain active in the college. one such program is the Women’s initiative Program, which is always looking for successful female executives interested in speaking to and mentoring female students. currently, the program has more than 30 mentors involved, and is

growing every year. Those interested in supporting the Women’s initiative Program can find out more at its home page: http://cba.ua.edu/wip. culverhouse also hosts a variety of luncheons, dinners and receptions for alumni throughout the year. over 20 different events are scheduled throughout the year to promote a healthy relationship with alumni. The events range from pre-game lunches for the commerce

Executives society in alston Hall on alabama football game days to dinners for young alumni in Birmingham, nashville and other cities. The culverhouse experience doesn’t have to end at graduation, just the exams and project presentations. (We promise!)


Culverhouse College of Commerceand Business AdministrationBox 870223Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0223

CHANgE SERvICE REqUESTED.

NoNPRoFITU.S. PoSTAgE PAID

BIRMINgHAM, ALPERMIT No. 2400

exte

rio

r o

f b

ru

no

bu

sin

ess

lib

ra

ry

the executive

Documents

e g e o f c o

s s u e

y o u r f u t u r e

v e r h o u s e c o

e r c efall

culverhouse students

g g f i n d s g o

winte r