January 2010

Dean’s Message – Dr. Hugh Courtney, Associate Dean of Executive Programs

Happy New Year! It is my great pleasure to introduce you to our new EMBA Alumni newsletter. We hope that this bi-monthly newsletter will quickly become a “must-read” for you and your fellow alumni, helping you stay connected to each other and the Smith School, and cultivating our shared interest in the EMBA program as it evolves.

As I look back on my first full year as Associate Dean of Executive Programs at Smith, I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work closely with such a talented and dedicated group of students, alumni, staff and faculty. Together, we have achieved some great successes this past year, including being ranked 21st among U.S. EMBA programs by the Financial Times; graduating the “Ochos” – our loud and proud 8th cohort; and recruiting and enrolling 36 top executives into our 10th cohort which just launched on January 10th. Similarly, I have enjoyed hearing about the many personal and professional successes and milestones you have achieved in the past year.

Nonetheless, I believe there is so much more we can all accomplish as a School, a program, and as individuals, if we more fully leverage our Smith EMBA network. That is the goal of this newsletter. I hope you will check it out regularly, and I hope it inspires you to call a cohort-mate or faculty member to reconnect; to return to campus for an alumni or thought leadership event; to reach out to the EMBA community for advice and support; or to just stop by on a Friday to join the current students and faculty for lunch in Van Munching Hall.

Please provide us feedback on what you would like to see more and less of in this newsletter and please send us your personal and professional updates so that we can share them with our community in future newsletters.

I look forward to seeing you all soon – check out the rest of the newsletter for upcoming opportunities to reconnect!

Wishing you all a most wonderful 2010,

Hugh

Save the date: EMBA Alumni Event on March 10, 2010

Join Dean Anand and other EMBA alumni for a Dean’s reception on Wednesday evening March 10 location and exact timing to be announced soon.

Upcoming Events – The Smith School has a variety of events over the next few weeks.

• Certificate in Innovation Management, Smith School and Clark School of Engineering– Starts January 22
• February 24, Next CEO @ Smith – Jim Parker (Former Southwest CEO) “Leadership Under Pressure....Keys to Resilience”
• Thought Leadership @ Smith
  • February 26, Joyce E. A. Russell, “Build Bench Strength by Developing Your Employees” in DC
  • March 5, J. Robert Baum, “Passion—and Confidence—in Successful Entrepreneurs” in Baltimore
  • March 12, Robert M. Sheehan, Jr., “Designing Mission-Driven Organizations” in DC
  • April 9, Robert M. Sheehan, Jr., “Designing Mission-Driven Organizations” in Baltimore
  • April 30, Clifford Rossi, “Risky Business: How Incentives, Governance and Management Impact Your Firm’s Risk Profile” in DC
  • May 7, Joyce E. A. Russell, “Build Bench Strength by Developing Your Employees” in Baltimore
• April 7-9, Directors' Institute
• April 24, The Center for Complexity in Business will be holding its second annual conference on April 23rd, 2010, featuring a variety of distinguished speakers. The center’s research focuses on practically all areas of modern management, including marketing, information systems, operations, logistics, finance, and organization science. This theme of this year’s conference is globalization and technology in a complex world. For more information, please e-mail Carrie Barran.

What is happening at Smith EMBA? –Smith Executive MBA turns 10!!

By Shelbi Brookshire, Director, EMBA Recruiting

It’s hard to believe, but the 10th Smith EMBA cohort started with a kick off dinner Sunday, January 10th. 36 EMBA students met to begin their 19 month experience. It is my distinct pleasure to introduce the next generation of Smith EMBA.

The average student is 37 years old with between 10 and 16 years of professional experience – several have 20+ years. We are 25% female and 39% underrepresented minority. 19% of the class is international representing Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Greece, Senegal, Turkey and Panama. 22% of the class has an advanced degree including one Ph.D. (human genetics) and one medical doctor. There are also two CPAs.

The class is a rich mixture of non-profit, government, energy, telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, etc. I anticipate many lively discussions between the cohort members.

Whether you were a member of the first or the ninth cohort, you recognize the amazing journey on which these Smith EMBAs have embarked. Additionally, you understand the significance of the networking opportunities afforded within the program. Thus, I encourage you to get to know the newest members of the Smith EMBA Community at the next community event.

Hope to see you there,

Shelbi

Smith EMBA Students in Smith Business Magazine

Did you see the latest edition of Smith Business Magazine (Fall 2009)? Three of our own were featured in the magazine; Michael Barr (EM05), Liam Brown (EM03), and Dave Morgan (EM07). If you missed it, you can view it online.

Stay Connected

We have three areas where we ask you to make sure your e-mail and mailing address are up to date.

1. UMD – E-mail university relations. This is important if you want to keep getting the Smith Business Magazine and other UMD publications.
2. Smith Alumni Portal which will soon be Smith Connector
3. EMBA Office - Our office is attempting to keep track of all e-mail address changes. Please e-mail us with any updates.

Don’t forget to look for the Smith School on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Finally, we would like to request for personal updates to share with all of our EMBA alumni. We would like to highlight your successes! Please send any updates you want to share such as a new job or a new baby.

We are looking for a few of your classmates; we do not have a good e-mail addresses for them. Please e-mail us if you have their contact information. Thank you for your help!