EMBA Alumni Newsletter

It has been a most wonderful month for the Smith EMBA since our last newsletter. We welcomed 40 outstanding executives to our 11th cohort on Jan. 17, 2011; Shelbi Brookshire, our EMBA super-recruiter and "first face of the program" for so many of you, gave birth to her first child, Wallace Brookshire Simon, on Jan. 29, 2011; and we welcomed Greg Hanifee as our new assistant dean of executive programs on Feb. 14, 2011. Needless to say, we are thrilled on all three fronts! (See the newsletter articles below for more on all three.)

Greg, a Smith School MBA alumnus, joins us after a long career at Verizon and the last two years leading our custom non-degree programs business for corporate, non-profit and government clients. He is the perfect entrepreneurial, service-oriented and principled leader to lead our EMBA program to the next level of success. Greg will report to me in my role as vice dean at the Smith School, but I will no longer be involved in running the day-to-day aspects of the EMBA and our other executive programs. I will continue to teach in the EMBA and stay involved in our recruiting and alumni activities as much as possible. After all, even the vice dean is allowed to do something really fun once in a while!

Greg and I will both be at the March 10, 2011 EMBA Alumni event in Washington, D.C. and very much hope to see you there. In the meantime, don't forget to let us know what and how you're doing and what the Smith School can do to make your EMBA alumni experience more rewarding and fun.

EMBA Updates – Register for the EMBA Alumni Event: March 10

We are extremely proud to introduce you to the most recent cohort of Executive MBA students – EMBA 11. Forty students began their Residency Week with a dinner on Monday, Jan. 17.

Our newest cohort brings a wealth of professional and cultural diversity. They are involved with such industries as military and government consulting, IT and telecommunications, non-profit and education as well as all cycles of health care from political reform, R&D and government oversight to biotech, pharma and medical practice. Financial services and consulting round out the group.

We are holding a networking event in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, March 10 for EMBA alumni, current students and prospective students. The official website will be up in early February, but if you are interested in attending, please feel free to go ahead and register yourself. This is a free event being held at the St. Gregory Hotel from 6 to 8 p.m. As part of the event, there will be a short panel discussion between several EMBA alums in fields ranging from government, military, pharma and consulting.

As noted in my recent State of Smith address, we have invested in our Office of Executive Programs over the past two years and these programs play an increasingly important role in our strategic and financial plans. These investments are generating a healthy return: our EMBA program is now rated among the best in the country, and we have successfully launched an innovative new suite of custom and open-enrollment non-degree programs for our executive education clients.

It is crucial that our Office of Executive Programs maintains this positive momentum and continues to grow the size and impact of its programs in the coming years. This requires strong leadership. That is why the Smith School has spent the past four months undertaking a global search for the new head of our executive programs team. While the Search Committee -- chaired by Alex Triantis, Professor and Chairman of the Finance Department -- reviewed top candidates with impressive credentials from a wide variety of industry backgrounds, in the end they determined that the best candidate was here at Smith.

I am delighted to announce that Greg Hanifee has accepted our offer to become the Assistant Dean of Executive Programs effective February 14. Greg joined the Smith School 20 months ago as the Executive Director of Custom Programs. He has built an exemplary track record at Smith in his short time here. He has developed new programs for top clients such as General Dynamics and CSX, and has initiated innovative new partnerships with the Gettysburg Foundation, Maryland Bankers Association and the Maryland State Medical Society. Importantly, he has also gained the trust and respect of all executive program stakeholders - staff, faculty, students and clients - with his dedicated, collaborative and ethical leadership style.

Greg brings a wealth of global leadership experience to his new position. Prior to joining the Smith School, he was an executive at Verizon for 20+ years, where he played several senior sales and marketing roles and was the Managing Director of two rapid-growth businesses in China. As a Smith School MBA alumnus, we also know that he is extremely well educated!

I want to thank Hugh Courtney for his leadership of the Office of Executive Programs for the past 2.5 years, and wish him continued success in his new Vice Dean role. I also want to thank the Search Committee -- Dave Godes, Sharon Johnson, Margaret Miller, Joyce Russell, Rob Sheehan, Alex Triantis and the Committee's Coordinator, Candace Ward -- for their outstanding service to the School.

I look forward to working closely with Greg in the coming years to build our executive programs. Please join me in congratulating and supporting him as he takes on this critical leadership role for our School. You may reach him at ghanifee@rhsmith.umd.edu or 301.405.7628.

An agreement between the Smith School's Office of Executive Programs and the Gettysburg Foundation has combined the talented Management & Organization faculty with the Gettysburg leadership guides to form customized training for corporations and organizations. The intensely experiential programs will push participants to think differently about individual and organizational challenges through engagement in action-oriented sessions, both on the renowned Pennsylvania battlefield and in the classroom. Read more about the possibilities envisioned in a recent Baltimore Sun article, and also from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Executive Education Announces: Technology & Innovation Leadership Beyond Borders

Executive Education Announces a Joint Certification Program with IIMB, University of Maryland and Zhejiang University. The program, titled Technology & Innovation Leadership Beyond Borders, consists of a series of three international business education and professional development immersion experiences at each of the three institutions, networking and group activities for participating executives, and a certificate to each successful program participant. The three institutions will jointly deliver a high-quality impactful experience of an international caliber and will share in the effort, expenses, and revenues from the planning and delivery of the program. Find more information at www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/releases/2011/011811.aspx.

Upcoming Events

I. Smith School-IBM Business Analytics Workshop: Modeling and Understanding Risk
Keynote Speaker: Robert Kolasky, Asst. Dir., Risk Governance and Support, Department of Homeland Security
March 4, 2011
www.rhsmith.umd.edu/ibm

IV. CEO@Smith: David Rubenstein, The Carlyle Group
Save the Date
April 12, 2011
www.rhsmith.umd.edu/ceos

Upcoming Continuing Education Courses - Held in Washington, DC at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

miniMBA2.0: www.rhsmith.umd.edu/miniMBA2.0

Smith Consulting Edge – Apr. 28-29, 2011, www.rhsmith.umd.edu/consultingedge

EMBA Alumni Newsletter

Stay Connected

We have two areas where we ask you to make sure your email and mailing address are up to date.

Announcements

Sandra Brummitt (EMBA 10), currently director of tax planning at Constellation Energy, was just named Constellation Energy's director of investor relations.

Steve Crane (EMBA 9) has been named director of Cronkite’s Washington operations of the Cronkite News Service, Arizona State University. Cronkite News Service is a multiplatform daily news operation providing Arizonans with critical public policy stories. Find more information at cronkite.asu.edu/node/1049.

Rob Glenn (EMBA 9) is now the Ohio Governor Kasich's Homeland Security Division Adviser and Director.

Kara Hedges (EMBA 10) is now the Vice President of Product Strategy for EverFi, Inc., an education technology start-up in D.C. The company is in the very early stages and is developing innovative financial literacy curriculum software delivered through cutting edge online gaming technology. The company was founded three years ago by a Smith alumnus from the PT program, Jon Chapman. They also hired a recent Smith FT graduate this summer, Ben Hadden, it is a nice Smith family that has come together across the FT, PT, and EMBA program to build the business.

Sherri Powell (EMBA 10) has a new job with Bloomberg LP to work in the firm's Business and Product Development unit in the DC office.

Shelbi Brookshire, Director EMBA Admissions, welcomed baby girl Wallace Brookshire Simon born on January 29.

Finally, we would like to request 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 new job or new baby. Email the updates to emba_alumni@rhsmith.umd.edu.

We are looking for a few of your classmates; we do not have a good email address for them. Please contact emba_alumni@rhsmith.umd.edu. Thank you for your help!

Vincent DeCarlo
Heather Eck
James Franklin
Shiva Fritsch
Mark Haraway
Shipra Matreja
Brian Taylor
Sandeep Thumula
Heidi Walsh