EMBA Alumni Newsletter

With great honor and pleasure I write my inaugural "Dean's Note" to you as we move into the heart of Spring, and as we close in on the beginning of Summer. I want to thank all of you that sent along your notes of congratulations and wishes for success, and it reminds me that I, as is all of our staff and faculty, are humbled by the opportunity you've given us to provide learning environments from which you can change your life. We've heard many of those stories over my first few weeks as Assistant Dean, and we've highlighted a few in the newsletter. I can already tell that we will have a chronicle of success and growth from the updates that you'll send our way, and we're delighted to share the news with Alumni, faculty and staff. If you do have news for us to share, please email Amanda Lavino at alavino@rhsmith.umd.edu.

Speaking of learning environments, one of my commitments to you is to bring more opportunities to you for life-long learning from the Smith School. It's so great to see some of the Alumni at our panel events, and we will continue to offer topical conversations and panel discussions, mainly featuring our great alums. In addition, we will be reaching out to you soon to announce a workshop to hear what you would like to have offered as life-long learning opportunities from Smith for EMBA Alumni. It may simply be continued invitations to Smith-wide events, such as CEO@Smith, special discounts to short-course offerings like miniMBA2.0 or Beyond Borders, or a reunion combined with leadership lessons at Gettysburg. What I do know is that the best ideas will come from you, and then we can work with you to build great experiences. We have a save-the-date for June 25, when we'll ask for alums to join us in this discussion. If you have ideas in the meantime, please forward them to me.

This past week we welcomed Shelbi Brookshire back from maternity leave, and she's already diving into the recruiting for Cohort 12. She's starting from a great spot thanks to the wonderful job provided by Chris Larsen during Shelbi's (brief) absence from the front lines. Supporting our efforts building another high-quality cohort is a new radio campaign - you may have heard it, we refer to it as: The Smith Effect. The ads tell the story of how the Smith MBA or EMBA transforms peoples’ lives - one featuring our own Dan Nichols (Cohort 5) will be airing soon, so keep an ear out. I know I'm biased, but I think it's really hitting the mark and I've personally had a lot of people comment on its powerful statement. All that being said, I think there will be no better source then yourselves for recommending your friends, executives in your organizations and colleagues to our program, and I really believe the ads help to support your accomplishments here, so if you do know someone that is considering a life-changing event like the Smith EMBA, please let Shelbi or I know.

Lastly, I'd like to give special thanks to Vice Dean Hugh Courtney and Dean Anandalingam for giving me this opportunity to lead the Executive Education office - we've got a lot of work ahead, but with an incredible team, outstanding faculty and an ever-engaged alumni base, I know we can continue to create leaders like no other Business School. Under Hugh Courtney's leadership the EMBA program has reached new and lofty heights, and I for one will be working hard to make sure we are at the top of our game.

EMBA Updates

It's that time of year again....the beginning of our recruiting cycle for the next cohort - Cohort 12 - which will begin January 2012. The first deadline of April 30th has passed. We will begin interviewing mid- to late-May. While the next deadline is July 15, we do accept applications on a rolling basis. If you have friends or colleagues who are interested in learning more about joining the Smith EMBA program, feel free to pass along my contact information. I am happy to help answer any questions they may have which we could do over lunch or coffee with you and your colleague.

One important note, the July 15, deadline is the priority deadline for anyone looking for scholarship funds. The Scholarship Committee will allocate 80% of the funds during this recruiting phase.

Upcoming Events

Mark your calendars for now and look of more information soon for an opportunity to join Cohort 10 and Cohort 11, Vice Dean Hugh Courtney, and special guest Jim Parker, former CEO of Southwest Airlines for a talk on what has made Southwest Airlines successful. The session will be held from 2:15-6:15 p.m. in Van Munching Hall with an alumni reception to follow. Details are coming soon!

I hope you are all doing well. We miss you here at the Smith School and hope to see you soon. In fact, I would love to have you back as Venture Capitalists for our new Capstone Business Simulation. Yes, the simulation has a new look and features. It's exciting! You can check it out at www.marketplace-live.com.

The game will be played in mid July with 36 Cohort 10 executives and some international executives. We will have 9-10 teams in two universes and will need plenty of VCs. The VC Day is scheduled for July 25, 2011 (approx. 8:30am-2pm, lunch included). The schedule will include VC training, team presentations, lunch & VC fair.

As you know, you will be competing with each other for the Highest ROI as well as the Most Constructive and Helpful VCs. This should be fun. Who will be able to beat last year's top VC ROI of 598% by David Wexelblat (Cohort 03) or some other notable scores over 100% from Joe Cudby (Cohort 08), Tom McMullen (Cohort 06), Dan Pugh (Cohort 07), and Sol Ross (Cohort 02). And if you recall, our most Constructive and Helpful VS (chosen by the EMBA teams) were Eugene deRibeaux (Cohort 08) and Sol Ross (Cohort 02). But, besides all the competitions, it will just be nice to have you back on campus and to see all of you again. If you can serve as a VC this year, please let me know (jrussell@rhsmith.umd.edu).

Again, I hope you are all doing well in your personal and professional lives. We do miss you here at the Smith School of Business and look forward to seeing you soon!

Joyce
Joyce E. A. Russell, Ph.D.
Director, Executive Coaching and Leadership Development Program
Ralph J. Tyser Distinguished Teaching Fellow

Lifelong Learning Opportunities

As part of our new effort to extend lifelong learning opportunities to our Executive MBA Alums at special rates, we are extending an opportunity for you to join our exceptional faculty in exciting new short-course programs at the Smith School of Business. Stay ahead of the crowd by learning from experts in today's markets! Read below to learn more and contact us today to register.

The job environment is constantly changing and you need the skills to stay ahead. Re-energize your career. Short-courses in social media marketing, strategy, sustainability and digital business models enable you to develop new areas of expertise, interact with industry guest panelists and faculty members to enhance your productivity. The next session runs from May 23-June 3. The best part: Discounts are available to all EMBA alumni. For the first four (4) EMBA alumni that contact us, you will save 50% by registering for the entire certificate. For everyone, save 25% when you register for any single or multiple courses.

Visit www.rhsmith.umd.edu/minimba2.0 for details and please contact Amanda Lavino to register for the EMBA special rates.

China, India and the United States are three key growth markets for the future, with distinct management and innovation strengths. Join a cohort of global executives for one-week stays at Robert H. Smith School of Business, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and School of Management, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. Participants will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the study of global senior management, delivering the key to successful innovation in each of three critical markets abroad. This international certificate program and networking experience begins in September 2011. Sign up now to receive your 10% alumni discount!

Executive Education in the News

Our executive education impact continues to expand! The Office of Executive Programs has signed an agreement with a Fortune 50 company to deliver a new customized program. Alex Triantis (Finance) will be the academic director for the program, which will tailor skill-building content in the areas of finance, marketing and team building. This acquisition of this program is the second major win for our office this spring, and we're on the hunt for more.

Other Smith School News

Krowe Teaching Awards Announced
The Smith School established the Krowe Teaching Excellence Awards in 1986 to recognize those who have consistently demonstrated superior teaching skills. The Krowe Awards nomination and evaluation process is managed by the Smith School's Teaching Enhancement Committee. The committee received numerous worthy nominations from Smith students, faculty and alumni this year, and is proud to announce this year's Krowe Award winners:

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, Cohort 10, currently director of tax planning at Constellation Energy, was just named Constellation Energy's director of investor relations.

Adam Bell, Cohort 10, was recently named Director of Strategic Planning in Constellation Energy’s Corporate Strategy and Development group. In his new role, he is responsible for the development of the company’s strategy, including evaluation of development opportunities that enable the company’s strategy, coordination with leadership to facilitate strategic alignment, the development of measures of strategic progress through the company’s Balanced Scorecard process, and the development of communication frameworks to help stakeholders better understand Constellation Energy’s strategy. Prior to his current role, Adam held a number of accounting and finance related leadership positions at Constellation in Baltimore, MD and London, UK.

Pete Plotas, Cohort 9, and his colleagues at Rollstream moved from pure start-up to the next phase, as GXS, their oldest alliance partner, acquired Rollstream at the end of March. Pete will remain with GXS as Director-Channels & Partners, as will many of the Rollstream team. Read more at GXS-Rollstream Acquisition.

Everfi, the leading educational platform for teaching K-16 students life-skills, had two big wins recently: 1) hiring Kara Hedges, Cohort 10, as Vice President Product Development, and; 2) acquiring Outside the Classroom, the leading provider of the largest online alcohol prevention course AlcoholEdu®."

Brian Hopman, Cohort 9, and wife Laura welcomed twin boys Nathaniel Kean and Benjamin Wilder on March 3.

Heath Campbell, Cohort 11, and wife Kristi welcomed a son, Jackson Walker, on March 16.

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 couple 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
Matthews Drewery
Heather Eck
James Franklin
Shiva Fritsch
Mark Haraway
Shipra Matreja
Sandeep Thumula
Heidi Walsh