New Scholarhip Opportunity
At a recent meeting of Provost's Advisory Council information about a new scholarship was announced. The vision for the Susan T. Kern Special Opportunity Scholarship Fund is to provide financial support to Illinois State University women students in support of one-time special academic or co-curricular opportunities. It is Dr Kern’s wish to provide financial assistance to a student for an opportunity they otherwise wouldn’t be able to fund. Awards will be considered by the Selection Committee and reviewed on an as-needed basis. Applications are now available.
Jim Tyree
Jim Tyree, a finance and MBA alum from the College of Business at Illinois State University was featured recently in an on-line video by Crain’s Chicago Business. Jim is chairman and CEO of Mesirow Financial in Chicago. Mesirow is a diversified financial services firm with more than 1,100 employees in 12 offices across the country. Jim was inducted a a member of the College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame in 2003. Tyree is chairman of the Board of the City Colleges of Chicago. He also serves the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International as a life member of its Board of Directors, as a member of the executive committee, and chair of program development. He has served on more than 35 boards of directors in business, and also is on educational boards, including the Board of Illinois State University Foundation.
The video featuring Jim’s thoughts related to leadership and lessons for young managers is available at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/TalkingManagement/Tyree.html.
Enterprise
BusinessWeek Magazine recently named Enterprise Rent-A-Car as one of the top five places to launch a career. Enterprise, a major and long-term corporate partner of the Professional Sales Institute, typically hires about 12 COB graduates each year. There are 107 ISU alumni currently working in the Enterprise family, making it the 12th largest employer of COB graduates.
Julie Booras, a local recruiter for the company says “Illinois State University has been a great place for Enterprise to find employees who want to learn to run a business from the ground up.”
Enterprise Rent-A-Car operates more than 850,000 rental and fleet services vehicles worldwide and has annual revenues of more than $9 billion. Last year, the company opened more than 400 new locations, increasing its total to nearly 7,000.
Trustee Visit
Stan Ommen, President and CEO of State Farm Bank visited the College of Business in his role as an ISU Trustee in Residence. He met with Mark Hoelscher and Iris Varner regarding the international consulting and research project they are coordinating and also spoke to Steve Keogh's MQM 220 class. Ommen spent time in the Focus Group Room where Tim Longfellow discussed the opportunities available to students, faculty and external partners that have resulted from having the special facility. Senior finance major Nick Blair demonstrated the Bloomberg Terminal for Ommen and Tom Howe provided an update on the Educational Investment Fund. Mike Williams joined the Trustee as they watched sales students conduct role plays in the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Professional Sales Learning Center. Ommen's visit concluded with lunch with members of the college Leadership Team and the Dean's Staff.
