News
UE Business Students Launch Partnership with Moroccan University
Posted: April 23, 2013
With a new partnership between Al Akhawayan University in Ifrane, Morocco, and the University of Evansville, students in an upper-level marketing course had the opportunity to work in groups six times zones apart.
The students, using Skype for live lectures and Facebook for group work, planned out cross-cultural export plans. The AUI students focused on identifying suitable non-governmental organizations (similar to non-profits) to work with and finding products, while UE students developed marketing strategies. One of the four groups developed an export plan for Amlou, a Moroccan product similar to peanut butter, and another looked at exporting rugs.
“I went in with notions that the ten Moroccan students from AUI would possess vastly different ideas and perspectives,” said senior Catherine Albers, a marketing and management major. “However, those notions were replaced once I realized we were more alike than any of us expected.”
Students said the biggest challenges were dealing with the time zones, technology, and slight cultural differences. “Communication was a problem at first,” said senior Chelsea Abplanalp, a business management and global business major. “But it just took getting used to.”
The class was taught by Peter Rosen, an associate professor of management information systems, on the UE side, and Nicolas Hamelin, PhD, from Ifrane. “The students showed a lot of commitment to their groups,” Rosen said. “But, the most exciting part of the course was when both universities met at Harlaxton College over spring break.”
For an entire week, AUI and UE students met to work on final presentations at Harlaxton. In relation to the course, the group traveled to Cambridge, and were treated to a lecture in Moroccan politics at St. Anthony’s College.
Next fall, Rob Montgomery, a professor of marketing, is teaching a similar course through an on-going partnership with China.
Social Entrepreneur Jaime Gomez to Visit UE
Posted: March 21, 2013
The University of Evansville’s Office of Academic Affairs invites the community to a presentation by Jaime Gomez, PhD, distinguished professor of international business at the University of San Diego and professor of international strategy and management at the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico.
Gomez will present “Building a Sustainable World through Innovation Driven Social Enterprise” at 4 p.m. Monday, March 25 in Smythe Lecture Hall (Room 170, Schroeder School of Business Building). The lecture is free and open to the public.
With a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, a master’s in applied systems design, and a PhD in applied economics and managerial science, Gomez has interests that extend across multiple disciplines. His work experience has been international in character and global in impact. He believes in education in its most comprehensive interpretation – a foundation for societal development through which students become socially responsible individuals instilled with a moral obligation to others and to society as a whole. His work and his values epitomize the concept of the social entrepreneur.
For more information, please contact the Office of Academic Affairs at 812-488-1178.
The Institute for Global Enterprise is also supporting Gomez’s visit to the University of Evansville. On Tuesday, March 26 from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Gomez will lead an Executive Education Forum on “Strategies for Global Competitiveness,” open to the local business community. For more information and to register, please contact Katie Ciccarelli, Institute for Global Enterprise director of program development, at kc204@evansville.edu or visit http://evansville.edu/execedforum.
Jim Schaefer Named Outstanding Educator by Indiana CPA Society
Posted: February 26, 2013
Jim Schaefer, professor of accounting at the University of Evansville, has received the Outstanding Educator Award for 2012 from the Indiana CPA Society.
The award recognizes a college accounting professor who is distinguished for excellence in classroom teaching and for active involvement in the CPA profession.
Schaefer joined the University of Evansville in 1990 after completing his Doctor of Business Administration in accounting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He has been awarded the University of Evansville’s Dean’s Teaching Award twice as well as the Delta Sigma Pi Professor of the Year award twice. In 2010, Schaefer was the lead author of the seventh-most popular article in the Journal of Accountancy.
His involvement in the Indiana CPA Society includes service on the board of directors, ethics committee, and as discussion leader on the topics of A&A and ethics.
Ken Schmidt to Speak in Indianapolis, Evansville March 14
Posted: February 20, 2013
The Institute for Global Enterprise, part of the Schroeder School of Business at the University of Evansville, will host former Harley-Davidson communications director Ken Schmidt in Indianapolis and Evansville on Thursday, March 14. As part of the Institute Speaker Series, Schmidt will discuss “Going Global: Succeeding in the International Marketplace.”
Schmidt’s appearance in Indianapolis is presented in partnership with the Rotary Club of Indianapolis. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. local time, and Schmidt will speak at noon at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 650 N. Meridian St. Each ticket costs $20 and includes lunch. Guests may purchase a maximum of four tickets through the University of Evansville at www.uealumnionline.com/kenschmidt or 812-488-2706, or through the Rotary Club of Indianapolis at www.indyrotary.org or 317-631-3733.
Schmidt will speak that evening in Evansville at 6:00 p.m. local time at the Aiken Theatre at The Centre, 715 Locust St. This event is free and open to the public, with no tickets required. Doors open at 5:00 p.m., and seating is first come, first served. For more information, please visit www.globalindiana.com or contact the Institute for Global Enterprise at 812-488-2455 or globalindiana@evansville.edu.
Schmidt has been associated with Harley-Davidson Motor Company since 1985, and his success in helping rebuild the company’s brand played a vital role in the motorcycle legend’s turnaround from the brink of ruin to global dominance.
In his role as Harley’s director of communication, Schmidt shaped the company’s positioning and served as its primary spokesperson to the media and financial communities. Now semi-retired, Schmidt provides brand-building expertise to many of the world’s best-known businesses. But to this day, Harley-Davidson remains his primary business partner and his strongest passion.
He co-wrote a book, 100 Years of Harley-Davidson, which is the best-selling motor sports book of all time. He has appeared on network television numerous times, and spoken to hundreds of audiences around the world.
The Institute for Global Enterprise wishes to thank Old National Bank for its generous support of these Institute Speaker Series events, and Bud’s Harley Davidson for its support of Schmidt’s Evansville appearance.
Business Recognition Awards to Honor G. Michael Schopmeyer, Berry Plastics
Posted: February 5, 2013
This week, the University of Evansville’s chapter of the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity will present its annual Business Recognition Awards to local attorney G. Michael Schopmeyer and Berry Plastics Corporation.
The awards will be presented at a luncheon at noon Friday, February 8 in Eykamp Hall (Room 251 in the Ridgway University Center). Members of the media are welcome to cover the event.
“The recipients of the Business Recognition Awards are chosen each year by the student members of Delta Sigma Pi,” said Stephen Standifird, dean of the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration. “The program honors local business leaders and businesses that exhibit transformational leadership in the community and serve as role models to future business leaders.”
Schopmeyer, named Business Leader of the Year, is co-managing partner of Kahn, Dees, Donovan, and Kahn law firm and a 1980 graduate of the University of Evansville. He has 30 years of experience practicing as a business attorney, and his skills center on resolving and closing business, construction, environmental, and real and intellectual property disputes and transactions. His career includes service as a private practitioner, government attorney, arbitrator, and civic leader.
Berry Plastics Group Inc., named Business of the Year, provides plastic consumer packaging and engineered materials. With world headquarters in Evansville, Indiana, the company’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BERY. Randy Hobson, the company’s executive vice president, commercial development and a 1988 graduate of the University of Evansville, will accept the award.
Delta Sigma Pi is a professional fraternity organized to foster the study of business in universities; to encourage scholarship, social activity, and the association of students for their mutual advancement by research and practice; to promote a closer affiliation between the commercial world and students of commerce; and to further a higher standard of commercial ethics and culture and the civic and commercial welfare of the community.
Nationally Renowned Analyst to Present Free, Public Talk at UE
Posted: January 24, 2013
Hilliard Lyons’ John Roberts, who has been named one of the nation’s leading analysts by The Wall Street Journal and Forbes, will speak at 4 p.m. Monday, January 28 in Smythe Lecture Hall (Room 170) in the University of Evansville’s Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building. His presentation, “Life as an Analyst and 2013 Market Outlook,” is free and open to the public.
Roberts is senior vice president and director of research for Hilliard Lyons, one of the nation’s oldest investment firms. Roberts oversees a research team of 15 investment and research analysts and support staff. Hilliard Lyons’ research department analysts have been recognized numerous times at the national level by The Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street,” and over the survey’s 20-year history, six research analysts have been placed in the top five among their respective industry groups a total of 17 times.
Roberts has been ranked as the top REIT analyst by The Wall Street Journal and has been rated as a top 10 equity analyst by Forbes.com. Before joining Hilliard Lyons in 1997, John served as vice president, director of research and chief financial officer at First Honolulu Securities. He has also been a mergers and acquisitions analyst at Mills Dowling, a senior securities analyst at 13D Research, and a senior securities analyst in the REIT group at Stifel Nicolaus.
Roberts holds an MBA in finance and operations management from Syracuse University and a BS in business economics from Fordham University.
For more information, please contact UE’s Schroeder Family School of Business Administration at 812-488-2851.