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Vol. 2, Issue 2 • Fall 2009 • A newsletter for alumni and friends of the Nazareth School of Management For more information on SOM, visit www.naz.edu/dept/som
Dear alumni and friends,
TRUSTEE TEACHES UNIQUE MANAGEMENT COURSE
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One of our goals in the School of Management is to serve as a model for business community and academic partnership. We hope to achieve this through the selective use of external advisory groups. Advisory groups serve as complements to the traditional accrediting bodies, helping us maintain our relevance and keeping us in tune with the latest practice. Our newest advisory group is the SOM Advisory Council. The Council is an impressive collection of twenty-five business leaders and entrepreneurs from the greater Rochester area. Many of them have hired SOM graduates and mentored our interns. I am very proud to announce that six SOM alumni are members of the Council:
unique graduate level course in Nazareth’s School of Management brings trustees and other business leaders directly into the classroom, providing realistic examples of management in action. The Executive Lecture Series (MGT 610) features 10 senior-level executives from the Rochester area, representing a variety of organizations, presenting Trustee Brian Hickey their thoughts on everything from in the classroom. the state of their industry to the reasons for their success. Gerard Zappia, dean of the School of Management, is very proud of the course. More than 120 different speakers have come in, and the board of trustees has provided a ready pool of guest lecturers. So far, trustee speakers have included Susan Acker, Lauren Dixon, Steve Dubnick, Sergio Esteban, Jane Glazer, Tom Ioele, Richard Kaplan, John Purcell, and Patricia Schoelles, SSJ. Brian Hickey, executive vice president at M & T Bank, came in first as a speaker; he has taught the course for the past two years. “An experienced executive like Brian running the class brought it to a different level,” Zappia says. Hickey believes that, as someone with years of management and leadership experience, he has something to share with the class. “When I see students at the beginning of the term and compare their views with those in the papers I read at the end, I get the sensation that I’ve participated in giving them a new, reshaped frame of reference,” he says. “They’ll look at leadership, their workplace, and their careers differently as a result of having taken the course.”
Robert Donahue ’87, Vice President of Corporate Services— Unity Health Priscilla Fisk ’96, Digital Media and Social Networking Consultant David Graham ’03, Controller—The Bonadio Group Doug Johnston ’85, Partner—North Coast Partners Steve LaSalle II ’83, Vice President of Finance—Lifetime Health Medical Group Marianne Timmons ’98G, Vice President of Global Logistics— Wegmans This is another great example of how our alumni help to advance the vision and mission of the SOM. Sincerely,
Gerard F. Zappia, Dean Nazareth College School of Management
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Golf Tournament
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Swedish Student Christopher Löfgren
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hristopher Löfgren ’10 exemplifies a force that is molding the business world today: globalization. This Nazareth senior hails from the small coastal town of Höllviken, Sweden, where his father owns a distribution arm of Electrolux and his mother is in a computer sales-related firm. Löfgren always knew that he wanted to make a life in business. “For me, it was never really an option to not go into business,” he says. “After all, with business there are so many different things you can do. If you put your heart into it, the possibilities are endless.”
Löfgren balances his athletic pursuits with impressive academic accomplishments. He is taking advantage of Nazareth’s brandnew major in Marketing and is the proud recipient of the 2008–2009 Robert Miller Entrepreneurship Scholarship. Löfgren won the $1,500 award for a business plan he wrote on the “House of Tea,” an upscale tea services business.
In search of endless possibilities, this questing young man decided he wanted to go to college outside of Sweden. “There are good schools there and the education is free,” Löfgren says, “but I wanted to see the bigger world.” A lifelong athlete, Löfgren used his soccer prowess as his passport to America. He had offers from a number of schools, but really liked Nazareth’s head soccer coach Danny Gilbertson. He plays left midfield for the Golden Flyers and also serves as team captain.
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“I think Nazareth is doing a on Globalization “ For this citizen of the world, Nazareth has provided a very good home away from home. “I think Nazareth is doing a great job focusing on globalization,” says Löfgren. “We have students from England, Ghana, Ecuador, Italy, France, and having all these
international students sitting together in the classroom makes globalization real. We sit together, we learn the same thing, and we all learn from each other.”
SOM Awards Miller Scholarships to Future Entrepreneurs
Nazareth College President Daan Braveman, Christopher Löfgren ’10, Sarah Berkley ’10, Jason Mathewson ’10, and School of Management Dean Gerard Zappia.
Three undergraduate business administration students recently received awards from the Robert Miller Entrepreneurial Scholarship Program. Sarah Berkley, a senior from Penfield received a $2,500 scholarship for the 2009–2010 school year; senior Jason Mathewson from Fairport and senior Christopher Löfgren of Höllviken, Sweden, both received $1,500 awards. Created in honor of former Nazareth President Robert Miller, who retired in 2005, the Miller Scholarships are awarded to students enrolled in the College’s School of Management. “The Dr. Robert Miller Scholarship was established by the Entrepreneurial Partnership (EP) to suppport talented business students at Nazareth College,” says School of Management Dean Gerard Zappia. “The scholarship aids hard-working students and shows them we are willing to reward and invest in their diligence.” Nazareth’s EP is a collaboration between the College and 20 entrepreneurs from the Rochester area. They generously give of their time, money, and expertise in support of the Nazareth College School of Management and the infusion of entrepreneurship into the curriculum and other college activities.
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SOM Faculty Member Joins Turkey Delegation A group of seven Nazareth faculty and staff members, including Dr. Rochelle Ruffer, associate professor of economics, traveled to the Republic of Turkey for 12 days last June. The Nazareth delegation, sponsored by Rochester’s Turkish Cultural Society, met with administrators from four universities and a high school, seeking opportunities for educational partnerships. “We visited Istanbul, Izmir and Ephesus, Antalya and the Mediterranean Coast, Konya, and the region of Cappadocia,” says Ruffer. “It is a beautiful country filled with friendly people.”
The library at Ephesus, built in 115 B.C.
Nazareth’s Turkey delegation, taken in the region of Cappadocia. Dr. Ruffer is on the far right.
The Mediterranean Sea near Antalya.
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Deborah LaBelle keeps IT fresh information technology with business courses that provide future IT specialists with a solid foundation for the work world. “Our IT major program requires courses in management, communications, and entrepreneurship,” LaBelle explains. “We also offer a minor in IT that attracts students from many disciplines outside the School of Management. Students clearly see the need to have IT skills in their backpack when they leave campus.” While the IT program is still small, those who graduate from it report a high level of satisfaction. “All of our IT grads have jobs in the IT field,” says LaBelle. Now that’s quite an achievement.
he director of the School of Management’s Information Technology (IT) program is a seasoned teacher. Associate Professor Deborah LaBelle had been a professor at MCC for 18 years when her husband was transferred to Wilmington, Delaware. LaBelle moved with her family to southeastern Pennsylvania and worked on her doctorate in Information Science and Technology at Drexel University while teaching IST at a satellite campus of Penn State. Her desire to move back to the Rochester area and teach at a fouryear college brought her to Nazareth College in January 2006. While the program she found here was a solid one, it nonetheless needed some adjustments to remain current. “I made some changes to the curriculum,” says LaBelle, “because, of course, IT requires changes every few years to keep it fresh.” LaBelle has placed more emphasis on teaching Web-related technologies and database design and is now looking toward potential curriculum offerings on the development of mobile applications. These kinds of curriculum offerings are consistent with the culture of the School of Management, which strives to balance
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Hard work helped Karen Sharp ’03 grow her degree into a career as a media services expert in my career was when I offered to stay late one night to meet a deadline even though I wasn’t a paid employee. I think that’s what set me apart from the competition; that made an impression.” Now, almost seven years later, Sharp herself is a supervisor. Her duties have shifted from focusing on her own output to the output of the team under her. “I love the motivational part of what I do,” she says. “I realize how much I’ve grown in terms of my own abilities to communicate. It’s very fulfilling.” As someone who regularly interviews prospects in this tough job market, Sharp has advice to share. “You really need to leave your sense of entitlement at the door,” she says. “There is no one formula for success, but a lot of patience, hard work, and a good attitude are key. You can’t be afraid to try something new and you can’t forget that if you are afraid, someone is bound to come along who isn’t.”
n 2003, Karen Sharp graduated from Nazareth with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing. Her journey since then has been marked by steady, ongoing advancement and a singular feeling of being truly at home at Butler/Till Media Services, the firm where she works. At Butler/Till, a full-service media planning and buying agency, Sharp first interned as a media assistant, sitting at the front desk, and was then offered a part-time paid position. “I remember being so elated when they approached me,” says Sharp. “I ran to my marketing professor Jerry Zappia to tell him about it.” Butler/Till was a revelation for Sharp. Although her degree included a concentration in marketing, she knew nothing about media planning and buying. “I was asked during my interview what Butler/Till does and I had no idea,” she confesses. “I thought advertising was all about design. I didn’t know there were other facets to the business.” Sharp discovered that she was good at what she did, particularly because she was willing to work hard. “I’ve always been willing to put in the extra time to get the project done; it’s something that was instilled in me during my years at Nazareth and has helped to land me where I am today. One of my defining moments early on
Congratulations! Each year, SOM students are recognized with a variety of awards, scholarships, and commendations. We would like to congratulate the latest group of SOM award winners.
Elizabeth Fake Award In honor of Elizabeth Fake, the first chairperson of the Business Department at Nazareth College, this award is presented to several graduating seniors for their high level of academic achievement and their overall contributions to the School of Management and Nazareth College.
Leo Yballe Servant Leadership Award
Pamela L. Severin ’09
In honor of Leo Yballe, a valued member of the School of Management, this award is given to a graduating senior in the School of Management who has been active in student leadership and civic engagement and has exemplified appreciative inquiry through dynamic classroom performance and excellence in teamwork.
Patrick E. Willome ’09
Alison M. Smith ’09
Noel Obiad ’09
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D aniel Strong M em orial Award In honor of Dan Strong, associate professor of accounting, this award is given to a graduating business administration senior who has demonstrated a significant improvement in his/her accounting skills and who has maintained a minimum GPA of 3.0. Justin D. Stevens ’09
SOM Alum Offers Advice to Honor Society Students
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ob Lucchesi ’89, owner and principal of Ardent Commercial Real Estate Advisors, was the featured speaker at this year’s SOM Honor Society Ceremony. An 18-year veteran of the Rochester market, Lucchesi has completed nearly five million square feet of office and industrial transactions involving more than $325,000,000 in leasing/sales revenue. He is active in tenant representation, landlord representation, corporate dispositions, and investment sales, and has developed relationships with key users of commercial property such as Citicorp, Coopervision, Corning, and other Fortune 1000 companies. Lucchesi has also grown his tenant-based business by creating and leveraging strategic relationships with national brokerage firms including Cushman & Wakefield, Jones Lang LaSalle, and Colliers. On the landlord side, he represents the largest suburban landlord in Rochester, HRPT Properties, in leasing their office/flex portfolio in Brighton and Henrietta. He is also the point person for Rochester’s
largest new Class A office project in a decade, High Point Business Park. Lucchesi’s career highlights include a 45,000-square-foot corporate headquarters lease and a 250,000-square-foot build-to-suit distribution center for Coopervision; a 45,000-square-foot Class A office lease for Genencor; the disposition of a 160,000-square-foot Class A office building on behalf of Citicorp; the disposition of a 230,000-square-foot office/high tech facility on behalf of Corning; and more than 300,000 square feet of office transactions between Upstate New York and San Diego, California, on behalf of the Sutherland Group. His proudest achievement, Lucchesi tells people, was earning his B.S. in business administration from Nazareth College.
B o b L ucche s i’ s Do’s and Dont’s f o r P r o f e ssi o n a l S u c c e ss D o n ’t co n f u s e f in a n c ia l s u cce ss w it h h a p p in e ss.
Do explore an d reach o ut to p eo p l e.
Take time to learn about yourself and what truly brings you joy and purpose. Over the course of my career I have worked with clients who have accumulated tremendous wealth. Some were operating on the assumption that wealth would buy happiness. They discovered they were wrong.
Never be afraid ask for help. Don’t think that people do not want to help—most people do. That said, remember at some point you will be in a position to give back and help others. In the long run, you help yourself by helping others.
D o n ’t f e e l p r ess u r e to p u rs u e f in a n c ia l r e wa r ds a fte r g r a d uat io n. Think about what success means to you. You need to feel good about yourself and be proud of what you do. If you are passionate about what you do, the rewards will eventually come.
Don’ t expec t the p erfect jo b rig ht aft er g raduatio n. Put yourself in a situation where you can learn and grow. Your first job may not be exactly what you want. Use it as learning experience and a stepping stone to greater things. Always look at the big picture. Allow for the possibility that your interests may change as you gain experience and exposure to different things.
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Do have a success min dset. Never believe that you cannot do something until you try. Visualize success and focus on the positive. It is okay to fail as long as you learn and it is the result of an honest effort. Many of the successful people I know have all experienced failure. Do prac t ice hone sty an d in teg rity. There is never a right way to do the wrong thing. Honesty and integrity are becoming too rare in the business world. Those who have established a reputation for being honest have a competitive advantage. Do fin d a way to co n n e ct. People are more likely to listen to you after you make a connection. When I meet a potential client I always scan their office for ways to create an emotional connection.
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Strokes for Scholarships S e c o n d An n u a l S c h o o l o f M anagement Al um ni G o lf To u r n a m e n t A n o ther Succes s Last May, more than a hundred SOM alumni duffers reconnected with classmates and enjoyed a round of golf, all while raising $5,000 for the Michael Dianetti ’83, ‘86G Scholarship at Nazareth College. The 18-hole championship course at Penfield’s Shadow Pines Golf Club will host next year’s tournament as well, so mark your calendars now for June 4, 2010! Top right: Michale Fritz ’09, Christopher Fello ’06, and Kirk Morris Bottom right: John Kremer ’01G, Gina Tener Starling ’92, Minda Hatley, and Patricia Pennington ’89 Left: Volunteer Annmarie Leahy ’86 and Dr. Robert Marino, SOM undergraduate chairperson and professor, enjoy the hospitality tent
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