Cross-Cultural Connection
r i c h a r d G l a s s , P h . D. Professor of Computer Information Systems
s at h i a v a n e e v e e r a m o ot h o o ’ 0 9 Graduate Student, University of Iowa
A Professorial Perspective
me want to enter a master’s program and go for my Ph.D. afterward,” says Veeramoothoo. Glass helped her research graduate programs, weighing the pros and cons of each. Veeramoothoo was accepted to the actuarial science program at the University of Iowa, and has since changed to the master’s degree in statistics program, planning to take the actuarial exams on her own and pursue a Ph.D. During her first semester in Iowa, Glass continued to advise Veeramoothoo as she rewrote her thesis for publication. “I was happy that my Bryant professors would respond to my e-mails and phone calls after I left Bryant,” reflects Veeramoothoo. “When I called, they would always take the time to talk with me.” Her paper was accepted for publication in the Journal of International Business and Economics, and Bryant supported Veeramoothoo’s trip to present it at the International Academy of Business and Economics ( IABE ) in Las Vegas, NV. This summer, Veeramoothoo and Glass plan to begin work on a second research paper together, using more advanced techniques to project the future of worker remittances. Veeramoothoo has already decided that she would like to work at a close-knit institution like Bryant after she earns her Ph.D. “It’s because of my experience with my Bryant professors; they were always there, always helping,” she says.
Oceans away from her home in Mauritius, a small island country off the coast of Madagascar, Sathiavanee Veeramoothoo ’09 turned to her professors for guidance and support. A member of the Honors Program, she was one of 10 students in Managing Information Resources, a course taught by Professor Richard Glass, Ph.D. “Anytime I went to talk to him, he was very responsive,” says Veeramoothoo. When it came time to select her honors thesis advisers, Glass, along with Assistant Professor of Economics Ramesh Mohan, Ph.D., were at the top of the list. “They definitely served as mentors,” she says. In Glass’s opinion, “a mentor has the capacity to understand the student and [knows] where to offer the best input and support.” Veeramoothoo worked
with Mohan, her primary thesis adviser, to identify a topic — macroeconomic determinants of worker remittances for Latin American and Caribbean countries. Glass provided feedback and editorial advice as she wrote and revised her thesis. After her thesis presentation at Bryant, Glass asked Veeramoothoo if she would like to submit a paper based on the thesis to a scholarly journal. “Her eyes lit up,” remembers Glass. “It was a revelation to her—she realized that she was ready for higher levels.” “The great experience I had with my Honors Thesis was part of what made
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The executives arrived on campus by helicopter. Adam Francis ’03 was impressed. Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley’s office had asked Francis to lead a group of executives from AIG , the largest insurance company in the world, on a tour of the AIG -funded C.V. Starr Financial Markets Center. Kristian Moor ’81, president and CEO of Chartis, AIG ’s largest subsidiary, and a member of Bryant’s Board of Trustees, was equally impressed with his tour guide. “Even just giving a tour, Adam was passionate about it,” explains Moor. “He was able to speak about the impact of the Center on the school, not just himself.” Francis also conversed a little with the AIG representatives in Mandarin—fortuitous given that AIG was founded in China in 1919 by the Financial Markets Center’s namesake, American entrepreneur C.V. Starr. In 2003, Francis stood out on campus as the only finance major—indeed the only student at the time—with a Chinese minor. In support of Francis’s passion for China and the Chinese language, Hong Yang, Ph.D., professor of science and technology and now the Dr. Charles J. Smiley chair for the Confucius Institute at Bryant, obtained private language tutoring for him. When Francis arranged to spend a semester of his junior year in China studying Mandarin, Yang found him a home with the family of a college classmate who works for an American company in Beijing. “I always thought the best way to learn was to live with a native speaker,” explains Yang. “This is what I did when I first came to the United States many years ago.” By the spring of his senior year, when he led that AIG group on a tour, Francis already had several solid job prospects. Although they had just met, Moor jumped to quickly formulate another plan for Francis. “I told him, ‘Don’t do anything before [AIG ] gets a chance to talk to you,’” recalls Moor. “We’re going to change your career.”
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