Jennifer Raudebaugh
Zig zags
CEO Fred Brown, left, Andrew Sorenson, David Pendergraft and Jeff Brown see the sky as the limit for Next IT.
Real Zags needed for virtual careers Next IT is looking for a few good Gonzaga alumni. This Spokane-based technology company specializes in creating virtual “agents” for companies and organizations around the world. What’s a virtual agent? Imagine that you flew to another city on Continental Airlines and your luggage was lost; rather than calling the 800 number and waiting for a live person, you log onto Continental’s Web site and talk to Alex, the airline’s virtual agent, who solves your luggage debacle – just like that. That’s a virtual agent; it’s like having your best employee on-call 24/7, for all your customers. That’s what virtual agents do, and that’s the bread and butter of Next IT. In addition to Alex at Continental Airlines, Next IT has created Spike for Gonzaga, Jenn for Alaska Airlines, Sgt. Star for the U.S. Army and another household brand name that is currently under “virtualization” wraps. “We build virtual employees, and that’s really dang hard,” said founder and CEO Fred Brown (’82), a Gonzaga Trustee. “You need logic and reason to figure out how to do that, and that’s why GU students are so good for us. We’ve found it doesn’t matter if they graduated with a liberal arts or a computer design degree; what matters is that they know how to think, they know how to question.” Nearly one-third of Next IT’s workforce is comprised of GU alumni, and the company is actively seeking more. “It is typical for Gonzaga alumni to recruit other alumni and students for their firms. They have confidence in the quality of the education and because of the
values associated with a Jesuit education, said Kevin Pratt, director of GAMP, Gonzaga’s Alumni Mentoring Program. “They also feel connected and want to give back. We call it ‘Zags helping Zags.’” Gonzaga’s Spokane Alumni Chapter hosts monthly networking events, including one this spring at Next IT. Gonzaga puts significant resources to helping students and graduates search for internships and job. The University’s Career Center coaches students on how to prepare for job-seeking; in today’s tough economic conditions such preparation is key. Jeff Brown (’94), Gonzaga’s three-time AllWCC basketball player, is Next IT’s vice president of marketing and sales. He says the firm is searching for people who love technology and thrive in an entrepreneurial environment. “We look for competitive, smart, organized and coachable people. We invent, try and learn new things all the time. And we do it all right here in Spokane, working with Fortune 100 companies and competing on a global scale. It’s not every day you get that kind of opportunity. We feel blessed.” One of Next IT’s recent GU hires, walk-on basketball player Andrew Sorenson (’08, ’09 MBA), said it best: “The culture reminds me of Gonzaga where you can’t help but interact with other people, and you build relationships that can change lives. You know, you come in as a Bulldog but you leave as a Zag. You’re transformed, you become a great person, so much more than you ever would have expected.” – Sabrina Jones
Remembering Bud Hazel, who touched so many A March memorial service at St. Aloysius Church for longtime communications arts Professor Bud Hazel became a celebration of an unfailingly kind and generous teacher and mentor. Mike Hazel, assistant professor of communication and leadership studies, gave the eulogy for his father. He shared notes and letters received after his
father’s passing, each remembrance adding to the portrait of a beloved Gonzaga professor. Bud Hazel taught and held administrative roles for 37 years at Gonzaga. His true love was teaching, however, as an administrator “he made things run smoothly for students. But he did this below the radar,” Mike said. “That’s part of what makes Gonzaga the close, intimate place that it is.” See www.gonzaga.edu/GQlinks for more.
Clarification Samuel Kerson’s “Imperial Armies in the Garden, No. 5” which illustrated an article in the spring issue of Gonzaga Quarterly, is from Gonzaga University’s Jundt Art Center Collection.
Honored at April’s academic convocation as exemplary faculty of 2010 were John Eliason, composition; Kevin O’Connor, history; Erik Schmidt, philosophy; Karen Rickel, sport and physical education; Heather Crandall, communication and leadership studies; as well as these tenured faculty: Ron Large, religious studies; Jane Rinehart, sociology and criminal justice; Gary Weber, accounting; Kimberly Weber, special education; and Kathy Yerion, computer science. Jerri Shepard, education, earned the faculty diversity leadership aware. The faculty community service award went to Margarite Marin, sociology and criminal justice… ¶ NCAA certification for the next 10 years has been conferred on Gonzaga. The approval comes after a two-year self-study and visit by a NCAA peer-review team to campus last October… ¶ A Social Justice Missioning Ceremony held May 7 drew nearly 50 seniors who will serve others through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Peace Corps and other entities. Watching these students as they were honored in the University Chapel left observers awestruck… ¶ GEL Weekend’s 20th anniversary took place during an April rarity – a few days of blue sky. About 550 highly enthusiastic prospective students took advantage of the chance to experience Gonzaga in person… ¶ Awards for the best student talks given at the American Mathematical Society Pacific Northwest section’s annual meeting in Seattle went to Gonzaga’s Rachael Bernt and Eddie Niedermeyer… ¶ Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick bestowed Citizen Awards on students involved with the Justice for Fraud Victims Project. This forensic accounting lab was designed by Assistant Professor Sara Melendy after law enforcement approached Gonzaga. The project guides accounting students in working on alleged instances of identity theft… ¶ Civil engineering faculty have won a $10,000 Phase I P3 grant from the EPA to develop a bio-fuel densification process for use in small electric generators for use in rural Kenya. The project is designed to process cornstalks, and animal and human waste into fuel briquettes, which can fuel the off-grid generators. The grant allows four GU students to travel to the National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington, D.C., in spring 2011, and to purchase supplies for the project. School of Engineering and Applied Science faculty Noel Bormann, Jillian Cadwell, Mara London and Pat Ferro also are eligible to compete for an EPA Phase II P3 grant to further develop the project… ¶ Promoted to associate professor in September are faculty Jeffrey Miller, English; Brook Swanson, biology; and Rosanna Peterson, Law. Promoted to professor are Sara Ganzerli, civil engineering; Vladimir Labay, electrical engineering; Thomas McKenzie, mathematics; Patricia Terry, English and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Walter Teets, accounting.
SUMMER 2010 – 7