Michigan Ross Yearbook, 2018-2019

2018-19: A Year to Celebrate at Michigan Ross There was a lot to celebrate at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business during the 2018-2019 academic year: an ascent of Mount Kiliminjaro, a record-breaking fundraising campaign, multiple awards and competitions won by our students and faculty, innovative new learning opportunities, impactful conferences, and so much more!

We hope you'll enjoy this look back at the year that was and join us in looking forward to all the celebrations to come in the year ahead.

Go Blue!

Summer Study Abroad More than 200 Michigan Ross BBAs and MBAs embarked on summer studyabroad experiences across the globe, from Argentina and Australia to India and China and more. While some students studied monetary policy in emerging economies or the cultural and political contexts that influence international business, others completed internships or leadership development programs. All benefited from the experience, returning to Ross with new knowledge and skills and ready to take on the Fall semester.

Welcome Executive MBAs Michigan Ross welcomed the largest class of Executive MBAs in the program's history.

Students hailing from 17 states and 39 industries and functional areas including law, tech, consulting, and healthcare kicked off the program with a trip to the Big House. Over the next 21 months, they'll take part in Ross' signature Leadership Development Program and Executive Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP) course, build their business acumen, and make new contacts from around the world.

Business+Impact Challenge More than 400 first-year full-time Michigan Ross MBA students teamed up with Amazon for the annual Business+Impact Challenge, held August 13-14.

Organized by the Sanger Leadership Center and sponsored by the Deloitte Foundation, the 2018 Challenge asked students to apply creativity, teamwork, and strategic thinking to

generate original solutions Amazon can use to leverage its products, technology, and services to support disaster recovery and build resilience in communities around the world.

Learning Leadership on Mount Kilimanjaro What better way to learn about leadership and teamwork than a multi-day ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain on the African continent? Led by Michigan Ross Dean Scott DeRue, more than 30 U-M students spent months training for the climb, which was one part of a leadership course that also included three days of local engagement in and around Arusha, Tanzania. Upon their return, students completed an on-campus course exploring the $44 billion tourism industry in Africa.

Announcing New Online MBA Michigan Ross announced the launch of its new parttime Online MBA program, the first Online MBA offered by a top-10-ranked U.S. business school. The Online MBA will deliver the same renowned Ross educational experience in a convenient and flexible format to accommodate working professionals. In addition to the core curriculum, the Online MBA features Ross' signature Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP) and three in-person, on-campus residencies. The first class will enroll in Fall 2019.

Full-Time MBA Class of 2020 Strongest Ever For the second year in a row, the new Michigan Ross FullTime MBA class broke three school records before classes even started.

First, the class had an average GMAT score of 720, four points higher than the previous record. In addition, the class of 2020 included the most women ever along with students from 40 different countries.

BBA Orientation Getting off to a strong start is essential when you're entering the competitive, achievement-oriented Michigan Ross community.

To successfully make the transition, approximately 500 first-year and 625 sophomore BBA students participated in orientation programs offered in collaboration with the Sanger Leadership Center.

The Freshman Welcome Event and sophomore G.E.A.R. (Get Educated About Ross) UP helped students define themselves as leaders, build a sense of community, and prepare for their Ross experience.

MAcc & MSCM Challenge Showcase Michigan Ross Master of Accounting (MAcc) and Master of Supply Chain Management (MSCM) students started the academic year with a Business+Impact Challenge Showcase.

Students worked with MREACH (Michigan Ross Enriching Academics in Collaboration with High Schools) to create value for aspiring college students while developing their own leadership capabilities.

During the Showcase, they presented their ideas for an event designed to challenge and test high school students on college-ready skills.

Business+Impact Showcase Business+Impact, a new school-wide initiative to make Michigan Ross the most progressive source of ideas for business approaches to global

challenges, welcomed nearly 200 incoming and returning students to the first Business +Impact Showcase. Students visited the booths of 30 different student clubs, Ross

centers, and U-M-wide initiatives focused on areas such as social justice, equality, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, and economic development.

$90 Million+ for Student Support Over the course of the Victors for Michigan campaign, Michigan Ross raised more than $90 million for student support from thousands of generous donors. As a result, the school has been able to increase the number of available scholarships and support new and ongoing innovative outreach programs that make a Ross education attainable for all students, such as MREACH (Michigan Ross Enriching Academics in Collaboration with High Schools) and the Preparation Initiative.

Michigan Ross Campus Wins Architecture Award The Ross School of Business was among the winners of the 2018 American Architecture Awards, celebrating the best new buildings designed and constructed by American architects. The award, presented by the Chicago Atheneaum Museum of Architecture and Design, was for those buildings completed in Phase II of the Ross campus construction project: the newly constructed Blau Hall, the renovated Kresge Hall, and the recladded Wyly Hall.

Handleman Lecture Series Features Neri Oxman Neri Oxman, called one of the most brilliant and prolific minds of our time, inspired an audience of over 2,000 at the 2018 Joseph and Sally Handleman Lecture on September 12.

Oxman's talk focused on her unique creative process, known as the Krebs Creativity Model, and asked listeners to go beyond boundaries to help people and the planet in new ways. Oxman pioneered the field of Material Ecology, in which products and buildings are biologically informed and digitally engineered by, with, and for nature.

Positive Links Speaker Series The 2018-2019 Positive Links Speaker Series, presented by Michigan Ross' Center for Positive Organizations, offered inspiring and practical research-based strategies for

building organizations that are high performing and bring out the best in their people. Robert J. Vallerand, Full Professor of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, kicked off the

2018-19 series on September 13 with his talk, "The Role of Passion in Facilitating Optimal Functioning in Employees and Organization."

Welcome New Assistant Professors Michigan Ross welcomed seven new assistant professors for Fall 2018, two each in accounting, marketing, and strategy, and one in finance. In addition, Jeremy Kress, who taught at Ross for the last two years, became an assistant professor of business law. The seven new assistant professors are Matteo Crosignani (finance), Justin Frake (strategy), Cheng Gao (strategy), Justin Huang (marketing), James Omartian (accounting), Heidi Packard (accounting), and Shalena Srna (marketing).

Matteo Crosignani

Justin Frake

Cheng Gao

Justin Huang

Jeremy Kress

James Omartian

Heidi Packard

Shalena Srna

Thank You, Joel Tauber To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Tauber Institute for Global Operations, Joel Tauber, BBA '56, JD '59, MBA '63, presented the Institute with

a $1.75 million gift to endow scholarships. A long-time supporter of the university, Tauber stated, "I wanted to build up our scholarships so that anyone needing money

would have the opportunity to join the program. This gift reflects both my high regard for the University of Michigan and the great success of the program."

Congratulations, Cathy Bessant Cathy Bessant, BBA '82, Chief Operations and Technology Officer of Bank of America, received two impressive honors. American Banker magazine recognized

Bessant as the Most Powerful Woman in Banking for the second year in a row, and the Financial Times placed her at the top of its list of the most impactful

LGBTQ leaders and allies.

Bessant was quoted in Dividend as saying, "I say it pretty simply: Diversity always wins."

RossTalks 2018-2019 RossTalks, Michigan Ross' event series connecting alumni around the world with current business topics, kicked off the 2018-2019 season in New York City.

Alumnus Jeff Smith, former CEO of Arago, spoke on the theme of "Artificial Intelligence: Where Are We Going?" Following New York, Fall RossTalks were held in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Detroit, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Mumbai. Spring RossTalks were held in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Hong Kong, New York, and Boston.

Free Accounting Fridays Every Friday throughout the semester, Michigan Ross MAcc and BBA students worked with Detroit-based small business owners and entrepreneurs to provide free accounting and finance advice. "Free Accounting Fridays" was launched by Ross' Business+Impact Initiative in collaboration with the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project, the university's interdisciplinary engagement with small businesses in the City of Detroit. As Aaron Ngo, BBA '20 and a member of the Ross Accounting Outreach team, noted, "By helping Detroit entrepreneurs and small businesses, we're indirectly helping revitalize Detroit."

Innovation Week Michigan Ross' inaugural Innovation Week, held September 23-28 and sponsored by Design+Business and the Zell Lurie Institute, showcased innovation, design thinking, and entrepreneurship in business. Featured events included a weeklong Innovation Challenge competition; a keynote speech by Satyam Kantamneni, Chief Experience Officer at UXReactor; and a number of workshops and panels on topics such as "Design Your Ross Experience" and "Design in the Workplace."

Ross Reunion Tailgate Prior to the Michigan football game vs. Maryland on October 6, more than 700 Michigan Ross alumni, family, and friends gathered

to reconnect and reminisce at the Ross Reunion Weekend tailgate. Despite stormy weather that delayed the start of the game,

attendees enjoyed a festive brunch, fun kids' activities, and the chance to celebrate milestone anniversaries.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit From October 8-12, Michigan Ross hosted a series of events in conjunction with the University of Michigan's annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit. Among the week's events were the Story Lab Kickoff, highlighting this year's theme of Identity in the Workplace; a student-driven design thinking session for campus climate initiatives; and the Women in Leadership Conference organized by Michigan Business Women.

Women Who Fund Forum On October 11, the 4th Annual Women Who Fund Forum brought together more than 150 women in alternative investments to share industry experiences, identify leads for sourcing capital, and network. Rachel Bhattacharya, Director of Corporate Finance and former Chief Growth Officer, Maven at General Motors, gave the keynote address. The forum, part of the Michigan Private Equity Partnership Conference, was presented by ACG Detroit Women's Forum and the Center for Venture Capital & Private Equity Finance.

Michigan Private Equity Conference The 13th Annual Michigan Private Equity Conference, held October 11-12, covered current and emerging topics in the nation's credit markets that pose challenges and new opportunities for those in private equity and institutional investing.

Approximately 300 private equity, investment banking, and business professionals from around the United States attended the conference, which was hosted by the Center for Venture Capital & Private Equity Finance at Michigan Ross.

ENGAGE Undergraduate Investment Conference The Michigan Interactive Investments Club hosted the annual ENGAGE Undergraduate Investment Conference October 12-14. The event featured talks and panel discussions with the country's biggest investment managers, as well as a student stock pitch competition with more than 200 participants from colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. For the competition, teams of three to five students pitched an equity, and the pitches were evaluated on quality of idea, analysis, and presentation by judges from major firms and media outlets.

Michigan Ross MBAs Win National Black MBA Case Competition First-year MBAs Errington Bethel and Kristan Sock and second-year MBAs Sheela Lal and Nick Thompson took first place in the National Black MBA Case Competition, beating 36 teams from top business schools across the country. The four students worked together for a month on their pitch, which involved repositioning an FCA Chrysler service for potential market changes due to customer demand for new transportation options, such as ridesharing services and autonomous vehicles. In addition to winning the competition, Sock won an award for best presenter.

Michigan Ross and the Aspen Institute Host Conference "Working Towards Shared Prosperity: An Academic-Executive Dialogue," was an invitation-only gathering October 25-26 cohosted by the Aspen Institute Business & Society Program and Michigan Ross. The two-day dialogue explored the incentives and constraints that are affecting business decisions about hiring, compensation, training, and job quality; examined recent and on-the-horizon changes in labor, capital, and product markets; and determined leverage points of change. Speakers included faculty and administrators from across U-M, and the event attracted professors and researchers from other top business schools.

ZLI Entrepreneurship Challenge Michigan Ross juniors were charged with creating potential solutions to some of today's biggest issues-such as the opioid epidemic, student loan debt, and

environmental degradation-as part of the three-day Zell Lurie Entrepreneurship Challenge. The winning pitch, BluPill, was developed

by Mia Heard, Vinayak

Kannan, Gillian Levine, and Alissa Moore, who created an innovative pill capsule out of methylene blue to easily identify abuse of opioids by those in the medical field.

Tauber Colloquium Dedication Michigan Ross dedicated the Shelley and Joel Tauber Colloquium ("Tauber Colloquium"), located on the 6th floor of the Ross Building, to honor the outstanding generosity of Shelley and Joel Tauber, BBA '56, JD '59, MBA '63, via the Tauber Family Foundation. We are grateful for the Taubers' longstanding support of the Tauber Institute for Global Operations and Michigan Ross.

Michigan Ross Exceeds Campaign Goal Michigan Ross got November off to an amazing start by announcing that thanks to the generous support of alumni and friends, the school exceeded its Victors for Michigan campaign fundraising goal. At the time of the announcement, more than 16,000 individual donors had contributed more than $400 million to Ross, including more than $90 million for student support; $118 million for engaged learning; $59 million for bold ideas, such as Business+Impact; and $134 million for campus improvements.

Thank you to all our wonderful donors!

Victors for Michigan Campaign Celebration To express our appreciation for the support of our incredible donors during the Victors for Michigan campaign, Michigan Ross hosted a campaign close celebration weekend November 2-3. A Friday evening reception for 280 guests held in the Davidson Winter Garden featured remarks by Dean Scott DeRue and campaign chair Stephen M. Ross, and a celebratory tailgate was held on Saturday prior to the Michigan-Penn State football game.

Global Operations Conference The Tauber Institute hosted the 11th Annual Global Operations Conference, "Operations in a Digital Age," November 8-9, bringing together leaders from industry and academia

to share best practices, debate current issues, and advance the worldwide practice of operations.

Keynote speakers included Toby Brzoznowski, Llamasoft's Co-Founder and

Chief Strategy Officer; Mary Ellen Smith, Microsoft's Corporate VP, Worldwide Operations; and Russell Hensley, McKinsey Partner, Detroit.

M2GATE Global Pitch Event Michigan Ross hosted the final pitch competition of the William Davidson Institute's M2GATE (MENA-Michigan Initiative for Global Action Through Entrepreneurship) program.

M2GATE brought together more than 500 students from five Michigan university campuses and their peers from Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia to find entrepreneurial solutions to social challenges in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The winning team included five students from Egypt and two U-M undergrads.

Erb Institute Speaker Series The Erb Institute, a partnership between Michigan Ross and the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability, sponsored "The Elements of Business Sustainability Series" from November 5 to December 10. The series, which covered such topics as sustainability consulting, business and human rights, and global value chains, featured leaders and experts from companies such as Ford, Target, and Dow who shared how they're addressing environmental and social issues.

Giving Blueday On November 27, Michigan Ross participated in Giving Blueday, the University of Michigan's annual day of giving scheduled to coincide with Giving Tuesday events across the globe. More than 180 donors contributed more than $48,000 to Michigan Ross over the 24-hour challenge period. Thank you, and Go Blue!

Ross Students Go Global A report released in November 2018 by the Institute of International Education ranked U-M as #3 in the United States for the number of students studying abroad, and many of those were Michigan Ross students. During 2016-17, more than 400 undergraduate students participated in a global student experience offered through Michigan Ross, studying in more than 28 different countries, including Iceland, India, South Africa, and China.

Leadership for Academicians Program More than two dozen educators from 15 states across India spent a week at Michigan Ross as part of a new Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP). LEAP, launched by the India Ministry of Human Resource Development, provides a three-week training program for up-and-coming academic leaders, and the collaboration between Ross and the Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee was the first in a series. Program attendees participated in workshops and lectures focused on best practices in academic governance, technology disruption, student engagement, and innovation in teaching techniques.

Michigan Ross BBA Ranked 4th by Poets&Quants According to Poets&Quants, Michigan Ross' rise to fourth place among BBA programs marks a "catapult" up the rankings, which evaluate a school's performance across three indicators: admissions, career placement data, and an alumni satisfaction survey. According to Poets&Quants, "the big changes [for Michigan Ross] came from higher scores in alumni satisfaction."

Net Impact Case Competition The 2nd Annual Net Impact Case Competition, sponsored by Business+Impact and the Erb Institute, challenged 15 teams of undergraduate and graduate students from across Michigan Ross to explore the impact of increasing Whole Foods' footprint in Detroit. The winning team, made up of Master of Management students Caroline Denney, Grace Kendra, Lucas Mata, Brian Nelson, and Ronak Pate, proposed a four-pronged solution rooted in understanding the community the store would serve.

Ross MBAs Win Salesforce Challenge Four Michigan Ross MBAs, Vishal Chandawarkar, Naja Edwards, Alexandra Morbitzer, and Avinav Sinha, took first place in the two-week Salesforce Product Marketing Challenge, beating 96 teams from business schools across the United States. According to the judges, the Ross team stood out for its in-depth research into Salesforce's ideal customer and innovative channel solutions. As competition winners, the Ross team also had the opportunity to interview for Salesforce's summer MBA product marketing internship.

Ross MBAs Sweep National Deloitte Case Competition First-year MBAs Andrea Schiff, Jake Corness, Jason Rock, and Jess McClain took home first place in a nationwide case competition sponsored by Deloitte, in which they were tasked with creating a recommendation for sweetgreen, a fast-casual restaurant that offers healthy, sustainably-sourced meals. The team also won the People's Choice Award, which was voted on by the 15 other competing teams, all from top business schools.

360 Degrees of Michigan Ross We invite you to check out the 360-degree virtual reality tour of Michigan Ross launched in January 2019 (michiganross.umich.edu/ about/visit/our-campus).

No matter where they are in the world, visitors to the site can explore the beautiful architecture, inviting collaborative spaces, and state-of-the-art classrooms

Ross calls home. The tour works well in an internet browser or on a mobile phone, but really comes alive with a VR headset. We hope you enjoy this inside look!

Graduate Leadership Crisis Challenge Held January 17-18, the 2019 Graduate Leadership Crisis Challenge immersed more than 200 Michigan graduate students from 14 different degree programs in a simulated business and media crisis involving the fictitious Polaris Cruise Lines. The challenge, sponsored by Michigan Ross' Sanger Leadership Center, was won by Team Uno: Cristobal Cevallos, Ian Charles, Sankalp Dusad, Marjace Miles, Cepha Nixon, Niyanthi Reddy, and Caroline Tulp.

MLK Day Symposium The University of Michigan's 33rd Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium Lecture welcomed two educational leaders to deliver the keynote this year: Tim Wise, one of the most prominent anti-racism writers and educators in the United States, and Julia Putnam, principal of the James and Grace Boggs School in Detroit. The lecture, which was sponsored in part by Michigan Ross, was livestreamed in Robertson Auditorium. Additional events celebrating the life and legacy of MLK at Ross included Business+Impact's 13th Annual MLK Day Circle of Unity.

Ross Professor Earns Poverty Solutions Grant Michigan Ross Professor Ach Adhvaryu's plan to help women in rural India transition into better-paying urban jobs was among nine new projects funded by the U-M Poverty Solutions Initiative. Working with one of the world's largest garment manufacturers, Adhvaryu, Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, and his colleagues will establish 10 vocational training centers in rural locations, offering skills training and a guaranteed job in Bangalore. The team will also assess the effects of the effort on the wellbeing of women workers and their families.

Ross BBAs Win National TD Ameritrade Competition First-year Michigan Ross BBAs Richard Ling and Tony Zhao earned first place at the TD Ameritrade University's thinkorswim Challenge, a virtual collegiate trading competition.

The two turned in a 1,026 percent simulated portfolio gain in four weeks, outperforming 517 teams of students from more than 200 colleges and universities across 49 states.

Ross MBA Wins PepsiCo Innovation Challenge Lauren Pfeiffer, MBA '19, was one of just five students from across the country to win the PepsiCo Game Changers competition, which asked students to "invent the ideal customer experience in the world of digitization" using innovative technology. For winning the competition, Pfeiffer was awarded a trip to Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, where she networked with PepsiCo team members, got a behindthe-scenes look, and enjoyed the game and the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Asia Business Conference The 28th Annual Asia Business Conference, held January 25-26 at Michigan Ross, featured keynote speaker Mona Haddad, Director for Country Economics and Engagement,

International Finance Corporation (The World Bank Group). The conference also included regional panels focused on China, India, Korea, Japan, and ASEAN and functional

panels in the areas of consulting, technology, and finance. The Ross Asia Business Conference is the longest-running studentorganized conference held at the University of Michigan.

Polar Vortex The University of Michigan cancelled classes January 30-31 for only the third time in 40 years thanks to the polar vortex, which brought record-breaking cold, bitter winds, and dangerous wind chills of nearly 50 below to campus. Ann Arbor broke a 108year-old record, with the air temperature plummeting to 13 below zero--and still dropping-by 7 pm on January 30.

Tauber Community Service Day Volunteer groups organized by U-M's Tauber Institute for Global Operations spent a day helping two local businesses solve operational challenges as part of Tauber's annual Community Service Day. One volunteer group worked with Argus Farm Stop, a yearround farmer's market in Ann Arbor, to improve store efficiency and scale up a new business model connecting farmers with local restaurants. The other group traveled to Detroit to assist the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program in figuring out how to more easily access historical student data.

Alfred L. Edwards Conference The 43rd Annual Alfred L. Edwards (ALE) Conference and Celebration, sponsored by the Black Business Students Association, was held February 8-9. This year's conference focused on the theme of finding and following your "True North" and featured Elaine Welteroth, award-winning journalist, thought leader, and former Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue, as keynote speaker. Named in honor of esteemed professor Dr. Alfred L. Edwards, the ALE Conference is Ross' longestrunning conference.

Diversity Week Michigan Ross held a series of 15 events celebrating diversity, inclusion, and empowerment in honor of Diversity Week, February 11-15. Events included a Lunch & Learn on

Developing Bystander Intervention Skills, a lecture focused on Diversity & Culture in Marketing Campaigns, a discussion of Faith in Business, and the Women Who Launch

Symposium. All events were developed by leaders of Michigan Ross student organizations in partnership with the Ross Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office.

Winter Ross Diaries Presented by Sanger Leadership Center as part of Diversity Week, Winter Ross Diaries featured incredible student storytellers sharing deeply personal stories in front of an audience of hundreds. Prior to presenting, students attended a half-day workshop and received personal coaching to refine their story and hone their skills.

Master of Management Students Win Datathon Event Three Michigan Ross Master of Management students emerged victorious in the 2nd Annual Michigan Ross Datathon organized by the Center for Value Chain Innovation.

More than 130 students from across the university participated in the event, in which they analyzed large datasets on water usage, past droughts, and more to determine how various factors have impacted the environment over time. Ronak Patel, MM '19, John Strainer, MM '19, and Connie Kang, MM '19, took home $5,000 for their winning effort.

Wellness Week Michigan Ross students organized the first-ever Wellness Week focused on helping students build healthy and balanced lives. Events included Wellness Tips & Tricks "Speed Sharing," a healthy cooking class, and a Wellness Talk keynote with Rick Harris, from UM Anesthesiology, and Jamie Cameron, a well-being specialist for Deloitte. Wellness Week was an initiative of The Comfort Zone, a new student-developed well-being community at Ross.

MBA Students Take Second in Ohio State Case Competition First-year MBA students Adeola Aro, Junior Louis, and Kristan Sock took second place in the 15th Annual Minority MBA

Student Case Competition hosted by KeyBank and The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. Sock was also awarded Best

Presenter. The team designed an innovative two-part solution to help consumers improve their financial wellness.

Ross Student Wins Moth StorySlam Over the winter, NPR's national Moth Radio Hour aired the award-winning story "Becoming a Man" as told by Michigan Ross MBA student Marjace Miles. Miles first told his story of what happened during the summer of 2007 as part of the 2017 Moth StorySlam in Detroit. His story won that event, and he went on to compete in the larger Moth GrandSlam Event. Miles also serves as co-host and co-executive producer of the Business Beyond Usual podcast at Michigan Ross.

Pinkert Scholars Program Eleanor and Michael Pinkert, BSE(EE) '64, MBA '65, donated $5.42 million to Michigan Ross to establish the Pinkert Scholars Program, which will provide full-ride scholarships each year to a select group of MBA candidates focused on the business of healthcare and healthcare innovation.

Pinkert Scholars also receive access to mentorship, healthcare-specific learning experiences, and professional development opportunities.

The Pinkerts' gift also created a $500,000 venture capital seed fund for healthcare start-ups.

Donors & Scholars Celebration On March 14, Michigan Ross held its annual Donors & Scholars Celebration in honor of our generous scholarship donors.

Scholarship recipients and donors had a chance to meet and enjoy a festive evening of music and food together in the Robertson Winter Garden. The event also featured an inspiring program of speakers who have benefited from student support and an unexpected tornado warning to close the evening. We thank all of our donors for fostering the next generation of business leaders at Michigan Ross!

Michigan Business Challenge Two big winners emerged from the Zell Lurie Institute's Michigan Business Challenge. Calcium Solutions, the team with Robert Chisena, PhD '19, and Matthew Hildner, PhD '20, (shown with colleague Chase Carto, BSEBE '18), won the Pryor-Hale Award for Best Business for PlaqueBuster, an innovative medical device for treating calcified plaque. And Dear Black Women founder Florence Noel, MBA/MSI '19, took the Seigle Impact Track top prize for her affirmation movement and social network for Black women.

FinTech Collaboratory In response to the growing importance of academic research and innovation around blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital payments, U-M recently launched the FinTech Collaboratory, an interdisciplinary partnership between Michigan Ross, the College of Engineering-Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Ford School of Public Policy, and the College of LS&A. The Collaboratory is being established thanks to a $1 million gift from Ripple's University Blockchain Research Initiative.

Alumni Orientation On March 26, Michigan Ross Development and Alumni Relations held an Alumni Orientation for graduating students in the class of 2019. Students visited several stations to explore the tremendous benefits that come from being part of the Michigan Ross alumni community: opportunities for networking, career development, lifelong learning, and volunteering. They also had a chance to leave a message to be displayed on the jumbotron at graduation and picked up some great Michigan Ross swag.

Undergrad Leadership Crisis Challenge On March 28-29, 120 Michigan undergraduate students took part in Sanger Leadership Center's annual Leadership Crisis Challenge.

Thirty teams of students learned they were now executives at the fictitious AguaClara Global Beverages, which faced a class-action lawsuit following reports its aquifer had been contaminated. The challenge was won by Team SĂ?P: students Brian Chu, Michael Chen, Boyang Yu, Adi Mannari, Matthew Lougheed, Ashton Smith, Stavroula Kyriazis, and Brooke Bacigal.

Michigan China Forum The 2019 Michigan China Forum was held March 30-31 with the theme "Empower the Transformation" and a mission of connecting Michigan with China. The

Forum began with an opening panel on U.S.-Sino relations featuring Zhao Jian, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago; James Holloway, Vice Provost, University of

Michigan; and others.

Subsequent panels focused on issues related to sports, business, the environment, education, and entrepreneurship.

Michigan Wins VC Founders Bracket Challenge While the Wolverines didn't win the NCAA basketball tournament this year, Michigan did place first in PitchBook's 2019 VC Founders Bracket, which evaluated universities based on the number of undergraduate student entrepreneurs who had received venture capital funding between 2006 and 2018. Michigan had 712 VC-backed entrepreneurs, many of them Michigan Ross graduates, who received more than $12 billion in capital across 638 companies.

Alessi Courtyard Dedication The Keith E. and Valerie J. Alessi Courtyard at Michigan Ross was formally dedicated on April 8, 2019. Keith Alessi joined members of the Development and Alumni Relations team to celebrate on what turned out to be a warm and sunny spring day. As you can see in the background, multiple students also took advantage of the perfect weather, enjoying the outdoors in the beautiful courtyard the Alessis made possible through their generosity.

Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize A new element of the Integrated Product Development course taught

by Eric Svaan, Lecturer of Technology and Operations at Ross, and Stephanie Tharp, Associate Professor for Art and Design, was awarded the Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize for "original, specific innovations that improve student learning." The prize honored the introduction of a design charrette, an intensive, collaborative workshop modeled after similar charrettes used in architecture and design practices.

Integrated Product Development Trade Show The Integrated Product Development (IPD) Trade Show, held April 10, featured products designed by six teams of U-M students from the popular IPD course hosted by the Tauber Institute. The teams were charged with designing, building, and market branding new products to help preteens learn healthy habits in an increasingly tech-filled world. Team "Groovie" won the inaugural Murphy Prize awarded at the end of the show for its personal development product that promotes a goal-setting mindset by empowering kids to create and maintain goals.

The MBA Summit Michigan Ross partnered with Poets&Quants to host The MBA Summit, a oneday livestream event on April 23 that brought together MBA admissions directors, top executives, and MBA alumni to offer prospective candidates a look behind the scenes of the MBA admissions process.

The livestream included three interactive panels: "How to Get into BSchool," "Is the MBA Worth It?," and "Business+Impact: Changing the Way You Think About an MBA."

Sarah Miller

Eric Schwartz

Lindred Greer

Sanford R. Robertson Assistant Professor of Business Administration and an Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy; Eric Schwartz, the Arnold M. and Linda T.

Jacob Faculty Fellow and an Assistant Professor of Marketing; and incoming Management and Organizations Professor Lindred Greer were each named to the list.

Ross Professors in Top "40 Under 40" Two Michigan Ross professors--and one soonto-be Ross professor--were named to Poets&Quants' annual list of the "Best 40 Under 40 Business School Professors." Sarah Miller, the

Congratulations, Class of 2019 On May 3, nearly 1,500 students celebrated the end of their current Michigan Ross journey and the start of their next adventure with a commencement ceremony at Crisler Center. Daymond John, FUBU CEO, co-star of ABC's Shark Tank, and New York Times bestselling author, was the featured speaker, and students Adrienne Rose, BBA '19, and Ben Battaglia, MBA '19, also spoke during the event. Prior to commencement, Dean Scott DeRue welcomed graduates and their guests to an open house reception in the Davidson Winter Garden.

Dean Scott DeRue Wins Cummings Scholarly Achievement Award Michigan Ross Dean Scott DeRue added to his impressive list of accomplishments by becoming the first sitting dean to earn the Cummings Scholarly Achievement Award from the Academy of Management. The award recognizes early- to midcareer scholars for their highquality and prolific research. In its announcement, the award committee highlighted the magnitude of DeRue's work, which includes a range of articles, books, and chapters, and the significant impact of his research on the field of organizational behavior.

Two Michigan Ross MBAs Named Among Best & Brightest Kashay Sanders and Nathan Stevens were both named to Poets&Quants' list of the Best & Brightest MBAs from the Class of 2019. Only 100 graduates made the list, based in part on the strength of their extracurricular activities and academic and professional achievements.

Among their many accomplishments, Sanders served as MBA Council Student Body President, and Stevens served as Director of Investment for the studentrun Social Venture Fund.

Positive Business Conference Held May 9-10, the Michigan Ross Positive Business Conference brought together thought leaders and researchers from around the world to share ideas about how to promote the importance of positive business practices. The 2019 conference focused on improving wellbeing and performance by building a thriving workplace and featured a number of inspirational speakers and interactive workshops designed to translate ideas into action.

Magnify Immersion Program Fifty U-M undergrads spent Spring Semester 2019 learning about Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) during the Magnify Immersion Program offered by the Michigan Ross Center for Positive Organizations. The course, taught

by POS pioneer and Robert L. Kahn Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Business Administration and Psychology Jane Dutton and Lecturer Monica Worline, included three components--classroom work, action learning, and integrated reflection--designed to help students learn, identify, and employ POS principles and practices.

Pan-Asia Alumni Reunion Held May 24-25 in Hong Kong, the University of Michigan Pan-Asia Alumni Reunion offered U-M alumni, family, and friends in Asia a chance to connect with one another, renew friendships, and reignite their Michigan spirit. In addition to receptions, college-hosted dinners, and presentations, the Reunion featured a Michigan Ross Executive Education Session led by Dean Scott DeRue titled "Leadership in a Digital World: An Interactive Executive Education Workshop."

Imge: Peter Aiken / Getty

Michigan Baseball Shines with the Help of Two Rossers A noteworthy academic year was capped off by Michigan baseball's first appearance in the College World Series (CWS) in 35 years, where the team concluded its improbable postseason run as national runner-up. Two Michigan Ross students played key roles throughout the tournament: first baseman and co-captain Jimmy Kerr, BSE '20 and Ross business minor student, and closer and co-captain Benjamin Keizer, MM '19. Kerr's grandfather John Kerr (BBA '62/MBA '63) played for the last U-M team to win the championship in 1962, and his father Derek Kerr (MBA '91) was a member of U-M's last two CWS teams in 1983 and 1984. Keizer, a graduate of the U-M School of Kinesiology, is also part of a U-M sports family: his brother Jonathan played football from 2011-2014.

This book was produced by the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at Michigan Ross.

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at RossDevAR@umich.edu.

University of Michigan Ross School of Business Office of Development & Alumni Relations 701 Tappan St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 michiganross@umich.edu