ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES
ANNUAL NEWSLETTER
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.
— harriet tubman
director’s message
Elizabeth Popp Berman
Richard H. Price Professor of Organizational Studies
this year, and senior Kayla Zhang, on her way to a research associate position at Harvard Business School, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship this spring. We also welcomed Collegiate Fellow and incoming assistant professor Davon Norris last fall, who despite three degrees from Ohio State (and a disconcerting tendency to cheer for the wrong side at basketball games), has proven to be an excellent colleague; his research on the racialized impacts of credit scoring was recently highlighted in the New York Times Magazine. This fall, we will be joined by psychologist Catherine Thomas, a 2022 Stanford PhD, as an assistant professor; OS students will learn from her work on psychology, poverty, and economic mobility through a new class on Behavioral Science for Social Impact next winter.
Welcome to the 2023 edition of the Organizational Studies newsletter! It has been an exciting year for OS, as we have finally completed our first full academic year of relative normalcy. Our newly graduated seniors were first-year students when COVID hit in March 2020, and their years of college were indelibly shaped by the pandemic, remote learning, and social distancing. How rewarding it was, then, to teach the senior capstone OS 410 last fall and see students working in teams, socializing with one another, and having the full college experience. The class of 2023 was also our first class since 2020 who were able to take all of their core OS courses together in person, which made building strong cohort connections much easier. Their April graduation ceremony was beautiful, and I hope a meaningful experience for each of them.
This was also a year of leadership transition in OS. Last summer Mark Mizruchi stepped down from the director position after a decade of service that left the program in excellent shape. OS owes a great debt to him for the extended period of strong leadership, and I am personally grateful not only to be inheriting such a well-running program, but for his ongoing support since the formal handoff. Having arrived at Michigan from upstate New York in fall 2019 (with this year’s graduating class, in fact), I am still a relatively new but enthusiastic, Wolverine. Leading OS has been a wonderful opportunity to get to know the program and its people more deeply, and to build ties across the university. I end the year only more impressed with our students, staff and faculty than I started it.
Speaking of students, ours continue to achieve impressive things. We had eight students tapped for Phi Beta Kappa
Finally, this academic year we launched the long-planned process of creating a new Organizational Studies Leadership Council. This has been in the works since ‘19, when OS met with a handful of alums to brainstorm what an alumni-driven OSLC might look like, but plans were put on hold indefinitely in ‘ = ==20. This spring, though, we put out a call to alumni for volunteers to join a working group that would structure the new OSLC. We were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response, and identified a group of eight—David Wolmer ’98, Jay Salliotte ’01, Kelly LaPierre ’07, Kate Brierty ’11, Shekinah Singletery ’14, and Nicole McAlvanah ’18—to oversee the effort under the leadership of LeAnne Wintrode ’04. The working group’s first meeting was in May, and this summer it is establishing the goals and structure of the new OSLC, which will be launched in the fall. I have really appreciated the opportunity to work more closely with our truly impressive alumni; keep an eye out for more news as we kick off the OSLC in a few months.
I hope that the rest of this newsletter gives you, as part of the larger OS community, a sense of what’s going on in the program, and encourage you to stay in touch. We benefit so much from the commitment of alumni, parents, and others who help us continue the proud tradition of Organizational Studies at Michigan. Thank you for your support, and I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful summer. Go Blue!
Welcome to Michigan!
our newest members of OS
This year we welcomed two new members to the Organizational Studies community– Bryan Adato and Davon Norris.
Bryan Adato decided to begin a new career when he joined us in March of 2022 as our Student Services Coordinator. Bryan came to OS with a BA in Judeo-Hispanic Studies from Earlham College. His minor in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) was a prime mover in his decision to pursue a master’s in education at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, where he earned teaching certifications in Spanish K-12 and Elementary Education K-8 as well as an endorsement in English as a Second Language. He worked for over two decades in the K-12 arena, teaching Spanish to predominantly elementary school children, but also providing English language support to non-native English speakers of all ages in a variety of school settings. He has also worked for several years with students with disabilities and learning challenges. His transition
to higher education has exposed him to a wealth of knowledge and skills including learning about administrative data systems, how DEI is addressed in the university setting, and understanding issues that affect higher education policy. Every day is a new learning adventure!
Other interesting non-work-related facts about Bryan include his love of puzzles, pets, and peanut butter. He also enjoys gardening and being outdoors. His love of animals has manifested itself in two ways: he lives with his cat Chavo Pierre, two dogs, Olive and Peanut, and assorted fish. He also has a small pet care business.
We welcome Bryan to the world of advising prospective students, running recruitment events, managing curriculum and enrollment processes, and overseeing our awards and scholarships cycles.
Bryan adato
Student Services Coordinator
davon norris
LSA Collegiate Fellow
Davon Norris joined the University of Michigan and the OS program in the fall of 2022 as an LSA Collegiate Fellow.
“I think ‘new beginnings’ is exactly what this year has been for me. Everything about the year has been new: new position, new institution, new state, new communities, new responsibilities, and new opportunities. Because of all that newness, this has been a very eventful and exciting year. Almost as soon as I arrived in Ann Arbor, I began building relationships and trying to take advantage of everything Michigan has to offer. Beyond learning more about OS and the students, I was also engaging across the university at the Center for Inequality Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research and the Equitable Opportunity Lab at the business school.
In the classroom, I developed and taught a brand-new class titled “Credit, Debt, and the Financing of American (In)equality.” Based on the feedback I have received, students really enjoyed the class. I knew that I would love teaching the material as it is perfectly in my area of expertise, but it was great to see students enthusiastic about the material and develop an understanding of how debt informs patterns of inequality. Over the course of the semester, I think the course built upon itself, reinforcing prior class lessons in a way that allowed students to hone their skills in identifying problem areas and ultimately began to identify ways that many of the problems discussed during the class can be addressed through policy or activism. An especially dope part of the class was seeing students fill
discussions and assignments with their own interests. A key element of my pedagogical approach in structuring the course was to provide a clear set of bounds but not have those bounds be too rigid so as to unnecessarily limit the questions, creativity, or interests students could pursue. Students really ran with this. As an example, several students had interests in K-12 educational inequality. Those students centered their final projects on understanding the ways the debt of a public school system or city has important implications for the quality of education K-12 students in schools receive. For other parts of the class, other students leaned into abolitionist frameworks vis-à-vis the criminal-legal system to critique the use of fines and fees. For me, supporting that kind of learning and engaging in conversations about issues that students are passionate about is really what the classroom is all about.
Outside of the classroom, I have been continuing to build out my research on the history of consumer credit scoring, the role of social welfare supports on borrowing during COVID, and a new line of work that investigates how the funding of police pensions shape racial inequalities between municipalities. All this work is in progress and currently going through the publication process. Additionally, I have begun to engage in more public-facing work. This includes interviews with the Michigan Daily and New York Times, and in May I spoke to the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA) about my research on political bias and systemic racism in city government credit ratings. Overall, this has been a full year, and I am looking forward to having another exciting year next year!”
OS Advancement & Alumni Board
This year as we shifted from pandemic living to our new “normal,” we began to pick up the charge established in late 2019 to reframe the Organizational Studies Leadership Committee (OSLC). In its earlier days, the OSLC consisted of LSA alumni who were significant financial benefactors of the program, but who were not OS alumni. These individuals met annually every fall for an OS business meeting, luncheon with current students, and a meet and greet with faculty. Over time, we began to include OS alumni as guests of the Director and also 1-2 student representatives at these annual meetings. During our last meetings preceding the pandemic, we began to discuss the future configuration of the OSLC. In 2019, with the blessing of the then-active OSLC members, a small group of alumni began discussions regarding the OSLC of the future. Out of those brief deliberations before the pandemic a couple of key principles emerged for the newly configured OSLC: 1) the OSLC would have a more inclusive structure and 2) it would no longer require a fee for membership. Unfortunately, the deeper dive into the details was pre-empted by COVID, resulting in a re-direction of our energies.
But we are ready to begin anew! In late spring of this year, we surveyed alumni to determine interest in joining a working group to address the purpose, structure, and member commitments of a new OSLC. We were overwhelmed by the mass of people who expressed their interest, and we thank you again for your volunteerism. In order to establish a manageable group to get the job done, we selected eight individuals who are representative across cohorts and professional backgrounds and who have deep experience in the formation and inner workings of boards. This group will be led by one of the early graduates of the program, LeAnne Wintrode (’04), to finalize the shape of the committee. The working group will complete their task by the end of summer 2023 and solicitations will be made in the fall to fill the spots on the new OSLC. Stay tuned for more announcements to this effect later this year!
Each year our community steps up in incredible ways, including giving to our OS Academic Enrichment Fund which helps provide support to our undergraduate students as they navigate their time at the University. This year our supporters stepped up in a big way and we raised over $15,000! Shout out to our ICP alums who contributed a significant amount this year. OS is forever grateful for the community that we have built over the last 30+ years.
Interested in making a contribution to Organizational Studies?
Learn more and donate today!
Amanda Shao (‘22, l) and Mark Castaneda (‘21, r) during an alumni shadowing experience. Malkin Shadowing opportunities are made possible by the Malkin Family Mentorship Program Fund and gifts from generous donors.
student leadership
“It feels great to support a community that has been a defining element of our college experience. We are excited to see the OS program continue to be a place for students, faculty, and staff to embody what it means to be leaders and best...”
Transitioning back to in-person events, Lauren Benitez and Moira Cummings, the Events Team Coordinators, wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to focus on bonding not only within cohorts, but also building community among all OS students. Throughout the fall they organized brunches where they brought Bruegger’s bagels and coffee to serve after OS core classes (OS 305 for juniors and OS 410 for seniors). Everyone loved this event, and it was a great opportunity to socialize beyond the classroom. Before the fall semester wrapped up, Lauren hosted an OS Bonfire at her house, and following the success of that event, Moira invited everyone over for an OS Holiday Party complete with a potluck and gingerbread house making! These social events were great ways for OS students to connect off-campus. In addition to off-campus events, the team held on-campus events to increase accessibility for students. One of these events was the Ramen Bar study event on Weiser 10th floor. Other on-campus events were hosted through collaboration with other Michigan organizations. We found great success working with the Barger Leadership Institute to put on the Halloween party on 10th floor Weiser as well as collaborating with BSU to host an event for Black History Month: Exploration of African Cuisine, which featured dishes from local blackowned businesses – Jamaican Jerk Pit, Blue Nile, Cuppy’s Best Soul Food, and Kola Lounge. These events leveraged new connections between various campus groups and provided fresh networks that
Megan Dixon Peer Mentor
Rayven Brantley DEI Lead
OS Fall 2022 Bonfire
OS & BLI Halloween Party
Deloitte Case Interview Workshop
Deloitte Case Interview Workshop
Lauren Benitez Events Lead
Mary Ellen Mack Recruitment Lead
Kashmira Reddy DEI Committee
Riley List Peer Mentor
Samara Kamal DEI Lead Moira Cummings Events Lead
Kayla Zhang Recruitment Lead & DEI Committee
Skylar Wolf Social Media Lead
can help strengthen the future of the department.
The recruitment team made great strides in outreach to staff members across the campus who oversee programs with membership consisting of underrepresented populations.
Kayla Zhang and our Student Services Coordinator Bryan Adato visited the Blavin Scholars program, speaking with their advising team about the program in the hopes that they will share this opportunity with their students (all of whom were raised in foster care).
Kayla and Bryan added event planning co-lead Moira Cummings to the team when they took part in the Michigan Community Scholars Program Info Fair, sharing the stage with our Weiser 8th floor neighbor, the Barger Leadership Institute and others to increase awareness about co-curricular and academic paths for continuing students’ interest in social justice issues. We also helped re-establish connections to the Campus Day leaders program in order to access students right after they are admitted to U-M. Finally, in January we had a very successful application review workshop to assist those students who were submitting their application in winter term: eighteen OSers advised 80 prospective students and 48% of the admitted cohort benefited from that pre-application advising experience!
Our Social Media Lead, Skylar Wolf, managed multiple social media campaigns throughout the year that helped continue building the strong community of OS. Among those campaigns she highlighted OS staff, faculty, senior graduates, pets, and study abroad experiences. She also managed student takeovers on the Instagram page which gave prospective students insight into a “day-in-the life of an OSer.”
As Skylar stated, “this leadership role has taught me numerous social media management and organization skills, and brought me closer to the OS student leadership team. I have loved
getting to learn more about the OS community’s activities and interests through each of the campaigns that I have run. Being the OS Social Media Lead has been an incredible experience, and I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the OS community.”
Four OSers, Rayven Brantley, Samara Kamal, Kashmira Reddy, and Kayla Zhang, were engaged in important work to advance DEI efforts across the program. They created new flyers to advertise the program in a way that is more accessible to those communities we aim to recruit to OS. They also created a video to train those students who assisted OS applicants in the application workshop. This video discussed issues of tokenization (asking students of marginalized identities to speak for their entire population) and overextending (forcing connections to a student’s identity where there are none).
The student representatives worked with faculty and staff members of the DEI Committee to re-issue a climate survey in late Fall 2022, examined those results regarding feelings of
inclusion in the program, and came up with recommendations for addressing inclusion in our core and capstone classes. The team also discussed how to address DEI within the framework of our admissions essay questions and in graduating student exit and alumni surveys, as well as planning for what DEI 2.0 looks like within our program. Finally, our two teams worked together to offer events associated with different national heritage months. In addition to the Exploration of African American Cuisine event for Black History Month, the team also had a film screening and discussion for this year’s Asian and Pacific Islander Month, featuring the film Everything Everywhere All at Once Riley List and Megan Dixon, this year’s OS Peer Mentors, worked with both prospective and admitted OS students to share information about the program, answering questions and serving as a resource for students navigating their academic journeys. In addition to meeting with dozens of prospective OS students throughout the year, Riley and Megan worked closely
with other members of the OS student leadership team and the rock-star OS staff to carry out a number of projects. In the fall, they coordinated the annual OS apparel sale, and in the winter semester they facilitated OS Orientation Part II, the pathway formation process. They also rolled out a new resource for the OS community, The Pathways Course Groupings Resource which provides space for OSers to share their knowledge about courses they have taken with other OS students. This resource can help the broader OS community learn about what courses may best suit their academic, postgraduate, and other interests. “We appreciated and took pride in the opportunity to support prospective and admitted OS students throughout the year,” said Megan & Riley. “We were in their shoes not too long ago, and we both wanted to ensure that we provided the same support that we received when we explored the OS program and prepared for the application process. As we prepared for and hosted the Pathway Creation Workshop during OS Orientation Part II in mid-March, we reflected on our own OS orientations. It feels great to support a community that has been a defining element of our college experience. We are excited to see the OS program continue to be a place for students, faculty, and staff to embody what it means to be leaders and best, as well as continuing to support the OS community - as OS alumni!”
Our Lecturers:
INSPIRING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF OS ers
Our OS Lecturers, Dr. Lisa Fein and Dr. David Sweetman, are in a unique position to help guide and shape our students’ futures within the program. As lecturers for some of our first-year and second-year courses, they have the opportunity to teach many of our prospective students before they decide to apply to OS. Although taking these classes does not guarantee a student admittance into the program, it does give students the chance to connect with likeminded peers and get an introduction to the field of organizational studies from various disciplinary perspectives. Two of our seniors shared their experiences taking courses with our lecturers.
Maddy Epstein
“I took my first OS class during the second semester of my freshman year. I had no idea what organizational studies entailed, but the class was titled “Deviance: Sex, Drugs, and Stigma,” so 19-year-old me was immediately sold. Led by OS instructor Dr. Lisa Fein, my classmates and I grew close over the course of the semester, sharing our experiences with normbreaking. I’d never been in an academic setting where I could talk so freely and still feel like I’m learning, but I was intrigued by it.
Fast forward to the second semester of my sophomore year, where I’m in the virtual orientation session for the latest group of OS admits. At the time, I was overwhelmed. I had already gone through the process of getting acclimated to Michigan as a freshman–making friends, starting to craft my educational career. But here I was, part of a new program and doing it all again. By the time I had stepped into OS 310 in my junior year, I had already worked up the idea that finding my place was going to be difficult. I was quickly proven wrong, and over the course of the next two years, I got to explore my academic passions with support from professors who showed true care for their students. I found close friends among my extremely impressive cohort, and I was
even able to do a capstone research project with some of them (shoutout Lucy, Mark, and Alexa!). As I move onto a life after Michigan, I’ll always remember the OS community for giving me a sense of belonging at school where it’s easy to get lost. “
Mia King
“I took OS 201 with Dr. David Sweetman as a sophomore, and it was my first real exposure to the organizational studies program. I was admitted to the program while enrolled in the course, and David personally reached out to congratulate me. He made me feel welcome and valued in OS right away. Because of my positive experience in OS 201, I decided to take OS 435 the next fall. This class sparked my interest in Human Resources, which has set the stage for my future career. Both of the classes I took with David had great impacts on my OS trajectory. He has been a fantastic resource and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to learn from him.”
With their engaging interactive classes that place theory in a real-world context, Dr. Fein and Dr. Sweetman help to get students interested in our program. We are grateful for their commitment to undergraduate student education.
Dr. David Sweetman’s OS 201 (Leadership & Collaboration) course with visitng
LSA alum and former OSLC member Jonathan Carson (‘94); Winter 2022
Distinctive Pathways
Unique alumni experiences
The Organizational Studies program is unique in the fact that it allows our students to pursue very distinct pathways while still providing them the foundational tools that will help them flourish. This year we would like to highlight a few of our alums whose alternative career paths have been recently honored or highlighted within their specific fields.
Matt Bachmann (‘09) is the co-founder of Wandering Bear Coffee, “the smoothest, coffee-shop-quality cold brew, on tap from your fridge”, and the inventor of the #ColdBrewBox. After graduating from the Organizational Studies program, Matt went on to attend Columbia Business School, where he met the company’s other co-founder, Ben Gordon. Wandering Bear was founded in 2014 due to Matt and Ben’s love and borderline obsession over cold brew. The team worked to revolutionize the coffee world, including being the first to put coffee into tapped boxes known as the Cold Brew Box, and recently the company was selected to The Foremost 50 list of 2023! This annual list features break-out direct–to–consumer brands that are redefining and reinventing the future of the fashion, retail, and consumer industries. What started out as a small competition between friends has now developed into a nationwide retailer! Wandering Bear products can be found in your local grocers like Kroger and Whole Foods, online at their website, Amazon, and FreshDirect, and on tap in thousands of offices across the country.
“Just get started,” said Matt in an interview with Medium “Less talking and more doing; this one could sometimes be a struggle for me and Ben early on. The best learning you get is by doing and the power you hold as an early stage company is the ability to test things quickly and cheaply without huge repercussions. That’s often your only advantage. Use it.”
Madeline Parkinson (‘17) works in international human rights law and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland. After graduating from OS, Madeline worked in strategic consulting for Deloitte for over four years before heading back to school to get a Master’s in International and Comparative Law from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. She was then chosen for the Chief Justice’s Summer Placement Programme, a highly selective program where she worked in the Supreme Court of Ireland, shadowing and supporting a judge with their cases and learning the inner workings of the Irish court system. In March 2023, Madeline started a position as an intern with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations. “[I am] dedicated to driving social impact through legal research and analysis focused on strategic, regulatory, and human rights-oriented issues.”
Justin Berg (‘07) is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His research focuses on creativity and innovation, more specifically how to successfully develop, evaluate, and implement creative ideas in and outside of organizations. After graduating from OS, Justin worked for the Center for Positive Organizations at the Ross School of Business as an R&D Consultant, where, along with Jane Dutton (U-M) and Amy Wrzesniewski (Yale), he led the invention of the Job Crafting™ Exercise, helping people creatively redesign their careers and make their jobs more fulfilling. Justin was recently highlighted on NPR’s Freakonomics podcast, where he discussed his research on the “one-hit-wonder” phenomenon. “Path dependance is the idea that what happens early in a process can limit the range of options that you have by the end of that process. And what we see in the data is strong evidence for path dependence in artists’ careers. An artist’s path to sustained success depends on the creativity in their portfolio of songs at the time of their first hit song.”
Karly Forman (‘16) is the founder and executive director of Raise the Bar Family Services Inc., a Camden, NJ based company which “aims to enhance the overall well-being of individuals with disabilities and their families.” Karly launched the non-profit in 2022 after spending over five years in the consulting sector, helping nonprofits to build their fundraising capabilities. Her passion to start Raise the Bar came from her personal experience with a family member who was nonverbal and developmentally delayed, and her dedication to providing resources and help for those in similar situations. Raise the Bar offers various programming including hands-on assistance in finding and accessing services, support groups, family fun events, and youth activities for those with disabilities and their siblings. “[I was] inspired by [my] parents’ endless advocacy for [my sister] Sydney, but also disheartened to see how challenging the system can be. [I am] committed to helping all families of children with disabilities receive the services and support they need.”
Matt Bachmann Class of 2009
Madeline Parkinson, LLM Class of 2017
Justin Berg Class of 2007
Karly Forman Class of 2016
top 25
Our students shared some of their favorite places, people, and things on and around campus! Here’s their “Top 25”!
Best OF ––
A. Best coffee shop: Argus Farm Stop
B. Favorite OS staff: Cathy Philbin
C. Best brunch: Jagged Fork
F. Best party spot: Rick’s Cafe
G. Best campus selfie spot: The Law Quad
H. Favorite OS event: After class brunch
I. Favorite OS Swag: New OS stickers
J. Best hangout: The Diag
K. Most interesting discovery: Monthly U-M
Improv shows
N. Favorite OS professor: Steve Samford
P. Best late night snack: NYPD
Q. Best study spot: The Union
R. Best pizza: Joe’s Pizza
U. Favorite OS course: Organizational Wrongdoing (OS455)
V. Best new restaurant: Union Rec
W. Best outdoor space: Nichols Arboretum
year in review ––
D. Cost of everyday items: Expensive
E. Top social media platform: TikTok
L. Most notable celebrity: Harry Styles
M. Top Tiktok trend: Rihanna’s halftime performance DUPE
O. Top album: Midnights (Taylor Swift)
S. Clothing trend: Early 2000’s
T. Top TV Show: Abbott Elementary
X. Hottest song: Kill Bill (SZA) performance DUPE
Y. Top Movie: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Celebrating the class of 2023
Our 2023 OS Graduation Ceremony was held in a new location this year: Kahn Auditorium located in the Biomedical Science Research Building. The sloped auditorium seating provided our guests the best opportunity to see their favorite grads walk across the stage as they received their diplomas. Despite their first year in the department being mostly virtual, these students were determined to build a strong community. We are so proud of this year’s graduates and we’re honored and excited to welcome another cohort of OS alums to our ever-growing network.
Honors
The Call to Work: Finding Meaning to Enhance Leadership During Difficult Times
Kayla Zhang
special awards
Andy and Ellyn Lansing Leader/Scholar Award
Riley List
Suzanne M. Jones OS Spirit Award
Chelsea Williams
Jordan Harris Social Justice Award
Moira Cummings and Jeimy Lopez Garcia
graduation committee
Lauren Benitez, Moira Cummings, Tanya Dietz, and Chelsea Williams
check out our graduation ceremony recording & senior spotlights!
Melissa Eljamal & Riley List
Chelsea Williams & Moira Cummings
Kayla Zhang, Student Speaker & Honors Grad
Tanya Dietz & Chelsea Williams
Professor Steve Samford, Keynote Speaker
Campus scavenger hunt
During commencement week our seniors gathered together for a final “Senior Send-off Celebration,” where they raced around campus on a scavenger hunt photographing their various tasks.
From top to bottom, left to right:
Laying in the grass in the Law Quad
With your favorite exhibit in the UMMA
On the roof of any university building
Ask a stranger if they know what Org Studies is… if they don’t give them the pitch
With Bo Schembechler
With an OS faculty member
With any statue
In the 8th floor atrium with the plant wall
Spinning the cube
With a squirrel in the diag
Group photo in front of the League
With a jamboard in the OS 305 classroom
Doing a cartwheel in Nichols Arcade
Find the letters “O” and “S” in graffiti alley
Stepping on the block M
Walking through the fountain (towards Rackham)
A sign with “2023” in it
Your team in front of the union
In front of a member’s first-year dorm
Kissing someone under the engineering arch (on the lips, no cheating)
In front of the Michigan Wings
Scoring a 200 in skeeball at Pinball Pete’s
Eating inside a dining hall
In front of your favorite bar
Highlights, Awards, & Accolades
Department kudos
DAVON NORRIS
Davon wrapped up his very eventful first year at Michigan. During the winter semester, he taught a new course called “Credit, Debt, and The Financing of American (In)equality.” He was extremely impressed with students’ ability to turn a critical eye towards the frequently taken-for-granted world of credit and debt. A key highlight of the course was a two-part class that involved teams of students creating their own credit scores to understand the key problems of algorithms and the data that go into them. Besides teaching, he has been actively engaged in the intellectual community at the University of Michigan and continuing to develop his research at the intersection of debt, racial inequality, and municipal finance.
DAVID SWEETMAN
David published the 2nd edition of his textbook, The Science and Practice of Leadership.
Faculty & Staff Send-off
FAREWELLs
At the end of this academic year we said farewell to two of our community members, Professor Arnold Ho and our Events and Publicity Coordinator, Chelsea Williams.
Arnold joined us as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2014. He taught our core course, Inside Organizations, as well as a lower-level and seminar course on the Psychology of Inequality. In 2018 he was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, where he conducted research on how multiracial population growth might affect race relations. Chelsea joined OS in March 2019. Highlights of her time in OS include: the ONLY synchronous graduation celebration in LSA in April 2020, social media campaigns for GivingBlue Day, development of the annual newsletter, and the orchestration of our hybrid 20th anniversary panel presentation in 2022. She also guided our events and social media student leads as they planned events and posted news about the program.
Although we are sad to see Chelsea and Arnold leave the OS community, we are happy that they will continue to remain on campus. Arnold is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Chelsea has secured a promotional opportunity as Events Marketing Specialist in the U-M’s Center for Academic Innovation. We wish them both all the best!
Professor Steve Samford’s OS 440 (Technological Innovations) class trip to M-City on North Campus; Winter 2023
UPDATES FROM OUR ALUMS
MEGAN MOORE moved back to Michigan from the East coast, bought a house, and had a baby in the last 18 months! All welcome changes, but she would not recommend this much change at once for anyone’s future reference! 2007
JONATHAN FRIEDMAN welcomed his third child, a baby girl named Naomi.
MELISSA GOODMAN (CARMEL) left the corporate world to become an entrepreneur –building a platform of digital courses to support working mothers! 2008
2017
ZACHARY LAINER and his wife, Hannah, welcomed their first born child, Henry Isaac on May 20, 2022. 2009
2018
ZOE VANDYKE graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in May.
STRATAKIS was promoted to Senior Analyst with the City of Encinitas Public Works Department in October 2022.
2019
CHARLOTTE CUDDY moved to Austin, TX earlier this year after 5 years in New York, NY.
HUONG HALEY (NGUYEN) is moving back to Michigan later this year.
VICTORIA RILETT graduated from the MA program in Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice at CU Boulder in May. She will be returning to the University of Michigan in the fall to begin a PhD in Educational Studies with a specialization in Education Policy.
ZACHARY FETTERS welcomed his first child in May.
KELLY TONNESLAN (LIBKA) moved to Amsterdam to start a new role within the same company.
2020
ALEXANDER COLETTA finished his first year of his MBA at Columbia Business School and will be spending the summer in LA interning at HBO.
BROOKE KAHL will be starting a full-time MBA in the Fall at Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management as a Fowler Fellow for Business as an Agent of World Benefit.
2021
ISABEL GLASS is heading to Wharton for an MBA this fall.
ELIZABETH MARICS is attending Harvard Business School in the fall.
GRACE RIDINGS married her partner of nearly 8 years on June 3, 2023!
EMILY FURTADO is going to UMinnesota for their Developmental Psych and Clinical Science PhD program this coming fall!
CHRISTINA ROWAN got married to Ben Zoller in September 2022 - college sweethearts from U-M! 2014
LIZA BARNES is graduating with her PhD in Organizational Behavior from the University of Colorado Boulder and starting as an Assistant Professor of Management at Drexel University in Fall 2023.
ANITA MICHAUD started her own business, Dinner with Friends. She started hosting dinner parties as a way to meet new friends post-graduation and has now expanded to hosts around New York City. She was recently featured in the New York Times and Insider, which was pretty cool!
Do you have something you’d like to share with the OS community in our next publication? Look out for the Alumni Update Survey sent out annually around April.
ASHLEE
OUR COMMUNITY
faculty
ELIZABETH POPP BERMAN
Richard H. Price Professor and Director, Organizational Studies, Sociology (by Courtesy) (OS Advisory Committee)
NICHOLAS CAMP
Assistant Professor, Organizational Studies
LISA FEIN
Lecturer, Organizational Studies
ARNOLD HO
Associate Professor, Organizational Studies and Psychology (OS Advisory Committee)
JEREMY LEVINE
Assistant Professor, Organizational Studies, Sociology (by Courtesy)
DAVON NORRIS
LSA Collegiate Fellow, Organizational Studies
STEVEN SAMFORD
Assistant Professor, Organizational Studies
SARA SODERSTROM
Associate Professor, Organizational Studies and Program in the Environment (OS Advisory Committee)
DAVID SWEETMAN
Lecturer, Organizational Studies
staff
BRYAN ADATO
Student Services Coordinator
TANYA DIETZ
Executive Assistant
MELISSA ELJAMAL
Chief Administrator
CATHERINE PHILBIN
Advising Coordinator
CHELSEA WILLIAMS
Events & Communications Coordinator
affiliated faculty
DENISE ANTHONY
Professor, Health Management and Policy and Sociology (OS Advisory Committee)
ELIZABETH A. ARMSTRONG
Professor, Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies (OS Advisory Committee)
WAYNE BAKER
Professor, Ross School of Business and Sociology
MICHAEL BASTEDO Professor, School of Education
GERALD DAVIS
Professor, Ross School of Business and Sociology (OS Advisory Committee)
RICHARD GONZALEZ Professor, Psychology and Statistics
KATHRYN HEINZE
Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology (OS Alum)
ANDREW HOFFMAN
Professor, School for Environment and Sustainability and Ross School of Business (OS Advisory Committee)
RAMASWAMI MAHALINGAM Professor, Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies
MARK MIZRUCHI
Professor, Sociology and Ross School of Business (OS Advisory Committee)
JASON OWEN-SMITH Professor, Sociology (OS Advisory Committee)
SHOBITA PARTHASARATHY
Professor, Ford School of Public Policy and Women’s and Gender Studies
RICHARD H. PRICE Professor Emeritus, Psychology
LANCE SANDELANDS
Professor, Psychology and Ross School of Business
DENISE SEKAQUAPTEWA Professor, Psychology (OS Advisory Committee)
GRETCHEN SPREITZER
Professor, Ross School of Business
JAMES P. WALSH
Professor, Ross School of Business (OS Advisory Committee)
university regents
JORDAN B. ACKER
MICHAEL J. BEHM
MARK J. BERNSTEIN
PAUL W. BROWN
SARAH HUBBARD
DENISE ILITCH
RON WEISER
KATHERINE E. WHITE
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