The staff and faculty of Foster’s Global Business Center (pictured from left to right: Krista Peterson, Kirsten Aoyama, Debra Glassman, Wren McNally, Andrea Gomes, Kathleen Hatch, Nicolle Merrill).
Taking Off
When the CIBER program was first established in 1988, Dick Moxon, former professor of international business, took note. He also took charge, traveling to Washington, DC, to study the proposals submitted by the six schools originally funded by the grant. And with support from former associate dean Gary Mueller, fellow faculty, and members of the Seattle business community, he compiled a proposal for the next round of grants. In 1990, the school received its first CIBER grant, establishing the Global Business Center and adding “faculty director” to Moxon’s list of titles. One of the program ideas submitted by Moxon in that initial proposal was the undergraduate Certificate of International Studies in Business (CISB). The nationally ranked program has been a phenomenal success, and according to Moxon, is illustrative of the approach he wanted to emphasize for the GBC. “It wasn’t simply an international business program,” says Moxon. “It was taking marketing and accounting and finance majors and adding global requirements. Students would have to take international business courses, but they would also have to be proficient in a foreign language and get
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international experience through studying or working abroad. That was key.” Looking back, Moxon describes himself and former colleague Kathy Dewenter as “internationalists.” Dewenter, an associate professor of finance at Foster, was a supportive colleague of Moxon’s early efforts and succeeded him as the GBC’s faculty director in 1998. Their international experiences cemented their view that the business world was bigger than the United States. Moxon had served in the Peace Corps and taught abroad. Dewenter had worked on an international level in banking and consulting. Both valued real-world experience. “International courses are important,” says Moxon. “But we used to make fun of international business faculty and majors who didn’t have passports. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s very important to travel, to experience—even study tours for two weeks are eye opening for participants.” Departures
Jennifer Wallis is relationship director for Wells Fargo Global Financial Institutions and Trade Services for the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. A Foster alum (MBA 1998)