FSB Journey Fall 2020

THE Farmer S cho ol of Business

JOURNEY
FALL 2020

HIGHLIGHTS: P6 P19 P35

P4 ALEX TYREE CHARTS FILLING A NEED… JANUARY 11, 2020:
HIS OWN COURSE AND EMPTY LOTS ONE DAY, MANY
30 YEARS, THOUSANDS Choosing His Path by SECURing His Future COUNTRIES
OF STUDENTS, Following His Heart Where in the World are
IMMEASURABLE IMPACT Our Students?
A Fond Farewell

MiamiOh.edu/fsb

Editor/Writer/Designer In This Issue
Addie Rosenthal ’80 MBA ’85
Letter from the Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Writer A Fond Farewell as Dean Marc Rubin Retires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Jay Murdock Choosing His Path by Following his Heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Lemons Teach Life Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Photographers A Toast to a Memorable Capstone Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Jay Murdock SECURing His Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Miami University Specialty Masters Fill a Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Historic photos supplied Student Learns How to Transition
by their owners “From Practice to Purpose” from Leading CMOs. . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
These Chairs Aren’t Made for Sitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Issue Design Innovating for Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Val Hoffman Design, LLC Where in the World are our Students?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Board of Visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
External Relations Business Advisory Council. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
513-529-4221 A Letter of Thanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Kirk Bogard
Associate Vice President
for Development and
External Relations
Farmer School of Business
[email protected]

Have a story to share?
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The Journey is published twice a year by the External
Relations department of the Farmer School of Business
at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. Copyright
©2020, the Farmer School of Business.All rights are
reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written
permission is prohibited.

Special thanks to proofreader Megan Langhals

@FarmerSchoolMU farmerschoolofbusiness Farmer School of Business Miami University, Farmer School of Business

Beyond the Expected.

800 EAST HIGH STREET | OXFORD, OH 45056 | 513.529.3631

FSB THE JOURNEY 2

– welcome –

It seems so appropriate that I introduce myself
to you in a magazine called “The Journey,”
because that so perfectly describes what my
first few months as dean have been. I’m certain

the same is true for most of you. But, if there’s one thing
you remember about the Farmer School,it’s our faculty and
staff ’s dedication to providing transformative experiences
for our students. Even a pandemic didn’t diminish that.

In the middle of March, when the governor mandated As I get to meet our alumni, I am impressed by how they
that in-person classes switch to remote learning, we continue to excel and have a positive impact, like young
didn’t miss a beat. As you will see, our faculty pivoted alumni Allie Pearson (Engelhart) and Esther Ladipo who
overnight, delivering their courses in ways that ensured prioritize giving back, and Brandon Cruz and Clint Jones
continued, active student engagement. Classes that were whose friendship has spanned the decades from first year
in the middle of client projects continued – and students roommates to founders of a public company – hiring
quickly devised solutions to “meeting” with their teams Miami students all along the way.
and interacting with faculty and their clients. Interactive
online presentation skills were seamlessly integrated, Finally, you know that our faculty are outstanding
impressing their clients (and their dean!). Signature Farmer teachers, but did you know that they also publish in some
School programs, including international study and career of the most rigorous academic journals? Because of their
fairs pivoted as well. Read about it all in our special “Still scholarship and the reputations they build, they are often
Going Beyond” section. sought after as subject-matter experts by public media and
organizations.
The result is that our graduating seniors are even more
beyond ready for career success. Even though many In a challenging environment, I can not think of any place
companies were negatively impacted by the economic I would rather be. b
ramifications of Covid-19, employers actively competed
for our students and we’re pleased to share hiring statistics
on the Class of 2020.

Love and Honor,

TOP 10 COLLEGE Jenny Darroch
Dean and Mitchell P. Rales Chair in Business Leadership
FOR
PRODUCING 3 FALL 2020

FORTUNE 500 CEOS

Money Magazine

Farmer School of Business

NAMED PROFESSORS & ENDOWED CHAIRS

DR. BRIAN BALLOU DR. BRAD GOLDIE
EY Professor of Accountancy Frank H. Jellinek Jr. Endowed
DR. LEE BIGGERSTAFF
Armco Endowed Assistant Professor Assistant Professor Chair
DR.THOMAS BOULTON DR. DAN HEITGER

Lindmor Professor Deloitte Professor
DR.ARTHUR CARVALHO MR.THOMAS HEUER
Dinesh & Ila Paliwal Innovation Chair Forsythe Chair in Entrepreneurship
DR.TIM HOLCOMB
DR. PO-CHANG CHEN Endres Associate Professor Fellow
Endres Associate Professor Fellow DR. XIAOWEN HUANG
DR. ROBERT DAHLSTROM Bill Moeckel Business Professor
MR. MARK LACKER
Joseph C. Seibert Professor
DR. JENNY DARROCH John W.Altman Clinical
Professor of Entrepreneurship
Dean & Mitchell P. Rales DR.YOUNG (GABE) HWA LEE
Chair in Business Leadership C. Michael Armstrong Business Chair
DR. DEVON DELVECCHIO
DR. XI LIU
Raymond E. Glos Ohio Casualty Professor
Professor in Marketing DR. MONIQUE MURFIELD
DR. SCOTT DUST
John Mee Endowed Assistant Richard T. Farmer
Professor of Management Endowed Assistant Professor
DR. LISA ELLRAM
DR. GLENN PLATT
James Evans Rees C. Michael Armstrong
Distinguished Professor of Professor of Network
Supply Chain Management Technology & Management
DR.ALLISON JONES-FARMER DR. JON PYZOHA
PwC Endowed Assistant
Van Andel Professor of Professor in Accountancy
Business Analytics DR. JOSEPH RODE
George and Mildred Panuska
DR.ANNE FARRELL Professor in Business
PwC Professor of Accountancy DR. BRETT SMITH
Cintas Chair in Entrepreneurship
DR. JIM FRIEDMAN DR. MELISSA THOMASSON
White Family Clinical Faculty Julian Lange Professor of Economics

in Entrepreneurship

FSB THE JOURNEY 4

MEET THE NEW DEAN

If you ask new Farmer School dean Jenny she remarked. “I think we’ve got a service
Darroch why she chose to accept the role,
she’ll explain, “I was looking for a place that obligation to other disciplines across
had a point of difference in a very competitive
and crowded market -- experiential learning, the university. So I would like to find a
high-touch faculty, academic rigor - and
that’s what I see at Miami.” And she couldn’t wait pathway to collaborate even more with

to experience it all in person.“I think Zoom and WebEx other divisions and departments.”
were fantastic, because I was able to work from California
when I started on July 1, but there’s a lot that you don’t One of the challenges Jenny faced immediately was
quite get with video conferencing. So I’m really happy to how to ensure that the hallmarks of the Farmer School
be here, in the building, meeting with students, and really educational experience – personalized attention, close
getting that rich feel of the place.” faculty-student relationships, multiple opportunities for
experiential learning, international study and leadership
And Jenny hit the ground running! Since arriving in skills – could continue with Covid-19 restrictions. It was
Oxford, she has been meeting with faculty, staff, alumni a challenge she, our faculty and staff met head on.“In my
and members of the school’s Business Advisory Council role, I often talk to industry leaders who believe that a
and Board of Visitors, getting a feel for what is working blend of face to face and remote interaction represents
and what can be improved. “We absolutely, without the future of work in a post COVID-19 world.What this
question, have to pay attention to the salaries that the means is that we are helping our students better prepare for
students are earning when they leave the Farmer School. their future, by requiring them to move between face to
We need to continue to focus on diversity and inclusion,” face and remote modalities, learn how to log into a video
conference and how to log in on time, how to participate
in an online discussion, how to give presentations online,
how to contribute as a virtual intern,and how to interview
and secure a job without necessarily meeting anyone face
to face.

5 FALL 2020

“I do not want to trivialize the catastrophic impact
COVID-19 has had on individuals, families, communities
or the economy but I do believe COVID-19 brings with
it many life lessons - e.g., how our actions impact others,
how to live in the present, how to work with ambiguity,
the importance of evidence-based decision-making,
and how to be more resilient. So rather than fight the
constraints COVID-19 has imposed, why not celebrate
the changes we are all forced to make?”

“Most of our faculty say that the courses they are deliveringMITY But how will the Farmer School get to that goal? Jenny
now are better than any course they have delivered prior has some ideas about that.
because they have been forced to challenge everything
they do in order to create a positive learning environment. “We can’t assume our greatness. None of this can be taken
I also hear faculty comment that the technology enables for granted. So the challenge that I’m going to lay out
them to do things they couldn’t do before – e.g., have on everything we do is that every time we look at a part
speakers participate via video conference from anywhere of our business, we should be scanning the environment,
around the world, or get better student participation looking at our top competitors, seeing what makes them
by using break out rooms (a feature of some video best in class, understand what that means, and figuring
conferencing platforms).” out how to outmaneuver them,” she noted.“What do we
consider to be best practices, how we measure up against
“Now that I’m here, I’m really looking it, and how do we make sure we’re meeting and exceeding
forward to putting the shine on the school that on the key things that are important to our brand?”
because I think there’s just so many
assets to leverage and I truly believe this is “Our core mission is to work with our students so that
a tremendous opportunity for the school, they are beyond ready leaders who are ready to launch
and for me as an incoming dean.” their careers. What we have to do to get there is make
sure we understand what employers want.We’ve got some
“What I want us to do as a school is to be the best incredible insights and initiatives, but it’s sort of a moving
undergraduate business school in the country, and put a target,” she explained.“We just need to be really tuned in
fire under ourselves a little bit. Our challenge is to push and challenge ourselves all the time to make sure that our
boldly to be the best undergraduate business school in the students are always beyond ready.”
country, with selected graduate programs that support our
core mission.And that’s what we’re going to drive toward.” Employers will say that they seek out Miami graduates
because there’s something special about a Miami graduate.
AMI UNIVERSI They want to get first dibs on our graduates because
there’s something special about them that they can’t quite
$ put their finger on beyond putting it down to the four-
year fully immersive experiences our students have.”

TOP 5 While there is always room for improvement, she said, the
FOR Farmer School already offers great opportunities to its
students.“I think what we offer is an incredible opportunity
STARTING SALARIES AMONG to grow up intellectually,socially,and emotionally.Students
PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES make lifelong friends, relationships that endure and they
learn about who they are. When people come to Miami,
there’s an incredible transformation that goes on.”

GradReports

FSB THE JOURNEY 6

Prior to joining Miami, Jenny Darroch served as
the dean of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito
Graduate School of Management at Claremont
Graduate University in Claremont, California.

She earned her doctorate in marketing from the
University of Otago in New Zealand. She has a
master of commerce degree in marketing and
international business from the University of
Auckland, an honors degree in applied economics
from Massey University and a bachelor’s degree
in marketing and economics from the University
of Waikato, all in New Zealand, which is her
native country. She moved to the United States
in 2004. While at Otago, Jenny was the inaugural
Director of Entrepreneurship and launched New
Zealand’s first masters in entrepreneurship.

Jenny has authored three books, including
“Why Marketing to Women Doesn’t Work: Using
Market Segmentation to Identify Customer
Needs” (2014, Palgrave Macmillan), and
“Marketing Through Turbulent Times” (2009,
Palgrave Macmillan). Jenny has published more
than 30 refereed publications.

Her research — focused on looking at innovation
strategies from the customers’ point of view —
has been cited more than 4,600 times, appearing
in marketing, management, innovation and
entrepreneurship journals.

Jenny serves on the boards of Redgate
Software, Cambridge UK, and Kent Business
School, UK. She is the outgoing chair of Women
Administrators in Management Education
(WAME), an AACSB affinity group (2019-
20), a Fellow of the International Academy of
Management and a member of the American
Marketing Association. b

7 FALL 2020

Excellence

IN & BEYOND the Classroom

DR. ARTHUR CARVALHO, Dinesh DR. MICHAEL CONGER, David DR. ALLISON JONES-FARMER,
& Ila Paliwal Innovation Chair and F. Herche Endowed Assistant Van Andel Professor of Business
Assistant Professor of Information Professor of Entrepreneurship Analytics and Professor of
Systems and Analytics James Robeson Junior Faculty Award for Information Systems and Analytics
Richard K. Smucker Teaching Excellence Research Excellence Richard K. Smucker Teaching Excellence
Award as the Outstanding Junior Award as the Outstanding Professor
Professor

DR. JON GRENIER, Professor of MR. ROCCO MANZO, Senior DR. ERIC MARINICH, Assistant
Accountancy Clinical Lecturer, Department of Teaching Professor of Accountancy
Farmer School of Business Senior Faculty Management Richard K. Smucker Teaching Excellence
Award for Research Excellence Service Excellence Award Award as the Outstanding Clinical
Professor

FSB THE JOURNEY 8

CLASS OF 2020 PLACEMENT DATA

TOP EMPLOYERS

COMPENSATION INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES

For students who More than half of the Completed at
reported salary students who received a least one internship
information, full-time offer, reported while studying at
the average starting a signing bonus whch Miami
salary was: averaged:

$61,759 $5,543

Accounting Banking Completed more
than one internship
CPG TOP Consulting while studying at
Miami
INDUSTRIES
Graduates reported
Financial Technology/ employment in
Services Science
29 states, China, Turkey
As of October 1, 2020, 87% of the Class of & United Kingdom with
2020 had accepted full-time positions or Chicago being the most

were continuing their education. popular destination
outside of Ohio.
9
Data as of October 1, 2020

FALL 2020

FSB THE JOURNEY 10

– Still Going Beyond –

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ectatur alis in re exceat volescilit, occates doluptis
doluptaquis et quas sa voluptate.

11 FALL 2020

– Still Going Beyond –

Keeping the Experiences Real...

IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

Even in a pandemic, Farmer School during a challenging time. WCIW made a big difference
faculty and students found innovative in people’s lives this year, all while being virtual.”
ways to incorporate experiential learning
opportunities into their experiences, Much like Creativity City, the Miami University
starting within days of Miami University’s Blockchain Club’s planned 2020 conference also had to
move to online learning in March. make sudden changes due to the pandemic. But also much
like Creativity City, it gave organizers the opportunity to
Normally held on the front lawn of the Farmer School, take the conference to a global level. Instead of 10 speakers,
Creativity City instead went worldwide with an online the conference hosted nearly 60 on its virtual platform,
platform.A celebration ofWorld Creativity and Innovation talking about blockchain’s impact in enterprise, banking
Week, Creativity City News allowed visitors to take part and finance, government, supply chain logistics, healthcare,
in a series of daily-changing creative activities, much as social impact, and digital currencies topics.
they would have if they visited the traditional Creativity
City. The club’s members wove the speakers’ livestreams
through Whova, allowing participants to network, ask
“The week went better than I ever could have imagined questions, and interact with each other. Making the
because of the amazing students running it. It really conference virtual also allowed nearly five times as many
exemplified how the students could deal with the changes, people attend as originally planned.
challenge, and ambiguity that was continuously being
thrown at them,” senior ISA and entrepreneurship major “I thought it was a great accomplishment given the
Jordyn Zahoransky said.“People around the world joined environment we were in at the time. This was a huge
in to celebrate - making a bright week of memories undertaking to coordinate and shift to a virtual platform,”
advisor and panelist Adam Koehler, owner of the Reversed

FSB THE JOURNEY 12

EPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM

10TOPAMONG P
ENTR
FOR 12 YEARS
IN A ROW OGRAMS

UBLIC UNDERGRADUATE PR
The Princeton Review & Entrepreneur Magazine

Out agency, said.“The team did an excellent job with the The competitions virtually brought in more than 120
pivot and finding technical solutions to make it happen. industry and entrepreneurship leaders to act as judges,
Also, their ability to get the quality speakers during this including many who could never had taken part in the
time was impressive.” event if it was in person. “This is really a case study in
what entrepreneurship is, really pivoting and adjusting and
A pair of annual pitch competitions,the Business Case Road dealing with the unknowns. And I just continue to be in
awe of everything that you guys do with the resources that
Test and the Venture Pitch Competition, moved to virtual you have,” Jeffrey Kadlic, founding partner of Evolution
Capital Partners, noted.
events in May, bringing a whole new learning experience
Inside the virtual classrooms, students adapted quickly
for students taking part. “My biggest takeaway from this to the new world of learning in a pandemic. Gillian
Oakenfull’s marketing capstone class moved to remote
experience is maintaining a strong team connection learning the day before they were to meet with Procter &
Gamble executives to get their project client brief.
while working completely isolated and virtually. Right
Students met in group chats on Zoom with Oakenfull to
off the bat, we established each of our strengths and continue to deep-dive into complex marketing concepts,
discuss their progress with the projects are going, ask
weaknesses and were transparent about them.This helped questions, and made periodic practice presentations, which
required some coordination among the group members
“ MAINTAINING us to delegate tasks to located states apart. They also checked-in virtually with
certain members of the client team once a week to simulate a real-world
MEANINGFUL the team while playing client/vendor relationship.
AND HONEST to our strengths,”
“Dr. Oakenfull made the transition seamless. Immediately,
COMMUNICATION Road Test participant she was prepared with various online tools that allowed
us to still get face time with her as well as time with our
WAS ENCOURAGED Emily Nebraska teams,” Brianna Woods explained. “The ease of this class’s
transformation really helped when transitioning four other
AS WE SPOKE noted. “Maintaining classes all at once. She turned this somewhat-negative
OFTEN IN OUR meaningful and honest experience, especially as a senior, to a positive, relatable
GROUP MESSAGES communication was work life experience.”
ABOUT CLARIFYING encouraged as we
spoke often in our
DEADLINES AND
group messages about

RESPONSIBILITIES. clarifying deadlines
and responsibilities.
WE ALSO ALL KEPT
AN OPEN MIND AND We also all kept
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
WHEN IT CAME an open mind and

positive attitude

TO ACCEPTING when it came to

accepting feedback

FEEDBACK AND and brainstorming.”

BRAINSTORMING.”

13 FALL 2020

– Still Going Beyond –

Dr. Jay Shan’s ISA 514 course on managing big data
challenged students to work on any analysis they chose
using any type of tools or models they wanted. Those
analyses later formed projects for the students to submit
to the worldwide Teradata Analytics and Data Challenge
over the summer.Three teams from Miami made the finals
of the analytics portion of the competition, and one team
won the challenge.

“We decided to analyze COVID-19 cases because we “I am very proud with the performance of all three
began the project in the middle of last semester, when Miami teams who were selected as finalists in this
there were a lot of unknowns and a big media frenzy,” prestigious competition, with a special congratulations to
Claire Galberg explained. “We tried to build a regression the team finishing on top. Our teams tackled a diverse
model to predict COVID-19 deaths based on other set of interesting, important, and globally relevant issues,”
variables like population and a time series analysis of the Shan said. “All of our teams brought forth great passion
number of cases and deaths to predict what those numbers and creativity along with their strong analytical skills. It
would be for a two-week period.” is another testament to the experiential learning in our
curriculum.” b
“We kept our team motivation up and continually pushed
the project forward.We had good communication within
the team, which kept everyone being productive,” Toby
Yang said. “We were still communicating while finalizing
the presentation even though I was six hours ahead in
Switzerland.”

FSB THE JOURNEY 14

Student, Faculty and Staff

Rise to the Challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic created many He noted that remote learning can be disruptive for
challenges, but it also created many students, but also presented an opportunity for tangible
opportunities for those willing and ready benefits. “We’ve tried to position this as
to help. Farmer School students and faculty ‘Here’s another opportunity to learn, to
rose to the challenge in many different ways develop skills to work remotely, because
over the course of 2020. most of the time, you’ll have some sort
of remote interactivity with either staff
Visiting assistant professor Justin McGlothin used his or customers,’” McGlothin noted. “So I’ve kind of
knowledge of technology to create a series of videos to help positioned it as a really good thing to add to their skillset.”
other faculty prepare for the change to remote learning
and to help students and faculty learn to communicate Meanwhile, accountancy professor Brian Ballou became a
effectively. familiar face for hundreds of KPMG interns in the United
States this summer as he led them through parts of their
“The first couple of videos I put together were staff- or virtual training sessions. Ballou and Auburn professor
faculty-facing.Then a switch went off in my mind to not emeritus Rick Tabor developed and recorded portions of
do just faculty-facing videos, but to do them in a way that the KPMG Virtual Internship Experience.
could help students too,” McGlothlin recalled.“One of the
videos I put together was how to do a team presentation “In a normal summer, we’ll go around to a number of
on WebEx.The idea there was to help educate our faculty offices and do workshops for interns on how to think
on how it could be used, and then also in the same format, about clients from a risk-based perspective,” Ballou said.
be able to share it with students so that they could learn “This year, obviously, we couldn’t do that.”
how to use it as well.”

15 FALL 2020

– Still Going Beyond –

“What we were able to do is convey some of the leading “If you want to see something done, you’re more than
skills and abilities that accountants need to be successful capable of doing it and anyone can make an impact. It
in today’s environment. We used publicly-available doesn’t even have to be something big. I’m sure I got a
information to convey different areas of knowledge couple hand cramps here and there, but that’s the most
and expertise that should be useful to them in public
accounting,” Ballou explained.“So they can get a sense of minor inconvenience,” Speelman explained. “Seeing
the smiles when I do these letter drop-
offs it just makes it so worth it. It’s very
easy to make an impact, so I would just
emphasize to do what you can.”

Some Farmer School students took on a more direct
role in finding solutions to pandemic problems, even if
they didn’t know it when classes began. Entrepreneurship
professor Tom Heuer’s Corporate Entrepreneurship
students were tasked with finding alumni-founded UVC

how things work in public accounting and then what they
might want to work on while they’re still in school before
they go back to the firm.”

Lauren Speelman, a sophomore marketing major, decided The Light Force a go-to-market strategy and ways for the
to bring some happiness to healthcare workers and patients company to be socially responsible. Heuer’s Enterprise
dealing with the pandemic. “I had seen people collecting Consulting class was doing consulting work with Gravity
letters and delivering them to hospitals, and I thought, Diagnostics at the same time. Both companies suddenly
‘Oh, that’s such a great idea,’” Speelman recalled.“And for found themselves on the front-lines of the fight against
about a week, I was waiting around, seeing if someone in COVID-19.
my community would do it. And when I didn’t see that
happening, I asked myself,‘Why don’t I do that?’” Seven teams of students were assigned to tackle the two
concepts sought by UV-C The Light Force.The day after
From her home near Columbus, Speelman reached out the company explained their anti-microbial UV-C light
to organizations, groups, and friends, asking them to system to the students, Miami University moved to remote
contribute to a program she called Stamps of Support. learning due to the coronavirus.
More than 200 letters later, she was delivering them to
Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Mount Carmel St. Ann’s
Hospital, and a senior citizen home. “The woman that
came to the door to meet me, she was almost in tears.
When I called, she told the residents about it and they
were so excited,” Speelman said.

FSB THE JOURNEY 16

MIAMI UNIVERSITY

TOP 5
PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

UND FOR NG
E TEACHI
R G R UAT
A D E

US News & World Report

“It was pretty remarkable that it happened to be this Information systems and analytics professors Maria Weese
particular client that we had gotten at this particular time,” and Waldyn Martinez helped chemistry and biochemistry
junior entrepreneurship and English literature student faculty in their search for possible treatments for antibiotic-
Nick Murphy said.“I think it made our research definitely resistant secondary infections common with COVID-19
more applicable, but also just more engaging. It was so by using technology tools to help the effort. “To find a
topical and we could feel like we were really contributing potentially useful compound, a laboratory would have to
something that was relevant to a massive issue on a global test millions of possible compounds — making the search
scale.” much like finding a needle in a haystack,” Weese said.
“This is where a machine learning model can help.”
“There was not a group of students on this project from
which we didn’t pull something we could use from their Weese and Martinez worked with Center for Analytics
presentation,” company founder Rick Rechter II said. and Data Science interns on the project, which continued
“We felt so privileged to be part of the program, and it into the fall.
was a fun experience to work with the students and get
their input.They’re all much smarter than I am. So it was “The CADS students extracted thousands of measurements
very beneficial.” about each chemical compound (structure, bond strengths,
etc.) and related those structural measurements to whether
Meanwhile, Gravity Diagnostics was tasked by the state these compounds are likely to be a good inhibitor or not
of Kentucky with providing 48-hour turnaround times using a machine learning model,”Weese said.“The machine
for COVID-19 tests. The students worked closely with learning model is able to rank the compounds from most
the company throughout this semester to assist them with likely to be a good inhibitor to least likely and can be
some of their strategic growth goals. ““We helped them applied to any compound’s structural characteristics.”
define their Unique Value Proposition so they can show
people how special their testing really is,” student Molly Time and again in 2020, the faculty and students at the
Zilch said.“We have learned that it is more than just a test, Farmer School of business rose to the occasion to take
it is about that individual person who they are helping advantage of the opportunities presented during the global
whether it be drug addiction or they are severely sick.” pandemic, ensuring that they would be Beyond Ready for
whatever the future holds. b
“This group is incredibly professional and
have produced quality content for Gravity.
They definitely get an A+ from me,”
Ted Knauf, director of business operations at Gravity
Diagnostics, wrote. “Your students have demonstrated
an immense capacity for understanding how a business
can succeed by building an understanding of the market,
stakeholders, etc. — no doubt this will serve them well in
any entrepreneurial endeavors they pursue.”

17 FALL 2020

– Still Going Beyond –

BEHIND THE MASK

FSB THE JOURNEY 18

19 FALL 2020

BEHIND THE MASK
...revealed!

ALLISON JONES-FARMER ANNE FARRELL AUSTIN SMITH BRIAN BALLOU
Van Andel Professor of PricewaterhouseCoopers Professor Assistant Professor EY Professor of Accountancy,
Business Analytics & of Accountancy & Professor Economics William Isaac and Michael Oxley
Professor Accountancy Center for Business Leadership
Information Systems & Analytics Faculty Fellow & Professor
Accountancy

JOSEPH KOONTZ CHANELLE WHITE LISA ELLRAM HENRY JIN
Director of Information Technology Assistant Dean & Director of Associate Professor
FSB IT Divisional Advising James Evans Rees Distinguished Management
Academic Advising Professor of Supply Chain
Management & Professor
Management

JAN TAYLOR JENNY DARROCH JING LI KIRK BOGARD
Senior Lecturer & Director of FSB Dean and Mitchell P. Rales Chair in Associate Professor Associate Vice President for
Honors and Scholars Program Business Leadership & Professor Economics Development and External Relations
Marketing & Office of the Dean Office of the Dean & Marketing Office of the Dean

FSB THE JOURNEY 20

MARY ELIZABETH THOMPSON MICHAEL MCCARTHY MICHAEL GOWINS ROCCO MANZO
BADGETT Professor & Chair Instructor Senior Clinical Lecturer
Assistant Professor Marketing Information Systems & Analytics Management
Finance

SCOTT DUST JOHN “SKIP” BENAMATI MELISSA THOMASSON TIMOTHY GREENLEE
Dr. John F. Mee Professor in Professor & Chair Chair and Julian Lange Professor Senior Associate Dean & Professor
Management & Assistant Professor Information Systems & Analytics of Economics Office of the Dean & Marketing
Management Economics

TIM HOLCOMB JONATHAN GRENIER EMILY AKIL BELINDA CROSS
Chair & Director, John W. Altman Professor & Miami PRIME Director Assistant Director of Global Administrative Assistant
Institute for Entrepreneurship & Accountancy Business Programs Information Systems & Analytics
Endres Associate Professor Fellow Global Studies
& Associate Professor FALL 2020
Entrepreneurship

21

– Still Going Beyond –

Maintaining Closeness
While Keeping Your Distance

One of the challenges that Farmer School about his internship with China-based BitBoom Fund
faculty faced in 2020 was to make remote Management. “I am also learning a lot about Chinese
learning as personal and connective an business culture and how it compares/differs from that of
experience for students as possible, and the US. Overall, the experience has been valuable!”
with no lead time.
The popular Miami PRIME summer program, designed
As students found their study abroad plans canceled by the to provide a base of business knowledge to non-business
pandemic, the Farmer School’s Global Studies program majors, was especially popular when it became virtual,
rolled out a Virtual Global Internship program. The welcoming the second-highest number of students in the
program guaranteed placement with a company based program’s history. “I wanted every professor to interact
on either the country a student was interested in or their with the students. I didn’t want it to be, ‘OK, we just
preferred area of study. posted videos and here’s some assignments.’ The students
felt like they got to know the professors,” program director
More than two-dozen students took part over the summer. Jon Grenier said.
“Students work 10 hours per week, and most of those
hours are project based and unstructured time. So they’ll “In comparison to my expectations, PRIME far exceeded
overlap a couple hours with their supervisor, or maybe them. I was beyond impressed with the organization,
join in on team meetings, but then they’re working on communication, and work that all professors and director
projects often on their own,” Assistant Director of Global had put into this program to make sure we still got the
Business Programs Emily Akil explained. “So it takes PRIME experience but in a virtual setting,” student Olivia
a lot of individual skills to be able to work through the Giles remarked.“I remember at the very beginning of the
experience successfully. It requires that our students are program feeling very overwhelmed just looking ahead at
flexible and adaptable, but also really self-sufficient.” the things I had to do. However, everything was so clear
about what needed to be done and when. The structure
“I am quickly learning a lot about international finance was exceptional for this program being all online for the
specifically in regard to blockchain and private equity first time.”
funds,” junior accountancy major Alex Stan remarked

FSB THE JOURNEY 22

Grenier remarked that the program went so well virtually physical connection. During COVID, it is really difficult
that he expects some portions to remain virtual in future to get that same experience, so we could feel a gap in
years. what we were about to be able to deliver and felt that we
needed to find some ways to use tools so that students
As fall arrived, a major yearly event, the Fall Career Fair, still feel connected,” entrepreneurship instructor Geoff
had to make a transition to virtual as well. Thanks to Zoeckler explained.
some creativity and hard work by the Center for Career
Exploration & Success and the Farmer School Career The solution was GooseChase,an adaptable scavenger hunt
Services team, students were able to “meet” with more phone application. “The first challenges that we did were
than 200 employers who were actively seeking to hire centered around some divergent thinking exercises, getting
students for internships and full-time positions. outside your comfort zone,” Zoeckler explained. “You
could just see the smiles, you could see the excitement.We
“Students would register for the event, and then when weren’t just going for fun, though that was certainly part
participating employers created a schedule, students would of it. But we saw the connection to the actual material we
pick the companies and time slots that worked for them,” were trying to teach while they were heavily engaged and
student Morgan Pohl explained.“So it was like a one-on- enjoying themselves in that moment.”
one virtual Zoom room. There were also group meeting
options as well.” “It was really interesting going through a lot of the
submissions and hearing people give feedback on them in
“ I WANTED EVERY “Going into a virtual career the class next day,” student Sam Rogers said.“It was great
fair experience,you anticipate getting to know people and seeing them stretching out
of their comfort zones, because usually you can see some
PROFESSOR TO that there will be a number pretty interesting aspects of people when they’re pushed
of challenges and technical like that.”
INTERACT WITH difficulties. However, I was
“It is creative problem solving,at its core,”entrepreneurship
THE STUDENTS. pleasantly surprised by how instructor David Eyman said.“What we’re giving them is
repetitively giving them opportunities to solve problems.
I DIDN’T WANT IT seamless the technology And at the end of all of this, we turn around and say,‘Hey,
and overall experience ran. look at all the problems you solved this semester.’”
TO BE, ‘OK, WE While I would have loved
Whether the class was remote or hybrid, Farmer School
JUST POSTED more than 10 minutes to faculty rose to the challenge of making the experience the
VIDEOS AND get to know each student, next best thing to being at FSB for students. b
I still felt engaged and
TOP 20
HERE’S SOME was able to connect well
PUBLIC UNDERGRADUATE
ASSIGNMENTS.’ with candidates,” Deloitte
THE STUDENTS Consulting’s (and 2018 FSB MARKETING
marketing grad) Marilyn PROGRAM

FELT LIKE Zubak said. “While nothing US News & World Report
THEY GOT TO can replace the value of in-
person interactions, I was

KNOW THE overall satisfied with the set-

PROFESSORS.” up and effectiveness of the
virtual career fair.”

The faculty of the First-Year Integrated Core classes faced
what seemed like an immense challenge – to find a way
to help hundreds of first-year students build a sense of
community as they started their college experience.“The
FYIC is really founded on a lot of group experiences and

23 FALL 2020

BIG DREAMS

makes a Big Impact

The Make It Miami Accountancy Program
is designed to introduce top multicultural
high school students to the accounting
profession and to a college career at Miami
University’s Farmer School of Business.
The hope is that some of them will chose
to come to Miami for college. In Esther
Ladipo’s case, it worked perfectly.

“I did that program the summer before entering my senior faculty members Jan Taylor and Pat Lindsay gave her a lot
year of high school and I fell in love with the Farmer of career advice.
School of Business, fell in love with Miami,” she recalled.
“I applied as an accountancy major, and came to campus She also decided to take part in something she’d never
super wide-eyed and excited to make a difference in the done before – Startup Weekend. “I had always seen it
Farmer School.” when I was at Miami, but I was just like, ‘I don’t know
if I’m going to do it, I don’t know if I’m going to do it.’
By any standard, Esther certainly made a lot of her time Then it was my senior year. I had changed my major. I had
at Miami. “I just had a fantastic experience while I was just experienced so much change. I just said ‘Esther, put
there. I learned a lot. I traveled a lot. I studied abroad twice, yourself out there and do it.’I ended up pitching Connexer,
once in Cuba, once in Southeast Asia,” she explained. “I an idea of having a platform that connected people to
was involved with the Multicultural Business Association. nonprofits and connected people to social organizations
I founded the Miami chapter of NABA, which is the that were doing things in their community,” Ladipo said.
National Association of Black Accountants, interned at “I don’t think we placed, but I got the Rock Star award
Ernst and Young twice.” for having a very compelling pitch.”

But during her senior year, she made some big decisions.“I Ladipo said that experience and that idea stuck with her
actually ended up changing my major, entering my senior after the weekend ended. “I just couldn’t shake the idea.
year, to marketing because I decided I just didn’t want to It just resonated so deeply with me. I saw that there was
do accounting full time. I wanted to do something a little a need -- I could see in my peers that people wanted to
bit more creative. So took the leap of faith and changed give back, people wanted to volunteer, but there was no
my major, and it ended up being one of the best things way for them to be able to do it easily and straight from
I could have ever done,” she said, noting that marketing their phone.”

FSB THE JOURNEY 24

“So I actually went to the BlackWorld Studies department She applied for a job at Facebook and was accepted, but
to ask for grant money to study homeless shelters across others encouraged her to keep working on her idea.
America, specifically homeless shelters that are within “Graduation day, Mark Lacker literally put his hand on
black and Latinx communities, because I just wanted to my shoulder. He said “Esther, you have to do this.We are
understand if this was actually a problem that nonprofits going to make this happen. Please let me know if you
have,” she said. “The shelter directors all told me, ‘Money, need anything.You have to promise me that you’re going
money, money, we need money.’ And I would always ask to stick this out.”
them,‘Why do you need money?’ Because what I learned
in my entrepreneurship classes and as an entrepreneurship She began working on Ranowo again in 2018, pivoting
minor is to really try to get to the root answer.You can from her idea of a SAAS platform for nonprofits to one
never ask ‘Why?’ too many times. So I would ask and ask that would allow donors to purchase items and donate
and ask and basically it came down to the fact that they them directly to the nonprofits that needed them. Ladipo
needed the money in order to do things or to get things.” said that traditionally, more than half of people who donate
to nonprofits don’t actually know where their money goes,
Esther came back to the Farmer School determined to something Ranowo works to change.“We saw that people
find a way to bring her idea to fruition. Her next step were taking to the idea and were donating and seeing the
was taking Mark Lacker’s ESP 401 NewVentures capstone exact items that the nonprofits needed. The nonprofits
class. “It’s basically a build-a-business-from-scratch class. liked being able to record thank you videos that we then
We drove to the Brandery in Cincinnati every Monday would send to the donors.And then it just turned into an
and spoke to different startup founders, people that ran organic thing of asking the nonprofits, ‘Hey, tell us what
accelerators, and they would mentor us as we were going you’ve done with your items,’ and providing those insights
through the makings of our business,” she explained. “I to the donor and then seeing donors coming back to give
changed the name to Ranowo, which means “to give” in again. We have been able to provide thousands of dollars’
the Nigerian languageYoruba.We pitched Ranowo at the worth of goods to non-profits within the last few months.
end of the semester, and we got first place.” It’s been beautiful to see Ranowo.org flourish within the
last year.”

25 FALL 2020

And Ladipo took Lacker up on his offer, becoming a client build yourself up from that failure in order to keep going.
for his ESP 321 Agile Development course. “Mark has a But I know that’s something that Jim Friedman and the
class of students that are helping us on the business for the entrepreneurship department preached a lot, something
entire semester. Their goal is helping Ranowo.org scale that I got from Michelle Thomas and the business school,
for this upcoming giving season,” she said. It’s been great to not be afraid to go after things that scare me,” she
working with them and I’m really looking forward to remarked. “Even if I were to ‘fail,’ I would have Mark
seeing how we’re able to just scale out Ranowo and be Lacker to go to talk about the learnings. I would have
able to help more people within these communities.” Friedman to drop some knowledge on me. I’d have
Michelle who would be able to pat me on the back or
This year,Esther was honored as one of two Farmer School wipe away some tears if I was crying.”
alumni named as part of the 18 of the Last 9 by the Miami
University Alumni association. “It was a great honor and “It’s something that’s helped me within my professional
I am among such great company. They’ve inspired me so life. It’s something that’s helped me within my personal
much,” she said. “It was very humbling. I want to be able life.And it’s just something that I try to tell my team,” she
to make Miami even more proud, so I’m delighted that I said. “Let’s not be afraid to dream big and set audacious
have the opportunity to continue to do so.” goals for ourselves.”

“I would love to be working on Ranowo full time and Esther Ladipo is a partner manager at Facebook,
having enough support and enough funding to be able living in Austin, Texas. “I work with medium-sized
to build on it, to revolutionize giving to Black and Latinx agencies and I consult with them on Facebook
communities and to make giving feel good. I want to be best practices and I help them ensure that their
able to have the resources to be able to do that at scale.” clients are going to be successful,” she explained.
“It feels great because a lot of these folks are able
Looking back on her time in Oxford, she said that the to put food on the table practically because of their
biggest thing she learned was not being afraid to fail. Facebook advertising, and they’re able to hire more
“It’s a tough skill to learn because you have to fail and people. I just got off the phone with an agency that
has grown 300% over quarantine because they lean
heavily on their Facebook ads and their clients were
able to hire additional people as well.” b

FSB THE JOURNEY 26

YWouHrABTr’Sand?

It sounds like a simple question. You are finding THE right answer. What she didn’t
familiar with hundreds of brands. It’s realize is finding any right answer is rare.
impossible to go through a day without Allie struggled and struggled and by the
seeing, touching or hearing about them. end of the semester she essentially turned
in nothing. I was pleased and praised
Their names conjure up images, memories and opinions. her for her work. She was stunned. Most
What comes to your mind when you see Apple? Coke? students believe that professors are only
Miami University? But a personal brand is different. It interested in their final product. I was
isn’t aspirational. It isn’t what any one person thinks it is. interested in her process and her process
It’s deeper than that. It’s your core … your essence ... your was outstanding.
true center. And it’s complex. Your brand isn’t what you
say it is … your brand is what other people say about you. For Allie to answer that
question, she had to
Test it out – ask three good friends what your brand is examine all the things
… next ask a co-worker … then a family member. Ask that made her unique.
them to be honest, because they will want to only say With so many different
positive things about you. Chances are, their answers will facets, it was a difficult
all be different. We present ourselves differently and show but enlightening task.
different parts of our selves to different people, and in
different settings.The “you” out with your friends is very To her family, Allie was
different than the “you” giving a board presentation. Independent.

Jacob Shwirtz, head of social partnerships at WeWork, Growing up in
provided this insight,“My quick tip on personal branding Cincinnati, she was
is to remember you are your brand, no matter what your an exemplary student,
current job is, what project you happen to be working giving her many
on at any one time or whatever the priority happens to options for college
be today... always keep in mind the impact you leave on selection. One thing
others and remember all we have is our own reputation she knew for certain – she couldn’t wait to leave Ohio
and that’s our brand.” and expand her horizons when she graduated from

Working through an example of the process might make
it easier to understand.

Allie Pearson (Engelhart) graduated from Miami with
three degrees. In her sophomore year, that question
was posed to her as part of ESP 366 – Creativity and
Leadership.

One of the projects I assign every
semester involves personal branding.
Allie struggled with it, as many students
do. She was dedicated, determined to

27 FALL 2020

high school. “I applied to nearly a dozen colleges and “Even as a freshman Allie was impressive.
universities. Miami was the only in-state school that I She joined a new student creativity
applied to and I had nearly ruled it out solely based on its organization which was led by five seniors.
residence in Ohio. I was certain that I wanted to explore She watched for a couple weeks and then
someplace else.” Her father asked her to at least consider came to me and said, ‘They’re not moving
Miami, and reluctantly, she agreed. fast enough. They’re not getting anything
done. I’m gonna take over.’ And, she did.
“I remember coming on campus for the Make it Miami After one meeting, four of the seniors
program. It felt like the typical college tour until we chose to step back and assist her. One of
arrived at the Farmer School of Business – it was the first the seniors decided he wanted to be her
year the building had been open and it was magnificent. partner. Allie outworked them all and was
I still remember walking in the doors for the first time instrumental in building what became
and being floored that this was where I could learn for Igoodea Creatives, which is the student
the next four years. As I made my way around the creativity organization responsible for
building I met professors and students who told me all creating Miami University’s Creativity City
about their programs, projects, classes, internships, student celebration and running World Creativity
organizations, and study abroad opportunities.. The & Innovation Week/Day.”
possibilities felt endless. I remember walking out of the
Farmer School of Business knowing that it would soon be To her professors, she was Persistent.
my school – on the ride home I accepted my offer to be a
student at Miami University and then express shipped the Allie had joined Igoodea Creatives, a (student run)
first of many Miami sweatshirts to my house. I didn’t visit entrepreneurship organization, in her freshman year
another school after that.” and wanted to take ESP 366 – Creativity & Leadership,
immediately. But the course was extremely popular, so
To university administrators, sophomores rarely made the cut. “Back then Friedman
she might be called Brash. made it known that he did not teach freshman or
sophomores – because of the popularity, there was no
Her second week on room in entrepreneurship 366 for underclassmen. I didn’t
campus, Allie was already want to wait that long so the whole summer between
making herself known. She my freshman and sophomore year I wrote Friedman an
went to the Dean’s Suite, email once a month and said,‘Friedman, 212 days and 14
introduced herself to Dean
Roger Jenkins and peppered
him with questions. She
remembers the conversation
well. “Dean, how am I
going to do everything that
you have to offer here at the
Farmer School of Business?
What am I going to major in? When will I study abroad?
And he said,‘Don’t worry, there will be plenty of time for
plenty of experiences.’”

That was the first of many pivotal moments for Allie
– understanding the value of patience and the creative
process and that sometimes the best decision is not to
make a decision.

FSB THE JOURNEY 28

minutes until we start class together. Friedman, 112 days projects which equipped me with the skills to lead the
until… and he’d say, ‘I’m not teaching you, you’re not chapter my junior and senior year. During my time in
getting in this course now.” And I’d respond, ‘I’m going PSE I built a lot of confidence as a leader and as a mentor
to keep emailing you.’ I think Friedman appreciated the which are both skills that I still use today.”
persistence so eventually he let me in and I was able to start
engaging with entrepreneurship content my sophomore Allie was a positive force in the success
year.I loved it.” of the Miami chapter of PSE. In addition
to being a very active member from the
To her fellow students, she was Collaborative. time that she was initiated, Allie served
as manager for several projects. Among
“It started in high school and translated to college. I was her most significant contributions was
always passionate about unique projects that I was able managing market research project the
to work on with my talented peers. I think high school Chapter completed for Schneider Electric
and college are both excellent spaces to try everything, to which not only earned several thousand
experiment and to fail and find what you’re good at and dollars in revenue; but also, resulted in her
what you’re not good at. receiving the 2013 Top Project Manager at
PSE’s National Convention in San Diego.
“I started at Miami as a finance major. My first interview Then, after leading by example, she was
for a student organization was with the investment elected by the Chapter to the critical exec
banking club in the fall of my freshman year. I was position ofVP of Marketing. In that capacity
extended an invitation to join and accepted it.That same she oversaw several sales and marketing
semester I made it into PSE (Pi Sigma Epsilon,the national projects that were instrumental in the
professional fraternity for marketing and sales and I hit the Chapter winning the Lewes F. Gordon Top
ground running. PSE became the first place outside of the Chapter award at the 2014 Convention in
classroom where I was able grow and build friendships. Miami. In fact, Miami swept nearly every
significant award that year.
“I found great value in being in that organization so early
on in my college career– I was able to have all sorts of DON NORRIS
diverse experiences. I looked up to the older students in PSE Advisor
PSE and they shared their brilliance, perspective, passions, Professor Emeritus
and tenacity with me- I learned from the examples they Marketing
set. With their guidance, I gravitated over to marketing
and found an excellent fit there. To all who know her, she is a
Life-Long Learner
“Dr. Don (chapter advisor Don Norris) was a hands off
advisor, the organization is truly student run. He was In addition to her
always present and he knew what was going on in the involvement in many
chapter, but he gave students the space to teach each clubs and organizations,
other, to learn, and to fail. By building relationships with internships and international
upperclassmen, I learned how to lead and how to manage study, Allie graduated with
three majors in four years.

“I spent a semester in San
Francisco working for astartup called Pilot 44, a summer
in London, England consulting for the American Peanut
Council, and I had internships in Chicago (BuiltIn) and
Cincinnati (Charmin, Procter & Gamble).

29 FALL 2020

“I was thrilled that P&G offered me an internship after countless weddings.While we may live in different cities,
my junior year- I couldn’t wait to engage with best in our friendships still stay very much intact.
class people, resources, and brands.The experience so far
exceeded my expectations. I met brilliant business leaders, “I also stay in touch with my professors. I enjoy catching
led two projects, and influenced Charmin strategy. I up with Friedman and going to his “duck” dinners, earlier
remember seeing my recommendations on shelf during in the year I texted Glenn Platt because I saw he was
my senior year in Oxford and it was a surreal experience.” speaking at one of P&G’s largest conferences (Signal), I
occasionally grab lunch with my school dad, Mark Lacker,
“After switching from finance to marketing, I found and I really enjoy phone calls with Brett Smith.They are
interactive media studies (IMS) by wandering into Glenn all still my biggest encouragers and are valuable sources
Platt’s Social Media Marketing class that took place in FSB of wisdom.”
at 7:30pm on Tuesdays. I was immediately energized by
the professors, students, and content in the IMS program. “I come back for Startup Weekend as well to see my
I wasn’t much of a coder or developer like some of my friends and to help mentor students. I love spending time
talented IMS counterparts but I did enjoy classes like with my Miami family and I’m always inspired by the
design thinking, digital branding, user experience, and students’ work.”
social media analytics. While I was working through my
Marketing and IMS courses, I always made room for at In the community, she’s a Giver
least one entrepreneurship course each semester. It wasn’t
until I was a senior when I discovered that withone more Allie and her family (both two- and four-legged) are
class I’d also be an entrepreneurship major. involved in their community, seeking ways to enhance
the lives of all the people they can.
“I have always loved school, so upon graduating from
Miami a potential MBA was always in the back of my “We love the Cincinnati community. We have a Great
mind. I continued to stay in contact with Dean Jenkins, Dane named Knox and together we serve as a Canine
and he is a big proponent of higher education. He Volunteer Team at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. We
advised, ‘You should go back and get an MBA, it will feel very grateful to get to visit the extraordinary staff,
serve you well and you’ll continue to grow through that brave patients, and their strong families.. Additionally, my
experience.’ I was excelling at P&G and was passionate husband, Patrick, is an Army veteran so we also like to
about my role and my business so I started to explore volunteer at veteran related events and activities.”
part time and online MBA options. , The Kelley School
of Business quickly rose to the top of my list as it is a top “We spend a lot of time with our Crossroads Church
20 business school and their online program is ranked #1 community here in Cincinnati.Through Crossroads we’ve
in the country. I applied and was fortunately accepted a built meaningful friendships and have found invaluable
week later- it turned out to be a perfect fit.” mentors who are ahead of us in life stages. They also
lead by example and are big supporters of our marriage,
To her friends, she is Relationship-Oriented aspirations, and vision. Most notably, they lead us towards
adventure – we say yes nearly every new experience we’re
“I am still close to many of the friends that I made at invited into and we’ve grown a great deal as a result.”
Miami University – I stay at their houses when I travel
and they stay at mine, I’ve written character references for
MBA and law school applications, and I’ve had a blast at

FSB THE JOURNEY 30

“Since quarantine we have done our best to be intentional It wasn’t until months later that the “aha moment”
about connecting with our community in safe ways. We occurred for her.
try to check in often via text/phone calls, we like to drop
gifts/dinner off on porches, and we’ve gone on many The next semester Allie took my next level
socially distant dog walks so we can hear how our friends class. During that class she took another
are doing.” run at her personal branding. She picked
up where she left off and continued her
To co-workers and business associates, she’s Purposeful. struggle. During an advising conversation
in my office, Allie stated that she wanted
“I just made a switch at P&G. In October, I moved from to add a third major. A student sitting next
the consumer and market knowledge function, which is to her said ‘You have three majors and
responsible for representing the consumer voice in the you’re involved in four student orgs - how
company, to the brand management function where I do you do it all?’ I responded, “It’s because
am responsible for building the brand strategy. During she works all 25 hours a day.” Allie’s eyes
that cross functional transfer, I also moved business units lit up. She said, ‘That’s it. That’s my brand.’
- from Baby Care to Hair Care. I’ve been at P&G for five And from that moment on, students have
years, and am very fortunate to have been afforded such referred to her as 25 hours. It’s even her
a diverse set of experiences in both role and category.. license plate.”
In the coming years I am looking forward to honingmy
brand management skills and learning how to develop JIM FRIEDMAN
strategy for P&G’s iconic portfolio of brands.. White Family Associate Clinical Professor
Entrepreneurship
So now that you know more about Allie, back to the
question … how do you sum up all of that into one The secret is - once you know your brand, you can live it.
succinct word or phrase? Not surprisingly, Allie struggled Live in integrity. Know your values and be that person in
with that. every situation. b

“When I was in 366 working on my personal branding, “Allie is one of the most motivated
I remember spending hours searching for the perfect and driven people I have ever met. She
depiction of my personality, values, and character traits. even had her own brand - called 25
I wanted to deliver something excellent to Friedman. hours, which was a perfect example
However, my efforts were inconclusive- I did not submit of her daily work ethic. She is a one in
a polished personal brand. Instead all I had to turn in was a million student who wouldn’t just
a bunch of messy slides and scrap paper documenting my exceed expectations, but completely
process.When Friedman said,‘A+, this is excellent work.’ obliterate them for the next decade of
I was shocked. He continued by saying,‘Your process and students to come after her.”
approach are really good, and I believe that you’re moving
in the right direction.’ BRETT SMITH
Cintas Endowed Professor of Entrepreneurship
Founding Director, Center for Social
Entrepreneurship
Research Director, L.I.F.E. (Leading the
Integration of Faith & Entrepreneurship)

31 FALL 2020

FSB THE JOURNEY 32

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

Our faculty are renowned for their excellence in the classroom, and they also are
prolific researchers who are often called on by popular media for their expertise.

Accountancy James Zhang, Tim Eaton, and Snigdha Porwal (EY
undergraduate scholar) had their paper “Data preparation
Timothy Eaton,professor of accountancy,and Jake Swyers, for accountants: Extract, transform and load” accepted at
master of accountancy student, had their co-authored the Journal of Accountancy
paper,“10 Tips for New Accounting Professionals in the
Pandemic Environment” accepted for publication in New Billy Brink’s co-authored paper“The Effects of Minimum-
Accountant. wage Increases on Wage Offers, Wage Premiums and
Employee Effort under Incomplete Contracts” was
Annie Farrell, professor of accountancy, has been name accepted for publication at Accounting, Organizations
an Associate Editor at Management Accounting Research and and Society.
has joined the editorial board of Contemporary Accounting
Research Po-Chang Chen’s co-authored paper titled, “Analyst
Underreaction and the Post-Forecast Revision Drift” was
Dan Heitger, professor of accountancy, had his coauthored recently accepted for publication in Journal of Business
paper “Driving Performance in the Retail and Banking Finance and Accounting. Great job!
Industries: The Consequences of Dysfunctional
Management Control Systems at W. T. Grant and Wells Karen De Meyst had an aritcle in Financial Management
Fargo,” accepted for publication by Issues in Accounting titled “6 ways to increase learning in the workplace”
Education.
Karen De Meyst and Andrew Reffett had their paper
Jon Pyzoha had his co-authored paper “The Influence of “Factors Affecting the Outcomes of Legal Claims against
Perspective Taking Encouraged by the Audit Committee Auditors” accepted at Current Issues in Auditing.
on Auditor and Client Judgments during Accounting
Disputes,” accepted at Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Bill Moser’s co-authored article “Firm Prominence and
Theory. Financial Conditions: Risk Factors for 21st Century
Corporate Financial Securities Fraud in the United States”
An Excel-based case study, co-authored by Harshini has been conditionally accepted at the Justice Quarterly.
Siriwardane and Karen DeMeyst, won first place in the
IMA Educational Case Journal’s Spring Short Case Study Economics
Competition
Jing Li, associate professor of economics, recently had his
James Zhang’s paper co-authored with former MAcc paper,“Block Bootstrap Prediction Intervals for Parsi-
student BriAuna Keys titled “Introducing RPA in an monious First-Order Vector Autoregression,” accepted at
Undergraduate AIS Course: Three RPA Exercises on the Journal of Forecasting.
Process Automations in Accounting” has been accepted
for publication at the Journal of Emerging Technologies Professor of economics Melissa Thomasson’s coauthored
in Accounting (JETA). study on the effects of school closures during 1916 polio
outbreak was featured in this article on Bloomberg.com
David Lindequist, assistant professor of economics,
was interviewed for a Miami Student story about the
university’s move to a cashless campus.

33 FALL 2020

John Bowblis, professor of economics, had three co- MICHAEL CONGER:
authored papers recently:“Shortages of Staffing in Nursing
Homes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: What Are the Michael Conger with Gras, D., Jenkins, A., Gras, M.
Driving Factors?” accepted in JAMDA, “Prevalence of (2020). Wicked Problems, Reductive Tendency, and the
COVID-19 in Ohio Nursing Homes:What’s Quality Got Formation of (Non-)Opportunity Beliefs. Forthcoming at
to Do With It?” accepted in Journal of Aging & Social Journal of Business Venturing
Policy, and “COVID-19 Pandemic: Exacerbating Racial/
Ethnic Disparities in Long-Term Services and Supports” Michael Conger with Jones, J., York, J. G., Vedula, S.,
in Journal of Aging and Social Policy Lenox, M. J. (2020).The Collective Construction of Green
Building: Industry Transition Toward Environmentally
MarkTremblay,assistant professor of economics,had his co- Beneficial Practices.Academy of Management Perspectives
authored paper “Platform Competition With Endogenous
Homing” published in International Economic Review Finance

NamVu, assistant professor of economics, was interviewed Haim Kassa Gebeyehu, associate professor of finance, had
byVietnam TV about economic implications of American op-eds published by the Brookings Institute and Africa
actions. Business Magazine

Melissa Thomasson, professor of economics, recently had Feifei Wang, assistant professor of finance,“Should mutual
her co-authored paper, “Votes for Women: An Economic fund investors time volatility?” Financial Analysts Journal
Perspective on Women’s Enfranchisement” published in coauthored with Sterling Yan and Lingling Zheng
the spring issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives.
David Yin, assistant professor of finance, “Hiring
Melissa Thomasson, professor of economics, was Retirement-age CEOs”, European Financial Management
interviewed for an NPR article on when and how schools coauthored with Emma Wang
might reopen during the pandemic.
David Yin, assistant professor of finance, “The Real
Professor Melissa Thomasson and assistant professor Greg Effects of Short Selling in an Emerging Market” Journal of
Niemesh, both economics, recently had their paper, Corporate Finance coauthored with Xiaoran Ni
“Medical Education Reforms and the Origins of the
Rural Physician Shortage,” published in Cliometrica. David Yin, assistant professor of finance, “CEO Non-
Compete Agreements, Job Risk, and Compensation”
Entrepreneurship Review of Financial Studies coauthored with Omesh Kini
and Ryan William
BRETT SMITH:
David Gempesaw, assistant professor of finance,
Brett Smith with Bergman, B. (2020).The other side of the “Information Choice, Uncertainty, and Expected
coin: Investor identity and its role in resource provision. Returns” Review of Financial Studies co-authored with Tim
Journal of Business Venturing Insights Simin and Charles Cao

Brett Smith with Giudici, A., Combs, J., Cannatelli, B. David Gempesaw,assistant professor of finance,“Corporate
(2020). Successful scaling in social franchising:The case of governance and product market competition: Evidence
Impact Hub. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice from import tariff reductions” Review of Quantitative
Finance and Accounting
Brett Smith with Knapp, J. & Cannatelli, B. (2020).
Entrepreneurship at the Base-of-the-Pyramid: The David Shrider, associate professor of finance,“Are Mutual
moderating role of person-facilitator fit and poverty Fund Investors Loss Averse? Evidence from China”
alleviation. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship Financial Review coauthored with Wenting Huang, Jie
Jinag and Yanran Wu.

FSB THE JOURNEY 34

Tyler Henry, associate professor of finance, “Arbitrage vs. Havelka, Douglas and Jeffrey W. Merhout (2020), “The
Informed Short Selling: Evidence from Convertible Bond Decision to Major in Information Systems: Critical
Issuers” Journal of Corporate Finance coauthored with John Factors for Students,” Issues in Information Systems, v21,
Hackney at the University of South Carolina and Jennifer i4, pp.59-66, 2020. http://www.iacis.org/iis/iis_articles.
Koski at the University of Washington. php?volume=21&issue=4

ISA Nwankpa, Joseph K. and Jeffrey W. Merhout (2020),
“Exploring the Effect of Digital Investment on IT
Zhe Shan, assistant professor of information systems Innovation,” Sustainability, 2020, 12, 7374. https://www.
and analytics, had his co-authored paper, “Predicting mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
Shareholder Litigation on Insider Trading from Financial
Text:An Interpretable Deep Learning Approach”accepted Stoel, M.D. and Havelka, D. “Evaluation of factors that
for publication by Information & Management impact IT auditing.”Accepted at the Journal of Information
Systems, February 18, 2020, https://doi.org/10.2308/
Fadel Megahed,associate professor of information systems, isys-18-043. (“A” Rating by ABDC).
had his co-authored paper, “Empowering the Workforce
in Post-COVID-19 Smart Manufacturing Systems,” Ozdemir, Z and Benamati, S. “Information Privacy,
accepted to appear in Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Cultural Values, and Regulatory Preferences,” in the
Systems. Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM).

Fadel Megahed and Allison Jones-Farmer, associate Fang, X. and Rajkumar, T.M. “Recovering Troubled
professor and professor of information systems and IT Projects: The Roles of Transformational Leadership
analytics, respectively, had their co-authored paper”A and Project Complexity” accepted for publication in
Forecasting Framework for Predicting Perceived Fatigue: Information Systems Frontiers on 9/24/2020.
Using Time Series Methods to Forecast Ratings of
Perceived Exertion with Features from Wearable Sensors”, Arthur Carvalho and Jeff Merhout, information systems
accepted to appear in Applied Ergonomics. and analytics, had their coauthored paper “When Good
Blocks Go Bad: Managing Unwanted Blockchain
Gabe Lee, professor of information systems and analytics, Data,” accepted in the International Journal of Information
had his co-authored paper,“How IT wisdom affects firm Management.
performance: An empirical investigation of 15-year US
panel data” published in Decision Support Systems Management

Fadel Megahed, associate professor of information Lisa Ellram, professor of supply chain management and
systems and analytics, had his co-authored paper “A Two- operations, had her manuscript titled “Cost Avoidance:
Stage Machine Learning Framework to Predict Heart Not Everything that Counts is Counted” accepted for
Transplantation Survival Probabilities over Time with a publication in the Journal of Business Logistics.
Monotonic Probability Constraint” accepted in Decision
Support Systems. Assistant professor of management Scott Dust’s article,
“5 overlooked ways business leaders can support remote
Arthur Carvalho,assistant professor of information systems workers”, was published in Business Insider
and analytics, had his co-authored paper, “A Survey-
Based Assessment of How Existing and Potential Electric Tim Krehbiel, professor of management, had his article,
VehicleOwners Perceive Range Anxiety,” accepted by the co-authored with Miami colleague Andrea Hulshult
Journal of Cleaner Production (CLAAS, Dept of Computer & IT), entitled “The need
for agility in a VUCA pandemic world,” accepted in the
Fadel Megahed, associate professor of information systems American Journal of Business.
and analytrics, had his co-authored publication, “A Data
Analytic Framework for Physical Fatigue Management Lisa Ellram, professor of management, was profiled for an
using Wearable Sensors” accepted in Expert Systems with article in Supply and Demand Chain Executive.
Applications.

35 FALL 2020

Bryan Ashenbaum, professor of management, was quoted Marketing
in a Bloomburg article about the demand for hand sanitizer
and disinfectants during the coronavirus pandemic Gillian Oakenfull, professor of marketing, had her
post “Calling All Female CMOs - We Need a Shero!”
Megan Gerhardt, professor of management, wrote an published on Forbes.com
article for Biz Ed on “Higher Education’s Crucible
Moment” during and after the pandemic. Gillian Oakenfull, professor of marketing, had her post
“U.S. Brands Can Save America” published on Forbes.
Assistant professor of management John Ni’s paper, com
“Product Positioning and Pricing Decisions in A Two-
Attribute Disruptive New Market,” has been accepted for Peter Nguyen, assistant professor of marketing, had his
publication at IISE Transactions. co-authored paper “Reviewing Experts’ Restraint from
Extremes and its Impact on Service Providers” accepted
Bryan Ashenbaum, professor and chair of management, for publication by the Journal of Consumer Research
was interviewed for an article in USA Today about the
short supply of disinfectants. Gillian Oakenfull, professor of marketing, had her post
“Bridging the Empathy Gap” published on Forbes.com
Megan Gerhardt, professor of management, had her article
“Coronavirus and Zoom have marked a generation. Let’s Gillian Oakenfull, professor of marketing, had her post
call them Zoomers” appear in NBC Think “Are Marketers Equipped For The New Empathy Brand
Mandate?” published on Forbes.com b
Laurens Steed, assistant professor of management, was
interviewed for the HuffPost article “There Are 2 Types TOP 25
Of Work-From-Home Personalities.Which Are You?”
UNDERGRADUATE
Scott Dust, assistant professor of management , had
his manuscript titled “Leader self-enhancement S U P P LY C HAI N P R O G R A M
values: curvilinear and congruence effects” accepted
for publication in the Leadership and Organizational Gartner, Inc.
Development Journal.

Assistant professor of management Scott Dust’s article,
“A Letter To My Students During The Pandemic”, was
published in BizEd.

John-Patrick Paraskevas, Assistant Professor in management,
had his co-authored paper:“The Impact of Buyer-Supplier
TMT Misalignment on Environmental Performance” was
accepted for publication in the International Journal of
Operations and Production Management.

Lisa Ellram, Professor of Management, published a Sage
Business Case entitled: Show Me the Money: Managing
Cost Savings

Lisa Ellram and Yao Jin, management, wrote the article
“To prepare for the next ‘black swan’ event, supply chains
should rethink ‘lean’” for Supply Chain Dive earlier this
year.

FSB THE JOURNEY 36

From Dorm Room...

TO BOARD ROOM

Clint Jones and Brandon Cruz met their One of the biggest challenges a startup faces is hiring the
freshman year at Miami, living across the right employees. Clint and Brandon knew just where
hall from each other in Wilson Hall. Clint to look. Brandon recalled, “Miami was our pipeline of
people for our company and for the first five, six, seven,
didn’t have a lot in common with his roommate, and eight years.” Clint added,“
Brendan’s roommate made the decision to leave school.
Brandon recalled, “Either I was going to get a random I’d say that when we went to 50 employees, 35 of the 50
new roommate or Clint could move into my room. So we probably were from Miami.When we first started, we had
shared a room the second semester.”They quickly became a couple buddies, or brothers or sisters of friends we went
friends, and that friendship evolved into creating business to school with and were looking for jobs and we hired
ideas together. them and they just kept referring. I think at one point in
time, literally our entire sales department was probably
Clint started as a marketing major, adding information 90% from Miami.”
systems after talking with Brandon, an IS major, and
deciding the job opportunities were better with the added Fast forward to 2020. GoHealth now employs nearly
degree. Both convinced their parents to let them stay
at Miami an additional semester – Clint for the second 2,500 people and was recently named one of the best
major, and Brandon because he wanted to take the only
entrepreneurship class offered at the time. places to work in Chicago. The company completed an

They started their first business,CheapShotz.com,together “ I FEEL LIKE initial public offering and on
in 1998 while still students.The business involved taking WE’VE PIVOTED July 15, rang the NASDAQ
photos at bars and parties and selling prints of them. DOZENS OF opening bell (virtually). The
TIMES. IT’S company’s valuation on that
After graduation, both moved to Chicago, where Brandon PROBABLY day was nearly one billion
grew up, taking “real” jobs, but never stopped thinking ACTUALLY FIVE dollars.
about creating another business. Soon they collaborated
on a website creation and management company. While LARGE PIVOTS, But the path from their dorm
searching for insurance for themselves, they identified
an opportunity that became the basis for GoHealth, a BUT IT FELT room brainstorming certainly
marketplace that helps people find insurance.
LIKE WE WERE wasn’t a straight line. A key

PIVOTING IN THE was their ability to pivot.

EARLY DAYS A Clint remembered,“I feel like

LOT.” we’ve pivoted dozens of times.

It’s probably actually five large

37 FALL 2020

pivots, but it felt like going to sell content management systems for websites.
we were pivoting in the And then an insurance agent walked into our office one
early days a lot. I think day and everything changed. So I think it’s important to
that anytime you start be flexible.
a company, your initial
vision or business plan “Right now, we’re evolving into a marketplace that not
is probably not what only helps people find insurance, but helps them find the
you’re going to end right doctors to do the right procedures, take the right
up with. I think we medications, get access to telemedicine and health risk
realized that early on assessments and a whole variety of other things. We are
and we just remained focused on Medicare.”
opportunistic. And
when things came up Cruz said he attributes three things as being key to their
or we had to change, success. “Number one, we built great relationships from
we looked at it more on the very beginning. We stood by what we said and we
the opportunistic side did what we said we were going to do for the insurance
versus being pessimists executives, for employees that we hired, for partners that
and just found the we worked with.
opportunity to build
really good connections and we had really smart people “Number two, be efficient with your capital. I remember
we were working with.” back in the day, we’d have to pay with physical checks
because we needed the float of three days for the money
Brandon agreed, “What we know now is your business to come in from our customers. So we were very efficient
is never what you expect it to be when you embark with our capital.
on creating a company. You think you’re going in this
direction, and then you have to move and go in the other “Number three -- and most importantly, this is everything
direction. And you just have to have that never going -- we hired amazing people out of the gate. We had this
to quit attitude, always find the opportunity. I would network of people from Miami that we had known for
encourage people not to have the perfect plan.We had an years and we knew their passion and their work ethic and
80 page business plan we had put together and we were their intelligence.” b

FSB THE JOURNEY 38

39 FALL 2020

800 EAST HIGH STREET, OXFORD, OH 45056

the Farmer S cho ol of Business