Forum Highlights the Value of Diversity in the Classroom and Boardroom
WGN-TV Anchor Lourdes Duarte (CMN ’99) moderated “Celebrate Diversity in Driehaus,” a discussion of diversity in business, with chief diversity officers Greg Jones of United Airlines and Patricia Sowell Harris of McDonald’s.
Business professors and students gathered with corporate leaders to discuss the value of diversity in business and business education during “Celebrate Diversity at Driehaus.” The event, hosted by the Driehaus College of Business at the DePaul Center in November, was held in conjunction with the PhD Project’s 2015 national conference in Chicago.
Launched by the KPMG Foundation, the nonprofit PhD Project has a national mission to advance workplace diversity by encouraging and mentoring minority professionals to become business school professors. DePaul partners with the PhD Project to recruit its alumni to teach at the university, and many of these professors attended the event.
In his welcoming remarks, KPMG Foundation President Bernie Milano praised DePaul for hiring 13 PhD Project alumni as faculty members—more than any other university in the country, excluding historically black colleges.
A diverse faculty, he observed, creates an environment in which students of color feel that they belong and can achieve academically and professionally. “To see someone like you, that’s inspiring for students.”
Dean Ray Whittington noted that this is especially important for universities like DePaul, where 34 percent of students come from underrepresented groups. “We’re proud to join forces with the PhD Project to encourage a powerful ripple effect that benefits students, business schools and, ultimately, the business community that hires our graduates.”
DePaul Assistant Professor of Accountancy Stephani Mason, a PhD Project alumna, organized the event, which featured a fireside chat about industry diversity trends with executives from McDonald’s and United Airlines. Referencing the current national conversation about diversity and racial equality
“It’s a perfect time to discuss why this matters, why it’s an imperative for business and why DePaul is in the forefront of this effort.” — Stephani Mason.
Marketing Professor Wins Teaching Accolades
Joel Whalen has been honored for his teaching excellence by industry organizations and students.
Associate Professor of Marketing Joel Whalen has won high marks for his performance in the classroom from two major marketing organizations.
The American Marketing Association presented Whalen with its Sales Teacher of the Year award at its 2015 international convention in Chicago last August. Then, in November, he was named the winner of the Society for Marketing Advances 2015 Axcess-Capon Teaching Competition, the international marketing society’s highest teaching honor.
Whalen, a former Miami radio DJ turned PhD, has been teaching the art and science of effective business communications for 30 years at the Driehaus College of Business, where he is director of curriculum for the Sales Leadership program. He also is the author of more than 180 journal articles, proceedings, papers and books on business communications and sales strategy. Alumni of his classes span the world because he has taught in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
What’s Whalen’s teaching philosophy?
“I believe that a classroom is a learning theatre,” he says. “The students and teacher create the learning experience together. I design the lectures, demonstrations, exercises and events that transport students to higher communication learning.
DePaul students, particularly graduate students, need ideas and skills they can put to work the next day. My classes are designed to give them the competitive tools they need.”
DePaul Business Programs Earn Rankings
3RD HIGHEST
DePaul’s Part-Time MBA program was the third-highest-ranked Chicago program in Bloomberg Businessweek’s “Best Business Schools 2015.”
TOP 10
TaxTalent’s 2016 survey of employers ranked DePaul’s Master of Science in Taxation No. 4, Master of Science in Accountancy No. 6, and the undergraduate accounting program No. 10 nationally.
TOP 20
The Princeton Review has once again named DePaul’s entrepreneurship program among the best in the nation. The undergraduate program ranked No. 12 (up three spots) and the graduate program placed No. 15 (up five places) on the list of the “Top Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies in 2016.” DePaul was the only Illinois university to make both rankings.
Alumni, faculty and student entrepreneurial activity and success were among the factors evaluated to determine the rankings.
TOP 100
Five DePaul graduate business degrees ranked in the top 100 internationally, and six others were recognized in the North American top 40 by Eduniversal in its “2016 Best Masters Rankings.” The Paris-based university rankings agency based its rankings on a survey of international recruiters, students and representatives from 1,000 academic institutions in 154 countries.
