Month: April 2019

Strengthening Our Role as “Chicago’s Business School”

jlansber Notes from the Dean
Misty Johanson
Dean Misty Johanson | Photo by Kathy Hillegonds

Spring usually marks the end of the academic calendar at our college, but this year, it represents a new beginning. We recently finalized the Driehaus College of Business 2024 Strategic Plan: Connection, Culture & Commitment, and our community has sprung into action to start implementing its ambitious initiatives. The plan’s goals are grouped around strengthening these three pillars of our success:

CONNECTION to the Chicago business community and our global alumni network.

CULTURE of academic excellence within our faculty, staff and student community.

COMMITMENT to student success and the high-value experience.

As alumni, you play a vital role in helping our college achieve its strategic goals, especially those associated with our first pillar of success. Our city is home to many options for business education, but the Driehaus College of Business is distinctive among them. Founded in the heart of Chicago’s business district more than a century ago, our college has built its reputation on producing career-ready graduates who make business work in “The City That Works.” Today, more than 67 percent of our 66,888 business alumni live and work in the Chicago area.

Our strategic plan calls for our college to strengthen its bond with this extensive, local network by better engaging alumni in the life of our college. Our aim is to build a community of alumni leaders who inspire our students by guest-lecturing on campus, opening their organizations to experiential learning and job shadowing, and mentoring the future business leaders studying at our college. We plan to invite more of you to serve on our advisory boards to help guide our curriculum and programming. We also want to partner with you to host alumni networking, professional development, social and fundraising events, as well as connect you and your organizations to our centers and institutes in mutually beneficial ways. Together, we can firmly establish our college as a top choice for Chicago business education, talent recruitment, thought leadership and professional engagement.

The other pillars in our strategic plan challenge us to enhance the market-responsiveness of our programs, expand student services that support success, facilitate the recruitment and retention of top scholars, and create new cutting-edge business centers and institutes, among other goals. Our Vincentian values also commit us to providing students from diverse and financially disadvantaged backgrounds access to a high-quality, holistic, real world college education. Reaching our goals in a mission-focused way means that we will be seeking more resources to support our strategic initiatives.

What energizes me most about our new strategic plan is meeting students who embody our college’s mission. That mission pledges us to “develop socially responsible leaders and managers who are prepared to add immediate value in today’s diverse and globalized environment.” In our cover story, you’ll meet four of these young leaders who are using their DePaul business education to make a difference today on our campus, in business and in our community. These young leaders inspire us to embrace our role as Chicago’s business school.

Misty Johanson signature

Misty Johanson
Dean
Driehaus College of Business

Business College Launches New Undergraduate Digital Marketing Track

jlansber College News
The Driehaus College of Business celebrated the launch of a new digital marketing concentration in its undergraduate marketing major. From left to right: John Digles, Business Dean Misty Johanson, Jacqueline Kuehl (BUS ’87, MBA ’95) and Steve Koernig (MBA ’94).
The Driehaus College of Business celebrated the launch of a new digital marketing concentration in its undergraduate marketing major. From left to right: John Digles, Business Dean Misty Johanson, Jacqueline Kuehl (BUS ’87, MBA ’95) and Steve Koernig (MBA ’94). (Photo by Kathy Hillegonds)

Digital marketing talent is in high demand by organizations nationally. In fact, it is the most recruited role by marketing leaders, according to the McKinley Marketing Partners 2019 Hiring Trends Study. This trend won’t be ending anytime soon; 61 percent of the leaders surveyed said they are planning to expand their marketing teams.

To ensure that DePaul students are well prepared for these opportunities, the Driehaus College of Business has launched a digital marketing concentration in its undergraduate marketing major. DePaul announced the concentration to the business community during a Feb. 21 reception attended by more than 100 business professionals.

The program is led by faculty member and alumna Jacqueline Kuehl (BUS ’87, MBA ’95), who brings experience as a marketing consultant and executive to the role. Associate Professor of Marketing J. Steven Kelly and Marketing Chair Steve Koernig (MBA ’94) created the curriculum with input from the marketing department’s advisory board of alumni and industry leaders.

“We developed the courses based on conversations with these business leaders about the skill sets they are seeking from marketing graduates,” Kelly says. “The courses address fundamental needs in business today.”

The courses cover internet marketing and analytics, inbound and content marketing, and search engine, social media and mobile marketing, among other industry-relevant topics. Each student also is required to complete an internship in digital marketing. “With digital communications pervading every aspect of human engagement today, students with digital marketing skills have a wide range of career opportunities, from Fortune 500 companies to startups to nonprofits,” Kuehl says.

Department of Marketing advisory board member John Digles, executive vice president of the public relations firm MWWPR, attended the kickoff reception and says he supports the new concentration’s focus on digital marketing as an essential skill for marketers.

“The curriculum was developed to address social media, data analysis, audience targeting and even influencer marketing,” Digles says. “It’s an exciting start for DePaul and the students, as well as the hiring managers seeking candidates with this coveted background.”

Kuehl added: “We plan to host more events for the digital marketing community to ensure we continue to address the skill needs of businesses.”

By Robin Florzak

Professors Record Byte-Size Lessons

jlansber College News

Forty-four percent of the U.S. population listened to a podcast in 2018, according to Nielsen. Capitalizing on the popularity of this medium, two DePaul business professors are using podcasts not only to educate, but also to enlighten listeners about issues in their respective areas of expertise: hospitality leadership and accountancy.

“The Hospitality Spirit”

Nicholas “Nick” Thomas, director of the School of Hospitality Leadership, listens as his guest Ryan Arnold, wine director for Lettuce Entertain You, talks about his career during a production of the podcast “The Hospitality Spirit,” Tuesday, July 3, 2018.
Nicholas “Nick” Thomas, director of the School of Hospitality Leadership, listens as his guest Ryan Arnold, wine director for Lettuce Entertain You, talks about his career during a production of the podcast “The Hospitality Spirit,” Tuesday, July 3, 2018. (Photo by Jamie Moncrief)

“People who work in the hospitality and tourism industry have a great spirit—a sense to serve,” says Associate Professor Nicholas Thomas, director of the School of Hospitality Leadership. “The idea behind the podcast is to bring in a huge cross-section of people from the hospitality and tourism industry and have a conversation.”

Thomas created his podcast, “The Hospitality Spirit,” to drive awareness of the industry, act as a teaching tool and draw attention to programming at the School of Hospitality Leadership. Thomas has interviewed leaders from various segments of the hospitality and tourism industry, discussing with his guests their personal experiences, insights, industry trends and advice for those looking to make a career in hospitality.

“What makes this podcast so interesting is that the topics are wildly varied and unique,” says Thomas. “Whether our guests are entrepreneurs or work in food and beverage, hotel management or meeting and event planning, they bring a huge range of life experiences. As long as we are having fun and producing great content, we will keep on sharing the hospitality spirit.”

Listen to the podcast at SoundCloud (below) or Spotify and iTunes.

“Dupe of the Week”

Associate Professor of Accountancy Kelly Richmond Pope
Associate Professor of Accountancy Kelly Richmond Pope

“A ‘dupe’ occurs when you unexpectedly fall victim to something that seems natural,” says Associate Professor of Accountancy Kelly Richmond Pope, “like when you bury your loved one and the funeral home puts extra charges on your bill, or when you return an item for a gift card and it is empty because the cashier put the return on their own gift card.”

In “Dupe of the Week,” Pope and her cohost, Bill “Professor Fraud” Kresse, a Governors State University assistant professor, provide weekly stories about deception in business, politics, education, nonprofits and even love. Some of the topics are timely, like the failed Fyre Festival that resulted in a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, while others are timeless, cautionary tales.

“There are so many different types of dupes out there that our weekly short segments can be very helpful,” says Pope. “I use the podcasts to educate my students about forensic accounting, and I hope professionals can use them in the classroom, at brown-bag meetings or in training sessions.”

Pope and Kresse interview fraud experts, people who have been duped and, in some cases, the people who perpetrated the fraud. “We provide a one-of a-kind look at every aspect of a fraud,” says Pope. “This podcast not only entertains, but helps protect you from becoming a victim.”

“Dupe of the Week” is available on iTunes. Follow @dupeoftheweek on Twitter.

By Andrew Zamorski

Finance Lab Dedication and Remembering Business Faculty

jlansber College News

Finance Lab Named for Alumnus Christopher L. Keeley

Members of the Keeley family (left to right)—John Keeley III, Kevin Keeley, Barbara Keeley and Mark Keeley—join Martin Essenburg, executive director of the John L. Keeley Center for Financial Services, and Elijah Brewer, department of finance chair, following the dedication of the Christopher L. Keeley Finance Lab. Photo: Jamie Moncrief
Members of the Keeley family (left to right)—John Keeley III, Kevin Keeley, Barbara Keeley
and Mark Keeley—join Martin Essenburg, executive director of the John L. Keeley  Jr. Center
for Financial Services, and Elijah Brewer, department of finance chair, following the dedication of the Christopher L. Keeley Finance Lab. Photo: Jamie Moncrief

 

DePaul’s Finance Lab, where students can learn how to research and manage stock portfolios, was dedicated as the Christopher L. Keeley Finance Lab in a Feb. 7 ceremony at the business college. The lab was named in honor of the 1987 DePaul finance alumnus who died of a pulmonary embolism at age 29 in 2002. Finance Chair Elijah Brewer says the lab truly “honors the entire Keeley family for their continuing support for excellence in finance education at DePaul.” The Keeley family, who have been generous DePaul supporters for more than a decade, and the Keeley Family Foundation donated funds last fall to found the John L. Keeley Jr. Center for Financial Services, named for Christopher’s late father, a finance executive. In 2006 John L. Keeley Jr. and his wife, Barbara, endowed the Christopher L. Keeley Chair in Investment Management.

In Memoriam

Three distinguished, long-serving DePaul business professors passed away this year.

David E. DrehmerDavid E. Drehmer, 69, who died Feb. 5, taught at DePaul for 40 years as an associate professor of management. He also was a licensed clinical psychologist. Among his survivors is his son, Charles Drehmer, who teaches at the business college.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phil KempPhil Kemp, 73, died May 28. He served the business college in both administrative and faculty positions from 1968 until his retirement in 2007. Kemp taught courses in marketing, management and business administration, and previously directed the graduate business program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curtis VerschoorCurtis Verschoor, 87, passed away Jan. 17. A prolific author on business ethics topics, Verschoor served as the Ledger & Quill Professor of Accountancy. He transitioned to emeritus status in 1994 after teaching at DePaul for20 years.

DePaul Provided Foundation for CEO’s Success

jlansber Alumni Profiles

Frank S. Ptak (BUS ’65, DHL ’13)

Frank S. Ptak
Frank S. Ptak

My love for the city where I grew up and for DePaul, which came to my financial aid when my father died, will never end.”

RESIDENCE: Boca Raton, Fla.

OCCUPATION: I recently retired as chairman and CEO of Marmon Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. My job was to set the overall strategy for Marmon’s vast array of companies and develop sufficient management talent to implement that strategy successfully, and always with high integrity, trust and ethical behavior. Marmon is a highly decentralized, diversified industrial conglomerate with more than $8 billion in revenues in 2018. It comprises more than 100 businesses whose products range from railroad tank cars and platform trailers, to shopping carts and commercial beverage dispensers, to screws and work gloves. Berkshire Hathaway acquired Marmon in 2008, and having the opportunity to work directly for Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett was the delight of my entire career.

EDUCATION: My pursuit of a business career started at Chicago’s St. Rita High School, which offered one of the very few high school business curriculums. DePaul was very attractive to me with its high reputation in accounting and the near certainty of good job placement in the Chicago CPA firm market. This approach worked well for me, as I landed with Arthur Young & Co. immediately after graduation in 1965 and became a CPA.

MY BACKGROUND: I grew up in a highly principled and hardworking family on the South Side of Chicago. My father was a regional manager for the A&P grocery store chain. All of us, including my three siblings, worked hard to help our parents make ends meet in a typical lower middle-class family; I had a paper route starting at age 12. We didn’t have a lot of amenities then, but it was a family full of love and we always tried to have fun.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: After a five-year accounting career, I got my first real taste of business working as a stock market analyst and investor for two years. I went on to a series of management jobs during five years with Sara Lee Corp. Then I got my greatest career break with Illinois Tool Works, one of the most highly regarded American operating companies. I spent 30 wonderful years learning and growing, and retired as its vice chairman at the end of 2005. I joined Marmon as CEO in January 2006 after a two-week retirement. In retrospect, I guess I just enjoyed running industrial companies too much to give it up. I relished the opportunity to build something financially strong enough to take good care of a company’s three constituencies—its employees, customers, and owners.

I have watched many employees grow and develop into outstanding contributors to this cause, and I am very proud of the fact that I had something to do with their success. This is my ultimate joy and sense of accomplishment. I am very active in many Chicago philanthropic activities, including DePaul (as an Executive Committee member of the Driehaus College of Business Advisory Council) and Junior Achievement of Chicago. My love for the city where I grew up and for DePaul, which came to my financial aid when my father died, will never end.

Advice for Recent Graduates

  1. Do something you love.
  2. Don’t be afraid to take a chance.
  3. Strive to work with strong mentors who give you your chance to really take off.
  4. Never compromise on your integrity and ethics.
  5. Never forget to give back as you achieve your own success.

A Leader for Career Access

jlansber Features
Bevon Joseph
Bevon Joseph

The whole motto of Greenwood is you can’t be what you can’t see. These kids come to us with almost no social capital.”

An immigrant from Trinidad, graduate business student Bevon Joseph has forged his own path in tech, finance and nonprofit management since coming to the United States at 18 years old.

Joseph is founder and CEO of Greenwood Project, a nonprofit he launched three years ago to help academically talented youth from underresourced Chicago communities gain access to the finance industry. Thanks to Joseph’s connections with firms in New York and Chicago, the Greenwood Project has collaborated with about 30 financial and tech companies, including Goldman Sachs, NASDAQ, Google and LinkedIn.

Joseph joined the world of finance in 1996 when he began working as an IT services provider on a New York trading floor, and later worked for some of the city’s largest Wall Street exchanges and financial services firms. He moved to Chicago, eventually working his way up to be a chief technology officer for a hedge fund—all with just an associate’s degree in computer electronic technology and a high school diploma from Trinidad.

Fascinated by the passion he witnessed on trading floors, Joseph noticed the lack of diversity among employees. “Most of the time I would be one of (a few) or the only person of color at a firm,” says Joseph, who runs the Greenwood Project with his wife, Elois. “I was always curious why other students who look like me weren’t given that opportunity.”

In 2014, Joseph enrolled in DePaul’s School for New Learning and became the first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree. Joseph developed the idea for the Greenwood Project through a class assignment that challenged him to create a social media campaign around a social cause. After his professor encouraged him to pursue the idea, Joseph approached top-level financial executives he knew to gauge their interest in funding internships for students from low-income communities. His nonprofit began taking shape as interest from companies grew.

“They (students) are smart, they’re doing well in school, staying out of trouble, getting good grades, but they don’t know anyone who works in finance,” says Joseph, who now is enrolled in the Driehaus College of Business’s combined bachelor’s and master’s in entrepreneurship program. “The whole motto of Greenwood is you can’t be what you can’t see. These kids come to us with almost no social capital.”

The nonprofit works with high school juniors through recent college graduates. High school students attend, free of charge, the Summer Financial Institute, a six-week program that helps them build soft skills and financial literacy. The students also visit a different company each day of the program, in both New York and Chicago. In addition, Greenwood hosts Women in Wall Street student networking events in Chicago that feature panel discussions by female executives at top firms.

To help fund the nonprofit, Joseph manages a for-profit arm of Greenwood that charges companies to have access to recruit students who have been involved with the Greenwood Project.

“Running your own business, whether it’s nonprofit or for-profit, is a 24/7 job,” Joseph says. “But for me it doesn’t feel like work, just because we see the results and the impact that it’s having. And it’s changing the lives not just of the students, but their family and community. So I think that’s my motivation to keep doing this.”

More student leader profiles:

A Leader on Campus

jlansber Features
Olena Cruz
Olena Cruz (Photo by Kathy Hillegonds)

I love building excitement among people and bringing them together to do more than they would have been able to do individually. I am a big believer that together we can succeed even more than on our own.”

Marketing, chess and salsa dancing are disparate talents Olena Cruz pursues with the diligence and boundless curiosity that has made her a force to be reckoned with.

Cruz, who graduates in June with an MBA in marketing, has been instrumental in turning the Kellstadt Marketing Group (KMG) into one of the most active student organizations in DePaul’s business school. During her one-year tenure as KMG president, the organization sponsored 16 events that collectively attracted participation from more than 1,000 students, faculty members and Chicago marketing professionals.

She is most proud of convincing Microsoft to work with KMG to create a new case competition at DePaul. “Our idea was to get a real-world business scenario that would allow students to pitch their strategic recommendations and apply business concepts they have learned in class,” she says. “We had such great engagement. Microsoft came to campus, and students, professors and the president of the university all came together to support this event, which showcased the talent of students here at DePaul.”

Cruz says her drive comes from her mother, Lubov, an immigrant from Ukraine. “She helped build my work ethic. She started her own cleaning business in Chicago, not knowing the language or many people. She’s not only an entrepreneur; she put me and my brother through college as first-generation graduates in the family. I am very proud of my mom.” Cruz’s father died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis when Cruz was 20, and every year since she has participated in fundraising walks to find a cure for the neurodegenerative disease.

Olena Cruz and Associate Professor of Marketing Zafar Iqbal
Olena Cruz served as president of the Kellstadt Marketing Group, one of the most active student business groups on campus. Cruz helped organize the annual 2018 KMG Symposium, which was also attended by Associate Professor of Marketing Zafar Iqbal (right). (Photo by Kathy Hillegonds)

During her undergraduate years at Northwestern University, Cruz, who speaks four languages, studied international relations. “Originally, I thought I would go into diplomacy. But I soon realized that I can apply those skills to business, because now every company has a global presence.” After graduating, she worked as a sales strategy coordinator at Beam Suntory, a premium spirits company. At DePaul, her curiosity led her to the field of big data analytics. She now works as a solutions analyst at IRI, which uses predictive analytics to help clients develop customer strategies.

Cruz knows how to make the right moves not only in her career, but also on the chessboard and the dance floor. She played chess competitively in high school and won the National Girls Chess Championship in 2006. A semiprofessional salsa dancer, Cruz won first place with her partner at the Chicago International Salsa Congress two years ago.

Cruz uses her dancing talent to empower others as a founding member of Inspiración Dance Chicago, a Latin dance organization that seeks to enrich the lives of young people through dance. “We teach youth to express themselves in a healthy way, to collaborate in teams, and to find creative outlets for mentorship and development.”

Of her wide-ranging success as a leader, Cruz says, “I love building excitement among people and bringing them together to do more than they would have been able to do individually. I am a big believer that together we can succeed even more than on our own.”

More student leader profiles:

A Leader in the Community

jlansber Features
Kevin Felisme
Kevin Felisme (Photo by Kathy Hillegonds)

That’s what inspires me and drives me—not just to be a leader, but to work with people and support them. That’s what we’re called to do as humans— support each other, love each other and be better people.”

MBA student Kevin Felisme has been living in Chicago for just four years, but his passion for improving the community in his adopted hometown runs deep.

A native of Manchester, N.H., Felisme delivered the TEDxDePaul talk “Reimagine Chicago: Power to the People,” in which he proposed using economic development to revitalize the city’s low-income communities. He hopes to develop programs, supported by either public or private dollars, that will allow neighborhood residents to own and operate businesses within the community.

“When I look at low-income, African-American communities in Chicago, I see a lack of economic development and businesses that are owned by the people within those neighborhoods,” Felisme says. “I believe that if we have the ability to control the economics in our communities, they should have businesses that are run by us, who cater to us and who will inspire people to start somewhere and say, ‘Hey, this is our foundation.’”

Growing up in a single-parent household where money was tight, Felisme first visited Chicago in 2014 during an alternative spring break trip as an undergraduate student at American University. The trip took students to tour various organizations, including Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, a therapeutic residential facility for youth. Despite having a full-time job waiting for him in Washington, D.C., Felisme was moved by the organization’s mission and decided to relocate to Chicago and work for the organization as a youth care worker.

Kevin Felisme, an MBA student, presents his talk, “Reimagine Chicago: Power to the People,” at TEDxDePaulUniversity in the Lincoln Park Student Center.
Kevin Felisme presents his talk, “Reimagine Chicago: Power to the People,” at TEDxDePaulUniversity in the Lincoln Park Student Center. Through the theme, Reimagine, 11 diverse presenters provoked stimulating conversation on powerful topics that invited the audience to consider questions and subjects in a new light. (DePaul University/Jamie Moncrief)

“I’ve always thought that it was important that if you want to work with people in the community, you actually have to live there,” says Felisme, who lives in one of the city’s South Side neighborhoods. “It’s important to know who your neighbors are, not just to come in and help and then leave. You should get to know people because you’re in kinship.”

Now, Felisme is a coordinator for Mercy Home, where he manages the nonprofit’s volunteer program. In 2016, he launched an open basketball gym program through the Port Ministries, a nonprofit on the South Side that serves those in need. He’s also one of the basketball coaches for Mercy Home’s Hoops to Homework League, which partners with the Chicago Bulls to boost young men’s sportsmanship.

DePaul’s Vincentian values and connection to the city inspired Felisme to enroll at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in the fall of 2017. Earning an MBA degree in entrepreneurship and management moves him closer to his goal of creating businesses in low-income Chicago neighborhoods, he says.

“That’s what inspires me and drives me—not just to be a leader, but to work with people and support them. That’s what we’re called to do as human —support each other, love each other and be better people.”

More student leader profiles:

A Leader on the Court

jlansber Features
Rebeca Mitrea
Rebeca Mitrea (Photo by Kathy Hillegonds)

By being a leader, you really have more avenues to help people. As long as it’s reflected in helping others and making an impact in the community, I think really that’s what inspires me.”

When Rebeca Mitrea moved to the United States to play on DePaul University’s women’s Division I tennis team, she was thousands of miles away from home. Mitrea was born and raised in Romania, where she began playing tennis at just five years of age. At 16, she was the No. 1 ranked tennis player in Romania and ranked 22nd in Europe.

After she joined DePaul on a full tennis scholarship, her list of accomplishments quickly grew. Mitrea became the all-time DePaul record holder for most overall tennis wins, most singles wins and most singles wins in one season. While serving as the team captain for two years, she earned several awards, including the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship, which is given to an NCAA Division I women’s player who displays inspiring dedication and commitment to her team.

Mitrea originally majored in health sciences but then transferred to the Driehaus College of Business to study finance. In 2016, she graduated summa cum laude with an undergraduate finance degree, and last year she completed her DePaul MBA in finance and international business. She now works as a credit risk analyst at HSBC Bank in Chicago and is active in its employee group, Balance, which advocates for the recruitment, development and engagement of a gender-balanced workforce.

Rebeca Mitrea playing for DePaul University’s women’s Division I tennis team
Romania native Rebeca Mitrea was ranked the No. 1 tennis player in her home country. At DePaul , she became the all-time DePaul record holder for most overall tennis wins, most singles wins and most singles wins in one season. (Photo courtesy of DePaul Athletics)

Despite living far away from her family, Mitrea says DePaul came to feel like home. “It would help that I would go home to Romania in the summers and the winters during the breaks, but for me DePaul was family,” she says.

Mitrea credits the Athletics Department with fostering a welcoming and supportive environment for its student- athletes to become leaders. Staff members, who knew all of the athletes by name, would frequently ask Mitrea how she was doing. The department also offered a team of academic advisors, as well as other resources, to help student-athletes balance their academic workload with the demands of playing tennis.

“One of the greatest things that tennis has helped me achieve is being a higher performer, doing a number of things at the same time and doing them to the best of my abilities—not just doing 70 percent of one thing, but giving it my all with everything I did,” says Mitrea, who graduated valedictorian from high school in her home country. “It really forces you to do your best.”

Mitrea now plays tennis whenever she can and hopes to help DePaul’s tennis team as much as possible. She also plans to become a mentor in DePaul’s Alumni Sharing Knowledge Network, which connects DePaul students with alumni.

“By being a leader, you really have more avenues to help people,” she says. “As long as it’s reflected in helping others and making an impact in the community, I think really that’s what inspires me. As long as I could help all of the other girls on my team, that’s what really made me feel fulfilled and happy with all that I was doing.”

More student leader profiles:

From Student to Scholar of Work-Life Balance

jlansber Faculty Focus
Grace Lemmon
Associate Professor Grace Lemmon. (Photo by Kathy Hillegonds)

 

I try to make students see how my research is relevant to their own lives. I advise students, if you have a particular vision of what work-life balance should be, that absolutely needs to be part of the conversation when you are interviewing for a job to make sure there’s a good fit.”

It was “a disagreement with American work culture” that led Grace Lemmon (BUS ’06) to choose the intersection of work-life balance and employee engagement as her academic specialty.

“The culture we’ve established in the U.S. is go, go, go, and there’s no time for recovery or adequate stress management,” says Lemmon, an associate professor who teaches courses in management and leadership. “It’s become the default to be overwhelming busy at work, and it’s frustrating that that’s the default.”

Lemmon’s most recent research focuses on low-skill workers, a population often ignored in discussions of work-life balance and engagement. “The big issue is that employers tend to treat low-skill, low-wage workers as if they have a problem if they are disengaged at work. Yet, there’s often nothing about their work that would engender engagement,” she says. “My suggestion is that organizations with low-skill workers not only pay them enough, but also have clear paths for building additional skills on the clock. If organizations truly believe in the up-by-the-bootstraps (American) dream, then they need to provide the kind of support that white-collar workers take for granted.”

Lemmon is clearly passionate about shaping leadership practices through her award-winning scholarship and teaching. But back when the Glenwood, Ill., native was deciding where to go to college, an academic career wasn’t even on her radar.

“I had no idea that those avenues would be open for me,” she recalls. “My family culture was not one where there was a lot of education. It seemed like that was what other people do—wealthy people, in particular—but not me.”

Lemmon applied to only one college—DePaul—after visiting the Lincoln Park Campus to attend a concert. She majored in marketing, but soon realized it wasn’t her calling. She did notice, however, that her professors “were immersed in their classrooms and energized by their jobs,” she says. “It made me curious about academia as a whole.”

A faculty mentor convinced Lemmon that her curiosity could lead to a rewarding career. “I was lucky enough to work as a research assistant for management faculty member Patrick Murphy, and he brought me on to an academic paper,” she explains. “He gave me some data, academic papers to read and a small section to write. He made me co-author of the paper, which opened the door to graduate school—literally. He took me over to UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago), knocked on doors of professors he knew and got them to talk with me. Patrick took me under his wing and championed me in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. It was incredibly touching and meaningful, and completely changed the course of my life.”

Lemmon earned a PhD in business administration from UIC, and in 2012, she jumped at the chance to return to DePaul as a faculty member. She feels a strong connection to the student body because of DePaul’s commitment to educate students who come from less-privileged backgrounds.

Lemmon is now the one taking students under her wing, including future academics enrolled in DePaul’s Doctorate in Business Administration program, for which she serves as an associate director. She also shares her work-life balance research with her undergraduate and graduate students to help them make good career decisions.

“I try to make students see how my research is relevant to their own lives,” she says. “I advise students, if you have a particular vision of what work-life balance should be, that absolutely needs to be part of the conversation when you are interviewing for a job to make sure there’s a good fit.”

By Robin Florzak