CEO Initiative Brings the Classroom to the Workplace

April 30, 2015October 2, 2017 jlansber Features

The Medline DePaul MBA cohort takes classes at the company's Mundelein, Ill., headquarters through a partnership forged by DePaul's CEO Initiative. — The Medline DePaul MBA cohort takes classes at the company’s Mundelein, Ill., headquarters through a partnership forged by DePaul’s CEO Initiative.

A new university initiative is giving employees at large Chicago corporations another way to attend DePaul. Thanks to DePaul’s Corporate and Employer Outreach (CEO), instead of hopping on a bus or train and commuting to campus, employees can head to a classroom or conference room at their workplaces to earn degrees.

“The flexibility of being able to walk down the hall and start a graduate degree right after a busy workday is a real benefit to the employee,” says Suzanne Depeder, DePaul’s associate vice president for Graduate Admission in Enrollment Management and Marketing. “Employers benefit as well because talent development is a key driver of organizational growth and success.

They are able to offer their employees an onsite degree program and tuition reimbursement as part of a strategy for improving their talent and keeping them from moving to competitors.”

The CEO Initiative partners with area corporations to identify and customize degree and certificate programs that help employers develop their workforces. The partnership involves DePaul offering scholarships to employees, who then either take courses through an onsite program or attend any of the 150 undergraduate or graduate degree programs offered on campus. DePaul lets employees know about potential degrees through onsite information sessions, as well as lunch and learn seminars featuring professors.

For companies that choose onsite programs, it’s a significant benefit that employees don’t have to commute to campus. One such company is Medline, a major manufacturer and distributor of healthcare supplies that is headquartered in Mundelein, Ill., near the Wisconsin border. The company launched an MBA cohort in 2014.

“The CEO Initiative helps DePaul reach a broader prospective student base, in that we can connect with students who might not have considered us simply based on location,” Depeder explains. “The Medline cohort is a great example of how this initiative has allowed us to expand our geographic reach.”

Associate Professor of Management William Marty Martin says he appreciates what the programs offer to all parties. “The benefits to students and alumni are invaluable, from securing employment to moving up the ladder. For DePaul, we get exposure and placements for our students,” says Martin, who has spoken at onsite lunch and learns about DePaul’s Health Sector Management MBA concentration and other degrees.

In its first year, the CEO Initiative recruited two onsite cohorts, bringing in 70 students. Depeder expects the program to grow because of its utility to students and corporations alike. “Employers are looking at things they can offer to their employees as benefits, so the fact that we are able to offer a flexible delivery model is attractive. Plus, it’s a good retention strategy for their employees,” Depeder says. “It’s much easier to figure out how to give people professional development and benefits to keep them than to recruit all over again.”

Marriott Shows Hospitality to DePaul Students

April 28, 2015October 2, 2017 jlansber Features

Marriott Scholars Elanna Smith and Sofija Veta participate in a teamwork exercise with Marriott Sous Chef Craig Moisand, as Visiting Associate Professor Nicholas Thomas watches.

This year, the School of Hospitality Leadership is expanding its undergraduate professional development opportunities with a unique partnership. A $200,000 gift from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation led to the launch of the Marriott Hospitality Scholars Program, which provides 10 freshmen and 10 juniors each a $10,000 J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation Hospitality Scholarship, paid over a two-year period.

The scholars program benefits students in different ways. For freshmen, the program’s activities are designed to spark an interest in choosing a hospitality major or minor. For juniors, the scholarship provides support for students completing a hospitality degree. In addition, each underclassman is paired with an older student in a mentee-mentor relationship. “The juniors are sitting on a wealth of information that the freshmen can tap into to help them progress through their academic careers at DePaul,” says Visiting Associate Professor Nicholas Thomas.

Nothing similar existed at DePaul, so Thomas and instructor Brian Barker created a format that mirrors a management-training program. Students complete workshops based on key areas of hospitality, such as effective communication, managing conflict, culture and diversity, before touring local Chicago Marriott properties and seeing how hotel leaders are applying the concepts.

The program “is designed to give an opportunity to get an education and to transition into hospitality to people who might not have been afforded that opportunity before,” Thomas explains. When weighing student applications, the selection committee considered whether potential scholars had faced hardship and whether they were first-generation college students.

Elanna Smith, a junior majoring in communication studies and minoring in hospitality leadership, enjoys being a Marriott Scholar for the added benefits the scholarship provides.

“Besides financial support, I was fully equipped with the proper materials for a professional career. Plus, I have 19 other scholars who share the same interests,” says Smith, who secured a summer internship through the program to work for a Marriott brand. She says her interest in hospitality grew from watching her mother run a cleaning company. “Sometimes I would go to work with her, and it was a great feeling to see someone satisfied and happy with our service,” Smith says.

Despite strong ties with the Marriott brand, the program does not require that students go to work for the company after graduation. Rather, the program is designed to give students a clearer idea of hospitality management as a whole, which can be difficult to understand without firsthand experience.

“That’s why when we go to the properties, I really want students to interact with leaders who are actually working to get a real understanding of what their careers are going to be like when they go into hospitality,” Thomas says. “We sometimes have a difficult time doing that in the classroom, so anything we can do now while the students are in school to give them a realistic impression makes the transition post-graduation that much easier.”

One unique aspect of the partnership is how it expands the ways that industry representatives normally interact with students. “What I’ve been really happy with is Marriott’s passion to participate in this. It’s really great to see,” Thomas says. “So often, the relationship that we see with industry is really guest speaking and maybe coming in for an event. The interaction and the networking that these students have with the industry is remarkable. That’s priceless for the students, and I think this is really going to ignite their desire to go into hospitality. I’ve already gotten emails from students saying how much this means to them. I think they appreciate that Marriott and DePaul have taken an interest in their success.”

Continue reading with Top Tax Firm Partners with DePaul.

Corporate Connections Advance Careers

April 24, 2015January 4, 2021 jlansber Features

By Jennifer Leopoldt

Presenting business solutions to industry leaders as class projects. Connecting with executives for real-life lessons in the field. Learning without leaving the office. The Driehaus College of Business’s deep ties to the business community allow DePaul students to benefit in all of these ways and more, whether through undergraduate opportunities or graduate level linkages. Connections with corporations and firms help students develop marketable skills and prepare them for in-demand careers. For alumni, these connections help build career-advancing networks, as well as DePaul affinity and pride. Read more about some of the initiatives that connect DePaul to industry and showcase how a real-world, career-focused business education benefits everyone involved.

Team Player Malik Murray Scores Finance Success

April 1, 2015October 2, 2017 jlansber Alumni Profiles, Online Extras

Growing up in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, Malik Murray (BUS ’96, MBA ’04) knew there was no question that he would attend college. His mother, who is now a retired school principal, emphasized education. But like his father, who is now a judge, Murray had a gift for playing basketball.

“It was crystal clear that academics and athletics were not mutually exclusive,” says Murray. “So at a young age I learned to balance both.”

Murray received a basketball scholarship to DePaul. Right away he began working on his future on and off the court. He thought that included the NBA, but he soon decided to take another path.

As an undergraduate finance major at DePaul, he interned at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he met DePaul alumnus Brett Burkholder (BUS ’83). Burkholder, an eighth-round NBA draft pick, never played in the league. But he found success as a trader in the Eurodollar pits at the CME.

A risky and competitive environment, the Eurodollar trading arena was known as a haven for former college athletes with heads for business. Meeting Burkholder transformed Murray’s life.

“Even though there weren’t a lot of blacks there, there were a lot of athletes, and I was instantly comfortable,” says Murray, who focused his early career on Eurodollar trading. “Brett told me that I could work in finance and make an NBA salary. He explained to me that my career doesn’t have to end if I don’t play in the NBA.”

That revelation focused Murray’s mind. He thought back to the time he was eight years old and he ran his own lawn business. He had 20 houses and made $200 a week. He realized he had a head for business and a talent for teamwork. Both would serve him well in the finance industry.

Investing in the DePaul MBA

While other juniors and seniors were partying, Murray was riding the el downtown to Chicago’s financial district. There, his worldview changed.

“Just taking the train from the Lincoln Park Campus to downtown with people who were already working in finance was a powerful experience for me,” says Murray. “It changes your mindset. I think it’s significant that the Driehaus College of Business is located downtown. It’s just a great opportunity to marry the academic view with the practitioner’s view.”

His senior year, he took a capstone class that allowed him to work in the futures market at First Chicago Bank, now part of JP Morgan Chase. At the end of the year, they offered him a job. Thoughts of the NBA faded in the wake of his newfound career in finance.

For his MBA, Murray applied to all the major business schools, but chose DePaul. He had a strong connection to the professors he’d met during his undergraduate years, and he wanted to invest in his education with people who had invested in him.

“I jokingly say that I was so impressed with DePaul that I paid for my education the second time,” Murray says, laughing. “Ultimately, it was the best decision for me to get my MBA here. When you go to DePaul and then you go to the real world, the transition is a lot smoother. The internships, the project work, the professors who advise and mentor you, all play a part in your success outside of academics.”

Showcasing Vincentian Values

Earning an MBA increased Murray’s finance career opportunities immensely. He landed a job at Ariel Investments, the largest black-owned firm in the nation. Now in his 10th year at Chicago-based Ariel, Murray’s job is to convince money managers with billion-dollar funds to turn them over to Ariel for investing.

But even as he works with high-dollar value accounts, Murray makes time for his community. He sits on the board of his high school alma mater, St. Ignatius College Prep, where he helps manage the school’s multi-million-dollar endowment.

He helps with the Ariel Community Academy, a public school sponsored by his employer. In addition, he works with Joel Whalen, associate professor of marketing, to advise DePaul student basketball players about the importance of soft skills and image. Last summer, he also shared his experiences with teens enrolled in the Financial Literacy and Leadership Institute, a summer education program hosted at DePaul and sponsored by the Chicago Housing Authority and BMO Harris.

Murray, who recently completed the Leadership of Greater Chicago Fellowship program, hasn’t forgotten his path to achievement.

“I am the beneficiary of lots of help,” Murray says. “I won’t ever be able to directly repay my parents, family, professional colleagues or teachers at DePaul for investing in me, but I can definitely use my gift to help someone who is trying to get to my position or beyond.”

By Ovetta Sampson

Economics Alumni Chart Career Paths in Analytics

April 1, 2015October 2, 2017 jlansber Alumni Profiles, Online Extras

Timothy Fox (MS ’14), an analytics consultant, says his MS in Economics and Policy Analysis degree has helped him to “harness the problem-solving horsepower of economics.”

Four years ago forecasters predicted the market for big data analytics would grow to $16 billion by 2015. Their prediction was correct, but the growth rate was not. Now the projected growth is $125 billion.

This jet-fueled growth in the data analytics market is creating an epic job shortage to the tune of 140,000 to 190,000 a year, according to one study.

This is an alarming challenge considering that researchers estimate American businesses lose $600 billion annually because of “dirty data.” Too few people are being trained to extract, analyze and communicate big data sets. But DePaul business alumni are discovering a successful path into this hot job market from an unlikely place—the Department of Economics.

Alumni Praise Program’s Effectiveness

Data was once the domain of computer techs who wrote sophisticated mathematical formulas to turn behavior into numbers. Now, with industries collecting data on hundreds of millions of people, businesses are desperate to take those huge numerical data sets and turn them into revenue. Organizations use data to decide everything from whether to sell chocolate-covered cherries in New England in March or to ship their retail kayaks from China or Reno, Nev.

At this crossroads of quantifying human behavior and qualitative analysis, the economics discipline is emerging on the big data analytics landscape. DePaul University business alumni say the university’s Master of Science in Economics and Policy Analysis degree program provides critical courses that are helping them succeed in their current predictive analytics jobs. With classes in econometrics, research methodologies, data inspection, advanced statistical modeling and forecasting, the program teaches the necessary skills to decipher data, giving alumni advantages over peers in the industry.

“What I learned from the program is how to solve problems,” says Matt Frankland (BA ’08, MS ’11), a forecast analyst at REI Merchandising in Seattle. He uses data analysis to help his managers make kayak-shipping decisions. Frankland was one of the first graduates of the program, and he previously worked as a data analyst at Walgreens in Chicago.

“DePaul’s program taught us how to set up a problem, and how to solve it with the information we have,” Frankland says. “With large data sets many people suffer from analysis paralysis. You have so much in front of you, it’s difficult to know where to stop. But at DePaul we learned to focus on the key metrics: What problem am I trying to solve? What do I need to solve that problem? And how do I get there?”

Program Teaches Skills Used Daily

Tim Fox (MS ’14), an advanced analytics consultant at Chicago-based West Monroe Partners LLC, says at his job it’s rare that analysts receive a nice, clean data set to explore. Most of the time, data is buried among different sources, and analysts have to collect, clean up and prepare data before even beginning to analyze it.

The MS in Economics requires students to learn and use Stata, a data analysis and statistical software tool used by industry leaders. In addition, students become well versed in pairing data analytics software with familiar office tools such as Microsoft Excel. The result, Fox says, is that the program makes graduates adept at not only analyzing data, but also communicating what is discovered into actionable items.

“DePaul’s program allows you to be flexible with how to learn economics, as well as providing opportunities to take additional math and statistics classes so that you learn the different skill sets that are required to really harness the problem-solving horsepower of economics,” says Fox.

Economics Degree Offers Great Job Prospects

Forbes.com recently called the MS in Economics one of the top 10 degrees for today’s job market. DePaul’s MS in Economics is unique because it goes beyond the scope of focusing on government and business allocation of resources to include a rigorous analytics component that offers students practical statistical and data analysis skills used by myriad industries and fields.

“We knew that there were jobs waiting for students who had the right blend of a deep understanding of economic theory and the ability to apply that knowledge to real-world situations,” says Thomas Donley, chair of the Department of Economics at the Driehaus College of Business. “That’s why this degree was created.”

Both Fox and Frankland say completion of the program allowed them to flourish in their careers and also blossom in life.

Frankland laughs as he remembers the 19-year-old version of himself wondering the halls of DePaul trying to figure out what to do with his life. A local skateboard celebrity in Chicago, his future was as uncertain as his next gig. After taking economics courses, a path began to unfold. He credits DePaul’s professors with taking a chance on him and pushing him to achieve for his current success.

“They told me you have a lot of potential and you could be really good at this if you worked hard,” Frankland said. “DePaul has the most wonderful professors in the economics department. I owe them so much. They care so much about getting you through the program and making sure you work hard and that you find what you want to do when you’re done. If I had not ended up within the economics department, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

By Ovetta Sampson

Sales Leadership Program Pairs Academia and Business

April 1, 2015October 2, 2017 jlansber Features

In 2004, 3M was the first corporation to approach DePaul about developing a sales leadership education program. “Today, we have 64 business partners—companies that provide funding and internships, guide curriculum design, lecture in classes, coach students, provide technologies and data for projects, and offer outstanding career opportunities,” says Dan Strunk, executive in residence and managing director of the Center for Sales Leadership. “This collaborative effort between business and academia is preparing the next generation of talent. Everyone wins—the students, the businesses and the university.”

The center partners with Fortune 500 companies, including PepsiCo, Chase, MillerCoors and Wrigley, to shape its curriculum and stay relevant in an ever-changing job market. Students in the Sales Leadership Program can earn a minor or concentration by choosing between two tracks: sales in any industry or category management in the consumer products industry, which looks at grouping products to optimize relevance and sales.

Alexis Gordon (BUS ’14), Tyler Hensala (BUS ’13), Claire Hanold (BUS ’13) and Simone Caron-Vera (BUS ’15) connected to careers at PepsiCo through DePaul’s corporate partnerships.

The program’s case-study structure lets students merge theory with practice and provides immediate interaction with company representatives. Leah Sbigoli (BUS ’11) remembers working with Walgreens and Roundy’s in a space management class to create a business plan for optimizing energy drink sales. “In the end, we got to present to the actual category managers at the company and show them our recommendations. I felt like I was seeing the immediate benefits of my education,” says Sbigoli, who now is a space management analyst for partner company Walgreens.

Ren Stoecklin (BUS ’13) agrees. “You knew that you were being given real-life data and that at the end of the quarter, you’d be presenting to industry experts. It really forced you to not just consider it a school assignment, but to consider it a job interview every time you were presenting a final,” says Stoecklin, who worked as a category analyst in partner company Red Bull’s graduate program, an 18-month rotational program for leadership training.

Another program graduate, Claire Hanold (BUS ’13), was impressed by how welcoming the corporate partners were. “They never once treated us like we were college students; they treated us like their business partners and wanted to help each of us individually in any way they could,” says Hanold, who is now a category analyst for partner company PepsiCo’s Foodservice Division. “As an alumna looking back, I owe my success to this program. The professors provided me with the tools and resources to be successful and helped me make connections with our incredible business partners along the way.”

The center’s corporate partnerships also help students see how schoolwork can prepare them for life—and employment—after graduation.

“A lot of time in the classroom concepts and theories can get lost on students if they can’t find a way to apply them to real-life situations,” Sbigoli notes. “By DePaul having connections to companies through the Sales Leadership Program, students can apply [lessons] taught in the classroom directly to their work with these companies. This helps students form connections early on with these companies and develops their skills over time. Students graduate from the program already knowing what to expect from the position they want, and in return companies have a reputable candidate pool to choose from.”

Continue reading with Marriott Shows Hospitality to DePaul Students.

Big Ideas in Action

October 8, 2014October 2, 2017 jlansber Alumni Profiles, Features

Alumni Entrepreneurs

by Jennifer Leopoldt

Building any kind of business requires passion and hard work, but it also requires know-how and network connections. For more than three decades, the highly regarded entrepreneurship education program at DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business has been helping its graduates blend these ingredients together to achieve success.

“You just don’t fall into a successful business. It takes originality, insight, research, training and perseverance,” says Harold Welsch (BUS ’66, MBA ’68), founder and director of DePaul’s entrepreneurship program and the Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship.

DePaul’s approach has received national recognition, most recently from The Princeton Review, which rated DePaul’s undergraduate program as 15th and the graduate program as 20^th in this year’s ranking of the best colleges for entrepreneurs. In a field of 3,000 participating schools, that puts DePaul in the top 1–2 percent in the United States.

The college’s entrepreneurship program began in 1982, and Welsch says the discipline is even more popular today. “We teach our students to be constantly aware of new opportunities by applying their creativity and innovativeness to adapt to new markets,” says Welsch.

Entrepreneurship is about more than startups. As the following stories show, lessons alumni learn at DePaul can be applied to jobs as disparate as running a family business, founding a nonprofit and helping companies expand.

Bailey Glendenning, CEO of Glendenning Brothers Inc. (MBA ’14)

For Bailey Glendenning, DePaul offered a hands-on program and concepts she could immediately use at her family’s business.

“The fun thing about my position is I could learn it in class on Tuesday night and walk into work to apply it on Wednesday,” she says.

Glendenning Brothers Inc., a transportation company in Stillman Valley, Ill., has been in business for 35 years, “but I view it as an entrepreneurial venture,” Glendenning says. “We’re trying to re-create our business, make it better, innovate and change.”

While earning her degree, Glendenning became fascinated by entrepreneurship after taking a class with Professor Welsch.

My perspective changed. I began to view all small business, whether startups or long-standing companies, as an opportunity to be entrepreneurial,” she says.

At DePaul, Glendenning met James Stark (MBA ’12, JD ’12), her business partner with whom she operates various other ventures through the startup C&H Financial Services Inc. She says DePaul taught her the importance of connecting with others. “You find out very quickly that you can’t do it all on your own. There are so many opportunities for business relationships, but you will never know if you don’t branch out and talk to people,” she says. Although running the family business is her main job, Glendenning says she really enjoys “the game of startups, where you can be completely creative.”

William R. Snow, Managing Director, Jordan, Knauff & Co. (BUS ’89, MBA ’94)

William Snow studied finance at DePaul and later earned an MBA In entrepreneurship. He credits his education with providing insights and experience that help him connect with businesses that come to his investment banking firm. “I understand the issues that owners face as they try to grow their businesses or craft an exit,” he says.

Snow describes the work at Jordan, Knauff as selling companies, raising capital for companies and advising on acquisitions. “My favorite aspects of the job are what many people dislike the most—negotiating and resolving conflict,” he says.

Snow also is a speaker and an author. In addition to writing numerous articles, an e-book he wrote in 2003, “Venture Capital 101,” found online acclaim and eventually ended up at Wiley Publishing Inc. The publisher then contacted him about writing “Mergers & Acquisitions for Dummies.”

“The lesson is to find something to offer,” Snow explains. “Stop asking and think instead about the person on the other side of the bargain. What do they get out of an interaction with you? Offering will open far more doors than asking.”

In addition, Snow advises entrepreneurs to “gain actual, real-world experience. Classes and studying are great, but you have to get out and experience business situations for yourself.”

Kyle D. Joseph, Executive Director, Foodseum; Founder/CEO ShopGab (MBA ’12)

DePaul helped Kyle Joseph pivot from being an engineer to being an entrepreneur.
“I had a lot I wanted to create, and I wanted to make my ideas come to life,” he says. He calls DePaul’s program “an amazing experience that really transformed my career path and my life.”

Joseph’s first venture was ShopGab, which began as a social shopping platform that let consumers compare products. Now he’s relaunching it as a resource for personal shoppers and high-end boutiques, allowing professionals to manage and further engage customers.

His next project is Foodseum, a Chicago-based museum devoted to food and culture. “I’ve always had a love of exploring cultures through food, and I wanted to bring that experience to people,” Joseph says.

The museum will touch on the history, preparation and creative uses of different foods, with the first exhibit devoted to hotdogs and encased meats of the world. Until the museum has a permanent space, Joseph and his team are planning pop-up locations, starting in May 2015, when the prestigious James Beard Awards for food and beverage professionals come to Chicago. In the meantime, the team has established partnerships with more than 40 local and national organizations to help design the experience, build community awareness and raise the necessary funding for the Foodseum.

“It’s been exciting to be able to move at this incredibly accelerated pace, thanks to the network I formed through DePaul and ShopGab,” Joseph says.

Michael Stadnicki, Co-Founder, Launch Franchise Development (BUS ’01, MBA ’11)

The entrepreneurial spirit has long characterized Michael Stadnicki’s work ethic.

While an undergraduate at DePaul, he won an international student business plan competition with his proposal for a wireless credit card payment system called ChargeAnywhere, which he later implemented in 750 Chicago taxicabs. After graduation, he worked at Francorp and Chicago Franchise Systems, the parent company of Al’s Italian Beef and Nancy’s Pizza. While developing the chains nationally, he returned to DePaul to further his goal of helping entrepreneurs develop through franchising.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with all types of businesses—anything from a doggie daycare to restaurants overseas,” Stadnicki says.

Today he runs his own company, Launch Franchise Development, and operates a number of restaurants in Chicago, including the first U.S. location of the Big Cheese Poutinerie, a Canadian franchise that celebrates poutine, a traditional combination of French fries, fresh cheese curds and gravy. His company also works internationally and plans to open the first Middle East locations of Al’s Italian Beef and Nancy’s Pizza in Dubai in 2015.

Stadnicki, who was named the college’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010, urges other DePaul entrepreneurs to lean on the skills they learned in school and to adapt to change.

“Trust your instincts, trust the education that DePaul gave you, and follow your passion and your dream,” he says.

Read more about DePaul’s highly ranked entrepreneur programs.

Linking Startups

October 8, 2014October 2, 2017 jlansber Connections

DePaul’s New Startup Lab Will Link Students and Alumni Entrepreneurs

Terri Lonier, executive director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center

Imagine a space where business ideas meet execution and entrepreneur novices convene with seasoned business owners. The space would be dynamic, with tables and chairs on wheels that could be workstations one minute and audience seating for workshops and guest speakers the next.

The venue would be located in downtown Chicago, a city that has become a hotbed of entrepreneurship. For DePaul students and alumni entrepreneurs, such a space would be the place where dreams are made real.

Well, imagine no more.

DePaul, in collaboration with the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at the
Driehaus College of Business, is launching a new entrepreneurial startup lab and co-working space in the DePaul Center on the Loop Campus. Set to open in 2015, the startup lab will provide a place for students to work on their new business ventures, alumni to connect, and members of the Chicago business community to network, says Terri Lonier, executive director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center.

“We are frequently contacted by alumni asking how they can get involved,” Lonier says. “This new startup lab will provide a physical space that will help them become more involved with entrepreneurial-minded students, network with other DePaul alumni, and connect with the Chicago entrepreneurial community. Even though they may have been out of school for a few years or even several decades, we want our alumni to be a part of the vibrant DePaul entrepreneurial family.”

The lab will differ from other co-working spaces that nurture startups downtown, Lonier says, because it will be student-focused and serve diverse business interests in the heart of the Loop. “Our startup lab will bring together a broad cross-section of individuals and ideas,” she says. “It is designed to be an entrepreneurial hub for the entire university.”

Bridging the Gap

The lab is just one of many ways DePaul and its Coleman Entrepreneurship Center connect students and alumni with the resources they need to turn their business dreams into reality. Founded in 2003 with a grant from the Coleman Foundation, a Chicago-based organization that supports entrepreneurial education, the center partners with the university’s nationally ranked academic entrepreneurship program to provide a holistic environment for new venture development.

“We are the place where theory meets action,” says Lonier. “Our students learn valuable concepts in the classroom, and at the center it all comes together through application and practice.”

Lonier said the center’s purpose is to advise, inspire and connect students and alumni, helping them bridge the gap between an idea and a viable business venture. In addition, the center serves as a conduit for DePaul alumni to mentor, empower and encourage students to become leaders of business ventures.

“We host visiting entrepreneurs at workshops and informal sessions so that students can see what the entrepreneurship lifestyle is like,” Lonier says. “We also connect students with each other across the university, and with alumni, through either mentorships or work at startups. In addition, we connect alumni with each other and the wider Chicago business community by providing learning and networking opportunities.”

Among the alumni who have benefited from these connections is Ramzey Nassar (BUS ’13), founder of ThreadMeUp, a web platform used to design, order, crowd-fund or sell custom apparel. “The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center was a home away from home for me,” Nassar says, recalling his undergraduate years at DePaul studying entrepreneurship and developing business ideas. “Being a student and running a company can be tough, but finding that balance and having a place with mentors gave me the comfort to know I am not alone.”

Through DePaul, Nassar connected with several other alumni who now work with him at ThreadMeUp. This past summer, Nassar’s company worked with the center to provide an internship at ThreadMeUp for a DePaul undergraduate interested in entrepreneurship.

Many Ways to Connect

The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center produces or hosts a wide range of programs, events and networking opportunities.

These initiatives include:

Launch DePaul: An annual new venture competition where DePaul students and recent alumni present their business plans to a panel of professional investors and established entrepreneurs for the opportunity to win cash, awards and in-kind professional services. Alumni frequently are contest judges and help sponsor and support the competition.

Startup internship program: A summer internship program for students who want to work for Chicago-based startup companies. The program was launched this year with a grant from the John E. and Jeanne T. Hughes Foundation.

Student Innovation Awards: An annual student business idea competition that awards scholarships. The contest is sponsored by the entrepreneurship center’s advisory board members and co-hosted by DePaul’s Center for Creativity and Innovation.

Workshops and speaker events: These programs allow students to learn lessons from entrepreneurial DePaul alumni and Chicago startup founders.

The Launch DePaul competition, in particular, is a key way for alumni to engage with DePaul’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Participants say the insights provided by the involvement of established entrepreneurs, many of them DePaul alumni, are priceless. “I’ve been on the other side and I know what it’s like to want that feedback,” says Launch DePaul judge

Greg Jaros (CDM ’86), a founder and CEO of Spare to Share, an online goods exchange. “That’s why I became a judge. I wanted to help other students get the feedback they need
to be successful.”

Such feedback is much appreciated by students like marketing major Bianca Perry. Her company, BBands, created with business partner and fellow DePaul student Jessica Weaver to market colorful headbands, was one of six finalists in the 2014 Launch DePaul competition. Perry says: “To send out your business pitch and have it critiqued by professionals and investors and to have them offer you suggestions and guidance on how to make your business better—it’s an invaluable experience.”

Want to learn more about entrepreneurship at DePaul? Visit the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center.

By Ovetta Sampson

Shaping the Future

October 8, 2014October 19, 2017 jlansber Notes from the Dean

Alan Kay, the pioneering computer scientist, once said that “the best way to predict the future is to create it.”

This advice is being embraced by a growing number of business school alumni worldwide. More than one in ten graduates from the classes of 1959 through 2013 are creating their own futures through entrepreneurship, according to a recent global survey of 21,000 business school alumni by the Graduate Management Admission Council. In addition, the longer they’ve been out of business school, the more likely they are to pursue this path. More than 23 percent of business school graduates who earned diplomas before 1990 are now business owners.

This trend applies to the Driehaus College of Business, where our robust and well-ranked entrepreneurship program has a rich history of preparing students for entrepreneurial opportunities. In our most recent career outcomes report, 11 percent of the Class of 2013 chose entrepreneurship/self-employment as their career path, up from 8 percent for the previous class. What’s more, an increasing number of DePaul alumni who don’t choose to start their own businesses are being recruited by startups.

In our Business Exchange Fall/Winter 2014 feature story, we explore these phenomena through the stories of DePaul business alumni who have used their entrepreneurship education to forge different paths to success. The coverage continues in our Connections section, where you’ll read about new initiatives at DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center designed to help strengthen the links between students, alumni and the entrepreneur community in Chicago and beyond.

Our plans for new academic programs at the college embody the entrepreneurial spirit as well. This fall, we launched an Evening Cohort MBA program that develops individuals for senior positions in business, consulting and nonprofits through a curriculum that focuses on strategy, leadership and change management. This innovative program combines the best features of full-time and part-time MBA programs by allowing working professionals to experience the camaraderie and network-building benefits of taking all of their MBA classes together as a group, but in a convenient, accelerated after-work schedule.

As part of the Evening Cohort MBA program, we plan to launch a new biannual Charles H. Kellstadt Forum. This series of one-day events will bring together students, alumni and distinguished executives to discuss trends in leadership and management. At the forums, we will showcase current faculty research in conjunction with practical views on leadership and management from executives in Chicago and abroad. We look forward to sharing more about these plans as they unfold and hope you’ll gather ideas for your own future entrepreneurial endeavors at one of the forums.

Ray Whittington

Dean, Driehaus College of Business

Finance Legends Share Tips With Students

October 8, 2014October 2, 2017 jlansber College News

Richard H. Driehaus (BUS ’65, MBA ’70, DHL ’02), the college’s namesake and chairman of Driehaus Capital Management, and William Farley, chairman and president of LV Ventures, Inc., presented guest lectures during this spring in the course, “Practical Investing: How to Make Money and Enjoy Doing It.”

The Department of Finance class, taught by Joel Litman (BUS ’93), chief investment strategist of Valens Securities, emphasized how to make money by using data to pick stocks.

(L to R) Richard H. Driehaus, chairman of Driehaus Capital Management; and William Farley, chairman and president of LV Ventures, Inc., presented guest lectures in a finance class taught by Joel Litman.

Driehaus and Farley showed students how successful investors think. Driehaus stressed embracing change, and Farley emphasized that success takes persistence and courage.

DePaul’s ties to the elite investment community provide opportunities for unique learning experiences, Litman noted. “Students get to hear stories you can’t get in a textbook.”

Driehaus Dismisses Investing Myths

During his lecture, Driehaus outlined these nine approaches to investing that challenge popular investment paradigm.

1. Conventional advice: Buy low and sell high.
Driehaus advice: Buy high and sell even higher. “You want to buy stocks that have already had good moves and are doing well rather than take the risk on investing in a stock that is already in decline and hoping it goes up.”

2. Conventional advice: Just buy stocks of good companies and hold them so you don’t have to pay attention.
Driehaus advice: Buy good stocks and hold them, but monitor daily and get rid of things if there are bad changes.

3. Conventional advice: Don’t try to hit home runs; you make the most money buying singles.
Driehaus advice: No, you make the most on home runs—but you also need discipline.

4. Conventional advice: A high turnover strategy is risky.
Driehaus advice: It reduces risk if you’re taking a series of small losses to avoid one big loss.

5. Conventional advice: Your investment process needs to be systematic.
Driehaus advice: True, investing requires discipline, but your process must be flexible enough to adapt to changing market conditions. “Don’t invest because of what you think should be happening—invest based on what actually is happening in the market.”

6. Conventional advice: You must have a value-based process and uniform evaluation for all of your picks.
Driehaus advice: “The world is not that precise. I’m convinced there is no universal valuation process.”

7. Conventional advice: Buy good research conducted by the best analysts.
Driehaus advice: He relies on the news and company reports to keep up to date

8. Conventional advice: The best measure of investment risk is volatility.
Driehaus advice: Not exactly. Volatility is only a risk for the short term, and much of discussing investment requires looking at long-term risk. What has the least short-term volatility may actually be the most long-term risk, so you have to watch out.

9. Conventional advice: It’s risky to give you money to a star manager and safer to have it in a diversified group.
Driehaus advice: No, it’s still smarter to go with a talented individual who really knows the market.

College Welcomes New Hospitality School Director

Misty Johanson, an associate dean and professor at the Driehaus College of Business, has been appointed director of the college’s School of Hospitality Leadership.

Nicknamed “Dr. J.” by her students, Johanson is a prolific scholar and teacher who joined DePaul in 2009. She helped develop the curriculum of the hospitality school, which was founded five years ago with a $7.5 million gift from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

Johanson earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in hospitality business and tourism from Michigan State University. In addition to her academic knowledge, she brings experience as a management advisor and consultant for major hospitality industry companies to her new role.

Ray Whittington, dean of the Driehaus College of Business, praised Johanson as a “talented and enthusiastic academic leader whose industry experiences and connections will help us access all the opportunities that a world-class hospitality city can offer to enhance the prominence and success of the school.”

New 3D Printer Helps Students Turn Ideas Into Reality

DePaul business students have a new digital tool for visualizing their business ideas. The Center for Creativity and Innovation (CCI) has purchased a 3D printer that allows users to make three-dimensional figures from electronic files. Students can access the device to create prototypes of product ideas for business classes and pitches.

The printer was bought to support the efforts of the CCI’s new Innovation Lab. The lab is underwritten by a gift from Robert Perrelli (BUS ’04, MBA ’06), a senior manager at TCF Inventory Finance, Inc. and a member of the CCI Advisory Board.

Honorary degree recipient Robert A. Mariano, chairman, president and CEO of Roundys Inc., offers words of advice to the students during DePaul University Driehaus College of Business’ commencement ceremonies on Sunday, June 15, 2014, at Allstate Arena in Rosemont. (DePaul University/Jamie Moncrief)

Do What You Love, CEO Bob Mariano Tells Graduates

DePaul’s business alumni network grew by more than 1,200 graduates at DePaul’s commencement ceremony in June. Robert Mariano (DHL ’14), CEO of Milwaukee-based Roundy’s and founder of the fast-growing Mariano’s Fresh Market grocery chain, delivered the commencement address.

Mariano had the following advice for new alumni: “Successful business people are wildly passionate about something. If you’re serious about going into business, you must have passion. Life is short, and you don’t want to waste even one day doing something that doesn’t make you happy. Whether you make a dollar or a million, if you find what you love, you will be successful.”