Saying Goodbye to an Outstanding Visiting Professor Program

Tomorrow is my last full day here in Gothenburg and it also marks the end of my tenure over 4 years as a Visiting Professor at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. I was part of its outstanding Visiting Professor Program, which I found out about in The Economist and applied.
 
I have made 10 visits to this great school and university and today my colleagues hosted a delicious cake "fika" party in my honor. The cake was a layered one of passion fruit cream and chocolate bottom - yummy! My colleagues gave me stunning gifts of a book on Sweden, an elegant navy scarf with the university emblem patterned on it, and a beautiful blue crystal apple of Swedish glass. They also gave me a lovely card and note and the administrative assistant here who has been so accommodating and helpful in always finding me a comfortable office brought me a red glass heart.


How do you say goodbye to doctoral students, who have now received their PhDs, some have gotten married, over the time period that I have been coming and some, including colleagues,  have had children that I have met? I have laughed many times with my colleagues, both in Finance and in Transportation and Logistics here, since I collaborate with both, and we have shared many wonderful experiences.My research has benefited greatly through numerous discussions and papers, I might add, with Professor Jonas Floden, whose expertise in freight transport I truly value and have come to rely upon. I have gone to transport and logistics conferences here and a finance conference and have always felt so much at home here.


Their friendship, humanity, and civility, and stories I will always treasure. I am now writing another book and in the acknowledgments I am thanking my colleagues and staff here at the University of Gothenburg. They say I am always smiling - it is because of the community that they have built in one of the greatest countries on our planet - Sweden.


Thank you to the School of Business, Economics and Law and the University of Gothenburg for being such exceptional hosts. You will always be a part of me and I wish you all the best. As for future Visiting Professors, enjoy!


And several of my colleagues said to me today - when are you coming?!

What a Spring Break in Sweden

Tomorrow morning I am headed at 4:30 AM to the airport in Gothenburg, Sweden and then off to Amsterdam Schiphol, which was recently selected as one of ten top airports in the world (and I agree),  and then onwards to good old Boston Logan.

The past ten days here in Gothenburg, Sweden have been filled with many impressions from the crocuses blooming, to the flower displays outside many shops, to the seagulls flying outside my office window and chirping away, and to terrific conversations with colleagues, an editor, and friends that I have made in this very special community.

This is the third year that I have been appointed a Visiting Professor at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg and I am so grateful for this very special program! I spend about 44 days here each year.

I have enjoyed working at my standing desk, while sipping cappuccino from the new coffee machine in our office suite, sampling Swedish cream puff pastries with marzipan, which are traditional at this time of year, with students, staff, and colleagues, and brainstorming on various research projects.

Evenings, when the rain is falling and I am in my top level apartment that looks like a turret in a castle, I do more research with many beautiful math equations while I gaze at a watercolor painting, to the music of the rain.

Everywhere I walk - to the foodstores, to work, to downtown, and the gorgeous parks, especially Schlottskogen.

Plus, I discovered that, at the Press Stop close to the grand Central Train Station, I can get a New York Times, printed on demand - now how cool is that!

I will be leaving with a heavy heart because I really wish that the United States could be more like Sweden!

Also, this has been a difficult week in many respects, since our great benefactor, Mr. Eugene Isenberg, after whom the Isenberg School of Management is named, passed away on March 16.

In addition, the takeover of Crimea, such a beautiful part of Ukraine, that I have written about, since I was there a few years ago at a Network Science conference, has shocked us all.

I take some solace (see photos below) that here, in Gothenburg, many of the trams and trolleys fly the Ukrainian flag, so no wonder that  I feel so at home here.

Thanks for a Great Visiting Professorship Program!

All good things must come to an end and I am starting to pack up since soon I will be heading back to the US from Sweden.

This has been my fifth stay in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg and my experiences as a Visiting Professor here have been fabulous.

I would like to thank the staff, my colleagues, and the students for making me feel so welcome during my sabbatical from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

As I stated in my recent commencement speech, this has become my second home!

Thank you for the wonderful lunches, conversations, visits to your homes, research discussions, much laughter, conferences, additional lectures, and more! The research collaborations will continue across the miles.

The memories will always be part of me.

Many thanks to the sponsors of the Visiting Professor Program for seeing the importance of university and corporate relationships and internationalization.

Commencement Speech -- On Great Leadership

Today, I had the great privilege and honor of delivering the commencement speech at the diploma ceremony in honor of the recipients of the Master's degrees at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. There were a total of 105 graduates, ranging from Accounting, Finance, International Business and Trade to Economics and Transport and Logistics Management.

The theme of my speech was On Great Leadership. In my speech, I emphasized the importance of innovation and creation, doing the right thing, making opportunities for others, recognizing the achievements of others, supporting diversity, and remembering where you come from. I also noted that Great Leaders must be resilient, need to be great communicators, both in word and action, and keep their integrity. I highlighted both Swedish and US innovators and great leaders.

The full text of my commencement speech can be downloaded here.

The program of the ceremony is below.

The venue was a majestic University of Gothenberg building on Vasagaten. The photos below were taken at this very special event.

Congratulations to all the graduates -- I wish you all well on the new stage in your life's journeys!

Thank you for the great honor and opportunity to speak to you today.

Special thanks go to Dr. Maureen McKelvey, who is stepping down as the Dean of the Graduate School, and who has done so much for the school over the past 5 and a half years. Also, special thanks to Dr. Johan Malmsten, the Chair of the Board of the Malmsten Foundation, for the great support of the school, its programs, and its students. Today, he awarded checks of 10,000 kroner to each recipient of the best Master's thesis in a concentration.

Graduation Celebrations Swedish Style

I am back in Sweden and am blogging from Gothenburg.

There seems to be Swedish envy back in the USA with even an OpEd in The New York Times of a day ago by Thomas B. Edsall Why Can't America Be Sweden?, which notes the work of Daron Acemoglu of MIT. I have written several posts on a similar theme on this blog regarding the quality of life in Sweden as well as its great infrastructure.  We had the pleasure of hosting Daron, as well as his wife, Asu Ozdaglar, also of MIT, in our UMass Amherst INFORMS Speakers Series.

Now is the time of high school graduations in Sweden and the graduates are dressed up and wearing sailor caps. The photos below were taken in downtown Gothenburg today.

And for photos from  a recent high school graduation that my daughter attended, but in the US, since she graduated 1 year ago.from Deerfield Academy and several friends had returned to reconnect, you can click here. The weather was quite different (cold) this year from her graduation of a year ago!

On June 12, 2013, I will be attending another graduation - that of those receiving the Master's degree from the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, where I will be delivering the commencement speech. I guess that they like me here, since I also delivered the commencement speech last year and the experience was fabulous.

Good-Bye to Sweden, For Now

I am starting to pack up and tomorrow will be flying back to the US.

Another fabulous stay as a Visiting Professor at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden is coming to an end.

I will miss the terrific food and the beautiful architecture:

The different modes of transportation:

But, most of all, I will miss the great people from the students to my colleagues and staff members:

I guess that they like me, too, since I have been reappointed for another year, which is nice for my sabbatical!

When Great Things Happen to Really Nice Professors -- Election to the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences

The great news arrived this morning from Sweden and came from a doctoral student who is doing some really interesting research.

He was notably proud and wanted to share the wonderful news about his doctoral dissertation advisor.

I have been smiling non-stop since it is special to see individuals who are not only scholars but who are genuine mentors to their students, colleagues, and beyond being recognized for their contributions. Also, when really nice people get recognized one gets the sense of some justice in this world.

Now for the news -- Dr. Jonas Woxenius of the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden is one of twenty-four elected recently to the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. A news article can be found here and for those of you who are rusty in your Swedish (and thanks to Google translator and Niklas Arvidsson,  the proud doctoral student) you can read the translation to English below (with my edits):

Johan Woxenius, Professor of maritime logistics and transport economics at the School,  has been named a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, IVA.

Johan Woxenius has been elected to the IVA, Title III Planning. He has an MSc and a PhD in transport engineering from Chalmers. He is a Professor of business administration, with a focus on maritime logistics and transport economics at the School.

Woxenius is one of the driving forces in the cooperation between Chalmers and Göteborg University in competence centers Lighthouse Maritime and Northern Lead in logistics. He sits on the Göteborg Energi Research Council and is a board member for the School.

IVA chose the 24 new members at its recent academic gathering. Among those also noted: Klas Eklund, senior economist at SEB, Stockholm Stock Exchange CEO Jens Henriksson, Swedish Radio's former CEO Mats Svegfors and the President of Nordstjernan Viveca Ax: son Johnson. IVA was founded in 1919 and is the oldest engineering academy of sciences and has now 904 Swedish and 265 foreign members. 

Professor Woxenius has been a wonderful colleague during my visits to the School of Business, Economics and Law as a new Visiting Professor there. He is outstanding at organizing workshops and conferences and bicycles to work. Conveniently, our office suite even has a shower! His energy and enthusiasm light up the school and our suite of offices.

Below, in his honor, I have posted a photo taken at the Future Urban Transport conference, which took place in Gothenburg in October.

Congratulations to Professor Johan Woxenius on this great and much-deserved honor.

 

 Professor Woxenius is standing between me and Professor Michael Browne of the UK, who is also a Visiting Professor in our group at Gothenburg.

I have promised to take him out for a celebratory meal with treats when I am back in Gothenburg (Göteborg) and could not resist, to whet appetites, posting some of the treats in the city below.

Back in Sweden and Loving It with New Paper Published and More

I suspect that I must have some Viking blood in me.

Although my heritage (and first language) is Ukrainian, there is something about Sweden that makes me feel very welcome and "at home."

I arrived yesterday, having flown from Boston Logan through Amsterdam Schiphol, and, amazingly, on the leg over the Atlantic I stretched out over 4 middle seats (felt as though I was flying first class).

This morning, I was already greeted by -- "you are back!"  by my favorite clerk at my neighborhood 711 in Gothenburg and by hugs from my colleagues at the School of Business, Economics and Law. This is my third extended time in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2012. I was here for two weeks in March and for the entire month of June.

The weather now is cool and wet (some say that it comes from London) but I can attest to the warmth of the people and the great coffee and food plus all the cultural activities and the fabulous ambience!

For lunch today at our school cafeteria there was the famous Swedish pea soup, a salad bar with beets, and lamb and pork sausage with sweet potato puree. Plus, I cannot resist the dark chocolate here.

Yesterday evening, the barista at my favorite (French) cafe treated me to an extra chocolate macaron.

No problems with jet lag -- my secret is to walk for hours and I did just that after arriving yesterday.

Plus, my first paper that acknowledges the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, where I am now a Visiting Professor, has just been published in the International Journal of Production Economics. The paper is on the design of medical nuclear supply chains.

I have blogged about the challenges of this highly complex supply chain, of relevance not only to healthcare but also to issues of security.

It feels great to have this paper published and how fitting to get the news on my first day back in Gothenburg!

International Researchers Welcomed to a Palace Reception with the Mayor

Soon I will be back in Sweden and I am very much looking forward to being back in what has become my second home. In 2012 I was appointed a Visiting Professor of Operations Management at the University of Gothenburg and have already had two extended visits there.

My lectures on Operations Management and Supply Chain Network Theory that I will be giving as part of a PhD course in Business Administration there in early October are completed. I really worked hard on them and very much enjoyed the process. I will presenting this material at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the university.

Today I received a wonderful invitation from Gothenburg. Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm.

The city of Gothenburg will be hosting a reception for international researchers. This certainly is a wonderful way in which to make us feel welcome and to also have opportunities to network with other researchers.

We will even get to meet the Lord Mayor, Lena Malm.

The reception will be taking place at the Dickson Palace, which is in a stunning building that I have passed by on my previous visits to the School of Business, Economics and Law.

The palace is featured in the invitation above.

The palace was built by Oscar Dickson and his princess from Greece in 1859. The house served as an apartment to the family, with its 3 floors and over 30 rooms.

The building is situated at the corner of Parkgatan and Södra vägen, just next to the city garden “Trädgårds-föreningen” and the big avenue “Kungsportsavenyn in the centre of Gothenburg.

The Swedes know how to welcome with style.

Very Special Graduation Photos from the School of Business, Economics and Law in Sweden

The ceremony is now over and it could not have been more elegant.

It took place at the University of Gothenburg grand building and we celebrated the recipients of the Masters degrees.

It was very special to deliver the diploma commencement speech. After the speech, I received a big bouquet of pink flowers.

The procession was led by Swedish flag bearers and the Masters degree recipients were called out individually.

Prior to the graduation ceremony, I had the honor of attending a lunch at which the recipients of the 10,000 kronor awards for the masters dissertations were recognized.

 

Congratulations to all those receiving the Masters degree today!

Three Isenberg Faculty at Gothenburg University in Sweden

In the Loop, which is a University of Massachusetts online publication that goes out regularly to faculty and staff, has nice coverage of the visit of three Isenberg School of Management faculty members to the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, last month.

Above is a photo of the three of us: Professor Linda Smircich, yours truly, and Professor Marta Calas.

We all have offices on the third floor of the Isenberg School but Linda and Marta had no idea that I would be at the School of Business, Economics, and Law at the University of Gothenburg during the same period of time as they. I had no inkling that they would be there either.

The article talks about how Linda and Marta have had a long association with this university, whereas this was my first trip there as a Visiting Professor of Operations Management.

I happened to come across Linda and Marta at the business school in Sweden, where the photo above was taken. Note -- we were all wearing green (great minds do think alike).

I miss Sweden already and am looking forward to being back in June.