Had a Great Time Speaking at the Chancellor's Donor Appreciation Breakfast at UMass Amherst

Yesterday, I had the great honor of being the invited faculty speaker at the Chancellor's Donor Appreciation Breakfast at UMass Amherst.  This weekend was Homecoming Weekend, so that added to the festive atmosphere. Plus, this was the first time since the pandemic was declared that I was speaking to an audience (not including my class)  in person. There were about 300 in attendance and the event took place in the beautifully renovated Student Union. 

The program of the event is below.

It was wonderful to be seated with Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and student speaker Shelby Casimir plus a distinguished PhD alum, Dr. Sherwood, and his wife. My husband accompanied me.

The title of my presentation was: From Supernetworks to Supply Chains in the Pandemic.

The slide deck of my presentation can be downloaded here.

In my presentation, I spoke about amazing students and alums and also the inspiration for the Supernetworks book, and the establishment of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks 20 years ago.  I acknowledged Jack Smith Jr., who endowed the first chaired professorship that I held at the Isenberg School of Management, and also the Isenberg family. I was appointed the Eugene M. Isenberg Chair in Integrative Studies on April 14, 2021, a tremendous honor. Given the number of individuals that came up to me after the program, I believe that the audience enjoyed my presentation. I had hoped to inspire and to share my gratitude for the support!  And, of course, speaking about supply chains and our research on them in the pandemic is a passion of mine from the inclusion of labor to be able to quantify impacts of associated disruptions to our work on blood supply chains and influencing policy.  I also spoke about how much I have enjoyed writing OpEds in the pandemic to inform the public and decision-makers and how speaking to the media, whether for print, TV or radio has also enriched public discourse and outreach. 

Shelby Casimir and I enjoyed being photographed with the Chancellor (photo above). Shelby gave a very moving speech about the challenges of being a student in the pandemic and how she overcame the challenges. The Chancellor, as a super cheerleader of the university, spoke of the many accomplishments as well as major recent donations received.

It was wonderful to be entertained not only by a trio at the beginning of the breakfast and by a contingent of the famous UMass Marching Band towards the end.

It was extra special to see my Isenberg School colleagues, Vice Chancellor Nef Walker and Finance Professor Mila Sherman.

I acknowledged the leadership of the Isenberg School, including Deans Tom O'Brien, Mark Fuller, and, now, Anne Massey.

It was a truly memorable event enjoyed tremendously be all! The resilience of the faculty, administrators, staff, and especially students at UMass Amherst in the pandemic has been remarkable. We all gain from the great strength of the community at this outstanding research university.

The Isenberg School of Management Celebrated

October 17, 2009 was the perfect Saturday for homecoming at UMass Amherst and for the dedication of the Dean Thomas O'Brien Endowed Chair. The first holder of this endowed professorship is our new Dean of the Isenberg School, Dr. Mark Fuller.

The dedication took place in our lovely atrium at 11:30AM and even the Isenbergs were in attendance, as well as our Chancellor, Provost, and many esteemed guests, donors, faculty, staff, and alums. It was a glorious event. Above I have posted a few photos from the dedication ceremony as well as from the wine tasting that took place afterwards, which was hosted by one of my former students, Peter Chouinard, who is now the President of the Wente Family Estates, which includes one of the largest wineries in California!

Mr. Chouinard spoke at the reception about the faculty that he remembered and highlighted both my great colleague, Professor Ben Branch, and me. We were so touched. When a student who is so successful comes back and says that it was the professors who taught him how to handle complex problem solving that has made a difference is simply thrilling!

The Isenberg School is a truly special place as is UMass Amherst. The video clip (with image above) was shown at the meeting of the UMass Foundation yesterday morning before the dedication. My students and I were interviewed and videotaped over 3 different sessions and although we only appear in the middle of it and towards the end (and, yes, it is now on youtube), I marveled at the number who mentioned to me at the reception how much they enjoyed seeing ISOM faculty featured in it.

The link to this latest UMass Amherst videoclip is here. It also includes a clip of the second most powerful female in the world, according to Forbes, Sheila Bair, who is Chair of the FDIC, and on leave from my department.