Professor for a Day -- New Initiative

At the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, we have a new initiative in which alums are invited back to the school to share their wisdom with our students (and the faculty as well).

This initiative is called Professor for a Day.

Today, I had the honor of having Mr. Jim Ettamarna, a graduate of our Operations Management program, come and speak to the students in my Humanitarian Logistics and Healthcare class. Jim had graduated in 1997 and what he has accomplished in 15 years is amazing.

He began his career with GE and had stories of having the then CEO Jack Welch (who, by the way, is also a UMass Amherst grad in chemical engineering) in the audience for one of his presentations, and  of pedaling a stationary bike next to the present CEO of GE, Jeff Immelt, at 5AM in the morning at the gym. He spoke of how one has to get the job done and to become known as an expert in an area and how one develops leadership skills.  His work at GE included bringing the opportunities of online commerce to the fore and this initiative helped him to get into Harvard Business School (HBS) from which he received his MBA. He has worked at McKinsey and was even in the cohort with Chelsea Clinton (and spoke about gatherings in the Austrian Alps).

Jim emphasized the value of networking (something which he certainly did at HBS), the importance of communication and analytical skills, and of taking advantage of opportunities and making luck turn to your advantage.

He also worked for several years in private equity and spoke about how he helped to turn around several companies and then to sell them at substantial profit.

He emphasized the importance of staying fit and healthy and of never burning bridges (he had some terrific stories about how he turned rejections around).

Jim spoke about the great faculty at UMass that he had had (this warmed my heart) and how what he learned was useful even ten years down the road.

He was inspirational and was an outstanding Professor for a Day. Afterwards, students came to my office to further discuss the numerous ideas and helpful suggestions that they had gotten from his presentation.

Thanks to a very successful alum -- as his former Professor, I couldn't be prouder. Moreover, today he gave so much of his wisdom and insights to this new cohort of students, many of whom will be graduating next month.

The Operations and Information Management Major at the Isenberg School -- Why It Delivers

Since this is a blog about research, education, networks, and the world, I periodically write about exciting majors and curriculum issues.

College programs and areas of study must be continuously updated as a means of both energizing the course content and materials, and faculty and students alike.

Change may be hard but is a primary means of growth and dynamism. When it comes to education, growth in terms of new ideas, new modes of teaching and learning, and the inclusion of new topics and courses is essential.

I am passionate about the courses that I teach and the research that I do and am so grateful for the intellectual and personal rewards that being a faculty member bring. Life is never boring and no two days are ever alike!

At the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, I have been heavily involved in teaching at the undergraduate level in the Operations Management program and at the doctoral level in the Management Science program. These are housed in the Department of Finance and Operations Management (yes, we are the quant/techie types).

There is some very good news to report -- soon the official title of our undergrad major will be Operations and Information Management. We added several faculty in the information management area (always take advantage of arguing your case for new faculty slots and this was made possible through a proposal I co-wrote) and we hope to add more soon. We are also hiring faculty in the Operations Management/Management Science area.

The Chair of our department, as well as the faculty, have done a terrific job adding courses and, through the Career Center at the Isenberg School, our students have had wonderful internship opportunities and job placements. The list of offered courses in the new official major includes: Supply Chain Management, Introduction to Management Science, Enterprise Resource Planning, Business Intelligence, Logistics and Transportation, Business Process Simulation, Business Process Optimization, Humanitarian Logistics and Healthcare, and Sustainable Systems.

The curriculum includes courses that satisfy the Information Technology Minor at UMass Amherst.

And, to whet your appetite further (it may make you want to be an undergraduate again): The internships and job placements of our students have included some of my favorite companies:

Consulting & Technology: Grant Thornton, IBM, and SAP

Manufacturing & Supply Chains: BOEING, Pratt & Whitney, UPS, Fedex, United Technologies Corporation, Bose, Avery Dennison, SABIC Innovative Plastics.

Retail Distribution: Macy’s, Frito Lay, C&S, Target, Staples, Kohl’s Department Stores, Lowe’s, Pepsi Bottling Group, Toys R Us

Financial Services: Hanover, Liberty Mutual, The Hartford, and Mass Mutual.

Alumni Panel on Career Preparation and a Former Student Who has Excelled

I was so pleased today to welcome back to campus one of my former students, who majored in Operations Management at the Isenberg School at UMass Amherst and who graduated in 2003. Ms. Christina Calvaneso is now Manager - Strategy & Operations, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and is based in New York City. She was back at the Isenberg School of Management to take part in a panel, Looking Forward: Views of Our Graduates on Career Preparation, at our Open House. Christina was a 2002-2003 Undergraduate Center Associate of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks and was a recipient of a 21st Century Leader Award at the May 2003 Commencement, an award that I nominated her for. There are photos of her commencement and activities with the Center on the 2000-2005 Center Photos Page (scroll down to the 2002-2003 photos).

Christina began her professional career at GE and has been with Deloitte Consulting for the past three years. It was terrific to see her and to "catch up." I asked her what she appreciated most about the education that she received at the Isenberg School and what she considered the most important skill sets that she now uses as a manager at a top consulting company. She told me that she solves problems every day and that the analytical skills and tools that she gained as an Operations Management major have been invaluable. She also spoke about the importance of strategy and "people" skills and in building relationships based on trust.

She has been very successful and, as a former professor of hers, I am extremely proud of her. It is always extra special to see our successful alums come back to campus and to share their pearls of wisdom with the next generation of students.