Steve Goodwin (MKT) was recently selected to receive the Illinois State University Outstanding Service Award for 2009-2010.  Developed by the Academic Senate, the award honors faculty members who have provided strong leadership through service to the university.  Goodwin will be publicly recognized at the Founder’s Day celebration, February 18, 2010.

Illinois State University continues to build on its impressive history of more than 15e years of education and service.  As it does every year, the University celebrates its history and looks forward to the future during Founders Day.

This year’s event will pay tribute to Illinois State’s rich history and celebrate its continuing success, even in the midst of global economic troubles.

Founders Day events will begin with the Old Main Bell ringing ceremony.  Selected faculty, staff, students, alumni and others will ring the bell 153 times to mark the University’s years of existence,

The Founders Day Convocation will take place in the Brown Ballroom.  The traditional event will include the presentation of some of the University’s highest awards, including the Honorary Degree, Distinguished Alumni Awards and Distinguished Professor. Other awards will honor excellence in teaching, research, service and commitment to diversity.

How do people make decisions about health care providers?  And what’s going on at the College Of Business? How to prepare for a future that is impossible to predict? What role will business ethics and sustainable practices play? Get to know our new dean in a wide-ranging WJBC radio interview with Dr. Scott Johnson! (MP3 audio)

- posted by George Wiman. Interview date 09 November, 2009.  Used by kind permission of WJBC radio.

Family Weekend at the College of Business provided an opportunity for students to show off the building to family and friends.  Faculty were on hand to greet visitors and there were plenty of bagels and doughnuts to go around.  Classrooms were open for viewing and a special study abroad session in the Caterpillar Auditorium profiled the many international opportunities available for business students.  The weather provided a beautiful backdrop for an enjoyable weekend to honor parents and family.

Rob Zmudka ’89 (MKT) is Vice President and Executive Director of Strategic Sales for GATX – the largest railcar leasing company in the world.  He recently shared an update with us about his career and GATX’s commitment to service.

Q:  How have you leveraged the key skills and understandings you acquired at Illinois State University as you’ve advanced your career?

A:  My Illinois State University business degree provided the foundation for building my future career.  My marketing classes taught me to not only consider how your company is being represented but to think also about how you are being represented and how you are representing your company, important considerations not only in my professional experience but in my life in general.

Beyond my career-specific classes, the academic experience at Illinois State taught me the value of teamwork, gave me confidence in public speaking and presentation (skills that I continually refine and enhance) and the importance of strategic planning — the ability to think beyond myself and today, and to also consider the longer-term and consequential effects of a particular action or strategy.  And perhaps equally important, my Illinois State experience gave me life-long friendships that continue to this day.

Learn more about Rob Zmudka.

Pi Sigma Epsilon is hosting their 8th annual Giving Tree from November 9 - December 4.  Giving Tree is their biggest community service event for which they won top service project for at their National Convention last year.

Giving Tree is designed to provide presents to children in need in the Bloomington-Normal area.  Please help by picking an ornament up off the tree located in the College of Business Atrium and purchasing a $10-20 gift.

Return the gifts to any drop box located on all floors of the College of Business by December 4.  Wrapping is appreciated but not required.

Monetary donations are also welcome in the form of cash or check, made to Pi Sigma Epsilon, to the Marketing Department - COB 352, Campus Box 5590  c/o Jan Staley.  Thank you and Happy Holidays!!

Congratulations are in order to Doug Johnson, Senior Insurance & Finance major, for winning recognition by the prestigious Lincoln Academy!

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois will honor outstanding senior college students during the annual Student Laureate Convocation at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 7 the Old State Capitol State Historic Site in Springfield.

The Lincoln Academy’s Student Laureate Awards are presented for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities to seniors from each of the four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities in Illinois.

At the Student Laureate Convocation, each will receive a Student Laureate Medallion, along with an honorarium check and certificate of achievement.  This event will mark the 35th year that students have been honored by the Academy.

“These students have exhibited a personal commitment to excel as seen by their remarkable academic accomplishments,” said John B. Simon, Chancellor of the Lincoln Academy, who added, “They serve as role models to other Illinois students.  With hard-working and dedicated young leaders such as these, Illinois and the rest of the nation can look forward to a bright future.”

Honorable Richard Mills, Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, will deliver the keynote address.  The invocation will be delivered by Academy Trustee Rev. Ruben I. Cruz, and the benediction will be given by Southern Illinois University Carbondale Chancellor Dr. Samuel Goldman.  The Sangamon Woodwind Consort will provide music, and a luncheon at the Illinois Executive Mansion will follow the Student Laureate Convocation.

The Lincoln Academy, unique among the 50 states, was established 45 years ago to honor Illinois’ most distinguished citizens with the state’s highest award, the Order of Lincoln.  The 2010 Order of Lincoln Convocation will be held April 17, 2010 in Chicago.