Tag: graduation

Friday, May 19, we celebrated the professional growth and accomplishments of more than 225 graduate and 277 undergraduate students. This year’s graduates not only graduated during Olin’s Centennial year, but also from the top undergraduate business program, one of the top 25 MBA programs, and the #3 Master of Science in Finance program in the U.S. That is something to be proud of.

Check out some of the photos of the big day, below, and watch our social media channels for more photos later this week! Congratulations, graduates!

Undergraduate Graduation Recognition Ceremony

Click image to expand. Photos by Jerry Naunheim Jr.

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Graduate Graduation Recognition Ceremony

Click image to expand. Photos by Jerry Naunheim Jr.

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Hank Cummings, a double major in music and business, opened the all University Commencement ceremony in Brookings Quad this morning by singing “America the Beautiful.”

Commencement Speaker Anna Quindlen

More than 3,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree candidates and their friends and families defied cloudy skies and predictions of rain to fill the Quad where best-selling author Anna Quindlen delivered this year’s Commencement address.

In addition to Quindlen, other speakers included Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, the senior class president, Reid Petty, from Mendham, N.J., BSBA’17, is a marketing major delivered the undergraduate student Commencement greeting, and Wei Zhu, a candidate for a juris doctoris from the  School of Law, was selected to give the graduate student address. She is from Hunan Province, China.

The 3,089 candidates at Washington University’s 156th Commencement will receive 3,245 degrees, of which 1,490 are undergraduate, 1,751 are graduate and professional, and four are associates in arts.

There are 600 doctoral candidates, including 132 for the doctor of philosophy degree from the Graduate School; one for the doctor of business administration degree from the Olin Business School; 242 for the juris doctoris degree from the School of Law; two for the juris scientiae doctoris degree from the School of Law; and 223 for degrees from the School of Medicine.

Sustainability champions Nick Annin, Elise Fabbro and Nicola Salzman graduate this month from Washington University in St. Louis poised to fight the globe’s most pressing problem with a powerful tool: the free market.

Though these students support laws and treaties that protect the environment, they also recognize that markets can move faster. And, in this battle, every second counts.

Nick Annin plans to pursue a Masters in Finance at Olin after earning his undergrad degree. Majors: Environmental policy and writing in Arts & Sciences. 

“There is a myth that the economy and the environment are inherently at odds,” said Annin, a senior in the environmental studies program in Arts & Sciences. “We know, in fact, the opposite is true. A healthy economy depends on a healthy environment.”

The three advocates share much in common, including an early admiration for former vice president Al Gore. Each said Gore’s 2006 documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” transformed climate change from a vague cause for concern into, for each of them, a call to action.

Annin remembers watching the film in fourth grade with his father Peter Annin, a renowned environmental journalist. Annin felt as if he might vomit.

“All my life, I had gone camping and the woods were my home,” said Annin, a native of Madison, Wis. “The idea that all of that was threatened was horrifying.”

Nicola Salzman Majors: Environmental policy in Arts & Sciences and leadership and strategic management in Olin Business School.

Salzman, also a senior in environmental studies in Arts & Sciences, was in high school in Boston when she read a book version of “An Inconvenient Truth.” She remembers looking at the adults around her thinking, “Wait? You knew about this? And you’re not doing everything you can to fix it?”

And Fabbro, a law student, remembers her Palo Alto, Calif., high school inviting Gore to deliver his “Inconvenient Truth” presentation live.

“I walked out of there changed,” Fabbro said. “Since then, the environment and our impact on it is what I think when I go to bed at night, and when I wake up in the morning.”

In 2013, they would all arrive at the same time at the Danforth Campus. Annin came to play football for Coach Larry Kindbom; Salzman liked the campus culture; and Fabbro transferred to the School of Law when an admissions officer serendipitously called the day she learned her current program was losing two environmental law experts.

Once here, they all applied to participate in the international climate negotiation seminar. They also each attended the global climate talks, known as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences of the Parties (COP) as a delegate from Washington University.

Elise Fabbro Degrees: JD, School of Law and MBA, Olin Business School

It’s a unique opportunity, one that few universities extend to undergraduates, said Beth Martin, senior lecturer in environmental studies in Arts & Sciences. At the conferences, the students tracked specific articles of the agreement such as mitigation or finance, and attended negotiations and forums featuring climate leaders such as Gore and former United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

“They see how diplomacy works and how words matter,” said Martin, who teaches the international climate seminar and leads the Washington University observer delegation. “The students also meet people whose daily lives and homes are profoundly impacted by climate change. It is both an incredible educational and emotional experience.”

All three students consider the conference the capstone of their academic careers. “We participated in history,” said Fabbro, who attended COP 21 in 2015 in Paris with Annin.

“I asked myself over and over again, ‘How am I here?’” said Salzman, who attended COP 22 in Marrakesh in 2016. “It was an experience unlike one I could ever have in a classroom.”

Fabbro, Annin and Salzman left their respective conferences buoyed. The innovations of engineers, the research of scientists, the resolve of diplomats — the gains were real. And yet each returned, more convinced than ever, that global talks and international treaties can only take us so far. The private sector can — and must — play a pivotal role.

For a closer look at Washington University’s leading sustainability champions and their vision for world for a healthy environment and economy, link to their Class Acts profiles.

Guest Blogger: Diane Toroian Keaggy, The Source, WUSTL Public Affairs

Photos by James Byard/WUSTL Photos

“Open. Passionate. Imaginative. Steadfast.” These are the adjectives that the website Poets & Quants uses to describe their 2017 list of Best & Brightest MBAs. And it should be no surprise that two Olin MBAs are on the list. Congratulations to Markey Culver and Conn Davis! We’ve cut and pasted some excerpts here. Click on their names to link to complete profile on Poets & Quants.

Markey Culver

What was your favorite MBA course and what was the biggest insight you gained about business from it? 

Competitive Industry Analysis with John Horn. I had two key takeaways: 1) the value in corporate strategy and strategic planning, and 2) competitive advantage can be not only formulaic (strategic and intentional), but differentiating. It was fascinating.

Why did you choose this business school?

I imagine I was a rather atypical applicant to Olin, coming from 3 years of living and working in East Africa and starting a social enterprise in Rwanda. My background was unconventional at best and while I had business experience, it was in my own business. Still, I chose to apply to Wash U because I seek to fuse the non-profit and for-profit sectors and Olin’s programs merit such fusion by embracing, incubating and launching entrepreneurs of all kinds. Olin’s robust entrepreneurship platform, too, is supported by a city (St. Louis) with an ever-growing, collaborative startup scene. Moreover, Olin puts emphasis on cultivating the business leader through holistic leadership training (i.e.: sharpening “soft” skills to enhance “hard” skills).

What did you enjoy most about business school in general?

My class – we have an incredible class.

Conn Davis

“I  knew I wanted to go to business school when…

I saw how much happier my wife, also a recovering lawyer, was at her new job after she finished her MBA. Her experience taught me that there were opportunities I did not know were available.”

Why did you choose this business school?

I chose Olin because its smaller class size gave me the opportunity to get to know everyone in the school. I have developed great relationships with my classmates and with the students in the class before and after me. I have also gotten to know and developed relationships beyond the classroom with many of my professors. The close-knit community at Olin is unique and very valuable.

What was your favorite MBA course and what was the biggest insight you gained about business from it?

My favorite MBA Course was the core Introduction to Management and Strategy taught by Prof. Dan Elfenbein. I learned two key things in this class – (1) that I truly enjoyed working through business issues and (2) that having the right answer to a business question is less important than understanding what the answer means for the business.

P&Q LIST INCLUDES 53 WOMEN AND 15 VETERANS
To compile the 2017 Best & Brightest MBAs, P&Q reached out to 63 full-time MBA programs, with only SDA Bocconi (due to a missed deadline) and Harvard Business School (citing what it believes is a conflict with internal awards) declining to participate. Schools were chosen based on their Poets&Quants’ ranking, with each program limited to four students for consideration.

Two BSBA graduates will be honored for their skills in the classroom and in sports this month. Katie Chandler and J.J. Tomlin are recipients of the 2017 Outstanding Student Athlete Award. These two graduates have exhibited strong leadership ability and sportsman-like conduct in their respective sports of soccer and football.

Kathryn Lane Chandler

Katie, majored in marketing with a minor in psychology, and has been a leader on the Bears Women’s Soccer Team for four years. As captain, she led the team to the Division III National Championship for the first time in school history this year.

Katie, a forward, won the NCAA Championship “Most Outstanding Offensive Player”.

She started all 24 games in her final season and recorded a team-high 12 goals and four assists for 28 points. She was named UAA Offensive Athlete of the Week four times in her final season.

Katie concludes her college soccer career ranked second in school history in game-winning goals (16) and seventh in goals (37) and points (87).

Katie was also named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III All-America Team this year.

John James Tomlin    

J.J. majored in marketing with a minor in the business of sports. He is a three-time all-University Athletic Association and two-time all-Southern Athletic Association honoree, he concluded his career as the most decorated quarterback in school history with school records in completion percentages,  completions, passing attempts, passing yards, total offense, and TDs – 83, if you’re counting.

Off the field, J.J. is WashU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president, and also serves as vice president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He has been active with the Special Olympics, food drives, shoe drives and various service projects in the area.

Photos: James Byard / WUSTL Photos

Olin’s Graduate Programs’ Graduation Recognition Ceremony will be held in the Athletic Complex, Field House at 3 p.m., May 19, 2017.  All graduates are requested to arrive at the Athletic Complex no later than 2:30 p.m. Please check-in at the tables at the draped off north hallway on the Field House level and fill out your reader card. A reception immediately follows in the Knight Hall Atrium. Be sure to read the information for Graduate Students.
Link to live stream the 2017 Olin graduate ceremony.

The keynote speaker will be Joe Fox, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs. He oversees management of the full-time MBA program, the part-time Professional MBA program, and the Specialized Masters programs. Fox joined Olin in 1988. Prior to Olin, he served as assistant dean and MBA program director at Marquette University in Milwaukee for nearly 18 years.

Fox received his undergraduate degree in accounting from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, and his MBA from Marquette where he taught accounting before pursuing his career in administration.

Joe Fox is stepping down from his full-time role at Olin in June. He and his wife Gail are returning to their home state of Wisconsin to be near family.

The student graduation speaker is Cambrie Nelson. Cambrie’s MBA degree will be her second from Washington University. She earned her undergraduate degree in anthropology here in 2009. Cambrie won honors for leadership, scholarship, and community service back then, so it is no surprise that she returned to campus as an accomplished strategy consultant and educator, and immediately stepped into leadership roles, again, as a grad student. She has been a teaching assistant; President of Net Impact; Student Government Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion; and appointed as a representative to the University-wide Diversity Commission. She will be joining Accenture in September as a Healthcare and Public Service Management Consultant.

Student Awards & Honors

Sara Girmay Berhie                          Center for Experiential Learning Impact Award
Recognizes a graduating MBA students who have delivered the highest level of impact to the business and nonprofit communities through the Center for Experiential Learning (CEL) and other Olin-sponsored programs and activities.  Awardees distinguished themselves with exceptional effort and leadership that advanced the missions and objectives of the organizations and individuals with which they engaged.

Jane Markey Culver                         John Wayne Latchum Memorial Award
Recognizes the graduating MBA student who best exemplifies the qualities of integrity, loyalty to friends and country, courage, intelligence, and high standards of personal conduct as judged by the faculty. This award is named in memory of John Wayne Latchum, a business student who died in 1971 while he was a senior at Washington University. It is made possible through the generosity of his parents.

Conn Quertermous Davis                 Center for Experiential Learning Impact Award
Recognizes a graduating MBA students who have delivered the highest level of impact to the business and nonprofit communities through the Center for Experiential Learning (CEL) and other Olin-sponsored programs and activities.  Awardees distinguished themselves with exceptional effort and leadership that advanced the missions and objectives of the organizations and individuals with which they engaged.

Kevin Graham Farrell                                           Peer Recognition Award
Awarded to the graduating Professional MBA student who, in the opinion of his or her fellow students, best exemplifies the qualities of character, leadership, and service and also enjoys the respect, admiration, and affection of his or her classmates.

Kevin Graham Farrell                                                Hiram and Mary Neuwoehner Prize
Awarded by the faculty to the graduating Professional MBA student who has been the most substantive addition to the evening program through contributions in the classroom and excellence in writing papers and taking examinations. This award was established by Mary Neuwoehner in the 1990s to honor her husband, Hiram Neuwoehner, BSBA ’41, a St. Louis advertising executive and founder of Batz-Hodgson-Neuwoehner Inc.

Trevor D. Hale                                  Outstanding Finance Student Award
Awarded to the graduating Master of Science in Finance student who, in the judgment of the faculty, exhibits the strongest academic achievement and the most potential in the field of finance.

Tianda Vinese Harris                        Milford Bohm Prize in Marketing
Awarded to the graduating MBA student who, in the judgment of the faculty, exhibits the strongest academic achievement and the most potential in the field of marketing. This award was established in honor of Milford Bohm―founder, chairman, and CEO of CPI (formerly Rembrandt Studio) from 1942 to 1973―by his wife, Lee Bohm, and their children, Mimi (MBA ’79), David (LA ’78/JD ’84), Rob (MBA ’90), and the late Vicki (EN ’84/SI ’85).

Daniel Henry                                     John Wayne Latchum Memorial Award
Recognizes the graduating MBA student who best exemplifies the qualities of integrity, loyalty to friends and country, courage, intelligence, and high standards of personal conduct as judged by the faculty. This award is named in memory of John Wayne Latchum, a business student who died in 1971 while he was a senior at Washington University. It is made possible through the generosity of his parents.

Christian A. Luetkemeyer                Professional Achievement Award
Awarded to the graduating Professional MBA student who best exemplifies the qualities of integrity, loyalty, intelligence, and high moral character as judged by the faculty.

Cambrie Marie Nelson                     Paul Cuffe MBA Award for Outstanding Leadership
Awarded to a graduating African-American MBA student for outstanding leadership, academic excellence, and involvement in Olin extracurricular activities. This award is named in honor of Paul Cuffe, who was one of the most financially successful black Americans at the end of the 18th century. A builder and maritime merchant in New England, Cuffe became a successful blockade runner during the Revolutionary War and an entrepreneur during the early years of American independence.

Cambrie Marie Nelson                                                             Hubert C. Moog Prize
Awarded to the graduating MBA student who, in the opinion of his or her fellow students, best exemplifies the qualities of character, leadership, and service and also enjoys the respect, admiration, and affection of his or her classmates. This award is named in honor of Hub Moog, who as chairman and president of Moog Automotive, transformed his family’s St. Louis-based business into a world-renowned corporation. He served on the Washington University Board of Trustees and the Olin Task Force in 1980 and 1981. He and his wife, Dorothy R. Moog, were strong supporters of Washington University.

Tony Sean Nuber                                                                   Powell Niland Prize
Awarded to the graduating MBA student with the strongest academic achievement in the areas of operations and manufacturing management. This award is named in honor of Powell Niland, who was a tenured Olin operations and manufacturing management professor from 1957 to 1989 and an Olin professor emeritus from 1989 until 2009.

Tony Sean Nuber                                                              Joseph W. Towle Prize
Awarded to the graduating MBA student who, in the judgment of the faculty, exhibits the strongest academic achievement and the most potential in the area of organizational leadership. This award is named in honor of Joseph W. Towle, who was a tenured Olin management professor from 1954 to 1975 and a leader among faculty. Well-known in his field, an author, and president of the Academy of Management, he established this prize to encourage excellence in the classroom.

Nirav Sharma                                    Taylor Outstanding Service Award
Awarded to the graduate who has participated in multiple Taylor Community Consulting projects to enable positive change in the St. Louis community. The Taylor Community Consulting Program provides students the opportunity to impact the local nonprofit sector through team-based, experiential learning projects.

Jonathan Doyle Slack                       Dean’s Special Service Award
Awarded by the Dean to recognize MBA students who have rendered extraordinary service to Olin.

Casey Michael Wagenaar     Nicholas Dopuch Outstanding Accounting Student Award
Awarded to the graduating Master of Accounting student who, in the judgment of the faculty, exhibits the strongest academic achievement and the most potential in the field of accounting. This award is named in honor of Nicholas Dopuch, a tenured Olin accounting professor from 1983 to 2006 and now an Olin professor emeritus.

Zhongxing Zhang                              Olin MBA Finance Award
Awarded to a graduating MBA student for achievement in finance.

To be announced week of May 15: Charles F. Knight Scholars

Reid Teaching Award

A longtime benefactor of Olin Business School, James W. Reid, BSBA ’28, with his wife, Marcile, established the Reid Teaching Awards in 1994 to recognize teaching excellence. The impact of the Reids’ benevolence and commitment to Olin will continue to be felt by generations of students, faculty, alumni, and friends. The Reid Teaching Award is presented by Olin’s graduating class to the professor whose enthusiasm and exceptional teaching most inspire, energize, and transform our students.

Thomas Fields, John Horn, MBA Class

Sergio Chayet, Hillary Anger Elfenbein, PMBA Class

Mark Soczek, MACC Class

Todd Gormley, Thomas Maurer, MSF Class