executive

Culverhouse College of Commerce

>> Magazine

In this issue:
Studying and working
abroad give Culverhouse
students a unique
view of the world and
themselves

Fall 09Winter 09

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Zac Bragg finds gold

in theMicrosoft

hills

Our Students. Y o u r F u t u r e .
When Zac Bragg graduated
from The University of Alabama
last spring, he was looking for an
employer as dedicated to research
and innovation as he is.
That led him to the great
Northwest, to the Seattle area,
which in late 1890s was the
northernmost departure point in
the continental United States for
the world- famous Klondike Gold
Rush. Like Zac, a lot of people
headed for Seattle in those days,

looking to find the mother lode.

Zac, 23, of McCalla, has
a degree in management
information systems and a minor
in computer science, which makes
him a great fit for Bill Gates and
company. Microsoft Corp. is
based in Redmond, Wash., part
of the greater Seattle area, and
is a global company with 89,809
employees in 60 countries.
Now, Zac is a technical account
manager with Microsoft. As such,

he works with customers to

resolve technical issues, provides
timely advice and forms and
maintains working relationships
with Microsoft partners.
When not working, Zac plays
ultimate Frisbee, rides a mountain
bike and does graphic designs.
Even in times of reduced
spending, Microsoft plans to
invest $9.5 billion the next fiscal
year in research and technology.
This was assuring to me, that

For more information about our graduates and how they can contribute to your success, contact Linda Johnson, director of
employer development and relations, Culverhouse College of Commerce, at 205-348-3455 or by e-mail at ljohnson1@sa.ua.
edu.

Microsoft would expand what can

be done with technology. I wanted
to be a part of that. I wanted to
have global impact.
So, Zac, how is the Seattle
weather, really, and have you met
Gates?
Seattle summers are a bestkept secret ... possibly the best
summer weather in the country.
And no, but do I get points for
meeting Steve Ballmer?

executive
Culverhouse College of Commerce

>> Magazine

Fall 09 Winter 10
Volume 14 Issue 2
The Executive is published
twice annually, in the spring
and fall, for alumni and friends
of The University of Alabamas
Culverhouse College of
Commerce and Business
Administration.

Dean:
J. Barry Mason

Editor:

Contributing
Photographers:
Zack Riggins, Laura Shill,
Samantha Hernandez

Office of
Development, Alumni
and Corporate
Relations:
Charlie Adair, Lindsey Blumenthal,
Kathy DeShazo, Kyle Fondren,
Diane Harrison, Amy Henderson,
Laura Rector
Culverhouse College of
Commerce and Business
Administration
Box 870223
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0223

William R. Bill Gerdes

Graphic Design:
Travis Gibbs
Office of Design and Production
The University of Alabama

Comments, suggestions,
questions: 205-348-8318
bgerdes@cba.ua.edu

Contributing
Writers:

The University of Alabama is

an equal-opportunity educational institution/
employer. MC7884

Caroline Beard
Carmen Shea Brown
Tiffany Fountain
Bill Gerdes

2 Deans Message
3 A Successful Capital Campaign
Thanks for all your help in supporting the school of
business

5 College International Business Programs

Studying and working abroad give Culverhouse students
a unique view of the world and themselves

14 Alabama International Trade Center

Students go global with careers after completing

internships on campus

16 Hall of Fame
Four distinguished business figures inducted

25 Tide-Fi
MIS class develops a free wireless Internet service for
the Strip

28 Alfonso Yuchengco


29

Friend of the University has long and distinguished

history of philanthropy

Alumni Notes

31 In the News
Nations economic woes make Culverhouse faculty
popular with media

35 Dennis Lauscha
Culverhouse graduate finds football in the Big Easy to
his liking

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>>

37 Faculty and Staff News

Executive

Contents

51 Distinguished Alabama Sportsman

Appointments, recognitions, honors and awards keep

coming

41 Boardroom Disputes

Ronald Bruno tapped for honor by Alabama Sports Hall of

Fame

53 Student Highlights

Turmoil in the boardroom can affect company performance

45 Academic Business Library Directors

Conference
Angelo Bruno Business Library hosts library director from
major business schools

Award, conference and internships demonstrate students

commitment to excellence

57 Staying Abreast
Keeping in touch keeps getting easier

47 Womens Initiative

Program provides female business students with the tools

for success

49 Entrepreneurship Camp

High school seniors get a feel for college and careers in

business

5
ON

THE

C OVER

College International Business Programs

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>>

Our Safety

is our speed

J. Barry Mason

Dean and Thomas D. Russell Professor

of Business Administration

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>>

Deans

Message

Dear Friends of the College :

y first order of business is to give a huge

thank you to all who contributed to
our recently ended capital campaign. We raised
nearly $85 million, no easy task in these daunting
economic times. Thanks to your generosity, we
will now be able to develop a plan that will take
the college to the next level of excellence, and
that is exciting.
We are re-examining each facet of what
we do: organizational structure, our mission,
our programmatic priorities and possible new
directions for the college. These are unusual
times and the college faces a unique set of
challenges. For example:

Despite the fact that we are operating

on a flat budget for the second year, our

enrollment continues to increase. We have
more than 6,000 students enrolled this fall,
including our online students.
Our endowment support has been stable
for 200910, but we have been advised
that it will decline next year and the year
beyond. We have reserves so we will meet
our minimum needs for the time being.
But we have gone two years without merit
salary increases. A third year may cause some
defections.
The job market is soft across the board, and
our undergraduate placement is roughly 50
percent.

But on the other hand:

We have added some intellectual firepower

by hiring three traditional faculty members

and one clinical faculty member, while at the
same time increasing our faculty and staff
diversity.
To take some economic burden off the
students and their families, we have
developed a way to offer the last two years of
our general business program online to the
states two-year colleges. That allows some
students to remain at home to earn a fouryear degree.

We all know that the economy will turn around.

Until then, we are taking several steps to make
sure we do not lose momentum until it happens.

We are strengthening our regional presence

as the university of choice for state students,

while at the same time making sure we
recruit the quality of students we need. We
are doing that by focusing on our recruiting
system and intensifying our contact with
alumni and friends, encouraging them to
hire our students.
We are looking for new revenue sources,
such as certificate programs, executive
education, industry-specific training
programs and more online training.
We are turning to our centers and institutes
to bring in more grants and other assistance.
We are looking at our existing courses for
ways to meet market demand, streamline
costs and partner with other colleges in new
program offerings we can launch without
investing more resources.
And we are looking at how to more
effectively use professionally qualified faculty
as opposed to academically qualified faculty.
And of course, we will continue to look for
ways to reduce our costs by combining jobs
in some instances and not filling others.

But we must focus on market-driven strategies

and avoid short-term, budget-driven decisions.
We must continue to attract good students with
prosperous futures, hire quality faculty and staff,
strengthen our regional appeal, enhance our
revenue and manage our costs effectively.
I urge you to remain in contact with the
college and share with us your thoughts about
the possibilities for the future.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, In skating over
thin ice, our safety is our speed. We are moving
quickly to make sure we reach the other side of
the lake.

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>>

A Successful Capital Campaign

Thanks for all your help in supporting the school of business

successful capital campaign

is in the books. The
University of Alabama raised a
total of $612,672,016 million,
including $84,787,590 in gifts
to the Culverhouse College of
Commerce.
More than 100,000 people
donated to the Universitys
campaign, and there were 130
gifts of $1 million or more. UA
employees donated $11.6 million,
and students gave $289,093,
according to UA data.

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Those are great numbers, but

the most important number for
the business school may be 6,714.
That is the number of people
who joined in the Culverhouse
effort and showed their faith and
confidence in our stewardship of
their contributions.
The college development staff,
led by Dean J. Barry Mason and
Director of Development Charlie
Adair and joined by Diane
Harrison, development officer,
and John Snider, assistant to

c om m erc e

the dean, worked long and hard

on the campaign. They traveled
throughout the nation to meet with
potential donors to articulate the
need to support a strong business
school that is not only a major
economic engine for the state
but one that produces bright and
capable business leaders for the
future.
Contributions came from
45 states and Puerto Rico,
demonstrating the reach of
the Culverhouse College of

Commerce. As might be expected,

the bulk of the gifts came from the
3,890 Alabama donors who chose
to contribute.
A core group of executives was

Lewis M. and Faye Manderson.

They have made gifts in excess
of $12 million to support the
Manderson Graduate School of
Business, which is named in Lewis
Mandersons honor. The gifts
are the third largest in the
Universitys history.
Faye and I are pleased to
partner with the University
in educating and supporting
the brightest business leaders
of today and tomorrow,
Manderson said. We
want our gift to support
many generations of The
University of Alabama family
and continue a tradition of
academic excellence at the
A da i r
Capstone.
Manderson is the founder
of Creative Displays Inc., one
of the largest outdoor advertising
companies in the United States.
In 1983, Manderson sold Creative
Displays and went on to serve
as president of Manderson and
Associates Inc., a private investment
company in Atlanta. He also
founded Cordova Capital Inc., a
venture capital fund, and various
other businesses.
Manderson received an honorary
doctorate from UA in 1984 and was
inducted into the Alabama Business
Hall of Fame in 1994. A native of
Cordova, he and Faye Manderson
now reside in Atlanta.
Another example is a gift
that came toward the end of
the campaign from the current
partners, retired partners, principals
and employees of Ernst & Young.
The gift was one of several from
leading accounting firms such as
PricewaterhouseCoopers and the
Reznick Group.
The accounting profession has
always been exceedingly generous
to The University of Alabama
and to the Culverhouse School of
Accountancy, Mason said. That
generosity has been exhibited in
a number of ways internships,
mentoring initiatives, employment
of UA students as well as in
monetary contributions.

One of the great

truths in fundraising is that
people give to
people.
C h a rl i e

instrumental to the success of the

business schools efforts. They
were Will Brooke, of Birmingham,
chairman of the Culverhouse
College Board of Visitors and
executive vice president and
managing partner of Harbert
Management Corporation; C.
Kemmons Wilson Jr., of Memphis,
principal and executive vice
president of Kemmons Wilson
Inc.; Charles E. Eddie Adair, of
Montgomery, a partner in Cordova
Ventures; Harris Morrissette, of
Mobile, president of China Doll
Rice and Beans; and Carl Jones,
of Birmingham, retired CEO of
Regions Financial.
One of the great truths in
fundraising is that people give
to people. Those five gentlemen
opened a lot of doors and kept us
pointed in the right direction,
Charlie Adair said. And they led
by example. All were very generous,
and we are deeply appreciative.
The gifts came in all shapes
and sizes, from individuals to
corporations, from employees and
faculty, from new graduates to
retirees. Here are some examples.
Each campaign has a category
called major gifts, and few gifts
were more important to the college
capital campaign than those of

And there was the grant from

the Protective Life Insurance
Co. Foundation that will be used
to support the business schools
developing program in insurance
and financial services, risk
management and actuarial science.
Funds will be allocated to add
to existing faculty resources in
actuarial science and insurance and
to provide important infrastructure
for the program.
Dr. William H. Rabel, head
of the insurance program, said,
We are elated that Protective is
helping out at this critical juncture
in the programs development.
Over the years, Protective has
been a wonderful resource for the
University. They hire our students
for internships and full-time jobs,
assist us with speakers for student
programs and provide volunteers
for our committees.
The contributions to the
campaign will be used several ways,
including maintaining a level of
excellence in business education
as judged by national standards;
retaining our ranking as one of the
premier public business schools in
the nation; continuing to upgrade
our world class teaching facilities;
retaining and adding to the ranks
of our outstanding faculty; and
providing scholarships to deserving
students.
Hank Rosso, author of Achieving
Excellence in Fund Raising, wrote
many years ago, Fund raising is
values-based; values must guide
the process. Fundraising should
never be undertaken simply to raise
funds; it must serve the larger cause.

Our larger cause is producing the

best business school graduates we
can produce.

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>>

College International Business Programs

Studying and working abroad give Culverhouse students a unique

view of the world and themselves
by

c u lv e r h o u s e

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o f

Carm en

Brow n

In England, Crystal McCants didnt

prepare for the role those differences

just smell the roses and take in

play in conducting business

the beauty of a London park. She

internationally. And in Gabon, Africa,

learned to become more agile and

Lauren Wilder didnt just see an

adaptable as a human being. In

elephant in someones garage while

Buenos Aires, Argentina, T.J. Murphy

spending four days in the middle of

didnt just scale the Andes with his

a jungle. She learned what it truly

classmates. He learned more about

meant to see business from a global

cultural differences and how to

perspective.

c om m erc e

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hanks to faculty leadership and new

curriculum developments, students
at the Culverhouse College of Commerce
and Business Administration at The
University of Alabama are proving that
studying and working abroad are no
longer just for the wealthy, the privileged
or the brave. In fact, many of them are
studying out of the United States for
the first time in their lives. Not only
can everyone do it, they say, but its
imperative in todays marketplace.
Dr. Chad Hilton, associate professor
of management and marketing, has

directed international business programs

in the college since 1998 and also serves
as co-chair of the International Business
Advisory Board, which advises the
college on curriculum issues. He has
been responsible for internationalizing
the programs both on an internal and
external level and has recruited many
business school students to study abroad.
The bottom line for me is, its
impossible to talk about business in
2009 and not talk about the global
marketplace, Hilton said. Were in a
multiplayer world now.

Hilton said the business school now

accounts for 25 percent of all UA
students who study abroad, whether on
a short-term or long-term basis, whereas
liberal arts students once made up the
majority. Many students still participate
in traditional, well-known programs
such as UAs Alabama in Spain program.
However, Hilton said that because the
number of students earning double
majors in business and a foreign language
is increasing, as well as an overall
awareness of key players in the global
marketplace, he has seen some surprising
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Lasse Sigurd Seeim, Consul General of Norway, delivers the keynote address at a recent meeting International Business Advisory Board of the Culverhouse College of Commerce
and Business Administration. Founded in 1992, the board of business and campus leaders assists the College of Commerce in furthering its international initiatives.

new trends.
Arabic has had a big uptake
since 2001, although its still kind
of slow, Hilton said. A growing
number of students are also
interested in learning Chinese.
The business school can also
take credit for having the first UA
course taken in Cuba. That came
in 2003 through the Cooper Cuba
Initiative, which was established
at UA by board of trustees
member Angus Cooper and his
brother David Cooper, both of
Mobile. The Culverhouse College
of Commerce was also the first

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college at UA to send students to

Turkey in 2008, as well as one of
the first to send students to China
in 2006 and 2007.
Hilton said Culverhouse turns
to leading universities, such as the
University of South Carolina, the
University of North Carolina,
Florida International and the
prestigious Thunderbird School
of Global Management, to find
benchmarks for its initiatives.
UNC, for example, encourages
all of its MBA students to
participate in an international trip
during their course of study, and

c om m erc e

there are extensive opportunities

for undergraduate students that
go beyond just studying abroad
their GLOBE program, for
example, Hilton said. So, we
look to such universities to get
some measure of how well we
are doing and to get an idea
of the kinds of innovation we
could successfully bring to our
own programs. Currently, all
of our Executive MBAs have to
participate in a study-abroad
experience, and we are considering
international options for the
regular MBA as well.

Culverhouse faculty
members lead
international learning
by example
When it comes to learning
about business issues from a
global perspective, Culverhouse
faculty lead by example, not only
encouraging their students to
immerse themselves into other
cultures, but by regularly traveling
and teaching abroad themselves.
Dr. Alex
Ellinger, professor
of marketing and
management,
teaches supply chain
management at
BEM management
school (formerly,
the Bordeaux cole
de Management) in
France every three to
Dr. Alex Ellinger
four years. He is also
a member of the editorial board
for Supply Chain Forum: An
International Journal published
twice a year by the Institute for
Supply Chain Excellence of
BEM. He described it as a unique
and different experience that
personifies multiculturalism.
The students at Bordeaux are
some of the worlds brightest
students, Ellinger said. Theyre
more globally attuned to what
is going on. They come from all
over the world and speak different
languages, but they all understand
English well enough for me to
lecture in English.
Ellinger suggested UA business
students should take Introduction
to Global Business by their
sophomore year, a course that is
currently an elective but one that
the business school is considering
making a requirement.
A lot of kids havent got a clue
whats going on in the world,
Ellinger said. Maybe by their
junior year they may take a class
on internationalism or study
abroad, but they need to start

earlier. They need to be exposed by

their sophomore year.
Dr. Craig Armstrong, assistant
professor of entrepreneurship in
the department of management
and marketing, is teaching out
of the country for the first time
this year.
Through UAs
partnership
with the
Consortium
of Universities
for
International
Studies, he
is joining his
wife and three
Dr. craig Armstrong
children for
two years on the Asolo campus
in Italy to teach an MBA class
on entrepreneurship. He will
share his experiences via his
blog on Culverhouse Across the
Globe, the colleges new Web
page through which faculty, staff,
alumni and students can follow
the international activities of their
colleagues and peers via blogs,
photos and videos.
Having an international
intelligence is just as important
as all of their other subjects,
like accounting and finance,
Armstrong said. Its a necessary
literacy.
Armstrong said that he has
increasingly added international
issues to his traditional business
courses to expose students to
current business topics around
the world that can or will affect
them in the future. He also said he
plans to come back from Italy with
fresh ideas to incorporate into his
courses at UA.
Every class should have an
international element to it because
the line between local and global
is disappearing, and this needs to
be reflected in the curriculum,
Armstrong said.
Dr. Benton Gup, professor
of finance and an international
banking expert, has visited
approximately 30 foreign

countries
throughout
his career as
a financial
expert, teacher
and author.
Having served
as a visiting
professor
or research
scholar at
Dr. Benton Gup
universities
around the world and at the U.S.
Comptroller of the Currency,
Gup has often been sought after
by the U.S. Department of State
to share his expertise with foreign
governments.
He most recently went to
Morocco and Tunisia to explain
the global financial crisis. He met
with government leaders, bankers,
businessmen, academicians and
students.
The financial crisis is a
global problem; its not just our
problem, Gup said. My job
was to explain the causes of the
current financial crises that have
spread around the globe and how
governments are responding to
it. Both Morocco and Tunisa are
affected by it because of their close
relationships with Europe.
Gup also recently spent
four days in Vienna, Austria,
and Athens, Greece, where he
discussed the U.S. economic crisis
with Austrian economists and
financial experts. He also did an
interview with English language
radio station FM4 and talked with
the local newspaper, Die Presse.
He has published or edited 28
books that deal with national
and international financial issues,
including his recent publication,
Too Big to Fail: Policies and
Practices in Government
Bailouts.
Dr. Glenn Richey, associate
professor of international
marketing and supply chain
management, teaches importexport management as part of the
online MBA program. He also

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teaches International Issues in Istanbul,

an Interim course that focuses on
international trade issues in the third
largest city in the world. The class tours
Istanbul, the Cappadocia region and
the Aegean region containing the old
Greek cities, getting three different
spins on economic issues in Turkey.
Richey said Turkey has one of the
worlds leading emerging economies,
and through the Interim course,
students can experience a culture where
capitalism and Islam merge successfully.
He also noted that studying such a
culture is invaluable when it comes to
standing out in the business world.
If youre going against a student
from another Southeastern college
who went to Spain, France or London,
theres a significant shock factor,
Richey said. People will think, wow,
what a difference.
Richey said European schools
require travel for business students,
and the masters program in the
Culverhouse College of
Commerce and
Business is
moving in that
direction.
A lot of
students are
apprehensive
about traveling
because of cost, but were
working with the advisory board to
find more ways to fund, Richey said.
Eighty percent of our students who
travel have been funded through the
marketing department and
the international business
program.
Dr. Lou Marino,
professor of strategic
management, has also taught
entrepreneurship in the
BEM management school in
France.

So far it is us going
there, but were trying to
make it reciprocal, Marino
Dr. lou Marino
said. Its very exciting. We
get to work with executives
all over the world. Not only do we get
to work with them, we get to learn
from them.
Marino said that through

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participating in the Bordeaux program,

he has discovered new opportunities
in finding capital and learning how to
access it. The Bordeaux program has a
specialized Wine MBA, which provides
students with marketing and leadership
skills they can use to succeed in the
wine industry.
Marino said international travel helps
faculty and students.
It allows faculty members to become
a bridge to the network, he said.
It shows that we have a world-class
faculty.
Dr. Michael Adams, coordinator
of the doctoral program in applied
statistics, said that although he does not
specialize in international courses, he
has traveled to several countries
including Germany, Spain,
China, Mexico and
Canada.

However, he clarifies that

he did not start traveling until much
later in life.
When I was growing up I didnt get
a chance to travel, Adams said. I grew
up in a small town in Louisiana, and it
never occurred to me that there was a
whole other world out there.
Adams said the most intriguing
country he has been to is China.
China is exploding in the global
market and a major player in
international business, he said. It has
over 4,000 years of history and culture.
Adams said he encourages his
students to get out of Alabama and into
the world.
The world is an extremely fascinating
place, Adams said. I want students
to look past the boundaries they have
made for themselves.

The Student Perspective

For Danielle Borsh, a senior
double majoring in international
business and Italian, learning about
business from an international
perspective has been a passion
cultivated since childhood.
If we want to go way back, my
passion for international travel,
communication and business began
when I was in middle school,
Borsh said. By age 20, I had
traveled to Africa, South America
and
the majority of
Europe, not
only for
business,
but also

photography
and community
service.
Most recently, Borsh was
the director of photography on
a team that successfully produced
a travel magazine, Alpine Living,
which focused on France.
When I think about
international business, I become
so excited and pumped for what
lies ahead due to the experiences
I have already had, she said.
Borsh recently lived in Italy
for six months during which
she studied abroad with the
Consortium of Universities for
International Studies. She studied
topics in international business
for three months. Afterward she
began working for Euro-Fer, a
multimillion dollar manufacturing
company located in northern Italy.
Borsh served as the lead project
manager in which she translated
Euro-Fers customized softwareuser-manual into English and then
flew to the United Kingdom to
present the manual to Euro-Fers
top clients.
Borsh also facilitated
communication between EuroFers Chinese counterparts and
handled financial negotiations. She

aided the president of Euro-Fer in

understanding the Chinese-English
reports at one of Euro-Fers plants
in Rizhao, China, a major port city.
I also participated in the
decision-making process dealing
with key issues of manufacturing
our products, employee placement
and shipping methods, she said.
She also partnered with Euro-Fers
vice president and developed a
marketing plan to penetrate the
Australian market.
I have learned major life
lessons that many 20-year-olds
are, unfortunately, not able to
experience this early in life, Borsh
said. I have come back to the
University with a renewed energy
to bring that opportunity to our
students.
One way she has brought her
experiences back to UA came after
Hilton learned of an opportunity
to reinstate AIESEC, a nonprofit

an AIESEC chapter at UA.

We have planned a full startup
by spring of 2010, Borsh said. We
will begin with our first recruiting
class in the fall of 2009. We will be
extremely proactive in our start-up
phases with goals ranging from
sending our first student abroad to
solidifying our leadership staff.
Borsh is also working on an
independent project with Hilton
in which she is writing a business
proposal geared toward developing
a joint venture between Euro-Fer
and an American distribution
company based in Houston.
Dr. Hilton as well as many of
my other business professors have
sat with me and helped me out a
great deal in figuring out the path
I would take when developing
my plan, Borsh said. They also
have served to be amazing social
networkers, helping to get me in
contact with key people to make
my proposal stand out.
Lauren Wilder,
who graduated
from the MBA
program in
2007, now
works in
the Global
Negotiations
and Business
Division for
South America
and West Africa for Hess Corp.,
a leading global energy company
engaged in the exploration and
production of crude oil and natural
gas. She has traveled extensively
to South America but recently
spent some time in a remote village
outside of Libreville, the capital of
Gabon, which proved to be a very
different experience.
I was in the middle of nowhere,
like in the middle of the jungle,
Wilder said, laughing. There
were elephants all over the place. I
even saw an elephant in someones
garage and took a picture of it. I
thought that was interesting.
Wilder said that while her MBA
degree prepared her for her career,

I was in the middle

of nowhere, like in the
middle of the jungle,
Lauren Wilder

organization run by students and

recent graduates with a focus
on world issues, leadership and
management. AIESEC offers its
members customized international
exchange or paid international
jobs in various fields spanning 140
countries. Its international office
is in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The AIESEC network included
35,000 students in 107 countries
and territories as of June 2009.
It is present in more than 1,700
universities across the globe
and sends students on 5,500
international exchanges yearly.
Borsh, who serves as the local
committee president, is working
with several of her peers to establish

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she never anticipated she would

leanings, Boardman said. Thanks
First, on a personal level, it made
have a job where she would have
to The University of Alabama, I was me more agile and adaptable,
experiences such as the one in
able to do it. Theyre always willing McCants said. Secondly, it really
Gabon.
to help students who want to do
helped to highlight my professional
I never anticipated I would
this.
career. In 75 percent of my
get a job with an
international focus
where I would be
studying business
from a global
perspective, Wilder
said. Students have
to be prepared. Its
important because
a lot of business is
global. Companies are
everywhere now.
Business students
Wilson Boardman
and Austin and
Garrett Shirey,
brothers, recently
studied with other
UA students in
Havana, Cuba, as part
of the Cooper Cuba
Brothers Garrett and Austin Shirey, both business school students, in Havana, Cuba
Initiative. Boardman,
a senior majoring in
finance, said he was
able to take classes in U.S.-Cuban
Crystal McCants, who graduated interviews after graduation, they
Relations, Spanish Conversation
from the business school in 2007
asked me about my experience in
and Grammar, Cuban Culture and
with a degree in marketing,
London.
a review course all through UAs
participated in the London
Chela Canler, a senior majoring
Spanish department.
internship program, working
in marketing, recently participated
I carried a lot of preconceptions, with Universal Pictures in the
in an internship program in
Boardman said. I thought surely
special-interest department. She
Dublin, Ireland. She was placed
someone would have a grudge
also worked on a presentation for
with Marketing Network, the
because Im from the U.S. and,
HMV Group, an international
premiere marketing firm in Ireland.
incredibly, it never happened.
entertainment retail chain based in I honestly fell in love with
Boardman said he saw
Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. Ireland, Canler said. The people,
connections to the United States
McCants, who had previously
the music, the land. All beautiful.
that he did not realize before, such
interned with MTV Networks in
Canler said she was assigned
as the fact that many people in
Atlanta and radio stations WBHJ
real tasks for current projects the
Cuba have family in the United
95.7 in Birmingham, said her
company was working on. She
States.
experience in London was a step
said she felt her work input really
The U.S. also does a lot of
outside of her comfort zone, but
mattered to her colleagues, and she
business with Cuba that we dont
the reward was worth it.
got to see quite a few projects from
realize, Boardman said. We have
Everything I had done was in
start to finish, which gave her a
that program here at UA because a
the entertainment industry, and
great sense of accomplishment.
lot of alumni have a vested interest
traveling abroad was the only thing I wouldnt change it for the
in Cuba, so good relations are
I hadnt done, McCants said. I
world, Canler said. In the end, I
important.
wanted to broaden my horizons,
left with a lot of good experience
Beardman is now considering
so going to London was like a
in the marketing field, but more
teaching high school Spanish or
baby step for me as far as traveling
notably, a job offer to work with
economics for Teach for America.
internationally.
them there in Dublin as soon as I
Traveling has definitely helped
McCants said her trip changed
graduate.
direct me in my future career
her in two main ways.

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Executive MBA
For one subset of students, those
in the Manderson Graduate School,
travel is a requirement. The Executive
MBA program, a weekend cohort that
targets working professionals, requires
students to travel abroad as part of
their global business course in which
students research and make strategic
recommendations to improve business
practices for a specific company or
industry.
In 2009, EMBA students traveled to
Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Santiago,
Chile. Companies visited included
Johnson Control Argentina; Globant;
Empresa Nacional de Aeronautica
de Chile (ENAER, Chiles national
aeronautical enterprise); X-Strata; and
the Via Anakena winery located at the
foothills of the Andes. The trip provided
students with an opportunity to observe
people and their cultures and interact
with top business leaders.
For some in the EMBA Class of 2009,
it was the first time they had traveled
outside the U.S. I thought I was
prepared to experience a week of business
study in Latin America; I was wrong,
said Tim Smalley, managing partner at
Byrd, Smalley, Evan and Adams P.C.
My mental images were shattered
and replaced with a love and respect
for a wonderful region of the world
that is aesthetically and architecturally
beautiful, Smalley said. The trip affords
an opportunity to really immerse oneself
in the way business is conducted in
another country, by understanding
culture and history, while meeting with
business professionals, he said.
Brian Middleton, a 2009
EMBA graduate
and Six Sigma
Black

Belt at Johnson Controls in Tuscaloosa,

had also never traveled outside the
U.S. and found it to be an exciting, yet
humbling experience.
When we visited one of Johnson
Controls facilities in Argentina, one
striking difference was the extensive and
sole use of manual labor, whereas in the
U.S. we would have employed computers
or robots, Middleton said. Another
difference is the credit markets. Every five
years they experience a dip financially, but
they adapt quite well. Theyre very happy
because theyve been there and they know
theyll get through it.
According to Barry Kimbrell, an
EMBA 2009 graduate and safety and
security manager with Chevron Mining,
There is a difference in reading about
Latin American markets and experiencing
firsthand and hearing from key executives
about how its impacting their business
day to day. He further said, While in
Argentina we witnessed the economic
downturn with layoffs at Coca-Cola
and a line shutdown at Ford Argentina.
Meanwhile, we visited Globant, and in
spite of the economic situation in the
U.S., they are one of the fastest-growing
companies in Argentina. We felt we
were visiting a future power player in the
Internet and software industry.
Amy Webb, a 2009 EMBA graduate
and electrolytic area leader for Tronox
LLC, said her group was assigned to
study Globant, the Google of
South America. Webb
said her research
could not

prepare her for the actual visit to South

America.
The trip impacted my career by
giving me a deeper appreciation
for business cultures outside of my
domestic experiences, Webb said. I
had the opportunity to participate on
multicultural teams with Tronox. This
experience has shown me that a little
background work on the different
cultures can improve the teams
performance.
Another 2009 EMBA graduate,
Dave Patterson, manager of DRS
Test and Energy Management, was
intrigued by his visits to ENAER, which
conducts maintenance repair for the
Latin American air force, and Johnson
Controls in Argentina.
I have traveled out of the country
before, but it was always to the United
Kingdom. Going to South America
for the first time was a life-altering
experience, Patterson said.
I didnt realize how much South
America influenced world economy. For
instance, Johnson Controls makes 90
percent of the worlds batteries. You
always hear about Europe, but
you never hear about
Latin America. That
was an eyeopener

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Internships Abroad
Kristi Wheeler-Griffin, internship
coordinator for the business school,
said C&BA currently offers summer
internships in London and Dublin,
Ireland. In order to enroll in these
programs, students must have earned at
least 60 hours, have at least a 2.5 overall
GPA and be enrolled in the upper
division of the business school.
Although it would be difficult to
pinpoint a percentage of eligible business
students who intern abroad, the London
program has grown significantly since
it launched in 2004, Wheeler-Griffin
said. By 2005, program enrollment
had increased by 84 percent. In 2008,
the Dublin program was added to offer
another option for students.
Wheeler-Griffin said London and
Dublin are good choices for students who
have had little to no traveling-abroad
experience.
These destinations combine the
familiarity of an English-speaking
environment with a new and unique
cultural and business atmosphere. As
interest continues to build, mostly
through word-of-mouth among students,
other destinations may be considered.
Even though these countries are English-

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speaking, students are often surprised

at the cultural and workplace
differences.
Wheeler-Griffin said traveling
abroad for an internship is an
invaluable supplement to
what students learn in the
classroom.
Already having work
experience, especially
international experience,
carries a lot of weight
with employers, WheelerGriffin said. Working
overseas cultivates an awareness of
contemporary practices in the global
economy, which often gives students an
advantage in competing for jobs upon
graduation. The unique exposure to
business practices and work environments
outside ones comfort zone is prominent
on a rsum. An internship abroad will
surely come up during an interview
because its an excellent example of the
confidence and initiative it takes to seek
out and welcome new challenges.
The seven-week program in Dublin is
made possible through collaboration with
the European Union Studies Association,
C&BA, the College of Communication
and Information Sciences and UAs
Capstone International programs.

c om m erc e

>>

Alabama International Trade Center

Students go global with careers after completing internships on campus

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ondon, Paris, maybe Tokyo.

Thats not just a line from a pop
song, but places where University
of Alabama students have landed
jobs after completing internships
on campus at the W.R. Bennett
Alabama International Trade Center
(AITC). More often, students find
international jobs here in the states,
thanks to this 30-year-old program
that leverages University resources
to help Alabama firms expand
internationally.
I found out about the world of

launched trade careers since its

inception in 1979.
The center is part of UAs service
mission and helps existing industry
increase international business and
expand the states economy. Dr.
William R. Bennett, professor of
international marketing, founded
the center and served as its first
director from 1979 to 1985. Upon his
retirement, the center was named in
his honor.
From day one, center students
developed professions as diplomats
with the U.S. State Department,
export managers with
manufacturers, international
bankers and international
business professors at
universities in places far
and near.
Heres how it works.
Students conduct
research for AITC
clients small
businesses in the
state and region
interested in expanding
overseas sales. Research
is based on client needs and
includes finding foreign distributors,
locating tariff and import regulations
and providing statistics on product
shipments worldwide. Clients use the
information along with other center
services to increase export sales.
Todays students are not only techsavvy but also travel abroad and speak
other languages. This summer Peter
Jay, a student in the joint MBA-JD
program, had prior experience selling
to Russia and Eastern Europe. He
speaks Russian and has started two
Internet retail companies.
I knew the export process, but
Ive gained more knowledge about
domestic and export financing,
Jay said. Ive helped prepare loan
packages for potential bank financing
for center clients.
Students play a vital role in our
daily work with over 200 small firms
each year, said Michael Brooks,

I met presidents of
companies from Vietnam,
Nguyen said. It was
interesting to hear how they
will introduce U.S. products
to the market in Vietnam.
importing and exporting at the trade
center, said Fiona Nguyen, a recent
MIS graduate. There are many small
businesses involved, not just the large
ones.
Nguyen had the opportunity to
assist a delegation of executives from
Vietnam hosted by the trade center as
part of its emerging markets program.
She and AITC professional staff
members accompanied the group
to an international trade show in
Chicago and organized meetings with
U.S. companies.
I met presidents of companies
from Vietnam, Nguyen said. It was
interesting to hear how they will
introduce U.S. products to the market
in Vietnam.
Her experience is not unique.
Hundreds of UA students both
graduate and undergraduate have
worked at the campus center and

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AITC assistant director of research.

They conduct research for a variety
of products from candy to computer
software. Its never a dull moment at
the Bidgood office.
The trade center has also been a
supply pipeline for students entering
the global logistics field. One top
freight-forwarding firm, Expeditors
International, had 10 trade center
graduates in its Atlanta office at one
time.
Charlie Aleman, a 2005 graduate
from Orlando, worked four semesters
while studying finance. He was one of
10 people nationwide selected for a
training program with global logistics
firm Maersk and was recently posted
to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Carolyn Turner, a former
international business honors
student, returned to UA to complete
a graduate degree in supply chain
management. She works at the trade
center. Turner passed the rigorous
U.S. Customs Exam and obtained a
customs broker license.
Student profiles and success are
posted on the AITC Web site to
help recruit new interns and sway
future students to enroll at UA.
Not surprisingly, children of former
graduates and clients are interested in
working at the trade center. A former
client in Guatemala recently sent
an e-mail asking for UA admissions
information for his daughter.
With annual public and private
support, especially from the Small
Business Administration, about
1520 students gain practical work
experience each year and continue the
tradition that Bennett started in the
late 1970s.
Thats good news for Alabama
companies that want to expand sales
abroad and for students that need a
springboard for international trade
careers.

>>

Hall of Fame

Four distinguished business figures inducted

P r ofi l es

b y

Carolin e

Beard

Four of the states leading business and civic leaders were inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame last month
at a black-tie dinner at the Bryant Conference Center on The University of Alabama campus.
This year marked the 36th anniversary of the Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Board of Visitors of UAs Culverhouse
College of Commerce and Business Administration. The four inductees exemplify hard work and determination as well
as a commitment to excellence and the betterment of their community. More than 130 prominent business leaders have
been inducted into the business hall of fame, and their likenesses are embossed on plaques that line the walls of the Hall
of Fame Room in Bidgood Hall on the University campus.
The 2009 Alabama Business Hall of Fame inductees are:
Mike Jenkins IV,
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, Jenkins Brick Co.
The late Thomas E.
Jernigan,
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, Marathon Corporation
Carl E. Jones Jr.,
former President and Chief
Executive Officer, Regions
Financial Corp.
John Russell Thomas,
Chairman of the Board, Aliant
Financial Corp.

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Mike Jenkins IV

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer

Jenkins Brick Co.

(1940)
To some, the word green indicates a lack of knowledge or
experience. Although Mike Jenkins is certainly green, with
more than 40 years in the brick industry he is anything but
inexperienced. As the fourth generation at the helm of Jenkins
Brick Co., he helped revolutionize the brick-making process in
1998, becoming one of the industrys first manufacturers to use
landfill gas rather than natural gas for firing the kilns. Jenkins
Brick is the largest user of earth-friendly methane gas in the
brick industry, and the company also harvests stormwater from
the roofs of its manufacturing plants for use during production.
As worker-friendly as he is environmentally conscious, Jenkins
treats his employees in an exemplary manner. From corporate
executives to workers stacking brick, everyone is an associate,
and each associate receives the same benefits. Everyone at
Jenkins Brick is on a first-name basis, and Jenkins ensures equal
treatment of all associates.

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Jenkins has not always been an experienced and resourceful

leader in the brick industry, however. In 1960, the 18-year-old
graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery,
Ala. Jenkins attended Washington and Lee University in
Virginia and graduated in 1964 with a bachelors degree in
political science and four years of ROTC training. He was
then commissioned by the U.S. Army and served two years of
active duty in Korea as an infantry officer. Jenkins received his
parachutist badge as well as the Expert Infantryman Badge, and
he was the only officer below the rank of major to receive the
Army Commendation Medal during the 13-month tour.
After an honorable discharge in November 1966, Jenkins
began his career with Jenkins Brick Co., a business founded in
the late 1800s by his great-grandfather. Jenkins learned every
aspect of the family trade, beginning in sales and working his
way up to plant manager. He also continued his education,
earning a masters degree in ceramic engineering from Clemson
University in 1969. In 1974, Jenkins advanced to the position
of chief executive officer of the company, which at that time
had three distribution locations in Alabama and Florida. Today,
Jenkins Brick operates in nearly 30 locations throughout the
Southeast, manufacturing and distributing its own brick as well
as brick and building materials manufactured by others.

 Jenkins Brick Co. has plants in Coosada, Montgomery

and St. Clair County in Alabama, which together produce
more than 326 million bricks annually. In 1998, the plant in
Montgomery was converted to run on landfill gas, and it now
produces 110 million bricks each year while saving energy and
benefiting the environment. The Coosada plant, originally built
in 1959, began to produce high-end specialty brick in 2004 and
makes 80 million bricks annually.
In 2006, Jenkins Brick built the St. Clair County facility,
placing it just six miles from the local landfill so the kilns could
be fueled with the methane gas produced by the waste.
The companys current use of landfill methane reduces
greenhouse gases each year in an amount equal to planting
14,700 acres of forest, removing the emission of 13,700 vehicles
or preventing the use of 166,600 barrels of oil.
Throughout the years, Jenkins Brick Co. has been recognized
numerous times for outstanding business and environmental
practices. The United States Environmental Protection
Agency awarded Jenkins Brick with the 2006 Project of the
Year, honoring the companys earth-friendly plant in St. Clair
County. Jenkins Brick was selected as one of 11 businesses
worldwide to participate in a Harvard University study called,
The Project on Global Working Families. The green-minded
Jenkins Brick is also a two-time recipient of the Alabama
Wildlife Federation Governors Conservation Achievement
Award for Air Conservationist of the Year, receiving the
honor in 1999 and again in 2007. Jenkins Brick also received
the Alabama Technology Council and Business Council of
Alabama award for Medium Manufacturer of the Year in 2007.
The same year, the Montgomery Area Business Committee for
the Arts, a national nonprofit organization uniting business and
the arts, recognized the companys involvement in the arts in
Montgomery with the 2007 Business in the Arts Award. Then
in 2008, Jenkins Brick received MAX Credit Unions EcoMax
Green Leadership Award and was also named among Inc.
magazines Top 5,000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in
America.
Jenkins, like his company, has amassed a number of awards for
business leadership and community service. In 1999, Jenkins
alma mater, Washington and Lee University, selected him
as one of 250 leading alumni in honor of the schools 250th
anniversary. Jenkins high school, Sidney Lanier, honored him
with the title of Outstanding Alumnus. Jenkins received the
Martin Luther King Jr., Community Service Award from the
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and the Community Leadership
Association awarded him its Distinguished Leadership Award.
In 2008, the Montgomery Chapter of the American Institute
of Architects recognized Jenkins outstanding contributions
to the architectural profession, awarding him the Mike Barrett
Memorial Award. Most recently, Jenkins received the highest
honor in his industry, the Brick Institute of Americas Lifetime
Achievement Award.
Jenkins has not only served as the leader of his company for

decades, he has also been involved in numerous civic and service

organizations, generously giving his time and leadership to
the community. In the past, Jenkins acted as director and vice
chairman of both the Montgomery Area United Way and the
Montgomery Red Cross, and he directed the United Ways
1999 capital campaign. He also served as a trustee for both
the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind Foundation and
the Nature Conservancy of Alabama. As a co-founder and an
original steering committee member, Jenkins contributed to
the formation of Leadership Montgomery and is co-founder,
past chairman and current director of Leadership Alabama,
organizations which foster relationships that bridge social and
ethnic boundaries. He is a past director of Jackson Hospital, the
National Episcopal Church Foundation and the Montgomery
Area YMCA.
Over the years, Jenkins has been involved in a number of
educational causes throughout the state and the country. He
was a director of the alumni board at Washington and Lee and
served on the board of governors for the Alabama Association
of Private Colleges and Universities. He served as president and
board chairman of Montgomery Academy, and he served as a
director of the Montgomery City-County Public Library.
In business, Jenkins has served as chairman of the Rebel
Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization and director of
the Society of International Business Fellows. He is a former
chairman of the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, a former
director and vice chairman of the Alabama Association of
Business and Industry and a director of the Business Council of
Alabama.
Currently, Jenkins continues to lead in numerous
organizations. He serves as director of the Alabama Archives
and History Foundation and is a trustee of The University of
Alabama Museums. Jenkins also serves as director and vice
chairman of the Brick Industry Association and director of the
Business Council of Alabama. In education, he is a director
of the Alabama State University Foundation and a trustee of
Huntingdon College. Jenkins also holds memberships in the
Chief Executive Organization, the Society of International
Business Fellows and the World Presidents Organization.
In 2007, the position of president of Jenkins Brick was filled
by someone Jenkins wholeheartedly trusts: his son, Mike
Jenkins V. The senior Jenkins said he did not want his son to feel
forced into the family business. I was very conscious to neither
discourage nor encourage him to choose this path, he said. But
the younger Jenkins chose the brick-making profession, and
worked his way through the ranks of the company. Jenkins said,
Seeing my son now as an integral part of the company is one of
the great pleasures of life.
Jenkins and his wife, Kent, have four children and 10
grandchildren, with another grandchild on the way. He lives
in Montgomery where he continues to serve as CEO and
chairman of Jenkins Brick Co.

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Thomas E. Jernigan

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Marathon Corporation

(19232008)
The life of Thomas E. Jernigan was the proverbial American
Dream. From humble beginnings in rural Alabama, Jernigan
grew to become successful in every endeavor he attempted.
Born in Atmore, Ala., in 1923, Jernigan later moved to
Frisco City in Monroe County. He grew up on a farm with his
brothers, Ferrell and Carl, and sister, Loretta. After graduating
from high school, Jernigan joined the United States Air Force
and served two years during World War II. When he returned
from military service, he attended The University of Alabama.
After completing his studies, Jernigan settled in Mountain
Brook, Ala., where he raised his family and emerged as
a business leader within the community and around the
Southeast.
Jernigan began his entrepreneurial endeavors by developing a
line of childrens playground equipment. In 1965, he founded

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Plantation Pattern Co., a manufacturer of wrought iron casual

furniture, which still is operating today.
Four years later, Jernigan founded United Chair Co., an office
furniture manufacturer. United Chair exists today as a member
of the Groupe Lacasse family of brands.
Showing no signs of slowing, in 1970 Jernigan founded
Marathon Realty Co. to build and develop commercial
properties. The company primarily did business in the
Birmingham market in Alabama and the Fort Lauderdale and
Tampa markets in Florida.
In 1971, he decided to test his skills with an additional
challenge. He founded Marathon Equipment Co., a maker
of commercial and industrial trash compaction equipment.
During the time Jernigan was at the helm of Marathon
Equipment, the company was recognized as the largest
commercial trash compaction manufacturer in the world and
a key supplier to some of the largest waste removal companies,
such as Waste Management and BFI. Like most of Jernigans
companies, Marathon Equipment received many awards and
commendations from its suppliers.
From its original plant in Vernon, Ala., Marathon added a
new plant in Yerington, Nev., in December 1985 and another

plant in Clearfield, Pa., in 1989. The company began selling

its products overseas, meeting waste management needs in
Australia, Mexico, Central America and the Middle East.
In 1972, Jernigan became CEO of Delwood Furniture, a
corporation that consisted of six individual manufacturing
companies specializing in home and office furniture.
Not one to rest on the laurels of his mounting business
successes, Jernigan put another idea into action in 1973. He
developed the concept of neighborhood convenience stores
in Alabama, an idea that caught on incredibly well. Jernigan
founded and built a chain of 80 Quick Marts throughout the
state.
Jernigan started yet another successful business venture in
1976 when he founded Winston Furniture Co. in Haleyville,
Ala. Winston still is a leading manufacturer of aluminum
outdoor casual furniture.
The company began by making basic wrought iron furniture
but soon added simple aluminum furniture with vinyl straps.
Winston broadened and modified the materials it used,
becoming the first company to develop cushioned fabrics for
outdoor use. These new fabrics contained special mildewresistant fibers and ultraviolet light stabilizers that helped the
furniture withstand the elements.
In 1982, a revolution hit the casual furniture industry, with
Winston at the forefront of the trend. Winston introduced
sling furniture, a type of furnishing in which panels of special
fabric are pulled taut through the furniture frame, resulting in
sleek, comfortable, low-maintenance furniture. The Winston
Furniture line includes both cushion and sling furniture in
varying styles, finishes and fabrics.
In addition to his other business ventures, Jernigan was active
in the banking industry. He was an original director of the
Central Bank and Trust Co., which eventually became Compass
Bank. Jernigans longtime friend and business colleague, Harry
B. Brock, president and CEO of Compass Bank, said Jernigan
was instrumental in changing the states banking industry. He
was a key player and investor in the formation of Central and
State National Corp., a move that sparked the formation of
bank-holding companies in Alabama.
In 1992, Jernigan became interested in the apparel industry.
Consistent with his progressive thinking, he was able to marry
this new business to a philanthropic course. Marathon Apparel
was born under his hand and over a 15-year period donated
more than $5 million to a variety of wildlife and conservation
organizations, such as Ducks Unlimited, the Audubon Society,
the Nature Conservancy, the National Turkey Foundation,
Quail Unlimited and others.
Marathon Corp. has enjoyed several years of success, and
it has consistently given back to the community. In 2001,
Marathon donated $1 million to the relief centers in New York
City following the attack on the World Trade Center. In 2005,
Marathon donated clothing and food to victims of Hurricane
Katrina and has helped flood and tornado victims across the
country.
Through the Thomas E. Jernigan Foundation, a program was
started in Birmingham to help churches provide holiday relief
for people in need.

Throughout his life and his many successful business

endeavors, Jernigan always remembered people in need. He
donated generously to the United Way, the Salvation Army, the
American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society,
Childrens Hospital, the Big Oak Ranch, Junior Achievement,
Juvenile Diabetes, Habitat for Humanity, Cornerstone Schools
and many other organizations. His grant started the first and
only camp for children with cancer in the Southeast. This was
done in cooperation with Campfire USA of Central Alabama
and Childrens Hospital. He also funded medical research
at local hospitals. In 1995, the Association of Fundraising
Professionals presented Jernigan with the William M. and
Virginia B. Spencer Award for Outstanding Philanthropist. The
United Way of Central Alabama honored Jernigan in 2007,
awarding him membership in the Alexis de Toqueville Society
in recognition of his generous gifts.
During his long and busy career, Jernigan also gave much
of his time and money to education. He was a member of
the board of trustees for Birmingham Southern College, and
in honor of his years of service, the school awarded him an
honorary Doctor of Laws. He also served on the Mountain
Brook City Schools Foundation board of directors and the
Advisory Board at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
He established endowments at Birmingham Southern, Samford
University and The University of Alabama, both the Tuscaloosa
and Birmingham campuses. These endowments created
scholarships that still provide deserving college and nursing
students with the opportunities to pursue higher education.
Jernigan also held memberships at country clubs throughout
Alabama, Florida and North Carolina. He enjoyed socializing
with colleagues and friends in his spare time and was involved
in the Birmingham Rotary Club, the Young Presidents
Organization, and the ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating
Out).
Jernigan passed away in January 2008 after battling leukemia.
He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Donna Conyers Jernigan,
and his four children, Thomas E. Jernigan Jr., Lisa Jernigan
Bruhn, Mary Conyers Jernigan and Jonathan Winston Jernigan.
Jernigan remained chairman and chief executive of Marathon
Corp. until his death.
Frank Falkenburg, a longtime business partner and friend,
summed up Jernigans life and character: He was as tough and
sweet a man as I have ever known. He could be the most rugged
person you might meet, and then hed write a check for some
little town in Mississippi that he read about in the newspaper
trying to get over Hurricane Katrina.
Dr. Neal Berte, president emeritus, Birmingham Southern
College, said of Jernigan: By any standard, the Birmingham
community and beyond has benefited greatly from the quiet
but generous philanthropy of one of our most successful
businessmen. Thomas E. Jernigan is one of Birminghams most
successful entrepreneurs and businessmen, and his legacy of
leadership will live on in the future, including those who are
fortunate enough to receive a Thomas E. Jernigan Honor
Scholarship.

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Carl E. Jones Jr.

Chairman

Regions Financial Corp.

(1940)
Carl E. Jones Jr. graduated from The University of Alabama
in 1962 with a degree in finance and two job offers. He chose to
take the position of management trainee at Merchants National
Bank of Mobile, a small decision that set the stage for a long and
extremely successful banking career.
Jones began his career selling data processing services to
smaller community banks and later became a commercial
lender. Then in 1978, just 14 years after his arrival at Merchants
National, Jones was promoted to president of the Mobile bank,
making him the youngest president of a major bank in Alabama.
By 1981, he was president, chairman and chief executive officer
of the bank in Mobile.
Later in the same year, Regions Financial Corp., then known
as First Alabama Bancshares, acquired Merchants National, and

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in 1984 Jones became a regional president, overseeing the banks

in Louisiana and south Alabama.
In 1997, Jones advanced to become president and chief
operating officer for Regions nationally, and in the following
year, he took on the role of chief executive officer. Two years
later in 2000, Jones took on the additional role of chairman of
Regions Financial Corp. At that time, Regions held just more
than $23 billion in assets and consisted of 435 offices in eight
states.
Under Jones leadership, the bank nearly quadrupled in size
through acquisitions and internal growth, becoming one of the
top 15 bank-holding companies in the U.S. As Jones reached age
65 and stepped down as CEO in May 2005, Regions had more
than $84 billion in assets and five million customers served by
1,400 offices in 16 states. While Jones served as CEO, earnings
increased every year and the annual dividend was also raised
yearly up to $1.40. When he retired, Regions Financial was the
largest publicly traded company in Alabama, as measured by
stock market values.
Jones, who fully retired in April of 2006, says that he was just
privileged to be there with a hand on the steering wheel while

all that was happening.

The hands on the steering wheel were more able than the
modest banker would admit. J. Stanley Mackin, the former
CEO of Regions, said Jones is not only a seasoned banker, but
he is a man of exceptional integrity.
Throughout his life, Jones has demonstrated true leadership
qualities, as well as the motivation to succeed. In high school,
he was elected president of his senior class and the student
council, along with acting as captain of the basketball team.
He graduated as the top student in his class from University
Military School in Mobile before continuing on to The
University of Alabama.
Jones also stood out as a leader among his peers in the
college setting. He served as president of the Kappa Alpha
fraternity, chairman of the senate finance committee in the
Student Government Association and chairman of the Student
Health Insurance Commission. During his senior year, he was
recognized with the award for outstanding SGA senator, and
the Alabama Bankers Association presented him with the award
for outstanding student in banking and finance.
After graduating from The University of Alabama, Jones
continued his education, attending Louisiana State University
Graduate School of Banking, the National Commercial
Lending School at the University of Oklahoma and the
Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management at
Dartmouth.
In spite of many additional years of education after graduating
from The University of Alabama, Jones never forgot his
original alma mater. As an alumnus, he has served on the
Board of Visitors for the College of Commerce and Business
Administration for nearly 30 years. He has held a seat on
every Presidents Cabinet since David Mathews term in 1969.
During the Universitys capital campaigns, Jones volunteered his
time, including serving as one of four co-chairmen of the very
successful national capital campaign completed this summer.
His wife, Ann, whom he met while they were both in school
at the University, was another co-chairman, and the teams
combined efforts exceeded the $500 million goal by 22 percent
as they raised more than $612 million.
In 2005, Regions Financial established an endowed
scholarship fund at The University of Alabama in honor
of Jones. The company donated $1 million for full tuition
scholarships for dependents of Regions employees. Jones and
his wife, Ann, tripled the amount with an additional $2 million
gift of their own. Currently, over 20 students are utilizing these
awards.
Jones generosity and years of hard work for The University of
Alabama have not gone without recognition. Jones and his wife
received the Volunteer in Philanthropy Award in November
2006. In 2007, the couple was again honored at the University,
this time with the Frances S. Summersell Award given by the
UA chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa.
In addition to his involvement with the University, Jones has
also given his time to numerous organizations throughout the
years. He has served on several boards of directors, including the
Federal Reserve Bank of New Orleans, the Alabama Dry Dock
and Shipbuilding Co., the Alabama Chamber of Commerce

and the Alabama Bankers Educational Foundation. Jones was

an 18-year member of the Alabama Power Company board of
directors, and he was also on the board of the Financial Services
Roundtable, a national trade association of the 100 largest
financial institutions. Jones chaired both the Alabama Bankers
Commercial Credit Committee and the Mobile Area Chamber
of Commerce, and he was a trustee for the Public Affairs
Research Council of Alabama and the Economic Development
Partnership of Alabama.
Somehow, in addition to serving many professional
organizations throughout the Southeast, Jones found time
to give to numerous civic groups. He served as president for
the Mobile Junior Chamber of Commerce, Mobile Azalea
Trail, Mobile Allied Arts Council and Mobile Rotary Club
and national president of Americas Junior Miss. Jones was
very involved in education, as well, serving as a chairman for
the UMS-Wright Preparatory School board of trustees and
trustee for the Mobile Pre-School for the Deaf. He also served
as the executive vice president of the Mobile Arts and Sports
Association and vice chairman of Infirmary Health System. He
is currently active at the Cathedral Church of the Advent.
For his years of dedication to both the banking business
and philanthropic causes throughout Alabama, Jones has
received much recognition. In 1972, Jones was named Mobiles
Outstanding Young Man of the Year and then a year later
became Alabamas Outstanding Young Banker of the Year. Jones
high school, UMS-Wright, named him Alumnus of the Year in
1992. The National Association for Community Leadership
presented him with the 1997 Distinguished Leadership
Award. In November 2004, the Newcomen Society honored
Regions and its CEO by naming Regions as the featured
Alabama company of the year. When Jones retired in 2006,
Operation New Birmingham recognized him with the Lifetime
Achievement Award, and then in 2007, the Birmingham
Business Journal presented him with its Lifetime Achievement
Award.
Today, Jones enjoys retirement in Birmingham with Ann,
his wife of 47 years. They have two adult children and three
grandchildren.

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John Russell Thomas

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President

Aliant Financial Corp.

(1937)
Years before the birth of John Russell Thomas, his family had
already left an indelible mark on the community of Alexander
City, Ala. The Russells were among the first settlers in
Tallapoosa County. In 1902, John Russells great-uncle founded
Russell Manufacturing Co., a small textile manufacturing
operation that grew to become the international athletic apparel
and equipment manufacturer known as Russell Corp.
When John Russell Thomas was born to Russell and
Crawford Thomas on Aug. 1, 1937, it seemed apparent he
would continue the family legacy. He started preparing for
a future career in the textile industry as soon as he could.
Beginning on his 16th birthday, Thomas worked during the
summers at Russell Corp. After graduating from Baylor School
in Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1956, he attended Georgia Tech.
Four years later, Thomas graduated with a bachelors degree in
textile engineering. He then spent 1961 and 1962 in graduate
school at The University of Alabama School of Business

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Administration. During his time in Tuscaloosa, he met Tate

Jordan, whom he married in 1962.
After serving two years of active duty as a first lieutenant in
the U.S. Army, Thomas returned home to take the position of
vice president in charge of systems and engineering at Russell
Corp., the job he had planned for and anticipated most of his
life.
His wife, Tate, gave birth to twin boys, John J. Thomas and
Russell L. Thomas in 1965. In 1966, not long after becoming a
father himself, Thomas lost his own father. Russell Thomas had
been chief executive officer of First National Bank of Alexander
City, founded in 1900 by the same uncle who created Russell
Corp., and the Thomas family held controlling interest in the
financial institution. After his fathers death and issues with
management succession, Thomas was forced to choose between
selling the bank or running it himself. He chose the latter.
Although Thomas had been a director of the bank for eight
years, he knew little about the operation and inner workings
of a bank, and he had certainly never planned on a career in
banking. His college education readied him for a future in the
textile industry, specifically working in the family business at
Russell Corp. Thomas now found himself preparing to work in
the family business, but in an entirely different industry.
Faced with this midlife career switch, Thomas left little

to luck. He signed up for every available Alabama Bankers

Association seminar and as many American Bankers
Association seminars as he could. He enrolled at the School of
Banking of the South at Louisiana State University, and he went
to consumer lending school. Thomas learned everything he
could from every knowledgeable source available. He realized
that other banks possessed a great wealth of knowledge, and as a
licensed pilot, he was able to fly around the southeast collecting
advice and tips from more experienced bankers.
All the hours Thomas logged trying to learn the ropes paid
off; when he first took the helm at First National Bank in 1973,
the bank was a small but solid operation squeezed into building
it had outgrown. It had $33 million in assets and two electric
calculators. In 2008, the multibank-holding company, now
called Aliant Financial Corp., reported more than $972 million
in assets.
In his 35 years, Thomas has seen and helped facilitate a great
deal of growth for the bank. One of the issues he immediately
recognized was the need for space; Aliant has since expanded
to three separate regional divisions, including more than 20
branches in the Birmingham, Montgomery and Tallapoosa
areas. From the start, Thomas also realized that technology
would play an important role in the future of banking.
Within his first three months, the bank had purchased its first
computer, and today, Aliant offers a full range of computerized
online banking services.
Thomas credits the success of the bank to its attention
to basics and people. Thomas believes in finding good
employees and giving them the proper training, motivation
and equipment. Often, to find the right people, Thomas goes
straight to the source, visiting local schools and recruiting
talented young students to join the Aliant team. He also
believes in treating his employees fairly, something the
Birmingham Business Journal recognized when they named
Aliant among the best places to work in 2008.
During his time with Aliant, Thomas has worked diligently
to help foster and instill the corporations core values of serving,
positive attitude, outperforming, accountability and trust and
to help build the bank that is small enough to listen, large
enough to be effective.
According to Thomas, golfing has also been a major player
in his banking career. A member of five country clubs around
the Southeast, he sees golf as not only good recreation but also
as great networking; on the course, he has met and befriended
other bankers from around Alabama and across the country.
While Thomas enjoys spending some of his free time hunting
and traveling, he also gives a great deal of his time back to the
community. Over the years, he has worked actively to promote
better banking and business throughout Alabama, serving on
boards of directors for multiple corporations and groups across
the state.
In 1986, just 13 years after the start of his banking career,
Thomas was chosen as president of the Alabama Bankers
Association.
In Montgomery, Thomas served on the board for the Alabama
Housing Finance Authority, a public corporation that offers
affordable financing for housing to low-income Alabama

families. He served on the board of directors for Huntingdon

College and spent 19 years on the board for Alfa Insurance
Corp., which services more than one million policies across 12
states.
In Alexander City, Thomas served on the board of Russell
Medical Center and Russell Lands, and he served 40 years
on the board of Russell Corp. He was also chairman of the
Alexander City Board of Education and president of the
Alexander City Chamber of Commerce.
Throughout the years, Thomas has given generously to
philanthropic and political causes. He chaired the fundraising
campaign for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Sports Ball
of Greater Birmingham in 2005. In recognition of his
contributions to the United Way, he was honored by the Alexis
de Tocqueville Society.
Currently, he is on the board of directors for the Business
Council of Alabama, as well as a number of groups promoting
education.
Although he graduated from The University of Alabama
in 1962, Thomas has never ceased to be involved with the
system campuses. He served on the Presidents Council of The
University of Alabama at Birmingham, and he was a member
of the Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama for 13
years.
Today, Thomas is a member of the board of directors for the
UAB Health System. He serves on The University of Alabama
Presidents Cabinet and the Board of Visitors of the business
school, as well as the Athletic Foundation, and he is chairman of
the 1831 Foundation.
Thomas married Claudia Paden Thompson in 1995 after
the death of his wife, Tate, in 1992. Together they have four
children, Russell L. Thomas, John J. Thomas, Laurie McGill and
Reynolds Thompson and 10 grandchildren.
In the face of todays economic turmoil, Thomas remains
optimistic. He is ever confident in his employees, saying that
Aliants great team truly has the grit to take the rough but
necessary measures to weather the storm. While the next
few years may not be the easiest, Thomas notes that Aliant
has already survived a depression and two world wars, and he
envisions a solid future for Aliant. Throughout its 109-year
history, Aliant has seen good times and bad. By keeping a clear
head and steadily moving forward with one foot in front of the
other, we expect to meet our difficult challenges.

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>>

Tide-Fi

MIS class develops a free wireless Internet service for the Strip

he next time you are on the Strip

for a meal or tailgating before a
University of Alabama football game, you
may notice that its easier to connect to
the Internet. A management information
systems class in the Culverhouse College
of Commerce has developed a publically
available wireless Internet service that is
free for patrons of shops and restaurants
on the Strip.
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The retail and restaurant area along

University Boulevard near the UA
campus is a popular place for students to
congregate and socialize. Except for a few
spots, the Strip has lacked comprehensive
Internet access that allows students
to connect to their studies or work in
groups.
The project was initiated by
students who realized the value of
c om m erc e

finding alternative environments to

learn, said Dung Chau, a UA business
school professor. Students wanted a
comfortable place to gather for their
team meetings and as an alternative to
the library or dorm room.
Over the course of two semesters,
the junior MIS data communications
students first developed the business
case and technical requirements that

led the Chamber of Commerce of

West Alabama, UA President Robert
E. Witt, the local Strip business owners
and AT&T to support the project. The
basic value proposition identified by
the project team is that there is a need
for evening group study space and the
Strip restaurants and coffee shops have
empty tables after the dinner rush, Chau
said. Adding the Internet access makes

these establishments an extension of the

Universitys learning centers.
The project teams also developed
financial projections for future sales
based on increased student patrons at the
restaurants during what were previously
slack evening hours.
Next, the team created the free
wireless network called Tide-Fi for
all Strip patrons. It provides wireless

coverage to all businesses along

University Boulevard, from the start
of the Strip at the Alabama Book Store
to the end of the Strip at Surin Thai
Restaurant.
By creating a wireless network on
the Strip, Tide-Fi creates more meeting
spaces for groups to work on projects
and stay connected to school resources. It
will allow students and shoppers to stay

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Professor Dung Chau demonstrating Tide-fi

connected to their school or business life

while eating or shopping on the Strip.
The Tide-Fi project teams studied
several cities that have tried to implement
Wi-Fi. According to Chau, most failed
because cities tried to compete with
traditional ISPs, went over budget or did
not properly manage expectations for all
stakeholders.
With the assistance of the
Technology Council at the Chamber
of Commerce of West Alabama, the
project teams came up with a solution
that allowed all stakeholders to cooperate
rather than compete. They built a
coalition of partners including the
retail shops and eateries on the Strip,
the city of Tuscaloosa and AT&T to
develop a low-cost wireless network that
would be easy to manage.
Business owners on the Strip were
enthusiastic about the project, Chau
said, and many saw it as a way to boost
business traffic during their slower times.
David Jones Jr., owner of the
Alabama Book Store, is an early advocate.
Businesses might get an extra drink
or get a dessert out of (students staying
longer). Everyone needs a better image of
the Strip, he said.
It might not be as conducive to
meeting as some of the library study
rooms, Jones said. But when I was in
school, we had group meetings all the
time. It would have been nice to have
them at a more laid-back atmosphere, and
you wouldnt have to worry about Oh,
your 45 minutes are up.

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The Tide-Fi network promotes

business for Strip merchants by removing
the connectivity barrier for customers.
However, the Tide-Fi project team took
steps not to upset their partner AT&T
by providing unlimited Internet access
for anyone who lived within range of the
Tide-Fi network.
The solution was to limit the Tide-Fi
network to casual use. Users are allowed
two hours of free Internet access each
day. After reaching the limit, users are
prevented from using the network again
until the next day. The network also
limits the access speed and downloads.
The casual-usage policy prevents residents
and businesses in the Strip area from
relying on the Tide-Fi network as their
permanent Internet connection.
We didnt want Tide-Fi to compete
against the ISPs and cannibalize their
services by having residents replace their
Internet plans with Tide-Fi. AT&T has
been an incredible business partner. We
could not do this project without their
support, Chau said.
AT&T has donated two DSL modem
services for the two-year research project.
The city of Tuscaloosa has provided
assistance with mounting equipment on
traffic lights. Doug Taylor, information
technology director for the city, said
lessons learned from this project could be
used for Tuscaloosas initiative to improve
quality-of-life through more Internet
connectivity in public spaces, such as
municipal parks.
The Tide-Fi network was launched

c om m erc e

during the fall 2009 school semester. It

is a two-year research project to study
different business models for revenue
sustainability, such as advertisements and
sponsorship; attitude perception and use
of Strip areas; and management of the
Tide-Fi network.
Students have learned to identify
business value, build a business case for
innovation and promote an initiative
to investors and partners, said Dr.
David Hale, professor of management
information systems and director of
the UA MIS program. Managing
expectations of the Strip merchants,
President Witt, Senior Associate
Dean Mike Hardin, the West Alabama
Chamber of Commerce and patrons,
the students gained real experience
with communicating and managing
expectations.
Additionally, the team dealt with
challenges of integrating software and
hardware technology, legal issues of
licensing models for software, vendor
selection for hardware and software,
installation of network equipment and
U.S. Homeland Security regulations.
The Tide-Fi project is one of 13
hands-on experiential projects that occur
every semester in the MIS program.
Student project teams provide solutions
for Fortune 500 corporations and leading
consulting organizations that realize
similar value. The project sponsors
receive technology solutions that provide
business value, and the students gain
experience that has lead to virtually 100
percent placement of UAs MIS graduates
during the decade. Graduates of the
program are among the most sought after
in the market place and receive among
the highest starting salaries of all UA
graduates.
Its a fun process when our
students recognize a business need,
build partnerships and apply innovative
processes and technologies that exceed
expectations. Everyone wins, Chau said.
For more information, visit http://tidefi.com and
the MIS program at http://cba.ua.edu/mis.
This article includes material from Strip to
Provide Wi-Fi in the Fall, published in the July
11, 2009, edition of The Tuscaloosa News.

>>

Alfonso Yuchengco

Friend of the University has long and distinguished history of philanthropy

ecretary Alfonso Yuchengco,

Board of Trustees of The University
chairman of the Yuchengco Group of Alabama adopted an official
of Companies, who was recently
resolution that recognizes and
awarded the first Global Insurance
expresses appreciation for his many
Humanitarian Award by The
contributions worldwide.
University of Alabama, has a
long and distinguished history
of philanthropy.
In addition to The University
of Alabama, which has received
gifts of more than $750,000
from the former ambassador,
his generosity has extended
to many other institutions of
higher learning, as well as to
a large number of charitable
institutions in the Philippines
and elsewhere.
Yuchengco has been a
longtime friend of The
UA System chancellor Dr. Malcolm Portera, left,
University of Alabama and
and Secretary Yuchengco
has provided support for
several important initiatives, including The former ambassador is frequently
contributions to the Culverhouse
in the news in Asia and elsewhere.
College of Commerce and Business
He was featured in the Power 100 list
Administration through the
by Business News Asia at No. 12. In
Yuchengco classroom, the Insurance
addition, Yuchengco and his family are
Hall of Fame Museum and Portrait
listed at No. 18 on the Forbes list of
Gallery, the John and Mary Louise
the Philippines 40 Richest for 2008.
Loftis Bickley Endowed Teaching
Yuchengco serves the Philippines as
Chair in Insurance and Financial
presidential adviser on foreign affairs,
Services and scholarships. He has
a presidential cabinet position, and
also provided a landmark gift for the
as former ambassador to Japan, the
clinical laboratory area in the soon-to- Peoples Republic of China and the
be erected School of Nursing building. United Nations.
Yuchengcos visit to receive his
In addition, Yuchengco has engaged
award was the subject of television
in many humanitarian activities that
coverage and numerous newspaper
have been recognized by awards
and magazine articles, including those and citations from countries and
in the Business Mirror, the Chinese
institutions around the world. The
Commercial News, the Free Press,
Dona Maria Hao Tay Yuchengco
the Malaya, the Manila Bulletin, the
Charity Wing, a 100-bed hospital for
Philippine Star and the Philippine
the poor, has been established at the
Daily Inquirer.
Our Land of Peace Hospital, and the
In announcing Yuchengcos UA
Enrique T. Yuchengco Hall and the
award, the late Dr. John S. Bickley,
Teresa G. Yuchengco Auditorium have
Emeritus Professor of Insurance,
been built at De La Salle University,
noted that Yuchengcos generosity is
Manila.
unparalleled among philanthropists
A substantial scholarship fund has
from the field of insurance. The
been established at the Fletcher School

of Law and Diplomacy, and generous

contributions have been made to the
Asia Society USA, to the Columbia
University Business School, to the
Pacific Forum CSIS, for the support
of projects and scholarships
involving young leaders and
to the International Peace
Foundation.
The Alfonso T. Yuchengco
Foundation National Discipline
Awards have been given to more
than 7,500 students from more
than 600 secondary schools in
the Philippines in recognition
of their ability and willingness
to sacrifice personal interests
for others and their courage to
stand on personal conviction,
integrity, and discipline.
According to Dr. William
H. Rabel, holder of the
Bickley Endowed Teaching Chair
in Insurance and Financial Services,
Secretary Yuchengco is a wonderful
humanitarian who works hard at
doing good works. In addition, he
is an exceptionally nice guy who
is a friend to all. We are proud to
recognize him for the first Global
Insurance Humanitarian Award. It sets
a standard that will inspire others to
follow in his footsteps.
In Yuchengcos biography, To Leave
a Good Name: The Legacy of Alfonso
T. Yuchengco, his daughter Helen
remembers a time when she was ill
with a rheumatic heart. I was not
allowed to walk, she said in the book.
He would carry me up and down the
stairs, as we had a two-story house. He
would make sure that at least we took
dinner together regularly, and hed
take us on vacations.
At 85, Yuchengco remains strong
and energetic. He genuinely enjoys
people. He prays daily and carries a
rosary wherever he goes, a practice he
began as a high school student of De
La Salle University.

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>>
1960
Morris Dees, co-founder
of the Southern Poverty
Law Center in Montgomery,
has been inducted into the
American Trial Lawyer Hall
of Fame.
1969
Stanley E. Cash ( JD 72)
has been listed in Whos
Who in Health Care by the
Birmingham Business Journal.
Vann Herring has been
named chief executive
officer of McKibbon Hotel
Management Inc., based in
Tampa, Fla. Herring, who is
also president of the company,
will continue to oversee dayto-day operations, with the
expanded responsibility of
guiding long-range planning
and strategic direction for the
company.
Herring joined the company
in 1990 as director of
operations and was promoted
to president in 1996. His
experience in the hospitality
industry includes director of
operations at Edmundson
Hotel Management Co.
and senior vice president
for United Inns Inc. He is a
past president of Marriotts
TownePlace Suites Franchise
Council and currently serves
on Hiltons Homewood Suites
Franchise Council.
McKibbon Hotel
Management Inc. is a privately
owned enterprise that is
a franchisee for Marriott,
Hilton and Starwood hotels.
McKibbon has 83 years
in the hospitality industry
and currently operates
more than 60 midscale and
upscale brands in eight states
throughout the Southeast.
1972
Cliff Bagwell has been
appointed regional manager

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of mortgage for north and

central Alabama for RBC
Bank.
David Muhlendorf, chief
executive officer for Paper
and Chemical Supply, has
been elected to the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce
board of directors. He is a
member of The University
of Alabamas Presidents
Cabinet, past president of the
Business Council of Alabama
and the Shoals Chamber of
Commerce. Muhlendorf s
parents founded Paper and
Chemical Supply in 1949. The
company has headquarters in
Leighton, Ala., with facilities
in Huntsville and Athens.
The company is a leading
distributor of paper, packaging
and industrial maintenance
products.
1973
Isaac William Ferniany
has been listed in Whos
Who in Health Care by the
Birmingham Business Journal.
1974
James F. House has been
named president of BancTrust
Financial Group Inc.s Florida
Region of the companys
subsidiary bank, BankTrust.
House served as a banking
and financial consultant for
several multibillion dollar
financial institutions. Prior
to that, he was employed
by SouthTrust Bank as
executive vice president,
General Bank, where he was
responsible for the design
and implementation of all
commercial loan functions
of the General Bank. He has
also served as CEO of the
Birmingham Market and
overseen multiple regions
for SouthTrust, including
Alabama, Tennessee,
Mississippi and Texas,

representing over $2.2 billion

in loans and $3.5 billion
in deposits. House was in
commercial lending for
19 years before becoming
chairman and CEO of
SouthTrust Bank of Dothan,
N.A., in 1993. BancTrust
Financial Group Inc. is a
registered bank-holding
company headquartered in
Mobile, Ala.
1977
Oded Gur-Arie, PhD, has
been named director of the
Institute of Entrepreneurial
Studies at Adrian College
in Adrian, Mich. He also
holds bachelors and masters
degrees from The University
of Alabama and taught at
the University of Michigan
at Ann Arbor. He also has
an extensive background in
business.
1979
Col. James E. Granger,
the former chief information
officer at the United States
Army Special Operations
Command at Ft. Bragg in
North Carolina, has joined
Technical Innovation in the
newly created role of director
of business development
for the TI Federal Group.
Technical Innovation is a
provider of digital media
technology solutions.
Sherrie Duma LeMier has
been named president and
chief operating officer of
Cahaba Government Benefit
Administrators, a Blue Cross
and Blue Shield of Alabama
affiliate in Birmingham.
Daniel E. Whitaker (MBA)
received the Engineer of the
Year Award at the Engineering
Council of Birminghams 50th
Annual Engineering Awards
presentation.

1982
Richard F. Moody, PhD, has
been named chief economist
and director of research for
Forward Capital, a real estate
investment manager for high
net-worth and institutional
clients.
1983
Harry Anderson has been
selected to head the newly
formed Global Business
and Technology Services at
the Coca-Cola Company.
Anderson formerly was vice
president and controller. He
will report to Gary Fayard,
chief financial officer, also
a UA graduate. Anderson
joined the company in 2001.
Prior to his most recent role,
he was chief financial officer
of Coca-Cola North America
from 2004 to 2007.
Stephen Earl Spratlin has
been named associate dean
of instructional programs
at Southern Union State
Community College in
Wadley, Ala.
1984
Susan Cormany Angelo
was named sales representative
of the year with Medtronic
Physio Control for top
sales performance for
the companys external
defibrillation devices. She
has spent 20 years in medical
capital equipment sales with
General Electric Medical
Systems, Roche Diagnostics
and General Medical
Corporation.
Mark D. Byars has been
named executive vice
president of EGS Commercial
Real Estate Inc.
Jamie Ferrugia has joined
the Callaway Bank in
Columbia, Mo., as a senior

vice president and wealth

management officer. He
will work closely with the
trust officer to manage the
investments of trust customers
while also being available
to manage individuals
asset portfolios. Following
graduation from Fulton High
School, Ferrugia earned his
undergraduate degree from
The University of Alabama.
Prior to joining the bank, he
previously worked previously
at Waddell & Reed, Merrill
Lynch, Ferrell Companies,
W.P. Carey & Co., E.F.
Hutton and Morgan Stanley.
Wiley Mullins III was
recently profiled by the Bay
State Banner in Boston.
Mullins is the founder of
Uncle Wileys Inc., a firm that
distributes food-flavoring
products to replace unhealthy
salts, fats and sugars. He has
also written a book on salads.
B. Todd Whisenant has
been promoted to director
of human resources for the
U.S. Information Technology
Group of Campus Crusade
for Christ International
in Orlando, Fla. He is also
president of the Central
Florida Chapter of the
American Society for Training
and Development.
1985
Terri C. May has joined
Capstone Bank as senior vice
president and chief credit
officer. May has 25 years of
banking experience, including
employment with Compass
Bank, formerly Central Bank
of the South, where she was a
manager of commercial loan
review and team leader for
bank acquisitions, and most
recently with Regions Bank,
where she was a commercial
loan officer, business banking

sales manager and remote

underwriter.

financial counseling and debt

relief.

1986
Todd Whisenant has been
promoted to director of
human resources for the U.S.
Information Technology
Group of Campus Crusade
for Christ, headquartered in
Orlando, Fla.

1998
Robert W. Buzz Jacobs
Jr. has started Polisec, a
political consulting firm based
in Florida. Jacobs served
as the Southeast Regional
Campaign manager for Sen.
John McCains presidential
campaign.

1988
Ruena H. Thompson has
been named human resources
executive at Regions Banks
central region, which includes
Alabama, Georgia and South
Carolina.
1995
Weiwen Chen (MBA, MA
96) has been appointed chief
financial officer for Shenga
Tech Inc.
Toby Wann has joined
Duncan-Williams Inc. as
a managing director in
institutional equity sales.
He will focus on covering
accounts in the Midwest
and Southeast U.S. with
a focus on Texas. He was
previously a vice president
in institutional equity
sales with BB&T Capital
Markets, a senior financial
analyst with FedEx Corp.,
an associate equity research
analyst in the health care
and technology sectors with
Morgan Keegan & Company,
and a reimbursement analyst
with Methodist/LeBonheur
Healthcare. Duncan-Williams
Inc. is a brokerage firm
headquartered in Memphis,
Tenn.
1997
Michael Moebes has
started Moebes Law LLC,
representing injured workers
in Atlanta, as well as Moebes
Financial LLC, providing

2000
Jonathan Denton has
been named vice president
of Capstone Companies
in Birmingham. Capstone
is a development and
construction company as well
as a property management
company in the studenthousing arena with projects
from coast to coast in North
America. Capstone has been
in operation since 1990.
2001
Chad D. Baswell has been
named the chief appraiser
with Morgan County. His
wife, Meredith Bass Baswell
(02), completed her masters
in business administration
with a focus on international
business at the University of
North Alabama in December
2008. She is employed in
the sales and marketing
department at Toray
Fluorofibers (America) Inc. in
Decatur, Ala. The couple has a
son, Davis Grey Baswell, born
Dec. 4, 2008.
2007
Matt Newman has accepted
a position with Strategic
Financial Partners in
Jackson, Miss. as a financial
representative.

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u
Culverho

se

mm
o
C
f
o
e
g
Colle

er c e

In the News

Nations economic woes make Culverhouse faculty popular with media

Members of the media are close to a first-name basis with many of the Culverhouse College
of Commerce professors and staff. Here are some examples.

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State of the auto industry makes

Cashman a frequent source for
comment
Dr. Jim Cashman, professor of management and
longtime observer of the auto industry, was called
on for comments on the Chrysler-Fiat merger on
National Public Radios Marketplace program.
I hate to say it, but I just dont see Fiat as being able
to offer anything that might be of value to Chrysler.
Number one, it probably has the lowest-quality
vehicles in Europe. Number two, it has no money.
Given time, Cashman believes other buyers would
have emerged and made offers for Chryslers strongest
brands like Jeep.
In July, Cashman spoke with The Birmingham
News about the Alabama auto industry and the green
movement.
One issue is uncertainty about the direction of the
industrys next-generation technology and how it will
play in the market, Cashman said. Whatever (the
new technology) is, the speed of that transition will
be faster or slower based on the urgency that comes
out of the price of oil, Cashman said. You could find
yourself sitting out there with the most spectacular
electric vehicle that nobody wants to buy because
the price of oil has dropped to $30 a barrel. Despite
those risks, however, its crucial for the state to be in
the mix to land such projects and help its existing
auto industry evolve, he said. If youre not in that ball
game at all, youre ultimately going to lose that base of
jobs.

Foreclosure trend is troubling for

states real estate market
Dr. Leonard Zumpano, professor of real estate,
said the current trend of foreclosures moving into
the prime loan arena is especially troubling for the

real estate market in Alabama. Zumpano told The

Montgomery Advertiser that no longer can the state
claim to be even moderately isolated from the root
cause of the crisis. The subprime crisis was limited
to certain locations that had seen a great deal of
home-price speculation, he said. That is really
not the case in Alabama. Unemployment is spread
throughout the state, and that means the current
round of foreclosures is widespread as well. If those
folks are laid off or lose their jobs, they cant make
their mortgage payments anymore, he said. The
trend is not particularly recent, Zumpano said. It has
just reached a critical mass where it is impossible to
ignore.

Small towns reeling from fallout from

complex financial transactions
Dr. Robert Brooks, professor of financial
management, has become a key source of information
nationally as municipally owned utilities pay the price
for risky variable-rate financing.
Brooks was called on by The New York Times for
his thoughts on a complex financial transaction aimed
at lowering interest rates on a bond for new sewers
in Lewisburg, Tenn., one of hundreds of cities and
counties across the country pummeled financially
by relying on risky municipal bond derivatives that
went bad. Much of the blame is aimed at investment
bankers that derive large fees from handling the bond
deals and acting as advisers and underwriters.
Its like the lion being hired to protect the gazelle,
Brooks told the Times. Who was looking after these
little towns?
Brooks also told the Chattanooga Times-Free
Press that the entire business model is flawed for
how bond-finance deals are struck. Investment banks
get paid only if there is a transaction, and the more
complex the transaction the more they get paid,
Brooks said.

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 Brooks was also called on the by the

Tennessean of Nashville to comment on the close
relationships between municipal bond fund
officials and banks. Brooks said the arrangement
raises conflict-of-interest questions and has the
whiff of pay-to-play scenarios that have long
plagued municipal finance. When theres a
gatekeeper to conduct business, he said, it drives
up costs.
We as a people need to have as clean a
government as we can possibly have and its in our
interest to root these kinds of things out, Brooks
said. It makes the markets more inefficient. There
are people out there who do a very good job
delivering capital to those people who need it, but
have just decided that the municipal corner of the
business smells too bad.
Fast forward to The Indianapolis Star and
the city-owned Indianapolis Water utility and
its variable-rate bond fiasco that has the utility
seeking a 17.5 percent rate hike.
At the time, the swaps appeared to be cheaper,
Brooks told the newspaper. But there is no free
lunch out there. There was a certain risk the swaps
were supposed to hedge. But the only perfect
hedge is in a Japanese garden.
And there was this in the Tennessean:
The municipal finance industry desperately
needs to rewrite their rules of engagement,
Brooks said. That is my initial reaction.
And closer to home, Brooks was contacted by
the Montgomery Advertiser for comment about
the decision by Regions Financial to reduce
its exposure in the troubled Florida real estate
market.
The bad events have already occurred, Brooks
told the Advertiser. They are selling to get out,
and that makes it a very difficult place to be.

Owners of small businesses face

tough challenge getting loans
Paavo Hanninen, director of the Small Business
Development Center at UA, was contacted
by The Tuscaloosa News for his thoughts on
difficulties owners of small businesses are having
getting U.S. Small Business Administration loans.
We are in an extraordinary time in terms of
the credit market, he said. Every borrower and
every bank is different, he said. While some banks
may shy away from SBA loans, others may be
more willing to do them.

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Retail experts say they expect

more stores will close as retailing
undergoes a major transformation

Kristy

Reyno ld s

All major retailers are now looking at the

performance of all their stores, Kristy Reynolds,
the Bruno Associate Professor of Marketing, told
The Tuscaloosa News.
Stores that fail to meet their chains
expectations could find themselves getting the
axe even among retailers with enough cash
on hand to weather the recession, she said.
Barnes & Noble, the nations leading bookstore
chain, for example, announced last month that
it was closing its underperforming store in
Montgomery.
Such announcements are not good news for
shopping malls, and they definitely are not good
news for the stores remaining in the malls.
Vacancies dont make malls as attractive, so
people lose a reason for going there, Reynolds
said.
Fewer shoppers mean fewer sales for the
retailers who remain, she said. The problem
compounds itself. The remaining merchants
become less profitable and perhaps the next
victim to close.
A couple of stores in a mall cant survive on

their own, she said, because they depend on one

another to attract shoppers.

Supermarket closings inconvenience

shoppers
Typically, people will not want to travel
for more than 10 to 15 minutes to reach a
supermarket, Dean Barry Mason told The
Tuscaloosa News.
Mason, whose research includes retail strategies,
said supermarket chains look at the areas
population density before opening a store. Other
factors, such as the populations household income
and competing supermarkets within the service
area, are also analyzed before a store comes into an
area, he said.
Mason said there could be a potential for more
supermarkets in the area, as well as Tuscaloosas
West End, where Piggly Wiggly last week opened a
supermarket, replacing a Winn-Dixie.
Mason said the Interstate 20-59 corridor
between Tuscaloosa and Bessemer, which has seen
significant growth of subdivisions in communities
like Vance, Brookwood, Lake View and Woodstock
over the past decade, is another potential site for
new supermarkets.
Despite the closings, marketing professor Kristy
Reynolds said the supermarket industry may fare
better than other retailers.
A lot of people are trading down. Instead
of eating at a restaurant, they might stop at a
supermarket deli for a prepared meal to take home,
Reynolds said.
She noted many consumers are also trading down
from brand-name products to store brands and
private labels that cost less but are more profitable
for grocers.
Value means different things to different people,
even in this economic climate, Reynolds said.
For some shoppers, either all the time or maybe
just once a week, value means convenience and
location. Sometimes shoppers want to be able to
get in and get out quickly for a fill-in shopping
trip.
She noted that Publix, whose stores are viewed as
more upscale, is doing well in the recession.
Publix has differentiated itself by its convenient
locations and high levels of customer service, she
said. At a time when many chains are cutting back
on staff, Publix has not. This has allowed them to
maintain fast service times.

Alabamians 4564 increase

The number of Alabamians ages 45 to 64
increased by 200,200, or 20 percent, from 2000 to
2008, according to a Birmingham News analysis of
U.S. Census Bureau population estimates released
earlier this year. That jump includes people in their
prime years for leadership and wealth, said Annette
Watters, manager of the Alabama State Data
Center at the University of Alabama. But it also
means they will be moving into the very senior age
group within not too many years.

Black homeowners may pay higher

rates on mortgages
Black homeowners in Tuscaloosa County are
much more likely to pay higher interest rates than
whites regardless of income and amount borrowed,
a University of Alabama analysis of federal data
shows.
Dr. Leonard Zumpano, professor of real estate,
agrees that borrowers should be able to trust
banks and credible lenders. Established mortgage
companies are not going to screw people,
Zumpano told The Tuscaloosa News. In situations
of bad credit, brokers tend to be more willing to
take on risks than banks. The result is more loans
with high interest rates.

Decade good economically, but has

down side
Theres no doubt this decade has been one of our
best economically, said Sam Addy, director of the
Center for Business and Research at The University
of Alabama.
But theres a downside, at least in Addys opinion.
He noted in The Tuscaloosa News that nearly
89 percent of the state budget relies on sales and
income taxes, which rise and fall with the economy.
Our tax structure is not the best; its not
sustainable its skewed to income and sales
and, finally, its not fair, Addy said.

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Dennis Lauscha

Culverhouse graduate finds football in the Big Easy to his liking

few days prior to when Hurricane

Katrina swept into New Orleans
on Aug. 29, 2005, Dennis Lauscha was
attending a preseason New Orleans
Saints football game at the Superdome
as a vice president in the Saints
organization.
We had a preseason game, he said.
In New Orleans there was not much
concern about the hurricane. At about
halftime, the weatherman said, We
gotta get out of here. We shifted into
evacuation mode. As an organization,
we were prepared.

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Lauscha, who was recently

promoted to executive vice president
and chief financial officer of the Saints,
is a 1992 graduate of The University
of Alabamas Culverhouse College of
Commerce.
When we were threatened by
Katrina, we evacuated the team to
Oakland and set up buses for family
members to get out of New Orleans.
I evacuated to the shortest, safest
distance with the intent to return
to New Orleans as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, I was forced to meet

the team in
San Antonio
and spent the
season there.

When the
team returned
to New
Orleans, we
opened to the
best crowd
Dennis lauscha
the Saints had
ever had, and we beat the (Atlanta)
Falcons.
Alabama fans can understand this
better than most other fans. It made
everyones life a lot better that we
were back and winning. Its in the
blood, just like the Crimson Tide.
Lauscha has taken the fast track to
his position with the Saints.
He was raised in New Orleans
and graduated from Jesuit High
School, where, he said, The faculty
emphasized looking at universities
outside the area. Lauscha and his
parents visited and toured several
universities around the South and
eventually chose The University of
Alabama. I dug pretty deep, he said.
Lauscha initially decided to
pursue a medical career, but his
three roommates at UA were in the
business school, which influenced
him to pursue a business degree.
I decided to major in health care
management, and UA had one of the
few programs in that area, he said.
Following his graduation from
UA, Lauscha decided he needed a
graduate degree and enrolled in the
MBA program at Loyola. As he was
winding down his MBA experience,
serendipity stepped in.
I had an accounting class in
which I did quite well. My teacher
encouraged me to take the CPA
exam, which I did, he said. He
subsequently joined Arthur
Anderson as an accountant.

I was there four or five years, and

my first client was the New Orleans
Saints. The salary cap had just been
adopted by the NFL, and I was one
of the first people involved in the
salary cap audit, he said.
At age 28, in 1988, he was
contacted by the Saints and offered
the job of treasurer. He has been a
vice president and chief financial
officer since 2003 and is one of the
clubs representatives at the NFL
owners meetings. Recently promoted
to executive vice president after
having served as senior vice president
since 2006, Lauscha is a key member
of the negotiating team that actively
pursues future Super Bowls for
the city of New Orleans, including
landing the 2013 Super Bowl in May.
As executive vice president-CFO,
Lauscha maintains multiple roles
within the operations of the club
and other holdings of owner Tom
Benson. In addition to directing
all financial functions of the
organization, Lauscha maintains
a lead position in the negotiations
with government officials and has
an active role in the management of
New Orleans Fox affiliate WVUETV, which is owned by Benson.
Lauscha was part of the Saints
contingent that negotiated the
agreement with Gov. Bobby Jindal of
Louisiana on a partnership that will
continue the clubs commitment to
the state through 2025. The deal also
creates a new sports development
district in the city that includes
the Benson family purchasing and
redeveloping the New Orleans
Centre and Dominion Tower.
Both properties are adjacent to the
Superdome and have sat dormant
and in disrepair since Hurricane
Katrina.
Lauscha is the principal liaison
with all vendors that service the

club and also oversees several

administrative and operations
departments. In addition to
maintaining the teams finances,
Lauscha supervises the Saints human
resources, information technology,
facilities and grounds departments.
Lauscha also negotiated the deal
to bring Horizon Entertainment
to New Orleans. The joint venture
is a television production, content
development and motion graphics
studio that are part of Bensons
Louisiana Media Co.
I am extremely happy. I am excited
and lucky to have this job. This is
where I would like to be for the short
term and the long term, he said.
Lauscha and his wife, Jennifer,
have a son, Dennis Patrick Jr., and a
daughter, Evelyn Anne.
Lauscha gives the University and
the business school a lot of the credit
for his success.
I think that for what I set out to
accomplish, I needed a university
that gave me a global perspective, and
Alabama did that.
You have to dedicate yourself
to continuously learning, and the
concepts of continuing to learn,
of continuing to improve, were
introduced to me at The University
of Alabama.
Lauscha said he tries to return to
the Capstone when his schedule
allows and has been impressed with
the growth and progress, especially
the new buildings. It is not the same
university it was when I was there,
he said.

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Faculty and Staff News

Appointments, recognitions, honors and awards keep coming

Dr. J. Michael Hardin

Appointed to Advisory Board
of Capitalytics LLC
Dr. J. Michael Hardin, senior associate
dean and associate dean for research,
has been appointed to the board of
Capitalytics LLC, a national provider of
analytic solutions for community banks.
Hardin is also the director of the
Institute of Business Intelligence through
the Culverhouse College of Commerce
and is also the director of Data Analysis
and Data Management through the
Center for Mental Health and Aging,
both at The University of Alabama. In
addition, Hardin is an adjunct professor
of biostatistics, computer science and
health information at The University
of Alabama at Birmingham and serves
on the board of directors of Alabama
Quality Assurance Foundation LLC.
Dr. Hardin
is a highly
lauded and
well-respected
member of our
local and national
community.
He has served
as a statistical
consultant
to numerous
Dr. J. Michael Hardin
governmental
entities, including the Department of
Health and Human Services and the
National Institute of Health, said Bill
McKinnon, CEO of Capitalytics. We
are honored to have an individual of
his professional stature on our advisory
board and helping to direct Capitalytics
new product offerings. Dr. Hardins
research background and his extensive
business relationships will be extremely
helpful as our company grows.

Capitalytics, based in Birmingham,

provides business intelligence and
automated analytics to community
banks across America. By providing
cost-effective analysis of public and
proprietary information, Capitalytics
helps community banks reduce risks,
mitigate losses due to nonperforming
assets and put more capital to use.
With its Web-based service offerings,
Capitalytics is focused on integrating
information and solving tactical
problems that have strategic impact for
community banks across the country,
Hardin explained. Im looking forward
to working with Capitalytics to bring
innovative services to the banking
industry. Together, we anticipate being
able to leverage available data and
information to help community banks
that are positioned and ready to grow
over the course of the next several years.
Capitalytics provides information
to community banks, helping them
determine strategic direction and
anticipate performance through the
use of reports that cover historical and
forecasted values for over 200 metrics.
Using public information, Capitalytics
provides reports that reflect valuable
statistics for individual banks and
groups of banks. Capitalytics also offers
augmented services based on proprietary
data provided by individual clients,
including data mining, enterpriserisk management and credit-profile
generation.

Albright Named Most

Outstanding Professor in
MBA, EMBA Programs
Dr. Thomas Albright, professor of
accounting and Reese Phifer Fellow of
Accounting, was selected as the 2009

Most Outstanding Professor for Year

One of the MBA and EMBA programs
at the Manderson
Graduate School
of Business at
The University
of Alabamas
Culverhouse
College of
Commerce.

He has been
presented the
Dr. Thomas Albright
MBA or Executive
MBA Professor of
the Year Award on nine occasions since
joining the faculty in 1990. In 2005, The
University of Alabama National Alumni
Association presented him with the
Outstanding Commitment to Teaching
Award.
Albrights specialty areas are managerial
and cost accounting and strategic cost
management.
He earned his bachelors degree at
the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro; his masters in business
administration at California State
University, Stanislaus; and his doctorate
at the University of Tennessee.

Dugan Named 2009

Outstanding Accounting
Educator
Dr. Michael T. Dugan, Ernst & Young
Professor of
Accounting, was
selected by the
Alabama Society
of Certified Public
Accountants as the
2009 Outstanding
Accounting
Educator in
recognition of

Dr. Michael T. Dugan

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his many years of excellence in teaching

accounting.
This statewide honor is special because
I was competing against my peers in
accounting education in Alabama, said
Dugan, who has received five teaching
awards during his 24 years at the
University.
The ASCPA award recognizes college
accounting educators for excellence in
teaching and for active involvement in
the accounting profession. The award
has the dual function of extending
profession-wide recognition to the
recipient as well as promoting role
models in academe.
Dugan, a classroom teacher for 30
years, joins three other UA faculty
members who have received the award
since it was initiated in 1994. The first
UA recipient was Dr. Robert Ingram
(1994); followed by Dr. Mary Stone
(2002), now head of the Culverhouse
School of Accountancy; and Dr. Barney
Cargile (2004), who has retired.
Dugan, who was born in Dallas but
raised in New Orleans, is also the school
of accountancys internship program
coordinator. As such, Dugan epitomizes
accounting education, Stone said.
Dr. Dugan is dedicated to maximizing
the contribution of accounting academics
to the accounting profession, while at the
same time providing the guidance and
mentoring that helps accounting students
reach their potential, Stone said.
Dugan earned his bachelors degree,
magna cum laude, from the University of
New Orleans and his masters degree in
accountancy and doctorate in business
administration from the University of
Tennessee.
I wanted to be a math major, Dugan
said, but I spoke with an adviser my
freshman year, and she suggested I go
into accounting. I did, and I fell in love
with it.
He said he thinks he received the award
because he takes an active and sincere
interest in students. You have to be
technically competent in the classroom
but just as competent in helping and
mentoring students and guiding them
toward satisfying and rewarding careers.
Dugan said his teaching career at UA
has been highlighted by working with a
great dean and great faculty colleagues.

Dugan, 51, is a certified public

accountant (Louisiana, inactive). His five
teaching awards include the National
Alumni Association Outstanding
Commitment to Teaching Award.
He has published 45 articles in both
academic and professional journals.
He is a member of the ASCPA and the
American Accounting Association.
Dugans teaching and research interests
are in the areas of financial accounting
and reporting.
Dugan is married to a former student,
Stacie Newsome Dugan, and they have
two children: Patrick, 11, and Bethany, 9.
Dugan said the ASCPA award includes a
plaque and $1,500.

Gene Marsh Teaches Last

Law Course to Accounting
Students After 26 Years
I know I am going to miss it

There are a lot of

certified public
accountants in the
business world who
probably owe their
CPA designations,
in part, to Gene A.
Marsh.
Marsh, the
James M. Kidd Jr.
Professor of Law
Gene Marsh
at The University
of Alabamas
School of Law, is also of counsel with
the Birmingham law firm of Lightfoot,
Franklin & White LLC in the area of
sports law.
Marsh has taught LGS 504 at the
Culverhouse School of Accountancy
since 1983 and estimates he has taught
about 1,500 accounting majors. He
taught the course for the last time this
year.
I started teaching in 1981, Marsh
said. Marsh was recruited to teach
the course at the business school by
Robert Sweeney, who was head of the
department of accounting.
Bob Sweeney was a real gung-ho guy,
and he got the course started because
accounting majors were getting clobbered

on the law part of the CPA exam, Marsh

recalled.
Marsh said the course was started
with a weird title and then was made
a regular course examining legal issues
in accounting. It brought accounting
majors up to date in many areas of law
and helped them get over that hurdle, he
said.
I taught one semester a year, always in
the spring except for one time I taught it
in the summer, Marsh said.
The course was originally offered
to undergraduates working toward
their bachelors degrees. It became a
graduate-level course when the School
of Accountancy instituted its five-year
program.
The students have been extraordinary,
and I have been very lucky to have taught
them. If they survive through the fifth
year of the accounting program, they
are good students. What drives these
students in accounting is knowing
they are facing the CPA exam. That is
extremely critical to them professionally.
Marsh said there are numerous online
CPA review and preparation courses to
prepare accountants for the CPA exam,
but hearing somebody talk through
examples is really helpful in the legal
world.
I have enjoyed working with the
business school students, and I will miss
the affiliation with the Culverhouse
College of Commerce and walking across
campus to the business school. I know I
am going to miss it, and I really enjoyed
doing it. I mean that.
Barry (C&BA Dean J. Barry Mason)
is a top dean, a really good guy, and he
always makes sure everyone else gets
talked about and gets the credit, Marsh
said.
Dr. Mary Stone, head of the
Culverhouse School of Accountancy,
said Marsh has been a huge asset for
the accounting program. Not only is he
an excellent teacher, he is also a great
colleague and friend. We will miss him a
lot at the school of accountancy.
Marsh received the Burlington
Northern Foundation Award for
Excellence in Teaching in 1987 and The
University of Alabama National Alumni
Association Outstanding Commitment
to Teaching Award in 1988. He received

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the Student Bar Association Outstanding

Faculty Member Award in 1997 and
2001.
Marsh is well-known outside the
University for his work with the NCAA.
He served as the UA faculty athletics
representative to the Southeastern
Conference and the NCAA from 1996
through 2003. He served as chair of the
University Compliance Committee, the
University Committee on Intercollegiate
Athletics, and the NCAA Certification
Committee and Self-Study Project. He
was a member of the Alabama Athlete
Agent Committee.
Marsh has extensive experience in the
NCAA infractions process, having served
as a member of the NCAA Division I
Committee on Infractions from 1999
through 2008. He served as chair of the
Committee on Infractions from 2004
to 2006. He was also a member of the
NCAA Business and Finance Cabinet
and the NCAA Ad Hoc Committee
on Financial Penalties and Forfeitures.
He currently serves on an NCAA
subcommittee reviewing infractions
penalties.
Marsh has published two law review
articles on NCAA investigations and
the infractions process. He has made
presentations for NCAA regional
compliance seminars, the National
Association of Collegiate Directors
of Athletics, the Faculty Athletics
Representative Fall Forum, the Knight
Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics,
and Street and Smiths Intercollegiate
Athletics Forum.
Marsh received his combined bachelors
and masters degrees, summa cum laude,
from Ohio State University and his
doctor of law degree from Washington
and Lee University. Before enrolling at
Ohio State, he served three years in the
U. S. Army Infantry with the Presidential
Honor Guard at Fort Myer in Arlington,
Va.
At The University of Alabama School
of Law he currently teaches Contracts,
Sports Law, Consumer Protection and
Corporate Finance. He is the author of
many commercial law publications and
worked in numerous cases involving
business organizations, consumer credit
and contracts. He has served as an

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arbitrator and mediator in consumer

litigation and complex commercial cases.
He is married to Jenelle Mims Marsh,
who is a graduate of Washington and Lee
University School of Law and serves as
associate dean for students and academic
services at The University of Alabama
School of Law. They have two children.

Campbell Wins 2009 Alfred

N. Goldsmith Award for
Engineering Communication

Dr. Kim
Campbell,
professor of
management
communication
in the marketing
and management
department at
The University
of Alabamas
Culverhouse
Dr. Kim Campbell
College of
Commerce, has been named winner of
the 2009 Alfred N. Goldsmith Award for
outstanding contributions to engineering
communication.
The Alfred N. Goldsmith Award is
given by the IEEE in recognition of
service within the IEEE Professional
Communication Society to improve the
quality of engineering communication.
IEEE was originally an initialism for
Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers Inc. IEEE is the leading
professional association for the
advancement of technology. Before
he died, Alfred Goldsmith was largely
responsible for establishing the IRE
Professional Group on Engineering
Writing and Speech.
Campbell was also awarded the Emily
K. Schlesinger Award for Distinguished
Service from IEEE in 2007, IEEEs other
top award.
The award committee noted
Campbells work on the IEEE research
journal, Transactions on Professional
Communication. She served as editorin-chief of the publication from 1998
through 2008.
Campbell is a graduate of Louisiana
State University, where she received her

c om m erc e

bachelors and doctoral degrees.

Dr. Rob Morgan, head of the UA
department of management and
marketing, said, Scholarly publishing
is one of the most important aspects
of advancing technology, and Dr.
Campbells work in this area has
been incredible. She has been at the
helm of Transactions on Professional
Communication through one of its most
tumultuous decades, and this recognition
is certainly well deserved.

Schlesinger Authors Three of

Top 25 Most-Cited Insurance
Research Articles
Dr. Harris Schlesinger, professor of
finance and Frank Park Samford Chair of
Insurance at The University of Alabamas
Culverhouse College of Commerce, is
the author or co-author of three of the
top 25 most-cited articles in the top three
insurance journals during 200004.
The listing appears in the spring
2009 issue of Risk Management and
Insurance Review,
a journal of the
American Risk
and Insurance
Association.
Articles in which
Schlesinger was
involved are listed
at No. 7, 13 and
17.
Dr. Harris Schlesinger
Schlesinger is
past president
of the American Risk and Insurance
Association. He has served in the past
as the rate-hearings officer in the state
of Alabama for insurance rate increases.
He has held visiting appointments in
Belgium, France and Germany and
currently holds an adjunct professorship
at the University of Konstanz (Germany).
He was the founding editor of the
Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance
Theory and is currently an associate
editor for five academic journals.
His research papers have won several
awards, and he has received the Minerva
award as outstanding alumnus from his
undergraduate college. He is currently
a senior research fellow with CESifo,

a European-based economic policy

organization. He has published articles in
more than two dozen journals.
Schlesinger also received UAs 2007
Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award.

Drs. Armstrong, Drnevich

Collaborate on Research
Paper, Workshop
Dr. Craig
Armstrong,
assistant professor
of management,
and Dr. Paul
Drnevich,
assistant professor
of strategic
management,
teamed up to
present a paper
Dr. Craig Armstrong
at the Atlanta
Competitive Advantage Conference
hosted by Emory University. The paper
was titled Small Business Strategies:
Refining Strategic Management Theory
for the Entrepreneurial and Small
Business Contexts. The paper is among
the top 10 most
downloaded
papers on the
Social Science
Research
Network.
The two
professors were
also invited by
the Academy of
Management
dr. paul drnevich
to conduct
their workshop,
Creating and Sustaining Competitive
Advantage: Implications of the
Environment, for the fourth consecutive
year at the academys 2009 annual
meeting in Chicago. The workshop
series provides theoretical and empirical
research training to doctoral students and
junior faculty.
In addition, Drnevich was invited to
deliver a workshop, Developing and
Defending Your Research Proposal,
for the Strategic Management Societys
Doctoral Workshop Program at its 2009
annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Watters Wins Prestigious

Minnie Miles Endowed
Excellence Award

Ford Participates in UAs

Faculty Fellows in Service
Learning Program

Annette
Watters, project
manager for The
University of
Alabamas Center
for Business
and Economic
Research and
manager of the
Alabama State
Data Center, was
Annette Watters
the winner of
the 2009 Dr. Minnie C. Miles Endowed
Excellence Award.
Miles, who died in 2001, was professor
emerita in UAs Culverhouse College of
Commerce. She established the award
in 1995 to promote and recognize
administrative excellence. The award
is given annually to a non-faculty,
administrative staff member who has
performed in an exemplary manner to
further the mission of the University.
The committee made an excellent
choice, said J. Michael Hardin, senior
associate dean of the business school.
Annettes professionalism and her
dedication to serving the community is a
model of excellence and should serve as
an example for all of us.
Annettes work with CBER has been
exemplary, Hardin said. Her work with
the Alabama Entrepreneurial Research
Network has resulted in an incredible
resurgence in the economies of several
of the states economically distressed
counties. She is dedicated to making the
lives of Alabamians better, and her work
is a credit to the University, to CBER and
to the business school.
Watters has worked for UA since 1977.
In addition to her work with AERN
and her management of the State Data
Center, she is the liaison between the
center and the U.S. Census Bureau. She
is frequently called on by the media for
explanations and comments about the
states population trends.

David Ford, professor of management,

was selected from a University-wide pool
of applicants to participate in the Faculty
Fellows in Service Learning Program,
where he spent the past year developing
new courses.
Faculty fellows receive a stipend and
research support for their project and
attend monthly
workshops
on how to
teach service
learning. Fords
projects were
Small Business
Consulting and
Students in Free
Enterprise.
In Small
David Ford
Business
Consulting, students perform consulting
work for nonprofit groups. In SIFE,
students engage in numerous selfdirected projects to benefit fellow
students, the community or the world.
They present their projects at regional
and national competitions.

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>>

Boardroom Disputes

Turmoil in the boardroom can affect company performance

f you think finance research is

boring, you need to hang out
for a while with Anup Agrawal.
The internal fighting that goes
on between members of the
boards of directors and officers
of the nations public companies
is seldom made public. Like
Las Vegas, what happens there
stays there, and what takes place
inside board rooms is essentially
a black box to outsiders.
There has been a lot
of research on corporate
governance and much research
on corporate boards, said
Agrawal, a professor of finance
and the William A. Powell Jr.
Chair of Finance and Banking
at The University of Alabamas
Culverhouse College of
Commerce. But, Agrawal said,
not much research has been
done inside the black box of
boards.
Agrawal and a team of
researchers are changing that.
A new paper by Agrawal and
Mark Chen of Georgia State
University examines 181
board disputes between 1995
and 2006 that resulted in one
or more director departures.
This is the first paper to
look empirically at the inner
functioning of boards, Agrawal
said.

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The paper has not yet been

published and is going through
the peer-review process, but
the draft is drawing a lot of
attention. There seems to be
a lot of interest in the paper,
Agrawal said.
Agrawal has been attending
conferences around the country
to present the paper and defend
and explain his findings.
People throw a lot of eggs at
you, he said, but that is part of
the process.
The findings presented in
the paper are interesting, to
say the least. The reason this
research is drawing attention in
academic finance circles around
the nation is because turmoil
on a board of directors can shed
light on the causes of company
performance and influence
stock prices.
Several categories of disputes
can cause directors to leave
the board and perhaps impact
company performance and
stock price. These include board
functioning, management
looking more after its own
interests than those of
stockholders, and financial
policy or corporate strategy.
In this paper, we provide
the first systematic evidence on
the nature, determinants and

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consequences Agrawal said the study shows

company officer knows the reason
of major
the decline in stock prices is
behind the director resignation,
internal board particularly large for certain
even if the resigning director does
disputes,
types of disputes, such as those
not write a letter to the company.
Agrawal and
involving agency problems,
Agrawal said the expanded
Chen write.
corporate strategy or financing
disclosure was originally
Board room
decisions. Stock prices for the
proposed by the SEC in 1978,
disputes can
companies going through the
before being modified in response
Anup Agrawal
sometimes
disputes show poor operating
to strong objections from
be a good thing when they
performance up to a year before
companies. But in the aftermath
highlight serious issues facing a
and after the disagreement.
of Enron and other corporate
corporation. But, according to
The key to the Agrawal-Chen
scandals earlier this decade, the
the study, they result in large and investigation is Form 8-K of the
SEC reverted to its originally
significant stock price declines,
United States Securities and
proposed rule.
on average, when the fight
Exchange Commission. The
Agrawal said he was traveling
becomes public. Companies
to a finance conference when he
involved in these disputes
noticed an article in
have been performing
the Wall Street
We found about 1,100 director
poorly and face a higher
Journal about
probability that their
this disclosure.
resignations with a director
stock may be delisted by
He discussed
the exchange during the
resignation letter during 19942006, the issue with
year following news of
Chen, and
and then we had to identify those
the dispute.
they decided
Upon news of
to pursue the
caused by a dispute,
internal disputes
research.
accompanied by director
We found about 1,100
departures, stock prices
document contains
director resignations with
decline significantly, the
current disclosures that public
a director resignation letter
researchers said. The price drop
companies must file with the
during 19942006, and then
is greater when the resigning
commission to announce major
we had to identify those caused
director is an insider of
events that shareholders should
by a dispute, Agrawal said.
the firm rather than know about as they happen,
That number turned out to
someone from
rather than wait until the yearbe 181, Agrawal said, and the
outside the
end 10-K annual report. One of
research team began gathering
company.
these events is when a director
information on the 181

resigns or declines to stand for
resignations. The project took
re-election due to differences
a year and half to put the data
involving company operations,
set together, Agrawal said, and
policies or practices. While
it took us a year before that to
this disclosure requirement
figure out a way to identify the
has been around since 1979,
disputes.
disclosure was triggered only if
The descriptions of the disputes
the resigning director wrote a
vary in detail, Agrawal said. It
letter to the company describing
depends on the original letter
the circumstances behind his
from the resigning director
resignation and requesting that describing the dispute. If that is
the company make the matter detailed, so is often the companys
public. Effective August 23, response.
2004, the SEC changed
But, Agrawal said, the
the disclosure trigger.
companies are not usually
Disclosure is now
very forthcoming. Their
triggered as long as a
tendency seems to be to make

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the minimum disclosure that is

required, depending upon the
issues raised by the resigning
director. The resigning directors
often dont hold back.
The research finds that
directors with shorter tenures on
the board and directors who are
entrepreneurs, venture capitalists
or investment bankers are more
likely to be involved in a dispute.
Does this indicate that directors
with strong personalities might
be more prone to originate the
differences?
Probably, said Agrawal.
The time frame for the
Agrawal-Chen paper predates
the current economic crisis and
the stress and tension now being
exerted on the market and on
shareholders. Agrawal said he
hopes his research will help both
board members and shareholders
alike to recognize board room
disagreements and take action
before damage is done.
Agrawal, who earned
his bachelors degree from
the University of Bombay,
his masters in business
administration from Xavier
Institute in Jamshedpur and his
doctorate from the University
of Pittsburgh, has researched
and written extensively on
corporate governance, mergers
and acquisitions, executive
compensation, insider trading,
corporate fraud, security analysts
and market efficiency.
He has presented his research
at seminars and conferences
around the world. His research
is extensively cited in academic
papers and textbooks and has
been the subject of feature stories
in Financial Times Deutschland
and Wall Street Journal Online.
He has served as a visiting
faculty member at the Wharton
School of the University of
Pennsylvania. He is a director of

the
Financial
Management
Association during (term runs
200911. He co-chaired the
Corporate Finance Track at the
2004 FMA annual meetings.
Before coming to academia,
he worked for two years with
an international management
consulting firm.
He teaches courses in
corporate finance and
investments.
As for those directors who
leave the board during a dispute?
Well, one follow-up project
that we are working on is how
directors who leave amid a
dispute fare subsequently in
the market for directorships,
Agrawal said.

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>>

Academic Business Library Directors Conference

Angelo Bruno Business Library hosts prestigious North American event

usiness library directors from some

of North Americas most prestigious
business schools gathered on The
University of Alabamas campus earlier
this year to savor a touch of Southern
hospitality and admire the Angelo Bruno
Business Library.
The event was the Academic Business
Library Directors annual conference and
business meeting. Programs and events
took place at the Bryant Conference
Center, Angelo Bruno Business Library,
Culverhouse College of Commerces
Alston Hall and North River Yacht Club.
The Academic Business Library
Directors is a highly selective
membership organization comprising the
directors of business libraries at leading
business schools in the United States

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and Canada, said Lee Pike, professor

and head of the Bruno Business Library.
Our library is a charter member of the
group, which was organized in the 1980s.
The University of Alabama is the only
Deep South public university holding
membership in ABLD.
Pike said membership is limited to 50
institutions.
The top-ranked business schools, such
as Harvard Business School, Wharton
School at the University of Pennsylvania,
Stanford University, and other
prestigious private schools form the core
of the membership. Leading business
schools at a number of respected public
universities complete the membership.
In addition to The University of
Alabama, public universities represented

c om m erc e

include UCLA, Pennsylvania State

University, the University of Iowa,
the University of Wisconsin and the
University of Southern California.
Examples of Canadian schools in the
group were the University of British
Columbia, the University of Toronto and
McGill University.
The organization provides a forum
for directors of academic business
libraries in North America to collaborate
and to discuss latest developments in
business information and library research
services, technology, and knowledge
management and distribution, Pike said.
Other interests include the opportunity
to influence development of new
products and services for the academic
business library market and to influence

Lee Pike (photo second from left) welcomed

business librarians from throughout North
America to campus

relations with corporate vendors of

databases and other electronic resources.
In addition to Pike, lead planners
for the 2009 conference program at
Alabama were Jan Wallace, University of
British Columbia; and Corey Seeman,
University of Michigan. Planning
support came from fellow ABLD board
members Millicent Gaskell, MIT; Hope
Tillman, Babson College; and Kathy
Long, Stanford University.
Pike said this years session included
presentations and interactive sessions on
new learning technologies
the academic market and the business
information industry
using assessment data in ABLD libraries
to tailor contemporary library services,
and space planning in 21st century

libraries
The attendees toured The University
of Alabama campus, attended a reception
at the Westervelt Warner Museum of
American Art and had dinners at North
River Yacht Club and the Alston Hall
parlor.
Next years ABLD conference will
be hosted by Duke University. Every
four years, ABLD participates in a
joint international conference with two
counterpart associations: European
Business School Librarians Group and
Asia-Pacific Business School Librarians
Group. In 2007, the joint conference was
held in Denmark at the Copenhagen
Business School, and in 2011 the joint
conference will be held in Singapore.
Pike said he considers the 2009

conference a huge success by all

accounts. Most conference attendees had
never been to the state of Alabama.
Participants responses were
overwhelmingly positive, with many
saying that the bar has been set very
high for future hosts, Pike said. I think
the Angelo Bruno Business Library,
the Culverhouse College of Commerce
and The University of Alabama have
left a lasting favorable impression with
influential business library leaders from
top business schools across
North America.

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>>

Womens Initiative

Program provides female business students with the tools for success

he Womens Initiative Program

College of Commerce, or nearly
at the Culverhouse College of
35 percent of the colleges total
Commerce now has more than 90
enrollment.
female business students involved in
The number of women in business
the program, along with 30 successful
is slowly inching up, said J. Barry
female executives who act as mentors.
Mason, dean of the Culverhouse
We have made remarkable
College of Commerce. As an
progress, said Diane Harrison,
advancement officer and
director of the womens The number of women in
program. But with
more than 1800 female
business is slowly inching up
business students
J . Barry Mason
enrolled, we need to
increase our membership
and the number of mentors we can
institution of higher learning, it is
provide to our students.
our duty and responsibility to give
That said, Harrison and the women our female students the tools and
who make up the programs advisory
encouragement to take advantage of
board are moving full speed ahead
opportunities as they arise, and the
to recruit more members and more
Womens Initiative Program is one way
mentors. In addition to Harrison, the
to do that.
program is run by a new part-time staff Growth in leadership, career
member, Amy Henderson, and a sixdevelopment and networking are
member planning committee.
the cornerstone activities of the
Last spring, there were 1,849
initiative, whose mission is to foster
women enrolled in the Culverhouse
the professional success of the business

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schools female students.

We had 24 women mentees in the
200809 academic year, and we expect
more to apply for the current academic
year, Harrison said.
Students are expected to attend
one educational session per month.
In addition, mentees are required to
meet a set number of times with their
assigned mentors over the course of the
year.
We plan to present monthly
programs that will add value to the
members education, make them more
ready to enter the workplace and

said, but we hope to soon to open

membership to all female students
enrolled in the business school with
three different levels of membership.
There will be a general membership
for all female students. The second tier
of membership will be the training
program for those wanting to enter the
mentee-mentor program. The third
tier of membership will be the menteementor program. The long-term vision
for this program includes specific
sessions tailored to the educational
level of the students. Freshmen will
have decidedly different needs than,

Tina Corr (left) a mentor in the Womens Initiative, speaks with a student at a WIP luncheon.

expand their career options. Harrison

said. She said members would have
the opportunity to meet with leading
female executives in one-on-one
situations that will open doors to
possible employment and internship
opportunities.
Currently, students apply for
membership to the program, Harrison

as recruit and promote internship

possibilities. The conference would
give us a chance to showcase the
quality of our students as well as
increase their marketability. Graduate
students might be assigned to plan
the conference, which would add
experience to their rsum.
The Womens Initiative Web site
(http://cba.ua.edu/wip) is being
updated to include links to the latest
information published on women
in business.
Harrison said long-range goals
include raising funds for two
scholarships as well as permanent
funding for the program.
We plan to contact our female
alumni to support this program over
a five-year period while we pursue
permanent funding sources, she said.
We have a number of female
graduates in high-profile positions in
business and we think that ultimately
this program will have a national
reputation for its ideas and programs
supporting and promoting our female
students.
For more information, visit the Web site at
http://cba.ua.edu/wip or contact Harrison at
205-348-2930, dharriso@cba.ua.edu; or Amy
Henderson at 205-348-8897, ahenderson@
cba.ua.edu.

say, a senior student.

Harrison said she is looking into
bringing a national or regional womens
conference to campus to provide
educational workshops for alumnae
and female students.
We hope to find corporate
sponsors for the conference and
provide educational sessions as well

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Entrepreneurship Camp

High school seniors get a feel for college and careers in business

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he second Capstone
Entrepreneurship Camp
drew 28 rising high school seniors
from rural areas of the state to The
University of Alabama campus
to gain a better understanding
of entrepreneurship, work and
cooperate in groups, engage in
critical thinking, hone their
leadership abilities and develop
skills to help them later in life.
And judging from the reactions
from some of the campers, all the
goals were met.
The camp was terrific, said
Jose Lopez, a student at Bibb
County High School. I learned
what it is like to be in college and
about careers in entrepreneurship.
All the different experiences with

Tuscaloosa County.
All the students attended the
camp through scholarships from
the office of the vice president
of community affairs and the
Culverhouse College of Commerce.
The purpose of the camp was
to give the high school students a
challenging experience that would
teach them about college life
and help them better understand
entrepreneurship as a career
and how it can play a role in the
economic development of their
communities. Charles Eatmon, a
student at Akron High School in
Hale County, said, The camp was
one of the best experiences of my
life.
Workshops and seminars

High school entrepreneurship campers tour a local business.

the classroom sessions, visiting the

businesses, and the activities were
wonderful and made the camp fun
and interesting.
Veronica Coleman, a student
at Choctaw County High School,
agreed with Lopez. The camp was
wonderful, and I was not ready for
it to end. I learned so much and
made new friends that I will stay in
touch with.
Tommie Syx, of the Center for
Community-Based Partnerships
and the camp coordinator, said 11
counties were represented. Most
were from counties in the Black
Belt, she said, but there were some
from Clay County and some from

included What Is an Entrepreneur?

Developing a Business Plan, Why
a Business Plan, Management
101, Entrepreneurship in
Economic Development, Ethics
and Entrepreneurship, Business
and Personal Finance, and Share
Your Culture. The students
also participated in Rural
Entrepreneurship Through Action
Learning.
Awesome camp, said Matt
Roberts, a student at Lineville
High School. I had a fun time
and learned a lot about college and
entrepreneurship.
The campers toured BryantDenny Stadium and the Universitys

museums; visited with local

entrepreneurs; enjoyed barbecue
and games on the Quad; and went
bowling, shopping and to the
movies. The camp was well-run
with fun activities and sessions on
entrepreneurship, said Brianna
Richardson, a student from Holy
Family Cristo Rey Catholic High in
Jefferson County.
The camp was sponsored by the
Division of Community Affairs,
the Center for Community-Based
Partnerships and the Culverhouse
College of Commerce.
David Ford, clinical professor
and Sam Walton Fellow, is the camp
director.
Featured faculty and staff
included Beverly Hawk, director
of Crossroads Community Center;
Gary Hoover, assistant dean for
faculty and graduate students at the
Culverhouse College of Commerce;
William E. Jackson III, professor of
finance and management and the
Smith Foundation Chair of Business
Integrity; Lou Marino, associate
professor of entrepreneurship and
strategy at the Culverhouse College
of Commerce; Lisa McKinney,
lecturer in accounting; Rob
Morgan, head of the department of
marketing and management; Sue
Parker, professor of clothing, textiles
and design at the College of Human
Environmental Sciences; Gregory
Singleton, director of engineering
student services; Chris Spencer,
associate director of community
development; and Annette Watters,
associate director of the Alabama
Entrepreneurship Institute and
co-director of the Alabama
Entrepreneurial Research Network.
Persons interested in sponsoring a student
at next years camp or participating in the
camp can contact Syx at 205-348-8123 or
tsyx@cba.ua.edu.

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Distinguished Alabama Sportsman

Ronald Bruno tapped for honor by Alabama Sports Hall of Fame

onald G. Bruno, a graduate of

The University of Alabamas
Culverhouse College of Commerce,
was inducted into the Alabama Sports
Hall of Fame as the Distinguished
Alabama Sportsman for 2009.
Bruno is a member of the business
schools Board of Visitors. In 1991,
Brunos father, Angelo, and his
mother, Ann, and their five children
gave $4 million to The University of
Alabama to help fund a new Angelo
Bruno Business Library and computer
center on the campus at Tuscaloosa.
The gift was the largest gift at that
time that the University had ever
received from a living donor and was
the lead gift in a $40 million campaign
for improvement of the Culverhouse
College of Commerce and its facilities
at the Capstone.
On Dec. 11, 1991, Angelo Brunos
life ended when the corporate jet
crashed in Georgia, killing all on
board, including the corporate
pilots. Bruno and other executives
were making the traditional holiday
visits to Bruno stores throughout the
Southeast.
During Angelos tenure as CEO,
the company expanded to more than
230 stores in the Southeast, including

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Food World, Brunos Food and

Pharmacy, Food Max, Piggly Wiggly
stores in southern Georgia, Food Fare
and Vincents Market.
Ronald Bruno has been a business
leader in Birmingham for more than
30 years. His familys philanthropy
efforts have enriched hundreds of
thousands of individual lives in
Birmingham and Alabama over the
years.
He graduated from UA with
a bachelors degree in marketing.
Following graduation, he started
working for Brunos Supermarkets
Inc., holding various management
positions during 197491. In 1991, he
became chairman and CEO and held
that position until the company was
sold in 1995.
His familys philosophy of giving
back to the community combined
with their passion for golf lead Bruno
and his father to start an annual golf
tournament in Birmingham on the
Senior PGA Tour in 1992. After the
accident, the tournament was renamed
the Brunos Memorial Classic.
The tournament became an
annual tradition for Birmingham
area residents, drawing some of the
largest crowds on the Senior PGA

Tour. The Brunos Memorial Classic

was recognized as the Best Champions
Tour event by players, tournament
officials and media in a Sports
Illustrated poll in both 2001 and 2004,
the only times the award has been
given.
In 2006, Regions Financial Corp.
became the events title sponsor,
changing the name to the Regions
Charity Classic. Last years tournament
celebrated a milestone as it surpassed
$10 million in charitable giving to the
Alabama community.
After retiring from Brunos
Supermarkets Inc. in 1995, Bruno
founded an investment company,
Bruno Capital Management, where he
currently serves as president. Later that
same year, he formed the Bruno Event
Team with partner Gene Hallman and
serves as its chairman.

Ronald G. Bruno

Senior and Womens Opens through

2013.
Bruno has served on numerous
charitable and corporate boards over
the past 25 years, including include
St. Vincents Hospital
Foundation, where he
His familys philanthropy efforts have served as president, and
the United Way, where
enriched hundreds of thousands of
he served as campaign
co-chairman, Tocqueville
individual lives in Birmingham and
Society chairman, a
Alabama over the years.
member of the Metropolitan
Development Board. He is also active

with The University of Alabama,
The Bruno Event Team has grown
where is a member of the Presidents
to encompass five separate divisions
Cabinet and has served as chairman
employing more than 50 full-time
of the Board of Visitors of the
employees in eight offices throughout
College of Commerce and Business
the United States. The five divisions
Administration. He has sat on the
include Golf, Five Star Catering,
board of directors for the following
Zoom Motorsports, University
corporations: SouthTrust Bank,
of Alabama Gameday Operations
Brunos Supermarkets Inc. and Russell
and Think + Creative Services. The
Corp. He currently sits on the board of
company is also affiliated with the
directors for Books-A-Million.
Alabama Sports Foundation, managing He was inducted into the
numerous events for the foundation.
Birmingham Golf Hall of Fame in
The Golf Division alone currently
1994.
manages five annual tournaments
Previous Distinguished Alabama
on the Champions, LPGA and
Sportsmen include Wilford Bailey,
Nationwide Tours. Bruno Event Team
David Bronner, Bill Ireland, Michael
has managed, for the United States
Stephens, Hall Thompson and Jack
Golf Association, five of the last seven
Warner. Bronner, Thompson and
U.S. Womens Opens and every U.S.
Warner are also members of the
Senior Open since 2004. They are
business schools Board of Visitors.
currently managing a combined five

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Student Highlights

Award, conference and internships demonstrate students commitment to excellence

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Allison Clemmons

Health Care Management

Students Essay Wins
Undergraduate Division
of ACHE Competition
More than 100,000 people are
waiting to receive a life-changing
organ transplant, but many of those
people are waiting in vain. Despite
national legislation governing
the organ procurement system, a
shortage of donors remains.
Luckily, for Allison Clemmons
mother, a kidney was available when
she needed it. Clemmons, a senior
in health care management in The
University of Alabamas Culverhouse
College of Commerce, wrote an
essay about organ transplantation
that won the undergraduate division
of the 2009 Richard J. Stull Student
Essay Competition sponsored by
the American College of Healthcare
Executives.
My mom had a kidney
transplant when I was a junior
in high school, Clemmons said.
Her mother is doing fine and
accompanied Clemmons to Chicago
earlier this year to attend the ACHE
National Congress and see her
daughter present her paper at the
convention and receive a $3,000
prize.
Clemmons was born and raised
in Canton, Mich., but returned with
her family to Alabama and now lives

in Chelsea. She graduated in August

and plans to attend The University
of Alabama at Birmingham to work
on a joint Master of Science in
Health Administration and MBA
degree to prepare for a career in
health care administration. She also
has a minor in biology.
Clemmons said she wrote the
winning paper as part of her class
work and was encouraged by Dr.
Eric Williams, associate professor of
health care management, to submit
it in the ACHE competition. She
said she worked on the paper about
six months and revised it multiple.
It will be published in the Journal of
Health Care Management sometime
this summer.
One of our students has
finished first, second or third in this
competition in seven of the last 10
years, Williams said, and this is the
second time we have had the firstplace winner.

UA Operations
Management Students
Attend Toronto
Conference
Two students from the
Culverhouse College of Commerce
management program attended
the 2009 APICS International
Conference and Expo in Toronto
in October, courtesy of the
Birmingham chapter of APICSThe Association for Operations
Management.
Michael Wilson and Corey
Barron, both seniors and classmates
from Muscle Shoals, Ala., majoring
in operations management, were
sponsored by the Birmingham
chapter to attend the conference and
expo as student scholars.
Dr. Charles R. Sox, UA professor
of operations management, and
William Petty, UA instructor
and undergraduate coordinator
in operations management, are
members of the board of directors of
the APICS Birmingham chapter.
This was a great opportunity

for these young men to enhance

their marketability and, at the same
time, be part of the largest annual
gathering of operations management
professionals, Petty said. They
were exposed to all facets of the
profession, from the global aspect to
forecasting to the necessity of lean
operations in this economic climate.
Operations management is
concerned with the production
of goods and services, and it is
responsible for making sure business
operations are as efficient as possible,
conserve and save resources, and
meet customer requirement and
deadlines.
The Birmingham chapter of
APICS serves Birmingham and
other communities in central
Alabama. The APICS organization
is the global leader in operations
management knowledge and is
the certifying organization for
people who work in the operations
management arena, including
production, inventory, supply chain,
materials management, purchasing
and logistics.
Barron spent the summer
working as an intern at FritoLay in the companys supply and
distribution area.
I was excited to have the
opportunity to attend the
international APICS conference this
fall, Barron said. The conference
featured information from some
of the most well-known and
respected members of the operations
management field. This was an
opportunity to understand how
the global economy affects jobs in
this field and the chance to see the
role technology plays in everyday
business.
Wilson, who is earning a minor
in computer technology and
applications, said he learned more
about the international aspects of
operations management.
It was a great opportunity to see
the different facets of international
life, he said. Wilson said he and
his family lived for several years in
Saudi Arabia where his father was a
hospital administrator.

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 I plan to get into the

international side of operations
management, Wilson said. Wilson
said he enrolled at UA for the finance
program. I was just sort of feeling
my way around. Corey was in the
operations management program
so I talked to some people and took
Operations Management 300 and fell
in love with it.
Wilson is president of the Society
of Operations Management Students
at UA.
There is always going to be a
need for optimization of resources
and helping companies reduce waste
and run more efficiently, Wilson
said, and I am excited to be a part of
that.

Culverhouse Student
Receives NAPSLO
Insurance Internship
Aimee Simmons, a junior from
Huntsville, Ala., majoring in finance
with a concentration in insurance,
spent the summer doing a National
Association of Professional Surplus
Lines Offices Ltd. insurance
internship, one of only 12 awarded
nationally.
Simmons is the second
consecutive Culverhouse student to
receive the prestigious award. Last
years recipient from UA was Aldrich
Callins.
Simmons said her family
background influenced her decision
to enter the insurance field. My
grandfather was in the insurance
business, Simmons said.
She spent five weeks in Atlanta
with Ace Westchester Co. learning
to analyze risk, followed by another
four weeks with Burns & Wilcox,
also in Atlanta, learning the various
insurance products and how to
present them to prospective clients.
Both are large, national organizations.
Simmons said she had considered
attending graduate school but I
think I will forego graduate school
for a while and work in insurance.
I would like to eventually work
in international insurance, Simmons

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Aimee Simmons

said, noting that she is working on a

minor in Spanish and speaks some
Chinese.
She works at Calvary Baptist
Churchs Little Friends School day
care, and has worked as a second
language tutor in the Tuscaloosa
County School System.
I eventually would like to open

industry, Rabel said. In fact, many

interns often have employment
opportunities lined up before
completing the program. This is
primarily as a result of the excellent
overall experience and networking
opportunities available during the
internship.
NAPSLO established the
internship program in 1981 to
interest students in the surplus
In fact, many interns
lines industry, which handles
unique, unusual or hardoften have employment
to-place risks. Since
inception, more
opportunities lined up before its
than 150 students have
participated in the
completing the program. program
and more than
half of the former interns are
and operate a school for gifted
currently working in the insurance
children, she said.
industry, with many employed by
Aimee was an excellent choice
NAPSLO member firms.
for the internship, said Dr. William
H. Rabel, the John and Mary Louise
Scholarship and Internship
Loftis Bickley Endowed Teaching
Chair of Insurance and Financial
Give Culverhouse
Services at the business school.
Graduate Invaluable
She has been very active
in university insurance student
Hands-on Experience
organizations, is a member of several
honor organizations and Deans List,
Scott McKenzie graduated
and is enrolled in the University
from the Culverhouse College
Honors Program, Rabel said. She is
of Commerce in May 2009 with
serving as president of the Alabama
a double major in finance and
Insurance Society.
economics. This fall, he is pursuing
These internships usually lead
a JD-MBA at The University of
to employment in the insurance
Alabama with a focus on real estate

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law and strategy.

This past summer, McKenzie
had an internship with The Sanders
Trust in Birmingham, a privately
held real estate investment trust that
specializes in health care real estate,
specifically on-campus, Class-A
medical office buildings.
McKenzie met Rance M.
Sanders, the president and CEO of
The Sanders Trust when he applied
for The Sanders Scholarship at UA
two years ago. He has been one of
the recipients of the scholarship for
the past two years.
Beyond the monetary award,
I gained a great mentor in Mr.
Sanders, McKenzie said. We
have stayed in contact over the
past two years, and my internship
allowed me to truly benefit from
his guidance. My goal is to one day
own my own real estate investment
firm similar to The Sanders Trust, so
the opportunity to intern with Mr.
Sanders was incredible.
While working at The Sanders
Trust, McKenzie worked with
each department, including
business development, acquisitions,

property management, accounting,

marketing, and leasing and asset
management.
During my time in the different
departments, I was able to see the
inner workings of a very successful
real estate investment company,
McKenzie said.
McKenzie got a look at business
development through a trip with J.
Bruce Bright, director of business
development, and Bart Starr, vice
chairman, to Mobile, Ala., and
Panama City, Fla., to visit with two
hospital systems to explain The
Sanders Trust and discuss potential
deals.
He also analyzed past
acquisitions by The Sanders Trust as
well as some opportunities the firm
passed on. I worked with David
Baylot (senior vice president) and
Rance Sanders to discuss strategies
used.
McKenzie helped The Sanders
Trust go paperless by converting old
paper files to PDFs, and he worked
with the marketing team to update
The Sanders Trust Web site. We
added 20 pages of pictures and

descriptions to the portfolio section

of the Web site, McKenzie said.
Beyond the knowledge gained
through working with each
department at The Sanders Trust,
I also had the privilege to spend a
few days working with Mike Brandt.
Mr. Brandt provides the company
independent legal counsel regarding
corporate and real estate matters
and is a senior partner in the firm of
Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff and Brandt,
LLC, McKenzie said.
Mr. Brandt, along with
numerous other attorneys at his
firm, provided me with advice and
tips to be successful in law school.
My internship at The Sanders Trust
was a great way to spend my summer
before law school, and I feel it
provided me invaluable hands-on
experience.

Scott McKenzie, left, confers with Rance Sanders, president and CEO of The Sanders Trust.

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Staying Abreast

Keeping in touch keeps getting easier

As more and more people continue to pour into social networking sites, the college has
launched several new online outlets to keep you up-to-date with the happenings at the
Culverhouse College of Commerce.

o you have graduated, gotten

a job and started your life. But
in between the e-mail hailstorms,
meetings and strategizing sessions,
you figure it would be nice to see
how things are back at your alma
mater. Or, you are a parent, eager to
see what is going on in the college
life of your business-school student.
Now, you have more options than
just alumni receptions or school
visits.

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The college has an active

presence on Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and YouTube, where you
can interact with fellow alumni,
faculty and current students and
keep up with our frequent college
news updates. You can find the links
to our social networking sites on
our newly redesigned home page
at http://cba.ua.edu. And dont be
shy about writing on our Facebook
wall or tweeting at Culverhouse. We

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want to hear from you!

Another easy way to keep up
with C&BA is through our e-mail
newsletter, Culverhouse Online,
which is published bimonthly and
covers everything from student
news to updates on the ventures of
our alumni. You can subscribe to
the newsletter at http://cba.ua.edu/
newsletter.
The Web sites may be the best
option if you just want to know

what is going on at Culverhouse, but

what if you want to get involved?
The college has a multitude of
programs for alumni who want
to remain active in the college.
One such program is the Womens
Initiative Program, which is always
looking for successful female
executives interested in speaking
to and mentoring female students.
Currently, the program has more
than 30 mentors involved, and is

growing every year. Those interested

in supporting the Womens Initiative
Program can find out more at its
home page: http://cba.ua.edu/wip.
Culverhouse also hosts a
variety of luncheons, dinners and
receptions for alumni throughout
the year. Over 20 different events
are scheduled throughout the year
to promote a healthy relationship
with alumni. The events range from
pre-game lunches for the Commerce

Executives Society in Alston Hall

on Alabama football game days
to dinners for young alumni in
Birmingham, Nashville and other
cities.
The Culverhouse experience
doesnt have to end at graduation,
just the exams and project
presentations. (We promise!)

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Culverhouse College of Commerce

and Business Administration
Box 870223
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0223

Exterior of Bruno Business library

Change service requested.

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nonprofit
u.s. postage paid
birmingham, al
permit no. 2400