Dear GWSB Community,
In February, the George Washington University School of Business held an impressive number of student and alumni engagement events, demonstrating our commitment to putting students first and doing it together (as per the first and the last letters of our SPIRIT acronym). Part of a comprehensive program aimed at enhancing the student experience, each of these events involved the participation of the entire GWSB community including our undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Here are just a few examples from the past month:
- More than 250 GWSB students took the opportunity to meet with potential employers from 35 top companies at the F. David Fowler Career Center’s Spring 2020 Career Expo. “The event was a great success,” Mark Strassman, executive director of the Fowler Center, said. “As I made the rounds and spoke with participating employers, they consistently told me how impressed they were with our GWSB students.”
- The GWSB Graduate Student Engagement team recently brought together 50 grad students and 11 distinguished GWSB alumni from leading firms and organizations for an Industry Roundtable event in the City View Room. The roundtable provided students with an outstanding opportunity to network and engage in discussions with accomplished professionals representing a broad range of business specialties and disciplines. Special thanks to the alumni guests who were on hand to share their expertise and experience: Bob Bloom, BBA ’75, BDO USA, LLP; Ayse Boybeyi, PMBA ’07, The World Bank; Megan Delph, GMBA ’17, Deloitte Consulting, LLP; Ntoh Etta, MBA ’10, Horizon Global Partners, LLC; Ruthie Garelik, BBA ’07, The Estee Lauder Companies; Jason Hendricks, MBA ’04, Prudential; Deepak Jose, MBA ’13, Mars, Inc.; Peter Korbel, MBA ’12, StoreMe; Jason Platzman, GMBA ’12, JP Morgan; Adam Richelieu, MTA ’16, NFL Players Association; and Mary Windham, MTA ’99, Occasions, Inc.
- Last week, the GW Women in Business (GWWIB) held their second annual D.C. Career Trek, with the support of the Undergraduate Advising Office and the Fowler Career Center. The 22 participants visited four businesses in the DMV area including Facebook, Ogilvy, KPMG and Freddie Mac. GWWIB focuses on “career, connections and community,” and the annual D.C. Trek aims to connect undergraduate students with professionals in the D.C. community, taking advantage of GWSB's location in the nation's capital. The students had the opportunity to network with employees at all four site visits and learned about how the different companies conduct their businesses.
- More than 60 GWSB undergrads, grad students and alumni attended the F. David Fowler Career Center’s Diversity Roundtable Breakfast. The event was designed to give participants an opportunity to engage in empowering one-on-one conversations with employers interested in meeting students of color, LGBTQ students, and students with disabilities. Representatives from ten employers participated, including Aon, Capco, EAB, Future Housing Leaders (Fannie Mae), KPMG, PwC, United Bank, Westat, and event sponsors Deloitte and Navy Federal Credit Union.
- It was my privilege to travel to the Republic of South Africa for the GWSB IFC-Milken Institute Capital Markets Program’s 2020 Alumni Retreat. Held at the Sandton Convention Center in Sandton, South Africa, the alumni retreat featured an outstanding selection of panel presentations and thought-provoking guest speakers, including Mike Milken, the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals Patrice Motsepe, and our own Professor Danny Leipziger. I have always enjoyed meeting Capital Markets Program fellows on the Foggy Bottom campus. This event gave me the opportunity to catch up with some of the alumni and learn about how they’re putting to use what they learned in helping to improve economic conditions at home.
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Before closing, I wanted to remind you about George Talks Business, GWSB’s series of moderated interviews with notable alumni and respected thought leaders in the business, government and nonprofit arenas. We have some great guests coming up next month:
- Wednesday, March 4 – W. Russell (Russ) Ramsey, BBA ’81, founder, chairman and CEO of Ramsey Asset Management
- Monday, March 9 – Women Entrepreneurs Panel with Kathy Korman Frey, founder and CEO of the Hot Mommas Project, U.S. Army Major Jade Root, MBA '17, and Anna Stewart, MBA '14, founder and owner of Gaucha Chica, LLC
- Thursday, March 19 – Jerry Reinsdorf, BA '57, owner of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago White Sox (this event takes place at Camelback Ranch stadium in Arizona)
- Wednesday, March 25 – Stuart Weitzman, designer, entrepreneur and founder of Stuart Weitzman Shoe Company
- Tuesday, March 31 – Hammad Atassi, president of North America at Nutricare Pty Ltd.
Please join us in person or online. You can find the complete schedule and RSVP for a GTB event here.
See you around campus!
All the best,
Anuj Mehrotra, Ph.D.
Dean