Month: October 2013

Ambassador Paul W. Speltz ’69 ’72 MBA Engages Students During Visit to His Alma Mater

Posted on by Claire Hall

Ambassador Paul W. Speltz ’69 ’72 MBA, chairman and CEO of Global Strategic Associates, LLC, visited with UConn Business Connections Learning Community (BCLC) and Delta Sigma Pi (DSP) students on Tuesday, October 1 to discuss the importance of leveraging international experience in their undergraduate studies.

Speltz founded the Theta Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi, a coed professional fraternity organized to foster the study of business in universities, at UConn in 1970.

Speltz, former U.S. Executive Director and Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, also made a formal address during his time on campus. His talk, “The Status of U.S. – China Geopolitical and Financial Relations: Global Impacts and Greater Asia Ramifications,” served as the basis for an engaged and lively discussion about U.S. – China relations at an event sponsored by the Office of Global Affairs, the Department of Political Science, and the Asian American Studies Institute.

Ambassador Speltz has served on the Board of Advisors for the UConn School of Business since 1998 and also serves as a member of the Dean’s Leadership Cabinet. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Pacific Pension Institute (PPI) and concurrently also serves on their Membership Committee. Speltz is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Asia Foundation, The Asia Society, The Bretton Woods Committee, and the National Committee on United States – China Relations.

Pictured: Speltz with Delta Sigma Pi brothers and sisters.

EBV Program Welcomes Veterans for 2013 Bootcamp

Posted on by Claire Hall

Kicking off the annual week-long Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), the UConn School of Business welcomed this year’s incoming class of veterans at a dinner reception on Friday evening, October 4.

Following a welcome from Michael Zacchea ’12 MBA, EBV program manager, keynote speaker Dawn Halfaker inspired the crowd by sharing her story. A decorated war hero and entrepreneur, Halfaker is a former Military Police Officer in the United States Army who commanded a military police platoon in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was subsequently wounded during a combat patrol near Baghdad in 2004, earning a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for her service. Halfaker is now president and chief executive officer of Halfaker & Associates, LLC, an award winning professional services and technology solutions firm founded in 2006, and employs more than 100 people including a workforce of almost 50 veterans.

Entertainment for the evening was provided by UConn a-cappella group, Conn-Men.

About the EBV

In 2010, UConn’s School of Business was honored to become one of eight members of the EBV Consortium of business schools and universities. The EBV program offers cutting edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities resulting from their service to our country.

The School of Business is proud to participate in this very special program that helps give back to individuals who have sacrificed for our country. EBV demonstrates the power of entrepreneurship in our communities by fostering an essential route for job creation and economic vitality.

To date, the UConn EBV has helped 42 veterans open 45 businesses, and to place another eight veterans in full-time jobs.

Pictured: Dawn Halfaker, Michael Zacchea, Justin Nash ’14 MBA, a 2012 EBV graduate and founder of Veteran Construction Services, and School of Business Dean John A. Elliott. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Luczkowski, L2 Communications)