Bill Simon ’81, ’88 MBA, former Walmart CEO, at the UConn School of Business Stamford campus. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
‘Treat People Right Throughout Your Life’ Says Former Walmart CEO Bill Simon ’81, ’88 MBA
A store manager had been abruptly fired in a small North Carolina town and Walmart president and CEO Bill Simon‘s phone was ringing off the hook.
Customers were irate, store associates were upset, and even the town’s mayor called to lodge a complaint.
“Our store manager had chased a shoplifter into the parking lot, tackled him and brought him back into the store,” recalled Simon, who earned both his bachelor’s degree and MBA from UConn. “Our policy was that we don’t chase shoplifters because of the risk of someone getting hurt, and he had clearly violated the policy.Continue Reading
Left to right, Mark L. Fagan, Scott Gillis, Bill Simon and Margaret Keane discuss business values at the “CEO Evolution.” (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
Three Top Executives Share Business Advice, Values at ‘CEO Evolution’ Program in Stamford
When UConn alumnus Bill Simon ’81, ’88 MBA, was a newly hired executive at Walmart, before he became its president and CEO, he made a gutsy decision that he knew could make or break his career there.
The low-price retail giant was excelling in its cost-saving mission on many fronts, but when Simon looked at the profit margin on prescription medicine, he realized it could do much better. Continue Reading
Corey Birch (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
No one needs to tell recent School of Business graduate Corey Birch ’16 to keep his eye on the ball. Or the green. Or the competition, for that matter.
Birch, a member of the UConn golf team, who graduated in May with a degree in accounting, is hoping to turn pro golfer this fall, fulfilling a career goal that he set in the sixth grade. Continue Reading
John McCarthy ’83, managing director, Global Capital Raising, and Chintan Bhat ’07 (ENG), vice president of portfolio management, shared their career experiences at Starwood Capital Group to the Finance Club at the Stamford campus on February 25th. (Ian Hollis/UConn photo)
Ryan Radue ’15, who was able to complete his undergraduate degree in accounting, with a certificate in management information systems a semester early. Then he started his master’s degree in accounting—all while undergoing six brutal rounds of inpatient chemotherapy. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
UConn Baseball Pitcher/Grad Student Ryan Radue Didn’t Let Cancer Call the Play
On the baseball mound, UConn pitcher Ryan Radue can strike out his fiercest opponent with the combination of a steely gaze, a powerful right arm and a sizzling fastball.
Scholarship Allows Student to Stretch Academically
Katie Cavanaugh ’17 only just started her junior year, but she has already done four internships and held three research positions. Oh, and she’s double majoring in political science and management information systems.
Cavanaugh has never held back academically. She is grateful for the scholarships she has gotten from UConn because they have allowed her to stretch.
“What the scholarships say to me is ‘we want you to focus 100 percent on yourself as a student and, really, as a professional,'” she says.
Retired U.S. Army Captain /UConn Alumnus Building Housing, Haven for Returning Veterans
Every class that graduates from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point adopts a creed that unifies and guides the future officers during their military training.
For U.S. Army Capt. Justin Nash, and the rest of the Class of 2001, that principle was: Til Duty is Done.
That powerful phrase has been a rallying cry for Nash, who several years later led a platoon of professional soldiers and 300 indigent Afghan warriors through a series of harrowing missions near the Pakistani border.Continue Reading
Meg Warren, of South Windsor, has been appointed director of the Full-time MBA Program at UConn’s School of Business.
Warren has been an integral part of the success of the program, which is now ranked among the Top 25 public MBA programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The typical graduate of the program begins work with a base salary of more than $101,000. The program, which has approximately 100 students from Connecticut and across the world, is located in downtown Hartford at 100 Constitution Plaza.Continue Reading
School of Business Offers New Summer Program for Non-Business Majors
Due to unprecedented demand, the School of Business is offering a new, 10-credit summer business program for undergraduate, non-business majors who want to gain valuable business acumen and expand their marketability.
The UConn Business Fundamentals Certificate Program is a seven-week program that includes the following courses: “Legal and Ethical Environment of Business,” “Managerial and Interpersonal Behavior,” “Workplace Readiness,” and “Business Information Systems.” The program runs from May 18 to July 2.Continue Reading
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Blum Shapiro, Travelers and Priceline.com were just some of the companies seeking employees and interns at the inaugural Career Connections event for graduate business students at UConn.
More than 200 candidates earning advanced degrees in business—including MBA, Master of Science in Business Analytics and Project Management, Master of Science in Financial Risk Management and Master of Science in Human Resource Management—attended the November 12 event, which was at the UConn School of Business Graduate Business Learning Center (GBLC) in downtown Hartford.
Also among the 16 companies in attendance were: Aetna, Boehringer Ingelheim, Fiduciary Investment Advisors, Fitch Ratings, GE, The Hartford, Henkel, Infosys, iTech Solutions, Northwestern Mutual, Stanadyne Corp. and VoiceGlance.
All companies were represented at the career-fair style gathering on the Observation Deck, where students were able to talk individually with each company representative. Almost half of the companies also chose to offer a presentation in one of the adjoining classrooms, where interested students were able to learn more about each organization and possible career paths. In addition, companies were able to interview immediately in private conference rooms.
“This highly attended, successful event demonstrated the positive impact of having all graduate business programs together in Hartford,” said Meg Warren, assistant director of the Graduate Career Development Office. UConn’s Full-time MBA program recently moved from Storrs to Hartford. “Recruiters and hiring managers alike were pleased to see the range of graduate business talent all under one roof, in one venue.”
