Hundreds of investors from around the world will gather with Ross students and the Zell Lurie Institute this week for several events and conferences aimed at opening up opportunities for Michigan Ross entrepreneurs, connecting venture capital investors, and providing lessons from seasoned global private equity leaders. Here’s what’s planned for the week:

WOMEN WHO FUND

The week’s events kick off Thursday with the first ever Women Who Fund Forum, a half-day event that will connect women-owned business with women in the venture capital and private equity industry to give the business leaders access to potential capital sources to help their businesses take off.

A panel featuring Alisyn Malek, investment manager at GM Ventures; Kathryn Moos, founder of Vrou; Beth Paretta, team principal with Grace Autosport; Margo Shapiro, managing director of ChickLabs LLC; and Mary Kramer, publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business, will tackle how women are breaking into traditionally male strongholds to launch, fund, and grow successful business ventures.

The event is sponsored by the University of Michigan Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance and ZLI.

You can see a full rundown of events planned for the Women Who Fund Forum here.

Learn More

FIRESIDE CHAT

Also on Thursday, the Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance will hold a fireside chat with Ross Alums working at McKinsey, Bain, PwC, and Boston Consulting Group. The panelists will chat with current Ross students about how to break into and make a career in the world of private equity consulting.

The chat will get underway at 4:30 p.m. in Robertson Auditorium. It is free and open to the public.

Learn more

PRIVATE EQUITY CONFERENCE

Rounding out the week of events will be the annual Michigan Private Equity Conference, taking place Friday, Oct. 9.

The conference will feature panel discussions on everything from how general partners can keep limited partners committed to the cause, to dissecting what private equity’s role is in driving the U.S. economy.

A panel about how to navigate an often opaque private equity landscape in China will be moderated by Fox Business Network reporter Jo Ling Kent, who has led the network’s coverage of the recent Alibaba IPO.

David Shapiro, co-founder and managing partner of KPS Capital Partners will keynote the event and talk about why and how KPS broadened its geographic footprint and evolved from a U.S.-focused fund to one that invests globally.

For a full list of speakers and panel discussions at this year’s conference, visit the event website.

Learn More

Recognizing how a grounding in business fundamentals can expand career opportunities, last year Michigan Ross introduced the Master of Management Program. Designed for recent grads with a background in liberal arts, science, or engineering, the Master of Management (MM) offers an action-based curriculum, best-in-class resources, and top-ranked leadership development — plus a personalized career search preparation program — to prime students to excel wherever their personal passion takes them.

With the inaugural cohort under its belt, the MM Program found 93 percent of class of 2015 jobseekers accepting or receiving at least one job offer within three months of graduation. These offers spanned a diverse set of industries — consulting, technology, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, and the public sector — from such desired companies as Huron Consulting, EJGallo, Digitas, Google, T.J.Maxx, PepsiCo, Keating Consulting Group, Target, FTI Consulting, LaSalle Real Estate, Textron, and Toys R Us.

But going into its second year, the program aimed to raise the bar even higher, rolling out a series of career exploration activities led by Ross Career Services to kick off the job search even before the first day of classes.

Prior to their arrival on campus, starting in April and May, incoming MMs learned about career opportunities in areas such as consulting, marketing, and corporate finance, while also engaging in dynamic self-assessment exercises to discover the best career fits for their interests, values, and skills.

Heading to Ann Arbor in mid-June for the official start of the program, they dove in to a series of intensive, hands-on workshops to lay the foundation for a successful job search — conducting a self-assessment, developing their resumes and cover letters, developing their online brand via LinkedIn, refining their elevator pitch and career odyssey, sharpening their networking skills and interviewing techniques, discovering career paths in a panel featuring U-M alumni, and learning how to identify and connect with the companies where they’d most like to work.

To further ensure that Michigan Ross MMs achieve their vision of personal and professional success, Ross Career Services delivers personalized career advising workshops, one-on-one coaching, and company visits. In August, the class of 2016 spent a day traveling around Ann Arbor and Detroit visiting local companies, learning about the work they do, and meeting alumni. The tour began at Google, whose Ann Arbor office focuses on sales and operations and employs roles like Global Customer Experience Manager, Account Strategist, and Analytical Lead.

Continuing in the Motor City, the tour focused on the family of businesses owned by the prolific Dan Gilbert. Since returning to his hometown in 2010, he has acquired more than 70 properties downtown exceeding 9 million square feet, and employing 12,000 people. Starting at the Quicken Loans headquarters, students learned how the company’s move is helping to put Detroit on the map as a hub for the financial sector and how the collaborative nature of the MM Program easily translates from the classroom to Quicken’s team-based atmosphere.

The Quicken office gave a look into a vibrant finance company that definitely doesn’t have the feel of your grandfather’s mortgage lender office — with a regulation basketball court and board game-themed conference rooms. For MM students interested in the arts and marketing industries, there was more to explore in Gilbert's portfolio of businesses; boutique interior design and facilities management firm dPOP! creates spaces that inspire creativity and productivity in the workplace, and Fathead produces precision-cut vinyl wall decals of sports teams, pop culture favorites, or even your own face.

The company tours wrapped up with a stop at electric and gas utility provider DTE Energy, serving more than three million customers across the state, and earning accolades from organizations such as Gallup and Computerworld for being an outstanding place to work. In addition to learning about the invigorating company culture and highly engaged workforce at DTE, students gained insights about the company’s conservation and revitalization efforts in Detroit and around Michigan, and wrapped up by networking with Ross alumni.

WHAT'S NEXT

As the 10-month Master of Management Program continues, students can look forward to numerous Fortune 500 companies and other exciting employers visiting Ross to host corporate presentations, networking events, and on-campus interview opportunities to launch the careers of MM students. The chart should give a sense of the variety of organizations recruiting at Ross. It includes just a few examples of what’s on the MM calendar over the next two months.

Of course, with students as diverse and impressive as Ross’ MMs, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the career search. So for students whose career interests or desired employers might land beyond the scope of events offered on campus, Ross Career Services is also on hand to aid in conducting a successful off-campus search. RCS works with students individually to ensure their resumes and cover letters are tailored to target their ideal employers, hosts mock interviews to powerfully convey why they’re the perfect fit, and advises how to leverage resources from Kresge Library to boost their job-search signal.

If you have a background in liberal arts, science, or engineering and 18 months or less of full-time work experience, and you want to stand out in the job market, the Michigan Ross Master of Management is just for you. To learn more, visit our website, attend an upcoming information session online or on campus, or contact the program. The early deadline to apply for the class of 2017 is Nov. 16, 2015.

Learn More About the Ross MM

Thousands of U-M alums are venturing back to Ann Arbor this weekend for Homecoming and Reunion weekend. Among them are some of the more than 45,000 Ross alumni who live and work at some of the most desirable companies all across the world.

They’ll be gathering at Ross on Friday, Oct. 9 for a series of events, headlined by a TED Talks-style lecture series featuring distinguished Ross alum Peter Faricy, MBA ʼ95. Faricy helps lead the world’s largest online retailer, serving as Vice President of Amazon Marketplace.

Read a recent profile of Faricy in Dividend, the Michigan Ross alumni magazine

Faricy’s talk is part of MTalks, a series of short discussions presented by the Office of University Development. Other speakers include Sue Gott, university planner, speaking about the past, present, and future of the U-M campus; and J. Kevin Graffagnino, director of the William L. Clements Library.

On Saturday, alumni and their families will enjoy a series of Ross Community Panels, featuring an overview of the current state of the real estate market as well as a discussion with the Center for Positive Organizations on how to create positive work environments. See a full list of Ross Community Panels planned for this year’s Reunion weekend.

The weekend wraps up with a Ross Tailgate in the Winter Garden, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Saturday, before alums cheer on the Wolverines against Northwestern in Coach Jim Harbaugh’s Big 10 Conference opener in the Big House.

Will you be joining us for Reunion activities this weekend? Share your pictures and join the excitement with the #myhoMecoming tag on Instagram!

More about Ross Reunion

When the Michigan Sport Business Conference returns to Michigan Ross this week, the sports-star-studded event will have a decidedly future-looking tone.

Panel discussions during the conference will feature executives from some of the most well-known names in sports and entertainment, each with a focus on how the high-tech industry is changing the business of sports and the fan experience.

“Sports is an industry that feels the effects of the digital consumer but constantly adapts to meet their evolving needs. As we move forward as an industry, these changes will continue to occur at an increasing rate,” the planning committee says on the conference website.

President of the Big Ten Network

Kicking things off this year, the President of the Big Ten Network, Mark Silverman, will join Perkins Miller, chief digital officer for NFL Media; Danny Keens, head of sports partnerships for Twitter; and Ryan Cooley, partnership operations lead for the livestreaming app Meerkat, to talk about how live streaming to and from mobile devices is developing into a modern viewing experience for fans, and helping to open sports up to new audiences. Their discussion will be moderated by Erik Sorenson, CEO of Sucherman Group.

Also on deck for the conference is a discussion about the disruptive potential of the increasingly popular virtual reality products available on the market.

SVP of FOX Sports

From Google Cardboard to the Oculus Rift, virtual reality is quickly becoming mainstream, and Mike Davies, a senior vice president at FOX Sports, will be on hand to talk about implications the technology has for sports.

He’ll be joined by Alex Karwitz of Firstborn Multimedia, Taylor Kavanaugh of Headcase VR, Christine Ngo of Mountain Dew, and David Cramer of NextVr.

ESPN Commentator Mike Tirico

A keynote discussion with ESPN commentator Mike Tirico and Bob Bowman, president and CEO of advanced media for Major League Baseball, will round out the conference, along with a panel discussion on the future of wearable technologies in sports, and a discussion about how to rise within the ranks of the sports business world.

This is the fourth year for the annual conference, which is organized by undergraduate students from the Ross School of Business and the U-M School of Kinesiology.  

Learn more about the conference on the conference website. And you can follow along on Twitter with the tag #MSBC2015.

Next week, more than 150 Ross MBA students will be heading to Palo Alto, Calif. for the annual West Coast Forum, a two-day career event that gives our students a chance to meet and mingle with executives from some of the biggest tech companies in the world, and some of the most buzzed-about startups.   

It starts with a conference-like event featuring keynote presentations and panel discussions and concludes with office visits and tours from Google, Lumosity, HP, LinkedIn, Amazon, Hotwire, Box, Instacart, Pandora, Zynga, and more.

See the agenda for a complete list of companies participating in the student-organized event.

On Monday night, alums and students will gather for #ROSSTALKS, a series of events presented by Ross faculty, where they discuss hot-button issues in areas including finance, leadership, and technology. These events are part of the new Alumni Advantage program, which launched this month.

The Palo Alto #ROSSTALKS event is happening in conjunction with the West Coast Forum and will feature Ross Dean Alison Davis-Blake, discussing “Ross By The Numbers.”

Follow the #ROSSTALKS tag on Twitter to stay up-to-date, and click here to learn more.

But, all of the excitement on the west coast next week reminded us:

There are few things you probably didn’t know about Ross on the west coast:

California is the #1 state from which we receive MBA applications.

• We get more applications from Calif. than we do New York or Illinois

The Ross Executive MBA is entering its fourth year with a Los Angeles cohort

• By May 2016, more than 100 students will have graduated from the Ross Exec MBA program in LA.

This past summer, more than 22.8 percent of Ross students from the Class of 2016 interned in California.

• Including several positions at Google, Apple, Cisco, Genentech, and PG&E

In fact, Ross had the second highest number of MBA Interns at Google this summer.

• Wharton had a few more Google interns, but they’re also double our size. The company hired interns from more than 20 business schools this summer. 

The New York Times has said, “If you want to work for Amazon, go to the Ross School of Business.”

• The tech giant has hired 64 Ross MBA grads in the last three years. Read more here.

After consulting, Ross MBA 2015 grads took jobs in technology more than any other industry.

• Learn more in our MBA Employment Report

More than 40 students in the Class of 2015 took full-time jobs in California.

• Including at the Calif. offices of Amazon, Accenture, Deloitte, Cisco, Google, and McKesson

Of all the MAP projects in 2015, 17 had a west coast element, including projects with (click on each for project explanation):

• Mattel, Jackson Family Wines, Hyatt, PayPal, Facebook, and Riot Games

*Header image from Ross student Instagram accounts during MAP projects in California. PayPal: @BarryCorrado \ Riot Games: @KevPast \ Google: @SydneyAfton \ Intel: @MrBside24

One of the most important factors in a leader being able to effectively manage and inspire a team to perform at their best is the vision the leader has for what that team or company is setting out to do.

So says Ross’ Scott DeRue in a series of new online courses now available on Coursera.org. 

In “Leading People and Teams,” DeRue joins fellow Ross Professor Maxim Sytch in offering four separate courses specializing in the influence and management of others. And it starts, they say, with the vision.

But that vision doesn’t mean much unless the language a leader uses to communicate that vision to the team is appropriate, DeRue says in the course.

“Over the past decade or so, we’ve been doing a lot of research around the language leaders use to communicate visions to their employees in ways that will compel those individuals to want to be part of this team,” DeRue says.

So here are six things he suggests leaders do when motivating their teams:

1. Refer to your fundamental values

Letting your team know the values that will underpin your actions as a company and as individuals will set the stage for success.

2. Use stories and anecdotes to exemplify those values

Stories and metaphors are more effective as communication vehicles than explicitly calling out a list of values.

“It’s one thing to say ‘We value integrity,’” DeRue says. “It’s another thing to tell a story about an employee who did the right thing when nobody was watching.”

3. Use rhetorical questions and three-part lists

Presidential candidates do this all the time, DeRue says, because it is a very effective technique for enabling people to remember the message you’re trying to communicate.

4. Express Moral Conviction

Referring to the beneficiaries of your work is hugely impactful to generating support and motivating your team. It’s important for them to clearly see why the work matters.

5. Use Inclusive Language

Be careful not to use singular, subjective words like “I” and phrases like “I want…”

“The more you can use collective language like ‘we’ and ‘our’ the more your team will feel a part of the vision you’re trying to create,” DeRue says.

6. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Short and simple statements or phrases you can repeat when communicating with your team will be what they remember - so be sure to repeat, repeat, repeat.

These six items are just one small part of a four-course specialization from DeRue and Sytch. The courses, collectively titled “Leading People and Teams”, are now available to the entire world through online education website Coursera. You can enroll at any time at coursera.org/learn/motivate-people-teams. 

Access to online courses like “Leading People in Teams” is part of a new suite of offerings available to University of Michigan Alumni through the Alumni Advantage program - which is redefining alumni status to a lifetime partnership for success. Other offerings include livestreams of on-campus lecture events, free or reduced-price access to in-person executive education opportunities, and much more.

Learn more about Alumni Advantage

New York? Check. West Coast? Check.  Chicago? Up next. These are just a few of the cities where #ROSSTALKS will be popping up this year. And for Ross alumni around the world, it means a new way to get reconnected with your school, some of your favorite professors, and fellow alumni.

#ROSSTALKS is a series of events nationwide presented by Ross faculty, where they discuss hot-button issues in areas including finance, leadership, and technology.

This school-wide effort is designed to connect alumni with Ross and provide faculty a platform to share their latest research. Between now and May 2016, the series will take place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Detroit. On Oct. 26, Alison Davis-Blake will deliver “Michigan Ross by the Numbers,” in Palo Alto, Calif., detailing the many successes the school has achieved in the past year. The inaugural #ROSSTALKS event kicked off in September in New York City, featuring Scott Rick, who presented “Emotions Behind Financial Decisions.” During the 20-minute presentation, Rick discussed how people’s spending habits can have an impact on their relationships with their significant others. #ROSSTALKS presentations are followed by a Q&A session, where the audience has the chance to engage with the faculty member. Various corporate sponsors, including Google, PwC, Deloitte, and EY have either already hosted events or committed to future presentations for their employees.

#ROSSTALKS are one of the exciting benefits of the new Alumni Advantage program, which launched earlier this month. #ROSSTALKS are invite-only and all questions should be emailed to rossevents@umich.edu.

Follow the hashtag #ROSSTALKS on Twitter to stay updated on the events as they're happening. To find out more about upcoming #ROSSTALKS events, visit the new Alumni Advantage page. 

At the Michigan Ross Campaign Dinner on Oct. 9, Edward Hightower, MBA ’95 and chairman of the Alumni Board of Governors, presented the annual Alumni Awards.

The Bert F. Wertman Alumni Service Award

The Bert F. Wertman Alumni Service Award went to David Parent, MBA ’95. Established in 1989, this award recognizes a business school alum for outstanding service to the school and/or university. It honors Bert F. Wertman, who served for more than 60 years as president of the Class of 1928, maintaining it as a cohesive group for decades.

Parent serves as the executive champion for the University of Michigan – Deloitte partnership. This partnership involves developing and leading a comprehensive engagement strategy from recruiting, including academic and co-curricular support and leading a focused fundraising campaign at Deloitte. Deloitte has been a consistent, top-five recruiter at Ross.                        

Beyond his role in recruiting, Parent led almost 600 Deloitte U-M alumni through a year-long journey to define an initiative for focused fundraising by Deloitte in support of the Victors for Michigan campaign. He has committed to raising funds for a new Ross Leadership Academy from Deloitte partners, directors, and staff – and leveraging a generous match from the Deloitte Foundation – which will result in a $2 million gift to the Sanger Leadership Center.  

“It’s not uncommon to find David in the Winter Garden counseling students, in the classroom leading a discussion, or in the Dean’s Office asking how Deloitte can benefit the school,” Hightower said. “David supports the school’s mission through countless hours at Ross even when his professional life requires a great deal of travel and his young family calls for attention.”

The David D. Alger Alumni Achievement Award

The David D. Alger Alumni Achievement Award went to Jeff Blau, BBA ’90. This award recognizes an alum whose professional achievements have brought distinction to themselves, credit to the school, and benefit to their fellow citizens. It is named in honor of David D. Alger, MBA 1968, and 2001 recipient of this award. He was a dynamic, involved member of the Michigan business school community and a member of the school’s Visiting Committee. He died in the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Blau is chief executive officer and a general partner of Related Companies. For the past 25 years he has been responsible for directing and overseeing new developments worth more than $20 billion in virtually every sector of the real estate industry. In his position as CEO, he is responsible for the strategic direction of the company, overall management of the firm, the pursuit of new development opportunities and corporate acquisitions and financing activities across all business platforms.

Blau serves on the Board of Directors of Equinox Holdings Inc., the Central Park Conservancy, the New York City Partnership and Partnership Fund for New York City, Real Estate Roundtable, and The Wharton Graduate Executive Board. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, Urban Land Institute, Association for a Better New York, and is a board member of the Union Square Partnership.

“Over the years, Mr. Blau has received numerous honors for his business, civic and philanthropic activities and most recently he was named to Crain’s New York’s New Influentials list of 25 leaders reshaping New York,” Hightower said. Blau is also a member of the Ross Advisory Board.

Image: David Parent, MBA ’95 accepts the Bert F. Wertman Alumni Service Award from Edward Hightower, MBA '95 and Alison Davis-Blake, Dean of Michigan Ross.

Entrepreneurship and thanks for amazing generosity were the themes of the evening as Michigan Ross welcomed special guests to the annual Campaign Dinner as part of Reunion festivities over Homecoming weekend.

Dean Alison Davis-Blake opened the event by thanking the guests for “the incredible impact that you have on our students and their education.”

She noted that the business world changes constantly, and gifts to Ross help the school lead the way into the future. “We need to be a step ahead, and you’re helping us do that,” she said. “Your collaborations are ensuring that we remain one of the top business schools in the world.”

The University of Michigan is just past the midpoint of its ambitious “Victors for Michigan” capital campaign. Michigan Ross is working toward a goal of $400 million in the campaign, with a quarter of that money earmarked directly for student scholarships. Davis-Blake said more than $275 million has been raised so far, with contributions from more than 12,000 donors and volunteers.

“Your show of support has just been tremendous,” she said. “I thank you for this incredible progress. You embody what it means to make a positive difference in the world.”

Edward Hightower, MBA ’95 and chairman of the Alumni Board of Governors, presented the annual Alumni Awards. The Bert F. Wertman Alumni Service Award went to David Parent, MBA ’95, and the David D. Alger Alumni Achievement Award went to Jeff Blau, BBA ’90. (See related story)

Professor Stewart Thornhill introduced the evening’s entrepreneurship theme. As executive director of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute For Entrepreneurial Studies, Thornhill oversees many of the school’s entrepreneurial offerings, and he spoke of the “incredible range of programs by which our students can test their ideas, test themselves.”

Two such programs are the Michigan Business Challenge business-plan competition and the Desai Accelerator. And both those programs have played key roles in the development of Companion, a startup phone app founded by undergraduates that is already enjoying substantial success.

The evening’s final speaker was a core member of the Companion team. Katie Reiner, BBA ’16, spoke of the value of her Ross education and the offerings of ZLI and related programs.

“I wouldn’t be here, and my team wouldn’t be here, without the support of this very special school and the tools it has given me to succeed,” she said. “Because of these invaluable resources, I’m so excited to say Companion now has over half a million users,” she added to applause from the guests. “Companion’s relationship with Ross has only just begun.”

A city-raised, former Goldman Sachs partner knows just the right investment for the future — nature.

Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, told the Michigan Ross community that bringing a business approach to conservation, along with reaching the hearts of people, can accomplish conservation goals on a big scale.

“I believe in the importance of using your mind, innovation, sound science, business principles, and using those principles to invest in nature,” he said. “Just as important is using your heart, your compassion for future generations.”

His visit was part of the Erb Institute C-Suite Speaker Series and took place in a packed Ross Colloquium.

The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization known for its focus on collaboration and finding solutions that benefit people and nature. It’s big — more than one million members in 34 countries — nonpartisan, and has a business focus.

Tercek, who joined the Conservancy in 2008 from Goldman Sachs, is an advocate for natural capital. To him that means valuing nature for its own sake as well as for the good it does for society — such as clear air, potable water, productive soil, and stable climate.

When he joined the Conservancy, Tercek knew using business principles would help reach partners who might not otherwise listen to an environmental message and could address big-scale projects. For example, conserving and creating forests can often be a more effective and cheaper method of preserving water, cleaning the air around a factory, or protecting a city from flooding.

But he also discovered changing the tone and appealing to people’s morals is just as important.

The market principles allowed the Conservancy to buy and protect 164,000 acres of forest in Montana and Washington, for $140 million, using mostly funds from impact investors, and a mix of low-interest financing and donor money for the rest.

“In other words it was an LBO for nature,” he said.

But another initiative showed how important it was to connect with people. The Conservancy assisted on 27 ballot initiatives in 19 states in the last election cycle to raise funds for things such as open spaces, water protection, and parks and trails. Many of the ballot proposals were in red states, and the last election wasn’t favorable to the kinds of things the Conservancy usually champions.

Yet those ballot proposals successfully raised $29 billion.

“What did we do? We had to build diverse constituencies,” Tercek said. “You can appeal to people, find common ground and appeal to their sense of doing the right thing and thinking of future generations. That’s powerful, too.”

Tercek said conservationists in general need to be mindful of their dialogue.

“We’re so sure what we’re doing is important that sometimes we get carried away by our passion,” he said. “Sometimes we criticize people who don’t see it our way or even demonize. That’s not a good way to grow our progress or our constituency.”

Tercek said the conservation movement also needs more people from various sectors to be successful. His own transition from Wall Street to conservation wasn’t easy, but was definitely worth doing.

“In order to achieve success at the scale we want to do it at, we need more mobility between sectors,” he said. “People tend to overrate the risk of things and underrate the opportunity. Was my transition easy? No; but, boy, was it worth it. I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. The field is so ripe for people who can go from sector to sector.”

More about Erb Institute C-Suite Series

Michigan Ross has again been listed among the most Military Friendly Schools by rankings organization Victory Media.

Ross was chosen as a Military Friendly school based on the amount of support available to veterans on campus, graduation rates of veteran students, job placement rates, available tuition assistance, and government approvals.

Because Ross is classified as a Yellow Ribbon school, application fees for students in the military and veterans are waived, and most of the unmet tuition of veterans 100 percent eligible for Chapter 33 is covered. Ross do not limit the number of participants and covers all admitted students who are eligible.

Ross’ commitment to military and veteran students runs deep, and since 2012, the Ross MBA program has more than tripled military student enrollment.

Earlier this month, a number of those students shared their experiences in the military with fellow classmates during VetX, Michigan Ross MBA Veteran Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines. You can watch them share their stories via the full video recap (embedded below).

This commitment to military and veteran students at Ross is echoed at the University of Michigan more broadly, where several students groups, including Ross’ Armed Forces Association, have collaborated to bring a wide range of Veterans Day events to campus this year. Here is the full schedule:

VETERANS WEEK 2015 - learn more

Flag Raising on the Diag

8 a.m.
Central Campus Diag​

Gulf War/Cold War Panel

Come hear experiences of those who kept us safe during the Cold War and fought during the Gulf War
10 a.m.
Michigan Union - Wolverine Room

Staff/Faculty/Student Military and Veteran Appreciation Lunch

11 a.m to 2 p.m.
Michigan Union - Ballroom

Lecture: Michigan Solicitor General, Mr. Aaron Lindstrom

SG Lindstrom is a 1996 graduate of the US Military Academy, then spent five years as an Officer in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment before leaving active service to earn his JD at U Chicago. He clerked for Jeff Sutton in the 6th Circuit, then practiced at Gibson & Dunn's appellate practice in Washington, DC before joining Warner, Norcross, and Judd in its Grand Rapids office. He was appointed as the Michigan SG in 2013, where he argues cases on behalf of the state in both the Michigan and US Supreme Courts.
12 noon
South Hall Room 1225

VA Healthcare Benefits

A VA healthcare benefits professional will be in the Michigan Union to answer your VA healthcare questions or to sign you up for VA healthcare.
2 p.m.
Michigan Union - 2105D

U-M Student Veteran Panel

Student veterans studying at the University of Michigan will discuss their time in service and their transition to college. We will have both graduate and undergraduate students on the panel.
2 p.m.
Michigan Union - Kuenzel Room

Flag Lowering

5 p.m.
Central Campus Diag

Service Above Self—Honoring Our Veterans

The entire campus community as well as the general public is welcome to our Gala Event: "Service Above Self – Honoring our Veterans."

Hosted by the Rotary Club, this event will feature stories from a WWII veteran, a Korean War veteran, a Gulf War era Veteran, and an Iraq War Veteran. In between stories there will be live music. This event, like the rest of the events, is completely free.
6 p.m.
Hill Auditorium  

Thursday, November 12

Korean War Veterans Panel

Called the "Forgotten War," the Korean War was in between WWII and Vietnam. The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1954. It claimed over 1.2 million civilian and military casualties. Come hear Korean War veterans, including a POW, talk about their experiences and how the Korean War has shaped their lives.
10 a.m.
Michigan Union - Pond Room

Veterans of Color Panel, Keynote and Reception

A panel discussion with student faculty and staff veterans of color, followed by a keynote presentation from Maj. Gen. William A Henderson, a decorated Air Marine Veteran who served from 1968 to 1974. A reception will follow.

2 p.m.
Michigan Union, Anderson Room

Learn more about the Ross MBA program

VETx Event Recap

There was a lot of good news in this year’s employment stats for new Michigan Ross MBA grads, including 97.4 percent getting job offers and a new record high in compensation.

The headline, though, was the growing relationship between Ross and Amazon -- what the B-school website Poets & Quants calls “Amazon’s Amazing MBA Hiring Binge at Ross.”

Ross remained Amazon’s favorite source of MBA hires this year, with the company welcoming 31 new Ross Full-Time MBA grads, in addition to 32 MBA interns and 14 grads from other Ross programs. The company has steadily increased its hiring at Ross over the last several years.

Amazon Vice President for Marketplace Peter Faricy -- a Ross grad himself (MBA ’95) -- spoke as part of University of Michigan homecoming festivities this year. “For the seventh straight year, the No. 1 school we’ve recruited from is the Ross School of Business,” Faricy told the audience. In an earlier profile in the Ross alumni magazine Dividend, he noted, “We really find that Ross graduates are some of the best holistic business leaders.”

The top companies hiring Ross MBA grads included Amazon, McKinsey & Co., Deloitte, the Boston Consulting Group, PwC, Bain & Co., JPMorgan Chase, Strategy&, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Citi, Google, and Accenture.

Some other highlights from Ross MBA hiring numbers, some of which are noted in the Poets & Quants report:

• 92.4 percent of the class had job offers at graduation, and 97.4 percent had offers three months later.
• Median starting salary for new Ross MBAs was $117,500, a 2.4 percent increase over 2014. Including signing bonuses and other compensation, the median total pay package was $149,960 -- the highest ever.
• Almost a quarter of the new Ross MBAs took jobs on the West Coast. Over half the class took jobs in four cities: San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and New York.
• The percentage of Ross grads going into a tech field --including computers/electronic products and technology/telecom--was nearly 20 percent, a new high.
• Consulting remained the top industry for new Ross MBAs (31 percent of the class), with those grads receiving an average total compensation package of $193,000.

Read the Poets & Quants article

Check out Ross’ MBA employment stats

Learn more about the Ross MBA Program

“I think all of my ideas come in the shower,” said Kristin Steiner, MBA/MS ʼ16, co-founder of fulFILL, a new startup rolling out in Ann Arbor this fall.

“But this one definitely did.”

The average person creates 4.4 pounds of waste every day, according to the EPA, and Steiner, along with co-founder Brittany Szczepanik, MS/MEng ʼ17; and contributor Michael Barg, MBA/MS ʼ17, are hoping to make a dent in that figure.

“I went to throw away my shampoo bottle and thought it was crazy that most of the physical mass of this product I’m just throwing away,” Steiner said.

fulFILL, which bills itself as a delivery service for household goods, is looking to reduce packaging waste by bringing refills of your favorite shampoo, body wash, lotions, and more directly to your door, poured right into the bottle you already own.

And so far, fulFILL is a hit.

Ever since first getting seed money from the Erb Institute’s Cool Projects grant program, the team has been on a tear through business competitions (placing in four), launch events, and pilot groups for the last year.

Most recently, the team won the Judges’ Choice award in the Climate Colab Waste Management competition, an international competition awarding the best ideas to address global climate change.

And sustainability has been at the heart of fulFILL from the very beginning.

“We are not fully utilizing the value of the products and the packaging we’re buying,” said Barg. “A big part of this business is looking at the environmental perspective. Is it sustainable, how much water are we using, etc. The key thing here is waste reduction.”

“The thing is, recycling is also pretty energy- and water-intensive,” said Steiner. “So I thought there has to be a way to just refill the products we already have.

“It’s like the old milkman service, but with a modern twist.”

fulFILL officially launched in September of this year, offering refill services to a pilot group of customers in the Zaragon West apartment building in Ann Arbor. They’re hoping to expand this winter into other apartment communities as they refine and work on scalability and expansion of services to household goods, non-perishable food items, and more.

It’s a challenge the team said they feel more than ready to meet.

“Part of me is like, there is no way I’d ever start a business while also in school,” Steiner said. “I’m just doing so much stuff. But being here at Ross and the Erb Institute, there are so many opportunities for funding and so many resources to help us succeed. It was kind of a no brainer.”

“Yeah, the timing of this is actually really crucial,” Barg agreed. “While we’re here we not only have access to contests and funding opportunities, but also logistics and people who can brainstorm and help us grow. We’re perfectly positioned to take advantage of things that will help us reach the next level.”

Learn more about fulFILL

Learn more about the Erb Institute at Ross

Michigan Ross is looking for community organizations to partner in the annual Impact Challenge, which involves hundreds of Ross students in a special project with a social mission in Detroit.

Sponsored by the Sanger Leadership Center at Ross, the Impact Challenge takes a different form each year. Working with local partner organizations, the Sanger team develops an initiative to meet a community-identified need in Detroit that will also engage students in an intense and rewarding leadership learning experience.

Ross students in the MBA and several other degree programs work on different aspects of the challenge, which typically ends with a large, public event just before the start of fall classes. In this year’s challenge, Ross students collaborated with Detroit school students on projects for the Brightmoor Maker Space, culminating in a Mini Maker Faire at Detroit’s Eastern Market. In 2013, Ross MBAs put on a back-to-school fair for Detroit youth - watch the video.

Benefits of serving as an Impact Challenge community partner include the opportunity to apply the time, energy, and ideas of more than 1,000 Michigan Ross students as well as other Ross resources to solve an important problem or realize a big vision in your organization or community.

If you think you might like to get involved, please complete the community partner interest form by Friday, Dec. 4, 2015. And don’t hesitate to share it with others in your network as well.

Questions? Email rossleaders@umich.edu.

Community Partner Interest Form

Q-and-A for Prospective Community Partners

Image: Michigan Ross MBA students working with B-Moor Radio in Detroit during the 2015 Impact Challenge community event.

When Michigan Ross BBA students focus on the world’s most pressing problems, you can be sure they’ll come up with some impressive solutions -- and those ideas were shared Wednesday as part of the inaugural Zell Lurie InstituteEntrepreneurship Challenge.

This three-day event challenged teams of Ross juniors to develop entrepreneurial solutions to the 17 problems that the UN has identified as Global Goals--things like ending world hunger; reducing large-scale waste; and making cities and settlements more inclusive, safe, and resilient.

BBA juniors participated in the challenge through the new undergraduate MERGE curriculum. The challenge is part of the junior Integrative Semester, in which students learn to look at a problem from different angles to come up with the best solution.

ZLI Executive Director Stewart Thornhill said the value of the challenge is “to give students an opportunity to apply the learnings of the Integrative Semester and solve significant real-world problems; and to encourage them to use an entrepreneurial mindset and look for problems to solutions, rather than just observing that there are problems out there.”

Beyond that, he added, the event drives home the fact that idea of entrepreneurship doesn’t just apply to Silicon Valley startups. “Entrepreneurial thinking and behavior can be applied anywhere there is a way to create value for others,” he said.

In the challenge, students were randomly assigned into teams based on their class section. One finalist team was selected from each section:

• Use By -- A mobile app to reduce food waste by keeping consumers informed of expiration info and suggesting ways to use or donate goods that are close to expiring.
• Bugaboo Protein -- An effort to make the world’s protein supply more sustainable by using crickets to make an edible protein powder.
• The Demeter Group -- A long-term project to improve food security and health via urban farming at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan.
• Homelink -- A system to connect low-income families with high-quality landlords willing to accept Section 8 housing vouchers.
• Baransu -- A program to match consumers who have excess food with food banks that would pick it up from them.
• OptiRide -- A service to connect suburban low-income housing (not served by mass transit) with urban job opportunities.

The six finalist teams presented their ideas to a panel of guest judges: Eric Friedman, executive partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York; Denise Ilitch, president of Ilitch Enterprises and a member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents; and Rishi Narayan, managing owner of Underground Printing.

The judges named the Demeter Group as the winner of the challenge. Team members were Matthew Lee, Finn Magoon, Cole McConnell, Kai Norden, and Rohit Palayekar.

Their solution to food security issues at the Zaatari camp was to implement urban farming ideas in the form of multi-story gardens. These would cut refugee costs and decrease disease and malnutrition, as well as making the local food supply more sustainable. A successful venture could then expand regionally and internationally.

“I thought it was really, really engaging,” Lee said of the challenge, adding that it offered a great chance to take classroom learning and apply it to a real-life situation.

And the potential impact is real, Norden noted: “You can generate world-changing ideas in a couple of days.”

Read more on the Entrepreneurship Challenge

More information on the Zell Lurie Institute

More information on the Ross BBA Program

Michigan Ross is helping our alumni to give something truly valuable to their loved ones this year — the gift of personal and professional growth. Through the Alumni Advantage program, Michigan Ross alumni can give two people per year partial scholarships for 50 percent off any Ross Executive Education program. Colleagues, friends, and family members can use the scholarships for popular open enrollment programs in Ann Arbor, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and India. This is in addition to the full tuition scholarships Ross alumni are able to use for their own professional development.

Went to U-M but not Ross? Treat yourself this holiday season and take advantage of the offer of partial scholarships for 50 percent off of any open enrollment Executive Education program for all University of Michigan alumni.

The 2016 lineup of programs is impressive. Here are a just a few:

Feb. 29 – March 11 Advanced Human Resource Executive Program

April 18-22 Emerging Leaders Program

May 23-26 Negotiating for Positive Results

June 6-10 Management of Managers

The Executive Education scholarships are one of many of the benefits of Alumni Advantage, the new program offering an exclusive suite of benefits for Michigan Ross and other University of Michigan alumni.

Learn More and take advantage

Michigan Ross Professor Stefan Nagel has been named editor of the Journal of Finance, the top academic journal in the field. Nagel is the Michael Stark Professor of Finance at Ross and professor of economics.

The Journal of Finance is one of the most widely cited journals in both finance and economics.

“It is an honor and a great responsibility to take on this leadership role at our profession's flagship journal, he says. “These are exciting times for research in finance. The past few years have brought up many new questions about the role of finance in business and in our economy. I look forward to working with my co-editors, authors, and peer reviewers to publish research that provides novel perspectives on the many open challenges in finance.”

Nagel is an expert in behavioral finance, financial crises, and asset pricing. His current research examines the formation of subjective expectations and risk preference and the role they play in the formation of booms and busts in asset prices. Nagel discussed this research in a recent video on the Michigan Ross YouTube Chanel, which you can watch here, or embedded below.

The Journal also named 2007 Ross PhD graduate Amit Seru, professor of finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, as a co-editor.

Wally Hopp, senior associate dean for faculty and research, says Ross places a high premium on innovation and thought leadership in business scholarship.

“One of the most important ways faculty help guide research into innovative new ideas is through editorial positions at the leading academic journals,” says Hopp. “In these roles, faculty make decisions about what work gets published and work with authors to hone their ideas into important contributions.  

“Ross faculty hold over 100 editorial positions on the editorial boards of the top academic journals in all of the business disciplines. We are particularly proud of our faculty who are serving as editors-in-chief at elite journals like Administrative Science Quarterly (Jerry Davis) and the Journal of Finance (Nagel). In these roles, our faculty are helping to shape thinking about the future of business scholarship.”

Watch Nagel explain the origins of his inflation research:

Once upon a time, in a faraway land...

Okay, storytelling has changed in style a lot in the last hundred years or so — but the power of stories to connect and move us has remained constant. And there’s a certain art that goes into telling an effective and emotional story.

Glynn Washington, the founder of the popular podcast Snap Judgement, calls it “Storytelling With A Beat” — and when Ross students take the stage to tell personal stories of their own sometime next year, they’ll have a year’s worth of lessons and workshops to help them tell stories that matter.

It’s all part of Story Lab, a semester-long initiative from the Sanger Leadership Center and the Design + Business Club designed to help Ross students harness the power of storytelling in professional settings.  

According to the Story Lab team, “stories can be used to advance a broad array of professional goals: networking, building coalitions, pitching, presenting, and leading in organizations and communities.

“Our mission is to support Rossers as they look to refine and tell the stories that are important to them — on the job, for the job, or in their personal lives.”

The initiative kicks off next week with a public event featuring Snap Judgement host Washington and many other storytelling superstars, including Bobbie Carlton, founder of Mass Innovation Nights; and Gregg Fraley, author of “Jack’s Notebook.”

Then throughout the Winter Semester, D+B and the Sanger Center will host a series of workshops to help students refine their stories. Themes for these workshops include helping students: build and communicate their personal brands, be more vulnerable and self aware, and deliver impactful presentations during MAP and summer internships.

At the end of it all, students will tell their stories live on stage for the first time at an end-of-semester story slam competition. Date, time, and location will be announced sometime next year.

The Story Lab Kickoff is Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. on the 4th floor of Rackham Amphitheater and is open to all.

Register now

Learn more about Story Lab

One of Michigan Ross’ most active clubs has created a new mentorship program in the Motor City. The Detroit Revitalization & Business Initiative (Detroit R&B) launched the program at Renaissance High School and Marquette Middle School, in an effort to build a partnership with Detroit Public Schools and encourage community and economic engagement.

The first session took place October at Renaissance. The second session was also held at Renaissance, where more than a dozen 10th- and 12th-grade students received an introduction to the world of marketing. Ross MBA students discussed the basic concepts of marketing, the importance of marketing brands, and the role of brand managers.

During this hour-long session, the mentees were also tasked with creating a name for their group and presented a 30-second ad pitch for their fictitious vehicle line. This program is just one of numerous efforts Detroit R&B has launched since its inception in 2010.

The club’s goal is to connect Ross students with the business landscape in Detroit and encourage them to work, live, and engage there. This goal is more important than ever as Detroit continues to build its economic base, including the construction of the new Red Wings arena, a new Nike store in the works, and new retail stores in the downtown area. 

For Detroit R&B co-president Steve Worthy, MBA ’16, this program has brought his educational and personal experience full circle. Worthy is a Detroit native and graduate of Renaissance, one of the city’s top schools. The idea to start the mentoring program began after Ross professors Kim Cameron and Bob Quinn met with a group of DPS faculty and administration for a two-day workshop earlier this year and Dean Alison Davis-Blake suggested Worthy speak with the duo. Feeling inspired by the workshop, Worthy and other R&B members wanted a way to build a long-term, impactful relationship with Detroit. Starting that relationship with the next generation of leaders was a no-brainer.

“It feels good to connect with the kids and be seen as a mentor,” says Worthy. “I was in their seat less than 10 years before, so I’m a visual representation of some things they can accomplish.”

They plan to meet for six sessions at Renaissance and three at Marquette, focusing on different areas of business including marketing, entrepreneurship, and accounting/finance. For Ben Stickel, MBA ’16, also co-president of Detroit R&B, this mentoring program is his way of giving back to the city that helped him flourish professionally. Originally from Rochester, Mich., Stickel spent nearly five years living in Detroit, where he worked as an accountant. He sees the value of an organization such as R&B, where many members are not from the Detroit area, but still want to be active in the community.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement in Detroit and lots of opportunities. Our organization gives Ross students a chance to interact with the city and the people who live here,” says Stickel.

Stickel and Worthy both view Detroit R&B mentoring program as a step in the right direction, and Renaissance business curriculum head Lisa Johnson agrees.

“We hope to prep them to become independent thinkers, and this is an opportunity for Ross to give back,” says Johnson, who has worked at the college-prep high school for four years. “This is very valuable and enriching.”

Detroit R&B hopes to expand this program to other schools in the city. Even though they are both graduating in May, Stickel and Worthy anticipate other members will carry the torch and take the program to even greater heights next year. “We think that this is creating a more lasting relationship with Detroit and a way to truly interact with the people,” says Worthy. “It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

To learn more about Detroit R&B, visit their website. 

When Michigan Ross Professor Scott DeRue was looking for guest lecturers for his Leading People and Teams online course, he figured a slam-dunk candidate was right down State St. — Michigan Men’s Basketball Coach John Beilein.

He was right. Beilein has coached Michigan since 2007 and is regarded as one of the game’s top tacticians. But he’s also proved to be a great leader of people.

MGoBlue TV has a video and more information on the partnership.

“I've witnessed firsthand over the past four years how effective Coach Beilein is at building and developing the team,” says DeRue, associate dean for Executive Education at Ross. “The business school is trying to add value to athletics, and athletics adds value to the business school. And this is a perfect partnership in that regard.”

Students of DeRue’s Coursera course draw knowledge from Beilein’s 40 years of coaching experience in the Influencing People and Leading Teams portions of the class.

“I’ve never had two teams that are the same,” Beilein told MGoBlue TV. “As soon as you sit back and think ‘OK, these guys are in good shape,’ you’ll have a brand new issue that you’d never thought you’d see in your life and you’ll have to deal with it.”

Leading People and Teams, known as a massive open online course, or MOOC, starts Dec. 21.

Enroll Now