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May 19, 2010
Next Information Sessions at the Graduate Center: May 22, June 3, June 16
Upcoming Events:
May 24 - Conversation with Nehemiah Companies CEO Scott Syphax
May 27 - Webinar:"Digital Libraries are the Future"
July 17-18 - Special GMAT Prep Session (details to follow in the next issue of Dragonfire)
Save the Dates:
September 1 - "Experience Drexel" party at the Grad Center
September 15 - Convocation and New Student Orientation
October 10- Alumni/Student Outing: Philadelphia Eagles vs. San Francisco 49ers
In this issue of Dragonfire:
- Three Drexel Students Are Finalists for "40 Under 40" - and One Wins!
- Drexel's Newest MBA Students Interview the Region's Best...
- ... And Win an International Competition!
- What it Means to Lead: From Clerk to President
- City Council Commends Drexel for Excellence and Civic Leadership
- Drexel MS-LIS Professor Honored as Yolo Woman of the Year
- "Digital Libraries Are the Future" on May 27
- Two More Examples of Our Students' Civic Engagement
- Two Green Thumbs Up for Drexel
- Sacramento Dragons Visit Philly Campus
- Sacramento LEAD MBA Students Compete in ACG Cup Competition
- School of Public Health Researcher Finds Grocery Gap Leads to Health Disparities
- Interested in Pre-Med? Attend June 3 Information Session
Three Drexel Students Are Finalists for "40 Under 40" — and One Wins!
Sam Applebaum is an MD who gave up a lucrative career with Sutter Health to lead "The Effort" — a nonprofit that provides primary care and mental health treatment, inpatient detoxification, and residential housing for frequent users of emergency services at 10 locations in underserved areas in our city. Immigrating from Mexico at the age of six, Gloria Mirazo became the first member of her family to graduate from college; now a sales manager for the mortgage division of Wells Fargo, she is the president of the National Latina Business Women's Association-Sacramento, which helps women succeed as entrepreneurs and executives. Chris Hetrick was commissioned into the Air Force in 2002; a pilot flying missions out of Beale, he is responsible for manned and unmanned missions around the world that are so secret we cannot tell you about them. It's no wonder these were three of the 100 finalists (out of the 340 who were nominated) for the Sacramento Business Journal's "40 Under 40" award — young leaders of the region who are destined for great things. All three are Drexel students. At an awards ceremony held on April 27, Chris Hetrick was named one of the region's most promising 40 individuals under the age of 40. Congratulations to all Drexel Dragons who were nominated — for all that you do for your employers, your families, and your communities.
Drexel's Newest MBA Students Interview the Region's Best...
Technology. Hospitality. Communications. Solar Energy. Banking. These are key drivers of our region's economy. Students joining Drexel's MBA program this past March are having the unique opportunity to interview key players in all of those sectors. Pictured at left is Michele Wong, president and CEO of Synergex International, who spoke with the students about organizational development and leadership on April 13. Other business leaders who have met with our students in their first term as Dragons include: Patrick Mulvaney, owner of Culinary Specialists and Mulvaney's B&L; Jane Einhorn, senior vice president of Runyon Salzman & Einhorn; Kirk Uhler, chair of the Placer County Board of Supervisors and a consultant in solar energy; Jeanne Reaves, past president of River City Bank. Not only are the discussions deep, but connections are made, and our students have been following up with these speakers, getting mentoring, and growing their networks, in class, all from day one. There's good reason that Drexel's LEAD MBA program is ranked in the nation's Top Ten. If you're interested, come to the next Information Session. You don't want to wait too long and find yourself on the waiting list for the cohort starting next September!
... And Win an International Competition!
Drexel University LeBow College of Business LEAD MBA in Sacramento students Sam Bradshaw, Justin Johnson, Alexander Malana, Bill Reaugh, and Shaun Youndberg won first place in the Spring 2010 Capsim® International Challenge, a global online business simulation competition designed to teach students how to run a business. The Capsim Challenge is held twice annually and requires students to compete against both a computer and other teams by winning the most market share with a computer-simulated business. The six teams with the highest scores moved on to the final round. "The Capstone and Foundation Challenge provides an opportunity for students of all levels — from first-year undergraduates to MBA students — to find out if they have what it takes to run a multimillion dollar company," said Dan Smith, president of Capsim and adjunct professor at DePaul University in Chicago. Adding more luster to the victory, the Drexel team's score was the highest in tournament history.
What it Means to Lead: From Clerk to President
Felix Fernandez is regional president of Community Banking for all Wells Fargo retail banking operations in northern California. In addition to overseeing $10.2 billion in deposits, he is also responsible for setting the standards for over 2,400 team members at 147 locations throughout northern California. Last month, Fernandez met with students from all of Drexel's graduate degree programs to discuss how he got to where he is today and the lessons he learned along the way. What's so wonderful about our speakers series ("What It Means To Lead: Coast to Coast Conversations with Business and Civic Leaders") is that these leaders drop all pretense, become introspective, and share their reflections on their lives and careers openly, as mentors. Their stories are fascinating, and the insights they provide are priceless. You're invited to be with us for these unique opportunities once you've been accepted into one of our graduate programs. Our next guest on May 24 is Scott Syphax, CEO of the Nehemiah Companies. Will you be there for it?
City Council Commends Drexel For Excellence and Civic Leadership
With
Sacramento Dean Tobey Oxholm looking on, city council member Rob Fong
recently presented Dr. George Tsetsekos, proud Dean of Drexel's LeBow
College of Business, with a "Resolution Recognizing Drexel
University." We can't improve on what Council said, so here's
part of it: "WHEREAS, Drexel's part-time Master's in Business
Administration — which is being taught in Sacramento and now
has three cohorts of students being educated in Sacramento — has
been ranked first in academic quality in the country, and tenth overall
for the second year in a row by BusinessWeek magazine; and …WHEREAS,
not only is Drexel a lead sponsor of Metro EDGE [the Metro Chamber's
under-40 service organization], but Drexel's students – led by
those in the MBA program — have resolved to hold one volunteer
service project each month... NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the
Mayor and Council of the City of Sacramento, that we do hereby … express
our appreciation for the commitment that the College and the University
have made to bringing excellence in education and service to this region." Drexel
sincerely appreciates this unanimous vote of confidence by our city's
elected leaders.
Drexel MS-LIS Professor Honored as Yolo Woman of the Year
Patty Wong, Yolo county librarian and chief archivist, is a 26-year veteran in the field of library services who has dedicated her life to improving library access.She's also a member of Drexel's faculty, teaching in the Library and Information Science program in Sacramento. On March 23, Professor Wong was named "Woman of the Year" by Senator Lois Wolk of the 5th Senate District. Honored as part of Women's History Month, Professor Wong was called "a woman who has profoundly affected her [Yolo County] community." The award credits her for the opening of two new libraries, raising half a million dollars to support library operations, and supporting several nonprofit organizations including REFORMA, an association that promotes library services to Spanish-speaking Americans, and the American Library Association Presidential Initiative Planning Committee. "Libraries are the heart of a community," Wong said. "I've made it my priority... to ensure that everyone in our diverse community, especially the underserved, have the opportunity to enjoy all that our libraries have to offer." Obviously, the award is well-deserved!
For those holding degrees in any subject, from liberal arts to engineering, Drexel's MS-LIS program provides preparation for careers in the information field. Graduates hold jobs in public and academic libraries, museums, archives, Web development companies, law firms, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and more. Drexel's MS-LIS, one of just 62 programs accredited by the ALA, is ranked ninth in the nation by U.S.News & World Report, with specialties in Information Systems and Digital Librarianship ranked third and sixth, respectively. To learn more about the MS-LIS program, attend an Information Session.
"Digital Libraries Are the Future" on May 27
Now is the time to learn how you can be a part of this exciting field in library and information science. The iSchool at Drexel's Digital Libraries concentration within the Master of Science in Library and Information Science program covers a range of topics in digital resources, collections, and services. The college's webinar, Digital Libraries are the Future, hosted by Associate Professor Xia Lin, will answer your questions about this program, covering such topics as: What are digital libraries? Which classes will I take? What kinds of jobs are out there for digital librarians? And much more.
If you are interested in learning more about the Digital Libraries concentration, join us for this online session. The webinar will be hosted on Tuesday, May 27, 2010 at 9 a.m. (PST). Register online by May 23.
Two More Examples of Our Students' Civic Engagement
We've reported before on how proud we are of our students for taking on new service projects each month — service to community is one of the finest traditions of our University, dating back to the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1850 — and last month was no different. As part of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, two dozen faculty, staff, and students from our Higher Education, Public Health, iSchool,
and MBA programs rolled up their sleeves and got dirty, cleaning up a
four-block stretch of the city bike trail, removing trash, weeding, and
mulching.
The coordinator of the event, the Volunteer Coordinator for the City of Sacramento's Parks and Recreation department, called Drexel's contribution "awesome!" and noted that we collected more than a ton of debris, almost filling two trailers. In May, the students are collecting school supplies and raising money to support Grant High School, one of the city's oldest schools that today faces all the issues that children raised in under-privileged neighborhoods have to overcome in order to succeed.
Kudos to our students!
Two Green Thumbs Up for Drexel
In April, Drexel University received two national recognitions for leadership in sustainability. The first came from the Environmental Protection Agency, which awarded Drexel first place among universities in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) for the percentage of power generated by renewable resources. Drexel was the first national university to purchase a substantial amount of wind power in 2002, and the amount it purchases today is substantial indeed: 22 percent! The second came from The Princeton Review, which reviewed 697 colleges and universities across the country for how green their environments were and ranked Drexel among the nation's "286 greenest colleges."
Sacramento Dragons Visit Philly Campus
Sometimes it's tough to get a complete feel for what Drexel has to offer. Sure, there's a lot going on in Sacramento that links us to Philly, but there's nothing better than actually going there. So we decided to send 10 members of the student body to the Philadelphia Main Campus. Four were going there to represent Drexel in a regional competition, but six others are members of student leadership here (our Graduate Student Association Board), and they were able to spend three days meeting faculty, administrators, and students, touring the campus and the city, and really getting to know Drexel. "Simply amazing!" said one, standing in the Great Court of Drexel's Main Building, erected in 1891. "Now I really know what it means to be part of a top-ranked private university that has been around since 1891. I am really proud to be part of that great tradition, and one of its new leaders on the West Coast."
Sacramento LEAD MBA Students Compete in ACG Cup Competition
Four
Drexel University LeBow College of Business MBA students were awarded
$2,000 at the 2010 ACG Philadelphia Cup competition held April 8 at KPMG's
Center City Philadelphia office. The team was comprised of LEAD MBA in
Sacramento students Robert Dodge, Paul Green, Robert Baker, and Scott
Freeman. These students traveled from Sacramento to Philadelphia to compete
against other regional schools. They also visited Drexel University's
Main Campus to meet with faculty, staff, and students. The ACG Cup competition,
which is open exclusively to MBA and MS Finance students, started with
a Round One competition held on campus at LeBow College. The Sacramento
LEAD students competed against four other LeBow College teams via video
conference. Each team analyzed and presented solutions and recommendations
to a complex business case that required a combination of corporate strategy,
finance, and valuation skills. This year's case was a classic buy-side
investment banking scenario. "The ACG Cup team members told the
judges that they each spent about 400 hours analyzing the case information
and putting together financial evaluations and reports to consider the
needs of the constituents involved in the given case," said Kamina
Richardson, Business of Ambition program manager. "The students
also said this competition gave them a new appreciation for the complexities
involved in mergers and acquisitions, as well as for the importance of
teamwork."
School of Public Health Researcher Finds Grocery Gap Leads to Health Disparities
Allison Karpyn, an adjunct professor at Drexel University School of Public Health and also the Director of Research and Evaluation of The Food Trust Organization, recently co-authored a new report on access to healthy foods and its impact on the health of communities. The report was co-authored by Sarah Treuhaft of PolicyLink, which is headquartered in Oakland, CA.
The study, called "The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters [PDF] ," found that accessing healthy food is a challenge for many Americans — particularly those living in low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, and rural areas. The researchers also found that better access to healthy foods corresponds with healthier eating patterns and helps to lower risk for obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases. The study's findings also found that healthier food options in underserved communities can create jobs and revitalize low-income neighborhoods.
"For millions of Americans, especially people living in low-income communities of color, finding a fresh apple is not so easy," said Karpyn. "What can be found are convenience stores and fast food restaurants that mainly sell cheap, high-fat, high-sugar, processed foods. Without access to healthy foods, a nutritious diet and good health are out of reach."
The researchers compiled the most comprehensive bibliography to date of studies examining food access and its implications conducted in the United States over the past 20 years. This includes 132 previous studies.
Interested in Pre-Med? Attend June 3 Information Session
Drexel's Interdepartmental Medical Sciences (IMS) program is ideal for students who wish to pursue careers in medicine. And this August, for the first time ever, the 10-month IMS program will be offered in Sacramento. If you have an interest in applying or re-applying to medical school, or need better preparation for the MCAT, join us for an Information Session on June 3 at noon. We expect to have only 20 students in the class and students are admitted on a "rolling" basis. Food and parking are complimentary, but you'll need to sign up in advance. Call the Graduate Center at 916-325-4600 for more information.
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