Robert T. Sumichrast
Dean and Simon S. Selig, Jr. Chair for Economic Growth

Published: March 4, 2009 | Vol. 2, Issue 1

These are the most challenging times many of us have ever experienced. It has caused students who may be approaching graduation, an internship, or just the prospect of a summer job to question what the future holds. But there are now, and will continue to be, opportunities. For the young people who can take advantage of the changes in the marketplace, this is a great time to be a student and to become better prepared for the eventual upswing in the economy.

Though we're not as nimble as the students in our programs, we in higher education do need to be as smart about responding to the current economic challenges facing us. I wholeheartedly believe this can still be a time when the Terry College of Business gains ground on its vision of national prominence. There are opportunities to make progress that don't hinge on additional funding or need only limited investments now to pay off handsomely later. For instance, Terry faculty — with input from students, alumni and the business community — are making fundamental improvements to our academic programs and service learning activities. So far this year, we have created or revised 16 courses, and we have proposed major restructuring to the junior-year curriculum. We've also established a new MBA program in Atlanta called the Fast-Track Professional MBA that will help more working professionals advance their careers without interfering with their jobs.

We continue to invest in developing the best faculty ever assembled at the Terry College. Because we are actively recruiting new faculty this spring — when many other schools are not — we are operating in a job market that is tilted more in our favor than any we've seen in recent years. We are recruiting several faculty members and will announce more details about the hires when they join us at the beginning of the academic year in August.

We've also been able to rely on a truly outstanding group of business practitioners to teach and mentor our students and advise us on our strategic direction. Retired business leaders like Earl Leonard of Coca-Cola, Pat Pittard of Heidrick & Struggles, and Steve Goodroe of Procter & Gamble, who have been active with our Executive-in-Residence program, add critical perspectives in times like these. And students benefit greatly from relevant guest lectures by alumni like Walter Muller (BS 1979, MA 1980), chief investment officer of Bank of America's Corporate Investments Group; AJC business columnist Thomas Oliver (ABJ 1974); Jimmy Barge (BBA 1978), an executive vice president at Viacom; and many others. Helping us pursue our strategic vision outside our own backyard are two alumni who have recently joined the Terry Dean's Advisory Council: Hill Feinberg (BBA 1969), who lives in Dallas, and Hal Kelly (BBA 1984, MBA 1986, PhD 1993) in New York.

Despite the weekly deluge of negative reports in the news, there is still much progress being made and many achievements to tout, and we will celebrate those accomplishments — along with our three Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni award winners — at the Alumni Awards and Gala on April 25. This year's black-tie gala will be at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead. Your Alumni Board has succeeded in making the Gala the place to be on that night in Atlanta, and I hope you will join us for the festivities.

Robert T. Sumichrast, Dean
Terry College of Business

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