Each semester, high profile executives -- such as Ronnie Lott, NFL Hall of Fame Inductee and Co-Founder of HRJ Capital Investments -- serve as Executives in Residence in the NIU College of Business. These executives possess a wealth of business and world experiences, are highly respected within industry, and are typically CEOs, company founders/owners, or senior level executives.
These highly accomplished individuals come into NIU's classrooms to share their vast expertise on global business issues, relationships, giving back, and life with NIU business students. As an illustration, Mr. Lott shared a champion's values and gave a leadership clinic in Fall 2006 before a packed classroom in the college's Entrepreneurship class.
The 2008 roster of executives in the classroom promises to be as compelling:
Mike McGrath (B.S. Management 1970), Senior Owner, McGrath Lexus — February 7 Executive in Residence.
Bill Bendush, retired CFO, Applied Micro Circuits — March Executive in Residence.
Lyle Heidemann (B.S. Marketing 1967), President, CEO, True Value Company — March 18 Executive in Residence.
James Palumbo, (B.S. Education 1972), president, Plasma Display Coalition, Tom Harvey, (B.S. Education 1971, M.S. Education 1972), CEO of a start up venture by Blue Chip Sports and Tony Piazza, sales and marketing consultant — March 25 Executive in Residence. These three former co-workers at Sony Electronics formed a panel discussion with undergraduate students in the Marketing Strategy and Strategic Management classes. They discussed their careers, sacrifices, successes and encouraged students to build relationships in order to accelerate ones career outside of graduation.
Tim Jerzyk, (B.S. Finance 1974, M.B.A. 1977), senior vice president, Investor Relations/Treasurer Yum! Brands Inc. — April 1 Executive in Residence. Tim Jerzyk spoke to marketing and finance students in the Marketing Strategy and Investor Relations classes. Jerzyk shared the lessons he learned through his career and how he has used those different experiences to leverage his career path in investor relations. He shared also his insights on the growing global economy.
Sean Erwin (B.S. Accountancy 1973), President/CEO Neenah Paper — April 10 Executive in Residence.
Ty Ballou (B.A. Coms-Media Studies 1978), president and CEO of PLB Sports, Inc. — October 11 Executive in Residence. Ty Ballou spoke to marketing students in the Department of Marketing's Services and Sports Marketing classes. Ballou shared his experience at NIU, his career path in sports marketing, and lessons in leadership. Ballou's company - which markets food products through celebrity athletes (MLB, NHL, NBA) - is widely known in the industry for the creation of Doug Flutie's "Flutie Flakes,” with a large portion of the profits donated to the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, created to honor Flutie's autistic son.
James Marino (B.S. Marketing 1972), president and CEO of Alberto Culver — November 2 Executive in Residence. Jim Marino spoke to more than 300 undergraduate students on product positioning and branding. Marino concluded his discussion with a case study on Alberto's TRESemme product line. After a successful branding and repositioning campaign, TRESemme sales grew from $40 million to $400 million, making it a leading product for the company.
Lawrence Stuenkel (B.S. Management 1965, M.S. Management 1967), founder and senior partner of Lawrence and Allen — October 15 Executive in Residence. As founder of a leading executive out-placement firm, Larry Stuenkel spoke before standing-room only crowds in several NIU College of Business classes on a variety of human resource subjects. The topics included strategic management, career planning, and effective networking, among others. Stuenkel concluded his Executive-in-Residence presentation by talking to members of the NIU student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.