On average, more than 70 business professionals and visiting academicians a year share their expertise and perspectives with Northern's business students through regular speaker series or other special events. Highlights for the years 2005 through 2009 follow.
Dennis Barsema nominated by the students to share lessons learned. (November 18, 2009)
Dennis Barsema (B.S. Management 1977) has been nominated by NIU students to serve as the keynote speaker for this fall's "Last Lecture Series." Mr. Barsema has successfully led a number of organizations into new strategic directions. As the student-nominated speaker, Mr. Barsema was asked to speak about lessons learned on a topic of his choosing. The "Last Lecture Series" was designed to be an open knowledge-sharing experience between the students and the speaker, with the speaker approaching the interaction as if their speech was the last they would ever make. The "Last Lecture Series" is sponsored by the NIU Pleiades Chapter, the Mortar Board Senior Honor Society. (more...)
Alpaslan Korkmaz, ISPAT President, from the Republic of Turkey (November 19, 2009)
Alpaslan Korkmaz, President, Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), will serve as the keynote presenter during the NIU College of Business International Week (November 16-20). Dr. Korkmaz's presentation is entitled "Investment Climate in Turkey with Discussions on Cross-Cultural Negotiation and Dispute Resolution". His presentation will take place on November 19th at 6:00 p.m. in Barsema Auditorium. (more...)
Sam Antar, former CFO of Crazy Eddie's (November 4, 2009)
Sam Antar, former CFO of Crazy Eddie's, will give his keynote presentation on the "Mind, motivations, manipulations, and techniques of a fraudster." The presentation is on November 4th from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Barsema Auditorium. All NIU business students, faculty, staff, and alumni are encouraged to attend.
The Road to Success (November 2, 2009)
Dennis Barsema will address the Collegiate Sales Advisory Board at 5:00 p.m. in Barsema Hall 140. This is a great opportunity for all majors. Please join CSAB for an eventful evening.
Are We on the Road to Global Economic Recovery? (October 27, 2009)
A panel of C-level executives will discuss the global economic situation. The panel discussion is entitled, "Are We on the Road to Global Economic Recovery?" and will take place on Tuesday, October 27th at the NIU Hoffman Estates facility. Event registration and reception run from 5:30-6:30 p.m., with the panel discussion slated for 6:30-8:00 p.m. (more...)
Steve Houchin, Owner and Managing Partner of International Leadership Associates
(November 10, 2009)
Steve Houchin -- owner and managing partner of International Leadership Associates -- speaks about the skills necessary to create collaborative environments that have the potential to unleash employees' best efforts toward completing an organization's mission. Mr. Houchin's speaking engagement is entitled "Leadership in Action: Take the Initiative, Seize the Opportunities, and Make a Difference" and takes place on Tuesday, November 10th from 5-6:00 p.m. in the Barsema Auditorium. The presentation is open to all. NIU College of Business students are encouraged to attend this relevant presentation, which is sure to provide insights to students as they work toward learning business concepts as well as developing their career goals. NIU business alumni, faculty, and staff are also encouraged to attend. Mr. Houchin's speaking engagement is co-sponsored by Target Corporation and the NIU College of Business Department of Management.
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Jessica Jackley, co-Founder of Kiva.org
(October 5, 2009)
Jessica Jackley -- co-Founder and Director of Kiva.org, as well as a nationally-acclaimed social entrepreneur -- speaks about founding her own company and the field of microfinance on October 5th from 6-7:00 p.m. in the Barsema Auditorium. Ms. Jackley's talk was titled, "Lifting Up the World's Poor Through the Power of Connection." (more...)
Peter McDermott, AIESEC VP of Talent Management
(October 1, 2009)
Keynote address (5:00 p.m. in Barsema Hall 200): "Career Development through International Experiences." As VP of Talent Management of AIESEC United States, Peter McDermott manages the human resources of a 1,600 member organization. Peter's experiences in this role include running training conferences in Australia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary, as well as running leadership development conferences. During his presentation on October 1st, he will share with NIU business students how they can launch and expand their career opportunities significantly through international experiences. All NIU business students and faculty are invited to attend what will surely be a motivating and important presentation. AIESEC focuses its efforts on "...developing high-potential students into globally minded responsible leaders" (www.AIESEC.org) and does so in partnership with more than 1,700 universities and 4,000 organizations in more than 107 countries and territories. To date, AIESEC has provided nearly 6,000 international internships for qualified students. Click to view the flyer on this event.
Edward H. Rensi, formerly McDonald's CEO (March 25, 2009)
Edward H. Rensi -- retired president and CEO of McDonald's USA and owner, Team Rensi Motorsports -- will give a presentation on leadership at the NIU Naperville campus on March 25th at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Rensi's keynote address is entitled "Everything I know about leadership and management I learned from McDonald's." As described in his biography (listed in the event flyer), Mr. Rensi has devoted his entire professional career to McDonald's, beginning in 1966 as a grill man and eventually rising to become president and CEO. His accomplishments are many and include developing the first Ronald McDonald House, a program which has grown to 165 houses in 12 countries. The Ronald McDonald Houses help families of children with serious illnesses by providing temporary residences for them. Retiring after 14 years as McDonald's president and CEO, Mr. Rensi has created and owns Team Rensi Motorsports. Mr. Rensi's March 25th keynote address is an M.B.A. Colloquium Speaker Series event and is sponsored by the M.B.A. Program and the NIU College of Business. Please see the announcement flyer for event and registration information. Click to view the video of this event.
Sheila Talton (Management 1980), Vice President of Globalization Strategy, Cisco. (November 19, 2008)
Keynote address: "Competition in a Globally Integrated Economy." As Vice President of Globalization Strategy, Sheila Talton is part of Cisco's aggressive new effort to focus on up and coming emerging markets worldwide. She supports Cisco's overall globalization strategy of enabling growth, leading innovation and capturing talent, and sits on the Emerging Country Solutions Council. Ms. Talton was a founding member of the Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), an organization of IT leaders from Fortune 500 corporations and serves on their advisory board. Ms. Talton's honors include selection as one of Enterprising Womens Top 10 Women in Technology, and Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Federation of Black Women Business Owners. She is also a recipient of the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award from Working Woman magazine. Most recently she was named a 2007 Woman Worth Watching by Profiles in Diversity Journal, and received the Egretha Award for achievement and conduct inspiring to African American Women from African American Womens Business and Career Conference. She is a graduate of Harvard Business Schools Advanced Management Program and Northern Illinois University. Click to view the video of this event.
Wes Durand, Office of Business Practices, Caterpillar, Inc. (October 14, 2008)
Keynote speech during the Third Annual Ethics Day Event: "International Ethics and Doing Business in Different Countries and Cultures."
Jessica Flannery, Nationally Acclaimed Social Entrepreneur and co-founder of Kiva.org (October 6, 2008)
Jessica Flannery - co-founder of Kiva.org and whose company was written about by President Bill Clinton in his book "Giving" - will speak about giving back on Monday, October 6th, at 7:00 p.m., in BH 300. During her presentation, Jessica will share how we can be the generation that really eradicates extreme poverty. Kiva.org is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website that empowers individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in developing worlds. Jessica is an acclaimed speaker on poverty, micro-lending, and social entrepreneurship and has appeared as a guest on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." Kiva has been named the "Most Successful Non-Profit Organization in History," and has been written about by President Bill Clinton in his book "Giving." All NIU students, alumni, faculty, staff are invited to attend what will surely be an inspiring and important presentation.
Janet Viane (B.S. Management 1980, M.B.A. 1983), Senior Vice President of Solution Delivery and Operations for InnerWorkings. Keynote address (March 4, 2008): "Today's Challenges for Women in Leadership." Janet Viane is the Senior Vice President of Solution Delivery and Operations for InnerWorkings, a managed print solutions firm trading on the NASDAQ and the only firm to go public in Chicago in 2006. Viane leads the implementation and operations of all accounts and directs the process of integrating all corporate acquisitions. Viane is an NIU College of Business alumnus and has been a member of the NIU College of Business Board of Executive Advisors since 1997.
Arch Lustberg, author of "How to Sell Yourself"
Arch Lustberg, author of "How to Sell Yourself", among other best selling books on dynamic communication will lecture on April 1, 2008. Arch is a well-known, entertaining speaker with a roster of famous clients. His techniques relate to public speaking, meetings, interviews, sales, negotiations, and any other situations in which the speaker must appear confident, competent and convincing.
Bill Hillsman, Founder, President, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer, North Woods Advertising. Keynote address (October 30, 2007): "Integrated Marketing Communications: Shopping Mall to Political Strategy"
Bill Hillsman is the founder of and the driving force behind North Woods Advertising, and the genesis for some of the most successful and attention-getting marketing campaigns over the past decade. Hillsman is regarded as without peer nationally in achieving results by using unorthodox marketing methods to persuade a jaded public. He has devised creative and cost-effective solutions to marketing communications problems previously thought unsolvable. His work for Paul Wellstone's 1990 U.S. Senate campaign won the Grand EFFIE - awarded by the American Marketing Association for the most effective marketing and advertising in the nation - and changed political advertising in the process. His work for Jesse Ventura's gubernatorial campaign in 1998 received even more accolades and is generally considered to be the biggest upset in American political history. Mr. Hillsman's speaking engagement is presented by the NIU College of Business Colloquium Lecture Series and is sponsored by the MBA Program Office.
Honorable Sven Erik Holmes, Executive Vice Chair, Legal and Compliance, KPMG LLP. (October 24, 2007)
Judge Sven Erik Holmes is the Executive Vice Chair, Legal and Compliance for KPMG LLP where he directs the office of general counsel, government affairs, security, communications, and the firm's ethics and compliance programs. He is also counsel to the Board of Directors and a member of the Management Committee. Judge Holmes was appointed by President William J. Clinton as United States District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma, where he served from 1995-2005, and as Chief Judge from 2003-2005.
This event was sponsored by the NIU College of Business Ethics Task Force and the corporate sponsors of the BELIEF Initiative.
Click to view biography of the speaker.
Cherilyn G. Murer, J.D., C.R.A., President and CEO of the Murer Group, Newly-appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees. Keynote address (September 25, 2007): "Conversation with a CEO" (Ms. Murer's keynote addressed was co-sponsored by the NIU College of Business and the NIU College of Engineering.) Click here for Ms. Murer's full biography.
In spring 2007, Nicole D'Ambrosio (B.S. Marketing 2003) hit the bright lights of L.A. and competed in season 6 of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" television show. Nicole did NIU proud by going the distance and making it to the season's finale. D'Ambrosio graduated from NIU with a degree in marketing. The Naperville native financed her entire NIU education on her own, working two or three jobs at a time to make ends meet. Not only did she manage to graduate with honors, she also found time to earn an associate degree and a certificate in real estate at Kishwaukee College. With her NIU degree in hand she founded Commercial Real Estate Corporation in Chicago, which specializes in large acquisitions of commercial real estate. She not only runs the company but also manages a portfolio of properties valued at more than $1 million. Click here for Nicole's visit with NIU students and for details about D'Ambrosio's "Apprentice" experience.
[Click here for an NIU News Release about Nicole.]
[Click here for a low resolution video of Nicole's presentation at NIU.]
[Click here for a high resolution video of Nicole's presentation at NIU.]