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 2008 follow.
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.
Marty Pearson, Talent Acquisition Leader, Millward Brown
Sarah Doonan (B.S. Marketing 2006), Client Service Representative, Millward Brown
Marty Pearson and Sarah Doonan will discuss (February 21, 2008) the state of the Market Research Industry focusing on where Millward Brown is positioned and the types of research they conduct. They will discuss several of their more interesting projects for clients and illustrate the impact market research has on firm decision making.
(Canceled)
Gary Maag (B.S. Marketing 1990), Chief Executive Officer, Proactive Worldwide, Inc. Gary Maag has been a leader in the research community for almost two decades, 17 of those years dedicated to competitive intelligence research. His lecture (February 19, 2008) will address what it takes to make it in the market research industry, focusing on everyday issues that new market researchers face. Gary Magg's discussion will also include the concept of competitive intelligence research and how Proactive Worldwide continues to lead the industry. (Canceled)
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.]
OCEG Chairman and CEO Scott Mitchell provided a keynote address on ethics as a business process. An expert in the field, Mr. Mitchell graciously agreed to make a presentation in the NIU College of Business as part of the college's Ethics Task Force Initiative, and Ethics Day event, held on the evening of October 18, 2006. Mr. Mitchell presented before more than 400 NIU College of Business students, faculty, and friends. Along with describing OCEG, Mr. Mitchell spoke highly of the college's Ethics Task Force activities - in particular the BELIEF Initiative and Ethics Handbook - which he characterized as "leading-edge" and ahead of how he has seen most other schools across the country attempt to integrate ethics into the curriculum.
OCEG -- Open Compliance & Ethics Group (OCEG) -- was founded by Mr. Mitchell in 2002. OCEG is a nonprofit that aims to help organizations operate from a new business framework, one that integrates corporate governance, risk management, compliance, and culture into an enterprise-wide business process that drives performance and promotes integrity. OCEG member-firms include approximately 75 major firms - such as SAP, Deloitte, Grant Thornton, Aon, among others - that share best practices. Along with providing firm-specific guidance, OCEG also serves as a knowledge repository by pulling together the different disciplines, with guidelines written and updated by experts in the field.
OCEG's CEO Scott Mitchell is identified as one of the leading authorities and industry experts by Business Finance magazine in its January 2006 article "2006's Influencers: 60 Authoritative Voices." [Full story]
Ronnie Lott -- NFL Hall of Fame Inductee, co-Founder and Managing Partner of HRJ Capital -- graciously taught a leadership clinic during a class period on Thursday, September 14, 2006 for NIU College of Business undergraduate students. Mr. Lott conveyed the attributes for being a great champion and discussed how to apply those tools in business. Mr. Lott spoke with more than 150 business majors who packed the classroom. During his 14-year football career, Ronnie Lott was named All-Pro eight times, All-NFC six times, All-AFC once, and was also named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team. Mr. Lott was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000 and the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1989, Ronnie Lott founded All Stars Helping Kids, a foundation dedicated to raising funds in support of exceptional programs and services that help disadvantaged children in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1999, Ronnie Lott, Harris Barton, and Joe Montana co-founded venture capital firm Champion Ventures, now known as HRJ Capital, a multi-billion dollar investment management firm. Ronnie Lott's visit to NIU received media attention from the Chicago and Rockford-area media outlets. Mr. Lott's speaking-teaching engagement was sponsored by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation class, which is offered out of the NIU College of Business Management Department and is team-taught in Barsema Hall by Dennis Barsema (B.S. Management 1977), Chairman of BlueLane Technologies, and Richard Boulger.
Barry Posner -- Dean of the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University and Professor of Leadership -- guest-lectured during a class period on Thursday, September 21, 2006 for NIU College of Business undergraduate students. An internationally renowned scholar in the field of leadership, Dr. Posner provided an overview of leadership and conveyed five best practices embraced by exemplary leaders. Dr. Posner is co-author of the award-winning and best-selling leadership book The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations.
Lyle Heidemann (B.S. Marketing 1967), President and Chief Executive Officer, True Value Company. Keynote address (October 17, 2006): "Sixth Decade of Business and Customer Learning." Mr. Heidemann joined True Value Company in June 2005. He began his career in 1967 with Sears, where he gained extensive experience in retail, merchandising, brand management, operations and logistics. Heidemann history with Sears includes serving as executive vice president and general manager of home and off-mall stores until 2003. In that role, he directed some of Sears most profitable operating units, including 249 Sears Hardware and Orchard Supply Hardware stores; 1,053 Sears Auto Center and National Tire & Battery stores; and, 767 dealer stores. Heidemann was responsible for more than $20 billion in revenue-generating business, including home appliances and electronics; tools and paint; lawn and garden; tires and batteries, and licensed businesses, among others. Mr. Heidemann's speaking engagement is presented by the NIU College of Business Colloquium Lecture Series and is sponsored by the MBA Program Office.
Karen Kirwan, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Alliant Techsystems. Keynote address (October 12, 2006): "The Successful Hybrid -- Combining Technical Competency with the Right Leadership Behaviors." Ms. Kirwan's address explores the growing business need for technical competencies combined with effective leadership behaviors. Ms. Kirwan will cover the characteristics of an effective leader and discuss what expectations in the business environment for the next generation of leaders. Ms. Kirwan's address also reviews "what happens during a first failure" and the type of support structure that helps individuals rebound quickly from that first failure. Ms. Kirwan's keynote address is presented by the MBA Graduate Program Colloquium Lecture Series and is co-sponsored by the MBA Program Office, and the Department of Operations Management & Information Systems.
Steven Levitt, University of Chicago Professor of Economics and co-author of the monstrously successful Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, met with NIU Executive MBA students on September 24, 2005 for a student group review of his book. On April 6, 2006, Levitt made a repeat appearance and addressed more than 300 graduate-level business students, describing how his predisposition to challenge the conventional wisdom led to findings contained within Freakonomics. The event concluded with a book signing by Dr. Levitt. The event was held at the NIU Naperville campus and was sponsored by the NIU MBA Office Graduate Colloquium Series.
Bill Santille, Vice President of Strategic Technology Sourcing and Director of IT at ABN AMRO, Inc. May 1, 2006 IT Professionals Seminar topic: Today's Reality and Demand for Future Skills. Santille has more than 24 years experience in the finance/banking and trading/securities industry. He gained experience in management roles within both information technology and finance areas. Santille taught graduate programs and attended various executive programs at DePaul and Stanford Universities. Santille is active in several industry panels including ISM, the Caucus-IT Procurement Association, and customer executive advisory boards. Santille participated in many significant and critical global initiatives including the first bank global sourcing effort. (Event sponsored by the OMIS AITP Student organization)
Cynthia Cooper, Time Magazine's 2002 Person of the Year and most well-known for her role in uncovering corporate fraud at WorldCom. October 12, 2005 keynote address: Ethics in Today's Business World: Lessons Learned from WorldCom. Until July 2004, Ms. Cooper served as the Chief Audit Executive for MCI. Currently, she is President of Cynthia Cooper Consulting. Along with receiving Time Magazine's Person of the Year designation, Ms. Cooper has received numerous awards for her extraordinary contributions to educating the public about economics, business, and finance. Ms. Cooper's speaking engagement is co-sponsored by the NIU College of Business Accountancy Department as well as the college's Operations Management & Information Systems Department.
Graduate Colloquium guest speaker Kirk P. Arnett -- Mississippi State University -- lectured on the challenge for protecting personal information assets around the globe in an increasingly dangerous world. Professor Arnett's presentation discussed how to stay one step ahead of attacks on personal and corporate information resources, and what strategies students nearing their professional careers should embrace. Dr. Arnett is a Professor of MIS at Mississippi State University. He has previously received the College of Business Outstanding Faculty Member Award.