Alumni Board President Thomas E. Phillips, MS'73 right, thanks fellow board member Glenn A. Davis, BS'86 left, for announcing a Campaign commitment during the Alumni Board's December meeting. Glenn credits his VCU School of Business education with giving him the knowledge and courage to begin his own company, BranCore Technologies in Richmond.

Dr. David Urban Continues " The Apprentice" Critique

The Saga Continues. Dr. David J.Urban, professor of Marketing, School of Business will continue reporting the news from Trump Tower in the third season of "The Apprentice". Episode 1 of Dr. Urban's "Deconstructing the Trump-ser, Business "Lessons Learned" is now up on Richmond.Com website. Catch it every Monday, following the Thursday episode.

CPCU AWARDS THREE SCHOLARSHIPS

The Greater Richmond Chapter of Property and Casualty Underwriters (CPCU) has awarded three $1000 scholarships to VCU seniors. They are April Battles, Helena Meirinho and Kelly Wilkinson. These students are in the Insurance Studies program. The Loman foundation awarded a matching grant of $1,500 to promote the CCU insurance studies program including sponsoring students to attend national professional meetings to further their education in insurance.

To mark its 30th anniversary the Journal of Management published a citation analysis of over 900 articles that appeared in the Journal since its inception. Two of the six most highly cited articles as reported at the 2004 Academy of Management's annual meeting were by Dr. Larry Williams, University Professor of Management. The articles were "Job Satisfaction and Organizational commitment as Predictors of Organizational Citizenship and In-Role Behaviors," by Dr. Williams and Stella E. Anderson in 1991 and "A Review of Current Practices for Evaluating Causal Models in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management Research" co-authored with Patricia Holshan in 1994. The Journal of Management is widely recognized as one of the top three journals that publish articles empirical from multiple areas of management (business strategy, human resource managed, organizational behavior and organizational theory).

Clearly VCU has made significant strides in our research mission. Recently, VCU was ranked in the top 200 world universities and the top 100 North American and Latin American Universities by the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which ranked the top 500 universities in the world based on academic and research performance.

These rankings place VCU and Virginia Tech in the 153 to 201 range. You can access information about the ranking universities from around the world through VCU's home page, by clicking on the features panel on the left-hand side of the screen, or at:

http://www.vcu.edu/uns/news/vcuview/archives/2005/jan/top_500.html

ANDREWS HONORED BY ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT

Wilma Andrews was honored by the VCU Athletic Department at the Richmond-VCU Rams basketball game on December 11 as a faculty member who has worked with many VCU athletes throughout the past two years teaching Info 160X computer courses. She is the first faculty member to be honored in a new RAMS promotion program called the "Faculty Member of the Game". Mrs. Andrews works with 20 to 30 athletes per semester in six different courses that help them to increase computer skills. Before the start of the game, Mrs. Andrews was introduced and recognized for her outstanding support of student and student-athletes. She was presented with tickets behind the bench and invited to enjoy the hospitality in the Founders Room prior to the game.

"With their intense practice schedules, the on-line self-paced courses give the athletes flexible study time. In addition, the courses help them gain good technical skills that are applicable to their careers both academically and professionally," says Mrs. Andrews. She also was able to treat her guests, Althea Brutus and her mother from Georgetown, Guyana, to the VIP view. Althea has spent the semester living with Dr. Robert and Wilma Andrews while completing her degree in Adult Education.

PROFESSOR NEIL MURPHY HONORED UPON RETIREMENT

Dr. Neil B. Murphy, professor of finance, was honored for his 40 years of service at a retirement party in Siegel Center on December 9 and again at the School's holiday party on December. He has been named a professor emeritus

During his career, Dr. Murphy has had assignments in the pubic sector, the private sector, and the academic community. He has been involved in economic policy (Staff Economist on the President's Commission on Financial Structure and Regulation), administration, research, and teaching. He has published over 50 articles in scholarly outlets, written a number of books, and produced published reports for a number of government agencies. His international experience includes assignments in Israel, the United Kingdom (Wales), Ireland, France, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand, and Colombia. His published work, teaching, and consulting are related to the structure, functioning, and regulation of financial institutions and markets, domestic and international.

FIRE STUDENT PLACES 9TH IN BARRON'S CHALLENGE

Hyun Yoon, a senior finance major, placed 9th in Barron's international college stock-picking contest that ran from October 1 to December 15, 2004. Yoon, who will graduate in 2005, selected the stocks as part of a class assignment in his FIRE 314 Investments class taught by adjunct professor Gregory A. Schnitzler, Director, Cash Management and Investment for the Virginia Department of the Treasury. For two months 38 students kept a portfolio as part of the class project, but only about 13 entered the Barron's challenge. "My interest was in the students' reasoning for selecting certain stocks," says Schnitzler.

Yoon previously worked full time and commuted from Charlottesville, but decided to attend fulltime for his last year and work to maintain a 3.8 GPA. "I entered the challenge at Professor Schnitzler’s recommendation," said Yoon. Each portfolio began with $100,000 in value. Yoon's portfolio rose 39.1 percent to $139,146.14. The biggest gainers in his portfolio were Google Inc., eBay, Inc., Overstock.com Inc., MDC Partners, Accredited Home Lenders Holdings Co., Aetna Inc. and Eagle Materials Inc. Yoon has received a free subscription to Barron's. Response was so successful that Barron's plans to run another Challenge during the spring semester.

The Center for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis (CARMA) has scheduled its second webcast for February 25, 2005 from noon (EST) to 4 p.m. as part of the 2005 CARMA Assembly on Multi-level Analysis Issues. The speakers include Dr. James LeBreton, Wayne State University, Dr. David Hofmann, University of North Carolina, and Dr. Robert Vandenberg, University of Georgia. VCU faculty and students are invited to watch the webcast at two locations on the VCU Monroe Park Campus: School of Business, Room 2127 and the Psychology Department, 810 W. Franklin, Room 106.A reception will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 106 following the webcast. To register individually or as a doctoral department, contact Dr.Larry J. Williams at (804) 828-7112 or email carma@vcu.edu or view its website (http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/carma/)

CARMA's December 3 webcast was viewed at over 30 universities. In addition to the School of Business, this program is co-sponsored by VCU College of Humanities and Sciences and the VCU Department of Health Administration within the School of Allied Health.professions. One hundred sites will be available in February for access.

2005 CEO CLASS PREVIEWED

The School of Business introduced Management 491 "The CEO Class" in 1988 to graduating seniors. Each year 15 senior executives are invited to take part in this highly personal and focused class. Read more about the class on our Home Page at http://www.business.vcu.edu/ceoclass

BOWMAN RECEIVES RENEWED FELLOWSHIP

Dr. John Bowman, professor emeritus of Economics, has received a renewed David C. Lincoln Fellowship in Land Value Taxation in the amount of $40,000 from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The first year phase of the fellowship last year pertained to the study of land taxation of South African tribal lands, while work in the second year will be primarily in the U.S. Both years fellowships are joint with Dr. Michael E. Bell, American University in Washington, DC, and a long-time collaborator. Another prime research area for Dr. Bowman is Virginia taxation. He and John L. Knapp, professor emeritus at the University Virginia, have co-authored the article “2004 tax and budget actions: What was done and what remains to be done," published as the feature article in Virginia Issues & Answers, a Virginia Tech publication, Fall, 2004. An expanded version of this article will be published in State Tax Notes, a national publication.

FOURTH FALL COMMENCEMENT CELEBRATED

VCU’s fourth fall commencement held December 11 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center recognized 2077 students who completed their studies in August and December 2004. The School of Business honored our 359 graduates at a reception for graduates and their families on December 10 in the Student Commons.