Business Week Awards Honor Standout Members of the Carlson School Community

Business Week is a one-week celebration focusing on the Carlson School and its connections to the business community. This year's theme, Adventure Awaits, highlights the adventures that shape the student experience, from joining a student organization, to choosing a major and selecting a career.

On April 16, the Business Week 2015 award winners were announced at an annual celebration dinner at TCF Bank Stadium, marking the close of the festivities. Meet the honorees, who were selected as outstanding members of the Carlson School community.

Freshman of the Year: Tasha Erding

Tasha Erding is a freshman representative on Business Board and a member of the Women in Business Networking Committee. She also volunteers at Simpson Housing Services, a Minneapolis homeless shelter, to serve meals to the homeless.

This summer, Erding will bring her talents to Tru Simulation in Charleston, S.C., where she'll serve as a human resources intern.

Sophomore of the Year: Eli Lee

Eli Lee is Carlson Crew Leader, a GLOBE International Student Exchange mentor, a peer orientation adviser, an activities chair on the Business Week executive committee, the scholastic chair of the Minnesota Evans Scholars, and a participant in the University of Minnesota Honors Program. He is working toward implementing the TXT4LIFE (Text for life) suicide prevention program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.

Lee will work as an accounting intern at Carlson Companies this summer.

Junior of the Year: Bo Kim

Bo Kim is an international student from South Korea.  She was one of the founding members of U-Finance, serving for two years as head of client relations and head of audit. She has been involved with the Volunteer Tax Assistance Program since her freshman year, where she most recently served as a non-resident site coordinator. Kim also works as a research assistant at a lab in the psychology department which focuses on intelligence and cognitive abilities.  Her past internships include working at the Carlson Brand Enterprise and Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.  

Kim will be interning in the consumer finance group at PwC this summer, and plans to pursue a career in management consulting upon graduation.

Senior of the Year: Martin Caride

Martin Caride is involved in Delta Sigma Pi, having served as the chapter President in his junior year. He has also been involved with the leadership boards of the Minnesota Student Association, Business Board, the Student Senate, and the CoMIS MIS Case Competition.

Caride spent the summer after his junior year interning at Land O' Lakes, where he'll be returning after graduation as an IT rotational analyst.

Student of the Year: Laura McKee

Laura McKee is an accounting and finance major who is very active in the Carlson School community, and beyond. She is a senior class representative on the Carlson School Business Board, a co-chair on the Senior Gift Committee, and a peer career coach in the Undergraduate Business Career Center. McKee is also a Hope Chest for Breast Cancer intern at Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship, an event manager volunteer for Special Olympics of Minnesota, the CFO of Food Recovery Network, and a Sunday School Teacher at Hope Community Church.

McKee was a tax intern in EY's Financial Services Office last summer, and will continue in this role after graduation this spring. 

Staff Member of the Year: Katie Selby

Katie Selby is the associate director of the Undergraduate Business Career Center, and two-time winner of the Staff Member of the Year Award. She has more than 15 years of experience working in career services and college recruitment. Selby brings a passion for student leadership development to her role as she helps students to discern their core values, understand how their style can influence others, and set a vision and action plan for creating positive change. 

Faculty Member of the Year: Paul White

Accounting Senior Lecturer Paul White began his teaching career at the Carlson School in 2002 and quickly become a student favorite.  He was honored with his first Business Week Outstanding Faculty Member Award in 2004. Then again in 2006, 2008, and 2012.  He was also a Minnesota Daily Grapevine Award Winner as Best Faculty Member at the University of Minnesota in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and named to BusinessWeek’s “Grade A Professors” list. White has taught 129 courses to an estimated 7,660 students across the Carlson MBA and Undergraduate programs.