Alumni Happenings: Fall 2024
Friday, October 18, 2024
Every event brings new insights, experiences, and connections for alumni and friends of the Carlson School. Here are some highlights:
Capacity Crowds at Women's Leadership Conference 2024
The 2024 Women’s Leadership Conference was our largest in history, with a sold-out crowd of more than 420 people coming together at McNamara Alumni Center in March. Dean Jamie Prenkert opened the conference, eager to be an active participant in his first Women’s Leadership Conference and committed to the work of inclusion and empowerment that is central to the event. The conference featured a lineup of more than 30 business leaders, executives, and experts—half of whom are Carlson School alumni—including the conference’s Honorary Chair Marcia Page, ’83 MBA, who joined Prenkert for the Inside the Boardroom Conversation. All are welcome to join us for next year’s Women’s Leadership Conference on March 7, 2025.
Senior Executive Women Series @ Target
Carlson Women Global Connect Senior Executive Women Series continued its panel events in April. Hosted at Target by Senior Vice President of Human Resources Emily Hebert, ’04 MHRIR, and the Target Women’s Business Council, the panel also included Andrea Zimmerman, ’17 MBA, and Pam Tomczik, ’99 JD.
A Conversation on Harnessing the Power of AI in the Bay Area
In March, the deans of the Carlson School and the College of Science and Engineering co-hosted an event in Palo Alto, California for alumni and prospective student families from both schools. Nicole Graves, ’97 MHRIR, global people director in the Office of the CFO at Apple, moderated a conversation with Jeff Dean, ’90 CSci, Google’s chief scientist, and Ryan Aytay, ’03 MBA, CEO at Tableau, on the future of AI, including benefits, risks, and ethical questions around the increasing use of AI technology.
1st Tuesday with Prathibha Varkey
In June, the 1st Tuesday audience, both in-person and virtual, heard from Prathibha Varkey, ’13 MBA, president of Mayo Health System. In her presentation, “Leadership Perspectives: Transforming Healthcare,” she addressed how education—she has four degrees, each of which serves a different purpose—has been critical to her success as a leader, and how taking risks and setting tough but attainable goals leads to growth. At the event, Dean Prenkert also announced that the 1st Tuesday series would be taking a new format in the next year to better serve attendees. Learn more about the 1st Tuesday Speaker Series.
MBT 45th Reunion and HOF Inductions
The Master of Business Taxation program hosted a double celebration this June, when it recognized the 45th anniversary of the program and its latest MBT Hall of Fame Inductees, as well as congratulated Paul Gutterman on his retirement after many years serving the department as its director. The new inductees are Phil Albert, ’01 MBT, retired VP of corporate tax at Medtronic; Jeff Bjustrom, ’96 MBT, retired partner at PwC; Dawn Courrier, ’89 MBT, retired partner at KPMG; Tom Gottwalt, ’93 MBT, retired director of tax at TCF Bank; Tyler Hess, ’10 MBT, principal at CliftonLarsonAllen; and Jerry Martin, ’99 MBT, partner of international tax services at RSM. In addition, David Horn, ’15 MBT, was introduced to attendees as the incoming new director of the MBT program.
Graduating Executive MBA Women’s Luncheon
The Carlson School hosted an Executive MBA Graduating Women’s Luncheon for the Carlson Executive and Vienna Executive MBA programs in May. Because of the unique challenges women face while rising the corporate ranks and pursuing graduate degrees, many leave their programs feeling especially connected with the fellow women in their cohort. The luncheon celebrated the graduates’ accomplishments and continued to build long-lasting community and alumni ties.
This article appeared in the Fall 2024 alumni magazine
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