Alumni Happenings

Centennial Celebrations

Vienna Centennial
Carlson School Vienna Executive MBA (VEMBA) alumni and students gathered in November to celebrate the Carlson School’s Centennial and the 20th anniversary of the VEMBA program at the WU Executive Academy, part of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). WU Executive Academy Dean Barbara Stöttinger welcomed the crowd and awarded Carlson School Professor Mike Houston with the Vienna University of Economics and Business Executive Academy’s inaugural Lifetime Deanship Award.

Warsaw Centennial
Warsaw Executive MBA (WEMBA) alumni and friends gathered in Warsaw to celebrate the Carlson School turning 100. The WEMBA program ran from 1995 to 2012 and graduated almost 500 alumni. Professor Vlad Griskevicius presented his fascinating research on the power of social norms, and the group celebrated a Gopher football win over Penn State during the reception.

San Francisco Centennial
Carlson School Board of Advisors and Campaign Steering Committee member Bob Duffy, ’68 BSB, welcomed a festive group of alumni in San Francisco to celebrate the Carlson School Centennial in October. Dean Sri Zaheer recalled the first alumni event in San Francisco 25 years earlier and remarked on the power of the growing Carlson School alumni network in the Bay Area.

Seattle Centennial
Alumni and friends gathered in late October in Seattle to celebrate the Carlson School’s Centennial year. Jim Weber, ’82 BSB and CEO of Brooks Running, hosted the group at the company’s headquarters. Weber welcomed the group, along with Dean Sri Zaheer, which was followed by a presentation on AI and the future of work by Associate Dean Alok Gupta.

Dallas Centennial
In October, alumnus and Carlson School Board of Advisors member Judd Nystrom, ’96 BSB, hosted Dallas-area alumni and friends for a celebration of the school’s Centennial. Alumni enjoyed the camaraderie and a presentation by Professor Mark Bergen on pricing.

Gopher Gratitude
More than 600 students attended Gopher Gratitude, an event that recognizes the many ways that philanthropy impacts Carlson School students and the community. Students wrote thank-you notes to the many donors who support the Carlson School each year and expressed their gratitude for the scholarship opportunities, global learning experiences, and world-class faculty that Carlson School benefactors help fund.
 

Military & Veteran Alumni Celebration

On November 14, more than 100 Carlson School alumni, students, and friends gathered together in Minneapolis for the 4th Annual Military and Veterans Celebration. Connected through the bonds of military service and a Carlson School education, they spent the

evening sharing stories about deployments and their time in the classroom. Those gathered were also able to raise a toast to alumnus Bill Walter, ’72 MBA, who is a leader in supporting the Veterans Fellowship, an effort that has contributed to the Carlson School ranking as the number-one military-friendly business school in the country.
 

Land O’Lakes Chapter

University of Minnesota alumni at Land O’Lakes partnered with the company’s University of Wisconsin alumni group for a Random AXE of Kindness Competition in advance of the Gophers vs. Badgers football game on November 30. The teams competed to pack the most meals for donation to The Food Group, a nonprofit serving 32 counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Unlike the football game, the Gophers beat the Badgers—80 meals to 72.

Homecoming Parade Watch Party

Alumni and families gathered on the Armory Lawn on October 4 to kick off Homecoming weekend with a bang at the annual Homecoming Parade Watch Party. Children—and adults—enjoyed face painting and a balloon artist, and everyone cheered on Carlson School students and Dean Sri Zaheer as they marched in the parade. Save the date for Homecoming 2020: September 20-26.
 

3M Chapter

Senior Lecturer Svjetlana Madzar spoke to a packed room of 3M employees about leading global teams. At the event hosted by the 3M Alumni Chapter, Madzar spoke of the challenges of teamwork across borders and time zones. She provided tangible takeaways for 3M employees to apply to their work in leading effective teams.
 

The Way We Work

Carlson School alumni participated in two The Way We Work events this fall—one on leveraging an agile workforce and the other on the changing demographics of Minnesota’s talent pool. The Way We Work is a quarterly event series co-hosted by Carlson Alumni Relations, Carlson Graduate Business Career Center, and Antenna, a marketing consulting agency founded by Brendon Schrader, ’01 MBA.
 

Women, Wine, and Wisdom

More than 100 women connected to the Carlson School gathered on November 21 to hear three powerful female speakers discuss the important decisions that defined their careers. The speakers included Jeninne McGee, ’90 MBA, senior vice president, enterprise implementation and operational risk assessment at Ameriprise; Angie Bastian, founder of Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP; and Kirsten Gorsuch, chief communications officer for UnitedHealth Group.
 

Cargill Chapter

The Cargill Alumni Chapter held a speaker event in October with more than 50 attendees. Professor and Academic Director for the Carlson Analytics Lab Ravi Bapna spoke on the topic of “Demystifying Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and Analytics: The Four Pillars Framework for Generating Business Value.”
 

LGBTQ+ Alumni Reunion

More than 100 alumni, students, and friends celebrated the 3rd annual LGBTQ+ Alumni Reunion at McNamara Alumni Center, hosted by Compass Undergraduate Student Organization. Speakers included Carlson School Senior Lecturer Clayton Forester, 1st-year MBA student Samantha Clute, and Carlson School Campaign Steering Committee Co-chair and Board of Advisors Member Wendy Nelson.