Duke - Fall 2016 https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/issue/fall-2016 en Trees https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/trees <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/289936849&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="166"></iframe></p><p>Jon Spelman, 74, a storyteller, avid hiker, and wilderness lover, meditates on trees and aging.</p><p>Produced for The Short Audio Documentary course taught by John Biewen at the Center for Documentary Studies.</p><p> </p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-25T00:00:00-04:00">Tuesday, October 25, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/anna-spelman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Anna Spelman</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue Tue, 25 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498386 at https://alumni.duke.edu Introducing our new logo https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/introducing-our-new-logo <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>The logo for Duke’s Fuqua School of Business has been around for thity-five years, nearly as long as the school itself. Painstakingly hand-drawn by an art director at Benton & Bowles, courtesy of Roy J. Bostock ’62, then a member of Fuqua’s board of visitors, the mark had become challenging to use, as it did not render well in digital channels.</p><p>Informed by market research on the school’s brand, Fuqua adjusted the logo to appeal to prospective students in the channels candidates are using today. The creative challenge was to adjust the mark so that it retained the legacy elements our community would recognize, while becoming more up-to-date.</p><p>Working with a New York advertising agency, the Fuqua team developed several iterations of a new design. The chosen direction, below, retains the traditional blue square, while increasing the readability of the two most essential words, Duke and Fuqua. The new font is distinct but can also now be replicated easily in digital formats. Fuqua will unveil the new logo along with a rebranded website in 2017.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00">Monday, October 24, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/fuqualogo-portrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498393 at https://alumni.duke.edu News happening at Fuqua https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/news-happening-fuqua <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><strong>Duke research spawns bills to correct the expense of racism</strong></p><p>Research by a professor at the Fuqua School of Business has inspired the introduction of a second bill in Congress aimed at eliminating racial inequity in the higher education bond market.</p><p>Professor Bill Mayew found historically black colleges and universities pay more to float bonds in the market than other schools. He found evidence race was a factor in the higher costs.</p><p>On September 16, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison announced the introduction of the HBCU Investment Expansion Act, which would allow municipal bonds issued by HBCUs to be exempt from taxes at the local, state, and federal levels.</p><p>Ellison met with Mayew to discuss his findings earlier this year after <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2727763">the research</a> went public. Mayew found state tax benefits mean that higher education bonds tend to be sold within their home states, and that tended to result in higher costs for HBCUs to sell bonds in states with more documented instances of racial tension.</p><p>The HBCU Investment Expansion Act would increase the investor base by making the benefits nationwide and lower placement costs for these bonds, Ellison says.</p><p>When universities issue bonds to raise money, there’s cost involved. Schools contract with underwriters to sell bonds to investors, much like the seller of a home does with a real- estate agent. Bond traders find a willing buyer, and they get paid a search cost based on how much time and effort it takes.</p><p>Traders find it more difficult to place bonds from historically black colleges and universities. “The contention was that racial animus among wealthy white investors made it harder to sell bonds and drove up search costs,” Mayew says.</p><p>After combing through more than twenty years of public data to see whether this was true, Mayew found evidence that race does appear to impose higher search costs on underwriters and bond traders, which ends up putting more financial burden on HBCUs.</p><p>States were scored using a composite of measures established in past academic research examining racism: racial resentment and opposition to affirmative action as measured in the Cooperative Congressional Election Study survey, racially charged Google searches, and frequency of racist tweets after President Obama was elected.</p><p>In the three states that ranked highest on those measures— Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi—HBCUs paid underwriters three times more to place their bonds relative to HBCUs in other states. North Carolina ranked thirteenth of fifty states plus the District of Columbia.</p><p>Mayew and the other researchers collected data for 4,145 tax-exempt higher-education municipal bond issues between 1988 and 2010, worth a total of $150 billion. The bonds were issued by 965 individual colleges, 102 of which were HBCUs.</p><p>They looked at differences between HBCUs and other schools in the publicly disclosed underwriter spread—how much underwriters charged schools to take a bond and put it in the hands of investors. They found HBCU issuance costs are about 20 percent higher than non-HBCUs, because it is more difficult for underwriters to find a buyer. To issue a $30 million bond costs an HBCU about $290,000, versus about $242,000 for a non-HBCU. “This $48,000 difference is a significant financial burden,” Mayew says.</p><p>Mayew’s research already had spurred action in Washington to tackle this problem. In July, the HBCU Capital Financing Improvement Act passed the House and is awaiting action from a Senate committee. That bill would make it easier for HBCUs to access the existing HBCU Capital Financing Program. That same month, the U.S. Government Accountability Office agreed to investigate the barriers facing HBCUs when they seek to finance capital projects.</p><p>“My coauthors and I are excited our research has brought attention to this imbalance and is resulting in efforts to correct it,” Mayew says. “Having a positive impact on society is ultimately why we do research in the first place.”</p><p><strong>New degree focuses on data</strong></p><p>Fuqua is launching a Master of Quantitative Management degree. The ten-month program will be known as M.Q.M. and is designed for college graduates with strong quantitative skills but little to no work experience. Most candidates likely will have backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and math.</p><p>“We are hearing from employers who are looking for people who can sort through data quickly and identify and communicate key insights,” says Dean Bill Boulding. “Employers are telling us the skill set is in short supply.”</p><p>Duke’s board of trustees gave final approval to the program, which will start in July 2017.</p><p>M.Q.M will offer students the ability to study in one of four tracks: finance, marketing, strategy, or forensics.</p><p>“We feel the ability to focus in one of those areas is really going to allow students to add immediate value to an employer,” Boulding says. “The key to developing strong analysts is teaching students not only how to interpret data but explain the insights in meaningful ways.”</p><p>The program has been designed with input from the business community, including senior leaders in some of the world’s top companies.</p><p>David Taylor ’80, president and CEO of P&G, who also serves on Fuqua’s board of visitors, strongly supports the program.</p><p>“These are the kind of candidates that P&G and many other Fortune 100 companies seek out. The candidates’ skill set applies to a wide range of functions and enables them to contribute at all levels within an organization,” Taylor says.</p><p><strong>Board of Visitors welcomes new members</strong></p><p>Six new alumni join Fuqua’s board of visitors for 2016-17. The board of visitors advises the school on all matters related to curriculum, programs, facilities, and operations while continuing to promote better communication and relationships within the business community. Board members contribute to the success of the school by serving on active subcommittees and facilitating relationships with key business and government entities in regions around the world. The new board members are:</p><p>George Brochick M.B.A. ’74, Penske Automotive Group Inc., executive vice president</p><p>Mike Elia M.B.A. ’88, Gerber Scientific Inc., president and CEO</p><p>Greg Kelly ’90, McKinsey & Company, senior partner</p><p>Bill Luby M.B.A. ’85, Seaport Capital, partner</p><p>Cynthia Meyn M.B.A. ’10, PIMCO, executive vice president, Operations</p><p>Mary Sawyer M.B.A. ’05, Deloitte LLP, senior manager</p><p>Alan Wise ’94, M.B.A. ’98, Boston Consulting Group, senior partner and managing director</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00">Monday, October 24, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498392 at https://alumni.duke.edu Test-driving the business world https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/test-driving-business-world <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><span class="dc">S</span>ean Lilly Wilson M.B.A. ’00, the owner and self-described chief executive optimist of Durham’s Fullsteam Brewery, participated in Fuqua’s inaugural class of Mentored Study in Entrepreneurship. The experience, he says, gave him real-world insight.</p><p>“I could take what I was learning in business school and apply it to a fast-growing, dynamic start-up environment,” he says.</p><p>The program places students in part-time internships during the school year, pairing them with local start-up and early-stage companies, nonprofit organizations, real-estate developers, venture-capital firms, and other entrepreneurial ventures.</p><p>Mentored Study is just one of several experiential-learning programs students can choose from to enhance the learning that happens in Fuqua classrooms.</p><p>“Experiential learning complements all the academic work we do,” says Russ Morgan, the associate dean for the Duke M.B.A. Daytime and Master of Management Studies programs. “It plays a role in early team building, leadership development, and career preparation.”</p><p>Duke is home to a number of other hands-on learning programs: The Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum (FCCP) enhances students’ business education by developing collaborative consulting engagements with businesses and nonprofit organizations; Fuqua on Board allows students to serve as non-voting board members at Durham nonprofit agencies; and the Global Academic Travel Experience (GATE) gives students an opportunity to study the business, culture, economy, and politics of a country or region for six weeks before traveling to the area studied.</p><p>Jordan S.E. Smith M.B.A. ’16 says experiential learning was one of the reasons he chose to attend Fuqua in the first place. “You get to practice and employ what you are learning in real time.”</p><p>Smith participated in the Fuqua on Board program. He served on the board of the Durham Nativity School from October 2014 to October 2015. “I discovered a passion for education. I ended up at a charter school.”</p><p>It was the perfect match for Smith, who as an African American felt he could make a significant impact at an all-male middle school for mostly African-American and Hispanic boys.</p><p>“I got to attend seminars and training. I worked pretty closely with the staff on a project to help them track donor funding. I felt like I was a member of the team. I was creating value-added work,” says Smith.</p><p>Fuqua on Board is one of the most popular experiential programs, according to Ruth Tolman, director of student life at Fuqua. “We have to turn people away it’s so competitive,” she says. Generally, seventy-five to ninety students apply for forty-eight spots.</p><p>Tolman partly attributes the demand to the fact that many Fuqua graduates anticipate being asked to serve on boards. “This program makes them better alumni and board members,” she says.</p><p>James D. Emery, an associate professor of the practice, says another sought-after program is the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum. Last school year, about 157 students enrolled in the course. Students provide services ranging from accounting and marketing to strategic planning for start-ups and large multinational corporations. Clients range from those specializing in social-entrepreneurial ventures to energy, guaranteeing that all students can find a place to work that suits their diverse interests.</p><p><img alt="" class="media-image" height="265" width="320" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://magazine-dev.oit.duke.edu/sites/default/files/GATEfuqua.gif" />Roughly 200 students participate in the GATE program, traveling to South Africa, China, and Latin America, Morgan says. “Certain things we can talk about in a classroom, other things you have to experience for yourself.” Learning about customs, culture, economics, and business context comes from inhabiting a region and getting to see and live it, at least for a short period.</p><p>For those students wanting to stay closer to campus, Mentored Study provides personal and meaningful experiences. About 130 students participate in the program.</p><p>Wilson says he’s more than happy to give Fuqua students the opportunity to work at his craft brewery located in downtown Durham. It’s a win for both the students and the companies.</p><p>“We gain a lot from their knowledge, problem-solving, and their ability to communicate,” he says. And because he participated in the program as a Fuqua student, Wilson takes the task as mentor seriously. “It’s not just finding them a terminal to work on solo or shuffling them to someone else. I work with the students.”</p><p>One of those students, Mike Mannella M.B.A. ’15, worked at Fullsteam in the Mentored Study program and later as a summer intern. “I tried things out that I didn’t have exposure to in my old job. He took me on sales calls. He even took me to an auction to look at equipment for the back of the house…. It’s all about throwing the person into the experience, which is fantastic. Not everyone has the chance to test-drive their industry before accepting a summer internship.”</p><p><strong>Other experiential programs include:</strong></p><p><strong>The Program 4 Entrepreneurs (P4E)</strong> leverages academic research, courses, and a broad community of practitioners to help entrepreneurs define, plan, establish, and finance new ventures. Students in this program have started companies that set out to make Wii games for autistic children; built wind farms; developed medical devices for people with glaucoma; and created a central repository for all immunization records.</p><p>Duke Armed Forces Association (DAFA) organizes <strong>Operation Blue Devil</strong> to provide Fuqua students with the ability to experience leadership outside the classroom from the men and women of the elite Special Operations Forces.</p><p><strong>Duke University Hospital Experiential Learning Program (DUH ELP)</strong> helps Health Sector Management students understand hospital systems better by enabling them to see how the delivery of health care actually works and what factors go into business decisions at the hospital level.</p><p><strong>New Ventures Clinic</strong> gives students the opportunity to work directly with researchers to establish new ventures related to Duke-based intellectual property, for example, commercializing a process to create genetically engineered spider silk for use in military protective gear and other settings.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00">Monday, October 24, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-main-images/fuquaFCCP.gif" width="620" height="265" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Fuqua allows students to study in real time with its array of experiential-learning programs. </div></div></section> Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498391 at https://alumni.duke.edu An economics professor is all about solutions https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/economics-professor-all-about-solutions <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Ryan C. McDevitt grew up in a prosperous Detroit suburb. He went off to college in the 1990s and came back to an area on the decline.</p><p>It was quite a case study in economics. The Motor City’s mystique was unravelling as foreign competition and automation left the American car industry decimated.</p><p>And it was right up McDevitt’s alley. An assistant professor of economics, he specializes in empirical industrial organization, using data to study how markets are organized and how firms compete with one another.</p><p>“I’m fascinated about how consumers make choices, how markets are organized…all of that is interesting to me,” says McDevitt, who started his fourth year at Fuqua this fall.</p><p>His prescription for Detroit is to broaden its economic base to include technology, engineering, health care, and education. “Very much like Durham and its own turnaround,” he says.</p><p>Before becoming a professor and researcher, McDevitt worked as an analyst for Morgan Stanley. He enjoyed working with clients, but prefers having the time to probe for solutions for the problems that intrigue him.</p><p>Earlier this year, McDevitt shared some of his <a href="http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/news_events/news-releases/mcdevitt-banks/#.WA5v_7Uq5oR">research that could improve check-cashing for low-income workers and businesses</a>. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation estimates 10 million U.S. households do not have access to a checking account.</p><p>In 2012, 8 percent of Americans used check-cashing services to access $52 billion from paper checks, and paid $1.8 billion in fees for the privilege—almost 4 percent, on average, of the checks themselves, according to the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.</p><p>McDevitt conducted the first research in this area based on transactions rather than surveys. He analyzed data from a community bank in New York to better understand how price, distance, and check-clearing time affect this underbanked population.</p><p>“We were able to estimate people’s annual income by summing up their checks over a year,” he explains. “We found that among people earning less than $20,000 per year—below the poverty level for a family of three—the rate of check cashing is almost twice as high as families with earnings above that benchmark.”</p><p>His research shows low-income families spend a much higher proportion of their income on financial transactions. “We really wanted to know how check-cashing decisions are affected by cost, how far people have to travel, and the time it takes for checks to clear a bank,” he says.</p><p>New York caps how much check cashers can charge—it’s currently around 2 percent—and regulates where check cashers can locate. “You can’t locate within three-tenths of a mile of another casher, so existing businesses establish mini-monopolies,” he says.</p><p>McDevitt discovered that customers care more about the fees than the distance. “We found check-cashing fees affect demand almost two-and-a-half times as much as travel costs. But the immediacy is what makes the difference… This population is so income-constrained and has this urgent need for cash to pay bills and meet other needs, they’re often willing to pay $20 to get their cash sooner.”</p><p>But consumers and businesses could both benefit from small changes, McDevitt explains. “In New York, the state could reduce the state cap on check-cashing fees but give check cashers a larger protected area, such as half a mile rather than the current three-tenths of a mile. Customers would pay less but the businesses would have a larger customer base. As long as you change both, everyone is going to be better off.”</p><p>McDevitt, the son and grandson of physicians, likes handing out cures for societal issues and problems. He jokes, “When people call me Dr. McDevitt, I laugh because I’m not going to save anyone’s life.”</p><p>But maybe one of his studies will.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00">Monday, October 24, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/FUQUAmcdevitt-portrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ryan C. McDevitt left Wall Street to tackle intriguing societal issues. </div></div></section> Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498390 at https://alumni.duke.edu She's by the numbers but not by the book https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/shes-numbers-not-book <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>When Jillian Popadak worked as a consultant for KPMG Financial Services, she wondered why, in academic literature, governance was often perceived as a good thing.</p><p>Her perspective was that regulations at a particular company were not one size fits all. “Government intervening often led to perverse outcomes,” she says.</p><p>Popadak, an assistant professor of finance, explores what corporations do and how corporations can make optimal decisions. “One of the areas I’m most interested in understanding is how things like corporate culture changes for good or bad when there are changes in regulation.”</p><p>She focuses on a range of areas, including empirical corporate finance, law and economics, corporate culture, corporate governance, financial innovation, and intellectual property.</p><p>Before teaching at Fuqua, Popadak worked as a visiting scholar in statistics with the International Database Group at the World Trade Organization and as a research assistant in International Finance at the Federal Reserve Board.</p><p>She credits her liberal-arts studies in undergraduate school with shaping her into an academic. The daughter of an art dealer and a librarian, Popadak studied classics and economics. She took art history and religious studies, with the goal of being self-aware.</p><p>“Part of becoming an academic is to question things,” she says. “You have to understand your relationship with the greater world out there.”</p><p>Some of Popadak’s <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/balancing-governance-and-culture-to-create-sustainable-firm-value/">most recent research</a> examines how the corporate culture of firms are credited when they succeed and blamed when scandal hits. Executives say corporate culture drives profitability, acquisition decisions, and even whether employees behave in ethical ways, she reports.</p><p>“Executives overwhelmingly indicate that an effective corporate culture is essential for a company to thrive in the modern business world,” Popadak says. “We set out to determine what the mechanisms and corporate policies are that lead to effective corporate culture and how an effective corporate culture relates to outcomes such as risk-taking and long-term value creation.”</p><p>Corporate culture includes a company’s tone, operating style, standard of behavior, and even the “invisible hand” that guides a firm. They tended to characterize culture as shared values that guide employee decisions.</p><p>More than 50 percent of executives said corporate culture influences productivity, creativity, profitability, the value of a firm, and growth rates. More than 90 percent of executives said culture is important at their firms, and 78 percent said culture is among the top five things that make their company valuable. But only 15 percent said their own corporate culture is exactly where it needed to be, and 92 percent said they believe improving their firm’s corporate culture would improve the value of the company.</p><p>Some assets are hard to measure. “I work with numbers but I tend to appreciate the intangibles in life,” Popadak says.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00">Monday, October 24, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/FUQUAfaculty-portrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">A background in the classics helps finance professor Jillian Popadak examine the nuances of corporate culture. </div></div></section> Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498389 at https://alumni.duke.edu M.B.A. helps alumna broaden her focus https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/mba-helps-alumna-broaden-her-focus <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>As the founder, president, and chief executive officer of Afaxys Inc., her mission-driven, social- business enterprise, Ronda Dean, Weekend Executive M.B.A. ’92 brings a wealth of knowledge to the table: She has more than twenty-five years of healthcare industry experience and a decade of executive-level work in public health.</p><p>Her company’s focus is ensuring that patients who receive care from public health providers always have affordable access to high-quality contraceptive products. In fact, the company’s name, which comes from truncating “affordable access,” is emblematic of that mission. It’s a value she learned as the daughter of an electrician and a stay-at-home mom, and one enforced by the memory of receiving health-care services from a public-health provider while an undergraduate student at Ohio State University.</p><p>“My views on women’s health and reproductive rights were informed by my first interaction with Planned Parenthood when I was eighteen years old,” she says. “When a young woman takes control of her reproductive life, it allows her to manage everything else in her life.”</p><p>Dean launched her professional career as a clinical microbiologist and then moved to the business of health care when she started working for Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Early in her management career, Dean enrolled in Fuqua’s Weekend Executive M.B.A. program. And to her surprise, despite her vast knowledge, she learned something new about the things she thought she already knew.</p><p>The twenty-two-month intense program provided her with the staples of a business curriculum: financial management, operations, and statistics. What she didn’t count on learning was the ability to quickly recognize and manage the areas where she lacked information and how to find those who had it.</p><p>“I got a keen appreciation for what I didn’t know and became very comfortable knowing that I could never be a functional expert in all the areas necessary to operate a company successfully. But knowing how to find and qualify those who are the experts, that is what is really important.”</p><p>Dean says she also acquired a skill she describes as “landscape multitasking.” Working full time, taking a full class load, and handling family obligations meant learning how to manage and prioritize important responsibilities across multiple areas without letting the really critical ones fall short of expectations.</p><p>“It was like twirling plates,” she says. “I learned how to recognize the plate just as it started to wobble and keep it spinning while spinning lots of other plates at the same time. And if it looked like one of the plates was about to fall, I learned when to reach out and catch it before it crashed to the ground. That skill evolved into a way to prioritize in times of stress—a typical day at a startup, right?”</p><p>Now an emerging leader in the public-health sector, Afaxys provides reliable and affordable oral contraceptives to health-care providers for their patients. “The trajectory of our company has far exceeded my expectations,” she says. “The education I received while at Fuqua helped cultivate the critical thinking and management skills I use every day as I lead the company forward."</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00">Monday, October 24, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/FUQUAalumnadean-portrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ronda Dean started her career as a clinical microbiologist. </div></div></section> Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498388 at https://alumni.duke.edu West Union: Beautiful, and Tasty, Too https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/west-union-beautiful-and-tasty-too <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Robert Coffey, executive director of Duke Dining Services, remembers taking the decisions that years of meetings and student focus groups had yielded and presenting them to the West Union builders. “I remember the designer saying, ‘Fire pit? NitroCream? Really? You want do to this on a college campus?’ ”</p><p>Yep. The architectural inventiveness of West Union’s new glass box makes a strong first impression, but open the door and the thirteen restaurants run by eight different vendors will quickly stop you thinking about buttresses. Show kitchens line both sides of the central walkway surrounding the building’s core, with smells emerging from tandoor ovens and paella rings mingling with the tang of wasabi and the smoky aroma from that fire pit. Duke Dining has a great national reputation; the new West Union will not diminish it. Southern cookery at Skillet; Japanese food at Ginger + Soy and Gyotaku; pizza and pasta at Il Forno; healthier and vegetarian food at The Farmstead and Sprout; and on and on. The Great Hall ceiling might draw eyes upward, but other senses will remain focused right at food level.</p><p>Those years of meetings made clear to Duke Dining that students wanted food that was local and authentic. The result was one national chain—Au Bon Pain—and twelve local eateries. “This has become quite a foodie town,” Coffey says of Durham. “We wanted to bring that to campus and the students did, too.”</p><p>Oh, and that fire pit at JB’s Roasts & Chops? It’s one of only two in the nation, according to team leader Javon Singletary. The wood fire sears the meat and heats bricks that make your steak keep not just its flavor but its shape. “None of my steaks shrink,” says chef Ron Trower; Singletary was only sorry that late in the lunch rush the pit held only a small, glowing fire. “You should see it when it’s all lit up.” And NitroCream, by the way, is sort of flash ice cream: You pour liquid ice cream base into the bowl of a mixer, start things mixing, and hurry things up a bit by blowing liquid nitrogen onto the contents. “Do we freeze it fast, slow?” asks Ron Caster, who describes himself as the nitrogen barista at Café, on the Plaza level. “Do we keep it spinning while we freeze it?” He was giving away samples as they tried things out. Result: Ice cream tastes good.</p><p>“The food’s exceptional,” said junior electrical and computer engineering student Alex Zaldastani. “Really diverse. As I see it, this is the hub for food now.”</p><p>And if you fear for a generation of college students texting home to complain that “the crepes could have had more Nutella,” take heart that some things never change. “We have a custom pizza oven that has three windows,” at Il Forno, says Coffey. “Usually there’s only one or two, but we wanted to be prepared for the volume.” </p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00">Monday, October 24, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/writers/scott-huler" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Scott Huler</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/WUeating_1.gif" width="320" height="265" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498387 at https://alumni.duke.edu Forever Duke Q&A: Jack Boyd '85 https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/forever-duke-qa-jack-boyd-85 <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><strong>Why do you volunteer for Duke?</strong></p> <p>I volunteer for Duke because I can’t say no to you. Like so many of our alums, I love Duke. I’m a first-generation student. Duke helped me find my voice. It opened up to me possibilities of what my life could be like. It helped me figure out what I wanted it to be like—and I want other students to be able to come here and have the same experiences I’ve had.</p> <p><strong>What has been your favorite volunteer role over the years?</strong></p> <p>I do love calling people and asking them for money, as a Duke Annual Fund volunteer. It’s July 1, and they’re like, “Jack, you have to stop. The deadline for the fiscal year was yesterday.” The reason I love it so much is I got a lot of financial aid to come to Duke. I feel like it’s my chance to help someone like me. Beyond volunteering for the Annual Fund, Duke Alums Engage has been a real passion. I really believe in the mission of Duke Alums Engage. Every year for the past six years in New York City, where I live, Duke Alums Engage puts on a free health fair in a Harlem neighborhood. We have engaged hundreds of alumni. I think it’s a tremendous way for alums to come together and do great things in the name of Duke. I think it speaks to the spirit of Duke. Knowledge in the service of society resonates with so many of us alumni. It’s such a proud moment for me.</p> <p><strong>What is your message to Duke alumni who haven’t found a way to get involved with Duke after graduating?</strong></p> <p>I think as a student I thought of an alumni association as a place where people come together to relive the past. That’s what alumni associations mean to many people. If you look at what the Duke Alumni Association actually means today, it’s about making connections and being part of education. So it’s really about the present and the future. If you want to get involved in Duke, it’s not about the past, it’s about the future. The Duke Alumni Association is headed in an exciting direction. We’re planning an alumni and visitor’s center for the future, and I think that sends a message that Duke cares about its alumni. We’re 163,000 people. We are the biggest constituency of the university by far. Our voice has to matter. Our place in the university has to matter as well. To have a physical place speaks to that in a big way. It’s a place where connections are going to happen. If we can use the power of the 163,000 alums that we have to strengthen those connections and to help each other, then that is really meaningful. I would hope that people would see other ways to be engaged with Duke as a result.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-21T00:00:00-04:00">Friday, October 21, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/writers/christina-holder" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Christina Holder</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/FDQ%26A-portrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" alt="" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sterly Wilder &#039;83, associate vice president for alumni affairs, has three questions for the new president of the Duke Alumni Association&#039;s board of directors, whose members are chosen to provide guidance, leadership, and active support for DAA events and programs around the world. </div></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Fri, 21 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498397 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/forever-duke-qa-jack-boyd-85#comments Q&A: Jack Bovender and Ellen Davis on the search for a new Duke president https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/qa-jack-bovender-and-ellen-davis-search-new-duke-president <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><em>An autumn update from Jack Bovender ’67, M.H.A. ’69 and divinity school professor Ellen Davis, chair and vice chair, respectively, of the presidential search committee.</em></p> <p><strong>Where has your work taken you so far?</strong></p> <p>Bovender: We have nominations from faculty members, students, staff, alumni, friends of the university. Based on those nominations—some of which coincided with a list from [search consultant] Isaacson, Miller—Ellen and I have started on the road. We’ve been meeting not just with potential candidates, but also with people who have a deep understanding of higher education and who might be able to suggest candidates. It’s kind of a grueling schedule, but it’s very worthwhile. Isaacson, Miller, by the way, has an incredibly deep knowledge of Duke from having worked on several searches to hire senior Duke administrators.</p> <p><strong>What’s the next step?</strong></p> <p>Bovender: Late in the fall, we’ll be vetting people who have essentially declared they’re willing to go through a more thorough interview process. Eventually, we’ll push the list down to about eight people. Think of them as “the Elite Eight.”</p> <p><strong>It’s quite a formidable list of qualifications, isn’t it?</strong></p> <p>Davis: We’ve come to feel it’s an aspirational list, as it should be, but it’s not an unrealistic list. Among the people we’re talking to, there are a number who hit the high points in our criteria.</p> <p><strong>Who will be involved in the final interviewing?</strong> Bovender: The whole search committee will interview each of these eight or so candidates. Eventually, we’ll try to narrow the list some more, down to no more than three. And then the aim is either late in this calendar year or early next year to have one candidate to put before the board of trustees.</p> <p><strong>Are the candidates stepping forward on their own or being pursued by you?</strong></p> <p>Bovender: Both. Some, on being contacted, have read our position paper around the next president and have been intrigued enough to want to pursue it further. Others may have jumped in because they’ve always thought of the Duke presidency as the perfect job. But even the ones who tell us, “I can’t do this at this point in my life,” don’t need to be sold on Duke. They recognize that this university is on a great trajectory.</p> <p><strong>Cornell is searching for a president. Are there other research universities competing right now for the same top talent?</strong></p> <p>Davis: Cornell is the only major one we’re aware of. As it happens, there have been a few presidential posts filled in just the last couple of years, and that provides us with another avenue into a pool of candidates.</p> <p><strong>Have you been looking outside higher education?</strong></p> <p>Davis: The board of trustees feels that we need someone who has serious academic credentials. We’re talking to people who have spent considerable time outside the academy. But it’s absolutely indispensable that the faculty regard this person as a strong colleague.</p> <p><img alt="" class="media-image" src="http://magazine-dev.oit.duke.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Q%26Abovendarportrait.gif?itok=LzGWur1N" style="height:300px; width:250px" />Bovender: And what does that mean? Examples—not meant to be an exclusive list—might include sitting presidents of other institutions, provosts or deans at major research universities. In other words, people who have demonstrated both leadership and scholarship in their careers.</p> <p>Davis: Something that has been impressed upon us is the complexity of Duke. So we’re looking for people who have length and breadth of experience in complex and excellent institutions.</p> <p><strong>Are there other criteria that maybe distinguish this search from past presidential searches?</strong></p> <p>Bovender: We’re very conscious of making sure that our pool of candidates represents the diversity that this university represents. If you look at where we are today with some of Duke’s top administration, you see incredibly gifted scholars and leaders, and you also see diversity.</p> <p><strong>What’s been the biggest surprise so far in the process?</strong></p> <p>Davis: Really it’s that people outside Duke see the university the same way we see ourselves. I wouldn’t have known that for sure before we began this. Not everyone knows the Duke campus intimately. But we keep hearing statements like, “Your deans really talk to each other,” or, “Your medical school shares faculty with your divinity school?” People find the Duke spirit of collegiality remarkable. I can think of several who have told us, “This is the only search I would even consider talking about.”</p> <p><strong>Have your colleagues pressed you for insider information on the process?</strong></p> <p>Davis: No. We were warned that might happen, but nobody has been trying to wheedle anything out of me.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-21T00:00:00-04:00">Friday, October 21, 2016</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/robert-j-bliwise" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robert J. Bliwise</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/fall-2016" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fall 2016</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/Q%26Adavis-portrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" alt="" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Fri, 21 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498402 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/qa-jack-bovender-and-ellen-davis-search-new-duke-president#comments