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ALUMNUS
John Turner ('57)
When John Turner first entered a classroom at North Texas in 1954, he had been blind for just six months. A detached retina, due to a hereditary weakness, affected his sight. But his time as a marketing student on campus paved the way for a successful career in the insurance industry and as an advocate for the blind.
This summer, a life-size bronze statue of former Frisco resident Turner and a guide dog -- a composite of the eight dogs who have served as his companions through the years -- was unveiled at the Frisco Heritage Center. His life-long friend, David Griffin, donated the statue as a reminder to others to never give up. The two met as first-graders in a one-room schoolhouse in Frisco and grew up together.
Turner drew attention on his first day of speech class at North Texas when his first guide dog brushed the leg of a fellow student, the late Bill Nicholas, a colonel in the Marine Corps. Nicholas invited Turner to coffee and offered to tutor him – a lifesaver since it took months for his textbooks to be recorded.
"He also gave me eight years of Marine Corps discipline," Turner says of Nicholas, who later owned a dry cleaner franchise in El Paso. "He was my tutor, my teacher, my professor."
Turner also pledged the Kappa Alpha fraternity and served as junior class president. He was elected student body president his senior year in a tight race that required a recount.
"That was a happy occasion, especially if you don't like to lose," he says.
At the end of his senior year, Turner began hunting for a post-graduation job. But he was having trouble finding a company that would hire an employee who was blind. So marketing professor John Brooks wrote to 15 life insurance companies in Dallas, touting Turner's skills.
That led to a job and his successful 60-year career as an independent broker in the Dallas insurance industry. Turner also served as a member of the Texas Commission for the Blind. He is now writing a memoir told from his current dog Eben's point of view.
"I've had a great life," Turner says.
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FACULTY
Dean Marilyn Wiley
UNT College of Business Dean Marilyn Wiley was honored on Thursday, November 16, as D CEO named its 500 most influential business leaders of North Texas.
The Dallas 500, a special print edition of D CEO, is the result of an extensive year-long research effort from the editors of D CEO. Those among the high-profile list, more commonly referred to as the D 500, are considered the most influential individuals of the region for the essential work they contribute to the ever-growing Dallas economy.
“This award is an important recognition of the increasing prominence of the UNT College of Business in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex,"
said Dean Wiley."I am honored to represent our faculty and staff in the community."
Dean Wiley is a driving force for the UNT College of Business. Under her leadership, the college's Ph.D. program consistently places graduate researchers in academia at a 100% placement rate, freshman retention rates have increased by 13%, enrollment numbers have grown from 5,557 to 5,748 (a 3% increase), there has been a 14% increase in the number of graduates, and scholarships have increased by 5% – enabling more individuals to pursue their academic dreams without financial constraint.
Furthermore, Dean Wiley has created and implemented innovative ways to increase student success and foster more well-rounded educational experiences. From a tiered progression retention initiative to assist students in fully understanding how to navigate their business degrees, to a series of professional development courses that are anchored throughout their curriculum, these programs have supplemented the classroom experience and enabled higher retention and increased student success rates.
Having been with UNT since 2009, the work Dean Wiley has contributed to both the finance and higher education fields make her an ideal candidate for the D 500. To see all D 500 honorees, the complete list will be published online this month at www.dceomagazine.com.
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Students offer strategies to optimize Mr. Cooper branding opportunities
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As part of a semester-long project, five teams developed innovative marketing strategies to facilitate brand awareness for mortgage company, Mr. Cooper.
Previously known as Nationstar Mortgage, Mr. Cooper recently rebranded to better personify the company’s identity and its promise to help customers achieve the American dream.
By collecting and analyzing primary and secondary research, students formed business proposals worthy of presenting in front of high-level executives. Loyalty rewards programs, mobile app enhancements, targeted communications and geolocation technology were among a few of the groups’ ideas, as they competed against one another for cash prizes.
Brett Williams, Matthew Murray, Kevone Kennedy, Brian Storrie and Richard Weber took home first place with their proposed solutions of enhancing omni-channel capabilities, implementing a streamlined customer rewards program and introducing multiple product lines.
“The most valuable takeaway, in my opinion, were the real world applications of this project,” said Williams, 2018 M.B.A. candidate. “It was very similar to what actually goes on in an office environment. We were given an objective/problem that Mr. Cooper wanted to improve on, and through research and data we were expected to clearly and concisely present our solution to Mr. Cooper executives.”
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Fidelity Investments Integrated Business Case Competition awards more than $5,500 to winning team
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Each semester The Fidelity Investments Integrated Business Case Competition provides graduating seniors the opportunity to solve complex business problems using the knowledge and skills they acquired in the classroom.
The competition rewards teams that develop creative solutions to business problems by merging the insights of individuals from different majors. This fall Bakary Badjie, Beverly Cordero, Randi Hodges, Soroya Lamastra, Brianna Markham, Christine Rubio and Luis Salazar were among the winning team, aptly named Bullseye Consulting.
Sponsored by Fidelity Investments, the competition awarded each winning team member with $800, and first place bragging rights. For fall 2018 Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management major Brianna Markham, the competition provided more than a monetary award. “It allowed me to gain leadership skills,” said Markham. In helping the team stay the course, Markham assisted in leading her team to the win.
Despite having their first proposal scrapped one week before the competition, Bullseye Consulting’s perseverance and strong leadership enabled them to quickly reconstruct a way to succeed. Their proposed business plan offered a collaborative approach aimed to increase Fidelity clientele by 20 percent over a five-year span.
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OBHR program honors John and Jennifer Kelly at annual dinner
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The second annual HR Alumni Dinner was hosted by the Department of Management this fall in the university’s Student Union.
The program featured two former SHRM presidents who gave attendees insights into the HR profession from both the perspective of a recent graduate and a seasoned HR professional, and recognized two generous individuals, John and Jennifer Kelly.
John, a retired CHRO from Capital Group, and his wife, Jennifer, have been ongoing supporters of the UNT OBHR program. Their transformative gift in 2015, coupled with their continued financial and professional guidance, has been instrumental in pushing forward an HR-centered initiative to connect students and faculty with alumni and DFW HR professionals.
Thanks to the support of individuals like the Kellys, the HR program was ranked for the first time ever this year, named among the top 20 schools for both best value and highest paid graduates.
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UNT places third in the 2017 ICSC Undergraduate Case Study Competition
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The UNT College of Business earned third place in the 2017 International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Undergraduate Case Study Competition this November. Competing against nine universities, teams went head to head to overcome obstacles and answer questions from industry experts.
Michelle Miller, CBRE’s research operations manager, explained in a recent interview with Connect Media that the competition "exposes undergraduate students to every facet of real estate, from leasing, sales and financing to community involvement, land use and working with government entities."
The ability of UNT's team to earn the number three slot is a testament to the College of Business FIREL program and its ability to prepare students as both leaders in academics and professionals in the field.
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Accounting student profile and placement statistics highlight program success
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The UNT Department of Accounting released its most recent student profile and placement statistics, illustrating the success of its internship program and subsequent job placements.
The analysis revealed that of those that completed for-credit internships, 100 percent of spring graduates received job offers at their internship sites. This is an increase from fall 2016, when a still strong 91 percent of students received offers. Furthermore, 91 percent of spring 2017 graduates seeking employment got job offers or got placed at the time of their graduation.
With the average starting salary of graduates now at nearly $56,000 (not including sign-on bonuses), students have even more reasons to choose UNT for their accounting degree.
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UNT, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay examine entrepreneurship in emerging economies in new conference
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The University of North Texas and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay are launching a new effort – the International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Family Business – aimed at tackling challenges facing small and medium enterprises and family firms around the world.
The conference will be held January 8-10 on the IIT Bombay campus in Mumbai, India.
UNT’s College of Business and the IIT Bombay Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management have created what may be one of the first such events of its kind, designed around the increasing attention surrounding entrepreneurship in emerging economies. Scholars, policy makers, academics and business practitioners from different countries are expected to come together to discuss the ways in which entrepreneurship can help individual companies and the larger, worldwide economy grow.
“From a global standpoint, emerging economies are growing at a much faster rate than the other economies,” said Manjula Salimath, an associate professor in the UNT Department of Management and event organizer. “That is where opportunities lie for businesses to sell products and services. A lot of businesses are going global to meet this mark, but the question is how they can do this most effectively.”
“Everyone has entrepreneurial talent within, and that begins from the family,” said S. Bhargava, a professor at IIT Bombay. “Organizations in the new digital era of knowledge economy will find it hard to sustain if people and leaders are not entrepreneurial.”
Salimath added that an event focusing on entrepreneurship for emerging economies has been needed for some time.
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UNT Professional Development Institute offers PHR/SPHR Exam Preparation Program
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The Professional Development Institute at UNT, now housed under the College of Business, offers professionals a way to enhance Human Resource skills and knowledge and prepare for the Professional in Human Resources (PHR®) or Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR®) designation.
By enrolling in UNT's PHR/SPHR Exam Preparation Program, participants will cover the HRCI Body of Knowledge and application exercises that develop specific competencies and decision making skills. Attendees will learn the skills to improve workplace effectiveness through a combination of workbooks, software, online tools and classroom experience.
Benefits include training close to home, access to an expert instructor, peer networking, course fees that may qualify for tuition reimbursement and structured classes and course syllabus. The course is also eligible for 3.5 continuing education units (CEUs).
Learn about HR topics most relevant to today’s HR professional and the HR Certification Institute certification exams by signing up for the UNT PHR/SPHR Exam Preparation Program today. Visit pdi.org for more information, or contact Tami Russell at 940.565.3353 or trussell@pdi.org.
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