SEPTEMBER 2004

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
As we enter another school year, I am extremely optimistic about our present and our prospects here at the Atkinson School. We have an entering MBA class that has great credentials (which are described elsewhere in this newsletter) and our returning students have great internship stories to tell. We hired a new Career Services Director and three new faculty members. Our faculty spent the summer in very productive pursuits and have been representing us well in other parts of the world.

We also have made some significant strides towards our two goals of VISIBILITY and VIABILITY. The admissions DVD is now complete, and we will be sending out some copies to our alums as well as prospects this fall. This fall also marks the first Dean’s Report publication that we have put out in quite some time. Our goal for this magazine is to put out more information to our industry (i.e. other institutions involved in rating MBA programs and producing Ph.D. candidates) about Atkinson and about Willamette University. We will shoot for another issue in late spring, when we receive notice about our renewed AACSB Accreditation. We hope to reach alums around the world with these publications as well.

Speaking of the AACSB, Associate Dean Debra Ringold and I spent a chunk of our summer working up our Accreditation Maintenance report. We will submit this to our Review team (Deans from other comparable schools) this fall, and their official visit to Salem will occur in February 2005. I am excited by the story we have to tell, and by the participation of alumni in putting together the DVD and other publications.

As to the Viability part, this past year was a record year in terms of contributions to our Dean’s Initiative fund, and in gathering a “war chest” for encouraging scholarship by our faculty and scholarships for our students. More on these developments in the next issue.

In the meantime, I thank all those in the Atkinson Community for making me feel welcome in this first year, and look forward to hearing from you as we push on towards a bright professional future.

- Jim Goodrich

BETH URSIN NAMED NEW CAREER SERVICES DIRECTOR
Dean Jim Goodrich announced that BETH URSIN (MBA’00) has been selected as the new Director of Career Services for the Atkinson Graduate School of Management. He noted that “this opens a new chapter for Atkinson, as we have hired someone in Beth who will focus on building the kind of employer relationships we need in order to place our MBAs, and gain increased visibility for the School.”

An Atkinson alumna, Beth’s career started as an intern in Whitman College’s Career Center where she was actively involved in establishing the Whitman College Internship program. After graduating with a B.A. in Psychology, Beth spent six years in Career development and launched a three-campus career program for a technical college in Seattle, ultimately resulting in a key partnership with Microsoft and an average placement rate of 95%. After accomplishing her goals in Seattle, Beth moved to Portland and launched an educational consulting business and helped 60 other people launch similar businesses in five states. Her software and Internet recommendations to clients led her to pursue an MBA focused as close as she could to e-commerce (technology, marketing and international management). During her MBA program at Atkinson, Beth was instrumental in the analysis of e-commerce at twenty key government agencies and her report was used to influence the legislation to budget funding for the State of Oregon Internet Portal.

Beth is currently a partner and Chief Operating Officer for a newly emerging branch of a mortgage bank, JurisTrust. Beth and her partners, all attorneys, conceived and implemented the first branch of a bank that is designed to offer low cost mortgages through attorneys nationwide. Her husband, MARK URSIN (MBA’85) is also an AGSM graduate, and she has spoken at numerous Career Day and other events since receiving her MBA. Beth has two children – Alex, a junior in High School, and Kristina, a freshman at the University of Oregon.

Please join us in welcoming Beth to our staff.

FAMILY ADDITIONS
CARRI MCBRIDE (MBA'01) and her husband, Don, welcomed their son, Ethan Dean McBride, on May 1st. Carri is Sr. Human Resources Consultant at Planar Systems in Beaverton and Don is a family practice physician in Salem. They reside in Portland.

On August 12th, 2004, YUET YIN GLORIA YAN (MBA’03) gave birth to Nathan Quentin Lim, a healthy 7.4 lb. baby boy. Gloria and her husband, Gee Lim, reside in Portland and she is currently working as an interpreter for Language Line.

KUDOS
SCOTT COLSON (MBA’94) will be a featured speaker at the 2004 SMB Nation Conference in Seattle, WA, Sept. 9-13. The SMB Nation conference is an annual event geared to technology professionals and consultants in the small/medium business (SMB) sector. Recognized as an expert on customer relationship management (CRM), Scott will present "Microsoft CRM & Small Business Server: A Powerful Platform to Automate Business Processes." He will explain how workflow automation can increase organizational efficiency and provide a consistent customer experience. Scott and his wife ERIKA COLSON (WU’91, MBA’95) own and operate Autonomix, Inc., a technology consulting firm on Bainbridge Island, WA.

After passing the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Level 1 last December, recent grad YUYAN LOU (MBA’03), has also passed Level 2 this past June. The average success rate on Level 2 exams is less than one third. Congratulations Yuyan!

JENNIFER MILLER (WU'97, MBA'03, JD'03) was elected to serve a three year term on the Young Lawyers Division Board of Trustees for the King County Bar Association in Seattle, Washington. Kudos and good luck to Jenn!

CHRIS DAVIS (MBA'88) has been promoted to Director with Deloitte Consulting, LLP. Chris is part of Deloitte's national leadership team for the healthcare clinical information systems practice area. Chris and his wife Anne Marie live in the Leschi area of Seattle, and love to explore unique parts of the world.

MICHAEL RINDFLEISCH (MM'96) was awarded a M.S. in Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College in August. He was recently designated as the Senior Counter-Terrorism Analyst for the US Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base in Rheinland-Platz, Germany.

NUPTIALS
CURT DE CRINIS (MBA’81) was married earlier this year to Jackie Colden Lyons in Los Angeles. It is his first and her second. Curt continues to manage C.M.de Crinis & Co., Inc., a public finance advisory firm that advises local government agencies on the issuance of bonds. Jackie is a senior vice president and head of original series for NBC Universal television's USA Network. They have two daughters from Jackie's prior marriage and are expecting a third. They reside in Sherman Oaks.

UPDATES
HALYNA MALIBORSKA (MBA’03) is currently in Kiev, Ukraine working as Head of Retail Property Department for Colliers International, one of the leading commercial real estate organizations in the world. The Retail Property Department provides a full spectrum of services (consulting and brokerage) for retail-related property issues. Halyna writes, “Professional real estate has just started developing in our country and has huge potential.” With a strategic location at the crossroads of key transportation routes, Ukraine is brimming with opportunities for development and Halyna, who graduated with honors in 2003, is involved.

For several months, JUAN JAVIER AGUIAR (MBA‘02, JD‘02) has been working as General Manager of an outsourcing company called Petro Personnel. This is in addition to his continued involvement in legal and translation matters (www.aguiarlaw.com) and teaching. Javier is currently getting ready to teach a course on Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Catholic University of Ecuador, in a program offered in association with the Graduate School of Political Management of The George Washington University. The students are Ecuadorian public officials, both elected and appointed, with a variety of backgrounds (lawyers, economists, etc.) “I already taught this course last semester and it was a great experience - I taught for 8 straight hours, then moderated the course's Internet discussion for the rest of the semester,” Javier writes. “This time I was asked to double the time of in-class teaching, and because of scheduling conflicts this could only be done on August 27 and 28. I am sure afterwards I will not be able to speak much!”

BRET SHAY RIOS (WU’72, MBA’87) has taken on a new role with TEC International as a TEC Group Chairman for the Sacramento Valley in California. TEC is the world’s oldest and largest peer membership organization for business owners, Presidents and CEOs, (nearly 10,000 members spanning 13 countries). Each month he facilitates small group discussions, workshops, and individual coaching intended to increase the effectiveness and enhance the lives of its members. Bret also continues to train and certify management consultants in the use of Professional DynaMetric Programs.

As a result of the recent merger between TRW and Northrop Grumman, MICHAEL KENNEDY’S (MBA’84) role has changed. Today he is in charge of strategic marketing for the public safety solutions group, a unit of Northrop Grumman Information Technology. The Northrop Grumman IT sector represents approximately 4.7 billion dollars of Northrop Grumman’s total portfolio of 30 billion dollars. The public safety solutions group is comprised of four lines of business: Command and Control Centers, Public Safety Applications, Integrated Criminal Justice and Transportation. The group has completed many projects in the Northwest, including police, fire and emergency medical services dispatching in Portland, Seattle area, Spokane, Boise, Bellingham, Cowlitz, Lake Oswego and Bellingham. Find out more at www.it.northropgrumman.com. Michael expresses his appreciation to Atkinson, “Every day I thank the folks that helped me through the Atkinson program, for my job is in the private sector working with the public sector. Early on I was exposed to both sides of the fence…”

After 7 years Deloitte & Touche, MICHAEL EBER (MBA’97) took a leave of absence and spent 9 months working in Uganda with the VillagePhone project (providing mobile phone businesses for primarily rural women (see www.mtnvillagephone.co.us). In March Michael joined the Grameen Foundation USA in Washington, DC as a Program Officer, where his focus is technology (implementation, assessment, alternative energy sourcing) with microfinance (micro lending) partners located across the developing world.

RICH MUSSLER (MBA’89) has accepted a position with HealthCare Dimensions, as Vice President, Customer Relations. HealthCare Dimensions is a company that improves the health and well-being of elderly Americans through an award-winning program called Silver Sneakers, which provides access to health and fitness facilities and training in low-impact aerobics to retirees. In addition, Rich Mussler's newest book, Twisted Texan and Other Stories, a collection of fictional short stories, will be available next spring in bookstores and online through his publisher, PublishAmerica. Rich resides in Dallas, Texas.

JOHN B. KERN (MM’94, JD’94) resides in Charleston, South Carolina where he co-founded Carolina Chambers, LLP with offices in Charleston, Washington and London. He is the chairman of the South Carolina Bar International Law Committee and served 3 years as chairman of Charleston Habitat for Humanity, Inc.

RON HITTNER (WU’87, MBA’89), president of the consulting firm Hittner & Associates, is a featured speaker at two international conferences this fall. In September, he will be speaking to the Oracle Applications User Group Conference in Orlando, FL. In October, he will be a guest speaker at the Project Management Institute's World Congress in Anaheim, CA. Mr. Hittner will be addressing unique end-user training techniques he has developed and utilized for numerous clients, including the State of Oregon, Starbucks, MCI, and Weyerhaeuser. Hittner & Associates is a full-service consulting firm based in Keizer, OR. Their consulting offerings range from strategic planning and organizational design to program management and full lifecycle systems development. For more information, see their website at www.hittnerandassociates.com.

SK On-line is the distance education program under Salem-Keizer School District, which is growing by leaps and bounds and Atkinson alum, ROBYN MACKILLOP, (MBA’98) is currently responsible for marketing this program to the world. The program is expected to more than double the number of kids served by on-line education this year (over 800 served last year). Robyn is currently writing curriculum for Intro to Business, Business Law, and Marketing. SK On-line has partnered with several districts in Oregon and Nevada, which are able to enroll students in the program. Plans are to make the program international and be the leaders in delivering K-12 distance education.

Scholarship Started to Honor Earl Littrell
In honor of Earl Littrell’s retirement this year, a scholarship fund has been started in his honor and will be announced at his retirement party on Friday, September 24. The total amount of gifts received for the Earl Littrell Scholarship Fund prior to the event will be announced. Gifts will also be accepted after the event and into the future. All contributions to the scholarship fund are completely tax deductible and the scholarship supports future Atkinson Students.

For more info about giving to this fund, please contact Denise Crawford, Director of Development & Alumni Relations at 503-370-6727 or dcrawfor@willamette.edu. If you want to make a gift to the Earl Littrell Scholarship, you can mail it directly to Denise at AGSM, 900 State St., Salem, OR 97301 indicating it is for the Fund. Gifts can also be made on-line at www.willamette.edu/support (click ‘Donate on-line’ in the upper right). Again, make a note that it’s for ‘other’ under Gift Designation and indicate Earl’s scholarship in the next line.

Please take this opportunity to honor a wonderful member of the Atkinson community and wish him well in his retirement.

EVENTS
Celebrate Earl Littrell’s Service to Atkinson, September 24
After many years of dedicated teaching and service, EARL LITTRELL, Professor of Accounting and Information Systems, is retiring from Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University. Earl has invested his time, experience, and education in Atkinson students. “But,” in Earl’s own words, “then comes the return on investment; Atkinson grads do wonderful things.” It has been a joy and honor for everyone at Atkinson to work with such a dedicated colleague, professor and friend. Please join us at a reception in his honor on Friday, September 24, 2004 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Founders Room at Willamette Valley Vineyards, located at 8800 Enchanted Way SE, Turner, Oregon. Appetizers and drinks will be served. Please RSVP by September 17th to Aimee Akimoff at 503-370-6440 or aakimoff@willamette.edu.

Homecoming September 24-25, 2004
Do you remember…
     …how happy you were Earl Littrell graded on a curve?
     …who won the Brownwater Regatta and who just got the most wet?
     …when Marc Choate wore turtlenecks? Oh, wait…never mind.

Come relive Atkinson during Homecoming 2004, September 24th and 25th. Celebrate Earl’s retirement and gather with other Atkinson alumni for some fall festivities. Events that are open to all Willamette University alumni will have reserved seating for Atkinson alumni to sit together.

Friday, September 24:
5:00 p.m. Retirement party for Earl Littrell at Willamette Valley– complimentary (all Atkinson alumni invited)

Saturday, September 25:
11:30 a.m. Reunion BBQ – complimentary, no-host beer/wine served (all Atkinson alumni invited, no charge for BBQ)
1:30 p.m. Willamette football vs. Menlo College – complimentary (all Atkinson alumni invited)
3:30 p.m. Class of ’79 25th reunion gathering. No host, class of ’79 and guests. Local watering hole: TBA.
6:30 p.m. Willamette Homecoming Celebration. Grace Crunican ’79 will be honored with an Alumni Citation. Dinner and dancing.
$25 per ticket. Tables of 8 for Atkinson alumni and guests available. All Atkinson alumni invited.

Contact Denise Crawford, Director of Development & Alumni Relations for more information or to RSVP: dcrawfor@willamette.edu; 503-370-6727.

Please RSVP by September 17, 2004

Morgan Stanley and Atkinson Graduate School Present the 2nd Annual Capital Business Forum October 14
The Atkinson Graduate School is partnering with Morgan Stanley to present Dr. Robert Goodman, Economic Consultant for Putnam Investments. Dr. Goodman will speak on The Challenges & Opportunities in the New Economic Era Thursday, October 14 in the Cat Cavern at Willamette University. The event begins at 6:30 with hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. Admission is free, but seating is limited.
Please contact Debra Bartol at Morgan Stanley, 503-763-6108, if you are interested in attending.

EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT CENTER
The Certificate in Public Management program welcomes its fifth cohort to classes beginning on Friday morning, September 17. This cohort includes for the first time participants from local governments, four of whom will join two dozen managers from State agencies large and small. The first of eight courses in the fifteen month program will be Quantitative Analysis, taught by PROFESSOR BRUCE GATES, and Organizational Change and Design, taught by PROFESSOR PATRICK CONNOR. See www.willamette.edu/cpm for details.

The EDC will offer a "Mini-MBA" through the Cascade Employers Association beginning on October 8. The program consists of six modules, each meeting for three Friday mornings per month, October through March, in Wilsonville. For information, contact mbriles@cascadeemployers.com.

INTRODUCING THREE NEW FACULTY MEMBERS AT ATKINSON
Please help us in welcoming three new faculty members to the Atkinson community.

KENNETH “KEN” SMITH, Atkinson School Assistant Professor of Accounting
Ken Smith, Ph.D., has accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Accounting and joined the Atkinson School in August. Ken completed his Ph.D. in 2001 at the University of Missouri and is a Certified Public Accountant. He has teaching experience at the graduate and undergraduate level of management education and has professional experience as an Audit Manager and Director of Litigation Services.

Ken joins the Atkinson School after three years as an Assistant Professor at Pepperdine University where he taught a variety of accounting oriented courses and supervised students performing original research. He describes his teaching style as fun, interactive and challenging. Ken states “accounting is really just a tool for measuring the progress of an organization … I try to teach students when to use accounting and when accounting will not provide the right information for the decisions at hand.”

ILAN VERTINSKY, Distinguished visiting Professor of International Business Studies
Ilan Vertinsky, Ph.D., has accepted the Atkinson School faculty position in international business. Ilan completed his Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley. He has taught at the University of British Columbia, Northwestern University, California State University at Fullerton and the University of California at Berkeley. His research interests include international business, international trade policy, strategic management, entrepreneurship, and sustainable resource management.

Ilan has been a consultant to government agencies, international agencies and corporations in the areas of trade, competitiveness, strategy, resource management, economic development and regulatory policies. He is also a member of several editorial boards of international journals and the principal investigator of several national research projects.

ROBERT WILTBANK, Atkinson School Assistant Professor of Strategy
Robert Wiltbank, Ph.D. candidate in Strategic Management at the University of Washington, has accepted the new Atkinson School faculty position in strategy. Rob is an excellent teacher and has taught courses in business policy, entrepreneurship, and business, government and society. He has an overall teaching rating of 4.7 of 5 at the University of Washington, and was named Ph.D. Teacher of the Year for 2001.

Rob has professional management experience with Tektronix, Inc. and PenMetrics Inc., and has provided consulting services to a variety of companies. He holds a CMA (Certified Managerial Accountant) professional certification which requires in depth knowledge in economics, finance, accounting and related work experience. His research interests include strategy selection under uncertainty and new venture development (including founding, financing and top management teams). He currently has papers under review by Organization Science and Journal of Applied Psychology.

ATKINSON FACULTY MEMBERS KEEP BUSY DURING SUMMER
Former faculty member FRED TRUITT writes, “All is well here in Seattle/Bainbridge Island, WA,” where Fred permanently resides. “Perfect summer.” Since his retirement in April, Fred has been keeping busy consulting on the use of Foreign Investment Negotiation Simulation (FINS) in Canadian bankers program at Dalhousie in Halifax, Nova Scotia, preparing for two drawing exhibits coming up in the fall and winter, and gardening as well.

Atkinson Professor of Human Resources LISBETH CLAUS was a guest speaker at two Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) conferences this summer. At the San Diego SHRM Conference, Lisbeth spoke on Competencies of the Global Professional in Human Resources. She also presented at the Annual SHRM Conference and Exposition in New Orleans in June. In July Lisbeth attended the National Foreign Trade Council in New York and in August she traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to speak at the 10th World Congress of Human Resource Management Conference. In addition to this, Lisbeth has also received press coverage for two research projects for which she was the principal investigator. The 2004 Worldwide Benchmark Study: Emerging Trends in Global Mobility, undertaken by Cendant Mobility in conjunction with the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, was picked up by the Associated Press and featured in 41 daily newspapers, including USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Finally, Lisbeth’s survey research on the HR profession was the cover story of a special issue of Melhor, the Brazilian HR journal published and distributed at the 10th World Congress of Human Resource Management.

Grace and Elmer Goudy Professor of Public Management and Policy Analysis FRED THOMPSON served as rapporteur for the 20th Anniversary Conference of the Structure and Organization of Government Research Committee of the International Political Science Association: Smart Practices Toward Innovation in Public Management, June 15-17, 2004, UBC Robson Square Campus, Vancouver, Canada. His 2003 monograph, coauthored with Michael Barzelay of the London School of Economics, Efficiency Counts: Developing the Capacity to Manage Costs at the Air Force Material Command, was reprinted in J. Breul and H. Gardner (eds.) Human Capital 2004 (Rowman & Littlefield).

Assistant Professor of Accounting and Information Science KEN SMITH has been appointed as the 2004-2005 Chairperson of Membership Committee for the American Accounting Association's Government and Non-Profit Section. Ken has been active with the American Accounting Association since 1994 and he is honored to be asked by his colleagues to take on this national leadership role. (See http://aaahq.org/about/directory2005/sectionregion2005/gnp.htm)

Professor Emeritus and founding dean of Atkinson Graduate School of Management, STEVE ARCHER adopted a two-month old Westie last May. The puppy’s name is Gertrude Archer or “Gertie” for short.

Current student ROGER FONG was married on July 31st, in Junction City, Oregon, to Christine Chung. She is working as a campus pastor at Willamette University. They met during their undergraduate studies at OSU.

Welcome to the incoming class of 2004!
The incoming class of 2004 possesses the highest academic credentials of any class to enter the Atkinson School. The class is also characterized by a diversity of backgrounds and experiences: ….

• Some have years of experience in business, government or not-for-profit organizations, and some of our youngest students have already started and run their own businesses.

• Many have received recognition for the quality of their work, service and leadership; some have received prestigious international fellowships; and some have been peace keepers within UN and NATO programs around the world

• Many have interests in leadership, community service, justice, and issues of sustainability and have generously volunteered their time for mentoring, caring for the elderly, teaching children to read, and supporting social and environmental issues.

• The class is also amazingly talented and well rounded – it includes featured artists, published authors, journalists, engineers, scientists, researchers, exceptional athletes, hikers, backpackers, runners, snow boarders, general outdoor and sports enthusiasts, public speakers and debaters, founders of organizations, and musicians.

• Many worked and went to school at the same time, or balanced the time demands of sports, leadership and family activities while in school. They have met challenges and have a record of success.

• There are 61 full-time students, 2 exchange students and 2 part-time students. The students are from 9 different states and from 9 different countries, fluent in 20 different languages and students that have worked, studied or traveled in more than 50 countries.
  

NEW LOCATION for Gary Klein's office, with more space and more privacy inside the Hatfield Library!
GARY KLEIN, Hatfield Library's Management & Economics Librarian will be holding office hours inside the KTC Computer Lab: Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 4:00--5:30pm. This is in addition to his regular weekly schedule inside the Hatfield Library. You can also make an appointment with Gary via email (gklein@willamette.edu), or by phoning 503-370-6743. Gary is available to anyone in the Atkinson community, including alumni, to help with reference questions.

5 NEW LIBRARY DATABASES of interest for the Atkinson community:

• AGELINE is produced by the American Association for Retired Persons, providing abstracts to relevant articles from 600+ journals & magazines in the fields of gerontology, health care, business, consumer affairs, psychology, sociology, economics and public policy.

• CORPORATE AFFILIATIONS from LexisNexis is a full-text online directory of over 170,000 public & private firms, focusing on the US, with selected coverage of major corporations from other countries.

• LEGAL COLLECTION from Ebsco contains full-text for more than 260 of the world's most respected, scholarly law journals.

• MILITARY & GOVERNMENT COLLECTION from Ebsco provides cover-to-cover full-text for nearly 400 journals and trade magazines covering the US federal government's procurement, spending, and use of technology.

• NETADVANTAGE from Standard & Poor's has been greatly improved over the summer, with more industry coverage, new links to identify corporate competitors, and more flexibility to move around this comprehensive full-text database.
  

There is less to fear from outside competition than from inside
inefficiency, discourtesy and bad service.

- Anonymous