Letter from the Editor

The Notable and Newsworthy: VIP Profiles, Issue 7, March 4, 2007


Dear Valued Readers,

Welcome to Issue 7 of our weekly e-newsletter. This week we bring you two exciting people from the corporate world. Meanwhile, both of us have had eventful weeks for far different reasons. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the reading!

I write to you this week from my home in Kirkwood, NY. On Friday morning, I had my four wisdom teeth extracted leaving me looking like Eddie Murphy in his film, The Nutty Professor. If you are unfamiliar with the movie, “pumpkin face” will do just fine. Pictures may be available upon request. My writings this week will be short and sweet because I am currently under the influence of many-a-medication. I am generally not a medication kind of guy, but I have been finding the Ibuprofen, steroids, and Penicillin quite useful. Unfortunately, my face does not seem to be effected yet. The procedure went very well though, so I hope to be back in action in a couple of days. Until then, your thoughts would be appreciated.

Before Friday, it was an exhilerating week because of the aforementioned first class of the Business Ownership Training Course. It should be a rewarding experience. Also, on Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting in Rochester with a select few of my fellow finance club members to meet our Student Managed Investment Fund Advisory board. (Welcome to the e-newsletter folks). The conversations were stimulating and the insights were appreciated. For those of you unfamiliar with this type of fund, it is an investment fund of real money which is managed by student groups. As a team leader, I manage a group of students which works together to make investment decisions. This is the fund’s first year at SUNY Geneseo and we have seen a great response from donors, students, and faculty. More information can be found here: http://www.geneseo.edu/~finance/.

This week features two amazing store managers from two prestigious companies in our beloved Geneseo, one publicly owned and one privately owned. Both John Smith, Store Manager of Wal-Mart, and Rita Gibney, Store Manager of Wegmans, bring phenomenal people skills, sound leadership abilities, and compassion for their employees. Each company has been very successful in its own respect because of people like these two folks. Many people may be loyal to one store or the other, but it is important to keep in mind that these two remarkable managers are successful, motivated, and great at what they do. Each ensures that their employees and customers leave happy on a daily basis!

John Smith:
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/2007/03/john-smith.html


Rita Gibney:
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/2007/03/rita-gibney.html


Notable and Newsworthy Blog
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/


Notable and Newsworthy Objectives

http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/2007/02/vip-profiles-issue-1-january-21-2007.html


Thank you for your support. Please keep reading and spreading the word.

Joe

Rita Gibney

Rita Gibney:
A Family Affair

By: Joseph W. Norman


For more from Bigger Impact co-founder, Joseph Norman, visit www.normanized.com. 
Enjoy the read about...Rita Gibney...below! Thanks for your readership!

Rita Gibney may come across as shy at first, interviews may make her a little nervous, but when it comes to managing her Wegmans store in Geneseo, New York, she is right at home. As a motivated woman with a passion for retail and a gift for working with people, she has had the opportunity to spread her wings as part of the Wegmans Corporation. Over her twenty-one year career with the company she has worked in fourteen different stores and has learned a tremendous amount about herself in the process. She has been to Vermont, California, New Jersey, Maryland, and many other places for leadership training. Reflecting on the company she states, “They send you on field trips and they give you time to learn.” What seems to be most impressive about Rita’s career with Wegmans is the influence it has had on her family; they all work there. After her husband got out of his family business in Perry, New York, he began working for Wegmans. In addition, their three children currently work for the company. No wonder Rita feels right at home.

It did not all start at Wegmans for Rita though. She had a good childhood living out in the country, more specifically Alden, New York. At first, she thought she wanted to be a correctional officer. This led her to earning an Associates Degree in Correctional Administration. In this capacity, she enjoyed working with the people, but she was “very money driven.” In turn, she ended up in retail working for Montgomery Ward. With a passion for hard work, she moved up the ranks at Montgomery Ward and moved with them from Utica, New York down to New York City. In fact, when she was only eighteen her office was in the Empire State Building. After spending some time in management at Montgomery Ward, she began part time work with a company Tak Enterprises. It was here that she got her first exposure to the Wegmans culture. Selling product to Wegmans and a number other retailers, she expresses her first impression of the former; she was “so impressed with Wegmans at the time. I know it is cliché, but everyone seemed so happy.”

Inside Geneseo's Wegmans

After receiving a degree in Business Management from Utica College and meeting her husband, she moved to Perry, New York where her husband’s family had a business. At this time she began working part time for Wegmans, while co-owning Gibney Monument Works in Perry. Deciding to pursue her Wegmans career full time, she moved up the ranks quickly, but not quick enough. It was at this point that her drive put her on the fast track. She said to her manager one day, “I need you to understand where I want to go with this,” he responded, “Okay, let’s put you on an accelerated program.” From this point on she has had the opportunity to spread her wings with Wegmans. When one is motivated, things have a tendency to fall into place. Her husband helped take care of their children and she put her career into overdrive.

Now, she has been managing the Geneseo store for eight years and has created a unique environment. She oversees twenty-one managers and over three hundred employees. When answering the question about her job duties, she quipped, “putting out fires all the time.” She is responsible for each manager, and each manager is accountable for a specific unit. “I shouldn’t have to help them run their business. I am here to bring the big perspective together.” According to her employees, she does that with ease. During a corporate leadership workshop, Rita was told to send out an e-mail to her employees asking them what her best qualities were. The most frequent response was her compassion for her employees and customers.

In fact, Lydia Curtis, who has worked for Wegmans in Geneseo for over thirteen years says of Rita, “She has consideration for her employees. When I hurt my back they went out of their way to get me this chair.” In addition, Lydia reflected on when her son came down from Louisiana to surprise her, “I go ‘Johnnie!!’. Rita came over and asked if I would like to go home. My son said ‘that’s a family oriented manager.’” This positive attitude and genuine consideration for her staff has created an enjoyable store to work for and shop at.

Ben, Lydia Curtis, Joe

The family oriented ideals come both from the Wegmans tradition of keeping stores locally run, and Rita’s own personal principles. In regards to the former, Rita is autonomous with what she does at the Geneseo store. She explains, “Anything you see change here is because I want it to change.” This type of freedom makes each of the currently seventy-two Wegmans stores unique. In fact, one of her personal mantras, for better or for worse she quips, has become, “If you don’t ask, they can’t say ‘no.’” Aside from her own personal ambitions, Bob Wegman, founder of the stores, had a big influence on Rita. They developed a strong relationship over the years because he would visit the Geneseo store six to seven times a year. Since his death a few years ago, she reflected that nothing about the company has changed because everything is so localized. Bob’s family oriented influence is the kind that lasts through the ages.

Easter Setup

Now, back to Rita’s other passion, her family. Every second she is not at the store, she spends with her husband and children. She reflects that her two passions are her work and her family. The latter, unfortunately, stresses her out a little bit more because one of her pet peeves is procrastination. “I don’t get stressed at work. I get stressed at home. I have a hard time separating these things.” She says, “I don’t like procrastinators.” Children, of course, are often not the best listeners and have an uncanny ability for procrastination. Those same children are the source of some of her fondest memories though. When her children were born, she states, “To look up at my husband face and see the pride. It was huge.”

Besides her family and her work, many little things make Rita who she is. She has one dog, a Boxer / German shepherd mix, and her favorite candy bar is Hershey’s with Almonds. She loves comedies, including many classics by Will Farrell, and the recent film “Man of the Year” with Robin Williams. Action films, such as the Bourne Identity, are a must as well because one of her primary needs is speed. She has jet skis, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, and she just bought her dream car, a Pontiac Solstice Convertible. In fact, she has a model of the latter on her desk. All of these hobbies give her a chance to be out in the open air, which she loves.

Check-out lines

When she is not fulfilling her more up-tempo desires, she enjoys relaxing in front of the television and reading business books. Some of her favorites are various titles by Ken Blanchard, Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson, How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life, by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, and the F.I.S.H Story. Most of these books can be found on the book shelf in her office. Inspired by some of these books, another personal mantra of hers is, “Good people working towards a common goal can accomplish anything.” She has truly modeled this in her store.

Sub shop inside Wegmans

A few people Rita would like to meet are Joseph Segel, founder of QVC, not because she shops from the channel, but rather because she wonders, “How in the heck they can sell 10,000 skillet knives?” Another person of interest is Donald Trump, because of his tenacity and business smarts. Her final pick is the historical local woman, Susan B. Anthony. Rita served on the board of the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, New York, and she finds the woman’s story awe-inspiring. One of the most difficult things Rita has found in business is overcoming being a woman. This has influenced her awe of Susan B. Anthony because “It is amazing to [her] that she was able to do what she did in that time period.”

When it comes to running her store in Geneseo, New York, Rita Gibney has the motivation, passion, and skills to do it well. Her love of people is best reflected by a principle she wishes everyone thought about a little bit more; “It would be nice if everyone treated others the way they want to be treated.” She said, “If the whole world looked at it that way we would not have some of the things we have going on in the world.” This mentality has given her a happy marriage, three loving children, and a fun, well run work place. She reflects, “I enjoy my job and family immensely,” and “I would do the same thing for the people of this store as I would my family.” It seems that for Rita Gibney, home and work have both become a family affair.

A motley crew: Joe, Rita, Ben

P.S. Fresh content at www.normanized.com. Check it out! <<<--- i="i">

Rita Gibney

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.

Store Manager, Geneseo

4276 Lakeville Road

Geneseo, NY 14454

E-mail: rita.gibney@wegmans.com

Letter from the Editor

The Notable and Newsworthy: VIP Profiles, Issue 6, February 25, 2007

Hello Friends,

We hope your week is going well. Currently, we are focused on our newsletter's growth by expanding away from Geneseo and featuring some prominent figures outside of the college town. Our new VIPs will be politicians, entrepreneurs, CEOs, CFOs, professors, and more. Many interesting stories of some of the areas most influential people are coming, so stay tuned!

We continue to encourage you to share the "Notable and Newsworthy" with friends, associates, and family who might be interested in our free newsletter. Please, spread the word and if they are impressed, have them write to us at viprofile@gmail.com, to subscribe.

My week consisted of tours, meetings, quizzes, Shakespeare, and of course, a few VIP interviews. High schools were off this week, so many prospective students were visiting campus. As a volunteer Tour Guide for the Geneseo Admissions Team, I had the opportunity to take a few large groups around and talk to them about the Geneseo experience. I enjoy meeting new people and I have had a good experience at Geneseo, so this is a good outlet for me to help future college students and give back to the university. The meetings ranged from the weekly meeting I hold for the Student Managed Investment Fund team I manage, to the bi-weekly meeting of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee which I have served on since my freshman year.

My book recommendation of the week is a step away from the business world and into the heart of American history and the transcendentalist writers of New England. In a previous issue, I reflected on my experience reading Ralph Waldo Emerson, but now I would like to feature Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Blithedale Romance. For the literature buffs out there, this is an interesting tale of humanity as the characters try to create a Utopian society. Hawthorne's take on the experience is very progressive when analyzed against its context in history (circa 1850). It is a captivating read with some interesting insight into many common human character traits and the actions of people in society.

Weston Kennison:
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/2007/02/wesley-kennison.html

Notable and Newsworthy Blog:
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com

Hope you enjoy this profile. Please continue to give us your support and feedback. Thank you.



Joseph W. Norman
Notable and Newsworthy
Geneseo English/Business '08
Notable: For those of you joining us for the first time this week. This is a link to our "Notable and Newsworthy Objectives:"
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/2007/02/vip-profiles-issue-1-january-21-2007.html

Opt-Out: If for any reason you would like to discontinue receiving our e-newsletter, please e-mail us at viprofile@gmail.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject line and/or in the message. Your request will be effective immediately.

Notable: If at any time you change your mind it is just as simple to re-subscribe by contacting us at the aforementioned address. Questions, comments, and reactions are welcome at any time.

Weston Kennison

Weston Kennison:

A Life of Endless Possibilities

By: Joseph W. Norman

“It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you tell the story after the game.” It seems necessary to begin the story of Wes Kennison with his “theory of life,” as presented to him on a t-shirt from a former classmate at York Central School. When speaking with Kennison the idea of a story being created and narrated constantly is easy to consider because of the friendly tone and smooth diction he speaks with. One can feel a connection to a mind that is constantly focusing on opening itself up to the possibilities the world has to offer. Also, a unique feeling arises that everything this man does is calculated and true to what he believes in. Philosophies have been formulated over time through many experiences and academic efforts. These ideals are expressed frequently and candidly with the most sincere conviction but often with the most playful attitude.

He describes where he is today as a combination of two different universes; his American life and his Italian life. Unfortunately, he states, “When you live in two places you love, you always miss someplace.” His love affair with Italy began on a study abroad trip he took while studying at SUNY Geneseo, a place where he now teaches. Currently, he educates students primarily in the Humanities as an adjunct English Professor. His passion for the “greatest books ever written,” taught through the Humanities courses at Geneseo, ultimately led him into politics, one of his other areas of interest. He gets to practice the knowledge of his classroom in his role as Town Supervisor of Geneseo. These two key tasks keep him plenty busy and make him an influential figure. In addition, besides his governmental role, he also co-owns an educational company, McClure Productions, with his brother Glen. He declares, “My parents are both workaholics and I inherited that.” In fact, he goes onto describe his philosophy of work, “To me, work has its own value. Work is good in and of itself; it doesn’t need to be compensated and it doesn’t need to lead to something.” He reflects, “It is good to work hard and I like to work hard.”

What seems to be the most curious thing about Wes Kennison is his aforementioned candid expression of his principles. In a self-described, “counter cultural” approach to life, Wes answered the question of where he sees himself in five to ten years with, “I don’t.” In a further look into the answer, he reflected on his thoughts about goal setting. “I know that with the young people we always talk about set your goals, you can do anything, work towards your goals, and achieve them. I think there is a value in that but I think it is extraordinarily overrated.” This is by far, very different from much of the common thought in the society we live in, but this is what makes Wes Kennison who he is. Like all his ideals, he has a further explanation, “When I look at the things in my life that I value the most, not a single one of them I planned for, most of them I didn’t even work for.” He went on further, “They were things that happened to me and I was not too busy to notice them at the time, and not to busy to embrace them.” The power of a progressive attitude such as this, seems uncanny and in its purest form, creative.

This leads to another thought of Kennison’s on the subject of the educational systems and creativity. He states, “We never talk about how you actually get the education done: part of the problem with schools is that they are based upon a factory which mass produces education.” In his mind the students seem to have become production items which come out at the end sent off by somebody labeled as functioning or defective. “The problem with that is nobody is making money with factories anymore and that is how we are still educating people.” At his brother’s and his company, McClure Productions, they focus on bringing creativity back into the picture. Their goal is to bring the arts in to teach other disciplines, such as math or science. “One of the things we say in our company is the new model for education should be the café.” In other words, he says, “It should be a place of hospitality which fosters creativity.” His brother and he believe creativity is something you can teach. “It comes from the joyous intellectual activity of bringing ideas and things together that you do not normally think of coming together.” In their minds, the use of the arts is a way of integrating that thinking. Wes is proud of the work his company does and it has made a dramatic impact on the educational environment for its fourteen years of existence.

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, it is important to ask what inspired Wes Kennison, an individual who has seemingly taken on the role of “man-thinking?” Kennison would say it was his study abroad experience, sophomore year of college at SUNY Geneseo. He studied at the University of Nottingham in England for the entire year, but it was not England which ultimately changed him. Instead, it was the $350, two month hitchhike across the continent of Europe that concluded his time over seas. His travels led him through Belgium, Germany, Italy, Greece, Holland, and a few more, but the experience taught him two things: his philosophy on relationships and his love of Italy. The first came from a complete disconnect from everybody in his life, the result was this idea: “Each one of us is a unique hub to a network of relationships. If you take those relationships away from each one of us there is not a whole lot left.” He was able to appreciate and embrace the value of that thought after his experience. The latter came from a distinct feeling he had when he traveled through Italy. Knowing only eleven words of the native language, he felt more at home there than in any other place he had ever experienced. This has been a love affair that has carried on far past the psychologically exhausting, self proclaimed “personal experiment,” of hitchhiking across Europe.

In terms of Wes Kennison’s career, he describes it like so: “I could do anything at all for a living now because I have already had the best job on the planet, which is taking undergraduates to Italy.” His work teaching a study abroad program in Italy in the summers is what has given him this opportunity. In fact, the college sent Kennison to Italy for two years to teach. He reflects, “The study abroad program for me was a life-changing experience and when you go there with undergraduates, you get to relive it.” One of his favorite moments of every trip is when he takes the students from the bus stop down into the Central Plaza in Sienna, arguably one of the most beautiful places on earth. He likes to run down into the plaza and look back at the student’s faces, while they take the site in for the first time. His relationship with Italy has not been limited by the educational experiences; instead, the Italian relationships he developed helped him bring the Barilla pasta plant into Livingston County. The main effort of his was restructuring the meetings to incorporate Italian sensibilities. In fact, the Italian way to do business is far different from the American way. The word “networking” does not have a formal word in Italy because it is simply inherent in everything they do. Relationships are of the utmost importance and all business is conducted around this idea.

In terms of juggling his multiple professions, Kennison reflects on his usual routine of teaching in the morning and working in the Town’s office afterwards. “Teaching is like oxygen to me. If I go to long without doing it, I go a little crazy.” He says, “Doing the teaching job and the political job together is the right combination.” In further describing the unique duo of roles he said, “I get to start out the day with really bright people, reading the greatest books ever written about what I do; then I get to come up here in the afternoon and see if anything that I said in the classroom is actually true, by attempting to apply some of those principles.” This approach has made Kennison a powerful leader in the community because of the freshness he brings to the political arena. It is a calculated, academic approach, with a vigor and creativity which are unprecedented.

Moving away from the professional side, there are many little things about Wes which help round out his deep philosophies and hard working life style. His favorite candy bar is the infamous Payday, not because of its monetary significance, but because he is mortally allergic to chocolate and Reese’s white peanut butter cups merely “come and go in comparison.” His favorite movie is Spinal Tap because he grew up with a brother in a rock band. One of his absolute favorite things to do is a “geeky hobby” of listening to smart people talk. He is fortunate to have colleagues at Geneseo which help him fulfill this unique desire. When they are unavailable, he enjoys watching C-Span because it is a place where “smart people talk and nobody interrupts them.” Also, and most importantly, he loves spending time with his nieces and nephew and his two grandchildren, who are “enormously fun people.”

Three people he would like to meet are Francis of Assisi, Bobby Kennedy, and Susan B. Anthony. The second is because of his uncanny speaking abilities and the latter for her local influence and ability to facilitate national change. One of his pet peeves is “stupid, arrogant people.” This may sound a little harsh, but he finds people like this very frustrating, especially in the political arena. As may be expected, he has a thought process behind this frustration: “Everything is more complicated then we think it is. With every issue before us the humility comes in acknowledging its complexity, especially in the political game.”

To get even further into the life of Wes Kennison, he claims to be a “strange sleeper” and even goes onto declaring that he has “most irregular sleeping patterns on the planet.” There is usually a period in the middle of the night from about one o’clock to about four when he does work. It is usually then that he grades papers because that takes “an enormous amount of concentration.” Afterwards, he will “cat nap” between 4:30 and 6 AM before waking to start the next day.

He has a really bad habit of laughing when he should not because he finds people funny. “When they don’t find themselves funny it can come across as rude,” he claims. There is a reason to his action, however. In fact, he says, “If God wanted to get something done in the world; he wouldn’t have made us to do it. I think we are here to be entertaining.” Another character trait of Kennison’s which is both an advantage and a disadvantage is his uncanny ability to read a room. He says, “If I am in a room full of people, I see every single person, and every single conversation at the same time. I can feel the emotions in a room; I can’t always hear what they are saying, but I know the kind of conversations that they are having.” When in a one on one conversation this can be distracting, but it is a powerful tool for his work in politics.

The number one book to Kennison is Dante’s, The Divine Comedy. It goes above and beyond all others to him. Dante has helped him through his political career as well with the fundamental sin of politics from Canto ten; “do not mistake your world for the world.” Moving on, ironically, one of his favorite quotes is from a title he does not enjoy quite as much, William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet. In Act 1, Scene 5, Hamlet states, “And therefore as a stranger give it welcome, there are more things in heaven and earth Horatio then are dreamt of in your philosophy.” In other words, life is all about getting outside of our heads. Whatever we think we know, there is more out there. Kennison states, “We have to welcome the mystery and the unknown like a stranger.” This is a powerful driver to the Kennison way of life.

The story of the many lives of Wes Kennison, can be wrapped up with the piece of knowledge that he learned long ago from current SUNY Geneseo and former York High School cross country coach, Michael Woods. First, he quipped with his usual entertaining tone, “I’m lucky to be alive.” Then he got down to the fundamental piece of information he learned from Woodsie; “You do not take the conventional wisdom of what you can and cannot do seriously.” If Kennison had taken this “wisdom” seriously throughout his life up to this point, he would have left far too many of the gifts life has given him behind. Instead, he remains open and aware to all possibilities because he knows that through the relationships he forges and the endeavors he takes on, a whole world of potential is just waiting around the corner.

Weston Kennison

Town Supervisor, Geneseo

119 Main Street
Geneseo, N.Y. 14454
Phone: 585-243-0722

Professor of English, SUNY Geneseo

Interests: Medieval Studies, Humanities

E-mail: kennison@geneseo.edu

Brief Academic Bio:

http://english.geneseo.edu/?pg=facpages/kennison.html

Town of Geneseo Board Bio:

http://www.geneseony.org/town%20-%20board/Wes.html

Letter from the Editor

The Notable and Newsworthy: VIP Profiles, Issue 5, February 18, 2007 

Happy Sunday Readers,


Greetings from frigid Geneseo. We hope all are well and have been able to dig themselves out of the massive amount of snow the country has seen this week.

Thank you to those alumni who gave us a positive response and want to continue with our newsletter; we know it will be worth it for you. Also, we would like to welcome the friends of the Jones School of Business to our newsletter.    

This week we are excited to feature a profile created by one of our new staff writers, Business Administration major, Martin Terwilliger. He has brought a nice set of fresh ideas to our newsletter.

This was an exciting week for me because I had the opportunity to spend the better part of Tuesday with Chico’s FAS Inc. Chief Financial Officer, Charlie Kleman. (Welcome to the e-newsletter Charlie). He flew up from Florida into the wintry wonderland of Western New York to speak at SUNY Geneseo about what he does. A few of the other finance club members and I had the opportunity to sit down with him in the morning and learn about the financial modeling he uses in his occupation. Later, he spoke for the campus and at night was the keynote speaker for the Financial Executives International Organization meeting in Rochester (www.fei.org). I had the opportunity to attend that as well and was able to meet some of Charlie’s old colleagues and other prominent financial executives in the area. (Welcome friends of the FEI). It was an exciting day.   
We have decided to try out a new feature this week called “Reader Contribution.” In order to see true success and happiness one must be audacious. Think about the courage that you show in your daily life or you have seen somebody model in there’s. Email us back at VIProfile@gmail.com with “Courage” in the subject line with your definition of courage or how you have shown it or seen it modeled. We will post some of these on next week’s blog. If you would just like to share your story with us and not have it posted, please indicate that in your e-mail and we will respect that request.  

Below are links to the profiles of Patti Smith, a well connected Realtor who credits her success to “getting involved,” Mary Ellen Zuckerman, Dean of the John Wiley Jones School of Business, and Kerry McKeever, an Associate Dean of the College and Transfer Advisement Coordinator. 

Patti Smith:
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/2007/02/patti-smith.html


Mary Ellen Zuckerman:
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/2007/02/mary-ellen-zuckerman.html


Kerry McKeever:
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com/2007/02/kerry-mckeever.html


Notable and Newsworthy Blog:
http://notableandnewsworthy.blogspot.com


Thank You and Happy Trails,


Joseph W. Norman
Notable and Newsworthy
SUNY Geneseo '08

Notable: For those of you joining us for the first time this week. This is a link to our “Notable and Newsworthy Objectives”

Opt-Out: If for any reason you would like to discontinue receiving our e-newsletter, please e-mail us at viprofile@gmail.com with “unsubscribe” in the subject line and/or in the message. Your request will be effective immediately.

Notable: If at any time you change your mind it is just as simple to re-subscribe by contacting us at the aforementioned address. Questions, comments, and reactions are welcome at any time.

Mary Ellen Zuckerman

Mary Ellen Zuckerman:

A Dynamic Woman and Facilitator of Change

By: Joseph W. Norman

Mary Ellen Zuckerman, Dean of the John Wiley Jones School of Business at the State University of New York at Geneseo, is a woman of incredible character. She is an interdisciplinary educator and administrator who has used her motivation and work ethic to achieve much success for herself and the people and programs she is involved with. Team player is one of the best ways to describe Zuckerman as she has created that type of community in the School of Business she manages. In fact, she states “Teamwork is very powerful in terms of retaining people and getting things done. It gives you a good feeling of satisfaction and it allows you to see the best side of people.” This positive attitude and dedication to the greater good helped Mary Ellen take the Geneseo School of Business through AACSB accreditation - three years of toiling through extensive paperwork, interviews, and organizational soul-searching. These attributes have also helped her create a relationship with the Hacettepe University in Turkey, open the Pamela York Klainer Center for Women in Business, and develop and produce many aspiring young business people. Her academic success, represented by her book on the history of women’s magazines, her Ph. D. in American History, and her M.B.A. in Finance, both degrees from the highly esteemed Columbia University, has created a dynamic and powerful woman who has the ability to facilitate great change.

It all started for Mary Ellen as a child when she picked up her first biography. She was always interested in the people of history and to this day is a self-described, “inveterate reader.” She describes her favorite genre of books, biographies and memoirs, as an opportunity to “take you out of yourself,” and because of this she finds the reading experience “very inspirational.” To get more specific, she prefers biographies of women because she can relate to them better. In fact, women in history have been the most important focus for Mary Ellen in her career as an academic and as a community organizer. Her dissertation was written about a gap she found in female journalism during the Progressive Era of American History. This led her into research of the magazine industry, the history of marketing research and advertising industries, and gender and media. Her research sparked a passion for business, so she pursued an M.B.A to tie her academic and business desires together. After a brief tenure as a Foreign Service Officer at the State Department, posted initially to the United Nations, she decided to step back into academia and pursue her doctorate. She successfully defended her dissertation after nearly a decade of research which she was forced to do part-time while she taught management courses at SUNY Geneseo. Consistently she has showed her ability to get the job done and get it done well.

As Dean of the School of Business she has accomplished a great deal and many of those accomplishments have been some of her fondest memories. One of the most prolific of achievements is the AACSB (Association to Advance College Schools of Business) accreditation. To begin the history of her efforts at Geneseo, as a professor in the school of business, she had the opportunity to serve on countless committees from the beginning of her tenure in 1985. Some of these include; committees on scholarship, appointments, curriculum, affirmative action, women, academic affairs, working papers, personnel, faculty development, college senate research, and numerous others. Many of these extra-curricular activities she led at some point, often as the Chairperson. Other notable areas include her role as the Treasurer of the Geneseo College Senate in the 1987-88 school year and her advisory role of the Geneseo Student Marketing Club in 1999.

At this point, in 1999, she took the opportunity to take on what ended up being one of her most profound achievements at Geneseo, the illustrious business school national accreditation. This is a challenging project to say the least, and when she took the reigns in 1999 it was not going well. In just three short years (or very long ones, depending on who you ask), she was able to turn the ship around and get the John Wiley Jones School of Business, AACSB accreditation. She describes it simply, “It was very exciting because we all worked very hard.” While describing the culmination of the process she told a story about when the AACSB representatives were at Geneseo interviewing faculty, staff, and students. “The team came in on a Wednesday and spent two days in the department interviewing people.” She states, “It was very difficult for me because the team did not want to talk to me. They wanted to find out if everything I said in my report was true.” Therefore, she reflected on her experience; “I am sitting in my office biting my nails wondering what is going on.” Fortunately, on Thursday night they told her the decision was going to be favorable before the Friday morning meeting with the campus administration. She quips, “I could at least get a good night of sleep.”

The scope of Mary Ellen’s influence have not just been on the Geneseo campus community, but also on a regional level due to her involvement in many other organizations. One of note is the MAACBA, Mid-Atlantic Association of Colleges of Business Administration. It is a group of business college Deans whose executive board she has been on for about five years. Just recently, she finished her term as president. In Rochester, she is involved with a community service project at the Temple Sinai sheltering the homeless and helping them find jobs. She likes it because it is a volunteer opportunity she can bring her two sons, fourteen and sixteen, along to. Her other affiliations are with the Rochester Women’s Network, American Marketing Association, Association of Marketing Educators, Business History Society, Economic and Business Historical Society, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Research Society for American Periodicals, and the Berkshire Conference on Women’s History. The extent of Mary Ellen’s involvement is vast and powerful. She speaks at countless conferences and professional events. In fact, just recently she gave a speech at the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, New York. Her commitment to her beliefs is not just one of published words but also community action.

Another part of Zuckerman’s life which is of utmost importance to her is her family. As a happily married mother of two, her family life may seem moderately stress free, especially with all of her professional engagements. Those two children are of another class of civilization however; they are teenagers. This has made her recent favorite quote, “It was a good learning experience.” She laughs about her frequent use of the line when raising her children, “You lost the tennis match, well it was a great learning experience; you fell out of the tree, it was a great learning experience.” Also, her husband and she have the pleasure of being in the Brighton Central School District, which does not have a sports bus. Therefore, many hours are spent driving the children around to the various extra-curricular activities they are involved in, of which there are many. Despite the usual teenage tribulations, some of her favorite gifts have been the motherly ones she has received from her children; one of which is a picture drawn by one of her sons in preschool which she described as “a picture that really captured who he was.”

Her husband is incredible at throwing surprise parties for her, of which he did after her dissertation defense and after she had the signing of her first published book, A History of Popular Women's Magazines in the United States, 1792-1995. He is an academic as well at the University of Rochester as the Chair of the Psychology: Clinical and Social department. Their relationship has been valuable to Mary Ellen because it has given her an opportunity to talk about her ideas for the Jones School of Business with another academic not biased to her particular organization. This was especially helpful in her transition to the administrative side of academia.

Now, it is important to the get into the little things that round out whom Mary Ellen Zuckerman really is. After claiming not to be an adventurous eater, she declared her favorite food coffee yogurt while her favorite candy bar is Snickers. Her modes of relaxation are reading, yoga, walking and watching movies. Her current readings include a few biographies, Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia by Janet Wallach and Susan B. Anthony’s biography. She re-read the latter in preparation for her recent speech at the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester. Other favorite book genres include: women’s issues, mysteries, history, and best-selling fiction. Some of her favorite movies include Desperately Seeking Susan, A Very Long Engagement (in French), and The Illusionist.

A quote that drove her through much of her career in academia is by May Sarton: "I understand that a talent is something given, that it opens like a flower, but without exceptional energy, discipline and persistence will never bear fruit." Mary Ellen said this inspired her on a daily basis when she was researching vigorously throughout her graduate and doctorate work. As a true academic, one of her frustrations is incompetence and lack of responsibility. She also has an incredible memory, which has served her well throughout her role as an educator, mother, and administrator.

A few people that Mary Ellen would love to meet are all powerful women from different times in history. The first of the three is Hillary Clinton, who actually came to Geneseo to speak and she got to shake her hand, but she would enjoy spending more time chatting with her. Another is Queen Elizabeth I, a powerful woman who managed her way through some tricky situations, came into her own and was very successful, and the last is Eleanor Roosevelt, because of her ability to evolve and grow as a person and a leader.

Dean Zuckerman’s model of leadership is as follows; a leader has to have a vision and they have to be able to motivate people to work together towards that vision. “You are wise as a leader to listen to the people around you.” She says, “The biggest difference from being an academic to the head of a unit is you do not have to solve the problem yourself while as an academic you work alone.” This was a wonderful revelation for her as she adapted to her position. It is important not to get too far ahead of the people you are working with, but not to get stuck in the “nitty gritty of the day to day.” She insists that “you have a plan to move ahead at all times.” She continued, “The little things somebody else can do, it is your job to say “Where are we going?” and “How are we getting there?” These are the attributes she models everyday in her own pursuits.

Life long learning and resilience are her two messages for her students and our readers. “You are going to be in different jobs and circumstances that change all the time. Things change and you need to be able to meet that challenge. Be flexible.” It is fitting to finish Mary Ellen’s story with those few pieces of advice because they are emblematic of who she is. Her efforts to improve herself and the people around her have been constantly modeled by her actions and resilience.

Mary Ellen Zuckerman, Ph.D., MBA

SUNY Geneseo

Dean, John Wiley Jones School of Business

South Hall 113

Phone: 585-245-5367

E-mail: waller@geneseo.edu

Bio: Mary Ellen Zuckerman

Book Information: A History of Popular Women's Magazines in the United States, 1792-1995

Jones School of Business: Website

Live interview on Business Week Online: http://feedroom.businessweek.com/index.jsp?fr_story=8d8f94985986d1734647a0d9f3db8c1eb1fbf21c&rf=fr_std

Letter from the Editor

Joseph W. Norman

The Notable and Newsworthy: VIP Profiles, Issue 4, February 11, 2007

Dear Readers,

First, we would like to issue a statement to the Geneseo Alumni regarding our e-newsletter. Before next Sunday, alumni contacts will be removed from the list if they do not respond to viprofile@gmail.com saying they would like to continue to receive our work. We dedicate many hours per week to provide this e-newsletter for your benefit; therefore, we would like to give you the opportunity to opt-in to our service officially. Otherwise, we will assume you do not want to receive our stories of success. Thank you for bearing with us through the first few weeks of our “VIP Profiles.” We look forward to hearing from many of you this week. 

This week was a memorable one for me as I celebrated my twenty-first birthday on Wednesday, February 7th. It was a week filled with thoughtful wishes, meaningful gifts, and great company. I am thankful to those that went out of their way for me this past week. In between spending time with guests, I managed to do some reading from my book of the week, Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. This is a continuation from his best selling book from 1993, Emotional Intelligence. The topic is a quintessential skill set for the work place or any other public arena presented with a wealth of information through research and stories. In terms of the “VIP Profiles,” we had a few important meetings and pieces of feedback about our e-newsletter. One new feature in this letter is the use of our “Notable and Newsworthy” blog to publish our profiles. This creates less of a burden on your inbox and gives you access to our other newsletters and profiles. We also researched some of the laws that govern what we are doing, including the “CAN SPAM Act” of 2003. This was an enlightening experience because although many of the issues discussed in the Act do not pertain to our free, value first service, they are good to know. Enjoy the new features and please keep the feedback coming. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Joseph W. Norman
Notable and Newsworthy
CFO / Editor in Chief

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