In The News
SOM receives fellowship for the MBA Entrepreneurship Certificate program from Bright Horizons Family Solutions
The SOM is delighted to recognize Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BHFS) for naming and sponsoring a fellowship for the SOM's MBA Entrepreneurship Certificate program. BHFS will fund a $10,000 fellowship/scholarship to support a practicum for a student or alumna in the SOM MBA Entrepreneurship Certificate program. This opportunity evolves from the partnership the SOM has been building with Bright Horizons through the work of SOM Instructor Fiona Wilson '97, and also reflects the successful completion of Nancy Vineberg ('06)'s practicum with BHFS last year. Mary Ann Tocio '92 is the President and COO of BHFS.
Simmons College Inaugurates its Seventh President
More than 1,000 guests gathered in Boston Saturday, March 31, 2007 to witness and celebrate the inauguration of Susan C. Scrimshaw, Ph.D., as the seventh president of the century-old Simmons College. Scrimshaw’s speech drew on the history of Simmons to chart our future directions, “Our future lies in our past. The roots of our past must continue to feed the fruit of our future.” She pledged to: retain the College’s focus on women’s leadership and self-reliance; foster a university culture that values the multiculturalism of our students, faculty and staff as integral to academic excellence; strengthen our global education and action; advance our interdisciplinary work and cross school collaboration; sustain our deep commitment to community service; and continue to strengthen academic excellence at the intersection of theory and practice. SOM Professor Susan Sampson delivered the inaugural greeting from the College’s faculty, and SOM MBA student Stephanie Creary '07, gave an excellent speech as a greeting from the graduate students. Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands, SOM alumnae, faculty and staff attended the festivities.
Visiting Professor and Entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan launches new book
The March 13, 2007 issue of BusinessWeek featured the article “Men Dominate, Women Orchestrate" focusing on SOM Visiting Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship Margaret Heffernan's new book How She Does It: Redefining power and the nature of success for the 21st century, which explains how women entrepreneurs are altering the course, and the culture, of business today.
Walt Palvo Speaks at SOM on Business Ethics and Organizational Accountability
On March 13, 2007 SOM Professor Bruce Warren and Associate Professor Sylvia Maxfield hosted Walt Palvo, a convicted white-collar felon, who spoke to three undergraduate classes and an MBA class on business ethics and individual and organizational accountability. Palvo’s talk is part of the SOM’s focus on Principled Leadership.
The SOM continues to receive extensive media coverage on the Simmons School of Management/Hewlett-Packard survey of 400 professional women taken at last year’s 2006 Simmons Leadership Conference. The survey challenges the idea that women are opting out of work to stay at home with their families. Rather, many professional women are negotiating flexible arrangements such as shortened hours and restricted travel. The survey was reported on in the Boston Globe, Fox News, NECN, and BizEd. Click here for a full list of media stories.
Click here to read "Optioning In versus “Opting Out”: Women Using Flexible Work Arrangements for Career Success, CGO Insights # 25 from the Simmons Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO), authored by Mary Shapiro, Cynthia Ingols and Stacy Blake-Beard, on flexible work arrangements for women.
Deborah Kolb quoted in article on Elle/MSNBC.com Survey
Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Professor for Women and Leadership Deborah Kolb is quoted in a March 6, 2007 article "Men rule — at least in workplace attitudes: Even women seem skeptical of female bosses in Elle/MSNBC.com survey" By Eve Tahmincioglu. Kolb says, “In our society, leadership has been coded as masculine. To be a leader you have to be decisive and take charge. That fits fine for men, but when women do it they get labeled.” The article continues to say “Kolb doesn’t think people’s negative attitudes about women have anything to do with their abilities. She points to many surveys that show women are on par with men when it comes to leadership attributes. Unfortunately, she adds, in most surveys, including ours, women are not seen as having the same leadership potential as men.”
Kolb was also quoted in the March 6, 2007 article “Corporate America May Still Be a Boys Club” by Christine Moers in AssociatedContent.com.
SOM Instructor Fiona Wilson '97, spoke at the Social Innovation Forum at Bain Capital in Boston. Wilson discussed the challenges of making a change in the issue of girls’ achievement at the topic-themed breakfast on March 7, 2007. The event also included members of Strong Women, Strong Girls, a Boston-based non-profit organization that offers an innovative after-school model approach for helping at-risk girls in grades three through five.
Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands gave the keynote lecture, entitled, Gender Dynamics in the Workplace: Implications for Women and Leadership, as part of the Strategic Leadership for Women in Fashion Conference in New York City on March 15, 2007. The Conference was organized by the Fashion Institute of Technology, part of the State University of NY. Attendees included women managers and executives from a wide range of retail and apparel businesses, including Calvin Klein, JC Penny, New York & Company, Tommy Hilfiger, and Timberland.
Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands presented on “Principled Leaders: The Women to Lead Change” at the Maramount School in NYC on March 6, 2007. There were 250 attendees which included high school girls, faculty and school administrators. Merrill-Sands emphasized two key points from this event: 1.You can have more impact on addressing issues of social justice by taking on more organizational leadership roles. 2. You can make a positive social change a platform of business.
Deborah Kolb, Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Professor for Women and Leadership, will speak at the Third Annual Iowa Women's Leadership Summit . Kolb's talk on "Everyday Negotiation: Creating the Conditions for Leadership Success" takes place on Friday, April 27, 2007. This event is open to students, faculty and staff from educational institutions and those interested in leadership roles in politics, business, non-profit and community organizations.
The SOM Center for Gender in Organizations' Maureen Scully and Gina LaRoche provided the newly created program of Bystander Awareness Training to over 100 participants at the Five-College Consortium Diversity Day, held at Amherst College in Northampton, MA on January 18, 2007. Scully and LaRoche also gave the morning keynote address at the conference which was designed to heighten the skills and awareness of diversity issues and provide training to people in all areas of work at the five colleges.
Entrepreneur Magazine names SOM's entrepreneur program best in New England
SOM’s Entrepreneurship Program has been ranked in the top 25 best programs in the nation - and ranked number one in New England - by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review, which surveyed more than 700 schools to arrive at their top choices.
The Simmons entrepreneurship program ranked 18th out of the top 25 programs nationally in the graduate program category. The ranking appears in the October issue of Entrepreneur. Earlier this year SOM’s entrepreneurship program was named one of the 10 most innovative in the country by Fortune Small Business magazine.
U.S. News & World Report & Princeton Review rank Simmons as a top college in the country
Simmons College has been named a “Best College” in the 2007 U.S. News & World Report rankings of “America’s Top Colleges.” Simmons was also named in the 2007 Princeton Review “Best 361 Colleges.”
Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) unanimously approves Simmons College's Plan for new School of Management and academic building with underground garage and green quad.
The plans by Cannon Design include an environmentally 'green' building and 715 car garage. Simmons's excellent reputation in the community was a large factor in this unanimous approval by the BRA. Not a single person spoke in opposition to the proposal, which is most unusual. Several spoke in favor of it, citing Simmons's extraordinary involvement with community and neighborhood organizations. Click to view the latest design of the building from the east, and the south.
SOM Alumnae & Students in the news:
Mary Finlay '90, Deputy Chief Information Officer of Partners Healthcare in Wellesley, MA., was recently named Chairwoman of the Mass Technology Leadership Council. Finlay is the first CIO executive to serve in this capacity at the organization, and will oversee the Council’s 43-member Board of Trustees, which sets the overall direction and provides oversight of the finances and management of the organization’s 500 members. Click here to read more.
Juliette C. Mayers '01 was recently named Executive Director of Multicultural Marketing at BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA). In this new role Mayers will be working both internally and externally to develop a B-to-B and B-to-C strategy for BCBSMA.
Katie Morey '85, Vice President, Human Resources and Organization Development, OceanSpeacy Crandberries, was recently recognized as a "Woman of Influence in the Northeast (WINE)" as part of the Griffin Report's 2007 listing. Morey was included among 22 women trendsetters named in the Griffin Report who play a significant role in their company through leadership, skill, and dedication. Morey has been at Ocean Spray for 14 years.
Kunmi Oluleye ('95's company Sheba Foods was featured on FOX 5 TV in Atlanta, GA, as part of its "African Dinner and a Movie" series. The upcoming April event combines cuisine from Sheba Foods along with a screening of the film "Yesterday," which chronicles the HIV crisis in South Africa. African Dinner and a Movie is designed as an educational tool to help dispel misperceptions and/or stereotypes with the discussions that follow each screening.
Mandy Osborne '07, SOMAA Student Representative, was profiled in ithe article "Her time at SImmons was a journey of self-discovery" in the March 19, 2007 issue of the Boston Business Journal. Osborne credits the SOM with helping her focus on a career in strategic branding and marketing.
SOM Alumnae: Have Career News to Share? Email somalum@simmons.edu to be included in Alumnae in the News.
Click here for a full listing of SOM News items.
Posted on March 9, 2007 3:06 PM
