Keystone breakfast speaker series welcomes executive director, Kalamazoo Arts Council

Neil Bremer, executive director of the Kalamazoo Arts Council, will speak at the Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series on Friday, Jan. 28.

Bremer’s talk, "Enough Already" begins at 8 a.m. in the Dean’s Conference Room in Schneider Hall, at the Haworth College of Business. A continental breakfast begins the event at 7:30 a.m. It is free and open to the public.

Reservations are required and can be made by calling (269) 387-6059. Parking is available in the Fetzer Center parking lot adjacent to Schneider Hall.

A Michigan native, Bremer has almost thirty years of nonprofit and for-profit arts experience. Most recently, he was executive director of Elmhurst Art Museum located in Elmhurst, Ill. Over the last ten years, he led the growth of the museum from a small local art center to being critically acclaimed by ArtNet critic, Victor Cassidy as, “one of the best places to see contemporary art in the Chicago area.” While at Elmhurst, Bremer was a visiting professor at Northern Illinois University, who taught Nonprofit Administration.

Bremer has been a museum and nonprofit management consultant since 1990. He is nationally known as an expert in helping museums improve their ability to make connections with their audiences. His experience in the arts goes beyond the visual arts with his participation in multiple Kalamazoo productions, including performances with the WMU Department of Theatre and the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre.

A theatre major, Bremer received his undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University in 1978 with concentrations in performance and directing, and he has a minor in dance. He completed graduate work at The Art Institute of Chicago’s Master of Arts program in Arts Administration.

Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series

The Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series is underwritten through the generosity of Keystone Community Bank. The series provides an opportunity for members of the local community to hear top business leaders, WMU faculty, alumni and friends of the Haworth College of Business discuss current business issues and corporate strategies as well as key information regarding the continuing progress of the college.

ISM student presents at ISM/APICS meeting

Matthew Olson, integrated supply management major and senior in the Lee Honors College, presented “A Salute to Our Veterans: What the Military and Business Taught Each Other,” at a joint professional development meeting of the Institute of Supply Management and The Association for Operations Management (APICS) organizations in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Olson shared his experiences in military history and logistics, along with information from his Honor's College theses, "Army Supply Chain Management: Trends and Parallels With Industry." He presented in conjunction with Ken Jones, Ivy Tech Community College – Central Indiana, CPSM, C.P.M., and member of the Integrated Supply Management program’s executive council. The audience included business professionals, students and faculty of nearby universities, members of the Marine Corps and even a WMU alumnus.

Olson highlighted his recent experiences with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC), and how the Army supply chain is rapidly responding to changes in the military environment. As part of the presentation, he drew parallels to business in the areas of product development, procurement and logistics.

“Matt has had unique learning experiences during his two internships with the US Army TACOM LCMC during two summer internships,” says Dr. Bret Wagner, associate professor of management and director of the integrated supply management program.

“Combined with his Honor's College research project, this experience provided him a valuable perspective on supply management in the military. The event offered him an opportunity to share this knowledge and experience with the business community," says Wagner.

“Matthew represented WMU extremely well,” says Jones, “and his presentation received high marks from attendees. One attendee commented, ‘I thought the gentleman from WMU was excellent! He should give his presentation to other ISM/APICS chapters in the region.’ This comment summed up the general sentiment from all meeting participants.”

Olson will receive his bachelor's degree from WMU – Lee Honors College next week with a minor in Law. After graduation, he plans to continue his employment with the U.S. Army TACOM LCMC in southeastern Michigan..

ISM major is recipient of L.L. Waters Scholarship

Integrated supply management major Matthew Wright, of Muskegon, Mich., is the recipient of the 2010 L.L. Waters Scholarship. Wright was the only student nationwide to earn the $2000 award, which was presented during the annual meeting of the American Society of Transportation and Logistics (AST&L) in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in November.

From left, Wright is pictured with David Yeley, president of AST&L and Dr. Bret Wagner, director of the ISM program. In addition to the scholarship, AST&L paid for him to attend the conference and his membership in the organization.

Wright is a member of The Association for Operations (APICS), Institute of Supply Management, Golden Key International Honor Society and he is a new member of AST&L. He is currently working on a project for Pfizer of Kalamazoo and he expects to graduate in fall 2011.

In addition to his studies, Wright spent a semester abroad at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia where his main focus was supply chain and global logistics.

“Matthew has demonstrated organizational abilities, motivation, a strong work ethic and exceptional written and communication skills and is always exceptionally well prepared for classes,” says Dr. Bret Wagner, associate professor of management and director of the integrated supply management program. “His professional objectives and goals consist of putting his skill sets to use for a corporation and advancing his knowledge and certification in logistics and supply chain management.”

The L.L. Waters Scholarship Fund
The L.L. Waters Scholarship Fund was set up in honor of L.L. Waters, University Professor Emeritus of Transportation and Business History in Indiana University’s School of Business, in recognition of his many contributions to undergraduate and graduate level education in transportation, logistics and international business during a teaching career of more than four decades.

Burnie named endowed business chair

Dr. David Burnie, professor of finance and commercial law, has been awarded the National City Corporation Endowed Chair in Finance and Commercial Law in the WMU Department of Finance and Commercial Law.

“The award is given to an outstanding faculty member with a rank of assistant professor or higher who has demonstrated exceptional contributions to his/her discipline,” says Dr. Kay Palan, dean, Haworth College of Business. “All aspects of academics were considered in the selection, including teaching, research and service.”

The award includes a stipend, as well as funding for research and research related expenses and is made for three years with the opportunity for renewal pending continued outstanding contributions to the discipline.

Burnie’s research has covered a variety of topics including the valuation of corporate governance issues, security return distributions and institutional holdings, debt securities, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, rights, options, dividend re-investment plans and repurchases.

He previously served the College as associate dean, providing administrative leadership of all aspects of graduate education, oversight of the graduate programs both domestic and international, and managing relationships with all off-campus MBA sites.

The endowed chair is the result of a $1.5 million multi-year gift from National City to WMU announced in 1991. Dr. Ajay Samant, was the most recent recipient of this award. He currently serves as dean and professor of finance at Coggin College of Business, University of North Florida.

Keystone Breakfast Speaker Series to feature interim dean, WMU School of Medicine

Dr. Jack Luderer, Western Michigan University’s interim dean of the WMU School of Medicine, will speak at the Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series Friday, Dec. 3.

Luderer’s talk, “WMU’s School of Medicine— Moving Forward,” begins at 8 a.m. in the Dean’s Conference Room in Schneider Hall, home of the Haworth College of Business. A continental breakfast starts the event at 7:30 a.m. which is free and open to the public.

Reservations are required and may be made by calling (269) 387-6059. Parking is available in the Fetzer Center parking lot adjacent to Schneider Hall.

Luderer came to WMU as the vice president of research in 2002. He remained in that position until 2005, when he was appointed executive director of the Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center at WMU until his current appointment in June of this year.

Luderer first came to Kalamazoo in 1984 to work for the Upjohn Co. He has served on the Managing Board of Directors of the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center and ProNai Therapeutics. He is also a chief medical officer for Meditrina, Inc., a startup pharmaceutical company. Luderer earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Miami University. He went on to earn a master's degree in organic chemistry at Miami and a medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School.

Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series
The Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series is underwritten through the generosity of Keystone Community Bank. The series provides an opportunity for members of the local community to hear top business leaders, WMU faculty, alumni and friends of the Haworth College of Business discuss current business issues and corporate strategies as well as key information regarding the continuing progress of the college.

WMU IT forum to focus on advancing health care

Information technology and health care professionals will explore ways that information technology can facilitate better health care through collaboration at the ninth annual WMU IT Forum from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, November 12, in the Fetzer Center on the main campus. This event is also the kickoff for the grand opening of the Center for Health Information Technology Advancement (CHITA) at WMU.

The event, which requires advance registration, will center on the theme “Advancing Health Care with IT: Exploring the Landscape for 2011” and will open with a continental breakfast.

Dr. Bernard Han, director of CHITA and professor in the Department of Business Information Systems, and Dr. Sharie Falan, associate director of CHITA and assistant professor in the Bronson School of Nursing, are co-chairing the event, hosted by the Department of Business Information Systems in the University’s Haworth College of Business.

“Health care is an urgent issue. Under the current collaborative environment, health information technology (HIT) can be used to enhance and improve business operations and the safety, reliability and quality of health care service delivery,” says Han.

Falan adds, “This event brings together leaders from diverse aspects of the health care delivery arena to cultivate opportunities for WMU faculty and students to conduct joint research and hands-on projects. Together, they are working to solve health care issues with the community at large.”

Three keynote speakers will address the forum. They are:
• Michelle Troseth, executive vice president and chief practice officer, Elsevier’s Clinical Practice Model Resource Center
• Doug Dietzman, executive director, Michigan Health Connect, a nonprofit health information exchange organization, based in Grand Rapids, Mich.
• Donna Roach, vice president, information technology and chief information officer, Bronson Healthcare Group

At 8:30 a.m., Troseth will kick off the morning session and will address “Achieving Healthcare Transformation by Advancing Practice and Technology.” Troseth became an Elsevier executive leader in 2001, when she joined its Clinical Practice Model Resource Center business unit. Among her experiences are the co-creation and use of an integrated clinical practice framework that strengthens practice at the point-of-care and improves the quality of work environments for leaders and practitioners across the United States and Canada. She also led an interdisciplinary point-of-care design process that developed the first computerized, evidence-based, advanced clinical documentation system.

Recognized as an authority in her field, Troseth has co-authored several works, including articles on Clinical Documentation and Intentionally Designed Automation. She is a highly-sought keynote speaker on the topic of professional practice and healthcare technology and has addressed crowds at regional, national and international conferences. She is an original member of the IHE Patient Care Coordination Domain and a founding leader of the National Technology Informatics Guiding Educational Reform Initiative, recently serving as its summit’s program chair.

At 9:20 a.m., Dietzman will discuss “Health Information Exchange – The Need and Challenges.” He has over 20 years of experience which includes information technology initiatives in hospitals/health systems, health plans and physician offices. Dietzman was previously responsible for Community Physician Services for Spectrum Health and the deployment of its results, laboratory ordering and radiology ordering clinical messaging platform to over 150 offices across western Michigan.

At 11:20 a.m., Roach will address “The Application of HIT into Clinical Practice – Issues and Opportunities.” Roach is responsible for the information technology at Bronson Healthcare System and its subsidiaries. This includes planning, implementing and supporting Bronson information, network and telecommunication systems. She has over 29 years of experience in the health care industry, with the last 25 years being focused on health care information technology. Prior to joining Bronson, she was the chief information officer/vice president of information services for Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Ill. Her experience has included positions at W.A. Foote Memorial Hospital, Adventist Health System, Resurrection Health Care, Central DuPage Hospital, Rush Medical Center and the Veterans Administration.

The forum will also feature student e-Firm projects presented by the Auto-Owners project team and two Bronson Hospital project teams, where the students will share solutions that address real-world business challenges identified by the firms.

According to Dr. Mike Tarn, professor and chair, Department of Business Information Systems, “This year’s conference will be especially meaningful, because the Great Lakes IT Education Leaders’ annual meeting will be embedded in the forum. We will welcome 25 IT education leaders, as well as their faculty, from 21 universities and colleges in the Great Lakes area.”

The afternoon program will begin with the announcement of CHITA, followed by a plenary session at 1:40 p.m. addressing “Emerging Technologies for Health Care.” At 2:40 p.m., two concurrent panel discussions will focus on "Emerging Issues in HIT" and “Internships and Job Outlook.”

For more information about the forum or to register online, visit www.wmich.edu/business/itforum. Registration will close on Nov. 8. For more details, please contact Bernard Han at wmu-chita@wmich.edu or (269) 387-5428.

Social media in business is subject of Keystone Speaker Series

Jason Kehrer, chief problem solver, at The Image Group, will discuss “Leveraging Social Media for Business” at the October Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series on Friday, Oct. 29.

The event is free and open to the public and begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. followed by the presentation at 8 a.m. Parking is available at the Fetzer Center (Lot #72F). Reservations are required and can be made by calling (269) 387-6059.

Kehrer serves as the chief problem solver at The Image Group, a Holland-based creative communications agency. He works with a variety of clients in the business, nonprofit and education industries to tell their stories, and has spoken to a variety of groups on topics related to social media tools and tactics, brand-building and technology trends, including a monthly series for the Holland Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to joining The Image Group team, he developed local ministry and neighborhood development programs in West Michigan, and helped launch a new non-profit organization serving the Sub-Saharan continent of Africa. Kehrer has lived abroad in South Africa and Australia, and now serves on the boards of several startup companies and local nonprofits.

A native of Chicago, Kehrer graduated from Hope College in 2003 and now resides in Holland, Mich.

The Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Series is underwritten through the generosity of Keystone Community Bank. The series provides an opportunity for the local community to hear prominent business leaders, WMU faculty, alumni and friends of the Haworth College of Business discuss current business issues and corporate strategies as well as key information regarding the continuing progress of the college.