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.