$20.09 Giving Campaign

Alumni giving participation rates are considered an indicator in alumni satisfaction and play an important role in program rankings. Please help us kick off 2009 by making a gift online at the below link for $20.09. Your gift of $20.09 will go directly to the School’s Annual Fund and help us with our $2.4 Million Goal this fiscal to keep this new building running.

www.commerce.virginia.edu/give

Thank you for your continued support!

McIntire Offers First “Knowledge Continuum”

McIntire Offers First “Knowledge Continuum”for M.S. in MIT Alumni

Can leadership be learned? How can you start to think more creatively? What are the core principles of value creation, and how can you align value propositions with business strategy?

These were just a few of the questions pondered by the 14 participants attending McIntire’s inaugural “Knowledge Continuum,” a two-and-a-half-day executive residency designed to provide information technology leaders (and, in particular, alumni of McIntire’s M.S. in MIT Program) with a continuation of their academic learning experience.

“We decided to initiate the Knowledge Continuum because so many of our alumni were telling us, ‘We want more,’” says IT Professor Ryan Nelson, who, with Director of Alumni Development Nicole Fitzwater, helped organize the program. “So we developed a program that would get M.S. in MIT alumni back on Grounds and give them a sort of ‘booster shot’ in the critical areas of leadership, innovation, IT strategy and management, IT architecture, and business intelligence.” Nelson notes that the Knowledge Continuum will become an annual event.

Participants in the program got the full “back to school” experience, with the opportunity to hear from—and actively engage with—Management Professor Tom Bateman; IT Professors Stefano Grazioli, Peter Gray, Ryan Nelson, and Barb Wixom; and world-renowned creativity expert Chic Thompson. Of course, the continuum wasn’t all work and no play: Students and faculty also enjoyed an evening out in downtown Charlottesville, as well as dinner and a lively lesson in Jeffersonian lore (courtesy of McIntire Finance Professor Bob Kemp) in Pavilion VII on the Lawn.

“The Knowledge Continuum was exactly what I was looking for,” said Teresa Duvall (M.S. in MIT ’06), Director of Network Enterprise Services at CACI International Inc. “It was like an extension of the M.S. in MIT Program—not a rehash of the program, but learning about new concepts and new technologies, with a broad base of students.” Duvall notes that the contributions of her top-notch classmates, who came to the continuum from a variety of industries, made her time in the program “a very rich experience.”

Indeed, she said, the excellence and diversity of her classmates, along with the continuum’s superb coursework, world-class faculty, flawless organization, and location in beautiful new Rouss & Robertson Halls, all combined to make the program a “class act.” Of course, Duvall said, she’d expected nothing less of McIntire’s M.S. in MIT Program: “This is a team that we in the field have come to respect as leaders in the management of information technology.”

25 Alumni Attend NoVA Happy Hour

We had 25 alumni attend the Happy Hour last night – 28 including Barb, Matt and myself. Thank you so much! I met so many new faces and it was great to see everyone again. Next happy hour is 12/9, Tuesday…in Arlington..I have had a lot of requests to host one there.

Now for the class tally’s:
First place with eight alumni – 2008
Second place with six alumni – 2007
Tie for Third with four alumni – 2006 and 2009
Three from the 2005 class

I am working on planning a Caps and possibly a Wizards game too! I’ll keep you posted.

I had two inquiries about bricks, we are still doing them. Please just let me know if you are interested. They are $250 and email me what you would like engraved.

Please see the below link to make a small donation/gift to the School online to help me cover the bar cost from last night.

www.commerce.virginia.edu/give

Thank you for your continued support!

Have a great day and Thanksgiving next week!

November Upcoming Events

The Greater Richmond Technology Council is pleased to present the agenda for the November 12th Sustainability Summit sponsored by Peak 10 and TechTurn.

Participants include The Honorable Timothy M. Kaine, Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia; Lyn McDermid, CIO, Dominion and Greater Richmond Technology Council Chair; Guy Chapman, Managing Director, Dominion; David Labato, LaserJet Business Sustainability and Environmental Programs Manager for the Imaging and Printing Group, HP; Eddie Riddell, CEO, All Associates Group; Dennis Tracz, Director, JMU, Center for Entrepreneurship; Kevin Xiao, Student, Maggie L. Walker Governors School; Jeff Ziegler, President and CEO, TechTurn; Kevin Gerber, President and CEO, Packet360; Jean Peters, Senior Vice President - Strategic Analysis & Planning, Genworth; Mike Magruder, Data Center Support Specialist, Federal Reserve Information Technology; Jim McGlone, VP Sales, Tridium; George Favaloro, Managing Partner, Esty Environmental Partners; Craig Brander, Sales Engineer, Carter Machinery Company; Dave Rubcich, Director of Sales, Emerson Network Power; Dennis Tolliver, ISS/Blade Specialist, Hewlett-Packard; Mark Wensel, VP and GM, Peak 10

For more information:
Greater Richmond Technology Council
www.richtech.com

NoVA

We will be in NoVA the following Wednesday, November 19th for alumni visits and a Happy Hour at M&S Grill in Reston. Please join us:

M&S Grill
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
5:30 – 8:00 pm
Reston Town Center
11901 Democracy Drive,
Reston, VA 20190
(703) 787-7766
** Barb Wixom will be in attendance!!!

We had 17 alumni attend the October Happy Hour with the 2006 NoVA class with the most attendance and the 2008 NoVA class a very close 2nd. Looking forward to meeting lots of new faces.

M.S. in MIT Student Thomas J. White Selected

M.S. in MIT Student Thomas J. White Selected as First Recipient of Investor Solutions Graduate Scholarship

Thomas J. White, a student in the M.S. in the Management of Information Technology Program at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, has been selected as the first-ever recipient of the Investor Solutions Graduate Scholarship. The $10,000 scholarship, which will be awarded annually to an incoming graduate student in one of the School’s four outstanding graduate programs, is specifically designated for U.S. military combat veterans. Recipients of the scholarship must have served as an enlisted man or woman, must have been honorably discharged, and must demonstrate financial need.

“In establishing this scholarship, we are pleased to support students in McIntire’s prestigious, nationally recognized graduate programs, and we are proud to honor our nation’s veterans,” says UVA alumnus Francis C. “Frank” Armstrong III (A&S ’66), President and Founder of Investor Solutions Inc. Armstrong himself is a Vietnam veteran.

White, who served as an enlisted infantry soldier in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1981 to 1986 and as an active duty Army officer with the 1st Armored Division during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, says he’s thrilled to be chosen for the scholarship.

“I’m honored to have been recognized by McIntire and by Investor Solutions for my service to the country,” White says. “I’m also thankful to Investor Solutions for their incredible generosity and recognition of veterans. The Investor Solutions Graduate Scholarship is a tremendous help to me and my family.”

White was selected for the scholarship by a committee composed of McIntire faculty members and a representative from Investor Solutions. He will graduate from the M.S. in MIT Program in 2009.

“We are extremely grateful to Investor Solutions for their generous support of McIntire’s graduate programs and students, and we look forward to working with them in the future to honor deserving veterans as scholarship recipients,” says McIntire Dean Carl Zeithaml.

Investor Solutions is an independent, fee-only, fiduciary investment advisory firm specializing in tax-efficient and globally diversified portfolios for individuals and institutions. For more information, go to www.investorsolutions.com.