Q&A: Faculty and Staff Share Their Favorite Michigan Ross Memories in Honor of the Centennial Anniversary
The year 2024 marks Michigan Ross’ centennial anniversary, a time to reflect on the many milestones, impactful ideas, and stories that have shaped our school’s history. In honor of Michigan Ross’ 100 years of impact, we reached out to some of our longest-standing faculty and staff and asked them to share their favorite memories from their time at Michigan Ross.
Cindy Schipani, Merwin H. Waterman Collegiate Professor of Business Administration and professor of business law
What is your favorite Michigan Ross memory?
I have many fond memories of the nearly four decades I’ve been at Ross. One of the memories that stands out is the initiative I undertook with former Michigan Ross Professor Timothy Fort on the role of business in fostering sustainable peace. The first event was a conference scheduled for November 2001. The conference was organized months before the tragic events of Sept. 11 that year but became even more salient in the aftermath. We brought together academics, business leaders, and former government leaders, as well as a special video message from Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright. A few years later, Tim and I were invited to speak at a congressional roundtable in Washington, D.C., led by Secretary Albright. I felt like a kid in a candy store – I could hardly contain my excitement, sitting by, being introduced by, and having my photo taken with Madeline Albright! Tim and I went on to publish several papers on the topic, along with a book, and established a new research paradigm of “Peace through Commerce.”
Another “kid in the candy store” moment involved an interdisciplinary project, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, on the role of business in society. Professor James Walsh and I taught a course on the topic, bringing in guest speakers from academia, the judiciary, and practice. One of our most inspiring speakers was Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, founding member of the Grameen Bank, who spoke about the micro-credit lending initiative for women in Bangladesh. This project culminated with a research paper, co-authored with Professor Walsh and former Michigan Ross Professors Michael Bradley and Anant Sundaram on “The Purposes and Accountability of the Corporation in Contemporary Society.” It was so enlightening to work on a corporate governance project blending multiple paradigms.
One last memorable project I’d like to mention became the seed for my research stream on “Pathways for Women to Attain Positions of Organizational Leadership.” I got a call from the then-director of the William Davidson Institute, who had a little bit of money left on a grant to focus on women’s issues. I used the funding to bring in a group of women academics, practitioners, and former government officials to discuss their pathways for success. From the roundtables, it became evident that mentors stood out for all the participants as a critical part of their success. This insight has driven much of my work on women in leadership.
Kai Petainen, director, Tozzi Electronic Business and Finance Center
What is your favorite Michigan Ross memory?
Long ago, we held an Executive Education program for the National Investor Relations Institute. One night, we took the students out for karaoke and one of them asked if I could come on the stage and sing a song with her.
At first that sounds quite nice, but it turned out that the Ann Arbor News was in the audience. They took a photograph of me singing, and then they published an article about karaoke. For many years, my wife had asked if I would do some karaoke with her and I had declined (big mistake). The day after that event, we got the newspaper in the mail, and on the front page was a photo of myself with the student. The headline read something like: “Unleash your Inner Rock Star” and under the photograph, it stated, “Kai and his PARTNER singing on stage.” My wife wasn’t happy about that, as here I was out singing with my ‘partner,’ and I had yet to sing karaoke with her. Nowadays, both of us have a good laugh about it. What’s also funny is that I have no singing skills whatsoever and to be featured in the news for my singing was quite surreal. Some of the other folks who were interviewed in that article were also Ross professors, but they declined to give their real names. And yes, I made it up to my wife. At one wedding, we sang the “Love Song Medley” from Moulin Rouge to the crowd.
Aneel Karnani, professor of strategy
What is your favorite Michigan Ross memory?
I love traveling, and Michigan Ross has given me tremendous opportunities to travel to many countries. Traveling for work also allowed me to meet many people from these countries and make lasting memories with them. I have taught in Executive Education and EMBA Programs in several countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America.
My favorite program that I taught was Strategy Formulation and Implementation. This was a five-day program targeted at senior managers that I designed and taught twice a year in Ann Arbor. After a few years of that, I decided to take this program to Hong Kong, where I taught it once or twice a year for many years and really enjoyed it. It was fun meeting executives from several countries in Asia in this program. And, it was fun visiting Hong Kong regularly: a vibrant, energetic city with great restaurants and sightseeing. After a few years of that, I also conducted this program in Singapore and Bangkok several times.
Greg Barker, managing director, Office of Digital Education
What is your favorite Michigan Ross memory?
I have many great memories of my time at Ross, but I feel like they mean less without context because each contributes to the other. My journey at the University of Michigan began in 1994 at Michigan Medicine, and in 2002, I transitioned to the Business School. By that time, my wife and I had three young children, and my personal and professional lives started to intertwine beautifully. The graciousness of people and the gratitude that I have for them form my most powerful memories.
I joined Ross thanks to David Rizik, BBA ’01/MAcc ’02, a student I had worked with at the hospital. He recommended me based on projects I had led at the hospital, which resulted in my hiring. My kids, then very young, were allowed to spend some time during the summer at Ross, quickly forming bonds with the children of my colleagues and growing to love the University of Michigan as much as I did. My oldest son followed in those footsteps, attending Ross for accounting, with mentorship from both Professor Greg Miller and David. Today, my son works with David at his firm.
Ross has given me not only professional growth but also personal friendships. I’ve traveled the world with Professor Jim Walsh, and our adventures continue even outside work — we run, motorcycle, and fish together. Professor Gretchen Spreitzer guided my wife through her PhD application process, while Professor Karl Weick helped her with her research. Their kindness and support have had lasting impacts on my family.
There are so many stories I could tell, but one thing is clear: the people and relationships define my memories of Ross. The evolution of the campus has been remarkable, but I will always appreciate the sense of community.
Sue Ashford, Michael & Susan Jandernoa Professor of Management and Organizations
What is your favorite Michigan Ross memory?
I have so many memories of my time at Ross. I have always loved that we have been an entrepreneurial and innovative institution. I participated in that spirit when I served in the Dean’s Office, and we decided to launch the Executive MBA Program. Leading the team that created a vision for that program was a career highlight.
Another memory is the great excitement of starting a leadership initiative here at Ross, which later became the Sanger Leadership Center. A highlight of that initiative was launching a highly interactive, action-learning-oriented MBA orientation centered around an activity called “Grill for Glory.” Each section produced a dinner for 60, created a marketing plan for their dinner, and provided after-dinner entertainment. Watching 430 newly arrived MBAs cooking on Palmer Field and presenting their dishes to a panel of judges was just great fun!
Of course, I remember more serious times as well. For example, I have a vivid memory of the faculty gathering in silence and commiseration in the old faculty lounge on the morning of Sept. 11 to watch with horror what was happening in New York City.
In short, I have so many memories of wonderful events, tragic events, and everything in between that we shared as a community. These things make me proud to have spent my career associated with this school.
Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Collegiate Professor of Business Administration
What is your favorite Michigan Ross memory?
It’s not so much a memory but something that I feel very proud of from my time here. Michigan Ross serves multiple stakeholders who are interested in and committed to improving their personal performance and organizational success. In Executive Education, we work to help business executives master and demonstrate competencies that will help them be better leaders and build better organizations. When we were ranked No. 1 in Executive Education overall and as we have been ranked No. 1 in human resource executive programs, it is exciting to see that the market recognizes that we create ideas with impact. We continually offer insights on how human capability (talent, leadership, organization, and human resources) delivers value to all stakeholders based on our theory, research, and solutions.
