UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –– Stephen Humphrey, chair of the Penn State Smeal College of Business Department of Management and Organization, has announced the formation of a department advisory board.
The Management and Organization Advisory Board will serve as the eyes and ears for management and organization education. Members of the board, Humphrey said, have on-the-ground experience to speak to current and future needs of Smeal students through a range of experiences –– from current undergraduate students to CEOs –– that will provide different insights.
“As a new board, we are in an enviable position; we have the ability to both set the mission for the board and have the board help shape its own mission. They will imprint their expectations, behaviors and talents onto the board, impacting the future iterations of the board and the long-term prospects of the department and college,” Humphrey said.
“My goal for the board is to help surface the emerging challenges faced by graduates –– how is the landscape of global business shifting under our feet and what are the knowledge, skills and abilities that we both need to provide and are uniquely positioned to provide? If AI is transforming work, how does a management degree create opportunities to leverage this technological revolution for a great impact? How can we help our students be better decision-makers, better leaders and better team members in light of these changes? How do we navigate ethical minefields both today and tomorrow? To that last question, we have brought on a leader in AI governance onto the board.”
The board, which will meet several times a year, will convene for the first time on Feb. 20 in the Business Building.
The initial eight members of the advisory board include:
- Barbara Bridendolph, board chair; CEO and executive adviser of Crenshaw Associates, a premier human capital boutique firm that specializes in the leadership and career development of senior level executives.
- Brad Smith, board vice chair; vice president of marketing for CJ Schwan’s, the U.S. operation of C.J. Foods, a global food manufacturing company based in Seoul, South Korea.
- Diana Clark, talent acquisition manager of Riverside Health System, one of the largest employers in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region.
- Emma Pirchalski, AI strategist for KUNGFU.AI, a management consulting and engineering firm focused exclusively on artificial intelligence.
- Molly Brown, manager of the office of the global chairman of PwC, the global professional services network and one of the “Big Four” accounting firms.
- Manuel Grullon Hernandez, vice president of the board of directors of Banco Popular Dominicano, the largest privately owned bank in the Dominican Republic.
- Grace Hubbard, a Smeal senior majoring in corporate innovation and entrepreneurship and minoring in information systems management and international business.
- Tyler Scher, a Smeal junior majoring in management and minoring in residential construction through the College of Engineering.
“The board itself represents a lot of what we value in the department and college. As an example, we will have two undergraduate students on the board, staggered in experience such that we will always have a junior and a senior on the board. Not only will they provide on-the-ground insights into the lived experiences of our current students, they also have opportunities for professional development –– both by working with mid-career and senior executives and helping on-board the new student board member during the spring turnover,” Humphrey said.
“The benefits also accrue for early career professionals, who can work on influencing up and down, and senior executives, who can serve as mentors," Humphrey added. "We deeply value experiential learning in our programs and this board serves as yet another pathway through which we can support experiential learning.”