BYU - Marriott School - MBA Newsletter


	April 2008
Contents Front Page Letter from Director Craig Merrill Alumni Alumni Feature: Mike Moore-Building Better Lives through the WVDSA Alumni Feature: Rob J. ThurstonHelping the Search for a Cure Send Us Your Updates Faculty & Staff Bill Giauque Retires in Summer 2007 Kaye Hanson Retires in August 2008 Kristin Adair Assumes Director Role of MBA Student Recruiting Kate Kirkham to Retire in Fall 2008 Students MBA Ambassador Program Continues The Marriott School Shop: A Student-Run Business Rankings MBA Rankings Links Marriott School of Management BYU MBA Program MBA Alumni Portal Events Calendar	Kate Kirkham to Retire in Fall 2008 After thirty years teaching at BYU, Kate Kirkham will retire from the Marriott Schools Organizational Leadership and Strategy Department in fall 2008. Kirkham began teaching in the master of organizational behavior (MOB) program in 1978. She has influenced the lives of hundreds of students who have attended her classes and lectures on diversity, group dynamics, systems change, and organizational behavior. She has had a profound impact on the development of the program as the organizational behavior and human resources faculty group leader and as executive director of the Dyer Institute for Leading Organizational Change. She has also served as the MOB program director and the executive MBA program director. Despite her retirement from the MBA program, Kirkham has big plans for the future. Among other things, she plans to continue studying and writing about diversity issues, increase her involvement in community-based projects focused on adult education, and rally other community members to improve reading opportunities for young children. Ive enjoyed working with students with all of their different learning styles and interests. Its been rewarding to work with students who learn to better integrate their individual style and goals with group dynamics and discover how they can effectively influence organizational processes," Kirkham says. "Ive also enjoyed working with colleagues to improve the effectiveness of faculty group, program, and university processesespecially our efforts to create an inclusive culture for all the diverse Marriott School student populations. Kirkham will be long remembered in the program as someone who invested her time in serving others and creating ways to integrate theory and practice in teaching and research. She says, I know many will remember the apparent chaos of paper and books in my office, but I could find things! Kirkham taught her normal class schedule and continued her faculty responsibilities during Fall Semester 2007, after which she shifted her focus to securing endowed funding for the Dyer Institute until her retirement in September 2008.