News Releases

The Kay and Yvonne Whitmore Global Management Center at Brigham Young University presented 14 MBA candidates with Eccles Scholarships for outstanding achievement in international business. Each Eccles Scholar will receive $10,000 to defray the cost of tuition and international experiences during their enrollment. “This year’s Eccles Scholars carry on the fine tradition of outstanding MBA students who are interested in careers in international business,” says Lee Radebaugh, director of the Whitmore Global Management Center.

Brigham Young University’s Romney Institute of Public Management named Carolyn Grow Dailey, president and CEO of ASCEND Alliance, as the 2008 Administrator of the Year. The award is given annually to an outstanding man or woman who has achieved distinction after many years of management in the public or nonprofit sector.

The Marriott School of Management honored W. Gibb Dyer with its 2008 Outstanding Faculty Award, the highest faculty distinction given by the school. The award was presented at a banquet March 28 where 11 other individuals and seven retiring professors were recognized for significant contributions to the school.

Students at Brigham Young University hustled to maximize profits and minimize risks as they traded shares in the same high-tech, fast-paced and unpredictable stock market simulation used to train traders, strategists and salespeople at Goldman Sachs. “The market moves very quickly, and you need to anticipate things before they happen,” says Brian Ames, a senior from North Ogden, Utah, majoring in finance.

Prepared to revolutionize the snow-gear industry by providing warmth on demand, Klymit was named winner of Brigham Young University’s 2008 Business Plan Competition — taking the grand prize of $50,000 in cash and in-kind services. Since the beginning of the competition in October, Klymit distinguished itself from 45 other business plans.

Studying finance has proven to be a profitable investment for six Marriott School students who were selected as MBA finance scholars. Four students were named Stoddard Scholars and two were named Questar Scholars. The 2008 Stoddard Scholars are: Annette Christensen, from Gunnison, Utah; Tamir Ganbat, from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Jason Miller, from Springville, Utah; and Joel Persson, from Pleasant Grove, Utah.

Brigham Young University's business and law schools are among the top 50 in the United States, reports U.S.News & World Report in its "America's Best Graduate Schools" issue, on sale Monday, March 31. Other BYU graduate programs and specialties rank in the top 100 in their categories. The Marriott School of Management is ranked 29th, tying its highest ranking ever from U.S. News, while the J. Reuben Clark Law School is ranked 46th.

Six students from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management won second place and $2,000 at the 11th annual FedEx Freight International Graduate Logistics Case Competition in Fayetteville, Ark. It was BYU’s first time at the invitational event, sponsored by FedEx Freight in alliance with the Supply Chain Management Research Center at the University of Arkansas’s Sam M. Walton College of Business.

Marriott School students, faculty and staff are challenged to race up seven stories in an unconventional fundraising event designed to grow the school’s scholarship fund. The annual Corporate Climb takes place on Saturday, March 22 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Tanner Building. New to this year’s event is a carnival which includes games and booths for all ages.

This summer eight undergraduate Marriott School students will intern with key industry companies after winning the school’s second annual Intern Competition — an event sponsored by the Marriott Undergraduate Student Association. “An internship is a great opportunity to learn the lingo of business and figure out if that is really what you like,” says Andy Emory, one of last year’s winners who interned with Sperry Van Ness Equities.

Racing down a professional ski course was just part of the University of Denver’s 2008 Race and Case competition, where six Marriott School MBA students earned first place in the combined skiing and ethics case event. “These students have been wonderful representatives of the Marriott School’s commitment to ethical decision-making in business,” says Craig Merrill, MBA program director.

Brigham Young University’s undergraduate business programs rank seventh overall and first among recruiters according to BusinessWeek magazine’s comprehensive ranking of U.S. undergraduate business programs. The school was also ranked first in return on tuition for private colleges. The magazine’s survey says students hail the Marriott School’s emphasis on producing successful and ethical business leaders.

Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management has announced eight MBA candidates as its 2008 Hawes Scholars. The honor, which carries a cash award of $10,000, is the highest distinction given to second-year MBA students at the school. “These students have impressed both the MBA faculty and classmates with their tendency to make the most out of their opportunities,” says Craig Merrill, MBA program director.

Marriott School’s Ginny Richman has been named Air Force ROTC Civilian of the Quarter in recognition for her contribution to the Brigham Young University AFROTC detachment. “Ginny is an essential asset to our detachment, and we nominated her knowing she was a well-rounded candidate,” says Col. Gordon Jacobs, professor of aerospace studies.

During every transition of life, personal finances play an influential role in deciding goals for the future. In an effort to provide families and individuals with the tools and resources necessary to obtain financial freedom, the Marriott School of Management has introduced a personal finance Web site designed to help users at every stage of financial knowledge.

Managing a business while attending school has proven to be a rewarding experience for two students who tied for the title of 2007 Student Entrepreneur of the Year. Ethan Heintzelman, founder of Elite Express, and Bo Porter, founder of Fox Websites, each received a $10,000 award for this honor. “The examples provided in this competition create a can-do attitude for aspiring student entrepreneurs,” says Derek Pando, president of the BYU Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, which coordinates the SEOY competition.

Field trips have taken on new meaning for eight MBA students who traveled to Switzerland this fall as part of the MBA International Human Resource Management class. Throughout the week-long trip, students met with global business executives from companies including Nestlé, Cisco Systems and Dow Chemical, to learn how each develops global leaders.

With an idea designed to revolutionize online shipping, Marriott School student Matthew Pickard won the first annual BYU Web Business Idea Competition and a $3,000 cash award. WEBIC is a new competition sponsored by the Rollins Center for eBusiness — promoting the use of the Internet in entrepreneurship. Pickard’s business idea, eTake, is a Web site used to bid on shipping rates offered by individuals — not companies.

The Marriott School’s chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization received high honors at the organization’s recent national conference, with three first-place chapter awards. The organization also honored a BYU student and an alumnus with individual awards. “BYU has one of the dominant CEO chapters in the nation, because our students are very entrepreneurially minded,” says Gary K. Rhoads, Marriott School professor of marketing and the club’s faculty advisor.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches. The Marriott School’s holiday tree holds more than just pretty ornaments, it holds the promise of Christmas for many needy families in Utah County. "We want to get as many people from the Marriott School involved as possible and offer everyone an opportunity to give a little bit of service to someone else," says Kiley Hunt, a first-year MPA student helping with the project. The annual Angel Tree service project — sponsored by the United Way — provides three options to help meet the needs of families and individuals in Utah County.