Brigham Young University’s Romney Institute of Public Management named Utah State Treasurer Edward T. Alter as the 2003 Administrator of the Year. Alter has been treasurer since 1980. Addressing public management students and faculty at a banquet held in his honor, Alter said, “I have a brief plea to all of you to keep statesmanship and civility in mind as you serve in the public arena. We need to be the ones who are polite and who are civil and who are gracious.” Romney Institute Chair Robert Parsons says, “Ed Alter exemplifies a man of vision, integrity and hard work.

Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management honored Grant R. McQueen with its 2003 Outstanding Faculty Award, the highest faculty distinction given by the school. The award was presented at a banquet March 28 where the school also recognized seven other faculty members for their contributions in teaching, research and citizenship. “Grant is an extremely genuine and open person.

Marriott School of Management Professor Gary C. Cornia has been elected president of the National Tax Association, the country’s most prestigious organization of tax professionals. Cornia, who teaches public finance at Brigham Young University, is a former Utah state tax commissioner and current chair of the Utah governor’s tax review commission.

The Sixth Annual Microenterprise Conference, sponsored by the Program for Economic Self-Reliance at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School, will be held 13-15 March 2003. The conference — the largest of its kind — gathers microfinance institutions, non-governmental organizations, educators, students and volunteers for discussions and workshops on microenterprise innovations.

Earning a business minor has never been more convenient than it will be this spring and summer. For the first time, the Marriott School at Brigham Young University is making all minor courses available during the spring and summer — enabling students to complete requirements for a business minor in two terms.

Having friends in high places has its benefits, and in Malaysia the benefits are worth billions. Brigham Young University and MIT researchers recently measured the impact of cronyism — favoring friends and political allies — on Malaysian companies' stock values. Their research showed that companies with political connections regained stock value much more quickly than other companies, following restrictions imposed by the government during the East Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s.

The James S. Kemper Foundation named Brigham Young University student Andrea Lamb as one of 19 national Kemper Scholars. Every year the charitable branch of Kemper Insurance Companies works with selected universities to choose one scholar per school. Winners receive a three-year scholarship and three summer internships at different Kemper Insurance offices around the country.

The Financial Times of London advanced Brigham Young University's Marriott School for the second consecutive year in the paper's global ranking of top 100 MBA programs. The Marriott School ranked 51st this year compared to 63rd in 2002 and 75th in 2001. In addition to the overall ranking, the school's alumni placed its finance program among the top 10 worldwide.

A Master of Public Administration (MPA) student at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School is the first person in Utah to win an American College of Healthcare Executives scholarship since the fund was started in 1969. Ryan J. Lambert, BYU ACHE student chapter vice president, received the Foster G. McGaw national scholarship. “Being the vice president of the BYU chapter really improved my chances to win this award,” Lambert said.

A team of four accounting graduate students from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School won first place in the national Deloitte & Touche Tax Challenge competition. The school’s undergraduate team placed second in a separate division. “We’re extremely proud of our students’ performance,” says Ned C. Hill, dean of the Marriott School.

The National Communication Association honored a Brigham Young University business communications professor with a five-year Best Paper award at the association’s 88th annual convention in New Orleans. The award was presented to Curtis D. LeBaron, Marriott School assistant professor of organizational leadership and strategy, and the late Robert Hopper, former professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Association for Business Communication honored a Brigham Young University business communications professor with its annual 2002 Outstanding Article Award. The award was presented to Kristen DeTienne, Marriott School associate professor of organizational leadership and strategy, and co-authors Karl L. Smart at Central Michigan University, and Matthew E. Whiting of Microsoft Corporation.

The Marriott School of Management and Board of Trustees at Brigham Young University named Patrick G. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Aon Corporation, as the 2002 International Executive of the Year. President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presented the award to Mr.

Brigham Young University's Marriott School has launched a major initiative to improve minority representation in the school's graduate programs. The diversity initiative is designed to recruit a more diverse student body and faculty; provide students and faculty with cultural awareness and sensitivity to diversity issues; and improve the school's internal climate to be more supportive of female, international, and minority students and faculty.

In spite of a tough placement environment and dipping salaries for new graduates, Brigham Young University's MBA program held on to the best buy title in Business Week's 2002 ranking of top business programs. BYU's Marriott School had the best return on investment with only 4.1 years to payback, including the two years at school.

The Strategic Management Society awarded four Brigham Young University Professors the best paper prize last week at the organization’s 22nd annual conference in Paris, France. The best paper prize was awarded to Marriott School strategy professors Mark H. Hansen and Lee T. Perry and BYU statistics professors C. Shane Reese and Gilbert W. Fellingham for their paper, “A Bayesian Application of the Resource-Based View: Narrowing the Gap Between Theory and Practice.” “We had a lot of confidence that the theory and methods we developed were revolutionary,” says Perry.

Brigham Young University's business school moved from 41st to 38th in The Wall Street Journal's 2002 ranking of top business schools worldwide. The BYU Marriott School also rose from fifth to third place in the newspaper's "hidden gems" category, a listing of "schools that produce excellent graduates but aren't typically considered top-tier business schools."

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business has recognized the Business Career Center at Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management as one of the most effective undergraduate placement centers in the U.S. The AACSB produced the report as part of its International Effective Practices Series that studies high-performing schools in the area of student satisfaction.

Brigham Young University's President's Council approved the renaming of the Marriott School of Management's Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) as the Global Management Center. The center's name was changed to represent its expanded role beyond the Department of Education's CIBER program and to elevate international business within the school.

For one Brigham Young University student, playing the banjo and a passion for soccer seemed worlds apart—until he was invited to play with his bluegrass band at the World Cup this summer in Seoul, Korea. Jared Peterson, a graduate student in information systems management at BYU’s Marriott School of Management, traveled to the World Cup with his four-man band, Long Gone.