College of Business Administration News

Congratulations to Jane Kay Nugent, ’48, a CBA alumna and retired vice president of Detroit Edison (now DTE Energy), who received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from UDM at the 2013 Commencement ceremony. 

Nugent received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from the University of Detroit, an M.A. in Personnel Psychology from Wayne State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. She was among the first to be granted a Certified Administrative Manager designation by the Administrative Management Society, and also earned the designation of Accredited Executive in Personnel. She participated in the nation’s first management development program for women at Cornell University, and subsequently presented a similar program in major cities across the country. She also taught at Cornell, the University of Detroit, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University, and authored numerous articles for business and human resources publications. She retired from Detroit Edison as vice president of Administration, having previously held the position of vice president of Human Resources. She was a member of the Senior Management Committee and Management Council at retirement.

Nugent is a past president of the International Association for Personnel Women and the Women’s Economic Club and has served on the Advisory Committee on the Role of Women to the Council of Economic Advisors to the president of the United States. She served as the president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan and served on the boards of many regional organizations, including St. John Hospital and Medical Center Foundation, Bon Secours of Michigan Healthcare System, First of America Bank-Southeast Michigan, the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, and the United Foundation.  She is the first woman vice-president of the Economic Club of Detroit. 

A pioneer among female business executives, she was named one of Detroit’s Top Ten Working Women during her career. The University has recognized her with the President’s Cabinet Award, and with Alumna of the Year in 1981. She has received the Women of Wayne Headliner Award, an Alumni Achievement Award, a Corporate Achievement Award, and a Corporate Leadership Award. Her other honors include the Professional PanHellenic Career Achievement Award and the Association of Business Deans of Jesuit Institutions Award for Business Achievement. In 2010, Nugent received the St. John’s Guild Philanthropic Services Award. She has been inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame and the CBA Hall of Honor.

Business major Kaitlin Avery, '13 was selected as the UDM Valedictorian for 2013. Avery received numerous awards and honors throughout her academic career, including the Rev. Gerald Cavanagh, S.J. Scholarship for service-learning. Her senior honors thesis is entitled, "Identifying the Connections between Financial Literacy and Catholic Social Teaching".

 Beta Alpha Psi members and other CBA students provided free income tax assistance to neighborhood residents on four Saturdays last term. The students have completed rigorous IRS training to prepare tax returns under the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.  Beta Alpha Psi, the honor society for accounting students, is moderated jointly by  Jeanne David, director of undergraduate Business program, and Rose Yang, assistant professor of Accounting.

Marketing Professor Mike Bernacchi hosted the 27th annual Super Bowl Ad Nauseam on Feb. 4. More than 200 high school students from the Detroit metropolitan area spent the morning on the UDM campus, attending information sessions in business, nursing, engineering, and digital media studies. At noon, Bernacchi revealed the results of a national survey on the effectiveness of the commercial advertisements that aired during the Super Bowl. 

“The Super Bowl is a huge event for the advertising world since a lot of business occurs during the commercial breaks,” Bernacchi said. “Students are talking about the game, why not have them learn about the business behind the messages?”

This year, advertisers spent up to $4 million for a 30-second ad, and Bernacchi discussed issues to notice when watching the commercials. For the second year, a community service project accompanied the discussion: those in attendance donated canned goods to Kids Against Hunger. At least 16 news reports cited the Super Bowl Ad Nauseam in media outlets that include the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, WDET, the Oakland Press, WWJ-CBS, Michigan Public Radio, WJBK, and the Denver Post. 

The College was pleased to welcome three outstanding guest speakers in the fall. In November, the Graduate Student Advisory Board welcomed Detroit Mayor Dave Bing for a discussion of current issues facing the city, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Also last fall, Beta Alpha Psi members invited forensic accountant Susan Koss, managing director of O’Keefe & Associates, to discuss the role of accountants in litigation. In December, investment expert Charles Nemes ‘81, senior vice president of Raymond James & Associates, delivered a presentation on personal investment and cash management. Nemes is a UDM graduate and the father of CBA student Chris Nemes.

As in the past, prominent corporate executives who have graduated from the College of Business Administration provided guest lectures in many CBA courses. The Keynote Event was a panel discussion on the value of diversity to businesses on March 19. The moderator was Marilyn French Hubbard, founder of the Association for Black Women Entrepreneurs and former vice president/chief diversity officer of the Henry Ford Health System. The panelists included Ina Fernandez '74, managing director of Liberty Capital, Jean-Paul Meutcheho '98, director of Corporate Sustainability for Global Advanced Metals, and Feras Shammami '97, '00, '01, vice president of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. The Keynote Event was sponsored by the Chrysler Corporation.

The U.S. Department of Education identified UDM's graduate certificate program in Ethical Leadership & Change Management and the graduate certificate program in Finance as programs that lead to gainful employment. Students pursuing these certificates, as well the Business Turnaround Management (BTM) certificate program, are eligible to apply for federal financial aid. The Finance certificate is offered both on campus and at the WCCCD University Center in Harper Woods. The BTM certificate is offered online.

The College launched an ambitious new marketing campaign, featuring print, radio, television, and online advertisements. The television ad aired during March basketball tournament games and is the first ever to focus specifically on the CBA. Radio sponsor ads were aired on Detroit’s National Public Radio, WDET-FM. 

This spring, Jamero Hatter ’05 and Dave Ellis ‘00, both CBA alumni, graciously agreed to represent UDM at college fairs in their hometowns, Chicago and Cincinnati, respectively. Hatter is fixed operations manager at Nissan North America, and Ellis is sourcing manager for Airfoil Castings at GE Aviation.

Business major Alvin Ford, who serves as the UDM Student Senate president, and Ronni McGee, a sophomore in the five-year B.S./M.B.A. program, are this year’s recipients of the prestigious Briggs-Fisher Foundation Scholarships. Business majors Jesus Ginez and Brendan Barkume, both of whom are sophomores in the CBA’s five-year B.S./M.B.A. program, tied for first place in the Career Education Center’s Best Resume contest, sponsored by Quicken Loans; senior Tracy Hrabovsky is being recognized as the Business Co-op Student of the Year. CBA’s chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, the national honor society for business majors at AACSB-accredited colleges, was recently recognized as a Premier Chapter, and earned a scholarship for community service from the accounting firm KPMG, which will go to Samantha Rekuta.  One member of the chapter, Christina Stilianos, who also serves a president of the CBA Student Advisory Board, was selected to attend the annual Student Leadership Conference in St. Louis in November. And undergraduate business major Kaitlin Avery and MBA student Luljeta Mata received awards this spring from the Detroit Chapter of Financial Executives International. Additional student awards were recognized at the annual Honors Convocation, held on March 24.