What skills do you feel are most important for graduates to be successful in today's business world?
Success in the business world requires above all three character traits-integrity, confidence, and passion. But these are not sufficient oin and of themselves. Business leaders need communication skills, thinking skills, familiarity with technology, and an understanding of the global community. Communication skills include reading, writing, and also empathic listening. Thinking includes framing issues, collecting data, analyzing it, synthesizing solutions, and making decisions. Today business relies more heavily on technology and on talents from around the world. A successful graduate would need to understand ways technology can enhance the businesses performance, know where in the world the best capabilities for that technology are available, and know how to organize the supply chain and motivate and lead people.

“If we are successful in bridging business with engineering
and design, RIT would truly be a Category One University.”

With your experience, you bring a global perspective to the College of Business. How could that change student curriculum?
One of the missions of the Saunders College is to help graduates become more globally mature. RIT has the distinct advantage of a student population from more than forty countries around the globe. Many of our courses encourage students to work in teams. In the short term we could strongly encourage students to form into globally diverse teams. Longer term we could introduce more courses with a global perspective and agree on exchange programs with quality universities abroad. Then we could require students to take courses with global content.

RIT is well known as a technical school. What advantages would you share with prospective students of the Saunders College of Business?
RIT is well known as a technical school and it also has a strong liberal arts and humanities faculty. When I went to engineering school there was a distinct push to include the liberal arts in the curriculum to develop broader thinking among the graduates. I subscribe to that philosophy. One of my sons went to Carnegie Mellon where he graduated with a double major in computer engineering and history. So a key element of the education will be the emphasis on liberal arts and the social sciences.

The Saunders College of Business wants to be known as a center for technology innovation. RIT is home to several state-of-the-art technologies. We have a remanufacturing center that is one of the top six in the world, we are ranked number three for gaming, and these observations are but two of many strong RIT programs. So students at the Saunders College are living in a technology-rich environment. RIT is also fortunate to have a superior design school. In order for an invention to be converted to an innovation, the businessperson must understand the technology and create a product that has a pleasing form as well as useful functionality. The businessperson also has to know how to organize the supply chain to deliver products to the customer and recycle each product at the end of its useful life. At the Saunders College we plan to develop a curriculum that will help students interact with the colleges specializing in science, engineering, and design.

Why did you choose Rochester/RIT?
RIT has a reputation as a solid technical institution. I had heard of the business school in the mid-90s when it joined with USA Today to offer the Quality Cup. Through my work with the American Production and Inventory Control Society I knew George Johnson, a faculty member in the Saunders College of Business. So I knew about both its business school and its engineering strengths. The last few years while I was at Babson College I had tried to bring the business college together with the engineering college at Olin. This is a difficult task and very few schools can claim success at doing so. When I started to interview at RIT, I found the dean of the engineering school was in charge of the search. I told him of my interest in building bridges between the engineering school and the College of Business. He enthusiastically agreed. That was probably the most salient factor to attract me to the school. Later I learned about the design school and I met the faculty, many of whom were interested in the same vision. And, finally, the president at the time, Al Simone, has a wonderful knack for putting people at ease. All of this was icing on the cake. If we are successful in bridging business with engineering and design, RIT would truly be a Category One University.

What is your impression of Rochester so far? (What do you like: places, people, culture; or what do you wish you could change?) How do we compare to other cities where you have lived and worked?
When I lived in Toronto I knew of Rochester only as the city across the lake. After moving here I've come to appreciate its many wonderful attributes. The Eastman School of Music and the Rochester Philharmonic are well known, and Janis and I recently visited the Geva Theater, which is a little gem. We have found the people of Rochester to be very friendly. Early on they introduced me to such Rochester staples as white hots, the Garbage Plate, and frozen custard. Rochester friends also took me to some of the best restaurants, which compare with the best in New York City and Boston. We have even found a few restaurants that serve up excellent Indian food. Some unexpected treats that we have discovered in Rochester include Wegmans, Artisan Works, the Durand Eastman Beach, the Lilac Festival, and the George Eastman House. Where we live in the Park Avenue area has a nice feel of a college town while being close to the center of the city.  We know it is a little colder than Boston but it is easier to get around. Except for getting my car registered through the DMV and paying the real estate taxes, Rochester is a great place to live.

BSM