Shareholder Alumni Magazine Fall 2015: The Entrepreneur of Entrepreneurship

JOHN COOK SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ALUMNI MAGAZINE // / SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY

shareholderFALL 2015

ENTREPRENEURSHIPTHE ENTREPRENEUR OF

CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOUNDER BOB BROCKHAUS, PH.D.

When Bob Brockhaus, Ph.D., decided to open a restaurant in 1969, he had no idea that experience would unofficially launch his career in the emerging field of entrepreneurship.

In this issue of Shareholder, Bob reflects on his amazing journey toward becoming one of the most respected voices in the global entrepreneurship movement. Because of his pioneering leadership, our renowned academic program and Center for Entrepreneurship serve as an ongoing source of pride for all of us.

I think you’ll also enjoy reading about the inspiring paths of military veterans who decided to complement their armed service with a Cook School MBA. They include Betty Myrthil (MBA ’12), who currently serves as an officer in the U.S. Army’s new Cyber branch, and Erik Nielsen (MBA ’11), a veteran of the U.S. Marines who works for a local IT services company and volunteers to help wounded warriors.

We also feature some examples of faculty members who are on the front lines of innovative research and teaching approaches. David Rapach, Ph.D., co-authored a research study that reveals how information on short sales can be a reliable predictor of future stock performance. Given its potential value in guiding investment decisions, the study has already attracted mainstream media attention.

And in the classroom, Mark Ferris, Ph.D., has integrated Twitter into his Introduction to Statistics course, transforming one of the most challenging subjects into one that is highly relevant and understandable to today’s undergraduates. By integrating social justice topics into his assignments, Dr. Ferris also is helping students to reconsider their own beliefs about the complex issues of poverty.

Someone who is intimately familiar with the global poverty crisis is John Cook (BSBA '64), namesake of our business school. He authors a moving Reflection piece that illuminates the appalling conditions in Nepal after the earthquake that devastated the country in April. John’s unwavering commitment to addressing serious education and poverty issues around the world provides one of the most profound examples of living the Jesuit mission.

Thank you for your ongoing involvement and support of the Cook School as we continue preparing students to make a positive difference in our world. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

All the best,

FROM THE DEAN

MARK HIGGINS, PH.D.

FALL 2015 | 1

2 /// NEWS AND NOTES 8 /// CALENDAR 9 /// ALUMNI EVENTS 24 /// REFLECTION

EDITORCamilla Ferrario Hall

CONTRIBUTORS Jeanette Grider Kate Flatley

WRITERMike Plotnick

DESIGN AND ART DIRECTIONNicole Cook

PHOTO CREDITSTom Bussen Nate Cowen Matt Fitzpatrick Justin C. Goodson, Ph.D.

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Past issues of Shareholder can be found at business.slu.edu/shareholder

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Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

is published twice yearly for alumni and friends by Saint Louis University’s John Cook School of Business.

10 /// THE ENTREPRENEUR OF ENTREPRENEURSHIPThe founder of the Cook School's renowned entrepreneurship program and Center for Entrepreneurship reflects on his amazing journey.

ON THE COVER

14 /// THE MILITARY CONNECTIONStudents with military backgrounds are choosing the Cook School to broaden and complement their experience.

17 /// MARKET INSIGHTResearch conducted by David Rapach, Ph.D., is providing investors with valuable insight into future stock performance.

18 /// STATISTICS TAKE FLIGHTLearn how Mark Ferris, Ph.D., is using Twitter to make statistics more relevant and understandable to undergraduate students.

24

2 | BUSINESS.SLU.EDU

Tom Bussen is serving a 27-month Peace Corps assignment in the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan.

ALUMNI JOIN PEACE CORPSTwo Cook School alumni — Tom Bussen ( JD ’12, BSBA ’09) and Ali Arnold (BSBA ’15) — have joined the Peace Corps this year.

Bussen is serving a 27-month assignment as a Peace Corps business adviser in the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. During the first three months, he lived with a host family in the Kyrgyz Republic to learn the local language and integrate into the local culture before being assigned to a community in the Kyrgyz Republic.

“Thus far it's been rewarding, challenging, exciting,” Bussen said. “During my spare time, I find myself marveling at the differences in this country, while at the same time feeling more at home every day. Dinners are with my host family, and it's an amazing feeling to be able to communicate (albeit very poorly!) in a language that was entirely foreign to me just a month ago.”

Arnold, a recent graduate, traveled to Ghana in October to begin her assignment helping farmers to improve their business and operational practices.

“Since I was little, I’ve had a fascination with different cultures from around the world, and that motivated me to study international business, study abroad twice and now to become an agriculture volunteer with the Peace Corps,” said Arnold. “I am excited to take everything I have learned about international business and apply it to a real-life situation. If the study of international business has taught me anything, it is to take advantage of every opportunity with an open mind.”

NEWS AND NOTES

“I AM EXCITED TO TAKE EVERYTHING I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND APPLY IT TO A REAL-LIFE SITUATION. IF THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS HAS TAUGHT ME ANYTHING, IT IS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY WITH AN OPEN MIND.”

- ALI ARNOLD

FALL 2015 | 3

SUMMER AT SLUThe John Cook School of Business welcomed more than 100 high school students from around the country this summer during our annual Summer at SLU academies. Enrollment for summer 2016 begins in March; visit summer.slu.edu for more details.

1. Students from across the U.S. participated in the International Business Summer Academy, sponsored by the Boeing Institute of International Business.

2. Participants in the Sports Business Academy tour the locker room and facilities of the St. Louis Rams football team.

3. Area teens participating in the Allsup Entrepreneurship Academy toured TechArtista, a collaborative working environment near Saint Louis University’s campus.

SUMMERAT SLU

1 2 3

ENTREPRENEURIAL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES The Center for Entrepreneurship has announced the 2014-2015 inductees of the Entrepreneurial Alumni Hall of Fame. This year the Center recognized four SLU graduates for their distinguished careers and personification of the Center’s motto: “Do Good, Do Well.”

The 2014-2015 Hall of Fame class is:

Small Independent Entrepreneurship: Joyce Aboussie CEO of Aboussie & Associates and Telephone Contact Incorporated, a voter contact, telemarketing and direct mail firm

Large Independent Entrepreneurship: Mary Jo Gorman founder of Advanced ICU, which provides hospitals with a sustainable solution to manage their ICUs more effectively

Social Entrepreneurship: Trish Curtis director of the Urban Montessori Institute of St. Louis and founder of City Garden Montessori School and Forest Park Montessori School

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Patricia Smith Thurman president, CEO and co-founder of 10th Street Art Gallery; she retired from MasterCard Technologies in 2010 after serving as an information technology executive for 17 years

Above: Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame inductees for 2014-15 include (from left) Lachlan Johnson (accepting on behalf of Mary Jo Gorman), Patricia Smith Thurman, Trish Curtis and Joyce Aboussie.

Right: Mary Jo Gorman, with husband Michael Borts, is honored at a separate ceremony.


WELCOME TO NEW FACULTYThe Cook School welcomes three new faculty members this fall.

Phillip Oberg, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics

A Wisconsin native, Oberg received a bachelor's degree in economics and mathematics from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, and a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, with primary and secondary specializations in labor economics and econometrics. Prior to joining SLU, Oberg taught courses in microeconomics and poverty, inequality and discrimination.

Oberg’s research has focused on the measurement of income instability/earnings risk and its effects on mortgage lending and distress, particularly over the last business cycle; other work has examined the recent changes in the black-white homeownership gap.

Fei Tan, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Economics

Tan received his bachelor's degree in economics from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, and went on to receive his master's degree in economics and mathematics and his doctorate in economics at Indiana University.

His primary research and teaching interests center on macroeconomics, monetary economics and time series, with special emphases on fiscal and monetary policy interactions, macro econometrics, frequency-domain analysis and financial econometrics. Tan’s research has been published in The Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control and The Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation. Carolyn Westfall, CPA Assistant Professor of Accounting

Originally from Dallas, Westfall received her bachelor's degree in biology and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Rhodes College in Memphis. She received her master's degree in Accounting (MSA) from Southern Methodist University, and went on to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas. After four years in the external audit department, Westfall left to pursue her doctorate at the University of South Carolina. Most recently, she served as a visiting assistant professor in accounting at Miami University.

Left to right: Phillip Oberg, Ph.D.; Fei Tan, Ph.D.; and Carolyn Westfall, CPA, recently joined the Cook School faculty.

/// NEWS AND NOTES

FALL 2015 | 5

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FACULTY DEVELOP NEW AUTOMATION TOOL International business department faculty Nitish Singh, Ph.D., and Mamoun Benmamoun, Ph.D., collaborated with Rana Sobh, Ph.D., at Qatar University to develop an automation tool geared toward Arab online shoppers. The first-of-its-kind tool allows firms and organizations to localize and culturally customize digital content to maximize impact.

This automation tool represents the culmination of extensive research in the Gulf Arab region on e-commerce preferences of online users. It was funded by a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund.

EVENING MBA COURSES OFFERED IN WEST COUNTY LOCATION Select Evening MBA courses are now being offered in Chesterfield, Missouri, at Logan University’s campus. The Cook School began offering a few courses at this location in 2014 and continues to expand course options based on feedback from students who work and live in west St. Louis County.

“The part-time MBA market is highly competitive, and we want to offer options that make getting a Saint Louis University MBA convenient and offers flexibility for our students,” said Suzy Hartmann, assistant dean and director, graduate business programs. “Part of that convenience is being where our current and prospective students live and work.”

To learn more about this flexible location option, contact [email protected] or 314-977-6221.

GLOBAL IMMERSION TRIP TO HUNGARY The first Global Immersion Hungary course for undergraduate students was offered during the spring 2015 semester. Taught by Hadi Alhorr, Ph.D., associate professor of international business, this three-credit course included pre-trip lectures, seminars and readings that provided an overview of global strategic planning in general with a focus on the European Union and Hungary.

“This has been a very successful launch,” Alhorr said. “As we continue to think about ways to strengthen our international business curriculum, it is imperative that we step out of the classroom and provide students with real-world, hands-on experience about the challenges that multinationals face in the global arena.”

As part of the first Global Immersion trip to Hungary, students learned about global strategic planning and visited historic locations, including Corvinus University of Budapest, St. Stephen's Basilica and the Hungarian Parliament Building.

RANKINGS NEWSSaint Louis University’s undergraduate entrepreneurship program is ranked No. 7 in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, SLU has been included on The Princeton Review's “380 Best Colleges List” for 2016, and made the list of the most sustainable campuses in the country.

Only about 15 percent of America's 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in the publication, which is Princeton Review's flagship college guide.

The following graduate business programs are ranked by U.S. News & World Report:

#17 Supply Chain Management

#15 International Business

#73 Evening MBA


FACULTY AND STAFF AWARDS


PAPER OF THE YEAR PALASH BERA, PH.D. /// ASSISTANT PROFESSOR CATEGORY NARESH BANSAL, PH.D. /// ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR CATEGORY DAVID RAPACH, PH.D. /// FULL PROFESSOR CATEGORY

RESEARCH OVER PAST 3 YEARS JINTONG TANG, PH.D. /// ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR CATEGORY CARL MAERTZ, PH.D. /// FULL PROFESSOR CATEGORY

SERVICE AWARDS CARL MAERTZ, PH.D., AND ANDREW KAIKATI, PH.D. /// FACULTY JILL NEWMAN /// STAFF

/// NEWS AND NOTES

TEACHING AWARDS ANASTASIOS KABURAKIS, PH.D. /// FACULTY STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD

SCOTT DUELLMAN, PH.D. /// FACULTY BETA GAMMA SIGMA OUTSTANDING TEACHER

DEBBIE BARBEAU /// FACULTY BETA ALPHA PSI OUTSTANDING TEACHER

MAMOUN BENMAMOUN, PH.D. /// FACULTY EXECUTIVE MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OUTSTANDING TEACHER

MORRIS KALLINY, PH.D. /// FACULTY GRADUATE BUSINESS TEACHER OF THE YEAR

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION ADVISOR EXCELLENCE AWARD BRITTANY LUDWIG /// STAFF

THOMAS M. KNAPP, S.J., DISTINGUISHED FACULTY MEMBER AWARD LAUREL BOONE, J.D. /// FACULTY

FALL 2015 | 7

Dean Mark Higgins welcomed Andy Taylor, the Executive Chairman of Enterprise Holdings as part of the 2015 Boeing Distinguished Guest Lecture in International

Business. Taylor presented “The Enterprise Way - Building a Global Culture of Customer Service.”

SEUNG KIM RECEIVES INAUGURAL INTERNATIONAL EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARDSeung Kim, Ph.D., director of the Boeing Institute of International Business, earned the 2015 International Educator of the Year award from the World Affairs Council of St. Louis.

In accepting the award, Kim expressed his gratitude for those who have partnered with him throughout the years. “None of this can be accomplished alone,” he said. “The work that has been done, and the work that is to come, is a result of partnerships with educators and corporate leaders; global and civic organizations; as well as city, state and federal government offices. Together we can strengthen the global business opportunities for St. Louis, the region and the nation.”

The International Humanitarian of the Year Award recognizes individuals or organizations in St. Louis who are bringing the world together through cultural or humanitarian activities.

During the 10th annual John Cook School of Business Service Day, a volunteer group assembles more than 400 peanut butter sandwiches for The Bridge, a St. Louis-area organization that provides services for the homeless and other at-risk members of the community.

Accounting students visit the Madrid office of Ernst & Young (left) and work in the student lounge at SLU-Madrid (right).

STUDY ABROAD COURSES IN MADRIDMaster of Accounting and MBA students participated in study abroad classes held at Saint Louis University's Madrid campus in May 2015. Hadi Alhorr, Ph.D., led an International Business-European Perspectives class while Debbie Pike led an Advanced Audit class.

“This course gave the students the chance to align auditing concepts with the practice of an audit and preparing audit work papers, Pike said. “We also were able to compare audit practices between the U.S. and Europe first hand. We had the opportunity to see this in action by visiting the St. Louis office of Ernst & Young before the immersion and the Madrid office of EY during our time in Spain.”

Seung Kim, Ph.D., accepts the first International Educator of the Year Award from the World Affairs Council of St. Louis.


D E A N ’ S B R E A K FA S T S E R I E S7 : 3 0 A . M .

T H U R S DAY, N OV E M B E R 5

J O H N A N D L U C Y C O O K H A L L , A - B A U D I TO R I U M

You are invited to join the Cook School for the following Dean’s Breakfast events. The complimentary networking breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. and the presentation begins at 8 a.m. in the A-B Auditorium. Read more: deansbreakfast.slu.edu.

S P E C I A L G U E S T: General Frank J. Grass, Chief, National Guard Bureau, U.S. Department of Defense

C A R E E R R E S O U R C E C E N T E R E V E N T4 - 6 P. M .

T U E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 7

J O H N A N D L U C Y C O O K H A L L , A - B A U D I TO R I U M

S P E C I A L G U E S T: Fred Cook, CEO, Golin Harris and author of Improvise: Unconventional Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO

B I I B E V E N T SBoeing Institute of International Business invites you to attend the following upcoming event. For more information and to register, visit biib.slu.edu or contact [email protected].

M O N S A N TO I N T E R N AT I O N A L B U S I N E S S C O N F E R E N C E

F R I DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 0 • 8 A . M .

B U S C H S T U D E N T C E N T E R

G R A D UAT E B U S I N E S S I N F O R M AT I O N S E S S I O N S5 : 3 0 P. M .

J O H N A N D L U C Y C O O K H A L L , AT R I U M

Attend an information session and learn how a SLU graduate business degree can work for you. All sessions begin at 5:30 p.m. and include a welcome reception with faculty a roundtable discussion with alumni, our Career Resources Center and admissions representatives.

To register, visit gradbiz.slu.edu. One-on-one sessions also available by appointment: [email protected] or 314-977-6221.

T H U R S DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 2 T U E S DAY, D E C E M B E R 8

S U P P LY C H A I N FA L L 2 0 1 5 C E RT I F I C AT E S A N D C O U R S E S N OW AVA I L A B L EThe Center is offering the following individual professional courses:

N OV. 1 9 - 2 0

T R A N S P O RTAT I O N & WA R E H O U S E M A N A G E M E N T C O U R S E

D E C . 1 1

R E S E A R C H P R O J E C T R E V I E W & P R E S E N TAT I O N C O U R S E

F O R U P DAT E S O N E V E N T S P L E A S E V I S I T: B U S I N E S S . S L U . E D U / E V E N T S

2015 FALL CALENDAR

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ALUMNI NEWS AND EVENTS

VOLUNTEER AS AN ADVISOR TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF SLU ALUMNI!Join SLUvisors, the new Saint Louis University alumni advisor network and enable students to reach out to you for career advice.

Register today at: slu.evisors.com.

How does it work?

R E G I S T E R / / / Create a professional bio (or import your LinkedIn profile), indicate your availability and areas of expertise.

G E T D I S C OV E R E D / / / Your profile will show up for persons searching for your know-how.

C O N N E C T / / / Connect with students who request a phone conversation.

“SLUvisors provides a great way for students to connect with and learn from the experiences of our alumni,” said Career Resources Director Barb Gradala. “It's an opportunity for our alumni to give back in an impactful way, whenever and how often they wish, on topics that are professionally meaningful to them.”

SLU alumni also can register as an advisee to tap the expertise of other alumni.

Contact Barb Gradala at [email protected] for more information.

TRIVIA NIGHT JANUARY 23, 20166 p.m. Doors open

6:30 p.m. Trivia starts

Cost: $250 (Regular table) $400 (Premium table)

Join fellow Cook School alumni for the annual Trivia Night, hosted by the John Cook School of Business Alumni Engagement Board.

The proceeds support the John Cook School of Business Alumni Scholarship Fund.

For more information and to register online, please visit alumni.slu.edu/trvia16.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 20159:30 a.m. Wool Ballroom, Busch Student Center

Santa is coming to SLU. Bring the children in your life to visit with Santa and celebrate the holiday season at this annual event.

For more information and to register online, visit alumni.slu.edu/santa15.


Bob Brockhaus, Ph.D., got his first taste of entrepreneurship in 1969, when he decided to open a restaurant adjacent to the campus of the University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL).

Fresh from leaving his traditional corporate job managing Ralston Purina’s West Coast operations, Brockhaus was eager to try his hand at restaurant ownership.

“At the time, that university had 10,000 students, no cafeteria, and I had the nearest commercial building to campus,” he said.

Though it seemed like a recipe for success, it didn’t take Brockhaus long to realize just how little he knew about sustaining a small business.

“I had an engineering degree and an MBA, and yet I realized how clueless I was about starting and running a small business,” he said. “How do you market? How do you get your capital? How do you staff it? You don't manage the way large companies do. It is far more personalized.”

During the fledgling restaurant's first summer of operation, Brockhaus learned about an opportunity to serve as a part-time instructor at the UMSL business school. He decided to pursue it.

“Here was an opportunity to earn a little extra money and learn about my customers – faculty, students and staff. So I applied, they hired me and I fell in love with teaching,” he said.

A few years later, he sold the restaurant and enrolled in the doctoral program in business at Washington University. Before completing the program, however, he received an unexpected call from Saint Louis University.

“They were eager to fill a vacancy created when a production management instructor unexpectedly left in the middle of the year,”

Brockhaus said. “Because I was an engineer, had been running manufacturing plants on the West Coast and had a minor in production management, SLU hired me.”

When Department Chair Sam Barone, Ph.D., learned that Brockhaus’ dissertation topic explored the psychology of entrepreneurs, he invited Brockhaus to teach a course on entrepreneurship.

“To this day, that dumbfounds me,” Brockhaus said. “Nobody taught entrepreneurship in 1973. As the years went by, I realized just how unusual Sam's suggestion was and the major impact it has had on my life.”

SLU offered its first graduate entrepreneurship course in summer 1973, and student demand exceeded classroom capacity. But the enthusiastic student response didn’t obscure the fact that entrepreneurship suffered from an overall lack of respect as a serious academic field of study.

“Many of my fellow faculty members considered entrepreneurship a Mickey-Mouse, watered-down business course that did not belong in a university,” he said. “Luckily, I had supportive department chairs and deans over the years, and I was able to convince other faculty members of the value of these courses.”

The field got a major credibility boost a few years later when a researcher discovered that the majority of new jobs being created in the U.S. came from entrepreneurial firms rather than established large businesses.

“The politicians got hold of the data and started beating the entrepreneurial drum,” Brockhaus said. “Then the popular press began talking about it, so there was a wave that began in the late ’70s that really carried entrepreneurship to the prominence that it has today.”

ENTREPRENEURSHIPTHE ENTREPRENEUR OF

THE FOUNDER OF THE COOK SCHOOL’S RENOWNED ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM AND CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP REFLECTS ON HIS AMAZING JOURNEY.

FALL 2015 | 11

/// LISTED IN WHO’S WHO IN THE WORLD, WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA, WHO’S WHO IN FINANCE AND INDUSTRY, INTERNATIONAL WHO’S WHO IN EDUCATION, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSMEN WHO’S WHO,

AS WELL AS MORE THAN 15 OTHER BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES OF DISTINCTION.

/// SERVED AS AN ELECTED DELEGATE TO THE 1986 AND 1995 WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON SMALL BUSINESS.

/// RESEARCH PUBLISHED BY MORE THAN A DOZEN ACADEMIC JOURNALS, INCLUDING THE ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW AND INTERNATIONALES GEWERBEARCHIV.

/// IS A FELLOW OF FIVE DIFFERENT ACADEMIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP ORGANIZATIONS.

1986 / 1995

A PIONEER AND INNOVATOR

/// EARNED THE NATIONAL RESEARCH ADVOCATE AWARD PRESENTED BY THE U.S. SMALL BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION IN 2003.

2003FIVE


A LEADING VOICEBrockhaus’ pioneering research and contributions to the burgeoning field soon began to earn him national and international recognition.

He became involved in the International Council for Small Business, an organization that he would eventually lead as its international president and executive director. His active involvement led to SLU serving as the organization’s world headquarters from the '80s until he left the University in 2004.

He also started an entrepreneurship interest group within the Academy of Management that would eventually become one of the academy’s largest and most influential communities. And he was a founder and national president of the Small Business Institute Directors Association, composed of university professors whose students provide free consulting work for small businesses.

After completing a six-month Fulbright Fellowship in Entrepreneurship at the University of Waikato in New Zealand in 1985, Brockhaus took a leave of absence from SLU and accepted a new opportunity as the first L.L. McAninch Chair of Entrepreneurship at Kansas State University.

But 18 months later, at the urging of Dean Emery Turner, Ph.D., he returned to SLU to launch the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (the forerunner to the Center for Entrepreneurship). It was one of only a handful of centers that existed in the U.S. at the time.

“It started with me and an assistant, and we did what we could to get out in the community and begin putting on programs,” he said. “In many ways, I was running a small business. We received no funding, so when we ran programs, they had to yield a profit.”

Eventually, Jefferson Smurfit Corp. stepped in to help fund the center, and the Coleman Foundation funded an entrepreneurship chair for Brockhaus — at the time, the only endowed chair in the history of the Cook School.

Brockhaus also expanded the program’s academic expertise when he recruited Jerome Katz, Ph.D., from the Wharton School in 1987 to join the faculty as a full-time entrepreneurship professor.

“When I came to SLU, I knew about the classes and the center, but when I saw what Bob had been able to grow as pretty much a one-man show, I was completely floored,” Katz said. “I would argue that no one else in America had accomplished so much on his own for the field of entrepreneurship. He put SLU and St. Louis on the global map of entrepreneurship long before the rest of the world even knew how to spell the word.”

In fact, Brockhaus became one of the most cited independent entrepreneurship researchers in the world, serving as author or co-author of several books and more than 80 research papers on the psychological, sociological and environmental perspectives of entrepreneurship. He

has also lectured in more than 20 countries and testified before both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

He attributes his success to a combination of creativity, perseverance and the presence of God in his life.

“I hit the wave when it was coming through,” he said. “Had I gotten into the field 10 years later, nobody would’ve heard of me. If it were 10 years earlier, nothing would’ve happened. I was at the right place at the right time, with a lot of hard work and a little luck sprinkled into the mix. Plus, I had the support of a truly dedicated staff, held

/// THE ENTREPRENEUR OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Left: Three student winners of the Missouri Collegiate Entrepreneur Award are flanked by Brockhaus; Jerry Katz, Ph.D., and Associate Director Sharon Bower.

Above: The SLU entrepreneurship staff in the late 1980s included (from left) Jerry Katz, Ph.D.; Fatema Rangwala; Sharon Bower; Brockhaus; Ginni Campbell; Gene O’Neill; Scott Safranski, Ph.D.; and Jeanne Rhodes.

“IN ADDITION TO BEING INCREDIBLY BRILLIANT, WITH A MIND LIKE A STEEL TRAP, BOB IS ABLE TO BRIDGE THE PRACTICAL, DAY-TO-DAY PROBLEMS THAT BUSINESS PEOPLE FACE WITH TECHNIQUES AND RESEARCH THAT ACADEMIA BRINGS TO THE TABLE. THERE ARE NOT MANY FACULTY MEMBERS IN BUSINESS SCHOOLS THAT HAVE HAD SUCH HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD.”

- JOHN GALLEAZZI (BA ’68, MBA ’77)

FALL 2015 | 13

together by Jeanne Rhodes, my administrative assistant and the only one who can read my handwriting.”

His numerous contributions also included the establishment of the Family Firm Forum to provide resources and support for the growing segment of family-run businesses in the region. The success of that endeavor led to the development of the Institute for Private Business, which continues to help owners and leaders of family and other private businesses to resolve critical issues within their firms.

ALL IN THE FAMILYIn 2004, Brockhaus left the University to embark on a different kind of entrepreneurial venture. He joined forces with his wife, Joyce Brockhaus, Ph.D., a psychologist and family and marriage therapist with her own successful private practice.

The Brockhaus Group specializes in working with family businesses that struggle with issues such as sibling disputes, strategic planning, succession planning and other conflicts within family-owned enterprises. The consulting practice blends Joyce’s expertise as a therapist with Bob’s knowledge of business dynamics. Clients have included prominent businesses in St. Louis and around the world.

“Most clients come to us when they’re really hurting,” Brockhaus said. “While this can make our work more difficult, each individual is also more willing to accept change as they realize that they cannot continue without making changes.”

Based on their significant contributions to family businesses, both Bob and Joyce have been appointed fellows of the Family Firm Institute, the leading association for family enterprise professionals worldwide.

“Once again, it was an emerging field and we caught the wave at the right time,” he said.

It’s a familiar pattern that has not only shaped an amazing career, but also contributed to a world-class entrepreneurship program that has been ranked among the top 30 programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report every year since 1998.

“BOB WAS THE SOLE DRIVER BEHIND CREATING THE FAMILY FIRM FORUM, WHICH WAS TRUE TO THE JESUIT MISSION OF REACHING INTO THE COMMUNITY TO HELP ADDRESS THE COMMON STRUGGLES OF PRIVATE BUSINESSES. HE HELPED PEOPLE TO SEE BEYOND THE MISGUIDED BELIEF THAT ALL OF OUR PROBLEMS WERE UNIQUE, AND TO REALLY FACE THE BASIC ISSUES THAT FAMILIES HAVE.”

- MICHAEL MEDART (MBA ’82), PRESIDENT, MEDART, INC., AND COOK SCHOOL EXECUTIVE ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Brockhaus congratulates Missouri Collegiate Entrepreneur Award recipient Gregory Dinger.

Above: In 1993, Brockhaus (far right) moderates a panel of experts from the St. Louis community during the Exploring Entrepreneurship event hosted by the School of Business.

Left: Brockhaus addresses entrepreneurship faculty and researchers from around the world at the Gateway Series for Entrepreneurship Research Conference, an annual think tank sponsored by the Cook School between 1987 and 2013.

“BOB WAS ONE OF THE ‘FOUNDING FATHERS’ OF THE FIELD OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP. HE WENT ON TO BE THE HEAD OF EVERY MAJOR ORGANIZATION FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACADEMICS IN THE U.S., AND MOST OF THE GLOBAL ONES. HIS RESEARCH PAPERS WERE AMONG THE MOST CITED BY ACADEMICS WORLDWIDE. HE WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL ALL-AROUND ACADEMIC."

- JERRY KATZ, PH.D., COLEMAN FOUNDATION PROFESSOR IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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THE MILITARYCONNECTIONSTUDENTS WITH MILITARY BACKGROUNDS ARE CHOOSING THE COOK SCHOOL TO BROADEN AND COMPLEMENT THEIR EXPERIENCE.

The military career of Major Betty Myrthil (MBA ’12) has included deployments to South Korea and Iraq as well as a journey to the front lines of the U.S. Army’s newest battlefield: cyberspace.

She recently earned a coveted position as a military intelligence officer in the Army’s newly formed Cyber branch, whose aim is to defend the nation against online threats.

Based in Maryland, Myrthil’s current assignment is the latest challenge in a diverse military career that included the opportunity to pursue her MBA degree at Saint Louis University.

She completed the degree while stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, and she chose the Cook School because of the personal interaction she experienced.

“I just felt more at home at SLU because of the connections I made immediately and the constant support that they provided me,” Myrthil said. “Another aspect that I liked was the small classroom environment. I was used to that from my undergraduate experience at West Point, so I wanted to mimic it because it allows you to have more one-on-one interaction with teachers.”

Earning an MBA equipped Myrthil with valuable skills that complemented her Army experience and gave her a competitive edge within both military and civilian sectors.

MAJOR BETTY MYRTHIL

“I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND STRATEGIC CONCEPTS AND DEVELOP SKILLS THAT WOULD MAKE ME MORE MARKETABLE AND DIVERSIFY MY CAREER. THE BUSINESS CONCEPTS I LEARNED IN MARKETING, STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP I’VE BEEN ABLE TO APPLY IN THE ARMY.”

- MAJOR BETTY MYRTHIL

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“I wanted to be able to understand strategic concepts and develop skills that would make me more marketable and diversify my career,” she said. “The business concepts I learned in marketing, strategy and leadership I’ve been able to apply in the Army.”

Prior to joining the Army’s Cyber branch, Myrthil served as the diversity admissions officer at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she oversaw a nationwide marketing strategy to help the institution achieve its goal of increasing diversity across demographic categories. During her three-year tenure, West Point exceeded all of its targets for increasing enrollment among women, African-American and Hispanic students.

“We’re still not where we should be, but we’re getting there,” she said. “Our Army should look exactly like the entire U.S. population.”

Myrthil is excited by the opportunities within the Army’s newest and most technologically advanced branch.

“Since this is a new role, the sky’s the limit,” she said. “It’s the culmination of the skills and experience I received from the Army and from SLU.”

A CALL TO SERVICEFor Erik Nielsen (MBA ’11), an intense desire to serve his country first emerged when he was a junior at McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester, NY.

Though he seriously considered enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduation, his parents convinced him to enroll in college instead.

After earning an economics degree from Penn State University in 1990, his desire to serve was stronger than ever, so he entered the Marine Corps through an officer-training program.

“I had no direct family history in the military since the Civil War, but I saw a Marines advertisement that really spoke to me,” he said. “I wanted to take that challenge on.”

He completed the 10-week Officer Candidate Course training in October 1990, about a month after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

“We were all told that if we made it through officer candidate school, we would be combat replacement platoon commanders, and everything I read scared the heck out of me,” he said. “But I ended up having a tremendous experience.”

ERIK NIELSEN

“I READ A BOOK ONCE THAT REFERRED TO THE MARINE CORPS AS THE JESUITS OF THE U.S. MILITARY, AND I THOUGHT IT WAS IRONIC, BUT VERY FITTING. THE ABSOLUTE DEDICATION TO SERVICE OF OTHERS AND FOR OTHERS GOES HAND-IN-HAND WITH THE JESUIT MISSION.”

- ERIK NIELSEN


Nielsen spent the next decade completing a series of leadership posts that included serving as an officer of amphibious armor vehicles as well as a logistics officer. He also traveled to far-flung locations, including 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle for NATO exercises, southeastern Turkey to assess the logistics of a potential northern attack on Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to serve thousands of Haitian refugees.

“The places I traveled were definitely not Cancun, the French Riviera or the Swiss Alps,” he said. “We saw poverty, starvation and people killed for not believing what somebody else believed.”

After earning an honorable discharge in 2003, he moved to St. Louis to be close to family and secured a sales position with a pharmaceutical company. He took advantage of the tuition benefits offered by the G.I. bill to enroll in the part-time MBA program at SLU.

“I entered the MBA program thinking I was going to open my own company and show them all how it’s done,” he said. “Instead, I ended up learning a whole lot about how companies run the many facets of their operations – from accounting to finance to economics and leadership, as well as the legal, ethical and moral decision-making that is involved.”

He currently works as an account manager with Secure Data Technologies, a veteran-owned IT services company in O’Fallon, Ill.

He also volunteers for the FOCUS Marines Foundation, which helps wounded, ill and injured Marines and Corpsmen to successfully transition from military to civilian lives.

He continues to get together with fellow Marines and cherishes the bond he shares with everyone who has served their country.

“That whole confluence of experiences brings about a bond in service people that is very special,” Nielsen said. “I read a book once that referred to the Marine Corps as the Jesuits of the U.S. military, and I thought it was ironic, but very fitting. The absolute dedication to service of others and for others goes hand-in-hand with the Jesuit mission.”

REACHING OUTAs program director for military outreach, Michael Bamber connects with potential SLU students from diverse military backgrounds. They range from undergraduates considering enrolling in the ROTC program to veterans and their family members.

“Quite a few of our military population at SLU are dependent sons or daughters of service members who have given their post-911 GI bill educational benefit to their children,” said Bamber, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army.

Bamber’s own military experience began when he joined the ROTC program as a college undergraduate student at Xavier University in Cincinnati. After graduation, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery and spent 20 years in active duty with the U.S. Army and Army Active Guard Reserve.

“Beyond the teamwork and camaraderie, the military gives you a sense of focus, purpose and having a mission to do,” he said. “It’s very much like any athletic team: in order for that team to be successful, they have to work together and tap into every member’s strength and make them work collectively for the good of the whole.”

According to Bamber, the military equips individuals with the skills and discipline that translate well to the academic environment at SLU.

“We emphasize the Jesuit mission and overall quality of education, which provides an ideal environment for students from a military background,” he said.

And the pool of potential students is expected to increase as the U.S. military continues to shrink.

“Congress is in the process of reducing the size of active military across the board, so there are going to be a lot of benefits-eligible veterans discharged from the military,” Bamber said. “They’re either going to school, going to work or both.”

/// THE MILITARY CONNECTION

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“WE EMPHASIZE THE JESUIT MISSION AND OVERALL QUALITY OF EDUCATION, WHICH PROVIDES AN IDEAL ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS FROM A MILITARY BACKGROUND.”

- MICHAEL BAMBER

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RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY DAVID RAPACH, JOHN SIMON ENDOWED CHAIR OF ECONOMICS, IS PROVIDING INVESTORS WITH VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO FUTURE STOCK PERFORMANCE.

By taking the long view on “short sales,” David Rapach, Ph.D., has identified a valuable tool for predicting future stock performance.

Working in collaboration with two Washington University researchers, Rapach analyzed aggregate data on the investment strategy known as short sales, which reverses the conventional wisdom of buying low and selling high. In a short sale, when an investor anticipates that a stock’s value will drop, he or she borrows shares from an investment broker and later purchases equivalent shares – ideally at a lower value – to repay the broker. The short seller’s goal is to profit from the transaction, but the risk is that the shares may actually increase, rather than decrease, in value.

“By measuring the predictive power of short selling for stock returns, my co-authors and I show that the total amount of short interest positions held by short sellers provides a strong signal of the future of returns on the S&P 500 market portfolio,” Rapach said.

The research is based on monthly short interest data the team gathered on publicly listed U.S. stocks from 1973 through 2013.

“We systematically analyzed the data and found significant evidence that short sellers are able to anticipate what share prices are going to do in the near future,” he said. “And we discovered that aggregate short selling is one of the best predictors of broad stock market returns.”

Given the potential value of this insight to the investment community, the research

has attracted mainstream media attention, including articles in the Dallas Morning News as well as a Bloomberg Business article that was picked up by numerous other media outlets.

“This is not an infomercial or get-rich-quick strategy,” Rapach said. “A large component of the market return is inherently unpredictable. But if you use this strategy to guide your asset allocation, over time, your portfolio performance will be substantially better than if you ignore the information in aggregate short selling.”

Beyond helping individuals to become more informed and successful investors, Rapach is primarily interested in examining what stock return predictability says about the structure of the economy and the functioning of financial markets.

“As I tell my students, financial markets are crucial in how we allocate scarce financial resources,” he said. “When financial markets function well, they hold great promise to improve human welfare. When they don’t perform well, as we’ve unfortunately seen from the recent financial crisis, the outcome can be tragic. Ultimately, I want to better understand how financial markets work because they have such important implications for society at large.”

In his newly appointed role as John Simon Endowed Chair in Economics, Rapach plans to continue advancing research across a broad range of economics topics.

“I look forward to the additional opportunities and resources for conducting and sharing research,” he said.

INSIGHTMARKET

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FLIGHTSTATISTICS TAKE

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MARK FERRIS USES TWITTER TO MAKE STATISTICS MORE RELEVANT AND UNDERSTANDABLE TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS.

In the last few years, Mark Ferris, Ph.D., has observed a couple of common stumbling blocks for students in his Introduction to Statistics class.

Because many of these students are at the early stages of their business education, they aren’t yet familiar with the general business concepts emphasized in statistics textbooks. Students also struggle to apply mathematical concepts and formulas to real-world applications.

To address these obstacles, Ferris decided to introduce an academic resource most of his students have absolutely no trouble understanding: Twitter. This popular social media community allows users to curate and share short messages, photos and article links – known as “tweets” – on any topic imaginable.

But rather than focusing on high-profile celebrity gossip or viral videos, Ferris asks students to focus on Twitter’s more serious side.

“Most people are not aware of the knowledge generation side of Twitter,” he said. “All of the publications that I’d like my students to read about in business and the world in general have tweet-producing feeds that you can tap into every single day. It’s an incredibly rich source of information with amazing texture.”

Ferris said Twitter is an effective teaching tool because it provides real-time information with the context that is required to bring statistics principles to life.

“At its heart, statistics is a contextual discipline,” he said. “It’s not very helpful without the context with which you learn it, whether that’s science, health, economics, marketing or management.”

Ferris begins each semester by requiring students to set up a new Twitter profile and to start building a presence by following 10 statistics-producing entities, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist or Pew Research.

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Each week, students tweet out links to seven new articles that interest them on topics ranging from unemployment rates to medical research to sports trivia.

“They can shape the assignments any way they like,” he said. “By the end of the class, they’ve got more than 100 tweets and a set of 50 profiles they’re following.”

The assignment also includes a social justice component, with students required to tweet articles related to a weekly poverty-related topic, such as hunger, income inequality, illiteracy, healthcare or seniors.

Ferris believes statistics can help broaden people’s perspectives on important societal issues such as poverty.

“There seems to be an idea out there that the reason people are poor is because they’re lazy, and that’s just not true. Poverty is much more nuanced,” he said. “By changing

people’s perspectives about how they view poor people, it opens up ideas of what we could do to try to ameliorate some of these issues.”

To translate dry numbers into tangible action, Ferris invites his students to participate in the annual Poverty by the Numbers 5K Run/Walk, an event he sponsors which raises money for several northside community organizations.

He also introduces them to The Line, a documentary that chronicles the stories of people living at or below the poverty line.

“It puts a human face to the issue and it tells a story,” Ferris said. “Even though numbers are important, as humans we like stories. That’s how we remember things and how they make an impact on us.”

“AT ITS HEART, STATISTICS IS A CONTEXTUAL DISCIPLINE. IT’S NOT VERY HELPFUL WITHOUT THE CONTEXT WITH WHICH YOU LEARN IT, WHETHER THAT’S SCIENCE, HEALTH, ECONOMICS, MARKETING OR MANAGEMENT.”

- MARK FERRIS, PH.D.

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Mark Ferris, Ph.D., sponsors the annual Poverty by the Numbers 5K Run/Walk to help his students translate statistics into action.


Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, with the vast majority of its 27 million people living on less than a dollar a day. It is also a country with considerable strategic value because it is sandwiched between two large neighbors: China and India. Until recently, the country was mired in a civil war between the monarchy and the Maoist parties. Since overthrowing its previous king, the country has been trying to draft a new constitution for the last five years.

I have personally been involved with Nepal for the last decade, with all of my efforts focused on high school and university education for poor, but talented, young men and women. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to help about 80 students with their high school and college careers as well as to witness 15 of them attend school in the U.S., including four who graduated from Saint Louis University.

The tragic earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015 had been predicted for many years, as the country has historically experienced earthquakes roughly every 75 years, and it had been more than 80 years since the last one.

Although the death toll was estimated at more than 10,000, the country was very fortunate that the major quake happened just before noon, when many people were away from their houses or at least awake and able to vacate their dwellings quickly. If this quake had occurred during the evening, I think the death toll would have been massive.

Sadly, though, many thousands of homes throughout the country were destroyed or so structurally damaged as to not be inhabitable anymore. Damage in the capital city of Kathmandu was extensive, and all of the city’s open fields are now filled with tents housing thousands of families.

In the villages outside of Kathmandu, where the bulk of the population lives, most homes are built out of stone or brick, with mud mortar rather than concrete. Because this type of construction provides so little support, the houses simply collapsed with the shaking caused by the earthquake. In dozens and dozens of villages, there is not a single structure left standing. In addition, medical care — which is inadequate even in the best of times — has been largely nonexistent in the more remote areas.

Monsoon rains, which started in mid-June and will last until September, have only added to the misery for many people who lack even a temporary structure to protect them from the heavy rains. And because of the extensive earth movement caused by the earthquake, there is a real fear that major landslides will start occurring as a result of the heavy moisture over a sustained period.

The Nepali people are wonderful, warm, caring and resilient. Without question, they will continue to need considerable outside assistance to recover from this tragedy, and that aid is not likely to come quickly. They will need all our support and prayers to get back to some sense of normality.

SHAREHOLDER REFLECTION

John Cook (BSBA '64) is a retired chairman, chief executive officer and founder of PRG-Schultz International, Inc., and the namesake of the John Cook School of Business. Since retiring in 2005, Cook has focused on his philanthropic efforts, believing that a key to solving the world’s problems is education. It’s a philosophy reinforced by his global travels to 70 countries, during which he has witnessed the most extreme examples of poverty. As a result, he has chosen to devote the majority of his philanthropic outreach to creating new education opportunities for underserved people in Thailand and Nepal.

BY JOHN COOK, RETIRED CHAIRMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND FOUNDER OF PRG-SCHULTZ INTERNATIONAL, INC.

REBUILD

AFTER THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE

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THE TRAGIC EARTHQUAKE THAT STRUCK NEPAL IN APRIL 2015 HAD BEEN PREDICTED FOR MANY YEARS, AS THE COUNTRY HAS HISTORICALLY EXPERIENCED EARTHQUAKES ROUGHLY EVERY 75 YEARS, AND IT HAD BEEN MORE THAN 80 YEARS SINCE THE LAST ONE.

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Shareholder Alumni Magazine Fall 2015: The Entrepreneur of Entrepreneurship

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