Home Magazine A copious collection of conferences

A copious collection of conferences

May 29, 2019

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Once again Goizueta played host to a bevy of conferences, forums and summits, drawing students, scholars and business leaders to campus to make connections and enhance learning.

UBSLC

In February, this year’s Undergraduate Business School Leadership Conference (UBSLC) explored the concept of innovation during networking opportunities, team building activities and thought-provoking talks with Goizueta professors.

In addition to alumni sharing key aspects of their experience and faculty providing insight, students were treated to a fireside chat with keynote Victor Luis, CEO of Tapestry Inc., a New York–based house of modern luxury lifestyle brands including Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman.

Luis discussed the company’s core values and the importance of getting agreement across the organization. “We asked them, across the three brands, what they believed in,” said Luis. The resulting values—optimism, innovation and inclusivity—bind Tapestry’s brands together while enabling them to seek individual brand expression.

Also in February, six teams were chosen to present their visions of healthcare delivery in 2040 at Goizueta’s Healthcare Futuring Competition finals, in partnership with Goizueta Healthcare Association. The competition asked students to complete a “futuring,” or scenario development, to envision the landscape of the U.S. healthcare system in 20 years. Students from throughout the Emory community and other Atlanta-area schools participated to compete for a prize pool of $10,000.

Creator and organizer Renee Dye, associate professor in the practice of organization & management at Goizueta, said the participants excelled at the challenge. “All of the judges were tremendously impressed with the creativity each of the student teams demonstrated in describing their visions for Healthcare 2040,” Dye said. “We were even more impressed with the students’ command of the complex issues facing U.S. healthcare that will play out over the next two decades.”

The winning team, Healthcare Odyssey, was composed of Shirley Gao 20MBA/MPH, Taylor Richardson 20MBA, Steven Cheng 19MBA, Avi Scher 20MBA and Marnie Harris 20MBA.

In their vision of the future, Healthcare Odyssey saw the consumer becoming the center of a healthcare system where information is just as valuable as dollars. They envisioned the creation of a trusted third-party data storage system they called the Biodata Bank.

In March, it was the alumni’s turn to show their skillset along with other faculty during the mEmory Accounting Research Conference, which highlighted the research of Goizueta faculty and current and past PhD students.

“The conference provided an ideal forum to celebrate the 100th anniversary by bringing together current and former faculty and alumni,” said Karen Sedatole, one of the organizers. “The goal is to make a ‘mEmory’ by showcasing our rich history of developing top researchers.” Jan Barton, Usha Rackliffe and Karen Ton rounded out the faculty coordinators.

Among the presenters were:

Suhas Sridharan, presenting “Non-GAAP Disclosures and Investor Uncertainty”
Cassandra Estep, presenting “The Unintended Consequences of Material Weakness Reporting on Auditors’ Acceptance of Aggressive Client Reporting”
Paul Madsen 10PhD, presenting “Is Accounting a Miserable Job?”
Willie Choi 11PhD, presenting “When Do Tangible Rewards Motivate Greater Effort Than Cash Rewards? An Analysis of Three Commonly Cited Differences”

Emory Entrepreneurship Summit

The fifth annual Entrepreneurship Summit rang in the month of May. This year’s offerings included straight talk about the tough choices entrepreneurs have to make and the way alumni have overcome obstacles to reap rewards.

During the summit, participants had the chance to network, hear from successful entrepreneurial alumni, learn from micro-entrepreneurs and present their own ideas in the “Pitch the Summit” competition. Attendees also heard the kickoff Founders’ Addresses from William Hockey 12BBA, cofounder, president and CTO at Plaid and David Politis 04C, founder and CEO of BetterCloud.

Prior to the summit, student entrepreneurs had the opportunity to compete in early rounds of the Pitch the Summit competition. Those who advanced to the final rounds presented their ideas to a panel of distinguished entrepreneurial judges, who selected the most successful three pitches, which were then delivered in an open session.

The winning team was named Innohealth Diagnostics and was pitched by Angela Udongwo 20MPH. The team developed a test for the parasitic disease schistosomiasis, which they hope will increase early detection and lower the rate of the disease. The winners will receive guidance, financial support and a seat for a semester at Atlanta Tech Village.

Other alumni entrepreneur presenters included: