Around the FCB
Franke CEO Speaker Series Continues
The W. A. Franke CEO Speaker Series brought three top executives to campus this semester to continue this connection to the real-world experience for the FCB students, faculty, and staff.
Ahmed Al-Subaey Al-Subaey's campus visit was part of the Franke CEO Speaker Series and the event was cosponsored by the Center for International Education and the College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Sciences. |
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Al-Subaey presented on “The Challenge of Accelerating Global Energy Demand and Environmental Sustainability.” In advocating energy interdependence, he argued that by developing strong relationships between producing and consuming countries for the allocation of energy supplies and by collaborating across borders for renewable energy development, nations underscore their shared energy future and their responsibility to advance energy security. Read the full story here. |
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Dr. Judy Mohraz
Next in The W. A. Franke CEO Speaker Series on March 11 was Dr. Judy Jolley Mohraz, president and CEO of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust is a private independent foundation focused on the fields of health; education; children; arts and culture; older adults; and religious organizations. In the past year, the Trust invested over $25 million in the Greater Phoenix community.
Dr. Mohraz explained that there are many different career pathways that lead to philanthropy. Her personal path led from a Bachelor of Arts and Masters in history (Baylor University) and Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) to serving as president of Goucher College in Baltimore before joining the Trust.
Dr. Mohraz related the history of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust and discussed many of the challenges facing philanthropy in the wake of the current economic crisis. As a young state without a long established history of philanthropy, Arizona is in the bottom ten states in per capita philanthropy. According to Dr. Mohraz, Arizona foundations have responded to this challenge by collaborating to better leverage their dollars. The goal of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust is to find very narrow areas to invest in to make a strategic impact. Dr. Mohraz closed by saying that the mark of an effective business is its ability to serve the community.
Vince Roig
On April 7, 2009, students, faculty, and staff gathered to hear Vince Roig, Chairman of the Helios Education Foundation, present in The W. A. Franke CEO Speaker Series. Helios Education Foundation is dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals in Arizona and Florida by creating opportunities for success in three key impact areas: Early Childhood Education; the Transition Years (Grades 5 -12); and Postsecondary Scholarships.
Mr. Roig discussed the history of the Helios Education Foundation and explained the reasoning behind its transformation from a student loan provider to a non-profit organization. Prior to forming the Foundation, Mr. Roig was President and CEO of Southwest Student Services Corporation. Southwest was a full service student loan provider. While with Southwest, Mr. Roig was the driving force behind its evolution from small secondary market to one of the largest independent student lender/servicers in the country.
In February 2004, the Board of Directors of Southwest and its affiliates elected to convert and reorganize the companies in order to create an education foundation. All of the student loan operations of Southwest and its affiliates were transferred to a newly created for-profit Southwest Student Services Corporation, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Helios. In a transaction effective October 15, 2004, Helios sold the stock of Southwest Student Services Corporation to SLM Corporation for just over $500 million. The net proceeds of the sale funded Helios.
Mr. Roig suggested that by viewing the Pre-K through 12 education system as an interconnected continuum of learning and skill-building, the Foundation understands each stage contributes to the postsecondary success of young adults. By providing support to students across the continuum, Helios Education Foundation aims to help keep Arizona and Florida youth in school, graduating and continuing on to postsecondary education.
According to Mr. Roig, the Foundation recently funded the Helios Scholars Program with $6.5 million for the next 25 years. This program funds summer internships for high school students interested in math and science at TGen, a biomedical research institute. Mr. Roig explained that the goal of this program was to make sure that individuals who had great potential but not a lot of resources would have a chance to participate in advanced learning opportunities.
Scholars & Donors Recognition Breakfast
The 43rd annual Scholars & Donors Breakfast was held on April 24.The breakfast provides the opportunity for benefactors to meet their scholarship recipients.
Scholarships totaled more than $301,000. We are thankful that in these times, our students can benefit from such generosity.
