June 2007

Alumni Association Honors Smeal Board Of Visitors Member

Linda Wolf, a member of the Smeal College of Business Board of Visitors, has been named an Honorary Alumna by the Penn State Alumni Association. Wolf and three other longtime champions and benefactors of Penn State were honored during a ceremony on June 1 at The Nittany Lion Inn.

Op-Ed: Providing Excellent Customer Service Crucial In Business

Whether we want to admit it or not, each of us must make a commitment to excellent service. Regardless of our job title or position in an organization, we all help create—and deliver—a strategic commitment to service—or we don't. Ironically, the paradoxical nature of business often places entry-level employees at the nexus of the customer relationship, but that does not let anyone else off the hook.

Software Invention Takes Three Student Entrepreneurs To Silicon Valley

Three Penn State students recently turned a class project into a tech start-up already worth millions of dollars, taking them from Happy Valley to Silicon Valley in a matter of months. Chris Fanini, David Rusenko, and Dan Veltri, a Smeal College of Business finance major, are the trio behind Weebly.com, a free Web-based application that allows users to quickly and easily create Web sites by clicking and dragging images, video content, text boxes, and other elements onto their pages.

Smeal, World Campus Launch Online Supply Chain Management Master's Degree

Penn State's Smeal College of Business and World Campus are offering a new master's degree program in supply chain management that will allow working professionals to earn a graduate degree by taking courses online. The Master of Professional Studies in supply chain management (MPS/SCM) starts in the fall 2007 semester.

Journal Of Operations Management Names Smeal Professor 'Best Reviewer'

The Journal of Operations Management has named Daniel Guide, associate professor of operations and supply chain management at Penn State's Smeal College of Business, as the journal's Best Reviewer for 2006-2007. Guide has served on the journal's editorial review board since 1999.

Smeal Appoints New Department Chair, Interim Associate Dean

Penn State's Smeal College of Business has named two faculty members to leadership positions in the college, both effective July 1. Gus Colangelo, assistant professor of management, has been named interim associate dean for undergraduate programs for the 2007-2008 academic year. Dennis Gioia, professor of organizational behavior, will replace Charles Snow as chair of Smeal’s Department of Management and Organization.