POINTS OF INTEREST:

Application Deadline—The application deadline for Autumn quarter is July 15th, 2013

Class Notes—send your updates to Aubree Steffens at aubreer@uw.edu by October 15, 2013to be included in the next newsletter.

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SPRING/SUMMER

2013

MBA Newsletter

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON | TACOMA

Meet the Graduates 2

Executive Speaker

Series 4

Foster International

Study Tour 5

Spring TGIF & Class

of 2003 Reunion 6

Faculty Profile &

Beta Gamma Sigma 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Message From the MBA Director

I am pleased to present 26

students who should be join-

ing the alumni ranks by the

end of Summer if not sooner.

Please take a look at their

profiles in the pages that

follow. The founding presi-

dent of our alumni associa-

tion, Chris Inverso, has had

some success in recruiting

alumni to join the alumni

board. The Alumni Associa-

tion organized pre-event

gatherings before the au-

tumn quarter executive

speaker and the Professional

Networking Event. We look

forward to more alumni

association activity in the

near future.

It was great seeing many of

you at the TGIF/ 10 Year

Reunion. We hope you will

join us in the future for

these events and for our

quarterly executive speaker

series. We are very interest-

ed in having MBA alumni

guest lecture to our under-

graduate and MBA classes

as relevant. I had the pleas-

ure of hosting Brittany

Ellsworth 2011, David

Sloan 2011, Adam Small

2010, Paul Werner 2009,

and Geoff Lawrence 2007

in my own classes. If you

would like to guest lecture

please email Aubree of

your availability and the

topics you would be inter-

ested in speaking on. Also,

please do send us news

about you for the class

notes section—promotions,

additions to the family, etc.

Please read on to learn

more about Professor Dan-

iel Bryan.

Class Notes for Spring 2013 Class of 2003

Cheryl Ann Graf

While attending UW- Tacoma I was directing a local Emergency Department (ED) and

working clinically as a Nurse Practitioner. I went on to work as a consultant and sales

executive for a prominent Emergency software vendor for 5 years on a national level.

Traveling across the USA helping hospitals with key changes in their EDs related to doc-

umentation and provider adoption of software solutions. I went on to add one more

daughter (total 4) now with my husband and we have also become Grandparents x 2.

UWT has proven to open doors in my career and strengthen my professional relation-

ships and created a lasting relationship with the best professor of all time Richard Stack-

man who has taught me many lessons and challenges since my graduation in 2003.

Class of 2012

Graciela Tena de Lara

Grace and her family will be moving to Madrid this summer for her husband’s next mili-

tary assignment. Grace is excited to explore opportunities to use her MBA education

abroad. Stay connected with the Milgard MBA by liking us on Facebook and joining the Mil-gard MBA alumni group on Linked In.

Search for “Milgard School of Business MBA”

Search for “Milgard MBA Alumni Group” Sharath Gopalappa ‘13 participating

in the Foster School of Business

study tour in Argentina.

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Meet the Graduates

Katie Parlin

Katie is looking forward to the

road that lies ahead. This in-

cludes her husband returning

home from Afghanistan in

June, followed by a much need-

ed boat cruise through British

Columbia after classes have

ended in August.

Charles Kraus

Attending the Milgard School of

Business has been a great experi-

ence, the knowledge and insight I've

attained has given me confidence

and preparation to seek out new

career options. I'm currently looking

at entrepreneurial possibilities in the

Puget Sound area and cultivating

options in International Business.

Also looking forward to an uninter-

rupted football season free from

study and student project deadlines.

Clay Krauss

Clay is currently working as an

IT Management Analyst for the

City of Tacoma. He looks for-

ward to using his Milgard edu-

cation to make a positive impact

in confronting complex organi-

zational challenges.

Brendan VanderVelde

Brendan is enjoying his new

role as the Budget Manager for

the Attorney General of Wash-

ington. He is looking forward to

spending more time with his

wife and son and the birth of his

daughter (May 2013!).

Matt Schemp

Professionally, I continue

working at Weyerhaeuser

Company as Finance & Plan-

ning Manager for our distribu-

tion business in the North-

west. Personally, after gradu-

ation, I'm looking forward to

spending more time with my

wife, Megan, and son, Griffin

(2).

Megan Bentley

After finishing up in a-term this

summer I am getting married,

and then I plan to put all the

vacation time I’ve saved up

over the past two years for a

great honeymoon! Professional-

ly, I will be continuing in my

current role here at UW Taco-

ma with an eye toward further

advancement within the field of

Higher Education.

Christy Allen

In September 2012, Christy ac-

cepted an Associate Product Man-

ager position within the product

development group of Russell

Investment's Private Client Ser-

vice business unit. Upon com-

pleting her final quarter of grad

school this summer, Christy plans

on preparing for and taking the

Series 7 exam. And then Christy

plans on enjoying life without any

exams or study nights.

Brendalynn Taulelei

Brendalynn plans to continue her role as

Aviation Business Systems Manager for

the Port of Seattle. She hopes to pursue

more senior level positions within the

organization now that she has completed

her MBA. In the meantime, Brendalynn

is looking forward to some much needed

relaxation. She plans to do some travel-

ing with her family in the summer-

time and just enjoy her free time before

starting on new projects.

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Meet the Graduates

Mike Warjone

Mike looks forward to

spending more time with

his wife and daughters. He

was also recently promoted

to Forestry Manger for US

Operations at Port Blakeley

Tree Farms

Ryan Finley

Ryan will continue his work in

project management at Ra-

zorfish. This summer he will

be working on his Project

Management Professional

(PMP) certification in addition

to training for cycle tour, and

catching up on two years of

pleasure reading.

Rocale Timmons

Currently applying to move from the

public to the private sector.

Scott Miloscia

Scott is looking forward to

spending more time with his

family and in-laws back in

Asia. He still works for the

State of Washington and is

now focusing on Quality/

LEAN continuous process

improvement.

Oscar Rangel

I am planning to continue work-

ing as a financial analyst for

Weyerhaeuser. I want to use the

skills that I have acquired from

this MBA to open my way in-

to more challenging opportuni-

ties. I am also looking forward

to spending more time with my

family and catching up with all

my other hobbies (e.g. soccer).

Paula Greuling

Paula continues in her search for

excellence in home and in work.

“I just plan to live each day the

best I know how and hopefully

the result will be goodness --- in

the children I turn out, in the job I

do for my employer and in the

relationship I have with my

spouse.”

Sharath Gopalappa

I am currently working as

a Software design engineer at

Microsoft. I am planning to ex-

plore the financial roles after my

graduation. I would like to thank

my family members (parents,

sister and my wife) for all their

support towards my management

career.

Rick Griffith

After a recent change from private

sector to the public sector, I will con-

tinue to work for the Washington State

Department of Enterprise Services as

the Enterprise Network Operations

Manager. Leading technical staff

through fast-paced change, providing

them a vision for the future and imple-

menting innovative technologies to

modernize our government is a chal-

lenge that I look forward to.

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On May 28th the Milgard MBA Executive

speaker, Anthony Hemstad, President and

CEO of World Trade Center Tacoma

spoke to the audience about international

trade and the work of the World Trade

Center. Mr. Hemstad’s educational back-

ground includes a Bachelor’s degree from

the University of Puget Sound; Master of

Arts degree from University of London

and his MBA from University of Chicago.

His career has been varied and has includ-

ed being a professor in Prague, running his

own public affairs firm, and serving as

City Manager of Maple Valley.

Mr. Hemstad started his talk by offering

his advice for students about to graduate.

His main pieces of advice were to con-

tinually reinvent yourself and your ca-

reer-take stock in your achievements

and seek new challenges and opportuni-

ties. He discussed the importance of

having strong network of colleagues that

you take time to know both personally

and professionally. Develop relation-

ships with people who can serve as men-

tors. Take advantage of opportunities to

experience new cultures and languages,

if possible, spend time overseas and

learn how different cultures operate.

Mr. Hemstad has served as President of

World Trade Center Tacoma since 2009.

In this time membership has tripled and

continues to grow. World Trade Center

is the largest international network sup-

porting global business. The WTC Ta-

coma is one of the fastest growing in the

western hemisphere. The benefits of

joining include trade consulting and

research; trade education and training;

and trade missions. The resources avail-

able help businesses create trade oppor-

tunities worldwide and offers expertise

in trade with China, an important global

market.

Another goal of WTC Tacoma is pro-

mote international investment in Pierce

County. Currently, Washington State

ranks 35th in states with Foreign Direct

Investment. There are some challenges

with increasing foreign investment in

Pierce County, China is a large investor,

but tends to invest more heavily in San

Francisco, Orange County, and Vancou-

ver, BC where there are larger Chinese

populations. Another challenge is that

with the global economic crisis, many

countries are aggressively seeking foreign

investors. Additionally, other countries,

such as Canada, are common wealth na-

tions which have processes that make it

easier to get an investment visa. The Unit-

ed States EB-5 program is similar in idea,

but has more loop holes. The EB-5 pro-

cess has been revised but still has a way to

go to work as well as the Canadian pro-

cess.

Mr. Hemstad pointed out that Washington

state is largely trade dependent. Forty

percent of the state’s jobs are tied to trade.

The top exports are transportation goods

and agriculture. He also pointed out the

importance of service exports such as

healthcare and education. Mr. Hemstad

provided the students with some great

insights into international trade as well as

gave them some wonderful advice to keep

in mind along their journey towards their

MBA.

Executive Speaker Series: Anthony Hemstad, President and CEO of World Trade Center Tacoma

Meet the Graduates

Stephanie Puleo

Stephanie plans to spend her vastly

increased free time with her hus-

band working in their yard and pre-

paring their house for sale. Next year

her and her husband plan on moving

somewhere new (and hopefully sunni-

er). Stephanie is looking forward to

finding a company to work for where

she can apply her new MBA

knowledge and be a true asset.

Wes Bailey

Wes Bailey plans to take a short

break after graduation to reconnect

with family and friends. After that,

Wes will be working on entrepre-

neurial ventures and developing

various concepts.

Not pictured: Shana Konschuh,

Sean Falk, Lee Kirkpatrick, Geoff

Moody, Kurt Jones, Todd Malone,

Leah Marquez-Glynn

Clint Farleigh

I believe that I have grown in many

ways through my experiences in the

last two years and I will continue to

try to challenge myself. I look for-

ward to spending time with my family

after graduation.

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Todd Malone-Foster School of Business International Study

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The Global Business Center at the

Foster School of Business organizes

global business study tours. The

study tours are between 10-14 days

and usually depart during winter

quarter finals week and span spring

break. This year five Milgard MBA

students took advantage of the op-

portunity, three students went to

China and two went to Argentina.

One of our China study tours partic-

ipants, Todd Malone wrote up a few

paragraphs about his experience.

The International Study Tour to Chi-

na was AMAZING! Having an op-

portunity to meet with key players,

expats, and senior management of

organizations such as; Amazon Chi-

na, Apple China, KPCB China, SKF

China, and of course US Chinese

Ambassador Gary Locke, was invig-

orating. The professionalism, insight,

and experience of not only the indi-

viduals but the organizations brought

so much deeper of an understanding

(and application) of concepts that I

have learned through my time at the

Milgard MBA.

We had the opportunity to travel to a

beautiful, historical, and culturally

rich country. Having time and oppor-

tunity to see historical landmarks or

even ride a bullet train (somewhere

around 300 kmh) was insane! My

favorite had to be the Great Wall;

how crazy is, not only, the size of the

structure but the fact that there was

drainage built into the wall with a

natural grade sloping from one side

to the other (funneling then to holes

which released the water)? My fa-

vorite moment was that I was able to

toboggan down from the Great Wall

to the town below.

I feel that where possible every

MBA student should take the oppor-

tunity to do a study tour and gain

appreciation for other cultures. You

may just end up falling in love with

a whole new world.

Check the Global Business Center

website for information about their

2014 tours.

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Spring Quarter TGIF & Class of 2003 Reunion

P AGE 6

V OLUME 3 (3)

eventually took a management position. I

spent a total of six years living in Japan. I

spent one year learning Japanese at a lan-

guage school, and four and a half years with

Nortel. The other six months I spent just en-

joying Japan.

Q: Could you tell us about what you are

currently researching?

A: I am working on a paper on bankruptcy

emergence, the impact or role of auditor’s

opinion, and management gaming the system

through aggressive accounting techniques or

changing auditors. I am also currently work-

ing on a paper about the effect that accruals

have in compensation.

Q: What made you choose academia?

A: My father was an accountant and auditor

for the United States Air Force. He also

taught part time community college night

classes. Both of my parents went back to

school so I was in an academic environment

from a very young age. Having academia as a

very visual piece of my childhood was a large

factor in my decision to teach.

Q: Could you share with us some changes

or improvements you have seen in manage-

rial accounting and auditing processes

from when you started your career to to-

day?

A: There have definitely been some changes

in auditing since the late 80’s to early 90’s in

the area of efficiency. The swing towards

higher efficiency decreased the amount of

work and detail in audits and in turn lowered

the quality. This change is what created the

many famous auditing failures such as with

the company Enron. Now, thanks to many

recent government regulations, the efficiency

is swinging back towards more work/detail.

This has caused parts of auditing to begin

being outsourced, which I do not think is

necessarily a good thing. The outsourcing is

removing the main audit team from exam-

ining some of the internal controls of the

business processes. This could definitely

lead to problems in the future because the

audit team may lose some understanding

of internal controls and business processes

important to the production of the compa-

ny’s financial statements. It may also af-

fect the on the job training of the entry

level auditors.

In regards to managerial accounting, I

would say that the most significant change

has been in compensation. Now top man-

agement, more often than not, is compen-

sated with stock options. This can be very

good for a company’s growth, as a person-

al stake in the company’s success could

drive the top management to take some

healthy risks. However, when the growth

begins to subside this could drive them to

be overly aggressive and try to manipulate

the system. Some would say that Sarbanes

Oxley is supposed to fix this possible is-

sue, but I am not sure it has helped with

the management philosophy side.

Q: Do you have any advice for students

as they strive toward earning their

MBA?

A: I would tell them to study hard and to

build that foundation of business language,

marketing, and strategy negotiations. Find

opportunities to use and practice your

work. I would also say to build up your

networking through your MBA colleagues.

Take advantage of the networking oppor-

tunities that are available while earning

your MBA.

Q: Dr. Bryan is there anything else you

would like to share with the Milgard

School of Business MBA candidates?

A: Don’t get too engrossed in your pursuit

of career goals to miss out on the world.

Take some time off and explore. You owe

it to yourself to take a break, and I would

suggest taking a couple weeks after gradu-

ation to travel.

Q: Dr. Bryan, when did you begin at the

University of Washington Tacoma’s

Milgard School of Business?

A: The fall of 2007.

Q: What about the Milgard School of

Business attracted you to this very

young (est. 1994) program?

A: The Northwest location along with its

size and potential for growth is what at-

tracted me. It reminded me of my days at

Cal State San Bernardino. I was also

drawn by the opportunity to work with

such great colleagues who have a good

publication record.

Q: Where did you attend college?

A: I received my undergrad and MBA at

California State University, San Bernardi-

no. I then attended the University of Ore-

gon for my PHD.

Q: Tell us about your professional expe-

rience and any affiliations you would

like to share.

A: I did various internships during under-

graduate school, but my first real profes-

sional experience was with Ernst & Young

as an auditor. I spent three years with E

&Y and finished my time there as a senior

auditor. I next worked at Nortel in Tokyo,

Japan. I started as a systems analyst, and

Published by:

University of Washington Tacoma Milgard School of Business

1900 Commerce Street, Box 358420

Q&A—Faculty Profile with Dr. Daniel Bryan, By Jennifer Rea, Milgard Scholar, MBA Program Intern

P AGE 7

Congratulations to 2013’s Beta Gamma Sigma Inductees!

From left to right: Lee Kirkpatrick, Megan Bentley, Clinton

Farleigh, Clay Krauss, Geoff Moody, and Brendan VanderVelde