Pamplin Hosts Final Speaker Of The Year

Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business will present its final Wachovia Distinguished Speaker for the school year on Thursday, March 27, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. The event will be held at the Alumni Assembly Hall at the Holtzman Alumni Center.  The speaker is Dr. James C. Wimbush, Dean of The University Graduate School and Professor of Business Administration at Indiana University.

After earning his Ph.D. in management from Virginia Tech, Wimbush has been with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business holding various administrative positions. Now, as Dean of The University Graduate School, he oversees master’s and doctoral programs on all eight IU campuses.

“I was honored to be invited as part of the lecture series,” said Wimbush.  “I have a great affection for Virginia Tech and am glad to have the opportunity to be back on campus.”

His lecture is titled, “A Review and Discussion of Recent Studies in Workforce Enhancement.” It will address “the importance of managers staying abreast of recent research, so that they can create productive and profitable work environments that employees enjoy.”

Dean Wimbush wants to make sure students understand that regardless of their business discipline, many of them will become managers of people. Thus, they need to develop and be up to date with important management skills.

The Wachovia Distinguished Speaker series started in the fall of 1996, but under a different name. Wheat First Butcher Singer made a $100,000 donation to establish a speaker series named after the company.  Many years and several mergers later, it became the Wachovia Distinguished Speaker series.

The purpose of these lectures is for the students to “see very real situations in the workforce from people who experience it every day,” said Gary Kinder, Pamplin College of Business Director of Undergraduate Career Services and a member of the Executive Planning Committee who oversees the series. “A lot of our alums like sharing their story from the classroom seat to the boardroom seat.”

Richard E. Sorensen, Dean of the Pamplin College of Business, personally selects the speakers and most of the speakers are Pamplin or Virginia Tech alumni in executive or other high leadership positions. Dean Sorenson tries to represent leaders from different professions including those in private companies, government and higher education. Past speakers have included senior executives from Hershey Foods, Inc., Wachovia, Polo Ralph Lauren, MGM Mirage, Inc., IBM and 7-11, Inc.