Mays Impacts

The college recently recognized four staff members for their service and commitment to excellence. This year’s Outstanding Staff Award winners include: Shirley Deffenbaugh, communications coordinator, Center for Retailing Studies; Jean Gresham, program coordinator, Center for Executive Development; Fran Harris, administrative assistant, Department of Finance; and Julie Orzabal, assistant director, Executive MBA Program.

Through its first-annual Holiday Smiles Program, the college’s Center for Retailing Studies (CRS), the Retailing Society and corporate partners helped make the holidays special for less fortunate children in the Brazos Valley area. Student members of the Retailing Society worked with Brazos Valley Interfaith Outreach, a local charitable organization, to arrange the program. Drawing on its local sponsor companies, the CRS and Retailing Society provided 33 children with toys, candy, clothes, shoes and school supplies. Companies generously donating to the project included: JCPenney, Office Depot, Payless ShoeSource, Target, Toys R Us and Wal-Mart.

“Our goal is to bring the spirit of Christmas to more children in the Brazos Valley. We want to play a role in ensuring that all children wake up on Christmas morning with a smile on their face,” said Dr. David Szymanski, director of the Center for Retailing Studies.

Three faculty members in the Department of Management have recently been named chairholders. Dr. Ricky Griffin, executive associate dean and management professor, has been named the Blocker Chair in Business, which was established by John ’45 and Jeanne Blocker to recognize an outstanding professor in the college. Griffin, who joined Texas A&M in 1981, has written numerous textbooks and articles on topics such as workplace violence, employee health and well being in the workplace and workplace culture.

The college has also recently appointed management professor Dr. Angelo DeNisi to the Paul M. and Rosalie Robertson Chair in Business, endowed by Charles and Sharon Robertson as a tribute to his parents. DeNisi serves as head of the Department of Management and director of the Center for Human Resource Management. Prior to joining the faculty in 1997, DeNisi taught at Rutgers University, the University of South Carolina and Kent State University.

Professor Dr. Richard Woodman has also been honored for his contributions, designated as the Fouraker Professor in Business, in honor Lawrence E. Fouraker’s ’44 outstanding contributions to business education. Woodman’s publications on organizational change and creativity have appeared in numerous management journals.