News

• Thomas Gibson, a nationally renowned expert in student affairs and higher education leadership, has been named the Fall 2020 Presidential Leadership Fellow at RMU. Just this week, Gibson was named the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, effective January 11, 2021. Most recently he was vice president for student affairs and vice provost at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. At RMU, Gibson will speak to students and faculty in the university’s Ph.D. program in instructional leadership and management, and he will lead a series of events with faculty through the RMU Center for Innovative Teaching. Gibson also will serve as an advisor to the RMU Anti-Racism Task Force and to students of color. Read more here.

• The Department of Sport Management and School of Business held its 17th annual Sport Management Virtual Student Career Summit earlier this month. This year there were 785 registrations representing 145 universities and colleges from 44 U.S. States, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Germany and Puerto Rico. The summit provided quality professional experience, guidance, and support to students with their industry career development. Panels of professionals featured 24 industry leaders, half being top executive leaders and half being mid to senior level managers. Additionally, Tom Berl, Alyssa Blumling and Derek Schuster were inducted as the newest members of the RMU Sport Management Hall of Fame. 

• Research & Grants Administration is pleased to share "e-Achieve", an electronic newsletter highlighting RMU faculty Research and Creative work accomplishments. This issue highlights 11 journal papers from 10 RMU researchers, seven research/creative work presentations, two authors of books or book chapters, one award for research/creative works, 25 research collaborations with other universities/organizations, one research collaboration with an international university, and four research/creative work recognitions.

Personal Mention

• Chelsea Blakely, deputy director of athletics and chief marketing officer for athletics, has been selected to attend TopConnect AD, a leadership symposium for aspiring NCAA Division I athletic directors. Blakely, a native of Houston, Texas, joined the staff at RMU in August of 2019 after spending 10 years as senior associate athletic director at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). In her first year with the Colonials, Blakely assisted in overseeing the opening of the UPMC Events Center, which featured men's basketball sellouts in the first game against Pitt as well as the 2020 Northeast Conference Tournament championship game, a 77-67 win over Saint Francis U that helped the Colonials earn their ninth automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

• Denis Rudd, university professor of hospitality management, and Richard Mills, professor of hospitality and tourism, were awarded best paper award from the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences at the organization’s 27th annual conference in Las Vegas. Their paper is titled “Climate Application.” Rudd was the lead author of the paper which was presented at the conference and has been published in the Journal of Applied Business and Economics.

Upcoming Events

• RMU Spirit Week is winding down, but there's still plenty of ways to celebrate RMU. Join the RMU family in the rest of our virtual and live events.

• The Massey Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation invites you to the following SkillsBuild Reignite seminars, which are entrepreneurial opportunities taking place across the region and the global entrepreneurial ecosystem. Reignite is a massive global pro bono program that IBM is rolling out worldwide to support small business, jobseekers, and nonprofits in recovering from the economic fallout of COVID. IBM SkillsBuild Reignite seminars are free live online events presented by national subject matter experts, with the opportunity for business owners to interact and ask questions of the experts.

  • Legal Education: Planning for the Return of Employees (October 26)
  • Digital Strategy: Harnessing Deep Customer Empathy (October 27)
  • Legal Education: Managing Layoffs & Furloughs (October 27)
  • Legal Education: Financial & Operating Distress: Responses & Strategies (October 28)

• The Center for Veterans and Military Families invites you to the virtual Veterans Day and 2020 CVMF Graduation Celebration on November 11 from 4-5 p.m. The guest speaker is Gregg McDonald, director of sales at FedEx Services and Air Force veteran. More information will be sent out closer to the event.