In the Spotlight
Walton College students are innovative, driven, authentic, professional, and team oriented. These characteristics are true not only of our students, though. They also hold true for our faculty, staff, alumni, supporters and volunteers from all aspects of business.
These are the people who help Walton College stand above the rest.
Think. Plan. Do.
Meet accounting student Thea Winston from eastern Arkansas. After Winston graduates in May, she will attend Vanderbilt University to earn a master’s degree in accounting.
EPIC Spotlight: Varun Grover
The journey may seem the same: Ph.D. student starts their first year. They grow and, hopefully, write papers that get published. Then comes graduation and, if all goes well, they get an assistant professorship at a university.
Video Project Highlights Shook’s Freshman Business Connections Class
Carole Shook created a team project to encourage freshmen to get to know each other, discover resources on campus and strengthen personal development skills.
University of Arkansas Enactus Team Named Regional Champs
U of A team advances to the national competition for the first time in eight years.
EPIC Student Story – Landri McGregor
Landri McGregor is a senior at the University of Arkansas majoring in both supply chain and marketing in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. Originally from Golden, Colo., she decided to become a Razorback because her mom graduated with her MBA from Arkansas. Landri comes from a family of accountants and had originally planned … Continue reading EPIC Student Story – Landri McGregor
Student Success Spotlight: Katie Pounders
Katie Pounders knows firsthand the concerns that face online students. She was once one of them as a graduate student.
Celebrating Dean Doyle Z. Williams and the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame
As part of our look at the legacy of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame, we turn the EPIC Spotlight on Dean Doyle Z. Williams.
Epic Spotlight: Farid Noori
Graduate student Farid Noori’s journey to Walton College and Northwest Arkansas starts out with bread, mountains and a bike.
EPIC Spotlight: Kathryn Carlisle
Banks are a big part of many people’s lives. They use them to receive and store their paychecks, pay their bills, take out loans and save. For most working Americans, having enough money to open and retain a checking account can be fairly easy. Kathryn Carlisle Senior Managing Director Blockchain Center of Excellence But for … Continue reading EPIC Spotlight: Kathryn Carlisle
Reeves’ former students unite for solar project
Carol Reeves’ journey to have a solar-powered home began two decades ago when she became concerned about the environment.
EPIC Spotlight: Barbara Lofton
As a young girl and teenager, Barbara Lofton stood up to racism in her home state of Mississippi. “If there was a march, I was in it,” says Lofton, director of the Walton College Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
EPIC Spotlight: Cindy Moehring
Cindy Moehring has held many jobs. Regardless of where she worked, she made the same observation. “It really seemed to me that there were too many business leaders entering the business world without the awareness of basic business ethics issues,” Moehring says.
EPIC Spotlight: Barry Bryan
Do you play a musical instrument? Are you good at geometry? These are questions that Barry Bryan might ask a student considering accounting as a major. It’s been his experience that these skills often make for good accountants.
EPIC Spotlight: Garrett Rybak
At the age of 23, Garrett Rybak sat in the cockpit of a T-34 with the engine roaring and propellers spinning. After the requisite safety checks, he grabbed the controls and sped the aircraft down the runway until it went airborne into the Wild Blue Yonder.
EPIC Spotlight: Chris Houser
After six years in the Air Force, Chris Houser had a plan upon his discharge: to see America.
EPIC Spotlight: Abby Davidson
Sometimes a new venture needs a jump start, especially in developing countries.
EPIC Spotlight: Renee Clay
If it’s not apparent that Renee Clay enjoys her job, just look at her desk. It’s filled with knick-knacks, toys and conversation pieces. She laughs often.
EPIC Spotlight: Dub Ashton
Call him Dub. Not Dr. Ashton. It was a request he made when he was department chair for the Department of Marketing and, later, senior associate dean at the Sam M. Walton College of Business. He has never wavered on this preference, and it’s how his students address him. He’s Dub.
EPIC Spotlight: John Dominick
John Dominick learned a lot from driving a combine harvester in his youth. Namely, that he didn’t want to do that for the rest of his life.
EPIC Spotlight: Molly Rapert
The voice on Molly Rapert’s answering machine said she was a finalist for a university teaching job. The caller left his name but didn’t say from where he was calling. Even more mysterious: Rapert had not applied for the job.
EPIC Spotlight: Ahmad Shah Mobariz
It doesn’t happen often, but there are times when ignorance about something changes one’s life trajectory for the better.
EPIC Spotlight: Sherry Li
Sherry Li had one word to say when she first laid eyes on the Walton College’s Behavioral Business Research Lab: “Wow!”
EPIC Spotlight: Daniel Villanova
He enrolled in a marketing class in high school, and became fascinated with consumer behavior – the psychology behind marketing that involves behavior and motivation.
EPIC Spotlight: Amber Young
When Amber Young taught advanced calculus and physics classes to high school students in rural Oklahoma, they struggled to see systems of equations as 3D objects.
EPIC Spotlight: Xi Li
Xi Li doesn’t consider himself to be much of a risk taker – unless a good opportunity presents itself. And those don’t usually happen but every few years.
EPIC Spotlight: Hyunseok Jung
Between the time Hyunseok Jung earned his economics degree and was employed by the South Korean government, he worked for 2½ years at a fire station.
EPIC Spotlight: Jialie Chen
Jialie Chen came to the United States fully prepared to enroll in a doctoral program with a concentration on economics. Then he discovered marketing.
EPIC Spotlight: Caleb Rawson
Caleb Rawson spent much of his childhood at his father’s builders supply store. While customers walked down the aisle, picking out fixtures for their home or office, young Rawson was behind the scenes, stocking inventory and doing different tasks.
EPIC Spotlight: Mary Lacity
When Mary Lacity was a college student, she wanted to mathematically model the universe. If she could just figure out every motion of the atom, so much of life’s questions could be answered.
EPIC Spotlight: Sebastian Schuetz
Logging into Facebook, downloading music or posting an image on Instagram are activities easily taken for granted.
EPIC Spotlight: Nee Karas
In a building near a busy intersection in the middle of Fayetteville is an oasis – one where people can free their minds and bodies with yoga. It’s Nee Karas’ way of sharing with others a practice that serves as a template to her well-being.
EPIC Spotlight: Matt Brown
Baked beans. Comfort food for cookouts and tailgating. Goes well with hotdogs, barbecue and hamburgers.
EPIC Spotlight: Esther Udouj
Esther Udouj’s office is nestled in a wooded area, away from the dealerships filled with new cars waiting for new owners.
EPIC Spotlight: Jerra Nalley
Jerra Nalley loves Northwest Arkansas. From the funky, artistic community in Eureka Springs to the vibrant night life on Fayetteville’s Dickson Street, she wants the world to know all about it. It’s her living.
EPIC Spotlight: Abhijith Anand
Abhijith Anand reflects fondly on his introduction to computers as a child.
EPIC Spotlight: Heather Nelson
Heather Nelson is drawn to stories. Everybody has one. Even her customers.
EPIC Spotlight: B.J. Allen
There are so many ways to market a new product. B.J. Allen prefers those that break tradition.
EPIC Spotlight: Gonca Soysal
Bargain shopping at outlet stores is more than just a pastime for Gonca Soysal. She finds the activity fascinating – one she believes could be a win-win for both the consumer and retailer.
EPIC Spotlight: Jessica Loechler
Jessica Loechler wondered where the women were. That was the question she asked herself when her high school history class focused on the men who built America.
EPIC Spotlight: Remko Van Hoek
Remko Van Hoek has always been fascinated by supply chains. What’s the story behind a product on a store’s shelf? What journey did it take before it got there?
EPIC Spotlight: Brittany Stettmeier
Growing up in the country holds many memories for Brittany Stettmeier, like family football after tending to the livestock. It was a ritual she remembers fondly. Her father played semi-professional football while her mother was a rugby team member.
EPIC Spotlight: Michael Cummings
First, he was managing a hamburger restaurant. Then there was a brief stint practicing law in southern California. When he realized the legal profession wasn’t his calling, Michael Cummings taught business law in the city known for its casinos and glitzy entertainment.
EPIC Spotlight: Canon Reeves
Canon Reeves loves robots. He enjoys designing, building and programming them. In fact, he spends much of his time thinking about how they can better people’s lives.
EPIC Spotlight: Ashley Collins
The atmosphere was just like working for a company. In fact, when Ashley Collins began her first career job after graduation, she was grateful that her classes at the Sam M. Walton College of Business mirrored a work environment – one that prepared her to develop software for a large company.
EPIC Spotlight: Zach Steelman
Blockchain technology is like rocket fuel for Zach Steelman. It’s the way of the future. It has the potential to shake things up just as much as the Dot-Com Boom did in the 1990s. Students are eager to learn more, and Steelman’s eager to accommodate. He loves talking about it.
EPIC Spotlight: Jessica Salmon
From the time she graduated from college, Jessica Salmon thought about how she could make a difference beyond the corporate world.
EPIC Spotlight: Adam Stoverink
Adam Stoverink loved college. Even after he earned his management degree and worked in the corporate world, he wanted to go back to school. “I did everything I could to stay in college for the rest of my life,” Stoverink says.
EPIC Spotlight: Rod Thomas
Rod Thomas grew up watching the men in his family toil in the factories where most of the nation’s popular tires were made. “They would come home covered in tire soot,” Thomas recalls.
EPIC Spotlight: Mark Zweig
If you ask Mark Zweig to name former students who have successful businesses, be prepared to sit for a while.
EPIC Spotlight: Angela Darnell
Angela Darnell has always been in the business of helping people. For 14 years, she was the voice who assisted people dialing 411 for directory assistance. While at her job, she led her coworkers in a food drive to help Northwest Arkansas’ homeless population.
EPIC Spotlight: Will Edwards
Will Edwards had a hard time remembering the names of his fraternity brothers.
EPIC Spotlight: Dinesh Gauri
Northwest Arkansas is an ideal location to do research in marketing and consumer behavior. If Dinesh Gauri didn’t know it 10 years ago, he knows it now.
EPIC Spotlight: Daymara Baker
It’s bread with benefits. That’s the catch phrase Daymara Baker uses when describing her business, Rockin’ Baker, a bakery tucked inside a small Fayetteville plaza among a bicycle shop and microbrewery.
EPIC Spotlight: Stephanie Schuljak
Stephanie Schuljak knew she wanted to help others. She tried majoring in kinesiology with the idea of going to medical school. Science, however, was not her thing.
EPIC Spotlight: Bill Watt
Bill Watt wasn’t looking to earn another college degree. He simply needed to get some insight from Matt Waller and decided to give him a call.
EPIC Spotlight: Boxxyy
It started as a class assignment. It became a pet product company that helps animal shelters.
EPIC Spotlight: Difei Geng
Difei Geng doesn’t teach students. He shares with them. “By sharing, you don’t have to agree with me,” Geng says.
EPIC Spotlight: Kristian Allee
Hanging over Kristian Allee’s desk is a dry erase board with a list of potential research projects he scrawled. “I love this stuff,” he says, looking up at the board.
EPIC Spotlight: Bjorn Simmons
If you think marketing and entrepreneurship pertains only to business, guess again. Bjorn Simmons will tell you that entrepreneurial spirit and a know-how attitude can effect change in many aspects of life, whether it’s helping free a man wrongfully imprisoned or creating a tool that can benefit businesses globally.
EPIC Spotlight: Ross Lawrence
Many fresh college graduates look for exciting careers in big cities like Chicago or New York. Ross Lawrence was one of them. With a bachelor’s degree in finance, he applied to more than 70 jobs in the Windy City and Big Apple. Then he decided he’d give Nevada, Missouri, a try. Ross Lawrence BSBA ’11 … Continue reading EPIC Spotlight: Ross Lawrence
EPIC Spotlight: Tim Riley
An economist with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Riley wondered what would happen if he borrowed an idea from Alexey Malakhov, and modified it to see how actively managed mutual funds perform against passively managed investments.
EPIC Spotlight: Philip Meek
There are no gray areas in auditing. No subjectivity. What you see is what you get.
EPIC Spotlight: Addison Scott
She thought she had failed. This was something Addison Scott did not do.
EPIC Spotlight: Ken Bills
When a CPA visited Ken Bills’ high school class, Bills recalls asking himself, why would anyone do this for a living? He can laugh about it now.
EPIC Spotlight: Andrew Brownback
While in grade school, Andrew Brownback discovered he was proficient in math. He entered competitions, occasionally going home with an award.
EPIC Spotlight: Brian Fugate
If Brian Fugate notices students falling asleep in his class, he can always rouse them with stories about his family’s pig farm in his home state of Tennessee.
EPIC Spotlight: Billy Yocum
On his first day of class at the University of Arkansas, Billy Yocum sat at an outdoor table in front of Willard J. Walker Hall, consumed with fear. Could he do this? Was he in over his head?
EPIC Spotlight: Ron Freeze
Ron Freeze’s career began in the auto industry, where he oversaw assembly line equipment and made sure production rolled at a steady pace. A lot could go wrong – a conveyor belt chain could break or a tool misfire – and Ron’s responsibility was to make sure that never happened.
EPIC Spotlight: Jason Ridge
The Jeep was totaled. It sat in the body shop owned by Jason Ridge’s father, who told him if he wanted a car to drive – a teenage rite of passage – he better get to work.
EPIC Spotlight: Kathryn Gadberry
When Kathryn Gadberry studied abroad to Mozambique, she was a part of a team that set up an accounting system for chicken farmers so they could sell an affordable source of protein to local consumers, a program known as Eggs for Africa.
EPIC Spotlight: Collin Grimes
Houston is a city where oil is big and buildings fill the skyline. But securing office space in one of those buildings, or any real estate, in the nation’s fourth largest city can be daunting. Collin Grimes BSBA ’06 First Vice President Global Corporate Services CBRE Group Inc. Houston For Collin Grimes, it’s another day … Continue reading EPIC Spotlight: Collin Grimes
EPIC Spotlight: Tracy Liu
If research can positively impact society, then all of those hours toiling over data is well worth it, says Tracy Liu.
EPIC Spotlight: Scott Hsu
Scott Hsu loved watching American movies in his hometown of Taipei, Taiwan. He sought out as many Academy Award-winning films he could and fell in love with “The Sound of Music.” Then there was another one starring Michael Douglas, who played a greedy, ruthless stockbroker. “Wall Street” got Hsu curious about the business world.
EPIC Spotlight: Lindsay Duckworth
Lindsay Duckworth is always on the move. One moment, she may be at home in Denver, enjoying the Rocky Mountain air. Then she’s on a plane to New York, where she meets with business executives – sometimes in Manhattan.
Cold and Exciting Days Ahead
Warmth. That is the number one thing Cary Deck will soon miss. Specifically, he will miss the warmth of his colleagues and the research environment at the University of Arkansas more so than the temperature as he travels to Anchorage, Alaska.
EPIC Spotlight: Andrew Motter
Before Andrew Motter was old enough to drive, he made money by dragging the family lawnmower out of the garage and cutting the neighbors’ grass.
EPIC Spotlight: Muhammad Rahman
As a college student in his native Bangladesh, Muhammad Rahman became fascinated with looking at the world through economics. He listened intently to his professor explain the rise of capitalism and socialism as well as Japan’s economic history.
EPIC Spotlight: Anita Sambor
As a graduate student, there is a lot to manage besides the assignments listed in the syllabi. Will the financial aid come through? Is the required coarse work met? What if a life event comes up that interferes with studies?
EPIC Spotlight: Charles Britton
Charles Britton figures he has taught about 25,000 University of Arkansas students since arriving on campus in 1969.
EPIC Spotlight: Xiao Ma
He worked as a journalist in his native China, sold ads and devised business strategies for a company as an intern in New York City. Xiao Ma Assistant Professor Department of Information Systems Yet Xiao Ma knew he’d rather work with computers. He also knew where he would like to be. “Over time, I realized … Continue reading EPIC Spotlight: Xiao Ma
EPIC Spotlight: Rwan El-Khatib
Many told Rwan El-Khatib she would not be accepted by a United States doctoral program. It had been difficult for business majors in her native country of Jordan to continue their education in a doctoral program in America, and she repeatedly heard about it. It was almost as if people were challenging her
EPIC Spotlight: Hannah Birch
Hannah was inspired to pursue an education at the Sam M. Walton College of Business when she came to the university as a junior for a convocation that featured presentations by Walton students as well as Jason Adams, the college’s Honors Programs associate director, and Javier Reyes.
EPIC Spotlight: Claire Yan
As a child, Claire Yan watched closely how her mother, a literature teacher, interacted with students. That experience led to Yan standing out on her balcony, talking to plants and flowers that made up her pretend classroom. Now she’s teaching in real students in a real classroom. Yan joined the Department of Accounting in August 2014
EPIC Spotlight: Peter Katuscak
Peter Katuscak researches around the globe as he examines the behaviors of auction bidders or how people perceive their tax situations. For the 2014-15 school year, he is a visiting assistant professor with the Department of Economics at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, where he teaches microeconomic theory to undergraduates. Peter Katuscak Visiting … Continue reading EPIC Spotlight: Peter Katuscak
EPIC Spotlight: Kristin Kaufman
Sometimes it takes years to attain it. But when it does, it can be one of the greatest things life can bring. Kristin Kaufman refers to it as alignment. “It’s when you love what you do and you’re good at it, but, most importantly, it’s tied to something greater than yourself,” she says. Kristin Kaufman … Continue reading EPIC Spotlight: Kristin Kaufman
EPIC Spotlight: Johnny Carver
Johnny Carver grew up surrounded by basketball. His father played for Kansas State University and his brother for the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. “I’ve always wanted to be like my brother,” Johnny says. “I look up to him and my dad.” Johnny Carver Freshman Management Major So, as a 6-foot, 3-inch tall … Continue reading EPIC Spotlight: Johnny Carver
EPIC Spotlight: Rachel Dukes
Living in the Dallas bedroom community of Grand Prairie, Rachel felt it was time to pursue the discipline at a university beyond the Texas border.
EPIC Spotlight: Anne Velliquette
Anne Velliquette has experienced the many faces of marketing. She realized the art of a beautiful floor display and the role of purchasing when she interned as a buyer at a department store. When she sold and marketed turkey products, she was required to learn every aspect of what it takes to prepare the bird … Continue reading EPIC Spotlight: Anne Velliquette
EPIC Spotlight: Hua Wang
Hua Wang has experienced much in his five years in the United States. He has mastered the English language, played French horn with the University of Arkansas band and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Sam M. Walton College of Business in addition to his music degree.
