.: FIU team wins national business case competition.

From left, Thomas Casares, Miguel Martinez, Ana Perez, Julius Nunez, Ana Garcia—the FIU Accounting Association's winning team.

  At the national Johnson & Johnson business case competition held April 14-15 in New Brunswick, NJ, our FIU team took first place, beating teams from Wharton, Rutgers, Lehigh, Lasalle, Villanova, University of Illinois, and others. Teams were given three weeks to prepare for the national competition, which required them to balance their course loads, work schedules, on-campus activities, and personal lives to pursue victory.

  As you may recall, in March, FIU teams of from five to seven students, primarily in finance, accounting, and marketing, were given the challenge of developing and launching the first bariatric product for Surgical Innovation, a multinational medical device company based in Austin, Texas. Team members worked together to answer the case question by performing an in-depth financial and marketing analysis and teams competed against each other in a presentation format in front of faculty and corporate judges. The FIU Accounting Association team won the local competition and, thereby, the right to represent FIU at the nationals. With its impressive showing there, Johnson & Johnson has donated $3,000 in their names to the College.

.: Klinger, Sabater receive FIU's Distinguished Service Medallion

Joyce Elam with alumnus Carlos Sabater (BACC '81), recipient of the Distinguished Service Medallion at the evening ceremony, his wife Carmen, and one of his two daughters.

  During the Spring 2004 Commencement Exercises, held April 27 during two ceremonies—one in the afternoon, one in the evening—two of the College's alumni were presented with Florida International University's Distinguished Service Medallion.

  Dennis M. Klinger (MBA '75), vice president and chief information officer for Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), received the Medallion during the afternoon ceremony, and Carlos Sabater (MACC '81), managing partner of the South Florida and Puerto Rico offices of Deloitte & Touche, LLP, was presented the Medallion at the evening ceremony. Both Klinger and Sabater are members of the College's Dean's Council; Sabater also is chair of the School of Accounting's Advisory Board and sits on the board of the FIU Foundation.

  Klinger, who was one of FIU's first employees (he served as head of information technology from 1970-1975), today oversees FPL's systems development, computer operations, telecommunications operations, desktop computing, and advanced technology planning. In 2000, his efforts to ensure diversity among the workforce at FPL were recognized when Computerworld named FPL among the best companies to work for in terms of diversity and the top 50 "Best Places to Work" for those in the information technology field. Klinger is past president and still board member of the Dade Public Education Fund and has completed 20 years of volunteer service with the United Way campaign cabinet.

  Sabater currently manages the delivery of services to Deloitte's multi-disciplinary business units in South Florida and Puerto Rico. He also serves on the boards of such organizations as the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the Miami Business Forum, the Orange Bowl Committee, the Miami-Dade College Foundation, the United Way, the YMCA, and others. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Florida Institute of CPAs, and the Cuban-American CPA Association.

.: International business schools partner with College in Dual Degree program.

  The College's growing reputation for excellence in international business, as noted most recently in U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools" (see Business Networks, April, 2004) continues to attract international business schools interested in becoming its academic partners. In particular, a number of them have signed on recently to the Dual Degree program, in which students at the international business school complete one year towards their MBA at their home institutions, then complete the College's Master of International Business (MIB) program during the second year. At the end of the two years, the students will have earned an MBA from their home schools and an MIB from the Chapman Graduate School of Business in the College. They then have the opportunity to remain in the U.S. for an additional twelve months to work under the Optional Practical Training program.

  Among the Latin American business schools signed on for the program are Coppead, in Brazil, which already has two students in the College's MIB program; San Andres (Argentina); Universidad Católica (Chile); Universidad de Los Andes and Universidad del Norte (Colombia); Anahuac (Mexico); ORT (Uruguay), and IESA (Venezuela)—the most recent to sign the agreement.

.: Office of Professional Education announces new courses, sponsorship opportunities.

  The College's Office of Professional Education has announced two new courses slated to be offered over the next month. The first, "Leadership for Decision Makers," is a professional certificate program based on the model designed by one of the world's leading experts on leadership—Dr. Victor Vroom of Yale University. It enables participants to maximize their decision-making effectiveness both on and off the job. The second, "International Sales" is an interactive seminar/workshop professional certificate program for those who want to augment their expertise in international sales and logistics and step up their ability to close international sales.

  In addition, the Office has announced sponsorship opportunities are available for firms who are interested and who see potential customers among the targeted participants for any of its programs. Its "Customer Relationship Management" program, for instance, is sponsored by both Accelerated Consulting Group and NextLevel Information Solutions. For a list of programs available for sponsorship, click here. To find out more about sponsorships, contact Vince Daniels, director of business development, at ope@fiu.edu or (305) FIU-4217.

   On April 22nd, members and guests of the Business Alumni Chapter gathered at the Network Access Point (NAP) of the Americas, the fifth Tier-1 NAP in the world, to hear special guest speaker, Manuel Medina, Chairman and CEO of Terremark Worldwide, Inc., describe how the firm evolved from a small real estate company in the 1980's to a successful developing firm and designer, owner, and operator of the NAP of the Americas—the Internet gateway for Latin America. The NAP of the America routes Internet traffic between the Americas, the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe for its more than 140 clients.

   Alumni and guests had the opportunity to tour the highly secure facility and view first-hand its impressive top-notch technology infrastructure. Executive Dean Joyce Elam was on hand to introduce Mr. Medina and announce the many ways in which the College is partnering with the NAP.

.: College alumni shine at Chamber's award luncheon.

   On Thursday, April 29th, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce announced the finalists and winner for this year's Cutting Edge Award, which is presented annually to a company that exemplifies the finest innovative techniques in niche marketing, growth, and management practices.

   The College is proud to announce that five of its alumni were recognized as Finalists for the 2004 Award. They are:

Daniel Katz	Robert Craven	Richard Dobrow
Joseph Caruncho               Justo Pozo

• Daniel Katz (BBA '74), DBK Concepts
• Robert Craven (MBA '97), Garden of Life
• Richard Dobrow (BACC '95, MAcc '97), Guarded Networks
• Joseph Caruncho (BBA '81) and Justo Pozo (BBA '80), Preferred Care Partners
  
  Honorees--we congratulate you on your many achievements!

   As a growing College, we welcome exciting news about our more than 25,000 alumni. If you have received an honor that you would like to share with us and your fellow alumni, click here to submit an Alumni Note.

.: Spring '04 graduates taste success, prepare for their future as alumni.

   On April 15th, the Business Alumni Chapter hosted a reception in honor of the College's Spring '04 graduates. College Associate Dean Cliff Perry and Corinne Young, director of marketing and corporate relations for the Chapman Graduate School, addressed the importance of staying involved as alumni. Manny Pravia (MST '92), vice president of the Chapter, congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to join the Chapter and its powerful network of alumni. Graduates and alumni board members mingled as they dipped treats into a fountain of chocolate, celebrating a taste of their success to come. The Business Alumni Chapter hopes this event will become a new tradition which will help increase graduating seniors' awareness of the impressive group of alumni they are joining.

COMING EVENTS

• Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame Luncheon to be held May 13th: Alumni seeking to re-connect with each other will have a tremendous opportunity to do that and more at the 2004 Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Luncheon, scheduled for May 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Parrot Jungle Island. The Hall of Fame is the perfect opportunity to unite with old friends and develop new business contacts. To RSVP for this event, click here or e-mail catoggio@fiu.edu for more details.

• Chapman School alumni are invited to get "refreshed" this summer: The Chapman School invites all those who graduated with an MBA or specialty Master's degree from the College of Business Administration/Chapman Graduate School to its Alumni Summer Refresher Conference taking place June 18th and 19th. Participants will join Dean José de la Torre for a reception at his home on Friday and refresh their business contacts. On Saturday, they will refresh their business savvy at the mini conference to be held at the Omni Colonnade, Coral Gables, where experts will give insights on trends in national real estate markets, marketing, banking merger integration, corporate governance, and global business. Click here to register.

• Alumni continue to give back to community: On Saturday, May 22nd, the Business Alumni Chapter will be assisting Camillus House to prepare food and feed the homeless in our community. Please join us for this exceptional project. Help us make a difference. To RSVP for this event, please click here.