| Over 246 “capped and gowned” students waited eagerly this morning for the opportunity to walk across the stage on the Magnolia Circle Lawn and accept their hard-earned diplomas from Jim Bradford, dean of the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management. At the end of the ceremony, 229 of these students were celebrating the successful completion of a Vanderbilt MBA; 38 of these through Owen’s Executive MBA program. Another 17 students earned a Vanderbilt Master of Science in Finance. 
David Dorman, Managing Director and Senior Advisor for Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Warburg Pincus, took the lectern as Owen’s commencement speaker. Addressing the students, Dorman chronicled his career in the tumultuous telecommunications industry, starting with his job as the 55th employee of Sprint at a time when one million users for cellular phone service seemed unattainable. Two-hundred and 19 million cell phone users later, Dorman stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T, after leading it through the turbulent years of 2000 including a massive reorganization, the launch of AT&T Wireless, the merger of AT&T Cable Operations with Comcast, and the more recent transformative merger of SBC and AT&T. 
At an earlier ceremony in the day, Bana Shomali, MBA ’07, was awarded the Vanderbilt Founder’s Medal for the Owen School. This award, originally endowed by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1877, is given to graduates who achieve the strongest record in personal, professional and academic performance. With the highest GPA in the graduating MBA class, Bana continues her stellar academic performance; in 2006, she was the co-recipient of the Bruce D. Henderson scholarship, awarded for the highest GPA in the first year of the MBA program. During the graduation festivities, several other students were feted for their achievements. - Rehan Choudhry and Karin Thul shared the H. Igor Ansoff Award, which recognizes extraordinary, exceptional service to the school.
- Suruchi Sharma was given the Flournoy A. Coles Jr. Prize in recognition of outstanding performance in international management studies.
- Daryl Cunningham was recognized with the Matt Wigginton Leadership Award, awarded for outstanding performance in finance.
- Seven MBA graduates were presented with the Owen Service Award for outstanding effort and energy in leadership, community involvement, and student life. They are: Chris Baxley, Nora Driscoll, Andre LaFreniere, Dane Honhart, John Kingston, Julie Sinton, and Susan Strayer.
- Alban Cambournac received the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence in the Executive MBA.
- Roger Drake received the Martin S. Geisel Award for Leadership in Executive Education.
- Nikolay Popandopulo earned the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence for the Master of Science in Finance program.
In addition, four members of Owen’s distinguished faculty were singled out. - Bob Whaley, Valere Blair Potter Professor of Finance, received the Dean’s Award for Research Impact. An expert in the field of derivative securities, Bob is widely recognized for his development of the Market Volatility Index (VIX), the NASDAQ Market Volatility Index (VXN) and the BuyWrite Monthly Index (BXM) for the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
- Ray Friedman, Brownlee O. Currey Professor of Management for Organization Studies and Human Resource Management, received the Dean’s Award for Research Productivity. Ray boasts an outstanding record of publishing his work on labor negotiations and conflict resolution in top academic journals over the past several years.
- Tim Vogus, Assistant Professor of Management for Organization Studies and Human Resource Management, was selected by the MBA class of 2007 to receive the James A. Webb Excellence in Teaching Award.
- Luke Froeb, the William C. and Margaret W. Oehmig Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise, was selected by the Executive MBA class of 2007 to receive the Executive MBA Excellence in Teaching Award.
Also recognized at this graduation ceremony were two individuals who received awards earlier this spring. - The Financial Executives Institute Award for outstanding performance in both accounting and finance was given to Matthew Stemmler.
- Josue Gomes da Silva, MBA ’89 and CEO of Coteminas, a global textile manufacturer headquarter in Brazil, received the 2007 Distinguished Alumnus Award for outstanding achievement in professional and public life.
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Dean Jim Bradford
MBA Graduate Seigo Tomatsu
Bana Shomali, winner of the Founder's Medal |
