Tagged: alumni

The first Tippie Monday Memoir featured Tippie alumnus Jeffrey Ding (BBA16, Economics).

Whether it is a tornado, a flood, or a global pandemic, Midwestern neighborliness is always a constant. In mid-March when it felt like the whole world was shutting down, certain everyday commodities shot up in demand, including toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Seeing the intense need, Scott Bush (BBA96) and his team at Foundry Distilling Co. just wanted to do something to help. They decided to explore how they could divert its lucrative distilling operation into creating hand sanitizer for the Des Moines-area community.

Sandy Davis (BBA04) needed a major change. She loved her work as a vice president in Equity Capital Markets for Goldman Sachs, but after 10 years in the role, and a full house with three children and a husband who also worked full-time in finance, she was constantly burning the candle at both ends.

There’s a temptation to think that if we check all the boxes, do the workouts, set the right amount of money aside, make the right decisions, we’ll always be happy and successful in life and business. Hardship won’t touch us. Yet the wisdom of years teaches otherwise. With experience and maturity, we learn challenges are inevitable and, even more, can be an instructive and formative part of life. It’s how we approach and weather the challenges that makes or breaks us.

It was a Friday. Though it felt like most other pandemic days in the time of COVID-19—indistinguishable from the day before. Like so many events since the University of Iowa closed campus and moved classes online, the annual Tippie Student Leadership Awards had been moved to a Zoom video chat, and the mood that day was muted as were the microphones of most of the people on the call. Then Sukriti Nayar (BBA12) dropped a bombshell.

Nicole Thorne Jenkins begins her tenure as the dean of the University of McIntire School of Commerce

He might seem like the least likely candidate to fund a full-ride scholarship, much less 33 of them. But frugal carpenter Dale Schroeder wanted his savings to benefit young people who dreamed of attending college. Tippie alumni Katelyn Wheeldon (BBA16), Jenna Herr (BBA13), and Benjamin Kopp (BSE12/MD17/MBA17) are among the beneficiaries of his generosity.  

Tippie Gateway started in 2015 to recruit populations underrepresented in business – women as well as first-generation, LGBTQ+, and students of color. It’s important to reach out to these students early – so that they take the necessary math requirements needed for college and/or business school. Many Tippie Gateway participants are entering their senior year of high school and still have time to make a decision about college. Five years in, the program graduated its first cohort in May. These students – who would have never explored a career in business - are set to make their contributions in the working world.

Tippie College of Business graduate Matt Tolton is taking over his father’s Atlantic-based business while starting his own cybersecurity firm.

Hawkeyes help. Scott Bush (BBA96) was on spring break when he learned life in Iowa was about to change. What he did next will be remembered for years to come.