Aztec Business Alliance Bridges Career Opportunities for Students
 The Aztec Business Alliance (ABA) held an undergraduate business career fair was held on April 23 in Montezuma Hall. The success of the fair, which was a pilot event with 25 corporate exhibitors, was heavily dependent on student participation. Due in large part to support from the ABSC and faculty in-class announcements, over 300 business students actively participated in the event.
The level of professionalism and preparedness that the CBA students exhibited (business attire, resumes, preliminary company research) uniformly impressed company recruiters, who expressed their intent to renew their participation for next year. Exhibitors included Wells Fargo, AMN Healthcare, Viejas, New England Financial, Proflowers and Jack in the Box.
In addition to the undergraduate career fair, the ABA also hosted a graduate career fair, Meet the Masters, in April. Last November, the ABA was part of Hire San Diego, a joint graduate student career fair hosted by SDSU, UCSD and USD.
All ABA events are geared to bringing the students face-to-face with business leaders and potential employers. SDSU Career Services contributes greatly to these events by providing resume and interview workshops to students.
Blanchard Speaks on Keeping Culture Alive in Family-Owned Businesses
 Scott Blanchard, an executive vice president of The Ken Blanchard Companies and a second generation motivational speaker, spoke at a recent business forum hosted by San Diego State University’s Entrepreneurial Management Center. The event, “Keeping Culture Alive in Second Generation Family-Owned Business,” was held at Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines and had approximately 100 attendees.
Blanchard is the son of Ken Blanchard, a renowned motivational speaker and the author of the bestseller, “The One Minute Manager.” Throughout his speech, he shared stories about the struggles his family faced, as well as touching on management improvement strategies.
During a panel session comprised of business leaders involved in family-owned companies, William Kellogg, president and CEO of the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club; Trevor Blair, Manpower; Bethel Nathan, CFO/COO Initial Impression and Mike Alfred Jr., The Alfred Group, shared stories of success and struggle within their respective companies. The event was moderated by Daily Transcript Executive Editor George Chamberlin.
Rhino Linings CEO Speaks at SDSU
The L. Robert Payne Lecture Series, sponsored by the Entrepreneurial Management Center and held on May 1, featured distinguished entrepreneur, Russell Lewis. Lewis is the founder and CEO of Rhino Linings, USA, Inc., a worldwide distribution company, with retail dealer sales in excess of $200 million. He is also CEO of Rhino Linings Australia and Rhino Linings of Canada.
Lewis spoke about how he has gained international experience as an entrepreneur for the last 25 years. He discussed topics such as: how he handled product development, how he views his competition and the factors that motivate him and drive his business.
Lewis has extended his entrepreneurial talents into the manufacturing arena and has founded International Chemical Industries, Inc. and ArcoMatrix, Inc. He is co-founder of Rhino Off-Road Industries, a manufacturer of off-road vehicles; a director in Tungsten Heavy Powder; a board member of Carbite Golf; a shareholder and advisor to Fallbrook Technologies, a unique transmissions company; and a member of the Entrepreneurial Management Center Business Forum at San Diego State University.
Dean Featured on Life Sciences Podcast
College of Business Administration Dean Gail Naughton was the featured guest during a podcast with Genetic Engineering & biotechnology News (GEN), the only high-frequency publication dedicated to biotech news and the most widely read bionews publication worldwide. The podcast is available at http://www.genengnews.com/genCasts.aspx
Naughton spoke about the challenges many scientists face during their transition from academia to the biotech industry. She also addressed the fact that few women are currently running biotech and pharmaceutical companies and discussed what needs to be done to change this. In addition, Naughton revealed how scientists can learn to effectively market their companies and their products.
During the podcast, Naughton mentioned two new degree programs offered at SDSU that train scientists to also become effective business professionals: the MBA for Executives in Life Sciences and the combined Life Science Ph.D./MBA program.
SDSU and Gallup University have partnered to develop a new MBA for Executives in Life Sciences. The program, a blend of online and in-classroom learning, combines the latest academic research from a top-ranked university with the speed and business focus of a global, world-renowned consulting firm. This unique MBA is designed to prepare executives to effectively lead healthcare product development and regulatory approval while accelerating the time to market, decreasing costs, and bringing tangible benefits to patients worldwide. The program is expected to begin in early 2008. To learn more about the Life Sciences MBA, visit http://sciencemba.sdsu.edu.
Naughton has been the dean of the SDSU College of Business Administration since August 2002. Prior to that, she spent more than 15 years at Advanced Tissue Sciences, where she was the company’s co-founder and co-inventor of its core technology. Dr. Naughton holds over 90 U.S. and foreign patents and has been extensively published in the field of tissue engineering. In 2000, Dr. Naughton received the 27th Annual National Inventor of the Year award by the Intellectual Property Owners Association in honor of her pioneering work in the field of tissue engineering. She earned her Ph.D. in Basic Medical Sciences and her M.S. in Histology from the New York University Medical Center. She earned an Executive MBA in 2001 from the Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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