November 15, 2007
Doctoral student picked for prestigious seminar
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Bryan T. Stinchfield, a doctoral student in strategic management in the College of Business and Administration, plans to attend the conference set for January 2008. "Upon hearing that I was accepted to attend the academy I was very excited that I had an opportunity to attend an interesting and important event with some of the most progressive thinkers in the area of business and climate change," said Stinchfield. "My second reaction was that I felt honored to represent Southern Illinois University's College of Business at an event attended by Ph.D. students from world-class universities around the globe."
The seminar will focus on sustainability and technology. Stinchfield will present a paper entitled "Climate Change Strategies and Firm Performance," which he and Michael D. Michalisin, SIUC associate professor of management, co-authored.
"What I hope to learn at the academy is a better understanding of how climate change is affecting business, governmental policy and even people's own ideas about how they view the problem," Stinchfield said.
"Without the mentorship of SIUC management professors Dr. Michael Michalisin and Dr. William McKinley, I never would have been in a place to get recognized," Stinchfield said.
"Bryan Stinchfield has a genuine concern for the environmental problems facing us today," said Michalisin. "That passion is reflected in his research on how firms can achieve a competitive advantage in ways that preserve our natural environment. He has a bright future ahead of him."
Michalisin recently attended the Leopold Leadership Program on Business Sustainability and the Society of Environmental Journalist's Annual Conference at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., where top scholars and journalists in science, business, medicine and other disciplines discussed possible solutions to the environmental problems threatening our planet's ecosystems and its impact on mankind.
Stinchfield hopes to follow in Michalisin and McKinley's footsteps. He will pursue a career in academia "which will provide me an opportunity to research and teach in the areas of corporate social and environmental responsibility," he said.
A native of Vermont, Stinchfield is a two-degree graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, earning a bachelor's degree in communications and a master of business administration.