May 02, 2018
SIU’s College of Business hosting lecture and awards ceremonies
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s College of Business is sponsoring a new public lecture series and two special awards presentations this week.
Inaugural Gary N. Parrish Lecture to feature Cisco Smart+Connected Communities president
The inaugural Gary N. Parrish Lecture Series and Award Ceremony is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the SIU Student Center’s International Lounge. A reception at 4:30 p.m. will precede the ceremony.
The event will feature the presentation of the first Gary N. Parrish Business Excellence Awards and a lecture by Anil Menon. Menon is global president of Cisco Smart+Connected Communities, a billion dollar international technology business.
Terry Clark, dean of the College of Business, will be the master of ceremonies and the event is free and open to the public. Those attending are asked to RSVP by emailing RSVP@business.siu.edu or calling 618/453-7978.
Local entrepreneurs to be honored
Recipients of the inaugural 2018 Gary N. Parrish Business Excellence Award, which will be presented annually to successful area business entrepreneurs, include:
- Cynde Bunch – owner of Walker’s Bluff in Carterville.
- Dennis Burd – financial advisor for Northwestern Mutual in Carbondale.
- Rodney Cabaness – co-owner of Black Diamond Harley-Davidson in Marion.
- John T. Cherry – personnel and financial manager in long-term health care.
- Shad Zimbro – co-owner of Black Diamond Harley-Davidson.
Parrish Memorial Fund makes many things possible
Gary N. Parish, a finance degree recipient at SIU, was a longtime friend of the business college, delighting students with his guest presentations and appearances at professional programs.
After completing his degree a SIU in 1970, he earned a certificate from the College of Financial Planning in Denver and enjoyed a distinguished career working as an accounting investment officer at I.M. Simon & Company, a branch manager at R. Rowland Company, and finally as vice president and branch manager of A.G. Edwards in Carbondale.
He was inducted into SIU’s College of Business Hall of Fame in 1989 and also earned distinguished awards from the Crest Club and President’s Council.
Barbara Parrish Ahlers established the Gary N. Parrish Excellence Fund for Southern Illinois Business Outreach at the College of Business in honor of her late husband following his untimely passing at the age of 45 in 1992.
The fund enables the college to provide lectures by national and regional speakers and sponsor networking and collaborative opportunities between the college and Southern Illinois businesses. The college also has now established this annual event and awards ceremony courtesy of the fund.
Hall of Fame ceremony set
The college will host its annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony 5 p.m. Friday at Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium.
Also open to the public, this event features the 2018 College of Business Hall of Fame induction and the presentation of the Emerging Saluki Leader Awards. The gala will include remarks by Clark and conclude with drinks and hors d’oeuvres in the Hall of Presidents. Rich Klassen, 1975 marketing graduate and 2008 Hall of Fame inductee, will be the master of ceremonies.
Five new Hall of Fame members
Five outstanding SIU alumni will claim their spots in the Hall of Fame this year. The Hall of Fame, established in 1986, honors lifetime achievement and recognizes alumni who have made significant contributions in their fields and who notably represent the college, its mission and the Saluki spirit. During the ceremonies, the honor recipients are introduced by outstanding current seniors in the college.
The current inductees include:
- Penny Clancy, with introduction by Katherine Gallick, a senior management major. Clancy completed her MBA at SIU with concentration in human resources management in 1995 after earning her bachelor’s degree in HR management/business administration at Illinois State University two years before.
From Geneva, Ill., Clancy is the vice president of human resources for Sentinel Technologies Inc. in Downers Grove. She manages a team of HR professionals who handle all aspects of employee relations, training, compensation planning, development and more.
She spent the majority of her career with Sentinel, hired originally as director of corporate recruiting. She was promoted within a few months to overseeing HR services and later become vice president.
Clancy is chair of the SIU College of Business Management Board and Minority Executive Advisory Board. She also works with the Dupage County workforce development board in support of Women in STEM and is involved in other civic and philanthropic endeavors.
She has custom-designed and built four homes. Clancy and husband Jim are the parents of Colin, Alexa and Liam.
- Latasha Gillespie, with introduction by Donna Adkinson, senior accounting major. Gillespie, of Seattle, Wash., earned her finance degree at SIU in 1996 and is the director of global diversity and inclusion for Amazon, helping build company-wide mechanisms to improve diversity and inclusiveness across Amazon’s workforce and platforms.
Before joining the Amazon team, Gillespie enjoyed a diverse career in finance and human resources with Caterpillar Inc., a Fortune 500 company, from 1996 to 2017. While there, she established the company’s first diversity recruiting strategy and later served as global diversity and inclusion director for Caterpillar.
She functioned in a variety of other capacities and locations, including working in Singapore as human resources director for a large region including the Asian Pacific, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. She serves on various university and civic boards and has won two Telly Awards, an Alexander Hamilton Gold Award and other accolades. She and husband Damian have two sons, Damion II and Myles.
- Harvey N. Michaels, to be introduced by Katherine Kovic, a senior accounting major. Michaels is a double alumnus of SIU, earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1979 and his MBA two years later.
He recently became a U.S. senior contracting partner and global qualified negotiator for Deloitte Consulting’s Global Contracting Unit and works in Houston. He previously served as the consulting leader for Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services/Deloitte Private, the company’s high-growth start-up and middle-market company practice.
He’s also been a lead global client services partner on two Fortune 500 energy company and more. Michaels is a certified management consultant and a certified fraud examiner and was a member of the American Arbitration Association.
He is an avid fisherman, who enjoyed fishing all of the waters around SIU during his time on campus and has now fished in all 50 states and a number of other countries as well. He and wife Collie are the parents of Emily, a fashion design college student.
- Heather Paquette, with introduction by Grace Horman, a master’s of accounting student. Pacquette, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., earned her accounting degree in 1995.
With more than 25 years of experience in financial audit, information technology and business process, she is a managing partner with KPMG LLP in Detroit, overseeing the strategic direction and growth of the company’s Detroit and Grand Rapids offices.
She is active in professional and community organizations and has won a variety of awards, including being named one of Crain’s Most Influential Women in Michigan in 2012 and being chosen as KPMG 2010 Working Mother of the Year. She and husband Paul Franczyk, have three sons: Thaddeus, Stephan and Gavin.
- Ron G. Wienstroer, to be introduced by Jared Nicholas, a senior accounting major. Wienstroer earned two degrees in the SIU system – a bachelor’s in accounting at SIU Edwardsville in 1992 and his master’s in accounting from SIU Carbondale in 1992. A first-generation college student, he was the first of five children in his family to earn SIU degrees.
Wienstroer, of St. Louis, is a partner with Monetra Group in Clayton, Mo. He and Diane Compardo, his wife and partner, lead a team of 17 professionals who assist clients in making wise financial decisions. He is responsible for implementing the team’s strategic vision and growth strategy.
Wienstroer previously spent 17 years in public accounting, including a long stint with Price Waterhouse (now PwC) in St. Louis and Los Angeles and several years as tax and business advisory partner with EY, where he held a variety of local and area tax leadership roles.
He is an active member of the SIU College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board and School of Accountancy Advisory Board as well as the having lifetime membership in the SIU Alumni Association. He’s also the treasurer and finance chair at Forsyth School and former Webster University School of Business and Technology board member. He is involved in professional organizations and enjoys traveling with Compardo, his college sweetheart, and sons Alex, Sam and Jack. Compardo is a 2012 Hall of Fame inductee.
Three chosen as Emerging Saluki Leaders
The college is also honoring three recent alumni with the 2018 Emerging Saluki Leader Award, given in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in business, academic, government, nonprofit organizations or community service.
This year’s honorees are:
- Nicole Cundiff, a triple alumnus of SIU. She earned her MBA in 2005, a master’s degree in applied experimental psychology in 2007 and a doctorate in applied psychology in 2010 at Carbondale.
She is currently an associate professor and director of the business administration program at the University of Alaska – Fairbanks School of Management where she holds primary responsibility for the operation and direction of the program. She previously served as director of a statewide leadership center and was involved with youth leadership development programs.
Named one of the “Alaska Journal of Commerce’s “Top 40 Under 40 Award” winners in 2015, she was also a 2014 UAF Chancellor’s Innovation in and eLearning Fellow.
A single mother of two, she serves as associate editor for the “Journal of Leadership Management” and is a co-founder and member of the Fairbanks Lion’s Club. She also volunteers with a number of community organizations.
- Clayton Pryor earned his bachelor’s degree in management from SIU in 2006 and later completed his master’s in organizational leadership at Lewis University in Joliet.
Pryor lives in Chicago and is the director of workforce development for Advocate Health Care, managing a multimillion-dollar portfolio that strives to create a pool of workers prepared for the healthcare industry through job skills and investment training in underserved communities.
He earned an emerging Leader award from the National Urban Lead and his previous experience includes leading a diversity effort expansion for the CTA Red Line Renewal Project and managing a $6 million transportation trade training program.
He serves as a board member of the college’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and is a mentor for students.
A first-generation college student, he’s also active with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Ideal Education Foundation and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
- Ranie Atwood Verby is a double alumna of SIU and a first-generation college graduate. She completed her bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2002 and her Master of Accountancy the following year.
Currently a financial adviser for the Moneta Group in St. Louis, she is certified as a public accountant and financial planner.
In support of the arts, she is an associate board member and vice president of recruitment for the Center for Creative Arts and she’s also a member of the Women’s Investment Network, an organization dedicated to financial literacy for women to help them reach their goals.
Her connections to SIU remain strong as well, as she serves on the Accountancy Alumni Advisory Board and was instrumental in reinstating the CPA review course, which she said helped her pass the exam on the first attempt.