My B-Role of 2024 Cool Crummer Moments

As someone who has archivist tendencies, each year I take upwards of a thousand informal photos capturing activities at the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College . I often share some as part of my "Cool Crummer Moments" on LinkedIn. It has become something of a thing to be featured on one of these and I do appreciate when alums comment on how much they enjoy keeping up with our activities through these photos.

Instead of posting a best of this year, I thought I'd share some of the photos that weren't featured, but still capture something very special. Enjoy!

1 - Michael Blackburn wiring up guest speaker Isar Meitis

What can I say about Michael...I knew that when he started showing up before me each morning (and I get in early) he was someone who took genuine pride in making all of us successful in what we do. This year, he did an amazing job managing the facility upgrades from the Crummer perspective. Thank you Michael!

2 - FINFROCK 's Shanda Lee partners with us for another capstone consulting project

What a partner we have with Shanda! From all of the consulting projects we've partnered on with FINFROCK to hosting our Executive MBA students, she's a true champion for us.

3 - Our updated, flexible and tech-enabled, classrooms

With the start of the fall semester, we brought our updated classrooms and auditorium online. Still working out the kinks, but the remote experience is so much better (and the portable batteries are really cool).

4 - Capstone consulting students getting ready for surgery

Our students work as consultants in just about every industry you can imagine. This year, we got to tour the surgical facilities of G Brock Magruder Jr MD 's Magruder Laser Vision . Justina Pratt has been awesome to work with and showed us how they really provide top notch service.

5 - Innovative Leader Series speaker Campbell Brown sharing some photos with students

It is always these special, unplanned moments, that our students enjoy. I try to make each session of the Crummer Innovative Leader Series something special for our FLEX MBA students. Our guests love these interactions.

6 - Mindy Sabella joins us and definitely livens up each meeting

It's a treat getting to work with Mindy and bringing back some of my Long Island/New York-speak....."yada, yada, yada..."

7 - FLEX MBA student Alon Hersch takeover of the class

Knowing that Alon wants to someday teach, it was a treat pulling a Sam Certo move on Alon and having him finish up the class. The smiles on his peers was priceless.

8 - Alumni board members Michael W. and Justin Braun handle the intros

Anytime I can, I like to have those who serve on our alumni board jump in to handle the intros and highlight all of the benefits of being an engaged alum.

9 - Avani D. , CEO of Schellman , hits a home run

Avani was everyone's favorite this year. Her style, her authenticity, and her down-to-earth nature really resonated with everyone....they hung on to her every word. A win! With all of my past volunteer work at Lyman High School, it was great to learn that she was an alumna there.

10 - Ann Ketteringham , another Crummer legend

Alums get the biggest smile when they're in the hallways and they spot Ann. She is the go-to person here at Crummer for anything we need to find the answer to. In this photo, she's making sure that Dr. Keenan Yoho and Mark Hertling, DBA have everything they need for the launch of our newest EMBA cohort.

11 - Continuous learner David Odahowski , President and CEO of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation

It's a joy to have David join us for some of our special moments. When John Gill joined us for a engaging Innovative Leader Series session at the Winter Park Library , David provided a very moving introduction of John and his work at Quest, Inc. .

12 - Ross Korosec brings World Wide Technology to our CAP601 class

In past years, Ross has Zoomed in as a guest speaker, but this year he brought a team from WWT to Crummer. Quite an opportunity for any students looking towards a career in consulting. Thank you Ross!

13 - Dave Krepcho calls out Dr. Yoho and our Crummer consulting students in his book

Attending the book launch event was a treat....opening it up to see the Crummer team acknowledged was really a wonderful surprise. We love any time we're able to partner with Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida for a project: https://www.feedhopenow.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=%2Fabout_economy

14 - "Guess who I had the opportunity to chat with at school this evening?"

Jeff Vahle , President of Walt Disney World Resort has always been one of my favorite guest speakers. Aside from spending some extra time in casual conversation, this year in the Innovative Leader Series he engaged students in a discussion about the changing strategic landscape of the theme park industry.

15 - A Massey Services takeover

What a treat when Tony Massey , President and CEO of Massey Service Inc. , brought along another Crummer alum, Jeff Buhler , SVP of Customer Service, to talk about their unique process for onboarding new acquisitions. I'm so appreciative that Tony, despite his hectic schedule on the road, always makes it a priority to speak in one of my classes.

16 - Secret research weapon, Blake Robinson

I love when Blake, Assistant Professor and the Business Librarian for the Olin Library, visits a class. As they tackle various projects, every team should make it a point to engage with Blake!

17 - The growing impact of executive education

Vanessa-Lyn Kannemeyer works with our faculty to bring unique and impactful programming to top global organizations. Its a privilege to see some of the many graduation ceremonies that our Management & Executive Education at Rollins College team hosts throughout the year.

18 - A view from the stage as Dean Anil Menon welcomes 2024 graduates

Each ceremony is unique and special. This year we welcomed Gregg Hill, a top AI investor, to deliver the keynote: https://crummer.rollins.edu/news/leading-ai-investor-gregg-hill-to-headline-2024-crummer-commencement/

19 - Dr. Keenan Yoho wows them at Siemens Energy

Crummer was invited to a very special Siemens Energy alumni / current student event featuring keynotes by Dr. Yoho and the new CEO of Siemens Gamesa (and Crummer alum) Vinod Philip. Here's a video of our dean chatting with Vinod at the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDC8GTwWTi0

20 - My brother in baklava, Dr. Koray Simsek , helping to launch so many careers in finance

One of my most favorite Cool Crummer Moments of the year is the final presentation in the Managing Global Portfolio class. A who's who of industry leaders work with our top students throughout the semester and leading up to a final presentation of student investment selections for the portfolio. This year was a celebration of the 25th year of impact: https://crummer.rollins.edu/news/25-years-of-hands-on-investing-the-crummer-truist-portfolio/

21 - Angelina Khourisader, MBA ' dad

He's everywhere and we love him! When you come to Rollins College, your family becomes a special part of our family.

22 -A visit from my friend, Zoom's Head of AI, Mahesh Ram

Mahesh and I both moved to Orlando in '98 as part of a Thomson Corporation acquisition. He went on to become Founder/CEO of several highly successful firms including Solvvy which was a acquired by Zoom for a whole bunch of $$$. Mahesh delivered an intimate talk about the future direction of AI. (We need to have you back Mahesh, for a much larger engagement!)

23 - Closing out Family Business class with David Duda and Robert Finfrock

A special evening featuring recently retired David Duda, along with concrete titan and fellow chocolate-lover Bob Finfrock. You can tell from Bob's face how much he loves participating in events like this. Bob had never met David and I think their discussion continued on at The Pinery after the class.

24 - Backstage at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts with the general, Mark Hertling, DBA

A special treat for our Executive MBA students, Dr. Hertling brought us over for a behind-the-scenes peak of the operations at Dr. Philips. It was grand opening day for their newest venue, Judson's Live, but CEO Katherine Ramsberger , still made time to talk with the students.

25 - Brittany McKee East, MBA comes back to visit a class she helped launch

Brittany came back to join us for a special class where we also featured our good friend, Allen Finfrock . The students, especially those coming from family businesses and considering their own their path forward, always enjoy hearing about Brittany's journey: https://crummer.rollins.edu/news/crummer-alumna-brittany-mckee-east-continues-the-little-debbie-family-legacy/

Those are just a few of the 2024 moments....there are so many more (I do apologize to those special faculty, staff, and partners who I didn't get to feature). There are so many more Cool Crummer Moments to come!

Michael Kazazis , an executive with experience in technology, finance, and operations, was co-founder of?Censeo Corporation, a leading SaaS provider of assessment technologies / consulting services in the HR marketplace. In October 2011, he successfully negotiated the sale of the firm to Mercer / Marsh McLennan where it has now become Talent Assessment Solutions.?In 2011, Michael was named CFO of the Year by the Orlando Business Journal. He has an MBA from Rollins College and?serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives and Integration for the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College.