EMBA Elite Spotlight: Wyman Hamilton & Scott Goldberg

• May 16th, 2014
• in EMBA Elite Spotlight Series

This month, our EMBA Elite Spotlight is Scott Goldberg and Wyman Hamilton, both members of the Culverhouse College of Commerce Tuscaloosa Executive MBA class of 2013. After meeting in the program, the pair combined Wyman’s expertise in senior living with Scott’s in entrepreneurship to found Atlas Senior Living.

With over ten years of experience in the field, Wyman has been passionate about serving senior citizens since high school. He received his BS in Health Administration from Auburn University. During his tenure with Brookdale Senior Living, he was responsible for the management and operation of 35 communities in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. His experiences led him to write a book about leadership style and inspiration, which reveals the importance of cooperation, enthusiasm, and originality to Wyman. This enthusiasm and originality prospered after Wyman’s experience in the Manderson Executive MBA Program.

“The program gave me the tools and confidence to branch out from corporate America and become an entrepreneur,” said Wyman.

Scott received his BS from Mississippi State University. After graduating, he became Senior Director of Texas Sandwich Investors, LLC, which owned the rights to develop 100 Lenny’s Sub Shops in North Texas. Scott also served as the company’s CEO & Managing Partner for four years. Before Atlas Senior Living, Scott left Texas Sandwich Investors to found GoldOne Group. Given his entrepreneurial background, Scott has the expertise to help make Atlas a success. According to Scott, “We will always implement key business strategies from past experiences, but what excites me the most (is that) this business, compared to others, significantly allows me a role in positively impacting lives.”

Atlas Senior Living aims to provide outstanding service to its residents by utilizing Wyman and Scott’s unique problem solving and management strategies. A quote from the Atlas Senior Living blog perfectly describes their notion of collaborative management: “The best solution to most problems comes from those closest to them.” As the blog explains, their style of leadership requires attention and respect for their residents, employees, and clients. Instead of delegating or demanding, the Atlas managerial staff utilizes the familiarity of those with the most exposure to problem to help get to the source of their issues. This gives residents and employees influence while creating an inclusive environment and ridding the community of conflict.

Atlas Senior Living will be opening their first community, Madison Heights, this September in Evans, Georgia. Madison Heights will be the first all memory care community in the area, tailored to the needs of residents with memory diseases such as Alzheimer’s or dementia. Atlas is also planning to begin construction on another new community this fall in Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to residential housing management, Atlas Senior Living also provides consulting services and mock surveys, which will help spread their resident-centered, collaborative management model to the rest of the industry.

To find out more about Atlas Senior Living, check out their blog and website.
For more information about the Executive MBA Program at The University of Alabama, contact Cheryl Altemara at caltemara@cba.ua.edu or 205.348.4501.

Congratulations, Class of 2014!

• May 7th, 2014
• in UA EMBA Latest News/Events

Thirty-eight graduates from the Culverhouse College of Commerce Tuscaloosa and Huntsville EMBA programs at The University of Alabama walked the stage on the morning of Saturday, May 3^rd. Surrounded by stunning views of the Walk of Champions and the field,

EMBA staff and faculty joined the graduates and two hundred and sixty-five of their closest friends and family for a banquet in the North Zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium directly after commencement. The event was filled with pride and fond memories as families reconnected over the success of their graduates. After the luncheon and award ceremony, the graduates and their families were given a tour of the stadium including the home team’s locker room, tunnel, and skyboxes.
One of our graduates, Nag Padur, was noticeably absent. His wife was giving birth to their daughter, Eaksha.  Born on her father’s graduation day, Eaksha’s name means “sight,” and can be loosely translated as “knowledge of soul.” Congratulations to the Padur family.

Awards were given to recognize each class’s President, Vice President, and MVP, as well as each student that completed the program with a 4.0 GPA. Recongnized were HEMBA’s President Staci Woods, Vice President Dana Runager, and MVP Matthew Brent Gardner and TEMBA’s President Christopher Jones, Vice President Sonya Ogletree, and MVP Paul Mongeon. Graduates that earned a 4.0 GPA include Huntsville’s Patrick Ellinger, Matt Gardner, and Nag Padur and Tuscaloosa’s Matt Bogue, Mrinal Dhar, Jeff Leroy, and Paul Mongeon. We are extremely proud of our graduates for these outstanding achievements.

Both the Tuscaloosa and Huntsville classes delivered a Dr. James F. Cashman Faculty Award as well as an EMBA Faculty Excellence Award. The Dr. James F. Cashman Faculty Award honors the memory of the late EMBA Strategy Implementation professor who lived by high standards of integrity and served as a pristine example for his students. The award, given to a faculty member that reflects Dr. Cashman’s positive influence, was presented to Dr. David Mothersbaugh (HEMBA) and Dr. Ronald Dulek (TEMBA). The EMBA Faculty Excellence Award was presented to Dr. Ronald Dulek (HEMBA) and Dr. Brian Gray (TEMBA).

Once again, congratulations to the Executive MBA Class of 2014:

Sam Barall, Havis, Inc.
Matt Bogue, The Dutch Group
Karen Braxton, Clear Channel Media
Tim Brown, Flexco
Myers Bruso, Farmco Builders Inc.
Ray Chowdhury, Missile Defense Agency
Jason Cochran, League of Southeastern Credit Unions
Brandon Cole, Sanmina – SCI, Technology
Will Coulter, High Rock Group International
Kathi Dawn, Genesis Healthcare LLC
Mrinal Dhar, DCH Regional Medical Center
Patrick Ellinger, Emerson Network Power
Edward Eskridge, Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc.
Corey Farris, Walter Energy
Ed Galvin, Sandvik Mining & Construction LLC
Matt Gardner, International Fire Protection
Emmett Garrett, USA Aviation Flight Test Directorate
Ted Gryska, Two Men and a Truck
Daayge Harvil, Wee Care Academy
Ashley Jackson, UAB Medicine
Christopher Jones, Southern Light
Robert Justice, Scientific Research Corporation
Scott Knighton, Blastcrete Equipment Company
Jeff Leroy, Central Garden and Pet
Marshall Liles, Nissan North America
Josh McGill, Applied Chemical Technology Inc.
Paul Mongeon, North America Coal – Red Hills Mine
Gary Morrison, Regions Financial Corporation
Janet North, Nucor Steel
Sonya Ogletree, Tempest Global Consulting, Inc.
Nag Padur, ADTRAN, Inc.
Dana Runager, River City Center
Sunil Singh, IBM
Krystal Swann, Raycom Media
Jennifer Thomas, Alabama Power
Brad Wood, US Air Force
Staci Woods, Oracle
Tamaria Yarbrough,  Alacare Home Health and Hospice

Manderson EMBA Alumni Celebrate A-Day 2014

• April 23rd, 2014
• in EMBA Alumni Network

There is nothing that Alabama fans like more than football, except maybe lots of food with football.  We suffer some withdrawal pains if we don’t see some crimson and Houndstooth, spot Big Al somewhere, hear the Million Dollar band, or yell “Roll Tide” at someone.  It’s more than just a game at Alabama. It’s a way of life.

Last Saturday, April 19, Culverhouse College of Commerce EMBA and MBA graduates, arrived in Tuscaloosa to attend the Manderson Graduate School breakfast before the A-Day game.  Alumni and their families received t-shirts, buttons and shakers to cheer on the Alabama Crimson Tide.  Our youngest fan arrived in a stroller and our most senior graduate, Frank Chandler, was from the MBA Class of 1970.

EMBA graduates from the Tuscaloosa and Huntsville programs from 2004-2012, showed up to reminisce and show their team spirit.  Tim Smalley, EMBA Class of 2009, arrived with his son, Drew, who will be graduating from Alabama with an M.B.A. in 2015.  The 2012 class had the most members to attend: Ben Paulk, Michelle Wooten and Allyson Welch.

Check out more pictures from A-Day on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UAEMBA.