In the world of business education, spring is competition season.
We celebrate with you, our friends and alumni, two recent wins at premier competitions. Our Team Animosa won the 2016 mai Bangkok Business Challenge in Thailand, beating out 28 other teams hailing from 18 different countries—and is the first all-female team to do so.
Our Team TOUGHER, meanwhile, took first in the fast pitch category at the 2016 Brown Forman Cardinal Challenge at the University of Louisville, another top business plan competition.
Here at the Lundquist College, we recently hosted the annual UO-Nyenrode Case Competition—the result of a long-term partnership with our friends in the Netherlands. Winners receive tuition and other financial support to complete a master's degree at Nyenrode Business Universiteit. We also launched QuackHatch a new undergraduate entrepreneurship contest that serves as a precursor to the annual University of Oregon and Oregon State University Civil War Shark Tank.
Another competition, and one for which we are exceptionally proud, is our own upcoming New Venture Championship (NVC), April 7-9. Now in its 25th year, NVC welcomes MBA students from around the globe to Portland to compete for more than $60,000 in cash and prizes. Participants say our industry-leading judges provide a level of direct feedback unmatched by any other business plan competition. Pitch sessions are open to the public, and we welcome you to stop by the Embassy Suites and see for yourself the compelling business plans students present.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge the recent passing of two of the Lundquist College's most magnanimous Ducks, Ron Peterson and Jim Rippey.
Peterson, a 1949 accounting graduate, and his wife Patricia, who survives him, have generously supported several areas of campus, including the Lundquist College of Business, Presidential Scholarships, and athletics. Our Peterson Hall in the Lillis Business Complex and Peterson Plaza at Autzen Stadium were named to recognize their generosity.
Rippey and his wife, Shirley, who survives him, have been active supporters of the UO for more than 55 years. Among their many gifts to the university and the college, the Rippeys funded the Professor of Practice position in our Cameron Center for Finance and Securities Analysis and established the James F. and Shirley J. Rippey Graduate Fellowship Fund, and the James F. and Shirley J. Rippey Professorship Fund in Business, which provide invaluable support to the college in perpetuity. Both Jim and Shirley Rippey graduated from the University of Oregon in 1953.
These leaders gave generously because they believed deeply in the value of business education. Our students and faculty members are proving the merit of such an investment.
Thank you for reading and as always, GO DUCKS!
James Terborg
Interim Dean and Professor Emeritus of Management