Business Notables Bring Expertise to Fogelman College EMBA Speakers Series
For release: November 18, 2004
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

The Executive MBA Program at the University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business and Economics is presenting a speakers series this fall as part of the legal and ethical business issues component of its program. The EMBA C-Series provides a forum for bringing business leaders who work at the highest level to the classroom to share their knowledge and experiences with EMBA students.

"The C-Series provides our students with a unique opportunity to discuss important leadership and ethics issues with nationally recognized business leaders first-hand," said Dr. Carol Danehower, associate dean of the Fogelman College of Business and Economics and director of the EMBA program. "We want to ensure that students have the opportunity to interact with business leaders who have demonstrated and experienced outstanding leadership, vision, and ethics on a national level."

Speakers in the series include:

• Steve Odland, chairman, president, and CEO of AutoZone Inc., the nation's largest auto parts and accessories retailer with more than $5.5 billion in sales and 48,000 employees across the United States and Mexico. Odland joined AutoZone in 2001. He had been with Ahold Inc., a global supermarket operator, where he was COO for Ahold USA. Before that he was president and CEO of Tops Markets Inc., an Ahold operating company with grocery, drug and convenience store chains. Odland also served as president of the foodservice division of Sara Lee Bakery and spent 16 years with the Quaker Oats Company in a variety of leadership positions. He is chairman of the corporate governance committee of the Business Roundtable and chairman of Memphis Tomorrow.
• Robert Buckman, chairman and former CEO of Buckman Laboratories. He also serves as chairman of the board of Tioga Holdings Inc., and Applied Knowledge Group Inc., both in Reston, Va. Buckman is a multinational specialty chemical corporation which researches, develops, manufactures and markets chemical products for use in the pulp and paper, industrial water treatment and leather industries. The company was founded by Buckman's parents in 1945 and now has plants and offices in 22 countries.
• Stephen C. Roehm, senior consulting faculty member at IBM's Executive Business Institute and its affiliates, the IBM Advanced Business Institute and the IBM Business Partner Executive Institute. He specializes in innovation and strategy, scenario planning, CIO issues and opportunities, on-demand business, and supply chain management. Roehm has taught hundreds of executives from leading companies, venture capital firms and their portfolio companies, governments, universities, business partners, and not-for-profit organizations from all parts of the world. These include 3M, Boeing, Dun & Bradstreet, Best Buy, Allstate, American Express, Toyota, Yale University, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Roehm has been with IBM for more than 30 years and has held executive management positions in planning, information technology, logistics and finance and senior management positions in sales and marketing.
• Ernie Mrozek, president and CFO of ServiceMaster Company. In addition to his duties as CFO, he has operational responsibility for ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic, and American Mechanical Services. He also leads safety and training initiatives. Mrozek previously served as president and COO of ServiceMaster Consumer Services. He held the position of senior vice president and CFO of ServiceMaster from 1991-96. ServiceMaster provides 10.5 million residential and commercial customers with services that include lawn care and landscape maintenance, plumbing, termite and pest control, heating and air-conditioning, cleaning and disaster restoration, furniture repair, and home warranty.
• Dan Norwood, an attorney with more than 20 years of experience in cases involving race, sex, age, religious or disability discrimination; retaliatory dismissal for engaging in protected activities such as whistle blowing; making workers' compensation claims; and breach of contract. He has been listed for the past 12 years in Best Lawyers in America in the field of labor and employment law. Norwood has been called a "giant killer" for his successes in suing government and discriminatory employers. He has provided counsel to numerous executives and professionals on employment contracts, non-competition agreements, and the negotiation of better separation/severance pay agreements. Norwood is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association and the Tennessee and Memphis and Shelby County Bar Associations.

For more information on the C-Series, contact Julie Janos at 901-678-5280.

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