Career Difference-Maker: The Daniels Alumni Advisory Board Endowed Scholarship
When Daniels Executive Ph.D. student Derek Ricke was looking to “better understand corruption in the corporate environment and how firms can leverage the ideas of leadership, ethics, and corporate culture to prevent corruption,” he needed funding to attend the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Washington, DC, a biannual conference hosted by Transparency International.
Fortunately for Ricke, that funding was available virtually on his doorstep – thanks to the Daniels Alumni Advisory Board (AAB) Endowed Scholarship. Made possible through gifts from its members – MBA graduates and undergraduates – the endowed scholarship provides professional development funds for Daniels students. Today, the endowment stands at over $70,000, and the Board aims to continue growing the fund to provide greater impact.
For students like Derek Ricke, that impact can be enormous. Attending the Anti-Corruption Conference allowed Ricke to meet with academic and industry professionals, discuss his doctoral work, and significantly increase the likelihood that his research will help move the industry forward. His own impressive background – he’s a West Point grad and Army vet with an MBA from UCLA and an associate’s degree in Mandarin – plus his Daniels PhD work focused on mitigating corporate corruption, makes that contribution even more promising.
“There is a group of alumni that stands as a support system for our students and wants them to succeed,” says AAB member David Cable (MBA ’06). “Beyond the tangible assistance of the scholarship, we want to give students the sense that they’re part of a bigger network.” Vivek Choudhury, Daniels Dean, adds that “through the AAB Scholarship, students can pursue career preparation opportunities that otherwise might not be open to them.”
That was clearly the case for Derek Ricke, which is why the AAB’s goal is to give more each year, grow the endowment, and expand the scholarships to be the difference-maker for increasing numbers of students.
