Poets&Quants for Undergrads has named the Georgetown McDonough Undergraduate Program 5th in its annual ranking of the top U.S. schools, up 11 positions from last year’s listing. Kudos to Patricia Grant, senior associate dean of the Undergraduate Program; Talia Schatz, director, Office of Professional and Leadership Development; Justin Smith, assistant dean, director of Assessment and Student Services; for streamlining data collection, as well as the entire Undergraduate Program team for their help with survey outreach, as well as their work in building an excellent program.

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business launched an MBA Certificate in Sustainable Business this month to prepare graduates to address urgent environmental and societal challenges that affect companies’ operations and business models. Thank you to the academic director of the certificate, Vishal Agrawal, Provost’s Distinguished Lapeyre Family Associate Professor; Shelly Heinrich, associate dean, MBA admissions and director of marketing; Kerry Pace, associate dean for MBA programs; and the Business for Impact team including Bill Novelli, distinguished professor of the practice and founder; Leslie Crutchfield, executive director; Joe Weinstein, senior partner; Christine Kidwell, associate director; and Lauren Beckham, events and communications manager, for developing and launching this interdisciplinary certificate.

Last holiday season, the Rafik B. Hariri Building was decorated by faculty and staff who competed in the annual Door Decorating Contest. Congratulations to the “Deck the Halls in all of Hariri” winners!

Personal Office Winners

1st Place: Events Team (Stephanie Martineau, director of events; Ashleigh Spunaugle, events manager; and Cheryl Laing, administrative events assistant), Office 204

2nd Place: Erik Embrey, assistant director/manager, data and business intelligence, Office 285

3rd Place: Chelsea Theis, director of MBA operations and student services, Office 391-E


Cubicle Winners

1st Place: Jayne Smyth, recruitment and events coordinator, Office 285 - Reception Desk

2nd Place: Anna Kormis, assistant director, Center for Financial Markets and Policy, Cubicle in 500-C2A


Georgetown Pride

1st Place: Events Team (Stephanie Martineau, director of events; Ashleigh Spunaugle, events manager; and Cheryl Laing, administrative events assistant), Office 204

2nd Place: Executive Education Program Management, Suites 462 and 474

3rd Place: Executive Education Admissions, Suite 359


People's Choice Award

Executive Education Admissions, Suite 359

January 28: Hariri Symposium, “I made the difficult decision to do what’s right when...”, 5-7 p.m., Lohrfink Auditorium. Register.

January 29: Spring Biondi Copeland Lecture of Women in Leadership and Higher Education, 5:30 p.m., Riggs Library. RSVP.

February 3: Stanton Distinguished Leaders Series: Mark Dunkerley, former CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, 5-7 p.m., Fisher Colloquium. Register.

March 18-20: Board of Advisors and Parents Advisory Council Meetings

April 24: Executive Challenge

May 15: 2020 Commencement. View McDonough schedule.

Need to relax? Georgetown McDonough, in collaboration with the John Main Center, will continue to host twice-weekly meditation sessions on Tuesdays from 11-11:30 a.m. and Thursdays from 2-2:30 p.m. in room 310.

The Undergraduate Program Office, under the guidance of Julian Haas, associate director and academic advisor, launched its first undergraduate retreat in Middleburg, Virginia, on Dec. 7, 2019. Twenty-nine McDonough undergraduates attended the retreat. Two additional retreats will be held in Spring 2020.

Congratulations to Jenn Logg, assistant professor of management, who was invited to speak with the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on algorithms and biased output.

Congratulations to Ashby Manson, assistant director of MBA Admissions, who was elected president of the Evening Student Government Association (ESGA).

The Eisenhower Foundation bestowed its International Leadership Award to Vicki Wei Tang, associate professor of accounting, on Dec. 15, 2019, for supporting youth development, grade improvement, and crime prevention programs that work for disadvantaged children and youth in American inner cities.


Graduations

Binita Raval (IBP'19), assistant director of program management, Executive Custom Programs, and Alexis Villanueva (IBP'19), associate director of program management, Executive Degree Programs, graduated from the Master of Arts in International Business and Policy program on Dec. 14, 2019.


Retirements

George Liebensfeld, director of academic affairs, will retire on Jan. 30, 2020, after being at Georgetown for almost 34 years.


Babies

Christine Kidwell, associate director of operations, Business for Impact, welcomed a baby girl, Margot, on Aug. 31, 2019.

Lunch at the French Embassy Cafe: Did you know that the French Embassy on Reservoir Road opens its cafe to members of the Georgetown community? There are some new rules in place for gaining access to the embassy's Le Cafe Descartes. You now must become a member, which is free for Georgetown University faculty and staff. In addition, your guests now also need to be members or they will be turned away.

Updates for the Spring Semester - Introduction of a Cancellation Policy and Fees for Fisher Colloquium: As space is in high demand, each department should be limiting any excess space booking in order to allow colleagues to utilize event space as well. Effective Jan, 20, 2020, all departments and organizations affiliated with the McDonough School of Business will be assessed a cancellation fee for Fisher Colloquium when the organizer cancels a reservation within 14 business days. Please see the details below:

• Failure to cancel a booking within 14 business days of the event date will result in a $50 fee to the department’s worktags.


• Failure to cancel a booking within 5 business days of the reservation will result in a $100 fee to the department’s worktags.


• Cancellations must be emailed to msbevents@georgetown.edu. Please do not email cancellations to the Events Team's personal “georgetown.edu” addresses, as those are not checked while staff are on leave.


• 'Business days' are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.


• Fees will not apply for cancellations due to university closure for inclement weather.

• Lauren Apicella, associate director of alumni relations: Stop using Uber and Amazon.


• Brooks Holtom, senior associate dean and professor of management: Coach my recreation league basketball team of 11th and 12th graders to a county championship.


• Shannon Johnson, administrative assistant: Learn the harpsichord.


• Ashley Kate Kesler, communications manager, Marketing and Communications: Be aware of the ingredients in my food and make a deliberate effort to "eat clean." I highly recommend following @flavcity. His grocery-store walk throughs and explanations of ingredient lists are so helpful for understanding what should be avoided in your everyday purchases. Also, he has the cutest baby girl, Rose, who always makes an appearance on his Instagram stories.


• David Lange, program manager, Georgetown Entrepreneurship: Spend more time with family and friends.


• Jessica Steinberg, associate director and senior manager of operations, MBA Career Center: I got a Peloton bike earlier this year and am setting the goal of riding 2020 miles this year. Some of those miles will be done to raise money for charity and some will be done during a biking trip in Croatia.


• Vicki Wei Tang, associate professor of accounting: Stay fit and healthy.

Community in Diversity: Derived from the Jesuit principles of equality and respect for all, Georgetown welcomes and supports a diverse community of students, faculty, and staff. These values are central to the identity of Georgetown University, and each generation of students, faculty, and staff are invited to engage them in ways that sustain our Jesuit character.

Please share your news with the McDonough community through the Hariri Hub, the new faculty/staff newsletter created by the McDonough Office of Marketing and Communications. The goal is to foster communication and information sharing among colleagues. Submit your news through this Google form. For any questions, contact Molly Fleenor, associate director of communications, at msbmedia@georgetown.edu. We are looking forward to your submissions!