Author: James Schisler

In just its first year, the Collegiate DECA chapter at Wichita State is already making its mark nationwide. The WSU team competed in the statewide DECA competition at Tabor College in February.

Two members — Jennifer Calvo, marketing major, and Nathan Holloway, business administration major — placed in the top three in their events. As a result, they will represent Kansas at a national collegiate DECA competition from Saturday, April 15 to April 19 in Orlando.

DECA is a international association connecting marketing students to professional and business development opportunities.

Erin Cummings — a W. Frank Barton School of Business graduate, president of the Barton School’s Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board and owner of YESyoga — will hold a launch event for her first published work, “The Possibility Project: A Guided Journal for Creating What’s Possible,” at Wichita State. The event will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 27 in the Woolsey Hall auditorium. RSVP is required to attend.

“The Possibility Project” is an evolution of a vision and goals workshop Cummings created for YESyoga, which offers specific prompts, honest questions, motivating statements and a simplistic, calming design to help readers who are “drowning under the weight of the promise of having it all.” The journal then guides readers to discover what they truly value and create what’s possible through productivity, creativity, movement and purpose.

The kickoff event will feature a fireside chat by Cummings titled “Moving With Purpose and Unlocking Possibilities” and will be followed by a book signing opportunity for attendees along with a networking reception. The Barton School is excited to offer the campus community an opportunity to meet Erin Cummings, learn about her journey and explore her thoughts on how to create what’s possible.

Earlier this spring, Wichita State announced the newest recipients of the Koch Scholarship. The Koch Scholars have been awarded $30,000 for in-state students and $45,000 for out-of-state students each. The competitive program is based on high academic achievement, work, volunteer and leadership experiences, an essay and an interview process.

Three of the seven recipients have chosen to major in business, so the Barton School talked to each of them to learn more about their interests and excitement for the upcoming fall 2023 semester.

The Barton School of Business will host alumna Erin Cummings as she begins to showcase her first published work, “The Possibility Project: A Guided Journal for Creating What’s Possible.”

The kickoff event will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 27 in Woolsey Hall. It will feature a presentation by Cummings titled “Moving With Purpose and Unlocking Possibilities” followed by a book signing opportunity for attendees along with a networking reception.

Cummings is a Barton School graduate, president of the school’s dean’s Alumni Advisory Board and owner of YESyoga.

The W. Frank Barton School of Business is launching its Business Hall of Fame to recognize, honor and celebrate the industry executives and business leaders who have gone above and beyond in making a significant impact on their communities and advancement of the Barton School.

The honoree(s) will be inducted into the Barton School of Business Hall of Fame during an event on Feb. 17, 2024 at Mark Arts.

Stephanie Luetters, a distinguished member of the Barton School’s dean’s advisory board, has been named the 2023-24 hall of fame chair. Luetters is an active philanthropist working for causes and projects that can make a difference in the community.

The Institute for the Study of Economic Growth is hosting a workshop and hackathon event open to the campus community from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 8 in Woolsey Hall. Agent-based modeling is a way to answer questions and do science by conducting computer-based simulations.

With the workshop training, participants can code their own simulations using free software from NetLogo.

This event focuses on a hands-on approach no matter the person’s experience. Beginners are not only welcome but are encouraged to attend. In the afternoon, attendees will compete for prizes using the skills they have learned. The workshop is a useful resume builder.

Susan Thomas — founder and CEO of 10Fold and the spring 2023 entrepreneur-in-residence at the Barton School of Business — will provide a keynote presentation, “An Entrepreneur’s Journey: Finding the Why to Drive Your Success,” as part of the James Schwartz Lecture Series.

The keynote event is at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, March 22 in the Woolsey Hall Auditorium.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. Following the presentation, a reception will be held in the Woolsey Hall Fidelity Bank Ballroom. All are welcome to attend the event at no charge.

Stuart Kauffman will present a virtual talk hosted by the Barton School of Business’s Institute for the Study of Economic Growth at noon Friday, March 31.

Kauffman is a renowned theoretical biologist. Originally a medical doctor, he has spearheaded several disruptive new theories including Nobel-worthy contributions in fitness landscapes, gene regulatory networks, the theory of affordances and the theory of the adjacent possible. Also a MacArthur Fellow and a Trotter Prize winner, Kauffman has published game changing books like “Origins of Order: Self-organization and Selection in Evolution” and “At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity.”

Stuart Kauffman will present a virtual talk hosted by the Barton School’s Institute for the Study of Economic Growth at noon Friday, March 31. The topic will be “The Inevitable Anthropocene and Our Choices Now: Prolegomenon to a Next Axial Age.”

Kauffman is a renowned theoretical biologist. Originally a medical doctor, he has spearheaded several disruptive new theories including Nobel-worthy contributions in fitness landscapes, gene regulatory networks, the theory of affordances and the theory of the adjacent possible. Also a MacArthur Fellow and a Trotter Prize winner, Kauffman has published innovative books like “Origins of Order: Self-organization and Selection in Evolution” and “At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity.”

All Wichita State faculty and staff are invited to attend, and they are encouraged to share the event information with any students, alumni or members of the community they think may benefit.

The W. Frank Barton School of Business has announced Susan Thomas, founder and CEO of 10Fold, will serve as the college’s entrepreneur-in-residence for the spring 2023 semester. Thomas is from Newton, Kansas and began her college education at Wichita State.

She founded 10Fold in 1995, and the company is now ranked among the top 8% of independently owned communications firms exclusively focused on business-to-business technology in the United States.

As the Barton School’s entrepreneur-in-residence, Thomas will deliver a keynote presentation at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, March 22 titled “An Entrepreneur’s Journey: Finding the why to drive your success.” The keynote is open to the public and will include a networking reception with Thomas afterwards. In addition, she will participate in other presentations on innovation and marketing.

Thomas earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in business from Emporia State University. She then went on to earn a master’s degree in industrial organizational psychology from the University of Tulsa.