I started my professional career at Hallmark in 1984 as an Industrial Engineer and also had roles as an Operations Research Analyst, Marketing Strategist, and then Business Unit Controller. I moved on to focus on operations finance, strategy, and M&A at SF Railway (now part of BNSF), KC Southern (now part of CPKD), Kraft, and H&R Block. While I was at Hallmark, I took classes in Overland Park for an MBA through the University of Kansas. I lived in Brookside and didn’t know much about UMKC, but I took 2 MBA classes (transferred credits to KU) and joined the Swinney Rec Center. I felt very connected to UMKC, but moved away from Brookside and was busy with family/work.
In my early 40s, I decided to focus on the goal of becoming a CFO – but I didn’t know accounting at all, so I started an MS Accounting program at UMKC. I chose UMKC because Dave Donnelly was the Accounting Department Chair, and I knew it would be a great program, which it was, with 3 of his classes, 2 challenging (but very valuable) financial accounting classes taught by Dave Cornell, and other good classes. I increased my respect for UMKC when Dr. Donnelly and Dr. Cornell stepped up to manage the Bloch Business School through a challenging transition. I was honored to have met Henry Bloch a few times (when I worked for H&R Block) and sincerely appreciate everything that he has done for UMKC.
Over the past 15 years, I have hired a number of UMKC graduates (as analysts or accountants), and they have all been outstanding professionals! I’m trying now to give back to UMKC by becoming an Adjunct Instructor and am excited to teach Intro to Accounting/Finance this fall for the EMBA class of 2027!