Marriott School students, faculty and staff are challenged to race up seven stories in an unconventional fundraising event designed to grow the school’s scholarship fund. The annual Corporate Climb takes place on Saturday, March 22 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Tanner Building. New to this year’s event is a carnival which includes games and booths for all ages.

This summer eight undergraduate Marriott School students will intern with key industry companies after winning the school’s second annual Intern Competition — an event sponsored by the Marriott Undergraduate Student Association. “An internship is a great opportunity to learn the lingo of business and figure out if that is really what you like,” says Andy Emory, one of last year’s winners who interned with Sperry Van Ness Equities.

Racing down a professional ski course was just part of the University of Denver’s 2008 Race and Case competition, where six Marriott School MBA students earned first place in the combined skiing and ethics case event. “These students have been wonderful representatives of the Marriott School’s commitment to ethical decision-making in business,” says Craig Merrill, MBA program director.

Brigham Young University’s undergraduate business programs rank seventh overall and first among recruiters according to BusinessWeek magazine’s comprehensive ranking of U.S. undergraduate business programs. The school was also ranked first in ethics and in return on tuition for private colleges. The magazine’s survey says students hail the Marriott School’s emphasis on producing successful and ethical business leaders.

Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management has announced eight MBA candidates as its 2008 Hawes Scholars. The honor, which carries a cash award of $10,000, is the highest distinction given to second-year MBA students at the school. “These students have impressed both the MBA faculty and classmates with their tendency to make the most out of their opportunities,” says Craig Merrill, MBA program director.

Marriott School’s Ginny Richman has been named Air Force ROTC Civilian of the Quarter in recognition for her contribution to the Brigham Young University AFROTC detachment. “Ginny is an essential asset to our detachment, and we nominated her knowing she was a well-rounded candidate,” says Col. Gordon Jacobs, professor of aerospace studies.

During every transition of life, personal finances play an influential role in deciding goals for the future. In an effort to provide families and individuals with the tools and resources necessary to obtain financial freedom, the Marriott School of Management has introduced a personal finance Web site designed to help users at every stage of financial knowledge.

Managing a business while attending school has proven to be a rewarding experience for two students who tied for the title of 2007 Student Entrepreneur of the Year. Ethan Heintzelman, founder of Elite Express, and Bo Porter, founder of Fox Websites, each received a $10,000 award for this honor. “The examples provided in this competition create a can-do attitude for aspiring student entrepreneurs,” says Derek Pando, president of the BYU Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, which coordinates the SEOY competition.

Field trips have taken on new meaning for eight MBA students who traveled to Switzerland this fall as part of the MBA International Human Resource Management class. Throughout the week-long trip, students met with global business executives from companies including Nestlé, Cisco Systems and Dow Chemical, to learn how each develops global leaders.

With an idea designed to revolutionize online shipping, Marriott School student Matthew Pickard won the first annual BYU Web Business Idea Competition and a $3,000 cash award. WEBIC is a new competition sponsored by the Rollins Center for eBusiness — promoting the use of the Internet in entrepreneurship. Pickard’s business idea, eTake, is a Web site used to bid on shipping rates offered by individuals — not companies.

The Marriott School’s chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization received high honors at the organization’s recent national conference, with three first-place chapter awards. The organization also honored a BYU student and an alumnus with individual awards. “BYU has one of the dominant CEO chapters in the nation, because our students are very entrepreneurially minded,” says Gary K. Rhoads, Marriott School professor of marketing and the club’s faculty advisor.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches. The Marriott School’s holiday tree holds more than just pretty ornaments, it holds the promise of Christmas for many needy families in Utah County. "We want to get as many people from the Marriott School involved as possible and offer everyone an opportunity to give a little bit of service to someone else," says Kiley Hunt, a first-year MPA student helping with the project. The annual Angel Tree service project — sponsored by the United Way — provides three options to help meet the needs of families and individuals in Utah County.

A pair of Brigham Young University students have more to celebrate this holiday season after winning first place at University of Arizona’s 2007 Eller Ethics Case Competition. BYU has taken first place two out of the three years it has participated in the competition. Beating out more than 19 participating universities from across the nation, this year’s BYU team is composed of Brooks Tingey, a junior finance major from Sandy, Utah, and Casey Zaugg, a senior accounting major from West Jordan, Utah.

A team of Marriott School undergraduate accounting students placed first and a team of graduate accounting students placed second at the 2007 Deloitte Tax Case Study National Competition — marking BYU’s seventh consecutive first or second place finish in the undergraduate division. “Our accounting students have amassed an unequalled record of success,” says Steve Albrecht, associate dean of BYU’s Marriott School.

Brigham Young University’s undergraduate and graduate accounting programs ranked second in Public Accounting Report’s Annual Survey of Accounting Professors. Every year since 1995 the survey has positioned both BYU accounting programs among the top three in the nation. “We are very delighted for the recognition of our peers concerning the quality of the program we have,” says Kevin Stocks, director of the School of Accountancy.

In recognition for the integration of social issues in research and teaching, The Aspen Institute's Center for Business Education presented the 2007 Faculty Pioneer Award in External Impact to Marriott School Professor Warner Woodworth. “Dr. Woodworth works to transform management schools into institutions that integrate various business models to improve society,” says the institute.

After spending a continuous 24 hours developing an international business strategy, an undergraduate team of management students from Brigham Young University placed first at the Center for International Business Education and Research Case Challenge — the BYU team beat students from other top international business programs including Università Bocconi in Italy, Instituto Tecnológico Autónoma de México in Mexico and Audencia Ecole de Management in France.

Two Marriott School accounting teams have been selected as undergraduate and graduate division finalists for the 2007 Deloitte Tax Case Study National Competition to be held in Orlando, Fla. on Nov. 16-18. The BYU undergraduate team competed with 27 other universities, and the graduate team was in a division of 21 universities.

Brigham Young University senior Jason Cabatingan has been named second out of more than 4,000 cadets on the Army ROTC National Order of Merit List. The placement reflects his outstanding performance in academics, leadership, extracurricular activities and physical training. The National Order of Merit List is compiled every year and ranks all Army ROTC cadets after their junior year of college.

Two graduates from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management won top honors for their doctoral dissertation research at the Academy of Management’s 2007 conference in Philadelphia. Alison Mackey won the award for outstanding dissertation research in business policy and strategy for her research on the link between executive salaries and firm performance.