Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business

By Stephen Schmidt The need for first-year students to connect with one another — and others on the University of Missouri campus — was apparent. At first, those who spearheaded the launch of the Trulaske Excellence at Mizzou (TEAM) program were hoping to have at least 100 first-year students at the Trulaske College of Business sign up for its pilot run in the fall 2020 semester. When the semester began, though, 148 students had registered.

Senior finance major Jordan Duenckel takes advantage of remote courses to complete a dream internship in Napa Valley. By Kelsey Allen

by Kelsey Allen

Walter Barnes II, MBA ’02, JD ’05, never set out to earn five degrees. He was just shooting for the stars. By Kelsey Allen Walter Barnes had big dreams from a young age. Growing up in Atlantic Beach, Florida, he set his sights on space. With Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers on in the background, Barnes daydreamed about starting a space administration. “My best friend and I wanted to go to school and get all these degrees so we’d have enough expertise to know what we were doing,” he says.

Looking back on her younger days, Ciara Imani May, BS BA ’17, says she always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but didn’t know what it meant to be an entrepreneur until she got to Mizzou. “I had a lot of side hustles, but I didn’t really know that those things made me an entrepreneur until I studied entrepreneurship,” she says. “I worked at a daycare when I was 11 just because I wanted to earn money, and then I started selling things to the people who worked at the daycare and to the parents.”

By Andrea Bleikamp The Trulaske College of Business’ chapter of Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity received the 2020 Outstanding Service Award for a Collegiate Chapter in the Gateway region. In order to be recognized, chapters must display a comprehensive and impactful community service program, based on number of events hosted, degree of member participation, diversification of projects and going above and beyond the national organization’s service requirements.

Fifteen Trulaske College of Business students interning with the MU International Trade Center recently shared findings from the semester-long market research projects completed for two Missouri and two Kansas manufacturers. The students completed extensive research to identify and evaluate international markets or industry sectors with sales potential for each of the participating companies.

by Kelsey Allen When the University of Missouri went virtual this spring, the faculty and staff at the Trulaske College of Business knew that more than classes would need to move online. Networking events, professional development programs, career fairs, leadership conferences, professional training sessions — they would all need to be adapted from in person to remote.

By Kelsey Allen These Trulaske College of Business researchers might be working from home, but that doesn’t stop them from looking into the workplace. Recently published or forthcoming in top-tier journals, their findings inform the way we think about diversity, hiring, CEO pay and company culture.

By Stephen Schmidt If Meredith Shaw BA ’99, M Ed ’09, is dreaming, please do not wake her up. Decades ago before starting her career at the University of Missouri, Shaw worked at a country music radio station in Jefferson City, KATI (94.3 KAT Country), thinking that if she could not go to Nashville, Tennessee, to be a songwriter, that would be the next best thing. “I think the biggest highlight of my radio career was I got to introduce Merle Haggard at the Silver Bullet,” says Shaw of the country icon’s performance at the former Columbia venue.