LOCAL NEWS

One minute = $1,000

One minute was all it took. University of Dayton student Lori Hanna convinced the judges she had a winning business idea that could improve medical treatment in developing countries and empower a group of entrepreneurial Nicaraguan women.

Hanna’s presentation for Las Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa (Solar Women of Totogalpa), a solar-powered sterilizer for medical equipment, won $1,000 in the elevator pitch contest and a chance to win $10,000 in the 2007 University of Dayton Business Plan Competition.

“We're trying to teach students how to differentiate themselves from others and stand out. When you actually have to make an elevator speech in front of an audience and compete for real money, it raises the stakes,” said Dean McFarlin, chair of the management and marketing department and the NCR Professor of Global Leadership Development at UD.

Judges selected five finalists to develop full business plans for feasible, profitable and innovative products worthy of going to market for a March presentation and a total $20,000 in prize money.

The other four finalists are: Portable/Collapsible DisplayBoard, portable scoreboard for youth sporting events, by Lauren Ruff; Sonne Light Sentry System, wireless automated lighting system, by Elyse Dull; Deck Works, modular outdoor deck system, by Michael Weaver; and Wheelin’ Water, portable 65-gallon water cooler, by James Parks.

“The elevator pitch was a little bit out of my comfort zone,” said Hanna, a senior mechanical engineering major. “There was just so much I’ve learned about international development and how to make this thing work. We’re trying hard to make sure the women keep ownership.”

While the focus of the competition is business, the project to create and markeet the solar sterilizer, also called an autoclave, taps other expertise at the University including engineering, international development and social entrepreneurship, she said. The project, the basis of her senior honors thesis, grew from a two-month internship in a rural village in Nicaragua through UD’s Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities of Service-learning (ETHOS) program.

"I was introduced to the idea of the autoclave at the end of my internship," she said. "The nurses have to travel to bigger health centers or hospitals to use sterilizers, sometimes traveling long distances by bus and spending precious time and money just traveling to have access to the equipment."

The solar autoclaves fit inside solar cookers, which use reflected sunlight to cook food. Hanna saw an opportunity for the rural women who had formed a small business to sell the cookers. Her team’s business plan will focus on how the women’s group can successfully market the autoclaves.

At the same time, the project has been accepted by the Design and Manufacturing Clinic of UD’s School of Engineering, which will work on perfecting the autoclave design.

"We welcome social entrepreneurship entries because they are consistent with the social justice mission and values of the University," McFarlin said. "Plus, social entrepreneurship can help communities tackle some of their biggest problems and some of the best ideas can be scaled up to the point where you're making a real difference in the world."

The University of Dayton’s School of Business Administration launched the competition in 2006 to help teach entrepreneurship and give students an advantage in the job market, according to Dean McFarlin,

McFarlin said 59 entrants competed in the elevator pitch contest, doubling the number from last year. Prize money doubled as well. Other elevator pitch winners took home prize money but did not advance to the finals, he said. Andrea Ziegler for Flyers for Fair Trade won $500 and David Stargel for MeTV won $250.

Each of the five finalist teams will work with a mentor from local business to refine the production process, marketplace analysis, marketing plan and funding strategy into a business plan each team can use to secure additional funding.

The mentors are: David Ganzsarto president of Alternate Solutions Home Care; Richard Hern, president of Crown Partners; Jack Lohbeck, of Battelle and Battelle, Bob Miller, president of Excellence in Motivation; and Greg Popham, a 2003 UD entrepreneurship graduate, now product manager for BlueStar Inc.

The University of Dayton is nationally recognized for developing student entrepreneurs. Its entrepreneurship program has been rated the fifth-best in the U.S. for the past two years by Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review.

For more information on the UD Business Plan Competition, visit UD Business Plan Competition

Virtual recognition

Future students no longer have to wait for a campus visit to experience the real UD – now they can take an award-winning virtual tour.

The University of Dayton virtual tour won a Bronze Reel at this year's Annual Media Communications Association–International (MCA-I) Festival. This is the 39th year MCA-I has recognized the best in media communications, and UD was one of only two universities to take home honors.

UD's virtual tour offers prospective students an opportunity to experience UD's campus on the Web. Visitors are guided through campus by student ambassadors and get to explore residence halls, academic buildings and learn about UD's rich history. Take the tour.

Produced in-house by UD's Media Production Group, the virtual tour marks the ninth award for creativity that the group has won since 2006 alone.

"This was a big project for us, and we worked closely with members of enrollment management to make this project a success," said Mike Kurtz, senior producer. "We didn't want to just show off the campus. We wanted to communicate the Marianist feeling -- the community spirit so vividly experienced by anyone who steps on our campus."

Created in 1988 as a resource for the University, the Media Production Group was quickly recognized as a valuable resource by area businesses and began producing external work in addition to its UD productions.

Since its inception, the Media Production Group has won 39 local, national and international awards. Kurtz was also recently named one of the top 35 video producers in the country by AV Video and Multimedia Producer magazine.

Contact Mike Kurtz at 937-229-5432.

Rave reviews

The School of Business Administration's MBA program receives rave reviews from students in the 2008 edition of Best 290 Business Schools.

Students’ rave reviews have landed the University of Dayton School of Business Administration among the top business schools in the nation.

The School of Business Administration is listed in the 2008 edition of Best 290 Business Schools, published by Random House and The Princeton Review. This is the second consecutive year the school made the list, which is compiled based on student surveys.

Noted by students as having “one of the best-kept secrets in the world of MBA programs,” the school made the list based on its reputation, its quality and flagship programs in entrepreneurship and finance.

Student surveys noted that the program has “exceptional integrated core curriculum,” “excellent faculty,” a “strong alumni base” and “a marvelous Marianist-centered campus life.” University of Dayton students also rave about the “guaranteed real-world consulting project experience” and enjoy that the program “allows for a great amount of flexibility, so you can complete it at your own pace.”

Many courses in the MBA program are team-taught, often combining a practitioner with a professor holding a Ph.D. The faculty includes six executives-in-residences who help teach courses including a mandatory two-semester capstone course that matches students with regional companies on consulting projects. The MBA program enrolls 460 students, many of whom are full-time professionals in the Dayton region. UD’s MBA students have finished among the top three winners in the Ohio Graduate Business Student Competition every year since 2000.

MBA program officials make it easy for students to earn an MBA on top of other degrees. Accounting students can earn an undergraduate accounting degree and an MBA in five years. Law students can earn a law degree and MBA at the same time. The School of Business Administration recently launched an “MBA Ready” program that allows engineering and other non-business students to achieve their bachelor’s degree and an MBA in five years.

“Students get real-world experience from the MBA program’s capstone project, which pairs students with companies in the region,” said Elizabeth Gustafson, interim dean. “The project allows students to interact with a company other than their employer, using what they’ve learned in the classroom and widening their business experience.”

The University of Dayton’s MBA program “has an integrated curriculum with an emphasis on strategic analysis and a dual focus on theory and practice,” said Janice Glynn, MBA program director. “And our program is flexible: Almost all of our students are working professionals who can earn their degrees while continuing their careers.”

The School of Business Administration is accredited by the AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), the premiere accrediting body for business school globally.

This is the second major national ranking for the School of Business Administration this fall. Earlier this month, Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review ranked UD’s entrepreneurship program fifth in the country.

Contact Janice Glynn at 937-229-3733 and Elizabeth Gustafson at 937-229-3731.

Nationally-ranked entrepreneurship

The University of Dayton has maintained its ranking as the fifth best undergraduate entrepreneurial program in the nation, according to the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine in their 2007 list of the best colleges for enterpreneurial programs.

The magazine just released the list in its November issue, which hits newsstands on Oct. 23. The list is an exclusive ranking of the 25 most exceptional undergraduate business programs in the country.

“For the second year in a row, the University of Dayton has been ranked as the fifth best undergraduate entrepreneurship program in the nation,” said Elizabeth Gustafson, interim dean of UD’s School of Business Administration. “This acknowledgement is a great honor and strong testimony about our commitment to developing practical wisdom in UD students.”

Schools were evaluated on broad criteria including curriculum, mentoring, faculty credentials and the success of graduating students and alumni. According to Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review, 900 schools were surveyed, but high-ranking programs demonstrated particular strength in hands-on learning that translates into real-world business experience.

“Our program is distinctive because we not only teach theory, we make it come alive for students in everything we do,” said Robert Chelle, director of the Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Fifth Third Bank entrepreneur-in-residence. “Our curriculum ‘bookends’ our students with practical experience, requiring that they start a business as sophomores with capital from the Crotty Center and, as seniors, solve real-world problems at existing entrepreneurial businesses.”

Outside the classroom, Chelle said the UD program offers a significant number of substantial opportunities for students to work with real businesses and entrepreneurs. Those signature opportunities include:

• The UD Business Plan Competition gives students an opportunity to compete for cash prizes as they plan and pitch the launch of a new venture. Winners of the 2007-2008 competition will compete for prize monies totaling in excess of $20,000. The competition is open to anyone in the greater UD community, provided they team up with a current UD student. http://www.udbpc.com

• The Everest Real Estate Challenge is an annual competition that pairs teams of entrepreneurship majors with a commercial real estate professional as an adviser. Teams develop plans to improve growth of a large apartment complex owned by Los Angeles-based Everest Properties, a company founded by a UD graduate, and present their recommendations to company management. Students compete not only for prize money and a great line on their resumes, but also for the satisfaction of seeing their ideas implemented by Everest Properties.

• Flyer Enterprises is a student-run company consisting of seven student-run businesses operating on campus. Opening just this year in a storefront on Brown Street, Flyer Spirit offers UD-themed apparel and items and joins other Flyer Enterprises such as cafés and coffee bars. Flyer Enterprises is the fourth largest student-run business in the country and employs more than170 students. Only Harvard, Georgetown and Stanford boast larger student-run operations. http://www.flyerenterprises.com/

“Our challenging curriculum gives students the opportunity to examine, understand and implement most elements of entrepreneurial success,” Chelle said. “Our graduates have the irreplaceable combination of judgment, enthusiasm and skills necessary to create a new venture.”

In recent years, UD’s entrepreneurship major has been the fastest growing and most selective major in the business school with the average GPA of 3.3. Total enrollment in the major this fall totaled 130.

“Entrepreneurship courses at UD are taught by both Ph.Ds and actual entrepreneurs, which is part of the strength of our program,” said Dean McFarlin, chair of the management and marketing department and NCR professor of global leadership development. “It’s really an unbeatable combination. Our entrepreneurs bring in-the-trenches examples to students while our Ph.Ds — who are world-class researchers on entrepreneurship issues — show students how to connect theory to practice. And through the Crotty Advisory Council, local entrepreneurs act as mentors to the students.”

One of those entrepreneurs is community leader and alumnus L. William Crotty who has provided more than $3 million for the program. "It's no surprise that UD has achieved this honor,” Crotty said. “UD's mission is ‘learn, lead, serve’ and that is what entrepreneurs must do every day."

The University of Dayton’s undergraduate entrepreneurship program ranked fifth in the magazine’s listing in 2006 and was one of the top 10 entrepreneurship programs in the country in the magazine’s 2005 list of the “Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges.” In 2004, Forbes.com and The Princeton Review selected UD as one of the country’s “most entrepreneurial campuses.”

Also announced this week, UD’s MBA program is listed in The Princeton Review’s 2008 edition of its book, Best 290 Business Schools. The school profile covers academics, admission, financial aid, campus life and career information.

For more information on the ranking go to http://www.entrepreneur.com. For more information on the University of Dayton’s entrepreneurship program, go to http://ent.udayton.edu.

Building an inclusive community

University of Dayton President Daniel J. Curran will receive the NCCJ Humanitarian Award for social justice advocacy. It's his second honor this year for his commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Daniel J. Curran, president of the University of Dayton, will receive a 2007 Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) of Greater Dayton. He will be honored at the 30th annual Friendship Dinner at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22, at the David H. Ponitz Center at Sinclair Community College.

It's the second honor Curran has received this year for his commitment to diversity and inclusion. In August, he was awarded the inaugural Joseph E. Lowery Human Rights Legacy Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at its national conference in Atlanta.

"The humanitarian award recognizes those in the community who, through their work, do our work. They are proponents and advocates of social justice,'' said Patricia Meadows, executive director of NCCJ. ''Dr. Curran has lived our mission through his work and leadership at UD. This award recognizes all the diversity and inclusion initiatives that have been developed under his leadership. It's for his personal advocacy and energy toward building a more inclusive community."

Besides Curran, Michael Houser, Joan Knoll and Tess Little will receive 2007 Humanitarian Awards. Treva Wynn will receive the Youth Leadership Award.

''This is not a personal award. This is an award for the faculty, staff and students at the University of Dayton, who are making a difference — on campus and in the greater Dayton community. Together, we live out UD's mission of educating for service, justice and peace,'' Curran said.

Earlier this year, Curran served as honorary co-chair of Dayton's Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration and helped lead the popular MLK march that attracts thousands from all parts of the region. He will take on the same role in 2008.

As part of the University of Dayton's Diversity Lecture Series that began during Curran's presidency, UD has brought nationally recognized speakers to Dayton to keynote both the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration dinner in the community and the annual MLK prayer breakfast on campus. Speakers have included Johnnetta B. Cole, who made history in 1987 when she became the first African-American woman to serve as president of Spelman College, and Clarence Page, nationally syndicated Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune columnist. In January, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and musician Kirk Franklin, who changed the landscape of contemporary gospel music, will keynote community and campus events remembering King's legacy.

During Curran's tenure, UD also has started new exchange programs in China, hired an executive director of institutional diversity and inclusion, and launched the Dayton Early College Academy with the Dayton Public Schools. DECA prepares first-generation college students -- most of whom are African-American -- for success in college. All 32 members of the first graduating class headed to college this fall. Ten enrolled at UD.

In 2005, Curran joined University of Dayton students on a relief trip to hurricane-stricken Mississippi. In 2002, he received the Eternal Flame Award, an international award given for ''exceptional contributions to the field of Holocaust education."

A sociologist by training, Curran is a noted scholar in criminology, juvenile justice and social problems, with a deep interest in international issues. He is an expert in coal mine health and safety legislation. Most of his research has focused on ways to address social inequality.

The NCCJ is a human relations organization dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism in America. NCCJ promotes understanding and respect among all races, religions and cultures through advocacy, conflict resolution and education. The University of Dayton is one of the preeminent Catholic universities in the nation and the largest private university in Ohio.

Contact Patricia Meadows, executive director of NCCJ, at 937-222-6225, or Teri Rizvi at 937-229-3241. A photo is available.

Fighting malaria with music

International rising star and activist, African guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, will perform in the University of Dayton Arts Series 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30 in Kennedy Union's Boll Theatre, showcasing his unique Malian blues and drawing attention to the global fight against malaria.

Touré will perform in the first of three 2007 World Rhythms Series concerts produced in partnership between the University and Cityfolk, capping a series of campus events to raise awareness about the disease.

Son of the late Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, the younger Touré works through the UNICEF “Fight Malaria” campaign to raise awareness about the deadly disease. Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide, causing an estimated million deaths annually.

In conjunction with Touré’s performance, the University of Dayton will hold several events and lectures on the fight against malaria:

• A panel of UD students who have contracted malaria will discuss the impact of the disease on their lives from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22 in Sears Recital Hall. Films about malaria around the world, and Touré and his father will also be shown.

• Internationally recognized malaria researcher and president of the newly-created European Research Council, Fotis Kafatos will speak 4:30 p.m. Friday Oct. 26 in Science Center 114. Kafatos is also chair of the department of immunogenomics at Imperial College London, where he studies the malaria-carrying mosquito.

• Throughout the week, UD student-athletes will be working to promote Nothing but Nets, a nonprofit organization using a grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, through fundraising efforts and purchase of anti-malaria bed nets.

Touré’s recently released debut album has met with critical success and he was featured this summer in a National Geographic Live! Concert in California. He has created his own version of the acoustic, guitar-driven blues style pioneered by his father who was called “Africa’s greatest bluesman.”
Tickets for Touré’s concert are $18 for the public; for $16 UD faculty, staff and alumni; and $9 for students. For tickets, call the UD box office at 937-229-2545.

Hear Vieux Farka Touré’s music at http://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com.

Post-Katrina race, class and history

Activists and scholars will visit the University of Dayton to examine a variety of issues about the past, present and future of New Orleans, its people and their culture Oct. 16-18 during the 15th annual Humanities Symposium.

“Race, Class and History: New Orleans Post Katrina,” will bring to campus issues of recovery that many members of the UD community have already seen first hand. More than 200 students, faculty and staff have volunteered on Katrina relief projects. Another group of students will bring to the symposium their fresh experience working in New Orleans Oct. 7-10, in a project organized by UD’s Center for Social Concern.

All lectures will be held in Sears Recital Hall in the Jesse Philips Humanities Center on campus and are free and open to the public. The schedule includes:

Ansel Augustine, 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Augustine, coordinator of black youth and young adult ministry, Archdiocese of New Orleans, opens the series. Augustine, whose home was destroyed by Katrina, will speak on “Faith after the Storm.”

Jed Horne, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17.
Horne is the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author of Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City. The former metro editor of the New Orleans Times Picayune will speak about his book, which the Washington Post credits with providing “new insights into how a ferocious storm, governmental ineptitude and racially tinged inequities conspired to permanently jeopardize one of the nation's cultural gems.” Edward Haas, history department chair at Wright State University and former director of the Louisiana Historical Center, will provide a counterpoint to Horne’s remarks. Haas’s research has compared federal response to Katrina with Hurricane Betsy in 1965.

Gregory Squires, 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18.
Squires is the chair of the George Washington University sociology department and editor of There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster: Race, Class and Hurricane Katrina. His collection of scholarly articles covers topics such as contemporary metropolitan planning, the roles of business and the media, and how the hurricane disproportionately impacted female-headed households.

“There’s no other city dearer to my heart than New Orleans,” said symposium coordinator John Heitmann, UD’s Alumni Chair in the Humanities. “For me, it is one of the most important cities in the world culturally, socially, and economically, and its future is an incredibly critical question.”

Heitmann, a historian who has written extensively on Louisiana, said he expects the symposium speakers, with their range of perspectives and experiences, to bring to light how much remains to be done in New Orleans beyond the physical rebuilding.

“How that rebuilding will be done, will tell us much about our nation and its future,” he said.

For Humanities Symposium information, call 937-229-3490.

UD's economic impact

The University of Dayton contributed an estimated $660.8 million to the regional economy in 2005-06, according to a new study conducted by the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education.

The University’s impact on the local economy represented nearly a quarter (22 percent) of the total $2.95 billion impact from 19 colleges and universities in the SOCHE study. The report looked at operating expenses, payroll and benefits, and capital expenses.

“The University of Dayton is proud to be one of the leading contributors to the local economy,” said UD President Daniel J. Curran. “All of these expenditures enhance the learning-living environment for our students while helping to support the regional economy.”

The report also notes that a significant portion of UD’s economic impact comes from money the University draws from outside the region from students, contributions and other revenues. As a top-tier national university, UD draws students from throughout Ohio, the nation and the world to its location within the city of Dayton. Much of its approximately $74 million annual sponsored research base is federally funded.

“These students bring new money into the region, and the University also attracts contributions and other types of revenues from outside. This is a cash inflow to the region, i.e. new money,” according to an analysis prepared by the Economics Center for Education and Research at the University of Cincinnati.

“This new money accounts for an estimated $495.2 million (74.9 percent) of the (University’s) total economic impact of $660.8 million,” the report said. “This new money is very important for its role in replenishing the local economy.”

“In addition, colleges and universities provide community benefits such as social and human capital, creativity, culture and arts, and numerous other resources that contribute to a higher quality of living,” said Sean Creighton, SOCHE executive director. “While other industries slow down, higher education continues to evolve and contribute significantly to the vibrancy of the region.”

The report indicated that the University’s direct expenditures – including payroll and benefits and operating and capital expenses – totaled $340.9 million. The report’s analysis calculated what it described as the “ripple effect” of UD’s direct and indirect economic impact of $660.8 million.

SOCHE is a consortium of colleges and universities in a 10-county area in southwestern Ohio; 19 of the 21 SOCHE members participated in the study.

In a national ranking issued last fall, the University of Dayton ranked third in the “extraordinary efforts” it makes to the renewal and revitalization of its surrounding community. The “Saviors of Our Cities” list recognizes the top 25 universities and colleges that are “exemplary examples of community revitalization and cultural renewal, economic drivers of the local economy, advocates of community service and urban developers, both commercially as well as in housing.”

The study is available online at http://www.soche.org.

Armed services blood drive

The University of Dayton will host a campus and community blood drive in support of the Armed Services Blood Program from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28 in O’Reilly Hall.

Sponsored by UD’s ROTC and Pershing Rifles groups in partnership with the Armed Services Blood Program, the drive is open to anyone in the community. All blood donors will receive a free T-shirt and refreshments after their donation.

According to blood drive coordinator P.J. Sullivan, a pint of blood from one donor can save up to three lives.

“The UD community is always supportive of the ROTC and in the past has supported the American military at large,” said Sullivan, an ROTC student.

Last spring, ROTC, Pershing Rifles and the Armed Services Blood Program, which transports blood to the troops, held their first blood drive.

“Giving blood is a great way to show solidarity with the troops,” Sullivan said.

Appointments are encouraged, but not necessary. To schedule an appointment go to http://wpmc1.wpafb.af.mil/BloodDonorCal/. For more information, call 937-229-3326.

Beyond winning

Pete Luongo, executive director of the Center for Leadership and Executive Development, has written a management book that goes beyond the spreadsheet to the heart of an organization — its people.

Pete Luongo has turned the management creed he developed at The Berry Co. into a newly published book, 10 Truths About Leadership…It's Not Just About Winning (Clerisy Press).

He will talk about his principles of leadership at a booksigning from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18, at Books and Co. at The Greene.

''It's not winning at all costs. People get too caught up in the end game. It's about behavior, not results,'' said Luongo, retired president and CEO of the yellow page advertising agency. He currently serves as executive director of the Center for Leadership and Executive Development and as a trustee at the University of Dayton.

''Our society is so focused on winning that this obsession negatively influences all phases of our lives, from our professional careers to parenthood to everything in between,'' he said. ''When the corporate world is a poster child for greed, how do you avoid compromising your core values?"

Luongo argues that corporations do not fail or succeed because of the economy, competition or emerging technology. ''They fail because of their inability to care,'' he wrote. ''I believe the only time we realize our dreams is when we help others realize their dreams. When we help people get in the right circumstances to maximize their God-given talent, provide them whatever tools and support they need to be successful, make certain there is a clear understanding of expectations, share with them honest and open feedback, and finally allow them to be accountable and responsible for their own destiny…only then will we have mastered the model."

A charismatic and witty speaker, Luongo said that a number of executives at management seminars asked him to write a book about his workplace philosophy.

Publisher Richard Hunt, a fellow University of Dayton graduate, helped him shape the book -- and eventually published it. ''I typed out my two-hour keynote talk and handed it to Richard, who said, 'We wouldn't want to write the book for you. What we do is help you write the book.' I wrote 12 to 14 hours every Sunday over the next 10 months, meeting Richard halfway every Wednesday to review the work, edit it and prepare a draft for review the following week,'' Luongo said.

Curt W. Coffman, co-author of The New York Times' bestseller, First, Break All the Rules, said Luongo's book stands out among ''the thousands of leadership books that have come to swim in the pools of bookstores everywhere." In the book's foreward, he calls the work ''refreshing'' and ''a time-tested, proven course illuminating the golden thread connecting every person to a life of excellence and purpose."

Luongo, who graduated from UD in 1965 with a degree in communication, dedicated the book to his alma mater. ''It was during those formative years as a student that I learned we are ultimately judged by our willingness to make a difference in other people's lives,'' he wrote.

Today, Luongo volunteers as an executive-in-residence at the University of Dayton, where he teaches and leads a center that offers executive development programs. He also co-teaches a life skills course for UD athletes. In the Dayton community, he chaired the United Way campaign in 2003 and currently serves as board chair. He's also vice chair of the board of trustees at Greene Memorial Hospital and serves as a trustee of the Dayton Development Coalition.

To learn more about Luongo's book, click here.

Contact Pete Luongo at 937-344-3000 or pete@petespeaks.com.