What makes an executive successful?  How do they act? What do they consider to be important? How do they come across to regular people?  Could I be a successful executive?

These are the kinds of questions many students have about successful executives. The Visiting Executive Program brings at least one senior executive to campus every semester for a series of meetings and class visits so students can get answers to these important questions. The Visiting Executive also delivers a Community Lecture to the entire University and Findlay-area communities on a topic of general interest and relevance to our society.  These visits not only help students answer their questions but they also help students measure their own potential for success against a proven role model.

However, the Visiting Executive Program does more than provide students with a role model of success—it also provides students with an opportunity to practice being “professional.”  The students in the classes the executive visits are provided with business cards so they can practice introducing themselves to a senior executive and exchanging business cards, a practice that is second nature in the professional world but which is totally unfamiliar to most students.  The students are also encouraged to dress at least “business casual” and to practice interacting with the Visiting Executive during the class meeting as they might with their boss in their future professional roles.  Also, students are encouraged to contact the executive after the meeting via email or a letter to thank him or her for their commitment to the professional development of students.

Recent Visiting Executives have included the Senior Vice President of International for Blue Nile in Seattle, the world’s largest online diamond merchant, the President of Garner Transportation Group headquartered in Findlay, and the President of Oak Ridge Investments in Chicago.