Melissa Soto '11
Marketing Major
Larry Wickiser '10
Master of Business Administration
After completing his
Master of Business Administration at the University of Findlay, Larry Wickiser ’10 has kept strong connections with his alma mater and gives back in a big way by providing students with mentorship, hands-on experience and careers.
Wickiser serves as a materials manager at Whirlpool Corporation in Findlay, Ohio. He fulfills many duties ranging from inventory accuracy to leadership development, but his primary responsibility is to deliver material to the assembly lines.
“My education at Findlay helped me with many things ranging from understanding enterprise resource planning and material resource planning systems, to supply chain, finance, accounting and even human resource management,” said Wickiser. “I use these skills every day.”
Wickiser credits his college guidance counselor, Mary Oakes, who helped him balance home life and school-work while furthering his education.
“I know Findlay was a great choice for me,” said Wickiser. “I enjoyed many of my professors, but I really developed a great relationship with Dr. Chris Ward and Dr. Gregory Arburn. They are two awesome people who are not only very intelligent, but they really seem to go above and beyond for their students.”
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Casey Pritts
Business Management & Marketing
Casey Pritts came to the University of Findlay with dreams of landing a job in Marketing. After graduation, she applied for a marketing position at Target but quickly found herself accepting a position as an Executive Team Leader of Human Resource for Target. In fact, they were so happy with her that they asked "where can we get more people like you?"
She credits her success to her experiences at UF. Casey expressed that her marketing skills have helped her with understanding the needs of different audiences. Pritts indicated that her skills translate well in the field of Human Resources, "I work with a variety of different people from interviewing to helping individuals that are having difficulties; my internship experiences prepared me through the ability to tailor my message to each person based on the situation." Knowing SAP was also beneficial for her in this position. Target is new to SAP and recently implemented the software. Having learned it while at UF, Casey was able to assist in the training of personnel.
Pritts also credits her internship experiences to building her skill set. She said that "Many times you have to start at the bottom at an internship. I appreciated the fact that I learned a lot and was able to get that experience under my belt before I graduated. You start off at a better pace when you already have the 'grunt work' done."
The faculty go out of their way to help students build a strong resume prior to graduation. Casey speaks highly of Dr. Chris Ward stating that she "can't begin to describe how much she has helped me. She is someone I can aspire to be like, a true role model".
Vijay Talwar
Accounting
Mr. Vijay Talwar is currently the interim Chief Financial Officer at Blue Nile, Inc. as well as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of their International Business.
Prior to joining Blue Nile in August 2010, Talwar served as Chief Executive Officer of the William J. Clinton Foundation in India, where he provided strategic, financial and operational leadership to the fund and developed health care and sustainability programs across India and South Asia. In addition, Mr. Talwar was at Nike, where he held a number of executive leadership positions, including Chief Operating Officer for Nike's operations in Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 2007 to 2008, and Senior Director and CFO of Global Apparel Strategy & Finance from 2003 to 2007. Prior to Nike, Mr. Talwar was a consultant at Bain & Company in San Francisco and Chicago for several years.