News Releases 

Students, employees, and executives typically work hard to present themselves professionally. Yet BYU Marriott management professor Kristen DeTienne, an example of professionalism herself, calls for something more. DeTienne says, “What’s that extra edge that helps you be effective and enjoy what you’re doing? It’s personal connection.”

Two tech startup teams from Brigham Young University won first and second place at the 2023 Utah State Lassonde Entrepreneurship Challenge. The students from the winning teams attribute their startup success to the mentor-heavy initiatives offered by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology within the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Accounting faculty and students put ChatGPT to the test. The researchers say that while it still has work to do in the realm of accounting, it’s a game changer that will change the way everyone teaches and learns — for the better.

Ashley Whitesides worked diligently to succeed academically as a student at the BYU Marriott School of Business, so it came as a surprise to those around her when she paused her college career in order to seize an unexpected full-time work opportunity. As she now approaches graduation years after first starting her college career, Whitesides is ready to once again forge her own unique path.

With the goal to enrich belonging on campus, the Experience Design Society (ExDS) and the Marriott Inclusion Business Society (MIBS) co-hosted "Sit with Me," an event focused on practicing collaborative dialogue.

For Parker Teshima, working as a Walmart merchant entails much more than negotiating with suppliers. A global supply chain management alumnus from BYU Marriott, Teshima ensures that shelves stay stocked with vital emergency preparedness items so people can purchase supplies even when natural disasters strike.

Strategy continues to capture raw talent; this time, from America’s western planes. “12,000 cows, 200 horses, 1.2 million acres, all controlled via horseback as they did 200 years ago. I was in love with it,” says Mason Dahl, a seventh-generation cattleman and senior in the strategic management program at the BYU Marriott School of Business. Dahl sees himself as the future cowboy strategist of the beef industry.

For School of Accountancy professor Brant Christensen, educating others and teaching younger generations is the family business. Understanding that life as a student can be challenging, Christensen earnestly mentors his students at the BYU Marriott as his predecessors mentored him.

Shawn and Megan Pace were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary with a trip through Europe and Africa when the war in Ukraine broke out. The couple curtailed their trip and booked a flight to Poland to offer aid in refugee camps. BYU Marriott School of Business alum Shawn Pace helps meet people’s needs by working shoulder to shoulder with others at the ground level, whether in an executive board room or Ukrainian refugee camp.

Jeffrey Burningham, BYU alumni, donor, and partner to the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, believes that the creative process is a pivotal piece to a fulfilling life. From creating startups in college to venture capital, to owning Peak Capital Partners, Burningham teaches and mentors with the message that everyone is capable of creating new ideas that can better lives and society.

To Abby Ebert—senior in the BYU Marriott School of Business, the human resource management program has encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone and lead with compassion.

From products for ‘plant parents’ to AI-powered learning platforms for teachers, this year’s Student Innovator of the Year Competition covered a lot of ground. Held every year at BYU, SIOY showcases student innovators vying for bragging rights and cash to get their ideas off the ground.

With nearly three decades of experience at BYU Marriott, Christine Roundy diligently seeks to care for and inspire confidence in students. As the academic program manager for the MBA program, she does that by meeting students’ needs one by one.

After living and working in Seattle, New York, and Ohio, Jon Kerr—a brand-new School of Accountancy professor, tax law fanatic, and part-time beekeeper has circled back to BYU—the place where his family and his dreams of teaching began.

As a young psychology major seeking advice on courses and career options, Heidi Engh walked into the University Advisement Center to meet with an advisor. That experience set in motion a cycle that would bring her back to BYU as an undergraduate advisor for business students.

As he watched his neighboring Nevada mountains disappear under a plume of smoke in the summer of 2021, Danny Dudley felt a new sense of urgency for environmental conservation. This experience helped clear a personal haze about his future and led him to the strategy program in the BYU Marriott School of Business.

In a one-of-a-kind event, the BYU Marriott School of Business, in conjunction with the BYU Sorensen Center for Moral and Ethical Leadership, hosted the inaugural Faith and Belief at Work case competition in February. The event hosted more than 50 students from 11 MBA programs across the country, marking the first-ever MBA case competition to deal exclusively with faith and religion in the workplace.

Vice president of marketing at Sensapure, Scott Rackham brings a robust background in brand consulting and advertising as an adjunct professor of marketing at BYU Marriott. But whether he’s at an agency or in the classroom, Rackham uses his nearly three decades of experience to serve as a catalytic mentor for dreamers around him.

A new BYU study found that individuals who had the healthiest identity development also had high levels of family history knowledge.

As a mom of four, Liz Mumford knows her way around the school system. Now, as a student herself in the MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business and as an elected official on the Davis Board of Education, Mumford is passionate about sharing her time and talents with the causes she believes in.