Ever rubbed shoulders with a famous author? You probably have.
The Summer 2016 issue of Marriott Alumni Magazine features seven of our notable wordsmiths, but on the chance your literary appetite is hungry for more, you can fatten your summer reading list with this roundup of distinguished Marriott School writers.
Cloak and Dagger—Taking a page from Clancy-esque thrillers, Marriott School grad Mark Henshaw takes his own spin on espionage in his novels, Red Cell, Cold Shot, and The Fall of Moscow Station. And this isn’t out of character for Henshaw, who has more than fifteen years of experience as a CIA analyst. In 1999 Henshaw received a combined MA in international relations and MBA degree from BYU. He has been awarded eighteen Exceptional Performance Awards for his work and and the Director of National Intelligence’s 2007 Galileo Award for innovation in intelligence analysis.
Eternal Youth—Darin Gibby’s career has provided the perfect inspiration for his novels. With a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a combined JD/MBA degree he earned from BYU in 1993, his diverse experience helped him pen a story of business tycoons who search for the elixir of life. The Vintage Club made him a 2014 International Book Awards finalist in the fiction: thriller/adventure category, selected from more than 1,200 titles worldwide. In addition to being a lawyer and author, Gibby is also an accomplished triathlete.
Weathering the Storm—Taralyn Parker, a 2012 master of youth and family recreation grad, understands that life is hard. Overcoming adversity in family life is the topic of Parker’s book, cowritten with her mother, Teresa Clark. Life Happens: How to Maintain Family Strength and Unity in the Face of Adversity chronicles personal stories from the family, offering insight on how to climb the mountains of personal challenge and maintain familial peace. Parker earned her undergraduate degree in sociology with a Chinese minor from BYU–Idaho in 2004.
Thinking Cap—Marriott School alum Dave Ulrich traded one business school for another. The 1980 grad left the Tanner after earning his masters of organizational behavior and in 2005 took on a position as a professor of business at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He has written numerous books covering topics in human resources and leadership, and his most recent, HR from the Outside In: Six Competencies for the Future of Human Resources, was published in 2012. He is cofounder of the RBL Group and has been named one of the Thinkers 50 , a biennial global ranking of management scholars.
On the Warpath—Business is a battlefield. At least, that’s what Danilo Talanskas has learned throughout his career. In his book, Lições de Guerra, written in Portuguese, the1986 MBA grad explains that the experiences of war are not dissimilar to the challenges of in business. In the workplace, we are constantly facing battles related to decision-making processes, team work, endurance, communication, and ethics. Talanskas proves to be an expert on solving ethical dilemmas, boasting experience presiding over three Fortune 500 companies in Brazil. He is a native of Brazil and is currently the managing director of Otis Elevator Company. Talanskas was the first recipient of the Cardon International Scholarship (CIS) award.
Say What?—Saying the right thing at the right moment is difficult. Kerry Patterson, a 1976 MOB grad, knows this, and used his expertise on the subject to write Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, a guidebook for handling your workplace’s most important communications. The New York Times best-selling book, also heralded by Business Insider as one of the most popular business books of 2013, won Patterson literary accolades to supplement his already decorated career; Patterson received the 2004 William G. Dyer Distinguished Alumni Award from BYU, where he taught at the Marriott School for nine years. Additionally, Patterson is cofounder of VitalSmarts, a corporate training and leadership development company.
Getting Down to Business—Reducing risk and increasing success in your business: that’s what 2004 MBA grad Nathan R. Furr wants to teach entrepreneurs in his 2011 book, Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation. Furr taught courses on strategy, innovation, and technology entrepreneurship at the Marriott School from 2009 to 2015 and is currently an assistant professor of strategy at INSEAD in France. He also published another book, The Innovator’s Method: Bringing the Lean Start-up into Your Organization, cowritten with Marriott School professor Jeff Dyer.
To get to know more of the Marriott School’s prolific storytellers, read “Bragging Writes” in the Summer 2016 issue of Marriott Alumni Magazine.