Alumni & Friends

Winter College

Welcome to Winter College

Through direct access to the talented students, world-class faculty researchers and dedicated program leaders, Winter College highlights the very latest efforts at Fisher to differentiate and distinguish Ohio State as a leader in business education and as a provider of lifelong learning for its alumni and friends.

2024 Program Details

Financial Tools for Making Decisions: Should I Save or Should I Shop?

What’s the best way to help our children or grandchildren? Extravagant gifts? Nice vacations? Those are wonderful ideas and can create lasting memories. But what about helping with a down payment on a house or saving for college education? The creation of wealth and paying it forward may prove to be more impactful. In this session, we’ll look at the time value of money and how our choices affect the future for our families.

Susan Clark
Senior Lecturer in Finance

Susan Clark is a graduate of The Ohio State University, earning both a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering and an MBA. After working in the consulting division of Arthur Andersen, Susan began teaching full time at Franklin University, teaching corporate finance, investments, money and banking and senior seminar. In 1999, Susan returned to Ohio State as an adjunct, and in 2010 became a senior lecturer teaching Intro to Finance, Investments and Corporate Finance. 

Susan is a Certified Master Reviewer and Peer Evaluator for Quality Matters and a Faculty Partner for Cengage. 

Susan received the Fisher College of Business Outstanding Undergraduate Instructor Award in 2023, the Max M. Fisher Faculty Eminence Award in 2015, and the Daniel Westerbeck Teaching Excellence Award in 2013. She was awarded the ENGIE-Axium and Fisher College of Business Teaching Fellow in 2019. Susan resides in Dublin with her husband, Mike.

Flight, Fairways and Finals: Balancing Student Life in Aviation and Golf       

Join us for an engaging and insightful session that celebrates the harmony of pursuing two distinct passions, navigating the challenges of student life, and achieving success in the skies and on the fairways.

Jillian Bourdage 
Fourth-Year Student, Aviation Management

Jillian Bourdage is fourth-year student studying aviation and a member of Ohio State’s Women’s Golf Team. In her pursuit of a career in aviation, Jillian has earned her private pilot's license, her instrument rating, commercial pilot's license and her Certified Flight Instructor license (CFI/CFII). She has served as a safety systems intern with on the Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) team at American Airlines. 

A 2023 Pace Setters Award honoree and the recipient of the Jack W. Stephenson Award, Jillian’s post-graduate goal is to become an airline pilot, which requires a minimum of 1,000 hours of flight experience.

Rebuilding Efforts Underway: The Ohio State University Center for Real Estate

The Ohio State University Center for Real Estate is engaged in a substantial rebuilding effort to elevate its mission and broaden its impact. Its newly appointed executive director will share the vision for this interdisciplinary industry institute and outline how Fisher alumni and friends can support the center’s evolution as the pre-eminent nexus of thought leadership for the built environment.             

Donald D. Sheets
Executive Director, The Ohio State University Center for Real Estate

Donald Sheets has nearly 25 years of leadership experience on Wall Street across several investment management firms, one of which he founded nearly a decade ago and recently sold. 

In conjunction with dual appointments to the faculty at Harvard University and as executive director of The Ohio State University Center for Real Estate, he concluded his roles as managing director and member of the management committee at Broadshore Capital Partners. While at Broadshore, his team underwrote, serviced and resolved investments on behalf of its cornerstone investors comprised of Harvard Management Company, Bain Capital Real Estate and the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. He previously was a partner and managing director at Clarion Partners upon its acquisition of AlumCreek Holdings, a private equity platform that he founded and scaled. 

Donald has meaningful prior academic experience at Columbia University and New York University, where he developed the inaugural graduate-level distressed real estate investing electives within each institution’s curriculum. He maintains a faculty appointment with Auburn University and has lectured at Georgetown University, The George Washington University, Harvard University and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Donald received an undergraduate degree magna cum laude from The George Washington University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Exploring the Nontraditional Business Path

From raising millions of dollars for childhood cancer research to democratizing philanthropy, from startup marketing to photographing strangers and publishing a book, Imran Nuri’s business education has been instrumental in helping him make the right business decisions and take the right risks for early success in his career. Imran shares more about the motivations behind his unique post-graduate path.

Imran Nuri (BSBA ’20)
Artist, Storyteller and Motivational Speaker

Imran Nuri (BSBA ’20) is an artist and storyteller best known for his portrait photo series “Advice From America,” in which he gathered life advice from 1,000 strangers across the lower 48 U.S. states while living in his car for 84 days in 2022. 

Prior to that pursuit, Imran served as president of BuckeyeThon as a student and, after graduating, founded the 52 Million Project, a nonprofit that sought to encouraging others to donate a dollar a week with the goal of generating $52 million a year in philanthropy for causes such as extreme poverty, climate change and animal welfare.

Program Innovations at Fisher

Whether equipping supply chain leaders with the very latest knowledge and expertise via a new graduate degree or educating professionals about the basics of the financial technology that underpins our online shopping, saving and investing, Fisher College of Business is continuously innovating on the degrees and programs it’s offering. Dean Makhija provides an update on these new offerings — what they are, why they were created, and how they complement the shifting landscape of business education.

Anil K. Makhija
Dean and John W. Berry, Sr. Chair in Business

Anil K. Makhija serves as dean and John W. Berry, Sr. Chair in Business of the Max M. Fisher College of Business. Recognized as an expert in the field of finance, particularly capital structure, corporate governance and valuation he has more than 20 years of academic leadership experience.

Prior to his 2014 appointment to dean, Dean Makhija served as Fisher’s senior associate dean. He has held the Dean’s Distinguished Professorship and the David A. Rismiller Professorship in Finance since joining the business college in 1998. He chaired Fisher’s Department of Finance and served as an associate dean of executive education programs, where he was responsible for the development of Fisher’s top-ranked Executive MBA program. He also played a key role in the development of the National Center for the Middle Market at Fisher.

Dean Makhija holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; an MBA from Tulane University; and a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.

Retail Industry Immersion: Application-Based Learning From the Classroom to the Store                                       

Learn what the Industry Immersion Program is — and how this foundational undergraduate offering is helping students build professional networks while developing real-world skills through team projects with retail companies. The program, like so many others at Fisher, is a win-win for the companies that participate and students interested in potential careers in dynamic and relevant industries such as retail.

Doug Farren
Managing Director, National Center for the Middle Market

Doug Farren, managing director of the National Center for the Middle Market, he leads the day-to-day operations of the center, which include research, corporate outreach and student activities, in addition to long-range strategic planning and sponsor stewardship. Prior to launching the NCMM in 2011, he spent 10 years with L Brands, where he worked in various roles including supply chain planning, distribution center operations and financial planning and analysis supporting brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works. Doug started with L Brands as a summer intern while completing his MBA in operations and logistics management at Fisher. 

Doug attended Penn State University, where he earned a bachelor’s of science with a focus on business management and was a member of the football program as an athlete and student assistant coach.

John Criscione 
Fourth-Year Student, Marketing

John Criscione is a fourth-year marketing student who has spent parts of the past two years as a marketing intern at Union Home Mortgage headquartered in Strongsville, Ohio. As an intern, John has worked on the company’s corporate sponsorship team, where he monitored accounts and managed assets with the Cleveland Guardians, Akron Rubber Ducks, Jacksonville Jumboshrimp, Ohio State and the Professional Bull Riders Organization. He was also part of marketing strategy team which involved conducting market research and working with industry professionals to build out a plan for promotions, products or internal communications. 

After graduation, John will join Union Home Mortgage as a junior marketing strategist.

Jenna Ritt
Fourth-Year Student, Finance

Jenna Ritt is a fourth-year finance student whose past internship experience spans multiple areas of business. She served as an accounting intern at KeyBank during Summer 2022 and as a Merchandising Leadership Development Program intern at Abercrombie & Fitch this past summer. 

After graduation this spring, Jenna will return to Abercrobmie & Fitch’s Merchandising Leadership Development Program.

Heather Shapiro
Fourth-Year Student, Marketing

Heather Shapiro is a fourth-year marketing student, who is also minoring in fashion and retail studies. During her time at Fisher, Heather has secured a variety of internship experiences, including experience with Edelman as a digital/social media intern, and Discover Books as a social media marketing intern. 

Following graduation, she is seeking a position in marketing, social media or public relations at a fashion, retail or consumer brand.

Isabel Sweet
Fourth-Year Student, Marketing

Isabel is a fourth-year marketing student whose passion in fashion and retail. During her time as a direct admit Fisher student, she was selected to be part of the college’s Business Scholars Program and participated in the Industry Immersion program. 

Outside of Fisher, Isabel has served as a merchandising intern with Macy’s in New York City in 2023, a marketing and sales intern with Greek House in 2022 and a marketing internships with Atlanta International Fashion Week in 2021. She is minoring in fashion and retail studies and aspires to become a buyer in the fashion and retail industry.

Questions?

Please contact Ashley Papenbrock at papenbrock.4@osu.edu or call 614-247-4760.