Fisher's Military Faces

• Open/Close PhD - Kevin Smyth

  Kevin Smyth
  Third-year PhD Student

  For Capt. Kevin Smyth, an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force, his decision to serve was influenced by several factors, most notably a family pedigree. His paternal grandfather served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and his maternal grandfather served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. His father served in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot and flew F-4 and F-16 fighter jets.

  Smyth’s experience as a military officer has provided him with management and organizational experience to draw from during his studies at Fisher, and he’s found the unique combination of military experience and business studies to be applicable across an array of management situations.

  Smyth said that despite not having a large military community in the central Ohio area, Fisher—and Ohio State as a whole—is friendly to members of the armed services and responsive to the needs of veteran students. The university also boasts an active veteran community and an availability of undergraduate and graduate veterans services.

  “Fisher helps to provide a number of different perspectives on a variety of management subjects and situations,” Smyth said. “My experience is in the relatively narrow context of the military. Learning from professors and students who have backgrounds working in a wide variety of industries has exposed me to new ways of thinking, which I believe will likely have application in my continuing military career.”

  Smyth, who’s pursuing his PhD and a long-term career in academia, said his military career has influenced his research interests. His research focuses on topics with applications in both profit-motivated and nonprofit-motivated management settings. His current research interests include forecasting, inventory policy, supply chain risk and security, sustainable supply chain management and military logistics.

  “I have a passion for teaching and am eager to conduct meaningful research to advance the state of the art in logistics management education,” he said.

• Open/Close Executive MBA - Chad Layne

  Chad Layne
  Sgt. 1st Class, Ohio Army National Guard

  As a second-year student in Fisher’s Executive MBA (EMBA) program, Sgt. 1st Class Chad Layne considers his military background to be an asset within the EMBA program.

  Layne thrives in the EMBA environment, which emphasizes teamwork, a familiar concept to veterans and military personnel who are accustomed to working in small-team environments and making leadership decisions.

  He appreciates the program’s format of three to four consecutive sessions once per month because it promotes better time management away from his work assignments. Layne’s Army training, particularly his understanding of time management and operations and logistics, are skills that have made him an asset to his team in the EMBA program.

  “The Army doesn’t allow for wasting time during meetings,” Layne said. “If you're having a meeting, you better have a reason to meet, an agenda and an end state. My team will attest that I fully support that management style for our team meetings, and we rarely meet for a full hour.”

  Layne, a second-year student in Fisher’s EMBA program, serves as an active guard and reserve (AGR) soldier supporting the traditional Ohio National Guard force. Layne, whose father served in the U.S Army for 22 years on active duty, said the duty to serve was ingrained in him from an early age.

  Layne runs the Joint Operations Center for the Ohio National Guard and has been working with James Hill, associate professor of management sciences and associate director of Fisher’s Center for Operational Excellence, to develop new strategies for managing the Joint Operations Center’s personnel.

  Layne’s goal during the EMBA’s Operations Management module is to implement lean management skills around the scheduling of operators who support civilian first-responder organizations.

• Open/Close Graduate Alumna - Kimberly Tapia

  Kimberly Tapia (MBOE '16)
  Principal, The Polanko Group

  Kimberly Tapia, a sergeant first class in the U.S. Army Reserve, remembers her initial impression of Fisher as a prospective graduate student. From her first interaction with the faculty and staff, Tapia knew she’d found a place where her unique skills would be valued, which differentiated Fisher from other business colleges. And, she found that the culture at Fisher aligned with her values.

  “As a veteran and service member, there is no greater feeling than being associated with an institution that values its community, students and staff,” Tapia said. “The Office of Military and Veterans Services is extremely effective in providing support throughout all phases of enrollment.”

  Tapia graduated in 2016 from Fisher’s Master of Business Operational Excellence program and has combined her military experience and graduate studies to excel in the corporate sector. She currently works as the principal for The Polanko Group, a firm she founded that specializes in problem-solving for small- to medium-sized businesses.

  “There is risk in everything we do, whether you own the business or work for it,” Tapia said. “As a Fisher MBOE student, the core value-add to my company is the overall concept of continuous improvement. Establishing a culture of continuous improvement is the ultimate risk reducer.”

  Prior to her graduate studies and consulting work, Tapia served on active duty in the U.S Army. Her decision to enlist stemmed from the need to pay for college, but she found much more in the Army. She eventually re-enlisted and followed her passion for leading soldiers.

  Tapia’s military experience benefitted her at Fisher, as the Army’s development programs prepared her to excel in the areas of project and program management, policy development, leadership and communication. As a student, Tapia found that Fisher enhanced her military experience in operational excellence.

  “As a senior non-commissioned officer and the Equal Opportunity Advisor within my brigade, I am entrusted to provide comprehensive guidance on organizational strategy, soldier development and command culture,” Tapia said. “The curriculum at Fisher advanced my ability to cultivate data, analyze, and formulate substantive solutions.”

• Open/Close Faculty - Charles Buchanan

  Charles Buchanan (EMBA '16)
  Senior Lecturer, Management & Human Resources

  Maj. Charles Buchanan served in the U.S. Army and continues his service in the Ohio National Guard. Buchanan’s decision to serve arose from a strong sense of duty toward his country and the desire for a good start to his career following his undergraduate studies.

  As a lecturer at Fisher, Buchanan strives to deliver to his students the same top-notch leadership training he received in the Army.

  “The Army taught me to take advantage of opportunities when they make themselves available, and I look at every class as an opportunity to help my students be better leaders,” said Buchanan, a 2016 alumnus of Fisher’s Executive MBA (EMBA) program. “Leadership is the Army’s competitive advantage, and I hope to help my students develop that same advantage in their careers.”

  As an EMBA student, Buchanan was impressed by Fisher’s challenging environment, the quality and professionalism of the faculty and staff, and the caliber of his classmates. It was a powerful combination that motived him to pursue a career in higher education.

  “Fisher is an excellent place to transition from military service to a civilian career,” Buchanan said. “The prospects for networking create new opportunities that are often hard for current military to establish.”

  He credits Fisher’s world-class faculty with helping him take 16 years of military experience and package it into material that can be taught in the classroom. Buchanan, who has deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo, said that each deployment taught him something new about leadership and about himself.

  “I am actively using simulations to teach leadership and have seen some great results,” Buchanan said. “The students really benefit from the active learning environment. This provides them the opportunity to experiment with leadership styles and techniques in ways that they never could in a lecture.”

• Open/Close Staff - David Harrison

  David Harrison
  Senior Director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion Student Services and Corporate and Community Outreach

  Following in the footsteps of relatives and friends, David Harrison served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1993, where most of his service was spent as a reservist. His military police reserve unit, based in Dayton, was mobilized to support Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm during the campaigns from 1990-91.

  “I desired to challenge myself physically and mentally to go the extra mile,” Harrison said. “I wanted to protect and serve our country, and I wanted to be trained in and by the world’s finest organization.”

  Throughout his youth and continuing into early adulthood, Harrison learned the value of discipline. As the son of a single father, it began early in his childhood and continued into high school, where Harrison rose to the position of captain of very competitive football and wrestling teams. Then in college, Harrison competed on the wrestling team for three years.

  Harrison values the experience he gained as a Marine. The lessons he learned continue to benefit him today in his role as senior director of Fisher’s dedicated Office of Diversity and Inclusion Services and Corporate and Community Outreach.

  In addition to the Marine Corps training that taught him to manage time at a higher level, he credits the military with teaching him to value his team and the importance of preparing mind and body for assignments.

  “The military provided an opportunity for me to continue to exercise the discipline instilled in me first by my father and then sharpened by my athletic coaches,” Harrison said. “Whether working in a cool, clean office or in a hot, dirty field, the military enhanced that discipline and equipped me with the determination to complete any challenge or mission.”