2017 Organizational Studies Newsletter OS Newsletter_draftv10_joomag | Page 4

Mark Mizruchi
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
Welcome to another edition of the Organizational Studies Newsletter. As you will see in the pages that follow, great things
continue to happen in our program.
Our plans to grow are in full swing. Last year, we welcomed a new faculty member, Jeremy Levine (a Michigan alumnus),
who immediately filled an important gap by teaching our highly-demanded course on non-profit organizations. This year,
we hired two new faculty members, Ashley Harrell and Steven Samford, who are joining us this fall. Ashley’s focus is on
leadership, while Steve’s interests lie in global entrepreneurship, both of which will allow us to expand our off erings on
these topics. We also welcomed two new staff members: Daniel Hartlep, our new student services assistant (who came on
board in the fall), and Elizabeth Cain-Toth, in our newly-created position of events and publicity coordinator (who joined us
in January). We hope to begin increasing our number of students over the next couple of years, taking care that we preserve,
at all costs, the quality of the program by concurrently increasing the number of both faculty and staff as well. We have the
full support of the LSA administration in this process, and we are confident that OS will emerge even stronger as a result.
We admitted another outstanding class of students this year, who will join the program in the fall. As with all of our cohorts,
this group has distinguished itself in the classroom, and throughout the campus and beyond. Our new class is among the
most diverse that we’ve had, but we continue our eff orts to increase the diversity of our student body. Our faculty and
current students logged numerous accomplishments as well. We are especially proud that Sara Soderstrom received the
Individual Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, for her extraordinary teaching. All of our staff
and faculty are responsible for the fact that OS continues to score near the top in College surveys of student satisfaction
with their major. A further reason for our success is the generous support of our alumni, which allows us to fund internships,
study abroad experiences, and aid for students experiencing sudden financial diff iculty. The Malkin Family Mentorship
Program, which has provided opportunities for our students to “shadow” our alumni at their workplaces, continues to
thrive, with 28 students having now participated.
Perhaps our biggest piece of news is our move to the eighth floor of the newly-designed Weiser Hall. Some of us had an
opportunity to tour the facility earlier this spring, and the beauty of our space was fully evident. Especially impressive is the
atrium, which occupies two full stories, enclosed on two sides by floor-to-ceiling glass. The view is spectacular. We moved
into the space in mid-August. Our students, staff , and faculty will love it, and we hope that you will visit when you’re in town.
I want to again thank all the members of our community—our fabulous students, our dedicated faculty and staff , the members
of our Leadership Committee, the College and University administrations, and all of our alumni—for making Organizational
Studies the best program of its kind in the country. We are strong, and will grow even stronger, because of you.
Visit our website to see how you can stay involved with OS! Be sure to click on the Alumni Gallery (https://lsa.umich.edu/
orgstudies/alumni.html).
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