Notre Dame EMBA launches advisory board

Key points:

• The 12 inaugural members bring a range of experience, backgrounds and businesses to the board.
• Members will give feedback on curriculum, mentor students, speak in classes and serve as ambassadors.
• The board aims to strengthen the value of the Notre Dame EMBA for current students and for its alumni.

 

For decades, the University of Notre Dame Executive MBA at the Mendoza College of Business has been preparing mid-career professionals to lead from their values and strengths. Now, it has formed an advisory board to ensure that what these students learn stays ahead of a rapidly changing business world.

From owners of family owned businesses to Fortune 100 C-suite executives, the EMBA board’s 12 inaugural members bring an outside perspective to support educators and strengthen the Notre Dame EMBA credential for current students and those who already hold the degree.

Among them is Tyler Tigges (EMBA ’25), senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Great West Casualty Co., who said the alumni perspective starts with what already sets the program apart: leadership grounded in personal values.

“Notre Dame and our EMBA have always closely aligned with my own values, so it is only natural that I share our vision of supporting leaders who serve others through their values,” he said. “Working to enhance the program and the College’s quality and reputation also resonates strongly because those investments will serve our students and alumni for decades to come.”

The pace of dramatic change across the business world led Brandon Erlacher, academic director of the Notre Dame Executive MBA program, to establish the board as a strategic resource — a pipeline of real-time information the program can use.

“While our core commitment to developing executive leadership that ‘grows the good in business’ remains unchanged, navigating today’s national business landscape requires continuous evolution,” Erlacher said. “Bringing in external perspectives allows us to immediately align our curriculum directly with the dynamic realities modern businesses are experiencing.”

EMBA board members will serve three-year terms, with a standing committee dedicated to bringing in new executives annually. Over time, Erlacher expects the board to grow to 30 members to match its wide-ranging responsibilities.

The board members will provide feedback on EMBA courses, program requirements, career placement and industry trends, with new courses potentially emerging from that input. They will speak in classes and on panels, mentor students, reach out to prospective students and alumni, and build ties with faculty. They will serve as ambassadors for the program, including at events such as Ascend: The Notre Dame EMBA Summit, which brings together executives, alumni and thought leaders each fall to explore the future of business.

For his part, Tigges wants to build more connections among EMBA students and alumni, and with the rest of Mendoza, including its faculty. Because EMBA alumni come to Notre Dame as working executives, he said, they have a unique relationship with Notre Dame and more opportunities to strengthen those ties and build community.

“We all share a passion for learning throughout our careers, which is why we chose an EMBA,” he said. “That means we also will share a continuing desire to connect with and learn from other alumni, who teach each other as much as any class does.” 

 

EMBA Advisory Board members:

• George A. Arce Jr. (EMBA ’22), managing principal, Centers Dynamic Partners LLC. He has more than 30 years of experience in retail real estate, primarily in grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers, and is expanding into location-based entertainment redevelopment.
• Art Betancourt (EMBA ’17), founder and CEO, AEBetancourt. He leads the Grand Rapids, Michigan, executive recruiting firm, which has made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies for five consecutive years.
• Mary Dow (EMBA ’23), CEO, HRI Hospital. She oversees inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services at the Brookline, Massachusetts, hospital, drawing on 20 years with UHS behavioral health facilities.
• Aarron Hale (EMBA ’18), co-founder and CEO, Verus Automation. His industrial automation company builds open, adaptable systems for warehouses and supply chains and has won a ProMat MHI Innovation Award.
• Ruth Idzik (EMBA ’18), co-founder, Verus Automation. She oversees the company’s finance, operations and business development, with deep experience in business strategy, financial management and organizational restructuring.
• John A. Lundy (EMBA ’04), senior portfolio manager, KeyBank. He has more than 25 years in wealth and portfolio management, including roles at First Merchants Corp., Huntington National Bank and Regions Bank.
• Sarah Mills (EMBA ’25), vice president of human resources, North America, Griffith Foods. She leads HR strategy across the United States, Canada and Mexico, after nearly two decades with Ingredion Inc. and Honeywell.
• Andrew Nemeth (EMBA ’16), managing partner, Nemeth Properties LLC. He has more than 28 years of experience in commercial real estate and business consulting and is co-founder and CEO of Andrew J. Nemeth & Sons Artisanal Imports LLC.
• Jim Rosenberg (EMBA ’25), president and CEO, NEO3 LLC. He leads the Ohio-based ERP consulting firm, which has completed more than 400 implementations and is developing Cadence, an AI-assisted implementation platform.
• Sam Scala (EMBA ’24), president, Kenmore Construction, and founder and principal, K-Nova LLC. He leads a Northeast Ohio construction company and a national firm that develops large-scale industrial facilities, data centers and energy infrastructure.
• Tyler Tigges (EMBA ’25), senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, Great West Casualty Co. He leads the insurer’s work on ethical culture and its partnerships with regulators and speaks often at state and national trucking events.
• John Turner (EMBA ’21), senior vice president of operations, Northern Region, Union Pacific Railroad. He began his career at Union Pacific as a brakeman in the 1990s and now oversees railroad operations across its Northern Region.