Recent Economics and Management Alumni

Lauren Gross, '09

"My interest in both business and psychology led me to choose a career path in human resources. I believe that the people are the key to success in any organization. I look forward to developing, implementing and carrying out new ideas in order to benefit the people in an organization, and the entirety of the organization."

Lauren graduated from Albion with majors both in Economics and Management and in Psychology. While at Albion, Lauren held various leadership roles within the sorority Delta Gamma as well as gaining hands-on work experience through three internships. Lauren also took advantage of the study-abroad program by living in London for a semester her junior year. In London she took business classes and held her first internship, with an executive search firm. In the two subsequent summers, Lauren had internships with two more staffing companies. Lauren also took a variety of Albion College courses relating to human resources, including Women in Business and Leadership; Labor Law, Unions, and Management; Labor Economics; Human Resource Management; and Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Lauren is currently working towards her Master’s in Human Resources and Industrial Relations at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, one of the top master’s programs in this field in the U.S. Earning an Albion degree both in Economics and Management and in Psychology has been very beneficial for Lauren thus far. She is well prepared not only for courses in her master’s program, but also for a subsequent career in business. Albion College courses in economics, statistics, and financial accounting, as well as courses she took in London in international marketing and international management, will help her to work effectively with staff in different functional areas of management. This cross-functional collaboration will grow in importance as corporate human resources departments strive to become more of a strategic business partner within the organization.

Joseph Cullen, '09

Joseph graduated from Albion with a major in Economics and Management. He focused on accounting. He also was a member of Albion’s Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management. Joseph completed two internships as part of the Gerstacker Institute. The first, at the City Controller’s Office in Philadelphia, involved governmental auditing. The second, at NSF International just outside Ann Arbor, involved internal auditing of accounts payable, accounts receivable, and employee compensation.

Joseph is now enrolled in the Master of Science in Accountancy program at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, one of the top-ranked MS programs in accounting in the U.S. He feels that his Albion accounting courses provided the basis for understanding his graduate accounting classes, such as when his Notre Dame professor, for a mergers and acquisitions class, talks about a topic he learned in Intermediate Accounting I at Albion.

One of the biggest benefits to Joseph of his Albion education was that it allowed him to find out what he liked best. He took a wide array of accounting courses at Albion College, including Managerial Cost Accounting, Federal Income Taxation, and Auditing. Based on that experience, Joseph decided that auditing and assurance was the best fit for his interests, and he has focused on those subjects in his master’s program.

Emily Gundersen, '08

"Growing up in a small town in Michigan made choosing a college relatively easy for me. I knew that I wanted to continue my tennis career at the collegiate level, as well as obtain an exceptional education. Albion College was the perfect fit for what I wanted to accomplish. While at Albion, I was a four-year member, two-time captain, of the women’s varsity tennis team. Each of the four years I was at Albion, my team won the MIAA Conference Championship. I was also a member of Alpha Xi Delta Sorority, for which I served as the Chapter Life Vice President and Risk Manager for two of my four years. In addition to maintaining active leadership roles in both my sorority and the tennis team, I was the Vice-President of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.) and a weekly mentor at Albion Public Schools.

Emily graduated from Albion with a major in Economics and Management. She now attends the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she is working on a Master of Science in Sport Management. This graduate program includes courses in finance and budgeting, marketing, and human resources, which build on Albion College courses she took, such as Financial Accounting; Marketing Principles and Decision Making; Managing People and Organizations; and Human Resource Management. Her expenses for her MS program will be completely paid for through a graduate assistantship she received through the University of Illinois Atkins Tennis Center, where Emily works in pro-shop management, program registration, front desk operations, and tennis instruction.

“A strong work ethic was essential in doing well at Albion, which has truly helped prepare me for graduate school, both in the classroom and for my assistantship. Albion College provides a unique learning environment in which professors are not only there to teach, but also to help their students grow in both their personal and professional lives. I strongly encourage all Albion students to take advantage of the expertise their professors can provide, both in and out of the classroom, to help prepare you for your future plans. With a degree from a liberal arts college, especially from Albion, accompanied with a master’s degree from a renowned university like Illinois, the possibilities for my professional career are abundant.”

Deanna Morris, '08

Deanna graduated from Albion with a major in Economics and Management and a minor in Fine Art. She participated actively in many extracurricular organizations and programs, including Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, the women’s lacrosse team, Alpha Phi Omega, FYE Mentor, Organization for Latino Awareness, and Honduran Medical Relief. Deanna was a member of the Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management. Her Gerstacker internship had her doing marketing and public relations work for one of the nation’s largest historic redevelopment projects. Her next job was as a management recruiting specialist, placing key executives within the financial services sector.

Deanna now attends the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, working on a Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development. Her eventual goal is to work for the United Nations or a governmental agency on economic development, poverty reduction, and human rights.

Deanna is considerably younger than the average student in her master’s program, where the average age is about 30, and she has less experience in international economic development than many of her classmates do. Still, she feels that her undergraduate experience at Albion College, especially in the Gerstacker Institute, has allowed her to be on an equal playing field with her Brandeis University classmates and to stand out in her knowledge of business and leadership. Deanna’s business knowledge reflects the courses she took at Albion (economics, accounting, organizational behavior, human resources, marketing, and finance courses within the Economics and Management Department; and a course on intercultural understanding in the Modern Languages Department). It also reflects the valuable experience from her Gerstacker internship.

David Manger, '08

David majored in Economics and Management and completed the Gerstacker Institute concentration. While an undergraduate, David served as a student representative on the Investment Committee of the Albion College Board of Trustees. After graduation, he worked as an equity analyst for Morningstar, providing research opinions on individual stocks. Now an analyst at AMI Investment Management, David is a Level III candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst Program.