Center for Retailing Excellence
Board of Advisors Meeting
The Center for Retailing Excellence held its first annual Board of Advisors meeting April 8th, & 9th at the Double Tree Hotel in downtown Madison. The meeting was chaired by Sharon Scanlan, the former VP of Sears Holdings, and an alumni of the UW Retailing program. Company leaders from each of our CRE sponsors attended along with SOHE student leaders from various organizations, CRE Director, Jerry O'Brien, and numerous SOHE faculty and staff members. The meeting agenda covered brainstorming activities led by BrainReactions, a nationally recognized company known for their Idea Generations Workshops which help organizations to acquire expertise in promoting new thinking. In addition, a banquet was held as faculty presentations were given as well as numerous highlights from student and UW organizations on campus working with the Center for Retailing Excellence. “The first Board of Advisors meeting of the Center for Retailing Excellence greatly exceeded all our expectations,” said Robin A. Douthitt, Dean of the School of Human Ecology. “Thanks to the industry representatives, the Retail Program Committee and its chair Sharon Scanlan, as well as students from across campus, this meeting created high benchmarks for the future of the center. With continued outstanding leadership from executive director Jerry O’Brien, I’m confident that the center will translate the energy and ideas generated in April into initiatives that set the standard for industry-academic collaborations.”
