前学生充实大学

给肯·詹克, MBA 85, it was the decision to attend 韦德体育app官网 for graduate school, 以及特别教练弗兰克·卡迪曼的教导, that he credits with preparing him for an extraordinary career that crescendoed with his appointment to deputy chief financial officer, Aflac公司执行副总裁.

In appreciation for the education he received and to strengthen the university’s ability to continue to build and provide educational excellence for future students, Ken and his wife Kim presented OU with a gift to renovate the School of 工商管理 building, which includes a naming gift agreement for the Ken and Kim Janke Auditorium within Elliott Hall.

The couple also presented a gift that honored Ken’s favorite instructor, 弗兰克Cardimen, with the special recognition of naming room 242 in Elliott Hall as the 弗兰克Cardimen Executive Education Room.

“Frank didn’t teach me what to think, he taught me how to think,” explained Janke. “弗兰克的课是我们的巅峰之作，是一门真正的战略课. I didn’t connect the dots until later in life on what an impact it had on me because a lot of what I really thought about and worked on with other executives at Aflac was thinking through the strategy of that company.”

Janke remembers his instructor as incredibly relatable and thought-provoking, 一个知道如何让他换个角度思考问题的人. “那时候, I was 27 years old and I was working at my dad’s company and I thought I knew what I wanted in life. With the help of Frank, I realized I didn’t know nearly what I thought I did. 他促使我思考和学习. 这是一次非常好的经历. 他是一个不可思议的人，”Janke说.

1985年毕业后的一个月, 杨克离开了密歇根，搬到了哥伦布, 格鲁吉亚开始他在Aflac的职业生涯. He didn’t set foot on campus again until almost a quarter century later when he was asked to give a commencement speech. Impressed with the growth of the university – shortly before retiring – Janke accepted a position on the 韦德体育app官网 School of 工商管理’s Board of Visitors. He flies in for board meetings four times a year at his personal expense. “我在五个不同的董事会任职, but the one that’s most important to me is the board of visitors at the business school,詹克说。.

He and his wife also engaged with the university when they traveled with Cardimen on a trip the instructor led to Italy through the OU Dean’s Travel College. Janke, 谁经常旅行?, describes the trip as a wonderful learning experience and is looking forward to accompanying his friend on a future expedition.

“弗兰克没有教我思考什么，他教我如何思考.”

It was during a trip Janke and his wife were taking to New York to see their daughter that Cardimen learned of the honor his former student had planned.

“我们当时在亚特兰大机场, 正准备登机，我很兴奋地告诉他, 所以我给他打了电话. We only had about three to four minutes to chat, but I wanted to tell him personally,詹克说。.

“它来得太意外了，我对整件事感到很谦卑,卡迪曼说, 谁解释说他听到这个消息时如此震惊, he couldn’t remember if he thanked Janke during the brief conversation.

“Later on I sent him an email telling him I finally got off the floor from our conservation and had to thank him and Kim. I never expected anything like this, it was never in my thought process, ever. It’s so satisfying to feel like you made a difference, that’s what it’s all about,卡迪曼说.

“我和肯的关系很好，就像他是家里的一员一样. It’s not so much a teacher-student relationship as it is a collegial relationship that is really powerful.”

一位敬业的教育家, Cardimen has been bringing real world national and international business experience into his classrooms for 44 years. 83岁的他没有退休的计划. He makes it a point to stay relevant and up to date on emerging global business trends.

“I think there is such a satisfaction for teachers to see the light switch go off in their students and I’ve had such great success in seeing that for so many years,卡迪曼说.

Within 韦德体育app官网’s School of 工商管理 he has taught mostly in the strategic management area and also served as OU’s interim vice president of economic development. In 1987 he created the university’s first business ethics class and also co-taught in The 荣誉学院 on the topic of capitalism, 利润与道德. In 1999 he developed an MBA international management course that required travel to Europe and China. “If you are going to deal with other countries, you need to understand their culture,卡迪曼说.

具有丰富的商业经验, he has worked in the automotive and chemical industry in a multitude of positions including project engineering, 战略规划, 控制器, 工厂的会计, 信贷经理及市场部. His assignments have taken him to many international destinations where he conducted business on a global scale. Feeling the draw from the entrepreneurial world, Cardimen ran a successful business for nine years. 他还在华盛顿特区的联邦调查局工作.C.

Janke said he benefited from Cardimen’s teachings on international business when he found himself working for Aflac, 该公司80%的业务在日本. “Doing business in another country isn’t something I anticipated when I was going to school at OU, 但它后来成为我职业生涯的重要组成部分,詹克说。.

“我是成千上万生活受到弗兰克影响的人之一. 我们无处不在.”