Program Details
The Forum will include two keynote speakers, in addition to round table discussions on topics of interest to career services and empoyers.
Diversity in the Workplace
Brian Reaves, Dell, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer
Brian will speak about the importance of aligning your diversity and inclusion strategy to the overall business imperative – it’s key to driving innovation, engagement, retention and overall business value
Brian leads Dell’s global equality and inclusion initiatives. In this role, he partners with leaders and team members across the organization to deepen and advance Dell’s culture of inclusion as a fundamental business imperative. Brian is an experienced technology executive with a track record of success in advancing diversity and inclusion within the tech industry. Prior to joining Dell, Brian was a Senior Vice President (SVP) within SAP’s Office of the CEO organization, where he led Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) initiatives for the company.
Over the past 30 years, Brian has held senior executive software development and management roles in a number of industries/technology sectors including cloud computing, supply chain, healthcare, finance, telecommunications and utilities. Brian’s passions include design thinking, international travel and professional/amateur sports. Brian holds a B.S. in Mathematics/Computer Science from UCLA and grew up in the South-Central Los Angeles area.
The Quest for ROH (Return on Happiness): Why Companies, Grad Students, and Career Service Professionals Should Consider Happiness
Raj Raghunathan, Professor of Marketing, UT-Austin McCombs School of Business
Have you ever asked yourself what happiness means to you personally and professionally? Have you, your students, or your colleagues take a job based on salary without bringing happiness into the equation and been disappointed with the results? What do we lose in our lives and livelihoods when we don’t prioritize passion and purpose enough?
Dr. Raghunathan’s keynote will address how MBA and Specialty Master’s students prioritize happiness in their career choices and how employers can best attract top talent and become more productive organizations by emphasizing happiness in the workplace. A dynamic speaker who brings humor and years of consumer behavior research to the happiness question, Dr. Raghunathan will share what he’s discovered about the powerful role this feeling plays in transforming the 21st-century workforce.
Dr. Raghunathan is the author of If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? His cutting-edge research on consumer behavior has been cited in The New York Times, The Austin-American Statesman, Self magazine, and elsewhere, and he has presented TEDx talks in Delhi and shared his happiness insights with countless other audiences around the world. He earned his PhD from the Stern School of Business at New York University and is currently a professor of marketing at UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business. His work juxtaposes theories from psychology, behavioral sciences, decision theory and marketing to document and explain interrelationships between affect and consumption behavior and has been published in top marketing and psychology journals. He was recognized as a Marketing Science Young Scholar in 2005 for his contributions to the field of Marketing, and was recently awarded the prestigious NSF Career Award (for $440,000).
Coming soon! More information about our round table discussions!
