As an undergraduate student at Purdue University, I majored in German, minored in English, studied other languages, and took a number of linguistics courses – phonetics, phonology, anthropological linguistics, descriptive English grammar, dialectology, and Germanic historical linguistics. I then came to the University of Illinois for graduate studies in the Department of Linguistics, where I focused on historical linguistics and phonology, particularly in Optimality Theory, the current paradigm in phonological theory. My M.A. thesis consisted of research on Chinese tone sandhi (tone change) from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives, and applied Optimality Theory for a phonological account of the tonal system.
Today is different from yesterday; and tomorrow will be different from today. As we enter the 21st century, the world economy continues to change dramatically. Technology enables managers to direct and control operations in a multitude of businesses, empowering them to implement initiatives to give their companies a market advantage. Due to this dramatic transformation, however, the world needs more technologically secure work environments. Today’s corporations are expanding in accordance with increased industrial development, all the while facing rapid environmental changes. Thus, corporate governance embraces more complicated and diverse issues than ever before, and increased capabilities are required of business leaders. I am excited to be at the beginning of my career during this vibrant time of change, with aspirations to become precisely such a technology savvy business leader.