“I really believe that the programming Lumen Christi puts on is incredibly important for anyone in business. The breadth and depth they go into on the Church’s social teachings and how they engage with so many of the issues and topics that are at the forefront of our thoughts is incredible.”
What is your area of study and what is the focus of your current research?
I just graduated from Booth School of Business and I received concentrations in Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management. However, Booth is famous for its flexible curriculum, and I feel I got the well-rounded business education that I needed to serve me for a long career.
How did you first hear about Lumen Christi? Which event did you first attend, and why?
I first heard about Lumen Christi through my uncle, Steven G. Rothmeier, who had been involved with Lumen Christi since its inception. Its lectures and scholarly approach to the Catholic Faith was something I had heard about long before I came to Booth in 2013. The first event I attended was “Pope Francis: First Pope from the Americas” during my first quarter at Booth. Pope Francis was still relatively new and Catholics, myself included were still getting to know him. This lecture brought together a diverse set of scholars to discuss his impact and their thoughts were incredibly enlightening.
How has your participation in Institute lectures, conferences, and seminars contributed to your growth as a scholar?
I really believe that the programming Lumen Christi puts on is incredibly important for anyone in business. The breadth and depth they go into on the Church’s social teachings and how they engage with so many of the issues and topics that are at the forefront of our thoughts is incredible. While most of the events I went to did not directly relate to my academic growth, they most certainly will have an impact on my ethical thinking as a businessman. In addition, they have many topics that I would never have learned about in business school, and they have incredibly expanded the topics that I would otherwise not have had the chance to learn.
Is there a particular event (or encounter with a scholar) that has directly impacted the development of your academic work?
Lumen Christi recently hosted a luncheon with Jim Perry in order to introduce Lumen Christi to the Booth community. While the talk didn’t have a direct impact on my academic work, it showed me, and others in the audience, that there are powerful members of the business community who take their faith seriously, and deliberately act in accordance with their belief system. Jim Perry was very deliberate in defining Catholic Social Thought, and provided concrete examples of how he chooses to stay true to his beliefs, while also providing examples of how he has seen other stray outside of what he believes is a moral way to act in business.
What do you plan to do after you have completed your degree from the University of Chicago?
I will be starting at Apple in Cupertino, CA in September after taking some time off to travel with my wife. I’ll be working in a group in Operations called Supply Demand Management that forecasts build plans for all of Apple’s products and is effectively a bridge between Operations, Sales, Finance, and other parts of the organization.
Please comment on the role you think the Institute plays on the University of Chicago campus.
Booth can be a very insular community within the University. Since the MBA program is relatively short, students can sometimes get tunnel vision and not lift their heads out of the business world to learn more about their faith and other scholarly endeavors. Lumen Christi can provide both of these to Booth students, and with the formation of the group, Catholics at Booth, this year, I hope more students can see the wealth of programming Lumen Christi has to offer and engage with Lumen Christi and the broader University.