Three join business college's advisory council
June 10, 2002
KALAMAZOO -- Three area leaders have joined the Haworth College of Business Advisory Council at Western Michigan University.
Dr. Tim Fischell of the Borgess Heart Institute and the Heart
Center for excellence, Mark Odland of State Farm Insurance
and David Renz of Eaton Corp. were recently appointed to the
37-member council by Dr. James W. Schmotter, dean of the business
college.
The Haworth College of Business Advisory Council facilitates alliances between the college and the business community, and its members serve in an advisory capacity to the dean and his faculty. They provide guidance and assistance on a variety of issues, including community relations, resource development, job placement for graduates, faculty development, research and curriculum development. The council meets several times each year.
Fischell is an interventional cardiologist with the Heart Center for excellence and director of cardiovascular research at the Borgess Heart Institute in Kalamazoo. An entrepreneur and inventor of medical devices with more than 40 patents pending, Fischell pioneered the world's first radioisotope stent. A graduate of Cornell University Medical College, he completed his internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and his cardiology fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center. He is a professor of medicine at Michigan State University.
Odland is vice president-operations for State Farm Insurance Cos., with responsibility for the company's claim operations in Michigan and Indiana. He is based at the Michigan Operations Center in Marshall, Mich. Odland joined State Farm in 1971 and held a variety of posts before being named executive assistant in the president's office at State Farm corporate headquarters in 1994. He assumed his current post later that year. Odland is a graduate of Augustana College.
Renz has been vice president, sales and marketing for Eaton Corp.'s Truck Components Operations in Galesburg, Mich., since January 2000. He has worked for the company since 1977, when he became a sales representative for the Transmission Division. Renz's titles over the past 25 years have included territory sales manager; general sales manager; manager-marketing, truck components operations-Americas; and director, sales and marketing, worldwide. He earned his bachelor's degree in business and finance from Ball State University.
Media contact: Jessica English, 269 387-8400, jessica.english@wmich.edu