Marquette University received a $1 million gift from the Loebl family to provide funding for the Women Business Leaders Speaker Series and the Endowment for the Advancement of Women in the College of Business Administration. The gift will honor June and Herman Loebl, and the Speaker Series and the Endowment will be named after them.
According to Marquette’s news release, Herman Loebl had a 38-year career at Marquette as the chair of the accounting and finance departments, director of the MBA program, assistant dean and associate dean. Herman and his wife, June, were deeply committed to making education available to all, in the spirit of the Jesuit mission.
The Women Business Leaders Speaker Series, which was launched last year, highlights women in business and leadership roles making a difference in the community, and the gift from the Loebl family will further support the series.
Brian Till, dean of the College of Business Administration, said the gift will cover the expenses associated with running the series and ensure that the series will continue on many years into the future, which he said believes is necessary for the students in the College of Business Administration.
“It is important for our business students to learn from successful leaders,” Till said. “It is also important that our students have great role models, particularly women who have achieved professional success and are interested in sharing their experiences with students who will soon be starting their careers.”
The members of Women in Business were some of the people who assisted in planning the speaker series. According to the college’s website, the goal of WIB is to aid female students in building their resume, gaining leadership skills, increasing networking opportunities and taking a look into and gaining insight from the lives of professional women.
Olivia Vanden Heuvel, junior in the College of Business Administration and external/alumni relations coordinator for WIB, said the organization is grateful for the Loebl family’s investment in Marquette women business students.
“I think this shows a huge commitment to empowering women leaders … both within Marquette and within the business community,” Vanden Heuvel said.
Jennica Webster, associate professor in the College of Business of Administration and faculty adviser to WIB, also helped with planning, and said the overall goal of the speaker series is to provide an opportunity to hear from highly accomplished women.
“In these talks, they share their insights and experiences,” Webster said. “Each year a different speaker is invited to both inform and inspire us. … I also think the series gives us all the opportunity to see possibilities that sometimes can seem out of reach and to hear the kinds of strategies that we can use to realize those possibilities ourselves.”
Becky Frankiewicz, president of ManpowerGroup North America, was chosen to speak March 21 about her leadership experiences.
However, the event was cancelled last minute because she was under the weather. Marquette’s website stated that the event will be rescheduled for sometime in the near future.
The speaker series is also important because of the gender inequality in leadership roles and pay gaps between men and women.
“Women have made gains in the workforce in terms of rising to middle management, but it is still uncommon to see women in top leadership roles,” Webster said.
Statistics from the Center for American Progress, an independent nonpartisan policy institute, confirm that women are behind men in terms of leadership roles.
Women are only 14.6 percent of executive officers, 8.1 percent of top-earners and 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs.
Vanden Heuvel said when the speaker series does happen in the near future, everyone can learn something from Becky Frankiewicz.
“I think that there is so much that can be learned from this year’s speaker, Becky Frankiewicz, regardless of one’s gender, occupation, etc. She is known for being incredibly creative and adapting well to change, and empowering those around her to do the same.”
