Colangelo College of Business

Alan Klibanoff has brought with him to the Colangelo College of Business a lot of expertise and a lot of stories about how to handle money. But what’s also interesting about him is his large family and what his daughter did that changed his life.

The One Foundation Lunch and Learns, which began Friday, offer a perfect opportunity for faculty members to learn more about teaching from a Christian perspective. “It sustains a conversation that is necessary,” said Dr. Jason Hiles, Dean of the College of Theology. Five more one-hour sessions are scheduled during the academic year, and the first 100 people to sign up get a free lunch.

Dr. Chin-Hun Yi, also known as James, likes teaching his online classes so much, he often checks in on them when he’s off. He talks with great passion about what it truly means to lend a helping hand to students without being too much of a crutch, and he feeds another passion through an activity that almost became his career path.

The principles of Conscious Capitalism are ingrained in the Colangelo College of Business culture — its dean, Dr. Randy Gibb, has made sure of that. His philosophy: “It has to be part of who you are. You have to live it every day. You can’t just flip a switch.” It’s an approach built for where business is going, not where it has been. Fourth in a nine-part series on GCU academics.

Photos by Elizabeth Tinajero and Enrique Lucha GCU News Bureau Thursday’s Welcome Week activities included socials for the Academic and Career Excellence (ACE) centers and transfer students, ROTC orientation and a welcome-back party for Worship Arts students.  

Move-In gets the year started off right for incoming GCU students, but it has the same effect on the volunteers who help them. Whether they’re helping for the first time or are seniors and have done it every year, they treasure the excitement. “It’s my third year, and it’s always the same energy,” said one.

The new GCU Innovation Center now has a director (Robert Vera), a home (Building 66 at 27th Avenue), a slogan (“Create your purpose”) and a GCU-oriented goal — to provide opportunities for both GCU students and local start-ups. Dr. Randy Gibb, Dean of the Colangelo College of Business, calls it “a different way to approach this start-up world.” Vera certainly knows how to approach that world as well as a lot of other ventures. He’s even a best-selling author.

When Brian Mucyo was 6, his parents had to send their son to a country more medically equipped to care for the deterioration of his vision. With only 10% visibility left in his left eye and a prosthetic eye for his right, Mucyo lived in Belgium for several years before moving to America to complete high school and eventually enroll at GCU. Now he’s an Honors College student and uses the skills he has developed in his travels (specifically, the four languages he now speaks fluently) to help other international students create the confidence to speak and learn English.

Tim Kelley never stops learning — that’s why he applied for a special summer program at the London School of Economics. But once program organizers saw how much the Assistant Professor for Entrepreneurship and Economics in the Colangelo College of Business knows about angel investing, he actually was asked to speak to the class about it. It’s another sign that GCU’s program is “right on target and on the cutting edge,” Kelley said.

Hospitality students at GCU are consistently placed in positions where they learn by doing, and some of them learn by leading. Now they have a new leader, Karen Madlock, who has the most important take-charge position of all — she’s the first student general manager for the GCU Hotel and Canyon 49 Grill. “We’ve put our students in key positions where they’re making key decisions, and they get to see how they play out,” General Manager Brett Cortright said.