New Leadership for Exec Ed

After having served as the interim director of Notre Dame Executive Education since October 2011, Paul Velasco took over the position permanently in August. In making the announcement, Interim Dean Roger Huang noted Velasco’s commitment to the values-based curriculum of the top-ranked department, and his successful comprehensive redesign of the EMBA coursework in spring 2011 to strengthen the focus on strategy.

Velasco, who joined the Mendoza College in August 2009 as Executive Education’s director of degree programs, earned his MBA from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor of Philosophy in Communications Studies from Northwestern University.

Suzanne Thoren Waller was named to Velasco’s previous position as the director of degree programs in October. She is responsible for leading Notre Dame’s two Executive MBA programs in South Bend and Chicago. Thoren Waller, who has a BBA from Iowa State University and currently is enrolled in the Master of Business Administration in Sustainability program at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture, previously served as an associate director for Northwestern University’s EMBA program at the Kellogg School of Management. One of her key achievements includes the expansion of EMBA programs into Latin America and other global markets.