Skip to main content

Winter 2025 Newsletter

By Strategic Human Resource Management Center

February 3, 2025

Happy New Year from the SHR Center!

Greetings SHR alumni, partners, and friends,

Our SHR Center is incredibly excited for 2025 and is as busy as ever – in a good way! Students have just completed the second week of spring semester classes, many in the Class of 2025 are studying for their SHRM certification exam, Class of 2026 mentor relationships are beginning, Chicago-trek planning is in full-swing, and we are diving into SHR Symposium 2025 planning. We are also in the process of creating a SHR Center external advisory board, which we hope to onboard in Fall 2025. Finally, we are so happy and fortunate to welcome Mahina Adams as our full-time SHR Center Assistant Director. Mahina will be dedicated to supporting our SHR MBA students and our undergraduate students majoring in human resources.

We hope you take a few minutes to read about all the good that is happening in the SHR Center and the Management and Human Resources Department. Maybe even consider sharing what you loved about your time at or partnership with WSB? If you’d like to be more involved with our SHR Center in any manner, please reach out. We welcome your involvement and support. We think you will find that giving back to our students and future human resources leaders is rewarding and a worthwhile investment of your time or funds.

On, Wisconsin!

Your SHR Center Team

SHR Center News

All members of the Class of 2026 received one or more summer internship offers, 9 have accepted an offer!

The SHR Center is excited to announce that, as of November 2024, 9 out of 10 of our Class of 2026 accepted internship offers for the summer. Companies who have hired are first-year SHR MBAs are: Abbvie, Microsoft, UnitedHealth Group, Alcon, Cigna, Citibank, and Chevron. Congrats to our class of 2026! Adam Barton is actively seeking an offer that is a good fit for him. Learn about Adam here,and reach out if you know of any opportunities.

Three second-year SHR MBA students are seeking full-time roles.

Three of our class of 2025 continue to seek full-time roles upon graduation from the SHR Center. Check out their LinkedIn profiles below and reach out to them directly or email the SHR Center if your company has any openings! We are excited that Megan McCarthy, SHR MBA 2026, will be joining US Bank after graduation in a human resources rotational role. Congratulations to Megan!

Prachi Garg

Antionett Jackson

Barbara Trujillo

Fortune ranks Wisconsin School of Business’ full-time MBA #2 Best MBA for Human Resource Management

SHR was ranked #2 by Fortune for Best MBA for Human Resource Management for 2025. We would like to thank our students, alumni, faculty, and partners for helping us achieve this recognition!

SHR is Trekking Again: Chicago, March 2025

The 2025 SHR MBA Trek will be to Chicago, IL on March 13 and 14, 2025. Are you based in Chicago and interested in hosting a site visit? Please email shr@wsb.wisc.edu. We would love to talk with you!

SHR Welcomes New Assistant Director

The SHR Center started their new Assistant Director, Mahina Adams, on January 27. In the last year and a half, Mahina has acted as the Center Coordinator for the Strategic Human Resource Management Center and Marketing Leadership Institute.We are incredibly excited that Mahina will support our students full-time. Feel free to connect with Mahina on LinkedIn or reach out with any questions about SHR.

Industry Partner Highlights

January is National Mentor Month!

The SHR Center would like to extend a warm ‘thank you’ to our Class of 2026 professional mentors for giving back to both the SHR Center and our students. Mentors are instrumental to student success and help provide professional guidance to our students. Interested in being a SHR MBA mentor in the future? Read below for information on how to become a mentor!

Findorff Welcomes HR Business Badgers

UW-Madison SHRM club and SHR students toured Findorff’s facilities in Madison, Wisconsin, enjoyed an engaging presentation about Findorff’s business model, and had the opportunity to ask some insightful business questions.Thanks to the Findorff human resources team for hosting us!

Save the Date for SHR Symposium 2025!

Friday, October 3, 2025

Like in 2024, SHR Symposium 2025 will be an all-day event held at the Pyle Center in Madison, Wisconsin. More information will be shared soon!

Help us Showcase 125 Things to Love About WSB

This year, the Wisconsin School of Business is celebrating its 125th anniversary—and we want you to join in on the fun! Tell us what you love about WSB for a chance to be featured in Update magazine, which publishes in October 2025.

Faculty News & Media Mentions

Recent Publications

Ever wondered how important it is for a manager to know how to gauge one’s competence? Check out Stav Atir’s research on how “Competent Leaders Know The Limits of Their Expertise.

Media Mentions

Randall B. Dunham: The University of Wisconsin’s research team explores the application of Buddhist ethics in corporate culture at Diligo (A research delegation from the University of Wisconsin, led by Professor Randall B. Dunham, Faculty Director of Executive and Global Learning Experiences, recently visited Vietnam to study leading businesses and innovative business models in the region.)

Stav Atir: What’s in a candidate’s name? Plenty. (Stav Atir asks the question, does gender affect the way we talk about professionals or presidential candidates?)

Dan Olszewski: Dan accepted the 2024 ‘Triple E’ award on November 13 from the Wisconsin Technology Council.

Stav Atir: Developing Leaders: Know That Confidence is Not Competence (Stav’s research on how overconfidence can be a pitfall is mentioned.)

Charlie Trevor: The True Cost of Layoffs (Charlie’s research on the effects of layoffs on companies’ labor costs and the unanticipated increase in voluntary turnover is used to support the author’s argument.)

Supporting our SHR Center

SHR Center Seeks Increased Enrollment

Please connect us with your colleagues who are interested in obtaining an MBA in human resources. We would enjoy speaking with them, and receiving their applications–maybe even for the Class of 2027.

Be a Part of SHR Symposium 2025

Are you or your organization interested in supporting our Center through sponsorship or being a speaker at our symposium? Different sponsorship options are available; you may also be a student supporter. Our SHR Center and students appreciate your consideration.  Reach out for sponsorship and speaker opportunities »

Make a 2025 Gift to the SHR Center

Making a gift is simple and appreciated. Gift funds support initiatives within SHR, such as financing industry visits, funding conference attendance, case competitions, scholarships, and SHRM memberships. Will you consider making a donation? Give to SHR, or reach out to Center Director Tanya Hubanks if you would like to discuss gift options.

Engage with us on LinkedIn

Follow our page on LinkedIn to stay up to date with SHR news. Check out our new alumni, student, and speaker spotlight series to read about the people who are part of our work. If you are interested in being a featured alumni, let us know!

Follow us on LinkedIn >>

Hire Our Students or Be a Mentor

Interested in hiring one of our SHR MBA graduates? Interested in mentoring a SHR MBA student? Email our team at the link below to discover ways to be involved or to learn more about the either the hiring process or mentorship experience!

Email us >>

Join our Mailing List

Know anyone who might be interested in receiving our newsletter? Direct them to the link below to join the SHR mailing list to receive updates and invitations to events. Join our mailing list >>