Wake Forest University’s Sean Hannah and a team of researchers have found measuring activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain can help assess that person’s potential for leadership –which could have a big impact on how future leaders are tested and trained.

“This study represents a fusion of the leadership and neuroscience fields, and this fusion can revolutionize approaches to assessing and developing leaders,” says Hannah, the Tylee Wilson Chair in business ethics and professor of management at the Wake Forest University School of Business. Hannah is lead author of the paper in the May 2013 Journal of Applied Psychology titled, “The Psychological and Neurological Bases of Leader Self-Complexity and Effects on Adaptive Decision-Making.”

Hannah and four colleagues tested 103 young military leaders between the ranks of officer cadet and major at a U.S. Army base on the east coast. They administered psychological exams to assess the complexity of leaders’ identities, and neurological exams to assess the complexity of soldiers’ brain activity. For the brain tests, the researchers attached quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) electrodes to 19 areas of the soldier’s scalp.

Hannah and his fellow researchers wanted to know if great leaders had more complex brains – measured by the electrodes which reported which parts of the brain were firing together at the same time. A low complex brain shows more areas of the brain operating at the same time at the same electrical amplitude and frequency – which suggests those areas converge to process the same task leaving fewer brain resources for other tasks and processes. It’s a process called “phase lock.”

But in high complex brains, the activity patterns are much more different and varied – which suggests more of the brains resources are available at any one time to handle other situations or tasks.

“Think of it as a single core versus a multicore computer’s central processing unit (CPU),” Hannah says. “A multicore CPU can multitask because one core can process a task while the other CPU cores remain free to process new tasks. More complex brains are also more efficient in locking together only the brain resources needed to process a task and then efficiently releasing them when no longer needed.”

The study showed the high complex brains of the great leaders had a different “landscape.” The scans showed more differentiated activation patterns in the frontal and prefrontal lobes of leaders who demonstrated greater decisiveness, adaptive thinking and positive action orientation in the experiment.

“Further, individuals who have developed richer and more elaborate self-concepts as leaders were found to be more complex and adaptable,” Hannah says. “These findings have important implications for identifying and developing leaders who can lead effectively in today’s changing, dynamic, and often volatile organizational contexts.”

The researcher team suggests that once they validate neurological profiles of leaders with high complex brains, they will be able to use established techniques like neuro-feedback to enhance these leadership skills in others. Neuro-feedback has been successfully used with elite athletes, concert musicians and financial traders in their training. These profiles can also be used to assess leaders and track their development over time.

These findings have relevance to the WFU Schools of Business’ new student development framework, which focuses on developing practical wisdom, strategic thinking and critical thinking skills, along with the ability to embrace complexity and ambiguity.

Hannah’s co-authors include Pierre Balthazard, dean of the School of Business at Saint Bonaventure University; David A. Waldman, professor of business at Arizona State University; Peter L. Jennings, of the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic at West Point; and Robert W. Thatcher of the University of South Florida.

This research team is at the forefront of applying neuroscience to study effective leadership. The team previously published a 2012 paper in the Leadership Quarterly, which identified unique brain functioning in leaders who are seen by their followers as highly inspirational and charismatic.

Each tax season, millions of Americans line up hoping for a tax-refund from Uncle Sam (though they may not always get one). And as the U.S. population grows, taxes seem to become more intricate and harder to complete. As such, students enrolled in Wake Forest’s Master of Accountancy (MSA) program find themselves in a prime spot to be vital resources to American taxpayers and businesses.

“As more individuals and corporations figure out ways to plan their tax liabilities throughout the year, tax regulations are becoming more complex in order to promote justice and fairness,” explains Don Kim, an MSA student in the WFU School of Business.

Despite the increased volume of forms and supplements, Kim believes the complexity of filing tax returns is commensurate with the importance of taxes. “I believe that it’s necessary to have a complex tax structure in order to properly address the complicated financial structure of the United States,” he says.

“Succeeding as a CPA involves exercising your ethical discretion in a market that is constantly growing and globalizing,” says Jaclyn Sokulski, another MSA student. “More ambiguity and changing technologies mean more areas that we CPAs will need to have in-depth knowledge of.”

The reference to ethics is not a casual one. Ethics in financial reporting has come to the forefront of the accounting profession ever since the Enron and WorldCom scandals shook the business world in the early 2000s. Recently business school faculty approved a new strategy document that stated the mission for the School of Business was to “create a better world through 1) developing passionate ethical business leaders who get results with integrity and 2) thought leadership that is visible and that positively impacts the practice of business.”  This fall, the business school will begin rolling out a new Profession & Ethics course sequence that will carry the idea of “ethical character” across the curriculum.   Jack Wilkerson, academic director of accounting programs and professor of accountancy, calls this the “spine to the student educational experience.”

“When CPAs do not act in the best interest of shareholders and fail to provide reliable financial information, the consequences can be devastating,” says Kim. “Wake Forest’s accounting program strongly emphasizes the importance of professional ethics, as our profession is built on credibility and reliability.”

Annually, Wake Forest finds itself among the top business schools in the country. Wilkerson says the reason for those strong rankings are combinations of rigorous processes – from admissions to a demanding technical curriculum designed to challenge students and hold them accountable – for the continued success of the program.

“I think it is a culture permeated by a restless pursuit of excellence – the faculty are never content with the status quo. In fact, I tease them about too much change. This culture is contagious, drawing students who have this same restlessness and/or cultivating this restlessness in them,” said Wilkerson.

Wake Forest’s MSA program continues to boast a 100 percent job placement rate. Last year, Wake Forest students also scored the nation’s top pass rate on the CPA exam—a distinction they have earned a record 10 times.

“I was recently interviewing on the other side of the country, in San Francisco,” Sokulski recalls. “The interviewers there told me they associated the name ‘Wake Forest’ with top performers.”

Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Wake Forest’s undergraduate business program No. 1 in the nation for academic quality and among the top 20 programs overall for the fifth consecutive year. “The Best Undergraduate Business Schools” ranking report was released on March 20.

The 9-to-5 workday is one of the enshrined traditions of the business world. Nearly everyone who goes into business has to reckon with that timeframe. For many, the eight-hour day is a marker of landing your first “real” job, but MA in Management students at Wake Forest University Schools of Business will be getting a taste of 9-to-5 ahead of schedule.

Beginning next year, students pursuing an MA in Management will be required to be on campus and dressed in business casual attire from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., whether that means they’re in class, studying, doing group work or participating in a campus activity. This expands on the current policy for MA students, which stipulates business casual dress when attending class, and is part of an ongoing effort to prepare students for the expectations of the business world.

“We’re taking this to the next level,” says Matthew Merrick, senior associate dean of students at the Schools of Business. “We want [students] to get into the mindset of, ‘I get up in the morning, I’m going to dress in professional attire and I’m going to be in the office—which is school—from 9 to 5.’”

The requirement is intended to provide a safe transition from the very different norms that sometimes govern undergraduate education: the hoodie and the all-nighter.

“There are different norms in the business environment,” says program manager Hansford Johnson. “A lot of what we do is help train and develop (students’) understanding of the culture and environment of these companies.”

The current MA students have already had a chance to get used to going to class in business casual dress, and many of them speak fondly of it.

“We are here at Wake to get ready for the professional world,” says student Peter Geissinger. “I think wearing business casual every day gets us comfortable doing work and thinking while wearing nice clothes.”

In fact, introducing a dress code has proven to facilitate academic excellence rather than hinder it. “Students seem to be more attentive and work better when they are dressed nicely,” says Geissinger.

The existing business casual requirement allows students to cultivate the kind of professional demeanor that stands to impress recruiters and employers. “The MA program boasts a very professional atmosphere, and that all begins with the dress code,” says Ward Minton, also a student. “It helped me treat graduate business school like a full-time job, which will definitely make the transition to the workforce easier.”

When the 9-to-5 standard goes into effect this fall, it will be more than a dress rehearsal for the working world. Ensuring that all MA students are available for the same eight hours greatly simplifies events scheduling. “A lot of time is wasted around scheduling group meetings,” Geissinger reflects. “Knowing that everyone on your team is at school from 9 to 5 will make that process a lot easier.”

What’s more, students may even find that the consolidation of their labors into an eight-hour window stands to free up that rarest of commodities — a little bit of free time.

The Wake Forest Schools of Business Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) program continues to boast a 100 percent job placement rate and attract candidates from across the country and around the world.

Victoria “Tori” Stewart grew up in Medina, Ohio, and was initially attracted to Wake Forest as an undergraduate student.

“During my junior year of high school, my dad and I researched a lot of schools.  We were looking somewhere toward the South, and we wanted a good business school.  I visited a lot of schools in North Carolina and South Carolina, but I just fell in love with Wake Forest’s campus,” she said.

Stewart didn’t specifically come for the accounting program, but she quickly learned that was the place for her.

“I’ve always been a math person,” said Stewart.  “Once I was accepted into the Schools of Business, the accounting program just really seemed attractive with its internship program, high job placement and success rate on the CPA exam.”

One of the draws of the Wake Forest MSA program is a required nine- to 10-week professional internship, typically conducted during a student’s second semester of study. The internship has proven not only to deepen students’ understanding of their coursework but enhance full-time job opportunities.

Accountancy graduate student Tori Stewart (’12, MSA ’13) stands outside Kirby Hall.

“I completed an internship with PwC [PricewaterhouseCoopers] in Charlotte, which gave me the opportunity to work directly with three of their clients,” says Stewart. “It was an awesome experience to work for a Big 4 accounting firm while still a student, and at the completion of my internship I accepted an offer to work for PwC full-time after I graduate this year.”

In a market where finding a job is of paramount concern, every 2012 graduate of the MSA program received and accepted a job offer prior to graduation, with many choosing among multiple offers.  In Stewart’s case, in addition to having accepted an offer from PwC, she is currently in the running for a spring internship with the Financial Accounting Standards Board post-graduate technical assistant program.

A large draw to Wake Forest’s program is the 100 percent placement rate it boasts for nearly every year since the first class graduated in 1997. The vocational success of Wake Forest MSA graduates is hardly surprising, given that Wake Forest has held down the top pass rate on the CPA exam a record 10 times, including in 2012. Last year, Wake Forest’s pass rate exceeded the pass rates at 792 other institutions with 10 or more candidates sitting for the exam.

Wake Forest University, which also boasts the #1 pass rate for large programs, is considered a premier recruiting school for the Big 4 accounting firms. Wake Forest MSA graduates draw an average starting salary of more than $53,000, and under the “MSA Advantage” program, they also have the opportunity to further advance their careers by completing an MBA degree at Wake Forest in just 12 months.

“The success and growth of our accounting program over the roughly 25 years I’ve been here boils down to what I would describe as a restless pursuit of excellence,” said Jack Wilkerson, Professor of Accountancy and Senior Associate Dean, Accountancy Programs. “The faculty, staff, students, and alumni of this program refuse to take our successes for granted. This characteristic permeates, epitomizes, and describes our culture better than any other feature of our program.”

The MSA program is AACSB accredited in business, with a special accreditation in accounting. Students in the MSA program have the option of specializing in one of three career tracks: Assurance Services, Tax Consulting and Financial Transaction Services. They can also take courses in other areas of interest, including business, law and entrepreneurship.

“I truly believe Wake’s MSA program is the quintessential accounting program,” says Stewart. “It combines excellent faculty with a demanding curriculum, an internship requirement and thorough CPA exam preparation, making it ideal for diligent students committed to learning. I will graduate confident that Wake has prepared me well for the working world.”

Wake Forest is currently accepting applications for admission to the Master of Science in Accountancy program. Learn more at business.wfu.edu/msa.

In the quest to build a better mousetrap, the usual approach would include schematics, engineering and experimentation – generally following the scientific method.  But if you put on your “design thinking” cap, you might ponder these questions: What attracts mice? Is catching them the solution?

If you ask potential mousetrap users these design thinking questions, you’ll discover different perspectives. Humane Hannah might want to trap and release them, Parent Paul might want to protect his young toddler, and Greenie Gabe might want to be able to compost the whole thing.

Design thinking, an innovative problem solving approach, balances art, science and business perspectives and asks, “what is to be achieved?” It’s part of a new class taught in the entrepreneurship and social enterprise (ESE) minor for undergraduate students.

Guided by Evelyn Williams, associate vice president for leadership development, and Gordon McCray, senior associate dean of the schools of business, the students learned to take teamwork to the next level.

“I have learned so much about teamwork and communication through the design thinking lens, and it has helped me further explore what it means to work effectively in a group,” said senior psychology major Hannah Clark.

“Design thinking allows you to explore a need, whether it is a product, service, class or experience, through different filters,” Williams said.  “You can use anthropology to consider how communities and cultures form and work, or history to ask, “how did we get here?” – or psychology to figure out what emotional factors might exist.”

Design thinking applied

For the final project, the students created a digital experience for their fellow Wake Foresters that would increase collaboration. They evaluated existing tools, such as WIN, Gmail, Sakai, Facebook, and new ones, such as Cisco’s new WebEx Social, to see how they could best help students.

The teams identified specific kinds of users, researched experiences and imagined ways to improve the digital experience. They presented their findings to their class, Wake Forest IS team members and their client – Cisco executives who pulled strings to give this class access to the brand new WebEx Social platform, even before publicly announcing it.

“Working with Cisco was empowering,” said Clark. “It was a powerful experience to have an actual client take the time and the effort to hear what we had to say.  I think it speaks volumes for the design thinking method and how effective it can be at identifying a client’s needs, creatively fulfilling those needs and delighting a real world client with our ideas.”

Ted Mead, a Cisco unified communications and collaboration specialist, said his team was inspired by the design thinking class projects. “They empathized with the target users and delivered a vision of a solution that gave us some great ideas about how to personalize WebEx Social. Their input will help make some next generation collaboration technology more useful.”

Nancy Crouch, deputy chief information officer at Wake Forest, said the design thinking class provided valuable input to her team of developers.

“What we heard is that students are using multiple programs for bits and pieces of their lives as Wake Foresters,” said Crouch. “They are visiting WIN to register, Sakai to find coursework, Gmail to communicate and collaborate, and Facebook to find out what their friends are doing. What the design thinking students presented was a need for one hub to provide a menu of options that could enable people to effectively manage all these parts of their Wake Forest experience.”

“When one process or solution doesn’t seem to work, perhaps it’s because we are focusing too narrowly or on a goal that is a secondary goal instead of on what is most important.” said Ryan Smith, a senior philosophy major. “Design thinking fits well with the liberal arts study — it equips us with a variety of ways to look at a problem.

“I have been applying design thinking methodology to my other leadership positions on campus,” said senior Lindsay Schneider an English, and politics and international affairs double-major. “It has challenged me to consider how I can better connect with members of any team to produce not only the best results but also an enjoyable and productive process.”

Students in the Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) program at the Schools of Business achieved the top pass rate in the nation on the Certified Public Accountant exam once again, according to the 2012 edition of Uniform CPA Examination Candidate Performance.

Wake Forest had the highest pass rate among 793 institutions with 10 or more candidates sitting for the exam, as well as the No. 1 pass rate for large programs (a total of 258 institutions with more than 60 candidates.)

Wake Forest students have earned the top ranking ten times since the School began offering a Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) degree in 1997, more than any other university during the same time period.

With great sadness and appreciation, Wake Forest acknowledges the passing of two giants in the University’s history: Weston Hatfield (’41) and Michael Farrell (P ’10). While these extraordinary leaders from different backgrounds and different eras may not have met, they shared a love for Wake Forest. Through their gifts and talents, each leaves an important and long-lasting legacy.

Read President Hatch’s essay on the lives of Hatfield and Farrell »

Weston P. Hatfield

Weston Hatfield (’41), who served three terms on the University’s Board of Trustees, was a longtime Winston-Salem attorney and one of Wake Forest’s most influential leaders. His guidance came during some of the University’s significant milestones, including the break with the Baptist State Convention, the largest capital campaign of its time and a major campus building program. Hatfield served on the selection committee that tapped Thomas K. Hearn Jr. as Wake Forest’s 12th president in 1983, and later as board chair, twice.

President Nathan O. Hatch said, “His keen intellect, progressive spirit and eloquence will be missed.”

“He was one of the most important men of his generation for Wake Forest,” added Provost Emeritus Edwin G. Wilson (’43).

Read more from the Winston-Salem Journal »

Michael A.J. Farrell

Mike Farrell came to love Wake Forest when his son, Michael (’10), studied finance and economics here. Despite not having finished college, the co-founder, chairman and co-CEO of Annaly Capital Management served on the University’s Board of Trustees and the Board of Visitors for the Schools of Business and the Calloway School.

Just a few months after his son graduated, he and his wife, Mary, gave the largest gift the Schools of Business has ever received. Today, the campus community sees the walls of Farrell Hall rise as a tribute to the family’s past and a gateway to Wake Forest students’ future.

“The dream is where in a world where we’re moving towards electronic interaction and online educational kinds of opportunities, this addition to campus is a place where people will gather and will gather long after graduation,” Farrell said of the 110,000-square-foot center. “There’s nothing like the personal interaction. I think we will need it to get through some of the challenges going forward.”

President Hatch said, “It has been a rare privilege to know a man so gifted and so good, and we mourn his loss.”

This past summer I enrolled in ACC 221, a required course for my finance major. What made this accounting class different than a regular semester-long class? Professor Terry Baker offered us the chance to study abroad and fulfill a degree requirement in one summer term.

Before leaving for my summer adventure in Europe, I felt overwhelmed with the idea of visiting seven countries in only six weeks. Would I be able to absorb any culture in such a short amount of time? Would I learn anything abroad that I couldn’t learn by taking my accounting course in a Wake Forest classroom?

The answer was an overwhelming ‘yes.’

Taking an accounting class abroad taught me so much more than I anticipated. The trip included formal classroom study of managerial accounting as well as hands-on field visits at factories and companies throughout Europe — giving us a chance to experience what we were learning instead of simply studying a textbook.

Not only did I gain a unique perspective on the business world, I gained a completely different perspective on life. Each day we were abroad posed new and unique challenges, whether it was attempting to order food in a foreign language, navigating an unknown city or town, or jumping off a 30-foot cliff.  I learned that amazing and unexpected things can happen when I step outside my comfort zone.

One of the most memorable days was our tour of the Land Rover vehicle production plant in Liverpool, England. Before this trip, cars and their manufacturing process did not particularly interest me; however, actually seeing huge robots construct the vehicles piece-by-piece, and talking to employees about the amount of work put into each individual car — I was in awe.

Part of my excitement was the ability to apply what Dr. Baker taught us in the classroom. Sometimes it’s difficult to find real-world relevance in the classroom, but on this trip I observed what we were learning and asked questions of employees and company managers. It literally brought the material to life.

After the site tour, we drove the 4,000-pound Land Rover vehicles around a crazy off-road obstacle course — with the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car.  Though I was convinced I would crash, I got behind the wheel and drove through a pond, over jagged rocks and off the top of a hill. Not many people can say that they’ve almost tipped over a $75,000 car!

Now that the trip is over, I realize how much these experiences have impacted my life and my plans for the future. I now have the confidence to handle any unexpected challenges that come my way, and I embrace them as an opportunity to learn instead of a reason to stress.

As I prepare for the rest of my career at Wake Forest as well as my professional career, I know that what I learned this summer will help guide me to unexpected and exciting places in years to come.

The Schools of Business won the Connected Campus Award at the AMX Innovation Awards ceremony. The awards recognize innovative higher education institutions and best practices of the use of technology. AMX will provide school with $50,000 worth of new technology.