April 13: Virtual Rotary-Dr. Sarah Gardial

Sarah Fisher Gardial joined Belmont University in 2020, making history as the first woman Dean of the Jack C. Massey College of Business. Sarah’s mission is to strategically advance the College and Belmont University through innovative collaborations with faculty, staff, students, and local, national, and international businesses. Prior to Belmont, she most recently served as Dean of the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa; she also held a variety of campus leadership positions at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.  Sarah earned her marketing and MBA degrees at the University of Arkansas and her Ph.D. from the University of Houston.

Dean Gardial has a strong background in business and business education: for over 30 years, she has personally engaged with industry in research, consulting, and executive education roles, and she has been instrumental in creating mutually beneficial partnerships between business colleges and industry.  She has served on governing boards for publicly traded companies, cooperatives, and non-profits, and is an active public speaker.

Sarah’s academic experience encompasses a variety of campus initiatives, including leadership development, diversity efforts, and strategic planning.  She has played active leadership roles in national and international associations, including the MBA Roundtable, the Graduate Management Admissions Council, and AACSB, the accrediting association for collegiate schools of business. She is an outspoken advocate for women in leadership and diversity and inclusion.

Sarah is a southern girl, raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas, who has been known to ride motorcycles and sing in both rock bands and church choirs.  She and her guitar-playing husband, Jeffrey, are thrilled to be living in Music City.  She is also very happy to be within driving distance of two adult daughters, a son-in-law, and a grandbaby on the way in Georgia.

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Rotarians: We continue to monitor the news and guidelines on public meetings and have temporarily suspended in-person meetings until May 4.  In the meantime, we’re excited to announce several ways to stay connected to our community.

VIRTUAL MONDAY MEETINGS

Starting on April 6, we will host virtual Rotary meetings. You will receive call in information in each weekly newsletter and in a reminder email on Monday mornings. Meetings will be conducted via Zoom from
12:00-12:45 p.m.  Zoom allows for meetings to be held by audio (call in and listen on your phone) and by video (use your phone or computer to watch and listen).

VIRTUAL ROTARY AFTER HOURS

Social distancing doesn’t mean social isolation! We’re hosting weekly happy hours every Thursday from 5-6 p.m. during the Safer at Home order. Each happy hour will be limited to 10 people to ensure good conversation. Please only sign up for one happy hour in April. Grab your favorite beverage and log in to the Zoom meeting from your couch. Sign up here.