Posts Tagged ‘Sam Tidwell’

The School of Business and Economics is resurrecting the tradition of the red tie. Previously, alumni who passed the CPA exam sent a red tie to Sam Tidwell, who taught accounting at Tech for many years. Approximately 140 made their way to Houghton, where Sam would regale the students with stories about the new CPAs.

We caught up with some veterans of the tie.

Paula (Kauppi) Seiter ’70 was the first woman to earn the CPA after graduating from Tech.

“I found Sam Tidwell’s enthusiasm for accounting contagious, and it inspired me to pursue a career in accounting,” she says. “I have fond memories of Sam; the enthusiastic professor, Southern gentleman, and all-around great person.”

“I still have hanging on my office wall a letter (a full page, before word processors) that he sent me at the completion of my freshman year,” says Dan Greenlee ’74, Tech’s chief financial officer. “He recognized my good grades and encouraged me to continue within the accounting major. He also invited me to stop by his office anytime and discuss where the accounting field could take me. His closing line always reminds me how he supported and encouraged his students.”

‘I believe that you have all the material necessary to make a significant contribution to the business world, through accounting.’”

Send your ties to Darrell Radson, Dean of the School of Business and Economics, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295.

This post was written by Dennis Walikainen, a Senior Editor for Michigan Tech’s University Marketing and Communications.

On Thursday, September 13th, the School of Business & Economics is hosting a grand opening for the Sam Tidwell Student Center. The student center was finished in fall 2006, and is now being dedicated and celebrated for its resources.

The grand opening will offer faculty, staff, and students the opportunity to enjoy some light refreshments, mingle amongst themselves, and learn what the center has to offer them. On the garden level of the Academic Offices Building, students can use the student center as a place to study or meet with tutors for various business and economics classes, meet with groups to work on projects at one of the two computer stations, or search the bulletin board for job postings. Also located on the garden level are two conference rooms for student groups or organizations to hold meetings, as well as Brad Wagner’s office, the Advisor for the School of Business & Economics, and Andrea Barry’s office, the Outreach Coordinator for the SBE. The student center is named after Professor Emeritus Sam B. Tidwell, originally from Mississippi, who came to Michigan Tech in 1956 as an associate professor in the School of Business. He also started the Red Tie tradition in 1956, through which each student who passed the CPA exam would send Professor Tidwell a red tie. Various red ties can be seen throughout the School of Business & Economics.