“This generation right now is the generation that I think our world has been hoping for,” Mark Mulder, Pacific Lutheran University's School of Business dean, told South Sound Business recently. “They are thoughtful, they are conscientious, and they care. They’re disciplined. They want to see the bigger picture of the world as it can be rather than just as it is right now."
Mark Mulder sometimes jokingly refers to himself as a “late-in-life Ph.D.,” because he said a career in education was never his plan.
“I started my Ph.D. when I was 37; it wasn’t a straight-through journey,” said Mulder, the current dean of the School of Business at Tacoma’s Pacific Lutheran University.
Mulder was attending a summer thought leadership program in 2000 following his MBA, when he said he was transfixed by one speaker’s ability to connect with the audience. Mulder said it planted a seed that would take years to germinate while he was working in the business sector.
When that seed did mature in the form of a Ph.D. from Washington State University, Mulder chose to return to PLU, his undergraduate and graduate alma mater, to teach. He cited a transformative experience as a student at the 133-year-old institution as his motivation.
In addition to his self-imposed late-in-life label, Mulder also refers to himself and his fellow faculty as “architects of learning.” And one of his favorite learning experiences to design is an annual MBA trip to Lima, Peru. There, Mulder has a full itinerary for students including a cooking class, meetings with local entrepreneurs and nonprofits, a visit to a 300,000-resident shanty town, a visit with Indigenous people to learn about business within their culture, and more.
“It’s always a gift and an honor to travel with students and to see the light bulb go on while we’re having that experience,” he said.
When Mulder witnesses these and other light-bulb moments, he said he has high hopes for past, present, and future PLU cohorts.
“This generation right now is the generation that I think our world has been hoping for,” he said. “They are thoughtful, they are conscientious, and they care. They’re disciplined. They want to see the bigger picture of the world as it can be rather than just as it is right now.”
And Mulder said he can’t wait to see what PLU students do when it is their turn to change the world.
“It’s fun to be able to (not only) think about what that experience is going to be and what that person graduating in May is going to see, but what (their experience) is going to look like in 2043, and then 2063,” he said. “We’re just excited to be a part of that.”
7 a.m. We intentionally sought to live in Parkland, so my commute is less than a mile. This means I can invest would-be commute time into family or service after a breakfast of raspberries, Greek yogurt, granola, and honey.
7:20 a.m. A cherished part of my morning is time with our puppy, Maverick, and our senior dog, Daisy. They both have been a healing force for me through recent seasons of loss for our family.
7:45 a.m. I love checking in with our alumni. Monica Powers is an honoree of the 2023 School of Business IMPACT Award, the highest award offered by the School of Business.
8:30 a.m. My hard-working immigrant grandparents inspire my work with entrepreneurs, particularly those from underserved communities. Kirsten Kreis, who supports the community via a School of Business grant-funded program, provides updates on the program’s impact.
9:15 a.m. I share with students about a donor-funded investment bank that will help support first-year business students create and bring to market their real-world product.
10 a.m. We are toasting School of Business student Brian Sung (second from left), who competed in a regional DECA competition in financial accounting, won first place, and will be heading to DECA nationals to compete for the national title.
Noon I chat with Linh Libuit, the global outreach program manager at MultiCare, about a project in Peru, where our MBA students travel.
3 p.m. I connect with Trent Ericksen, COO of Pacific Current Group, who will be helping train students in our Nourish certificate program. We are also exploring an idea for another certificate program.
4 p.m. I created 100 Voices to connect with a hundred executives in business, nonprofits, and government. Today, I am following up with participant Eric Miles, CEO of Moss Adams.
5 p.m. Dr. Haroon Samar and I discuss our project related to health equity in shanty towns near Lima, Peru. Haroon is a medical doctor in the U.S. Army completing a fellowship program at Madigan while also completing his MBA here.
6:15 p.m. With two kids in college and a busy spouse, our home sometimes feels like a subway station. We try to eat dinner together each night.
10:15 p.m. I have set my phone to do not disturb at 9:45 p.m. so I can be asleep by 10:30 p.m. Tomorrow, I will continue to do this work and see the beauty in experiences and people.