Andrea Funk leads a lecture as Executive in Residence at Alvernia University
This program will help bridge the gap between academic preparation and what is expected in the corporate work world.
Reading, Pa (PRWEB) December 07, 2015
Alvernia University launched its new Executive in Residence program this fall, as a partnership between the O’Pake Institute for Ethics, Leadership and Public Service and the university’s Business Department. The program provides students unprecedented, personal access to corporate executives.
The university selected Andrea J. Funk to be the inaugural Executive in Residence. “This program will help bridge the gap between academic preparation and what is expected in the corporate work world,” explained Don Schalk, director of business and corporate development who coordinated Funk’s appointment.
Dr. Scott Ballantyne, chair of the Business Department agreed. “Ms. Funk is an example to our students of what can be accomplished when hard work is paired with appropriate academic preparation,” he said. “In addition to her professional accomplishments, her personal philosophy of caring for others shines through in her numerous community activities and responsibilities.”
Andrea J. Funk has been the Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge-Lee Industries, LLC (CLI) since Sept. 2013, with overall company responsibility. CLI is a $500M copper-focused distributor and copper tubing manufacturer headquartered in Reading, Pa. Funk has been a member of the executive management team and Board of Directors since December 2010, when she joined the company as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer with responsibility for finance, treasury, accounting, human resources, technology and purchasing. From 2007 to 2010 she served as Director Operations Planning and Reporting for Carpenter Technology, Inc. Prior to that, she served as Senior Director of Manufacturing Finance, Director of Global Business Development, and Director of Financial Planning and Analysis with Arrow International from 2000 to 2007. Funk also worked as an auditor with Ernst & Young in Philadelphia, Pa.
Funk’s inaugural lecture — held on campus in November — drew a standing-room-only crowd, and allowed eager students an opportunity to hear Funk offer candid advise on a number of topics, as well as talk with her one-on-one after the formal portion of the event. Mary Ellen Wells, associate professor of business expressed the importance of personal access for students studying business. “It provides students with a direct connection to someone who is successful in their professional journey and provides a pathway to success,” she said.
In addition to providing opportunities for individual business classes to obtain in class speakers from CLI, Funk is scheduled as the keynote speaker for the university’s upcoming Delta Mu Delta induction ceremony. The Delta Mu Delta honor society is only open to students at universities that are accredited by the Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). Students invited to join are the top academic performers in the business curriculum.
ALVERNIA is a thriving university that empowers students through real-world learning to discover their passion for life, while providing the education to turn what they love into lifetimes of career success and personal fulfillment, helping them make the world a better place. Situated on a scenic 121-acre suburban campus in historic Berks County, Pa., the university of more than 3,000 students is conveniently located near Philadelphia (60 miles) and within an easy drive of New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. With a College of Arts and Sciences and College of Professional Studies, Alvernia today offers more than 50 undergraduate majors and minors and a range of graduate programs at the master’s and doctoral levels through its School of Graduate and Adult Education. Satellite sites are located in Philadelphia and Schuylkill County.