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Professional Development Seminars

Each month of the Fall and Winter semesters, the Graduate Student Society hosts a Professional Development Seminar via Zoom. For these seminars, we invite a professional, ( BYU faculty or staff OR someone outside of the university), to prepare a message related to professional development specifically related to graduate students. These seminars are recorded and posted here and on the Graduate Student Society YouTube page.

Recordings of the monthly professional development seminars are posted here
2020 - 2021
2021 - 2022
Coping with COVID, Crisis, and Catastrophe with Dr. Jared Pingleton

Dr. Jared Pingleton is a Christ-follower, husband, father, and grandfather. He is also a credentialed minister, a licensed clinical and consulting psychologist, author, and speaker who is passionate about communicating Jesus’ love, mercy, and grace to a hurting and conflicted world. A respected leader in the Christian mental health field, Jared has been in professional practice since 1977 offering help, healing, and hope to thousands of individuals, couples, families, churches, ministries, and organizations.

Overcoming Adversity in Business and in Life with Janice Bryant Howroyd

We have Janice Bryant Howroyd (JBH) speaking at our Professional Development Seminar. JBH is known for many impressive things, one which is that she is the first African American woman to build and own a billion dollar business. She has been featured in Forbes as one of America's Richest Self-Made Women and was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year. She was BET's first BET Honors Entrepreneur Of the Year. Ebony Magazine has included her on their list of Power 100 Most Influential African Americans. She served on the Board of Advisors for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities under President Barack Obama. She also accepted a seat on the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, WeConnect, and the Women Presidents' Organization. We are honored and pleased that she could address us on this topic.

That the Works of God Should be Manifest with Dr. Marcus Martins

Marcus H. Martins holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management, a master’s in Organizational Behavior, and a doctorate in Sociology. He began teaching at BYU-Hawaii in 2000, and has served as Department Chair, Dean of Religious Education, and member of strategic and academic planning councils. He now teaches Church Organization and Leadership, Marriage & Family, and courses on scripture and doctrine.

Faith in Scholarship Symposium with Dr. Ryan Rowberry and Joseph Brickey

Ryan Rowberry, Associate Professor of Law at Georgia State University and Joseph Brickey, an award-winning LDS artist, discuss how they've maintained their faith in their scholarly endeavors.

Following the Spirit with Dr. Xinru Page

Xinru holds a Ph.D. in Information and Computer Science with concentration in Informatics from University of California, Irvine, and B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science, specialization in Human-Computer Interaction, from Stanford University. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Facebook, Disney Research, Samsung and Yahoo! Labs, and she holds editorial positions and publishes in her field's top conferences and journals. Utah’s Women Tech Council chose her as a finalist for their Rising Star Tech award which recognizes women “driving innovation, leading technology companies, and [who] are key contributors to the community.” Come hear her unique story of following the spirit as she navigated graduate school, family and joining the church.

Financial Success Strategies for Graduate School and Beyond with Dr. Robert Jacobs

Robert received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Utah State University where he designed and built rockets and satellites. During his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, he developed software to simulate complex dynamic fluid systems using the world’s first teraflop supercomputer. He has worked providing mission-critical, enterprise software for numerous Fortune 50 and smaller companies around the globe in industries including financial services, investment management, biotechnology, billing, communications, education, energy, government, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, transportation, and utilities. After working extensively with numerous investment management and financial services companies, he completed the FINRA Series 65 securities license for Registered Investment Advisors and co-founded his first Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firm in 2008. He subsequently founded White Pine Financial. He loves helping clients navigate the overly complex world of finance and investing to guide them to success in meeting their financial goals.

How to Use Graduate School to Increase Your Stress and Then Make Yourself Persistently Unhappy with Dr. Lars Nielsen