Gary Nichols

We lost a great colleague on August 31^st when Gary Nichols passed away at 56.  Gary regularly taught the breakout sections in the Strategic Management Capstone course.  This is typically a business student’s final class before graduating from the college and involves competing in the Great Case Competition.  Gary, and a few of his colleagues like Chris Leo, loved to compete in this event. 

Gary with his students

To students and colleagues alike, he was known for his great storytelling ability, his love of bad jokes and his passion for teaching.

“Gary was a dedicated teacher who loved his students, teaching a boatload of them online over the past 18 months,” said Paul Jarley, Dean of UCF College of Business. “Gary also loved bad jokes. He and Professor Rob Folger seemed to have a running competition on whose jokes were worse. Rob’s jokes were clearly worse, but it never stopped Gary from trying. I never saw Gary without a smile on his face, even when he had reason to frown. He was a regular in the dean’s office before the pandemic, and the place won’t seem the same without him.”

A former store manager and corporate trainer for Publix, Nichols served as Mayor of Lake Placid, Fla., from 2002-2004. He held a Florida Real Estate Broker’s license and Instructor’s license. His areas of teaching included conflict resolution and negotiation, customer service, team building and leadership.

“Gary was a talented and versatile instructor, beloved by his students and colleagues,” said Ron Piccolo, Chair of the Department of Management. “He had a gift for engaging students, drawing them into discussion and bringing life to course content through his stories and personal experiences.”

Nichols frequently shared his experiences in the corporate world with the students in his classes and as the faculty advisor for the Colligate Entrepreneurs Organization, CEO Knights.

“He always had a smile on his face and a personality that lit up a room,” said Jacob Woolf, Integrated Business student and president of CEO Knights. “I know that his passing will have an impact across the entire College of Business and beyond.”

Nichols took pride in every community in which he lived and worked. At UCF, he served on the Regional Campuses Faculty Forum, Information Technology Resource Advisory Committee and as a member of the Office of Student Conduct Board. He also worked with UCF Continuing Education providing workshops and consulting for organizations such as Adventist Health Systems Florida Hospital, Orange County Clerk of Court, State Attorney’s Office District 09, and several others. He had served as an executive board member for the United Way of Lake and Sumter Counties and was on the board of his family’s business in Lake County.

He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, their four children and three grandchildren. A Celebration of Life will be held Monday, Sept. 27, from 1:30-3 p.m., at the UCF College of Business in the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (Rm. 135 in BA-1) on main campus.

Gary was and shall always be a UCF Knight.  He would want us all to charge on.

A big thank you to Erika Hodges for putting together this story.

Space Philanthropy?

My Crossfit class on Wednesday night ended just before 8 pm. I walked outside and looked up. Inspiration 4 was heading toward space.

SpaceX had just launched four citizens into space. One is a billionaire who bought all four seats. This made it space tourism. He turned it into space philanthropy by reserving one seat for the winner of a St. Jude fundraising campaign. You can read more about it by clicking here.

Space commercialization is the final business frontier. It is still in its early stages, many firms will fail and the effort most certainly will go in directions we haven’t yet anticipated. That said, a key lesson in business is that it is way better to be just ahead of the curve than behind it. It is one of the reason we created the Exchange– to show students the future and to get them to start thinking about such opportunities with a critical eye.

To that end, Jennifer and the college have launched a Business of Space Series in the Exchange. Our first speaker, Andy Aldrin, son of Buzz and self-proclaimed “space curmudgeon,” launched the speaker series with an entertaining talk on “Waves of Space Commercialization”. Next up is Bill Carroll, a senior manager from Verizon. Communication satellites were among the first space commercialization efforts. We all interact with them everyday.

Hey Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, or SpaceX any chance one of you could donate a seat on an upcoming flight to help fund our effort to name the college? We could become the first space business school. Have your people call my people.

We just became a better University

The announcement that UCF is joining the BIG 12 is big news. It will be seen by many as an indication the university is on the rise — that it deserves to compete with a more prominent set of universities.

I am a fan of the saying that you are the average of the five people you hang out with the most. Maybe that is true for universities, too. If so, the value of your degree just went up. Maybe you should start hanging out with a new group of people, too.

Labor Day 2021

Labor Day 2021 looks too much like Labor Day 2020. The virus still dominates the news and our collective psyche. People differ on the proper response, but there seems to be growing recognition that we are going to have to learn to live with COVID for a while, maybe years.

Because Labor Day 2021 looks much like Labor Day 2020 my blog post today might seem redundant, but I don’t think it’s any less timely.

I grew up in a working class family. I was the first person in my extended family to go to college. Other than my school teachers, I’m not sure I knew anybody who went to college. My grandmother and mom were determined that I would go to college. They believed it would give me a better life. I’m also certain they hoped it wouldn’t give me a sense of privilege. I’ve always tried to live up to that.

If ever there were two years to celebrate Labor Day as a thank you to the American worker in recognition for what they do, rather than as an excuse to have a picnic, it would be these two years. While many privileged folks like us sheltered at home in endless Zoom meetings followed by Netflix marathons, food processing employees, truck drivers and grocery store workers went to their jobs, braved the virus and made sure everyone could buy food. Housekeeping personnel made sure workplaces were disinfected. Police and firefighters kept doing their jobs. And hospital employees stood on the front lines to take care of their patients. To name just a few. Our worlds remained shockingly normal because of their courage in the face of the unknown. This work wasn’t just honorable, it was vital.

Many of those Publix, Orlando Health, and UCF housekeeping personnel send their kids to UCF for exactly the same reason my parents sent me off to College. They don’t send them off to zoom. If you doubt that the vast majority of our students crave a traditional college experience you should have seen the level of activity in the college this week and student attendance at the football game on Thursday.

It is my great hope that we can open new doors for these first generation students without instilling a sense of entitlement, removing that working class courage out of them, or putting one type of work ahead of another. It is also my sincere hope that we can show them how to responsibly and effectively live, work and learn without needlessly endangering each other’s health in the process. We have all been asked to step up.

It is my sincere hope on this Labor Day, that we all dedicate ourselves to getting this job done.

Understanding that Strange Creature You Call Professor

I once had a business school colleague who wore Birkenstock sandals with black socks and shorts everyday to class. I had another who chain smoked, rarely made eye contact, and carefully scripted his lectures because he didn’t feel completely comfortable in front of groups.

If faculty seem like unusual creatures, maybe it is because we have such unusual expectations of them. Here’s the deal: You have six years to prove that you have many new interesting observations backed up by data that students want to hear, editors want to publish and colleagues want to read so that they can learn from you. There are only two outcomes after six years: unemployment or promotion with a job for life. If you make the first cut, we are going to ask you to be even more interesting and secure a national reputation. If you achieve this distinction, we promote you again. By the way, the average project takes more than two years to complete. Eighty-five to 90 percent of papers professors submit for publication are rejected. Students expect you to be on the top of your game every class. If you need help, call. Otherwise get busy. Time is ticking.

That is your professor’s world and understanding it can help you get the most out of your time at UCF. Faculty are professional learners. It is what motivates them and it is what they value most in others. This distinction is not meant to excuse poor classroom performance, but if you want to impress a professor, demonstrate that you are eager to learn — a process where you are an active partner in discovery rather than expecting them to “teach.” It is a subtle distinction but an important one. Faculty hate it when they believe they are “spoon-feeding” students — pouring information into passive, empty heads. Questions like “Is this going to be on the test?” drive them insane. Ask it and they will dismiss you as a lazy student not worthy of their time.

Time is a faculty member’s most valuable asset. A professor has just six years to make a name in a world that is hard to impress. That includes the time they are in class with you. Students are a professor’s legacy. The more successful students a professor has the better their reputation. But class time is short, and by necessity, focuses on the things that matter most to student success. Not everything a faculty member says is golden, but the answer to the question, “Did I miss anything important when I skipped class?” — will always be yes.

So now you’re thinking maybe the best strategy is to hide in the back and try not to say the wrong thing. A popular but bad idea. You came here to learn, and the best education happens in those moments you get to sit on a log with a professor and talk one-on-one. So go to office hours, especially when it is not right before a test or assignment is due. Getting to know a professor is a bit like being on a blind date — prepare, ask good questions and listen. The best professors I had gave me new perspectives that changed the way I viewed the world. They devoted their lives to the study of a subject they believed was important and wanted to share their insights with anyone who would strike up a conversation. In sharing their ideas, they hoped to change the world. It should not surprise us that unique perspectives come from unique individuals. You don’t have to wear Birkenstocks, or chain-smoke. Just engage, appreciate the insight and put it to good use.