Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) has awarded the Presidential Seal and the National Excellence in Leadership Award to a team of four Lawrence Tech graduate students in the College of Management.

NSLS chapter members Heike Matthes of Matthes Consulting, Michael Jones of Ford Motor Company, Irene Kopaliani of CxTGroup, Inc., and Jeffrey Saunders were honored for a two-year commitment to scholastic achievement, speaker events, team meetings, and community service.

NSLS is an organization that helps people discover and achieve their goals. It offers life-changing lectures and a community where success-oriented individuals come together and help one another succeed. The group also encourages action to better the world.

The award was presented in April by Richard Cook, NSLS chapter president at Lawrence Tech, and Rose-Ellen Filthaut, the chapter’s treasurer.

Matthes, who has just completed a doctorate of business administration, has more than 20 years of international business and consulting experience for European, Asian, and American corporations. Her consulting clients include General Motors, Adobe Systems, and Proctor & Gamble. She has also taught courses at the graduate level.

For her community service, Matthes recently worked as co-track chair of the International Management Division of the Eastern Academy of Management 2012 conference in Philadelphia. She was responsible for scholarly submissions that address cross-cultural or cross-border issues in managing business.

Jones, who completed his MBA this year, has worked as an OEM product design engineer for more than 25 years. He is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, the National Honorary and Professional Management Fraternity, and the Engineering Society of Detroit.

Recently he volunteered his time at the Food, Clothing and Emergency Assistance Program  at the non-profit Community Sharing Outreach Center.

Kopaliani, who just completed her doctorate of management in information technology, gives her clients of the advantage of working smarter, not harder, by automating processes and streamlining existing computer automation by using latest technology. She has published articles and white papers on a variety of IT subjects including website design, information security, and database topics.

For her community service, Kopaliani helps first graders learn to read at the Christian Leadership Academy in Troy.

Saunders earned a master’s degree in engineering management in 2011 and is now pursuing an MBA. He served for more than a decade in the U. S. Navy. He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and has also been a member of The National Society of Leadership and Success, SAE International, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Saunders has worked for Habitat for Humanity in Southfield to meet the community service component of the award program.

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