In addition to serving as a mentor to ASU Full-time MBA students, Bruce Gilmore (BS Purchasing/Materials Management ’89) is a W. P. Carey School of Business alumnus and faculty associate in the highly regarded Department of Supply Chain Management.

Gilmore became a reentry student at ASU when he left the Air Force. “I found a wonderful mentor here, a professor of practice named Harry Wiggins,” he says. “I studied supply chain management—it was called ‘purchasing’ back then—and began my career in the semiconductor industry after I graduated.”

Wiggins helped Gilmore decide his career trajectory. “He gave me real-life advice, not just classroom advice, which was really important.”

Years later, in a full-circle moment, Gilmore’s son Eric received a scholarship named for Wiggins while studying supply chain management at W. P. Carey. “He impacted so many people, including me and my family,” Bruce says. “That experience cemented my feeling of how I would want to invest back to ASU.”

Gilmore is proud to give back as a mentor. “Executive Connections is a key, strategic part of the Full-time MBA program,” he says. “I have been very impressed by the caliber of the mentors and students that I get to know. I benefit from mentoring and building a network of all these people with impressive backgrounds.

“Engaging with the future of industry gives me great hope,” he adds. Visit wpcarey.asu.edu/bruce-gilmore to learn more.

W. P. Carey talked to 10 mentors and Full-time MBA alums about the Executive Connections program, their careers, leadership, and more. Head to youtube.com/wpcareyschool to explore a new story monthly through January 2024.

Featuring:
Bruce Gilmore, David Greenberg, Terri Tierney Clark, Megan Hucek, Chikezie Anachu, Robert Maloney, Kalyan Subramanian, Joann Praise Emmanson, Lawrence Taylor, Giovanni Pieve

Alumni seeking support through a career or job change have several tools available through the school, including ongoing career training, free educational programs, and assistance to make graduate school more attainable.

“At W. P. Carey, we are committed to being a place ‘Where Business is Personal,’ ” says Ohad Kadan, Charles J. Robel Dean and W. P. Carey Distinguished Chair in Business. “Reaching out to alumni, making sure they know we are there for them in good times and bad, is an expression of that identity.”

One-on-one career coaching and on-demand career resources are just two of the benefits available to W. P. Carey graduates. Alumni in a career transition are encouraged to reach out to wpcareyalumni@asu.edu to schedule an appointment.

“Our goal is to support alumni individually, knowing that each person has different needs and goals,” says Joseph Kimes, executive director of the W. P. Carey Career Services Center.

Visit wpcarey.asu.edu/career-moves to learn more.