You can chase the rankings. Or, you can let the rankings chase you. "We think the rankings are important," said Dean Gatzlaff, a longtime faculty member and leader of the Real Estate Program at Florida State University's College of Business. "They're important to our college, administration, alumni and students, and they certainly generate a lot of interest in our program."

Happy New Year and welcome to 2022! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. A new year brings new hope, new energy and renewed excitement for what lies ahead.

Lance Kerwin, who once worked in information technology and served Fortune 500 clients such as The Walt Disney Company, reflected Wednesday on any company’s decision to start using a cloud-computing platform and service.

You might have heard about hundreds of staffing-related flight cancellations at American Airlines on the last weekend of October. Anne Hamilton of The Walt Disney Company certainly heard about them. “Our phones were ringing off the hook,” she said.

We’ve seen long lines of ships waiting to unload their freight in Southern California ports. We’ve seen empty grocery-store shelves, including in aisles for pet food and canned goods. We’ve seen vacant car lots and backorders of household appliances from a worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips.

When you’re No. 1, you see everything from a lone and lofty perspective. “You’re on top of this mountain,” explained Dr. William T. Hold, a 2012 inductee into the FSU College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame. “If you can be No. 1 enough times, you become the mountain. That’s where you want to be.”

Behind a second-place finish from Dabney Dennis and additional strong performances from Peyton Davis and Anna Marie Parisi, the College of Business placed eighth out of 80 schools last month in the International Collegiate Sales Competition, the world’s largest event of its kind. Hosted by the college’s FSU Sales Institute, the event measures a university sales program’s focus on overall business revenue-generating skills. 

Florida State University President Richard McCullough hailed the rise in the national status of the College of Business and emphasized a continued march to preeminence – with an appeal to donors for construction of Legacy Hall, the college’s future home.

They reaffirmed their affection for Florida State University. "If I woke up every day like it was my first day at FSU," Peter Collins said, "I'd be OK with that." They accentuated their appreciation for newfound enshrinement and fame. "It's probably the biggest honor of my life," Ted Ostrander said. And they proclaimed their passion for helping people. "Isn't that what it's all about?" John Rivers asked. Collins, Ostrander and Rivers emphasized those points and more on Nov. 4 when the College of Business inducted them into its Alumni Hall of Fame.

With the candor of a commander, Ash Williams likens the Florida organization that he navigated for parts of four decades to a nuclear submarine.