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"Greatest American Hero" Helps One Alum Find Her Niche
Diane Parks (MBA '76) recalls her days in Atlanta and says she feels more connected to Robinson College than ever before.
It was 1974. The war in Vietnam had just ended and the country was in the midst of a recession. Diane Parks had just graduated from Kansas State University where she met her husband, Tim. Newly married, they moved to Atlanta so he could attend Robinson's international business program. While Tim pursued his studies as a fulltime student, Diane looked for a job.
"Because of the recession it was very tough to find a job. After a while, I was fortunate to get a job working in the Registrar's Office at Georgia State University," said Diane who chuckles when she is reminded of her days working without the convenience of technology. "It was before computers so everything was done by paper. "You can just imagine what that was like." Once the office was computerized, Diane's job became a bit easier but since early computers were nothing like what we have today she said that basically she was a keypunch operator.
After seeing how excited Tim was about his program, Diane decided that she also wanted to pursue an MBA. Without an undergraduate degree in business, she had to take all of the prerequisites. "Tim was very supportive of my decision and said that he would help me. But after graduating, he found a job that kept him on the road five days a week so the amount of time he could help was very limited."
Soon Diane was knee deep in the program working during the day and taking a full load of courses at night. "I didn't have a car. I remember traveling down Ponce by bus to get to work. Then I'd go to class, bus it back home to eat dinner – usually around 11 p.m. – study for two to three hours, sleep and get up to start it all over again."
She wasn't sure what type of degree to get or even what she wanted to do until she took a marketing course with Professor Ken Bernhardt. "Ken was a fairly new professor, young and very enthusiastic," she said. "He was so full of energy flying from one end of the class to the other. He had this full head of curly hair and all I can remember is thinking that he reminded me of the guy who played 'The Greatest American Hero."
The other thing Diane noted about Bernhardt was his method of teaching. "He used case studies and real-life examples rather than theory which made a real difference. I instantly connected with what he was teaching and knew I'd found my niche."
After graduating, Diane and Tim Parks moved back to Kansas City. Diane began her marketing career in an advertising agency working on consumer products. She later joined Marion Laboratories, now known as Sanofi-Aventis, Inc., where she held positions in market research and sales before being named vice president of marketing. In 1999, she joined Genetech as vice president of marketing and was eventually promoted to senior vice president and general manager of Specialty Biotherapeutics and Managed Care. Diane decided to take some time off last August and spend the winter skiing and reconnecting with her family. While she enjoyed the downtime, she decided to start consulting and just this month signed on as chief commercial officer for Theranos, a small start-up company focusing on personalized medicine.
Diane admits that, like many students at Robinson who work full-time, she didn't feel a real connection with campus activities. "I just had too much going on to worry about the college experience. So, while I hate to admit it, once I left Georgia State I never looked back." That is until the day she opened her newspaper and saw an article with a quote from Dr. Ken Bernhardt.
"When I saw his name it just reminded me of how much I enjoyed his class and respected him. I wrote him a note and told him the impact he had on my career and thanked him for his passion. When he received my letter he contacted me and we've been in touch ever since."
Through Bernhardt's encouragement, Diane is now very involved with the College and the University. Among other things she is an active member of Georgia State's Board of Trustees and has helped Robinson with outreaches to other alumni in her area.
Today, Diane says that when she thinks about her experience at Robinson she thinks of more than just a downtown campus. What stands out most in her mind is the curly-haired professor with boundless energy who set her on a path towards a career in marketing and she smiles remembering how his passion inspired her to succeed.
This article was published in the summer 2006 issue of Back to Business, an alumni publication of the J. Mack Robinson College of Business. |
