New to Memphis in 1999, Karen Kilgore Ralston ’69 felt uprooted. She and husband Jim had lived for 30 years in Cincinnati, where he worked as a corporate general counsel. But when Jim’s company changed hands, the couple relocated for his new job. To shake off her gloom, Ralston checked out the Woodruff-Fontaine House, a preserved Victorian mansion and museum in the city’s historic Millionaires’ Row. A self-taught historian of vintage and Victorian clothing, with a library of books on the subject and her own extensive collection of garments at home, Ralston wandered the three-floor house museum with pleasure. Then she spotted the ribbon. It was all wrong − a modern anachronism on an old blouse. “I opened my mouth and said, ‘Ooh, that ribbon is not correct,’ ” she recalled with a laugh. She soon started volunteering at the museum. There, she fixed that little ribbon– and took a big step toward banishing her discontent. Today Ralston is Woodruff-Fontaine’s volunteer … [Read more...]
Surgeon Scholar
Dr. Balvant Arora, MBA ’13 could have been content with his achievements. He’d succeeded professionally in his native India and in the United States, participated in groundbreaking surgery, and taught medical school. More recently he had moved to Fredericksburg to work for Mary Washington Healthcare as a plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgeon, a career he chose for its balance of science and art. But as the Affordable Care Act brought the business aspects of the health industry into political and social focus, Arora identified a gap in his own knowledge – and an opportunity to contribute constructively. He approached the leadership at Mary Washington Healthcare about the possibility of getting an MBA with a concentration in health care and was granted permission and financial support. In 2010, at age 50, he went back to the classroom as a student in the University of Mary Washington’s College of Business. And in May, after 3½ years of a rigorous schedule and … [Read more...]