Vanderbilt Names Director Of 1-Year Master’s Programs

A new director has been named for Vanderbilt Owen’s three master’s programs: Master of Accountancy, Master of Marketing, and Master of Science in Finance. Vanderbilt photo

Cherrie Wilkerson has been named assistant dean for young professional programs at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. In this new role, she will oversee the school’s one-year residential master’s programs: Master of Accountancy (MAcc), Master of Science in Finance (MSF), and Master of Marketing. Wilkerson will continue serving as a professor of the practice of management and program director for the Master of Science in Finance.

Wilkerson taught undergraduate business courses in finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship before taking the position of director of the Managerial Studies program. She later moved to Owen as a program director for the MSF program. She also teaches the course Leading Millennials in Vanderbilt’s Executive Education program.

“(Wilkerson) has successfully overseen the MSF program, teaches a successful MSF core class, and has developed popular Executive Education programs,” said Vanderbilt Owen Dean Eric Johnson in announcing Wilkerson’s appointment. “Her experience leading the undergraduate department of Managerial Studies gives her a unique perspective of early-career graduate programming.“

‘TREMENDOUS OPPRTUNITY IN 1-YEAR PROGRAMS’

Cherrie Wilkerson. Vanderbilt photo

A graduate of Vanderbilt University (BA in business administration) and Dartmouth College (MBA), Wilkerson started her career in consulting at Bain & Company. She also spent 13 years at Executive Perspectives, a company offering computer-based simulations for executive training, before returning to Vanderbilt in 2005.

“I think we have a tremendous opportunity in the one-year programs,” Wilkerson said in the news release announcing her appointment. “It’s vitally important for students coming out of undergrad to get on the right run of their career, and our programs help them do that. I like being a part of it.”

She said she is excited by the prospects of a unified voice for the one-year master’s programs, which she believes will help tell Vanderbilt’s story more effectively to undergraduate career centers and prospective students.

IT’S ABOUT STUDENTS ‘JUMPSTARTING THEIR CAREER’

Wilkerson has also served as associate faculty director for Vanderbilt’s accelerator Summer Business Institute, and she teaches seminars and speaks to audiences “interested in harnessing the power of the largest generation in the workforce,” according to her LinkedIn profile.

“Owen does what other schools don’t do, which is provide career services resources to help students identify, fine-tune their skills around, and get their desired job,” Wilkerson said in the news release. “The faculty understand that students are here to get an education and a job.

“We’re really geared up to offer that one-year degree population a great, fun, and memorable experience, but one that’s really about jumpstarting their career, and that’s the fun part for me.”

VISIT POETS&QUANTS’ SPECIALIZED MASTER’S PROGRAM DIRECTORY

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