WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The IU-UNC LogMBA program recognized its seventh class of graduates on December 13, 2012 at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C. Mr. Eric Smith, Assistant Administrator, Logistics Management Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, delivered the commencement address for the ceremony.

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The graduates earned a Master in Business Administration from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business and a Certificate in Global Supply Chain Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. The Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) manages the program.

"This graduation has a special significance in that it marks the inaugural cohort of the recently renamed IU-UNC LogMBA," said Mark C. Cramer, President of the IDB. "This outstanding class of leaders from across the military services, government agencies and private sector have already applied business principles and best practices learned in their studies to help improve the operations of their organizations and commands."

The IU-UNC LogMBA (originally developed as the LOGTECH MBA) is a two-year degree program in which students work together to master the global business knowledge and leadership skills needed to be successful in today's complex, globally responsive organizations. Approximately 80 percent of the academic work is accomplished online punctuated by four custom-designed residency sessions. This class attended two-week long sessions in Chapel Hill, NC, a one-week session at Bloomington, IN, as well as a ten-day study residency throughout Europe.

During the course of study, the students demonstrated their ability to apply their business knowledge to tackle a real world issue in their individual organizations and also to help improve the business operations at an Army Depot or Arsenal.

One of the graduates, LtCol Allen Grinalds, USMC, a member of the MBA's sixth cohort, deployed to Afghanistan during his second year of the program. The online component of the MBA allowed LtCol Grinalds to continue taking courses when possible and he completed his academic studies in time to graduate with this class.

The graduating 2012 IU-UNC LogMBA class included:

• Ms. Carla D. Buckner, DHS
• LtCol Allen D. Grinalds, USMC
• Ms. Karen A. Koenig, The Boeing Company
• Mrs. Mary Anne Lyle, DHS
• LtCol Derek M. Oliver, USAF (Ret.)
• Mr. Roderick A. Rowley, LMI
• Mr. Francisco J. Vargas, III, DHS
• Mr. Karl R. Voepel, II, SAIC

Two students received special recognition during the graduation ceremony:

• For demonstrated leadership during his MBA studies, Mr. Karl R. Voepel, II, SAIC, received the E.B. Leedy Award, named in honor of the late Major General Leedy, USA (Ret.), a key member of the team that founded LOGTECH.
• For demonstrated and future potential to contribute to the field of defense logistics, Mr. Francisco J. Vargas, III, DHS, received the William T. Powell Jr. Scholarship award named in honor of the late founder and first president of the Institute for Defense and Business. The scholarship provided by Indiana University and the Institute for Defense and Business is for continued master-level studies resulting in a Masters in Global Supply Chain Management.

The IDB is a non-profit research and education institute formed in 1997 by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina. The institute provides custom executive education programs in the areas of logistics and technology, life cycle systems, leadership and organizational transformation, strategic studies, and stabilization and economic reconstruction.

For more information on the IU-UNC LogMBA please contact Zebrina Warner, Associate Program Director, IU-UNC LogMBA at 919-969-8008.

Media contact: Maya Zumwalt, Director of Communications at 919-969-8008.

SOURCE Institute for Defense and Business