Vennie Lyons '72 and Sarah Francis, associate director and registrar for the part-time program

Vennie Lyons honored for decades of leadership

By Matt Golosinski

Marking 35 years of service at the Kellogg School, Vennie Lyons '72, associate dean and director of the Part-Time MBA Program, celebrated the milestone during October. Kellogg honored Lyons — himself a graduate of the part-time program — for his efforts to build the offering at the school's Chicago campus. Lyons recalled his tenure's early days: "I had gotten my master's degree in engineering in an evening program, so the administration felt that I could offer some perspective to this program and appreciate what the students experience."

He and his colleagues worked to distinguish the fledgling program from competing schools, attracting increasingly better students who were looking for a rigorous academic experience while continuing their careers. Today, the part-time curriculum continues under Lyons' leadership and includes new offerings, such as the Saturday Program, that entices students not only from the Midwest, but from across the United States.