BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 12, 2005 – Two business consultants will give talks on campus this fall as Wachovia Distinguished Speakers at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business.
Karen Goldhirsh, director of operations at Goldhirsh and Goldhirsh, will kick things off on Thursday, Sept. 15, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., at 1045 Pamplin Hall. Her talk is titled, “Money Talks.”
Douglass Tatum, founding chairman and CEO of Tatum Partners, will speak on Tuesday, Sept. 20, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., at 1045 Pamplin Hall. His talk is titled, “No Man's Land—When Growing Companies Fail."
Goldhirsh has been with her firm, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that provides financial advice to entrepreneurs, since 1990. She was a senior financial consultant, specializing in estate, business succession, and investment planning. In 1996, she became director of investment planning and analysis and in 1998, director of operations, with responsibility for operations, marketing, and business development.
A Virginia Tech alumna, Goldhirsh received a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1976 and an MBA in 1977. She previously worked in corporate finance for Shell Oil Company and was assistant controller for Bentley Laboratories, a subsidiary of Baxter Healthcare Company.
She is one of the founding members of the 44 Women for Children, an auxiliary of the Orangewood Children’s Foundation, and a member of Sandpipers for Hoag Hospital Foundation. She served for four years on the University High School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) and currently serves on Tarbut V’Torah PTSA’s board.
Tatum currently serves on the combined management committees of Tatum Partners, having served as the firm’s CEO since its inception through 2004. Tatum Partners offers strategic, financial, and technology services to private and public sector clients. The firm has about 500 executive-level professionals in 30 offices nationwide.
Before starting his own company, Tatum worked at Archibald Enterprises in Tallahassee, Fla., a publishing, printing, and graphic design group of companies. He served variously as vice president of finance, vice president for research and development, and president. He previously worked at CMS/DATA Corporation, an international software company, and Skagfield Corporation, a national interior products manufacturer.
Tatum graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance and a master’s degree in accounting. He has taught accounting at FSU as a part-time adjunct faculty member. He has developed and conducted seminars and has co-authored a book and course for the Florida Institute of CPAs, Technical Tools and the MAS Approach to the Small Business Engagement, and has written several articles on pre-press technology. Tatum has also testified before Congress on financing issues faced by growing companies and U.S. tax policy and was a keynote speaker at the Securities Exchange Commission Forum.
The Wachovia Distinguished Speaker series in the Pamplin College is funded by a grant from Wachovia Bank. Past speakers have included senior executives from Goldman Sachs International, AT&T, GE, IBM, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Ferguson Enterprises.