By Estelle Johnson
Executive Editor of The Northern Iowan
Dr. Leslie Wilson has spent more than 30 years employed by the University of Northern Iowa. She has been dean of the Wilson College of Business for ten years, and has shared her business knowledge with thousands of eager students during her time at UNI.
Wilson’s journey to her current dean position was rightfully earned by her lifelong dedication to this university. “I started as an adjunct professor in 1985, so I’ve been here 40 years,” said Wilson. “But, I was a graduate student here before that.”
UNI is celebrating the sesquicentennial anniversary of campus – many changes have occurred in the 150 years of UNI, but Wilson can recall changes made only 35 years ago. “I look back a long time and we’re very different than what it was like when I first started here.”
“Curris is a new building to me – it wasn’t here when I first started on campus,” Wilson said. “All of my classes were in Seerley Hall, that’s where the business college was at that time.”
Not everything has changed, though. Wilson said, “If anything has stayed the same, it’s the faculty commitment to students’ success, and faculty commitment to offering rigorous classes – so that when students graduate and go to work, they’re ready for challenges.”
As a lifelong learner and educator, Wilson takes chances – and on October 25, she will be presenting her TEDx talk to the world from the Gallagher Bluedorn in Cedar Falls.
“I decided to apply for TEDx because I was giving a speech at a conference in Washington, D.C., on the topic of employee ownership,” Wilson explained. “To some extent, the speech was about what we are currently doing at the Wilson College of Business, and the Iowa Center for Employee Ownership.”
The focus of Wilson’s TedX talk is employee ownership – why businesses should be thinking about employee ownership as an ownership model, as compared to multiple external stockholders owning a company.
“Let’s say somebody is retiring – they have options, like selling to a hedge fund, or selling to a larger corporation,” Wilson noted. “But what often happens in those situations is that those other outlets will not necessarily preserve the business in that location.”
Big corporations may take the assets, such as customers, equipment and intellectual property. The rest, big corporations may not keep, which means local businesses don’t stay in the community in which they’re founded.
Wilson explained, “When you have a community of 5,000 people, and there’s 50 of them employed at this particular location, those 50 account for a lot of the employment in that area.”
“There are employee ownership options, one is called an ESOP which is Employee Stock Ownership Program,” Wilson added. “If it’s an employee-owned company, the people who are working for the company own part of the stock.”
“When I applied, the organizers wanted me to upload a video speech,” Wilson said. “I had nothing put together, but I laid it out for them – this is what I’m going to talk about, and this is why it’s important.”
Ten of the TEDx speakers have a connection to UNI, including alumni, faculty and current UNI student Muhammad Tahla.
Within the Wilson College of Business, faculty members are learning more about employee ownership, and Wilson herself encourages faculty to build upon their current research and hopes that knowledge will make its way into the classroom.
“As faculty learn more about employee ownership, I hope it will be integrated into what we are teaching students,” said Wilson. “Students may even look for an employee-owned company to work for.”
While Wilson spreads her knowledge around her respective department, she feels the pressure of performing for the world. “It’s a pretty big stage that people are on, and by stage, I don’t mean Gallagher’s stage – TEDx is much bigger than just that, they record it, it goes out to YouTube.”
Wilson added, “That [YouTube] is your audience … but, it’s important that you get good vibes from the people in front of you as well.”
Beyond Wilson’s TEDx talk, she is looking forward to the Wilson College of Business turning 45 years old.
“It’s exciting to be an educator and to be thinking about what’s next,” Wilson said. “And that’s why “Our Tomorrow” campaign resonated with so many people – because the investments we make today will pay off for our graduates tomorrow.”
Tickets are available for purchase at tedxuni.com