NACS Executive Leadership Program at Cornell

The NACS Master of Convenience designation acknowledges the hard work and investment NACS members have made in their personal leadership development. It is awarded to convenience retailers who have attended 3 or more of the 5 NACS Executive Education programs. For questions, contact Brandi Mauro, NACS Education Program Manager: bmauro@convenience.org or (703) 518-4223.

Glenn Altschuler received his PhD in American history from Cornell in 1976 and has been an administrator and teacher at the university since 1981.

He served as dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions from 1991-2020. From 2009-2013, Professor Altschuler also served as vice president for university relations, with responsibilities for articulating and overseeing strategies related to communications, governmnet relations, and land grant affairs.

Professor Altschuler has been an animating force in the American Studies Program and has been a strong advocate on campus for high-quality teaching and advising. In 1998, he became the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies. For many years, his two-semester survey, Popular Culture in the United States 19900-Present, was one of the most popular courses at Cornell.

Professor Altschuler has won several awards for teaching and undergraduate advising at Cornell. He is the recipient of the Clark Teaching Award, the Donna and Robert Paul Award for Excellence in Faculty Advising, the Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Award for Outstanding Advising, and the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellowship for effective, inspiring, and distinguished teaching of undergraduate students.

William Drake recently retired From Cornell, where he was Senior Extension Associate, faculty member, and Director of Executive Education of the Food Industry Management Program (FIMP) in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.

Bill developed and will continue to direct the National Association of Convenience Stores Executive Leadership Program and the National Grocers Association Executive Leadership Program. In addition, he teaches in the Food Executive Program, United Fresh Produce Executive Development Program, and FIMP’s various international food executive programs. Bill has conducted programs for food industry executives from over 30 countries.

Before joining Cornell, Bill was an executive at SuperValu, one of the nation’s largest food retailers and wholesalers. His positions included vice president of marketing and real estate (Cub Foods), vice president of strategic planning, key wholesale customers (SuperValu corporate), and vice president of strategic planning, marketing and real estate (Save-A-Lot).

Bill is a founding member of the National Grocers Association University Coalition and also serves on the Board of Directors of LEADNY; Coborn’s, a large regional, multi-format food retailer in the Upper Midwest; and Vantage Foods, a Canadian supplier of case-ready meat to North American retailers.

Michael Hostetler is a faculty member of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. Mr. Hostetler's main research and teaching interests are in strategy, decision-making, leadership, high performance teams, innovation and change management. He has taught classes in the MBA program, Executive MBA program and the Cornell-Queen's EMBA program, as well as many non-degree executive education programs.

Mr. Hostetler is also the author of on-line courses in strategic thinking, scenario planning, leadership, and team effectiveness for eCornell, Cornell’s distance learning subsidiary. These programs have been used by corporations around the world to enhance their executive development programs, including IBM, CSC, AP Moeller Maersk, the U.S. Navy, Delta Hotels and Resorts, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police among many others.

Mr. Hostetler also consults with private and non-profit organizations, both domestically and internationally. In particular, he works frequently in the health care, financial services, manufacturing and food industries. Recent clients include the Lehigh Valley Health Network, the Community Health Foundation of Buffalo, New York, the P2 Collaborative of Western New York, Northern Trust, Schwan’s, LG, United Technologies, Driscoll’s, Philip Morris International, Citigroup, Victaulic Co., Anthony Marano Co., Nunasi Corp., Ahold Delhaize, Sun World International, Samsung, LG, Sony, NACS, United Fresh, Vantage Foods, OSRAM, Baldor, NGA, and SG Cowen. Mr. Hostetler has also designed and taught a number of executive development programs and strategy consulting projects globally, including the U. S., Great Britain, Holland, Canada, France, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Venezuela, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, India, Dubai, and Egypt.

Also, because of his strong interests in leadership and leadership development and high performing teams, Mr. Hostetler has been an active executive coach and has worked one-on-one with hundreds of managers and executives around the world.

As associate dean at the Johnson School from1992-2003, he had P&L responsibilities for managing all public and custom executive programs. In addition, he launched and managed the Johnson School's Executive MBA program during its first two years of operation and served on the committee that developed the Cornell-Queen's EMBA Program.

Prior to joining Cornell University, Mr. Hostetler was assistant dean for executive education at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. His prior experience also includes positions with St. Mary's Medical Center, the University of Tennessee, and the Office of the Governor of Kentucky. Mr. Hostetler is an emeritus trustee of the International University Consortium for Executive Education.

Julie Jackowski is Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary of Casey’s General Stores. She was also named the 2019-20 NACS chairman.

Casey's General Stores is a Fortune 500 company (NASDAQ: CASY) operating 2,100 convenience stores in 16 states throughout the Midwest. At Casey’s, Jackowski oversees legal, risk management, enterprise risk management, child-care and administrative services. She has worked in a variety of positions with Casey’s during the past 25 years and previously worked in litigation at a law firm in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Jackowski also leads the NACS Executive Committee, which provides strategic direction and financial oversight to the association.

Jim Lawless is a leading authority on AQ: learning new AdaptAbility skills to deliver bold, fast change. He also works with senior leaders to build cultures in which others can grow their AQ to deliver the plan - and for life! Jim has contributed to bold, fast change in global organisations, government, Olympic teams and business schools for two decades. He has inspired and educated over half a million people on five continents through his mindsetshifting keynotes and more through his bestselling book, Taming Tigers. Jim has tested and developed the AQ skills personally. He adapted to become a televised jockey within a year of starting to ride and to become Britain’s deepest Freediver in just 8 months of training. Both done alongside his day job - a key element of AdaptAbility. Currently studying Neuroscience at King’s College London, Jim holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and practiced as a commercial solicitor in the City of London before moving into industry. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts in recognition of his business writing and is the author of the bestselling book 'Taming Tigers' (Random House).

Professor Elizabeth Mannix is the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Management at the Johnson Graduate School of Management. Her research and teaching is focused on effective organizational performance, and the factors that make individuals motivated, high-performing leaders and team members. Specific topics include:a uthentic leadership, principled negotiation and influence, the role of emotional intelligence in business settings, organizational change, women in leadership, and diversity.

Professor Mannix is the author of over 50 peer reviewed articles, published in such journals as Administrative Science Quarterly, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, and the Academy of Management Journal. She is the co-editor of the 15-volume book series, Research on Managing Groups and Teams. Her work has been recognized by awards from organizations including the Academy of Management, Small Group Research, and the International Association for Conflict Management.

Mannix served as the associate dean for Executive MBA programs at Cornell University from 2012-2017. She also served as the director of the Institute for the Social Sciences from 2005-2008, established to promote interdisciplinary research and to increase the university's prominence in the social sciences. Mannix is also the recipient of Johnson's inaugural EMBA Globe teaching award, as well as the Faculty Research Award. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Society, the Society for Organizational Behavior, and The Academy of Management. She is currently an associate editor of the Academy of Management Review. Professor Mannix teaches and consults with firms, universities, and professional societies around the world.

Stephen Sauer’s research and teaching activities focus on issues of leadership, team processes, entrepreneurship, and status and diversity in management. His work has been published in a number of academic journals including Leadership Quarterly, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Human Resource Management. His research has also been featured in a variety of mainstream media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Forbes.com, and USA Today, among others.

His teaching experience includes courses in Leadership, Strategy, Negotiations, and Organizational Behavior at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and he has extensive experience leading executive education workshops and seminars for a number of major corporations. He is also an Entrepreneur in Residence at Cornell’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement and Rev: Ithaca Startup Works and is a member of the teaching team for the NSF Innovation Corps national program.

Dr. Sauer graduated with a PhD in Management and Organizational Behavior from Cornell University, where he also earned an MBA and a Master’s in Business and Policy Administration. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Prior to embarking on an academic career, he worked as an organizational change consultant and as a plant manager, after serving for seven years as an armored cavalry officer in the US Army.