Miami University will host one of the software industry's biggest players Feb. 23 in the Taylor Auditorium in the Farmer School of Business (FSB).
Thomas M. Nies, founder and chief executive officer of Cincom Systems, Inc., will speak to students about his experiences in the software industry as well as being an entrepreneur.
Thomas Nies founded Cincom in 1968 and has since turned it into one of the premier software companies in the world.
Nies will be speaking about entrepreneurial leadership and his path to success. Since becoming the first software company to go global, Nies has been featured at Harvard University and also been recognized by the Prime Minister of England.
According to Steve Kayser, director of PR at Cincom, Nies worked for IBM where they gave away software for free before he started his own company.
"He left IBM and started selling against IBM what they gave away for free," Kayser said. "He started when nobody knew what it was."
Kayser hopes students take advantage of Nies' visit and ask him valuable questions about what it took to get where he is today.
"Ask him all the challenges he went through," Kayser said. "He is exceptionally open and likes answering questions like that."
Junior David Krehbiel, a marketing major, is excited for such a high profile figure to be speaking at the FSB.
"I think it is good to get these big speakers because they come and they speak about leadership and that you don't just become successful overnight and it takes time to get where they (the speakers) are," Krehbiel said.
Krehbiel plans to attend Nies' presentation entitled "Entrepreneurial Leadership" and looks forward to gaining more insight into becoming successful in business.
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Nies is not the first distinguished visitor to speak at Miami. According to Alan Oak, assistant dean of external relations in the FSB, Miami hosts two to three speakers each semester from a variety of industries.
"We've been quite successful in bringing to Miami some really outstanding organizational leaders," Oak said. "Tom is an entrepreneur and he has built a business over a long period of time. He has managed and has grown a significant business that has gone through tremendous changes."
Nies' presentation will add another successful name to the list of those that have visited Miami.
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