In recognition of Father’s Day, we asked some of our Kelley faculty, staff, students and recent alumni to tell us more about their favorite traditions and memories with their families. Scroll below to see what they each had to say about what it means to them to be a dad or father figure.
Ken Carow, executive associate dean of faculty and research and professor of finance
Father of Cameron, Aaron and Joshua
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? Spending time with my family, playing games and cooking.
Who do you admire and why? My mom for her faith, patience and confidence in my abilities.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? The characteristics of faith, integrity and self-confidence.
How do you balance fatherhood and your role at Kelley? Make it a priority to be part of their events. Coaching my children’s soccer teams were some of the best times.
What is your #Kelleymoment? Seeing our Kelley team pull together to help each other with ideas and advice as we moved from face-to-face to fully online courses and advising during the COVID pandemic.
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? Spending time together as a family.
Tell us your favorite dad joke! My children can confirm, even my best jokes are bad jokes.
Kevin Yancy, lecturer in accounting
Father of Sean and Kaitlyn
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? We all get together and go out for lunch and then spend the rest of the day together. Sometimes we pack up a picnic and go to a state park for the day.
Who do you admire and why? I admire people who lead by example, are kind and understanding and willing to help others.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? Make every day a great day. Help others, be generous and kind and do not judge others. Take advantage of every moment and go go go; you can sleep when you are dead.
How do you balance fatherhood and your role at Kelley? My children are adults now, so it is not hard. I like the flexibility of being a faculty member. I can usually flex my schedule to make time for my son and daughter.
What is your #Kelleymoment? Receiving those special emails from students, checking in with you and letting you know what they are doing in their professional lives, and how I may have contributed or how they learned from me.
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? Anything the kids gave me and just spending the day with them, especially now that they are adults
Tell us your favorite dad joke! Not a joke but a phrase: “I am just the Dad!”
Hermann Ndofor, assistant professor of management
Father of three
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? Dancing with my daughters
Who do you admire and why? Barack Obama, because of his ability to maintain even temperament.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? Your honesty is your greatest asset
How do you balance fatherhood and your role at Kelley? The key, and probably best part, is the flexibility in work hours.
What is your #Kelleymoment? I love the MBA induction dinners
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? Safari trip
Matt Martella, assistant director of communications & media relations and host of The ROI Podcast
New dad
Who do you admire and why? I admire my father and my grandfather because they exemplify what a man of character looks like. Growing up, I was raised to put others first – at ALL times. Coming from a lower-income family as a child, the tenants of loving God, working hard, being polite and respecting authority became part of our values as a family. My father and grandfather showed me that I must take responsibility for my actions and work to elevate others – no matter their race, creed, religion, sex or any other factor that makes us all so unique. These are some of the traits I plan to pass down to my son and continue the great legacy passed down to me.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? You are never too old, too busy or too far gone to reach your dreams.
How do you balance fatherhood and your role at Kelley? As a soon-to-be father, my job is preparing myself and my family for our first child. Being able to work from home, during this pandemic, is such a blessing to us. I get an extra two hours a day (time that would be spent in traffic) to work with my wife to prepare for the day our child enters the world. We are so grateful for the university and Kelley family who have shown us unbelievable amounts of support.
What is your #Kelleymoment? My #Kelleymoment happens every day. I am so blessed to have a position where I can dig into leadership topics, sit down with our incredible faculty or have a conversation with organizational leaders around the country to share their wisdom through The ROI Podcast. I feel as though I’m an extension of the classroom for those who are simply hungry to better themselves so that they can better their organizations.
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? Just the thought that I’ll have Father’s Day celebrations from this year on. I cannot wait!
Tell us your favorite dad joke! What is Beethoven’s favorite fruit? Ba-na-na-naaaa (spoken to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony)
Todd Roberson, senior lecturer in finance
Father of Eve
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? Cooking out on my patio with my wife and daughter.
Who do you admire and why? My father Norman Roberson. He was always there for me as a dad when I was young, and he became a good friend as I got older.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? There is but one success: the ability to live your life your way!
How do you balance fatherhood and your role at Kelley? One thing I like about my job at Kelley is that it works well with my family life. It gives me the freedom to be the kind of dad I want to be.
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? My daughter made me a rock … really. She gave it to me when she was a toddler and I still use it today as a paperweight.
Tell us your favorite dad joke! My dad was a complete dunce when I was 17 years old. It’s amazing what he learned by the time I was 25.
Franqlin Gatson, MBA’20
Father of Franqlin III
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? My favorite Father’s Day tradition is the FOOD! Home cooked breakfast, followed by a family lunch outing and ending with a home cooked dinner. It’s the best!
Who do you admire and why? I admire all parents. Parenting is hard. There’s no real way to prepare for it. There’s no real blueprint to follow. It’s a humbling experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? I want my children to understand and appreciate the value of selfless acts. I believe a truly selfless person is also a truly happy person.
How did (or do) you balance fatherhood and being a student at Kelley? A lot of long nights. Seriously though, I have a great kid. Some nights he would sit with me in class. Some nights he would try to stay up with me and end up falling asleep on the couch. It takes a village and little Franqlin is a great teammate.
What is your #Kelleymoment? The highlight of my time with Kelley would have to be receiving a leadership award. I wanted to be as helpful as I could to current and potential students. I think I achieved my goal.
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? Last year, I got a bracelet that had a sound wave of my son’s voice on it. He told me he loves me.
Tell us your favorite dad joke! My boss told me to have a good day. So, I went home! It’s only a joke I promise!
Mithilesh Das, MD, MBA’21
Father of Awaneesh and Mohineesh
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? Family get-together.
Who do you admire and why? My father, because he is my role model.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? Honesty and integrity
How did (or do) you balance fatherhood and being a student at Kelley? They live in different cities. I talk to them every day even though I am very busy.
What is your #Kelleymoment? I have many! This is a new field, and I enjoyed my finance class the most so far.
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? My niece loves me, and a call from her is very heartwarming.
Pablo Aguilar Diaz Tejeirom, MBA’20
Father of Alvaro, Gabriel and Teresa
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? Pancake breakfast and a cookout with family and friends
Who do you admire and why? My parents, for their tenacity in raising a big family and always prioritizing their children, while working on their challenging and successful career.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? Work hard and surround yourself with good people you can learn from.
How did (or do) you balance fatherhood and being a student at Kelley? First and foremost, by marrying right (without my wife it would have been impossible). Second — By sacrificing a lot of my social life and hobbies during the program.
What is your #Kelleymoment? I would say when my wife texted she was in labor right before my very last presentation of the entire program. The FoodCorp competition was also pretty fun!
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? Too many to choose from: MBA Graduation, US Permanent Residency, our first house… for some reason June always comes with great gifts!
Tell us your favorite dad joke! Parenthood is the worst financial investment you can make, but the best-paid job ever.
Andrew Jea, MD, MBA’21
Father of Ryder, Michael and Matthew
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? Being on-call.
Who do you admire and why? My mom for being the leader for her family.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? To dare greatly.
How did (or do) you balance fatherhood and being a student at Kelley? There is no balance; my boys will always come first.
What is your #Kelleymoment? The first day of school.
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? Time.
Tell us your favorite dad joke! What is orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot.
Derek Brown, MD, MBA’21
Father of one son
What is your favorite Father’s Day tradition? Having an intimate dinner with family, and my son reminisces one memorable “father highlight per month” for the year that has made him the man he is today – without taking away the thunder of mom (her own holiday is a week-long parade!).
Who do you admire and why? I admire Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens and his education focused on “life experience” and his personal growth through the “love of reading.” He is a man of unmatched humor/satire with vivacious personality and warmth. Samuel Clemens, the “Father of American Literature,” has the ability to share his love of being an author and activist with his descriptors of sheer joy, sorrow, fun, work and sparkling interest.
What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children? Live life to the fullest and engage and enjoy what life has to offer. Always do your best, and as a result, doors will open and options will present themselves.
How did (or do) you balance fatherhood and being a student at Kelley? Not easily. My son is older but father responsibilities continue to present themselves. I have to be incredibly organized, but I am lucky I have a son who is understanding and patient with me. He always told me I was the hardest worker I know. I guess I taught him something after all!
What is your #Kelleymoment? I feel my #KelleyMBA moment would be the die-hard friends I have made and physicians I have connected with in my Kelley School study groups. They are all unique and supportive and taught me about the business of medicine, but they also reconfirmed my interest in being a leader and change agent with my life. Through my new kinships, I have the unique drive to revitalize my moment to momentum experience and blossom with the Kelley red. Thank you!
Other than your children, what is the best Father’s Day gift you’ve received? The best Father’s Day gift would have to be the classic mug my son painted when he was eight years of age. I still use it today…it has been glued together a few times.
Tell us your favorite dad joke! “When does a joke become a dad joke? When it becomes apparent.”
Compiled by: Sara Griffin, samgrif@iupui.edu
It’s heartwarming to see how both Ken Carow and Kevin Yancy prioritize spending time with their families and value kindness and generosity.
I particularly resonated with Kevin Yancy’s advice to his children – “Make every day a great day. Help others, be generous and kind and do not judge others.”
It’s a simple yet powerful mantra that can make a significant impact on one’s life and the lives of others.
It’s also refreshing to see the value placed on the intangible aspects of life, such as spending time together and helping others, over material gifts.
This perspective is a great reminder of what’s truly important in life. https://shropshiredirectory.com/