Percept Research, a leading management education market research consultancy, announced that veteran business school administrator, Penny Oslund, has joined the client services team as a Senior Consultant. Penny will lead consulting engagements involving business school strategy, program innovation, operations, and brand management and serve as a key resource in translating client research into actionable recommendations.
Penny Oslund served as UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Executive Director, MBA for Executives Programs for 20 years until her retirement in June of 2011. She was responsible for the school’s three executive MBA programs. Serving 300+ students per year, these programs have been highly ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, US News, the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. She led an outstanding team which consistently earned high marks for their focus on student satisfaction and professional development.
Penny was very active in the Executive MBA Council. In her first term on the Board of Trustees she led the Benchmarking Task Force, which designed and implemented the Membership Program Study and student exit surveys. She received the Council’s Bud Fackler Service Award in 2001. During her second term on the Board she served as both Chair and past Chair. During this period, the organization moved beyond its US focus to become truly global, growing its international membership and holding the first annual conference outside the Americas in Barcelona, Spain.
During her tenure at UNC, she served on numerous school wide committees and established the first Global Immersion electives. After helping launch the OneMBA program, she continued to serve on its Executive Committee and as Treasurer of the OneMBA Common Fund. Widely traveled, she represented the school and the Executive MBA Council at meetings and immersion classes and residencies in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Oslund was awarded the School’s Weatherspoon staff award in 1997 and 2005 and the Roy W. Holsten Award for Exceptional Service in 2007. She received the School’s Executive MBA Alumni Merit Award in 2011.
Penny holds a BS degree from Iowa State University and an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler. She is also a certified facilitator for the Center for Creative Leadership’s Benchmarks®.
Actively involved in the community, Oslund is a member of Rotary International and the Duke Chapel Altar Guild. She served on Durham Academy’s Parent’s Council, chaired their annual book fair and logged many miles as a “soccer, lacrosse and swim” mom. She volunteers for the North Carolina Symphony and participates in micro lending through KIVA. Penny and her husband, Billy, have four children and three grandchildren. Her hobbies include reading, needlepoint, sewing, gardening and hiking.
