Gender advocacy leads to Hall of Fame honor for human resources VP

W. P. Carey alum Rhonda Turner Buseman (BS Management '95) earns Hall of Fame recognition for championing gender equity in business and redefining HR leadership at a global scale.

W. P. Carey's motto of "doing good while doing well" resonates deeply with alum and recent W. P. Carey Hall of Fame inductee Rhonda Turner Buseman (BS Management '95).

"I believe that it's something we should do," she says. "We should give back when we achieve success in our careers and our field of study: It's helpful to give back because someone once helped us."

Turner Buseman's career in HR and business spans more than 25 years. As the senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Benchmark Electronics, she's led a cultural transformation at the 12,000-employee global manufacturing company and advocates for gender balance on corporate boards by serving on the executive board of the Fresh Start Foundation and as the chair of 50/50 Women on Boards' Phoenix Chapter.

During the 2024 W. P. Carey Alumni Hall of Fame event, which has honored the contributions of distinguished business school alums since its establishment in 1977, Turner Buseman reflected on her education, career accomplishments, and what the honor means to her.

Question: What does it mean to be inducted into the W. P. Carey Hall of Fame?
Answer: I'm humbled and honored. Remarkably, my daughter is currently a senior at W. P. Carey studying management, the same major I studied.

Q: Are you currently working on any projects that positively impact your field or community?
A: I recently completed a project with Benchmark Electronics to develop a purpose statement. We did an annual engagement survey and received feedback from our employees that they weren't feeling a social connection or connecting their work to doing good in the world. We took that feedback and launched an internal purpose campaign with all 12,000 employees and asked them to come up with three adjectives that described the work that we did and how we impacted humanity. We gathered all of these words from all of our employees and synthesized them to develop a purpose statement: We innovate to make the world better connected, healthier, and safer, and to create a brighter future.

Q: What advice do you have for recent graduates?
A: Soak up everything you can to apply your learnings from the classroom. Go out into the world, ask questions, be inquisitive, and work to see how you can make a great impact.