{"id":328069,"date":"2026-05-22T17:16:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/328069\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T17:16:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:16:05","slug":"beam-signing-at-cal-state-fullerton-spotlights-landmark-halls-target-leadership-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/328069\/","title":{"rendered":"Beam-signing at Cal State Fullerton spotlights Landmark Hall\u2019s target: Leadership \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

The College of Business and Economics held a beam-signing event on April 23 as part of the construction of its new Landmark Hall, which will serve as an event space, archival repository and leadership center for Orange County when it opens next year.<\/p>\n

Cal State Fullerton president Ronald Rochon addressed the gathered group of donors, university leaders, faculty, staff and students. Sridhar Sundaram, dean of the College of Business and Economics, and Terry Giles,a 1970 alum and longtime CSUF supporter, who is overseeing the project, also spoke, praising the importance of the building.<\/p>\n

The beam that bore the signatures of event attendees will become part of the new 20,000-square-foot Landmark Hall that will be located next to the business college building when it is completed by fall of 2027.<\/p>\n

\"Dignitaries<\/p>\n

Dignitaries have their photo made near a beam that is to be placed in Landmark Hall,
\nthe more than 20,000-square-foot, trilevel, state-of-the-art building situated adjacent to the business college building. The Landmark Hall beam signing ceremony was held at CSUF on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Terry<\/p>\n

Terry M. Giles signs his name on a beam to be placed in Landmark Hall on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Ronald<\/p>\n

Ronald Rochon, Cal State Fullerton president signed his name on a beam to be placed in Landmark Hall on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The more than 20,000-square-foot, trilevel, state-of-the-art building is situated adjacent to the business college building. The Landmark Hall beam signing ceremony was held at CSUF on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The more than 20,000-square-foot, trilevel, state-of-the-art building is situated adjacent to the business college building. The Landmark Hall beam signing ceremony was held at CSUF on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Ronald<\/p>\n

Ronald Rochon, Cal State Fullerton president delivers remarks at the beam ceremony for Landmark Hall. The Landmark Hall beam signing ceremony was held at CSUF on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Ronald<\/p>\n

Ronald Rochon, Cal State Fullerton president delivers remarks at the beam ceremony for Landmark Hall on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Terry<\/p>\n

Terry M. Giles delivers remarks at the beam ceremony for Landmark Hall.
\nThe more than 20,000-square-foot, trilevel, state-of-the-art building is situated adjacent to the business college building. The Landmark Hall beam signing ceremony was held at CSUF on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Terry<\/p>\n

Terry M. Giles heads to the podium to deliver remarks at the beam ceremony for Landmark Hall
\non Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Ronald<\/p>\n

Ronald Rochon, Cal State Fullerton president signs his name on a beam to be placed in Landmark Hall on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Ronald<\/p>\n

Ronald Rochon, Cal State Fullerton president signed his name on a beam to be placed in Landmark Hall then posed for pictures with Terry M. Giles at CSUF on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Dignitaries<\/p>\n

Dignitaries gather to have their photo made near a beam to be placed in Landmark Hall, while another signs his name at CSUF on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 12<\/p>\n

Dignitaries have their photo made near a beam that is to be placed in Landmark Hall,
\nthe more than 20,000-square-foot, trilevel, state-of-the-art building situated adjacent to the business college building. The Landmark Hall beam signing ceremony was held at CSUF on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDeveloping good leaders for the future is critical, whether it\u2019s for the business community or the communities we live in, and that\u2019s one of the key initiatives,\u201d said Sundaram. \u201cThe second is establishing the Erhard Institute for Leadership Studies, which will focus on archiving the works of scholars in this area and also bring in top leaders for an annual conference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landmark Hall will also be the new home for the Giles-O\u2019Malley Center for Leadership, which helps connect CSUF students with business leaders through mentorships, networking, and workshops.<\/p>\n

The space will be available to every department of CSUF to explore leadership topics. \u201cWe\u2019re there to serve all the colleges that make up the university,\u201d Giles said, and this includes the departments of music, art and communications. \u201cOur goal is to play an important role in all eight colleges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leadership is considered through different lenses at the College of Business and Economics, such as national and international politics, said Sundaram, and in specific business areas, such as health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, we\u2019re partnering with MD Anderson and connecting with our nursing program at the College of Health and Human Development. That partnership is going to allow us to build strong leadership in health care in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Given the ever-increasing use of AI, skills necessary for leadership are changing, said Sundaram, and he hopes Landmark Hall will serve as a center where critical conversations about leadership and societal needs will take place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have broader conversations about the abilities of technology, the guardrails that are needed, and how we distinguish between what\u2019s fact and what is not a fact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sundaram also pointed to the importance of cross-disciplinary approaches. \u201cThe College of Business and Economics does its annual trade and economic forecast, and the College of Humanities and Social Science holds the Royce International Symposium on international geopolitical situations. Now we can bring these together to have conversations about politics, the roles of the United States and other countries and how we build leaders to be part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea for Landmark Hall took shape about five years ago and was championed by Jay Barbuto, CSUF professor and director of the Center for Leadership, and Giles, who has owned 35 businesses, including a criminal law firm, Landmark Education and Giles Enterprises.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always good, as we start to reach the end of business lives, to give back in some important ways,\u201d said Giles, who recalled driving on a dirt road through orange trees to get to CSUF in 1966 when he started as a freshman. \u201cMy wife and I have found overseeing the finances and construction of this building very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giles has a particular interest in what he calls transformational leadership, which he defines as \u201cordinary people with an extraordinary commitment to something that is unpredictable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his business consulting, Giles has worked with companies such as Panda Express and lululemon, helping leaders shift their focus away from past mistakes and old ideas about themselves to a new future of possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have vision milestones, steps to get there,\u201d he said and presented a hypothetical scenario. \u201cIf in 10 years you want 1,000 Panda Express stores, then in eight years where do you need to be? Basically, you\u2019re planning the best version of you or your business from the future,\u201d he said, adding that he calls this practice planning \u201cforward from the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Sundaram, Giles said the need for effective leaders is more important than ever. \u201cWe are so divided in the world right now. And lack of leadership drifts down into our corporations and our schools. Building this center for leadership is an urgent cry for action,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leadership skills also help people develop personally, Giles said. \u201cWe all need leadership. It\u2019s executive function that we use to be a good spouse, parent, employee and employer. In the teaching of leadership, we can help develop self-confidence and awareness, and through that, a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The College of Business and Economics held a beam-signing event on April 23 as part of the construction…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,2627,7,179,2628,2306,23,611,77],"class_list":["post-328069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-cal-state-fullerton","tag-california","tag-community","tag-fullerton","tag-higher-education","tag-local-news","tag-orange-county","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}