This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 4, Issue 2 (Spring 2014)
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1960s

Scott S. Cowen ’68, ’10H has been awarded the 2014 TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence. Cowen and his wife, Marjorie, were also recently awarded the Hannah G. Solomon Award by the National Council of Jewish Women.

1970s

Robert J. Genise ’75 MBA has been appointed as an independent board member at Frontier Airlines. Genise is currently chairman of the board of PCA Aerospace and chief executive officer of Aergen, LLC.

James F. Klotz ’77 has been appointed to vice president, claims strategic operations systems at Selective Insurance Group. Mr. Klotz has held positions such as senior vice president and chief information officer at PMA Insurance and vice president of information systems at Travelers.

Robert E. Schneider ’79 MBA has been appointed to second vice president, compensation at The Phoenix Companies. Mr. Schneider will manage general and executive compensation programs for the company.

1980s

Claire R. Fennessey ’86 joined Clarus Marketing Group as the chief marketing officer. Ms. Fennessey has over 20 years of marketing experience and most recently she was the president of Palm Publishing.

Daniel A. Migliaro ’88 has been named vice president, commercial business development officer, at Newtown Savings Bank. Mr. Milagro also serves as a board member of the Connecticut Business Development Corporation.

William M. Nelson ’87 MBA has been named as the manager for high income funds at Ivy Funds. Mr. Nelson is also a portfolio manager of Ivy Funds VIP High Income and Waddell & Reed Advisors High Income Fund.

Steven C. Snelgrove ’80 has been named president of Howard County General Hospital, a Johns Hopkins Medicine member institution.

Gregory J. Trudel ’83 has been appointed to president and CEO of Encision Inc. Most recently he was the global director of marketing within a division within the Surgical Solutions Group at Covidien.

Rita J. Ugianskis-Fishman ’88, ’95 MBA has been named vice president and general manager of The ASI Show. Ms. Ugianskis-Fishman was most recently managing director of Penton’s Waste Industry Group and is an accomplished trade show executive.

Anne M. Wilkins ’88 has joined AllazoHealth as an advisory board member. Ms. Wilkins has more than 20 years of healthcare experience with a long history of leadership in population health management.

1990s

Jonathan R. Collett ’95 has been elected to partner at CohnReznick in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Mr. Collett is a certified public accountant and is a member of the firm’s financial services industry practice group.

Matthew D. Danyliw ’99 has been appointed to senior vice president of Khamelon Software, Inc. Prior to his appointment at Khameleon, Mr. Danyliw was chief financial officer of Office Furniture, Inc.

Lyle T. Fulton ’94 MBA has joined Guilford Savings Bank as the vice president, commercial loan officer. Mr. Fulton is a seasoned commercial lender in northern Connecticut with over 25 years of experience.

John Y. Kim ’87 MBA has been elected a vice chairman of New York Life. Mr. Kim will now oversee the company’s technology function. He is currently the president of New York Life’s Investments Group.

Anthony A. Licata ’95 has been appointed chief operating officer by Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Prior to his appointment at Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Mr. Licata was chief operating officer at Dechert.

Luigi A. Peluso ’93 MBA has been named managing director of the enterprise improvement group at AlixPartners. Prior to his appointment at AlixPartners, Mr. Peluso served as senior vice president of operations at Hitachi Consulting Inc.

Thomas P. Trutter ’99 MBA received the 2013 Construction Industry Recognition Award from Associated General Contractors of Connecticut. Mr. Trutter is currently UConn Health Center’s associate vice president of campus planning, design, and construction.

2000s

Adam B. Camara ’03 is the co-founder of the national internet marketing firm, Network for Solutions.

Joshua J. Gopan ’02 has been appointed as director of leasing of Hutchinson Metro Center. Mr. Gopan previously worked at Colliers International where he served as a leasing specialist and managing director.

Greg Oshins ’05 MBA has been promoted to vice president of investments at National Realty & Development Corporation. Mr. Oshins has been at NRDC since 2006 when he was a member of the acquisitions and development team as well as the company’s leasing team.

Amanda H. Wallace ’07 MBA has been recognized as a 2013 Working Mother of the Year for representing the best in working motherhood as well as for her outstanding leadership ability. Ms. Wallace is the assistant vice president of strategy and planning for the U.S. insurance business at MassMutual.

2010s

Ryan G. Demadis ’11 has been appointed to vice president, associate producer at NorthMarq. Prior to his appointment at NorthMarq, Mr. Demandis was an associate broker at RM Bradley. He is also the co-founder/director of fundraising for RiseUp Leadership Development Program which provides financial support and mentoring for inner city youth.

Lauren D’Innocenzo ’14 Ph.D. successfully defended her dissertation titled, “Predicting Leader Role Occupance: An Exploration of Shared Leadership Emergence in Project Teams”. Dr. D’Innocenzo accepted a position as assistant professor of management at Drexel University.

Erin Henry ’14 Ph.D. successfully defended her dissertation titled, “The Information Content of Tax Expense: A Firm- and Market-Level Return Decomposition.” Dr. Henry has accepted a tenure-track faculty position at the University of Tennessee.

Bryan P. Schmutz ’13 Ph.D. successfully defended his dissertation titled “Essays on Life Insurance and Healthcare Finance.” Dr. Schmutz has accepted a position at Western New England University as an assistant professor of finance.

Claire Simonich ’13 received the Undergraduate Student Award at the UConn Provost’s Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement. Ms. Simonich spent her time at UConn working in the Office of Community Outreach to lead a new Alternative Spring Break trip to Appalachia focused on rural poverty and labor law. She also led an English language tutoring program for international students at UConn.

Marinela Shqina ’11 has been promoted to controller at Arbors of Hop Brook in Manchester, Connecticut. Ms. Shqina is also a member of the Association of Health Care Facilities, Healthcare Financial Management Association and is a non-CPA member of the Connecticut Society of CPAs.

Tingyu Zhou ’14 Ph.D. successfully defended her dissertation titled, “Three Essays on Decision Making Strategies.” Dr. Zhou has accepted a tenure track position as assistant professor at Concordia University in Montreal.

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The Business Connections Learning Community graduates its first class of students.

This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 4, Issue 2 (Spring 2014)

When she enrolled in the University of Connecticut four years ago, Andrea Llivichuzhca ’14 wasn’t sure that majoring in business was the best choice for her.

Today the graduating senior, an accounting major, knows she made the right decision.

Llivichuzhca has an impressive resumé, which includes an internship at GE, participation in a corporate leadership program, and a 10-day trip to Paris sponsored by the School of Business. Her experiences also included an internship at The Hartford, where a job is waiting for her after graduation.

She credits some of her success to a choice she made the summer before college—to live in a new, experimental Business Connections Learning Community (BCLC). Located within Belden dormitory, the BCLC opened in 2010 exclusively to incoming UConn business students. Designed to foster their success, the BCLC’s goal is to make students feel like a part of the School of Business from their earliest days on campus.

“I had such a great experience there,” said Llivichuzhca. “I developed close-knit friendships, I visited interesting companies, and I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I found my passion. I found myself.”

How It Works

Whether visiting Wall Street or local companies, traveling abroad, or enjoying a lunch-time lecture on how to make the most of LinkedIn, the BCLC program caters to the needs of aspiring business students. The programs offered supplement the traditional curriculum and are a special benefit of living in the community.

The first class of students to participate in the program will graduate this year. Although the evidence so far is anecdotal (a formal study is underway), the popular program seems to be paying off with great success. Most of the BCLC participants will be leaving the university with job offers in hand.

“This program is all about helping students acquire the awareness, skills and insight they need to succeed, as soon as they arrive at UConn,” said Nathan Ives, director of alumni relations and co-director of the BCLC. “We want to instill in them from the beginning that they’re part of something special. This is a unique program, and there are many ways to fit in.”

“I like to think of it as a vitamin supplement that gives you the critical thinking tools and skills you need,” he said, “and a powerful way to secure internships and, ultimately, jobs. Our program is making a difference for these young adults.”

Day One

The BCLC program accepts about 150 students each year. The program grew out of student concerns that they didn’t feel “connected” with the School of Business until junior year when they began taking their business classes.

At the BCLC, faculty and staff are available to help students move in, give them a tour of the business school, introduce them to the Dean, and make them feel welcome. Originally designed for freshmen, the program is now open to sophomores by popular demand.

“The first day, move-in day, was a little crazy; but in a good way,” said Sydney Morrison ’17, a freshman from Trumbull. “I was nervous about what my classes were going to be like, getting around the big campus and meeting new people. But my accounting professor came by and asked how everything was going, and the sophomores, too, were very welcoming. I was more excited to start my college career.”

Llivichuzhca remembers that first impression as well. “I couldn’t believe professors helped freshmen move into the dorm! But that’s the culture of the learning community. Everyone gets involved from day one,” said Llivichuzhca of Bristol. “I always had a feeling that the people in the School of Business were looking out for us.”

Not only do students appreciate that extra attention, their parents do as well, because they feel like the University has a greater stake in their child’s success, Ives said.

The first goal of the program is to help the freshmen bond as a class. Students residing in the BCLC usually take several required classes together, including a First-Year Experience class. Because they live together, it is easy to form study groups before tests or exams.

They are also required to serve on one or more BCLC committees, including community service, international, marketing and public relations, social, sports, house and outreach, which usually leads to strong friendships.

Nick Walcott ’14 from Framingham, Mass., lived in the BCLC his first three years on campus, the latter as a Resident Assistant.

“At first I was very unsure about whether I’d want to live exclusively with business majors, but being from out-of-state and not knowing anyone, I thought it would help my transition,” said Walcott. “I met friends quickly. UConn is a huge school, so that helped it feel smaller.

“As a first-generation college student, I really didn’t know what college was about,” Walcott said. “People showed me the ropes and wanted to help me. I had such a great experience there that I wanted to offer others the same.”

Travel

Another unique component of the BCLC program is that it offers an annual business-oriented international trip. In its inaugural year, students went to Paris. The following years they went to Munich and Prague, followed by Beijing and Shanghai. This May, students will travel to Madrid and Barcelona.

Samantha Ragusa ’17, a sophomore from Cheshire, said she thinks her trip to Beijing and Shanghai will give her an edge in the workplace.

“I went to historical sites like the Great Wall, but also got to tour five or six companies while I was there. It was great to get that close-up view of international business,” she said. “When I interview, I think it will be something impressive and interesting to talk about.”

The annual trips are underwritten in part by generous alumni contributions that make them more affordable for students, Ives said.

Rebecca Smith ’14 of Niantic lived in the BCLC as a freshman and sophomore and returned as a Resident Assistant her senior year. Now planning a career in healthcare management, she was able to travel to Paris, Munich, Prague and Guatemala during her time at UConn. This summer she will travel through Europe with friends she made her freshman year in the BCLC program.

“You’re making these great connections with your peers, faculty and alumni,” Smith said. “And you know you will meet them again, professionally, at some point in your career.”

Robbie Simpson ’14 from Milford, will begin work at PricewaterhouseCoopers in January. He hopes the BCLC will continue for many years after he leaves UConn.

“UConn is a huge school with so many opportunities and so many people. You have to find a niche,” he said. “What better way than to live with other people who share your interests? By the end of the year, I knew everyone by name.”

“Many freshmen don’t know what to select for a major and this program challenges you to explore new avenues,” he said. “At the same time, it doesn’t consume your whole life. Students still have time for sports or Greek life. I think it works so well because the people in charge really care about it. They made the BCLC really special with all the effort they put into it.”

Through his connections in the BCLC, Walcott got a job working in the School of Business. One day he was asked to give a tour to a potential student. At the end, he gave her his contact information and said to text him with any questions. It turned out the future student’s mother was a high-ranking executive at Deloitte, where Walcott has now accepted a full-time job.

“Thanks to the BCLC, you just have so many connections as soon as you walk in the door,” he said.

Fran Graham, manager of alumni relations for the business school, said her favorite part of the BCLC program is simply the students.

“You see them transform rather quickly. They enroll in the First-Year Experience classes and they just come alive. They visit the School of Business and they serve on one of the committees and they come out of their shells.”

“Many of them come in not knowing what their concentration will be. Some change their major five times! But they soak in everything that’s offered to them. On the international trips, they are in awe. ‘I could work here!,’ they say. They start thinking like business people. They are a joy to work with.”

Without a question, the connection between students, faculty and School of Business staff has strengthened enormously because of the program, Graham said.

“It’s so fulfilling to see them grow and understand the opportunities that are available to them. It’s phenomenal,” she said. “Commencement is going to break our hearts. But we’re so happy for them.”

This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 4, Issue 2 (Spring 2014)

Professor Katherine Pancak always wanted to teach a course on sustainable real estate, but didn’t know if she had enough expertise.

After taking a University of Connecticut-sponsored faculty education trip to Australia, she came back ready to tackle it. This spring she led a one-credit course on sustainable building principles and practices that gave students the core knowledge needed to become a certified green building professional.

“From a real estate perspective, we are on the verge of an enormous change,” said Pancak, a professor of finance and real estate. “From new construction to retrofitting older buildings, everyone is concerned about sustainability. It is not just an environmental issue, either. It is driven by economic and social needs as well. This is the wave of the future.”

The University of Connecticut is one of only 33 institutions of higher education in the country to house a Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, according to Managing Director Kelly Aceto. The “Green Business: Australia” program is also open to faculty from other colleges, and this year professors from seven universities participated.

“Australia is on the forefront of incorporating sustainability into business,” Aceto said, and learning from their experts was the purpose of this trip. “The people we’ve met there are not only extremely knowledgeable but also are genuinely interested in sharing their approaches with our faculty.”

“We’ve received excellent feedback about the trip,” she said. “In fact, almost universally the professors asked if they could return a second time!”

The 11-day program is a balance of academic and cultural activities. Faculty spent considerable time learning about real estate development, construction and property management in Sydney. They also visited with a local Aboriginal community, Muru Mittgar, and learned about the indigenous people’s land-stewardship philosophy. Other speakers discussed everything from responsible mining to Australian health care. Participants visited manufacturing facilities, a brewery, and the Brisbane City Council.

Another highlight is a trip to the University of Queensland in Brisbane, where Andrew Griffiths, dean of the Business School, goes out of his way to make sure the Americans have a memorable trip.

“We hope that the participants leave generally better informed on a range of sustainability concepts, and that they are able to translate this passion into a range of direct outcomes for themselves, their communities and their students,” Griffiths said.

Griffiths, one of the first scholars in the world to study corporate resilience and adaptation to long-term global climate change, offered perspectives on industry sustainability and strategies for integrating topics across the business school curriculum.

“The key points of the program are understanding that there does not exist a ‘one best way’ approach to sustainability,” he said. “We try to engage our guests with key individuals who are running sustainable business – to demonstrate the innovation and creativity at work.”

This year’s program included the introduction of the faculty from both Australia and the United States. “From this exchange it appears that our colleagues are talking about collaborations, not all sustainability based, but also about exciting opportunities in their own fields of research and teaching,” he said.

Sue White, a finance professor and distinguished teaching fellow from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, said the experience was remarkable.

“We toured firms that were dedicated to sustainability. For example, we visited firms that have incorporated nature into their high rise buildings, while being very energy efficient,” she said.

“We toured Perfect Potions, which manufactures organic shampoos and lotions, and learned about their commitment not only to their environment in Australia but to the countries where they obtain their supplies.”

Back at UConn, Pancak’s Sustainable Real Estate course taught students the techniques, approaches, materials and technologies used in the internationally recognized Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green-building rating systems. Students also learned how buildings can be designed to improve sustainability, promote water and energy efficiency, and minimize environmental impacts. After completing the course, students are eligible to take the U.S. Green Building Council LEED Green Associate exam.

The course is already paying dividends for UConn junior Austin Smyth, of Guilford, who is planning a career in commercial real estate. When interviewing for a coveted summer internship in New York City, he told his interviewers about his plans to take the Sustainable Real Estate course and he ultimately got the offer.

“Sustainability is a really big deal with all the companies I was applying to,” Smyth said. “They are all trying to get buildings LEED certified, so it was certainly a good talking point.”

“I think it is something extra that UConn offers that other universities don’t,” he said. Based on what he learned in the course, he is planning to take an exam to become LEED certified.

“These exams are normally taken by real estate professionals. To be able to take it as students, definitely puts us at an advantage,” he said. “It is one of the best opportunities I’ve had.”