An undergraduate who worked to improve bachelor-degree programs, an MBA student who helped his colleagues make new business contacts, and a Ph.D. student with award-winning research were the three student inductees into the School of Business Hall of Fame on May 6.Continue Reading
New York Life President John Y. Kim ’87 MBA Delivers Light-hearted, Advice-Filled Commencement Speech
Be kind to your siblings and your co-workers, never show up at a celebration empty handed, and listen to your mothers.
That was some of the advice that alumnus John Y. Kim ’87 MBA, the president and CIO of New York Life, offered to School of Business graduates during commencement on May 8. Continue Reading
Alexandra Wilds: Management
The Quest for Quality Health Care Worldwide is This Graduate’s Career Focus
“I know you’re all here to make money,” said the business professor teaching an introductory course at the university that Alexandra Wilds ’16 attended during freshman year.
And Wilds got a lump in her throat. A very big lump. Because her reason for pursuing a business education wasn’t to seek wealth or power, but to focus onContinue Reading
Kayla O’Leary: Marketing
‘Those High Achievers Pulled Out a Competitive Side in Me!’
Kayla O’Leary ’16 combined her passion for marketing and her love of the law into an honors thesis during her senior year.
How do you balance a consumer’s freedom of speech, including the right to gripe about a product or service on social media, with a company’s right to respond to unfair criticism and protect its brand equity?Continue Reading
Having a strong network of colleagues and friends is crucial in every business, but especially in commercial real estate.
“The professors really preached to us that it is important to maintain your friends and network with your classmates,” said Brendan Moore ’16. “It is such a big industry, but everyone is connected in some aspect.”
Moore, a native of Trumbull, was namedContinue Reading
Grace Kim: Accounting
‘I think UConn was one of the better choices I’ve made’
Grace Kim ’16 pursued her college education with zeal. An accounting honors student, she also minored in Spanish and art history, lived abroad with a Spanish family for a month, and worked at the Benton Museum of Art on campus.
“I figured I’m paying for a great college education, I may as well take every opportunity I can and enjoy it,” she said.
For this first-generation college student, the only child of Korean immigrants, graduation is bittersweet.Continue Reading
Andrea Jimenez: Financial Management
Graduate Took Time to Reflect on Family’s Sacrifices That Provided Her with a Brighter Future
It would be an understatement to say that earning her college degree was profoundly important to Andrea Jimenez ’16.
“Graduation is such a special moment and it has made me reflect on where I came from and what previous generations did to allow me to be here,” said Jimenez, a native of Mexico, who has earned a bachelor’s degree in financial management.
Jimenez has lived in Connecticut since she was 2. But several years ago, Continue Reading
Kevin Brown: OPIM
Declined Two Job Offers Before the Right One Came Along
When you’re about to graduate from college and start your career, it’s tempting to grab the first job offer that comes your way.
“I think the best advice I got from both professors and employers, is Continue Reading
Finance major Parth Rana ’16, the student graduation speaker, told his classmates that they shouldn’t use their UConn knowledge strictly to excel in their careers. To do so, would be an injustice to the values of the university, he said.
Instead, he urged students to show gratitude to the innumerable people that helped carry them to this height and to blend knowledge with action. Meet new people, push yourself out of your comfort zone and express passion and excitement in all that you do, he said.
2016 School of Business Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony (Video)
View a copy of the 2016 Commencement Program
Graduate Profiles
When School of Business Dean John A. Elliott introduced the Class of 2016 at Commencement on May 8, he congratulated them on the significant milestone of graduation and reassured them that they are well prepared for what lies ahead.
“You are poised to become prominent members of your communities, voters whose votes will guide our choices, leaders whose words will affect others,” he said. “You are prepared to continue to learn, to leave your mark on our world, to innovate and create, to produce new products and new companies and to be leaders in your communities.”
Below, some of the top students from the Class of 2016 share their future plans:
Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, has awarded a prestigious fellowship to Wynd Harris, associate professor in-residence of marketing, which will allow her to pursue her interest in learning modern Hebrew, and ultimately assist her in researching the relationship between military expertise and entrepreneurship.Continue Reading
