Business Briefs







Prof. Thompson Honored for Excellence in Public Engagement

Kevin Thompson (MGMT) has been honored by the Provost with an Award for Excellence in Public Engagement. (Devin Basdekian / UConn School of Business)
Assistant Professor-in-Residence Kevin Thompson is the recipient of the UConn Provost’s Award for Excellence in Public Engagement in the non-tenure track faculty category.Continue Reading


Diversity of Thought Propels Management Society Case Competition

The Business Management Society (BMS) recently hosted a case competition with power-tool manufacturer TTI, the parent company of Milwaukee, Ryobi and Hoover. Student turnout was large, drawing participants from BMS, Women and Business, and other business students. They were tasked with evaluating different marketing strategies to increase the company’s brand exposure on campus. Groups took several routes of action including social media, virtual reality, and brand ambassador programs.

After the competition, the judges awarded prizes to three winning teams:

The first place team included: senior Caleb Saleeby (Management), junior Kevin Dean (Management) and senior Michael Boni (Economics). The second-place team included: senior William Simics (Finance); junior Julia Simics (Real Estate), junior Swathy Shriram (Management); and junior Gina Wiezbicki (Marketing). The third place team members were: senior Suxian Kuan (Management); sophomore Tanvi Dandekar (Finance), sophomore Angela Wang (Finance) and junior Emily Curina (Management & Economics).


Ben Morneault, president of BMS, was impressed at the variety of majors and grade levels among student competitions. “Diversity in thought is so often overlooked in case competitions, but these teams understood the importance of diverse teams, and it showed in their solutions,” he said.

The Business Management Society and Women in Business meet on Tuesdays in the School of Business. For more information, please contact Ben Morneault at uconnbms@gmail.com, or Sam Adamo at uconnwomeninbusiness@gmail.com.

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Tesla Speaker Draws a Crowd

Carine Dumit, senior policy advisor at Tesla, was the keynote speaker at a recent event hosted by the UConn Net Impact Graduate Chapter. Her discussion focused on the electric vehicle industry and its role in creating clean energy. She said the most common questions among new customers are: What does an electric vehicle cost? And where can I charge it?

The program was in partnership with the Connecticut Sustainable Business Council and the Graduate Business Association and was attended by 40 MBA and MSBAPM students and professors. The Nov. 7 program was at the GBLC in Hartford.


UConn Professors Share Success of Student Managed Fund

UConn’s Student Managed Fund is one of the oldest, and most successful, experiential learning programs in the country, and will be featured in a special issue of Managerial Finance, dedicated to SMFs. Professors Chinmoy Ghosh, finance department head, Paul Gilson, and Michel Rakotomavo wrote an article highlighting the history, purpose, performance and the future of the UConn program, and the special features that have contributed to its success.

The UConn program was founded in 2000 and began operation during the 2002-2003 academic year. The total number of students active in the UConn SMF program this year now exceeds 40, and the size of the portfolio exceeds $4.5 million. Most years, the SMF teams outperformed the S&P 500 Index, and the projected long-term performance measured by the SMF benchmark is also superior.

The professors noted that a key objective of the program is to train students in asset selection and portfolio management with a methodical, disciplined approach to investment, with special focus on process, philosophy and style. Another important dimension of the program is to instill the virtues of financial prudence, diligence, team-spirit and professionalism.

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