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School of Business featured news


UConn Startup Uses Tech To Ensure Breastfed Babies Thrive

UConn Today – At least half of breastfeeding mothers stop nursing by their infant’s second week of life, largely due to concerns about the baby receiving enough milk.

UConn alumnae Jayme Coates MS ’07, MBA ’10 and Brittany Molkenthin ’17 (NUR) believe they have created a solution. Lactation Innovations is an easy-to-use, non-invasive technology that may alleviate mothers’ concerns.


Nine ‘Enthusiastic, Well Qualified’ Faculty Join School for Fall 2022

(Photo courtesy of University Communications)

The School of Business is welcoming nine new faculty members this semester, continuing a trend of successful recruiting. Many of the new hires already have strong research accomplishments and awards for teaching excellence.Continue Reading


Management’s Professor John Mathieu, and Protégé, Recognized for Exceptionally High-Quality Research

John Mathieu (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
John Mathieu (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)

UConn management professor John Mathieu has received the Academy of Management’s RMD Distinguished Career Award, recognizing his high-quality research and methodology expertise.

Additionally, one of his former students, UConn alumna Margaret Luciano ’15 Ph.D., now an associate professor of management at Pennsylvania State University, won a similar academy award as an early-career researcher.

Margaret Luciano '15 Ph.D. (Photo Coutesy of Penn State)
Margaret Luciano ’15 Ph.D. (Photo Coutesy of Penn State)

“These awards are a testament to the highly respected research we do at UConn,” Mathieu said. “Scientific research has to be done well or it is of no value at all. We set a very high standard.”

Mathieu is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor at UConn, the highest honor that the university bestows on faculty. He has repeatedly been recognized with lifetime achievement awards for his work in the field of leadership and organizational management. His groundbreaking research on team dynamics, for example, has been used by NASA to prepare astronauts to reduce conflict during long trips, such as a future journey to Mars.

As a UConn doctoral candidate, Luciano’s dissertation addressed the dynamics of cross-unit coordination of patient “handoffs” in a busy hospital setting. She won multiple awards while she was a student, was inducted into the School of Business Hall of Fame in 2015. Subsequently, she has also collaborated and mentored other UConn Ph.D. students in the organizational behavior field.

In addition to the Academy of Management award, Luciano also recently received an INGRoup (Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research) early career award, which is presented to a researcher whose work makes a distinguished contribution to the study of team behavior, dynamics, and outcomes.

“Margaret’s success in winning these early career awards is a reflection of how hard she works and the quality of her research,” Mathieu said. “Our doctoral students have won all sorts of awards involving big, ambitious, creative research studies. Margaret’s recognitions, along with those of other management Ph.D. graduates, is also evidence of the quality of training and preparation that our students receive here at UConn, not only from me, but from the entire program. It does take a village.”


EBV Honors Lawrence Dapo ’15 With Inaugural Zacchea Veterans Impact Award

(Contributed Photo)

The UConn EBV program has awarded the inaugural Michael J. Zacchea Veterans Impact Award to a program alumnus who played an integral role in protecting former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sept. 11, created a successful Connecticut construction company, and continually supports his fellow veterans.Continue Reading


Hartford Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty” Includes Three Business Alumnae Who Are Industry Standouts

Left to Right, Tammy Hendricks ’19 EMBA, Lindsay Castonguay Hany ’08 MBA, and Katherine Donovan ’09 have been named as honorees for HBJ's 40 Under Forty 2022 Class. (Contributed Photos)
Left to Right, Tammy Hendricks ’19 EMBA, Lindsay Castonguay Hany ’08 MBA, and Katherine Donovan ’09 have been named as honorees for HBJ’s 40 Under Forty 2022 Class. (Contributed Photos)

Three alumnae of the School of Business are among the Hartford Business Journal’s ’40 Under Forty’ award recipients this year. All have been recognized as outstanding leaders in their fields, ranging from banking to accounting to healthcare innovation.Continue Reading




At-Risk High Schoolers Learning Personal Finance Basics at UConn

UConn Today – About 50 students from four high schools in Hartford and East Hartford have been traveling by bus to UConn’s Storrs campus for several Saturdays this spring to learn the basics of personal finance. Among those lessons are how to open a bank account, managing personal spending, and ways to fund a college education.


Grad Student Lexy Vecchio Wins IQ Challenge with Videogame that Mimics PTSD

Mary "Lexy" Vecchio and her startup Ursa Mayhem Media have won Innovation Quest 2022 with their video game, Here There Be Bears. (Contributed Photo)
Mary “Lexy” Vecchio and her startup Ursa Mayhem Media have won Innovation Quest 2022 with their video game, Here There Be Bears. (Contributed Photo)

At 11 years old, Mary “Lexy” Vecchio had a traumatic, life-changing ski accident.

She was skiing alone, without a helmet, and hadn’t told her family which trail she would be on. She had a terrible crash, and broke her hip. She was alone in the snow, stranded, frightened, and seriously injured. Her screams for help went unheard for a long time.Continue Reading


Accounting’s Erin Leigh Named UConn Career Mentor of the Year

Erin Leigh (center) poses with Zachary Solomon (left) and Lily Jackson (right) as they earn their Master of Science degrees in Accounting. Erin was awarded the Career Mentor of the Year award by the Provost's Office.    (Contributed Photo)
Erin Leigh (center) poses with Zachary Solomon (left) and Lily Jackson (right) as they earn their Master of Science degrees in Accounting. Erin was awarded the Career Mentor of the year award by the Provost’s Office. (Contributed Photo)

Erin Leigh, the recruiting, career and external relations manager for the Accounting Department, has been named Career Mentor of the Year for the 2021-22 academic year. Leigh was nominated by her students and received the award from the Provost’s Office.Continue Reading