UConn Today – Five UConn School of Business alumni, who have excelled in fields as diverse as college basketball, power-tool manufacturing, and complex financial services, will be inducted into the School of Business Hall of Fame this spring.
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UConn’s Innovation Quest Turns Students into Entrepreneurs
UConn Today – Just a year ago, Amelia Martin ’23 (CAHNR) was an undergraduate student with a great idea for creating an eco-friendly surfboard, but little idea how to bring it to the marketplace.
Today she is an entrepreneur and the owner of Mud Rat, a company creating organic surfboard cores from the mycelium of mushrooms. The material can replace Styrofoam, which produces toxic dust, and takes hundreds of years to decompose.
Innovation Experts Make Their Pitch for Quantum Technology, Unleashing Excitement, Urgency
UConn Today – If Connecticut is afforded the opportunity to develop the most advanced technology in the world—technology that would save lives, create jobs, strengthen the economy, and revolutionize many industries— how could it not vigorously pursue it?
That was the question that Rajeeb Hazra, an international quantum-computing expert, and the keynote speaker at Thursday’s “Imagining a Quantum Future’’ event, posed to the audience of more than 150 academic, government, and industry leaders.
Dean Elliott’s ‘Alumni Town Hall’ to Address the Changing Role of Business Education
UConn Today – If you graduated from the School of Business a decade or more ago, you probably wouldn’t recognize some of the curriculum today.
“Our students are exploring newer areas of study, including entrepreneurship, data analytics, and financial technology, as they prepare to enter a rapidly changing workforce,’’ said Dean John A. Elliott. “This is a remarkable and exciting time at the School of Business and I’m eager to talk about what has changed and why.’’
Alumna Toni Boucher’s $8 Million Gift to Benefit Science, Tech Entrepreneurship at UConn

Luis Quisumbing’s eyes light up as he talks about his membership in the student-run UConn Formula SAE race car organization. The latest car took first place for acceleration in a recent college competition, beating more than 100 other entries. The technology and innovation it incorporates might also be applied to other fields, including the defense industry.
Aria Penna is developing expertise in investing, and is particularly intrigued by companies developing technology that can make the world more green. She has become more knowledgeable about sustainability, and can quickly identify promising startups.
Although five decades separate the two business students from UConn alumna Antonietta ‘Toni’ Boucher ’02 MBA, their perspective is the same: Who better than UConn students and alumni to create, support, bolster and lead companies that are going to change the world?
“When I talk to these students, I see my own children, I see my own grandchildren. The School of Business is a place of innovation. There is wonderful talent here,’’ said Boucher, a former Connecticut state legislator who served for 22 years.
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Five-Time Emmy Award Winner Tells Students How to Succeed in Entertainment Industry
UConn Today – Anyone who wants to succeed in the entertainment industry, must be extremely confident, bold, well-prepared, and not let a single opportunity slip by.
That was the advice that Neil Mandt, a five-time Emmy Award winner, shared with 120 students during a School of Business presentation on Sept. 25 titled, “How to Make it in the Entertainment Business.’’
Conflict and Commerce: A Journey to Support Founders in Ukraine
UConn Today – The coffee in Lviv is some of the best that Ryan Coles has ever had.
“Better than Seattle,” declares Coles, an assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship in the UConn School of Business’ Boucher Management & Entrepreneurship Department, who has sampled coffee in cities all over the world as he’s pursued his work as a researcher, educator, sociologist, and entrepreneur.
U.S. News Ranks UConn Undergrad Business Program in the Top 50 Nationwide
Uconn Today – In a new report released on Monday, U.S. News & World Report ranked the undergraduate program at the UConn School of Business among the Top 50 in the nation.
The program is ranked No. 47, based on peer assessment by deans and senior faculty members at other highly-regarded colleges. UConn tied with UMass for the top public undergraduate business education in the New England.
Bright, Young Business Leaders: ‘Stay Open, Stay Curious, Explore’
UConn Today – Robyn Gallagher thought perhaps she was the wrong woman for the job.
As a law student, Gallagher was offered a summer internship in a prison legal services clinic, assisting with depositions and participating in mediation for prisoners whose rights had been violated while incarcerated.
Alumna Melinda Brown Tells Class of 2023 to Make Great Plans, Know When to Pivot, Work in the Office Sometimes
UConn Today – Leave it to a fashion-industry titan to offer UConn business students some words of wisdom that will likely never go out of style.
Alumna Melinda Brown ’77 (BUS) ’85 MBA shared her business perspective based on 40 years working in global consumer products and luxury retail companies.