Department News

Articles about activities within the academic departments



Ben Freeman: Cool Under Pressure, Leading by Example

Ben Freeman, above, balances his courseload in the School of Business with being the co-captain of the UConn men's hockey team. (Photo courtesy of UConn Athletics)
Ben Freeman, above, balances his courseload in the School of Business with being the co-captain of the UConn men’s hockey team. (Photo courtesy of UConn Athletics)

UConn men’s hockey co-captain Ben Freeman said it’s hard to describe the feeling when the puck sails into the net, the red goal-light glows, the horn wails, and the crowd roars.Continue Reading



Hometown Advantage? CEOs Tend to Acquire Companies in Familiar Stomping Grounds

UConn Today – Multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway bought CEO Warren Buffett’s struggling hometown newspaper. Amazon acquired Whole Foods, which is headquartered in the same state where CEO Jeff Bezos grew up and owns a home.

New research shows these deals aren’t coincidences. Companies are 2.5 times more likely to acquire firms headquartered in the state where their CEO grew up than similar firms located elsewhere, the study found.

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Coveted Class: Financial Services

Paul Gilson, director and assistant professor of in residence of finance at the Graduate Business Learning Center in Hartford on Aug. 13, 2019. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)
Paul Gilson, director and assistant professor of in residence of finance at the Graduate Business Learning Center in Hartford on Aug. 13, 2019. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

The Instructor

Associate professor-in-residence in finance, Paul Gilson grew up in the Thames River town of Gravesend, 20 miles east of London, and earned a degree in mathematics from Bristol University. His plan was always to go on to a Ph.D. “But first,” he says, “I needed a job.” So he went to work in London for KPMG, the global accounting giant. His first day at the office, stock markets around the world collapsed in the Black Monday crash of 1987, still the greatest one-day loss by percentage in Dow history. During the long recovery that followed, KPMG was kept very busy, and Gilson gained extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, a specialty of his department. “The late 1980s in London,” he says. “It was an exciting time.” Continue Reading


Predictive Modeling Class Projects Become Twin Wins for UConn

The UConn delegates pose at a reception during the JMP Discovery Summit in Tuscon, AZ.  The two UConn teams represented here tied for first place in the contest. (Contributed Photo)
The UConn delegates pose at a reception during the JMP Discovery Summit in Tuscon, AZ. The two UConn teams represented here tied for first place in the contest. (Contributed Photo)

If a pet-adoption agency wants to quickly find a home for a puppy, is it better to post a picture of the pup with its littermates—or a series of photos of the dog alone?

And if soccer club owners are trying to identify which FIFA players are underpaid based on their talent, could they accurately do so by analyzing public data about each player’s skill ratings?Continue Reading




EMBA Students Dive Right In to ‘Real Life’ Business Challenges

Shot of colleagues having a meeting during a late night in a modern office
(istockphoto.com)

As a self-described ‘mushy-gushy’ type, Catherine Davis-Gomez wasn’t exactly counting the days until the first session of her Financial Controls course in UConn’s Executive MBA program.

“When I learned what Financial Controls was, I thought, ‘I’m gonna hate this,'” said the highly trained therapist who helps create school-based programs to address post-traumatic stress in children.

The feeling didn’t last long.Continue Reading


Consumers: Online Restaurant Reviews are not All Equal

UConn Today – People searching online restaurant reviews give less value to those written on mobile devices than on other platforms, according to new research in the journal Marketing Science.

In a study of 275,000 restaurant reviews, researchers from the University of Connecticut, Boston College, and Peking University found differences in reader perception based on the platform where the review was generated.