UConn Magazine – Any interior designer would be ecstatic to be one of 15 finalists for the HGTV 2023 Designer of the Year award. But for Jeanne Collins ’05 MBA, the honor is particularly meaningful, as she is only three years into a design career.
MBA
‘A Beautiful Coincidence’
UConn Today – What are the odds that two women, complete strangers from Dallas, Texas, would enroll in the UConn Online MBA program during the same semester?
How about the chances that these two graduate students happen to live on the same street?
Whether it was destiny, or just a rare and delightful coincidence, Anna (Neupert) Wildfeuer ‘19 (BUS) and Julia Carter are glad they met at orientation in Connecticut last fall. They have since become both collegial classmates and good friends.
Five Alumni to be Inducted into UConn School of Business Hall of Fame
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.
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.’’
Wolff Entrepreneurship Competition Crowns Startup That Brings Emotional-Coping Skills to Elementary-Age Kids
UConn Today – The entrepreneurs who created Feel Your Best Self, a startup focused on social-emotional learning for elementary school-aged students, won the highly coveted Wolff New Venture Competition and a $25,000 prize on Tuesday night.
UConn MBA Student Launching Lingerie Company That Shuns Toxic Chemicals, Appeals to Health-Conscious Consumers
UConn Today – Christina Phillips was horrified when she discovered that toxic and dangerous chemicals are used to manufacture women’s bras and underwear.
Who would suspect that formaldehyde, pesticides, petroleum, dyes, parabens and “forever chemicals’’ are found in the creation of most popular brands of lingerie?
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.
U.S. News & World Report Ranks UConn MBA No. 1 in Connecticut

U.S. News & World Report has ranked the UConn part-time MBA program, known as the FLEX MBA, as No. 1 in Connecticut and tied at No. 2 in New England with Boston University. The 2023-24 Best Graduate School Ranking was released this week.
The honor comes at a time when the program is revising and strengthening its offerings to provide more flexibility in selecting courses, and greater convenience for students, who can select a mix of in-person courses, on any of three campuses in Hartford, Stamford or Waterbury, or online options. Continue Reading
Mike Morris ’23, School of Business
UConn Today – Mike Morris had his sights set on an MBA degree for a long time, but the obligations of work and military service – Morris holds the rank of colonel in the US Army Reserve – meant that had to be put on hold. When the time was right, Morris chose UConn – and found a seamless process from application to acceptance to support in course work and studies in the School of Business’ Online MBA program. And although the OMBA program is designed for non-traditional students, Morris was still able to take advantage of a familiar student activity: an immersive trip to study abroad, in Europe and North Africa. Having been elected to the UConn School of Business Student Hall of Fame, he’s looking forward to the next goal in life.
Hartford Business Journal Honors MBA Executive Director Mia Hawlk As a Top Woman In Business
UConn Today – Mia Hawlk, the Executive Director of MBA Programs and a relentless advocate for graduate students, will be recognized next month with a ‘Top 25 Women in Business Award’ presented by the Hartford Business Journal.
Hawlk oversees the Online, FLEX and Executive MBA degree programs at UConn, serving 675 students. Her responsibilities have included the creation of an online MBA program two years ago, and more recently the redesign of the FLEX MBA, allowing students a highly customized education.