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Student-Led University Ballet Co. Prepares for Inaugural Performance; ‘It’s Almost a Way to Be Free’

UConn Today – Angelia Prip ’22 (BUS) has been dancing since she was 4 years old, and, beginning in elementary school, she would typically practice every day. When she arrived at UConn, and discovered there was no ballet company here, Prip was devastated.

She set out on a mission to create the University Ballet Co., and, to her surprise, her initiative attracted 100 dancers, many of whom had trained with prestigious dance companies, including the Boston Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, The Hartt School, the Nutmeg Conservatory and more.


Business Graduate Students ‘Turned on the Jets,’ Topped Nearly 500 Teams to Win Bloomberg’s First Global Trading Challenge

UConn Today – A team of Stamford-based UConn business graduate students won the highly competitive 2021 Bloomberg Global Trading Challenge, topping almost 500 teams from around the world.

The winning team credited its success to a professor’s advice to make smart and bold decisions, an investment strategy that identified underdog companies that were responding to market demands, and their UConn education that prepared them for thorough assessments of prospective investments.


UConn SPAC Conference Will Address the Hottest Topic in Financial Markets

IMage of conference attendees applauding, SPAC conference logo is inset.
(istockphoto.com)

The UConn School of Business will host a half-day conference on Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), which are seeing a dramatic spike in interest in the financial and investment communities this year.

“This is the topic of the year in the financial markets,” said Professor Yiming Qian, the Toscano Family Chair in Finance at UConn. “SPAC is not new, but was not popular until last year. Before 2020, the annual numbers of SPAC IPOs were in one or two digits. In 2020, however, the number jumped to 248 (compared to 165 traditional IPOs). The number for 2021 already exceeded 500.” Continue Reading


Retired Professor Offers $100K Matching Gift to Save Veterans’ Entrepreneurship Program

UConn Today – United States Marine Corps veteran Tony Audette builds custom motorcycles for celebrities, business titans, and other enthusiasts who want a bike that’s unlike any other. His exclusive motorcycles sell for upwards of $130,000.

After two years in business, Audette Motorcycles, in Canton, is thriving. Audette credits much of his business knowledge and expertise to the School of Business’ Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV). The startup accelerator steered him away from several costly business mistakes, he said.



Q&A: A Tax on Billionaires’ Assets?

UConn Today – If President Joe Biden’s proposed multi-trillion dollar economic and climate package can get Congressional approval, one key factor hangs in the balance: how to pay for it. One option is a “wealth tax’’ that would be levied on the assets of billionaires.

UConn accounting professor Steve Utke studies the implications of tax changes. He recently spoke with UConn Today about his work.


Student Investors Endorse Their First Startup: A Gaming Company that Teaches Kids Social/Emotional Skills

Young girl playing video games
(istockphoto.com)

The recently created, student-run Hillside Venture Capital investment team has selected its first company to support–an educational-technology startup that strives to enhance social and emotional learning in children through a video-game app.Continue Reading


Strong Backgrounds, Proven Scholarship Are Hallmarks of School’s New Faculty Members

New faculty members include (left to right): Rachel Chambers, Xiang Zheng, Sami Ghaddar, Mary Vernon, and James Warren (Contributed photos)

The incoming cohort of new business faculty includes a consultant on human rights for the United Nations, an award-winning researcher focused on fintech, two enthusiastic accounting experts, and a management professor who researches corporate governance, innovation and performance.Continue Reading


Lobster, Innovation, and A Dream Job Are All on the Menu for This Recent Grad

(Contributed Photo)

Fresh out of college and struggling to pay his sky-high New York City rent, Joshua Allen applied for a job as a restaurant busboy to supplement his full-time income.

He not only landed the job, but also earned some powerful insight into the restaurant industry and developed new ideas for improving it.Continue Reading