News From Adelphi's Robert B. Willumstad School of Business

Dear Students and Colleagues,

Signs of spring are in the air and the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business has a number of spring events planned. Our annual Honors and Awards Ceremony will take place on April 15. Our executive-in-residence will be giving a lecture on artificial intelligence on April 18. Our accounting volleyball networking event is scheduled for May 3. There are events from the Center for Career and Professional Development as well. Read about some of the events that have taken place so far this semester, as well as our students' and our faculty's accomplishments, and be sure to scroll to the bottom to see our exciting upcoming activities.

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Don Center Panel Co-Sponsors Event With Association for Supply Chain Management

Improving Operational Processes and Efficiencies
On Thursday, February 29, the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) of New York City and Long Island and the Adelphi University Elizabeth and Allen Don Center for Innovative Technology and Decision Sciences sponsored a networking session and panel discussion on improving operational processes and efficiencies. The session was moderated by Toni Cawley, Don Center assistant director and adjunct faculty member, and featured the following panelists:

Kevin Reim, vice president of fulfillment center operations, Luxury Division of L’Oreal
Ian Trugman, vice president of supply chain, Tasty Brands
Sudhir Sachdev, visiting assistant professor at Farmingdale State College

Adelphi College Rise Program Provides Financial Literacy Course for High School Students

On February 28, 12 current Uniondale High School students arrived at Adelphi to begin their college career. A component of a high school mentoring initiative developed by the Willumstad School of Business (WSB)'s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Council, these students enrolled in a 1-college-credit business course called Financial Literacy for Life. The entire payment for this initiative is made possible by a generous grant and the efforts of dozens of volunteers from the Adelphi University community. These volunteers visit with and mentor students at Uniondale High School on a weekly basis.

According to the WSB DEIB Council chair and program coordinator, Joseph Celentano, MBA ’04, senior adjunct faculty member, “The overall goal of this initiative is to better prepare and motivate students underrepresented in higher education to pursue a college career.”

Congratulations to Matias Hoyos, Hugo Munoz Reinoso, Thiago Negrao and Casey Recci for winning first place ($5,000) at the 2024 Adelphi University Robert B. Willumstad School of Business 's Business Plan Competition for their proposal for Campus Trade, a secure, sustainable and socially responsible online marketplace for college students. Alex Campbell was the second-place winner ($3,000) for Campbell Postmodern Counseling. Third place ($2,000) went to Viktor Hockl, Thomas Horsley and Marko Jovanovic for their proposal for an international service called Global Link Corp that connects U.S.-based small businesses with foreign workers. Kristen Flores won $1,000 for the best socially responsible approach for her proposed device Voice to Vision, that would bridge gaps in communication through real-time captions.

We are grateful to alumnus and trustee Kevin Mahony ’83 for his support for the prize money for this competition. Thank you to Associate Dean Murat Sakir Erogul, PhD, and Lori Cary, MBA ’20, director for student success, for their efforts throughout the year to make this event a success.

Murat Sakir Erogul, PhD, is now serving as the associate dean for the Willumstad School of Business. Congratulations, Murat! Gita Surie, PhD, who was serving as associate dean, has returned to her faculty role in the management department. We thank Gita for her many contributions while she was the School’s associate dean.

Zachary Johnson, PhD, has left the Adelphi marketing faculty after 10 years. We thank him for his many contributions to the Willumstad School and to Adelphi.

Kathy Dillon ’15 has retired from her role as executive assistant to the dean after nearly 27 years. We thank Kathy for her dedication to the business school and wish her the best in her next chapter.

Welcome to Michael O’Donnell, who joins us as a clinical assistant professor of business analytics.

We also welcome several new adjunct faculty members:

Stephen Gordon ’77, MBA ’81, and Jack Krueger, EdD, are no strangers to Adelphi! We welcome them back to teaching in the Willumstad School.
Robert Kalbach is teaching courses in supply chain management.
Sinem Sonmez, PhD, is teaching economics.
Syeda Yesmin, MS ’22, is teaching supply chain management.

It is with sadness that we share that Jack Angel has died. Angel was an associate professor of accounting in the business school for more than 40 years.

Faculty Accomplishments

During Intersession, Charles Richard Baker, PhD, professor of accounting and law, traveled to Lyon, France, to participate in “International Week,” where representatives of 31 countries led seminars for 2,000 master’s and executive education students at the IAE Lyon School of Management.

Grace Conway, associate professor of accounting, is the winner of this year's Willumstad School of Business Excellence in Faculty Advising Award.

Faculty in the News

Joseph Celentano, MBA ’04, senior adjunct faculty member, was recognized by Long Island Business News as a 2024 Diversity in Business Award recipient. Congratulations, Professor Celentano!

Robert Goldberg, James F. Bender clinical professor of finance, was quoted in USA Today in an article on How to Buy Tesla (TSLA) Stock and had a letter to the editor, The Fed Doesn’t Know the Natural Rate of Interest, published in The Wall Street Journal.

Karen Wallace, assistant professor of accounting and law, was quoted in a GOBankingRates story on HOA fees.

Ganesh Pandit, DBA, professor and chair of the Department of Accounting and Law, was quoted by WalletHub on the best credit cards for young adults.

Faculty Scholarship

Charles Richard Baker, PhD, professor of accounting and law, published a paper titled “Historical perspectives on time and temporality” in the journal revue Recherche en Sciences de Gestion-Management Sciences-Ciencias de Gestión.

Cem Karatas, DBA, clinical assistant professor of finance, co-authored a paper titled “Do psychological factors exert greater influence on investment decisions than psychological factors? Evidence from Borsa Istanbul” in the Borsa Istanbul Review.

Jason Na, PhD, associate professor of finance, had a paper titled “The U.S. Government Customer Concentration and the Firm Innovation,” published in the International Journal of Managerial Finance.

Winston Waters, MBA ’15, professor of accounting and law, authored “The Need for Comprehensive Federal Legislation to Regulate Facial Recognition Technology,” which was published in the Southern Law Journal.

Accounting Society Panel Discussion
Thursday, March 28, 6:00 p.m., Ruth S. Harley University Center, Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom
Join us to learn about careers in accounting beyond the CPA firms, such as Spotify and the New York Mets.

Career Readiness Boot Camp
Wednesday, April 3, 5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m., Ruth S. Harley University Center, Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom
Sponsored by the Center for Career and Professional Development

Job and Internship Expo 2024
Thursday, April 11,12:00 noon–3:00 p.m., Ruth S. Harley University Center, Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom
Sponsored by the Center for Career and Professional Development

Insights From Experts: Data-Driven Business: How Data, Analytics and AI Are Reshaping Business Strategy
Thursday, April 18, 3:15 p.m.–4:15 p.m., Center for Recreation and Sports, Campbell Lounge

Accounting Society Volleyball Networking Event
Friday, May 3, 10:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m., Center for Recreation and Sports