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

Global Connections, Spring Edition

Building on the success of our innovative exchange program with Hochschule Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, students and faculty from both schools crossed the Atlantic again this year for on-campus visits. After collaborating on virtual projects with their partners at the German university in the fall, Willumstad students flew to Cologne to meet in person, attend receptions and classes on international human resource and diversity management, and visit a local business incubator. Adelphi welcomed a Fresenius contingent as well, treating them to celebratory get-togethers, classes in human resource management and business and society, a tour of the nursing simulation lab, and a day in New York City that included a Knicks game. This highly successful program, which launched in Fall 2020, will continue in 2022–2023.

Willumstad's annual Bender Research Awards honor outstanding published work by the school's faculty. This year, the Outstanding Body of Work Award, given to a faculty member for their contributions to scholarship over the previous three years, went to Zahra Sedighi-Maman, PhD, assistant professor of management, in recognition of her sustained record of high-quality publications during 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The 2022 Bender Best Paper Awards were given to six Willumstad faculty members:

Murat Sakir Erogul, PhD—"Dynamics of entrepreneurial belonging among Mexican female entrepreneurs," International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 13, No. 1. April 2021.

Robert Goldberg and Mariano Torras, PhD—"Explaining Stagnant Living Standards in a Generalized Asset Growth Context, "Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 55, Issue 1, pp. 142-161. March 2021.

Jason Na, PhD—"Does Corporate Political Party Ideology Matter? Evidence From Bank Loan Contracts," Review of Accounting and Finance, Vol. 20, Issue 2, pp. 121-142. June 2021.

Zahra Sedighi-Maman, PhD (Alexa Mondello, co-author)—"A Two-Stage Modeling Approach for Breast Cancer Survivability Prediction," International Journal of Medical Informatics, Vol. 149. May 2021.

Monica Yang, PhD (Qi Ai, co-author)—"The post-acquisition performance of cross-border mergers and acquisitions conducted by Chinese firms in the high-tech industries: Profitable or innovative?" Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 63(3), pp. 355-367. February 2021.

Congratulations to each of these outstanding scholars.

We are delighted to announce that Gita Surie, PhD, is the new associate dean for the Willumstad School of Business. Dr. Surie has been a member of the business school faculty since 2004 and has held a variety of leadership positions, including chair of the Department of Management and director of the Elizabeth and Allen Don Center for Innovative Technology and Decision Sciences. She has also served on many committees and task forces, including the business school's accreditation and learning assurance committees, as well as the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Affairs and Faculty Committee on Retention Tenure and Promotion. As a professor of strategy and innovation, Dr. Surie also is an accomplished instructor and scholar. Congratulations, Gita!

Alan Cooper, PhD, who has served as associate dean at Willumstad for the past seven and a half years, will now be joining the faculty as a clinical associate professor of management, beginning August 29. We welcome him to the faculty.

Zachary Johnson, PhD, completed his term as interim associate dean for undergraduate students at the end of the spring semester and has returned to his full-time faculty role. We thank Zach for his many accomplishments and contributions over the past year.

Lori Cary, MBA ’20, is now the school’s director for student success, overseeing all aspects of the Willumstad Winning Edge program, including the Willumstad Leadership Scholars. Formerly the interim director for student success and, before that, a cocurricular specialist, Lori will continue to serve as the "Edge adviser" for our undergraduate students. Congratulations, Lori!

Lily Lev ’85, MBA ’92, marketing lecturer, is the recipient of the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business’s Outstanding Faculty Advising Award. This annual award recognizes faculty members for their exemplary contributions in helping undergraduate students define and achieve their academic goals. We thank her for her wonderful work and wish her the best as she now moves on from the University.

FACULTY AND STAFF MILESTONES
We salute these pros as they celebrate their Willumstad anniversaries:

Lori Cary, MBA ’20: 10 years
Nick Koumbiadis, DBA, 20 years
Kathy Dillon ’15, 25 years
Zhimin Huang, PhD, 30 years
Winston Waters, JD, MBA ’15, 35 years
Bruce Swensen, PhD, 40 years

We are extremely proud of three outstanding Willumstad alumni who have just been elected members of the Adelphi University Board of Trustees. They are exemplary leaders who will bring years of business knowledge and international experience to the board.

Kevin Goodman ’00, MBA ’02, global director of member and customer enablement, LinkedIn
Kevin G. Mahony ’83, senior vice president, Eagle View Wealth Management, UBS Financial Services Inc.
José Singer Weisinger ’73, ’20 (Hon.), adviser on international affairs to the president of the Dominican Republic

Congratulations to these accounting alumni who recently received promotions at PwC:

Rachel Foley ’19, MBA ’20, senior associate, Private, Assurance Services
Jennifer Blandeburgo ’18, MBA ’19, senior assurance associate
Jessica Vadala ’18, MBA ’19, senior tax associate
Anthony Moneta ’13, MBA ’14, assurance director

Steven Mosher was promoted to senior tax associate at Baker Tilly in July 2022. He graduated with an MS in accounting in 2020 and a BBA in 2019.

Hats off to one of our newest alums, Barbara Quagliardi ’22, who won the Sport Excellence Award for Women's Tennis from the NE10 conference. It was the second time she won the award, given to the top individual from each of the league's 10 spring sports. She's returning to campus this fall to pursue an MS in business analytics.

Robert B. Willumstad School of Business Annual Welcome Social

Wednesday, September 14, 12:00 noon–2:30 p.m.

At this event, an annual tradition, students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to network and learn about business programs, clubs, internships and more while enjoying ice cream outside of the Hagedorn Hall of Enterprise on the Flagpole Lawn.

Accounting Networking Social

Thursday, September 15, 2022, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Ruth S. Harley University Center, Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom
Representatives from an expected 15 accounting firms will be on campus to meet with approximately 60 accounting students to discuss opportunities including leadership programs, internships, and full-time jobs. If your firm would like to participate, please contact Chelsea Marchese at chelseamarchese@mail.adelphi.edu or RSVP by Monday, September 12.

Managing Risk to Enable Supply Chain Agility and Resilience

Monday, September 26, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Join a panel of experts for an in-depth understanding of how to manage risk and uncertainty to create resilient, flexible and agile supply chains.

Sponsor: Elizabeth and Allen Don Center for Innovative Technology and Decision Sciences

Speaker: Jeremy Wool, MBA '21, logistics manager, NYU Langone Health

Transforming Customer Relationships and the Customer Experience Through Technology

Monday, November 14, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Join a panel of experts for an in-depth understanding of how to transform customer relationships to ensure customer delight through data analytics and other technologies.

Sponsor: Elizabeth and Allen Don Center for Innovative Technology and Decision Sciences

Speaker: Alexandru Oanca ’09, MBA ’10, Salesforce