Added Value: Alumni find friends and colleagues in their former professors

Return on Investment

At the edge of the vast Huron National Forest on Michigan’s Lower Peninsula lies the town of Mio, home to fewer than 2,000 people and a solitary traffic light on its lone main street, the M-33. Laura Jackson Young ’10 grew up there, in a house of educators: Dad Jay taught at Mio AuSable Middle School, mom Sheri in the local preschool.

But it took some inspiration further from home for the alumna to imagine an academic career for herself.

“I learned that I enjoyed working with students, and that I was good at it,” she says of tutoring fellow undergraduates in the Economics-Finance lab at Bentley. She also served as a research assistant to Professor of Global Studies Jeff Gulati. “It helped me figure out that I didn’t want an investment banking path.”

Fast forward to 2021. The now-assistant professor teaches courses in monetary theory and macroeconomics, among others. And, with Professor of Economics Dave Gulley, she coaches the student team that Bentley fields for the annual Fed Challenge. The national competition invites students to analyze economic and financial conditions, and then present a monetary policy recommendation to a panel of Federal Reserve employees.

“It’s been cool to partner with Dave,” reports Jackson Young, herself a competitor in 2009. “As a student you feel the pressure to get ready and learn, but as faculty we get to quiz them and push them to learn new things. It’s fun to be on this side.”

Gulley founded the team back in 2007 with faculty colleague Aaron Jackson (no relation to the alumna), who is now associate dean of business. They stay in touch, via biweekly emails, with a long roster of past competitors.

“We joke with students that once they’re in the Fed Challenge, they are in it for life,” says Gulley.

That steady outreach (typically, finance-focused Wall Street Journal articles and colorful team updates) helped bring Jackson Young back to campus after completing her PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The 2020 Fed Challenge season was virtual, from prep through competition. Bentley’s team reached the national semifinals before losing to eventual champion Dartmouth College.

“I get excited, but Dave can’t watch them compete,” Jackson Young says with a smile. “The nerves get to him.”

The alumna, like her former professors, forges bonds with students outside the classroom. Women in Economics at Bentley (WEB) is a two-year-old network she created to mentor female students. They gain a role model in a male-dominated field, along with advice on course selection and help with job applications. “I’ve gotten a lot of nice relationships out of it,” says Jackson Young. “Students are emailing me after graduation, or coming back to campus to visit.”

That return on investment was even greater this year: She just earned tenure, which called for celebrating with her husband, Eric Young ’09 and their 18-month-old son, Julian. They are surely applauding back home in Mio, too.

Senior Lecturer in Law Franklyn Salimbene and Will Manning ’14 coach Bentley’s Moot Court team

It’s rewarding to see students grow and compete toward their goals.

A Case for Partnership

It was December 2013 and emotions were running high at the Eastern Regional Moot Court Tournament. Will Manning ’14 and Gianni Crameri ’13 had advanced to day two of the competition, in which undergraduate student teams argue constitutional cases before a panel of lawyers and judges. The duo’s arguments about 14th Amendment affirmative action programs and First Amendment speech rights had earned them the top seed.

“Right before the final round, Gianni told me that he might throw up,” recalls Manning. “I told him we had exceeded my best expectations, so if he had to vomit in the middle of his argument, it would only make it more memorable.”

Manning’s idiosyncratic humor and oratory skills are treasured to this day by Franklyn Salimbene, senior lecturer in Law and long-time adviser to the Moot Court team. In fact, he tapped the alumnus five years ago to help coach Bentley’s nationally ranked squad.

“I really enjoy the material, the element of competition, and the close nature of the group each year,” says Manning, a self-avowed extrovert who loves a good argument. “It’s rewarding to see students grow and compete toward their goals. I feel like a proud parent.”

He and Salimbene conduct Moot Court business largely by email, text and phone. But in-person get-togethers — say, dinner in the North End — have made the partnership a friendship. With beverages close at hand (craft beer for Manning, a Manhattan for Salimbene) they cover current events: Manning’s work as principal solutions engineer for Eze Software in the Boston Seaport and his 2020 engagement, Salimbene’s trips to London and mountain climbs with his grandnephew.

Fellowship with former students is a welcome windfall for the professor, who started his career as a personal injury lawyer, but left practice after seven years.

“It was just too combative,” explains Salimbene, who holds a JD from Suffolk University and an LLM from the London School of Economics. “It wasn’t good for my soul.”

Teaching came next, and naturally. In 2001, he won the Innovation in Teaching Award for developing the Moot Court course that would introduce him to Manning — a Managerial Economics major with strong interest in law.

Astute as he was, Manning did need some guidance. For example, when he wore mismatched brown slacks and a tan sport coat to the regional competition.

“I said, ‘You’ve got to dress the part,’” says Salimbene, an impeccable dresser himself. “So, for the national finals, Will bought a navy pinstripe suit with a vest. We still laugh about it.”

Manning appreciates the sartorial candor — “it wasn’t stylish” — and collegiality.

“Franklyn is the reason I volunteer,” he says. “I’m sticking around as long as he’ll have me.”

Balancing Act

On a chilly Monday afternoon in December, Isaura Beltre ’01, MSIAM ’02 is vigorously multitasking. There’s a cellphone interview to finish, a consulting client to visit and a charitable donation to drop at Girls Inc. — all before heading home to Lynn and her fiancé and their four boys. Bentley’s fall trimester has ended, so for the moment, the lecturer in Marketing can set that job aside.

“It’s called trying to manage your calendar, which I’m about 80% good at,” Beltre says with a laugh.

Fall 2020 was her first term as a full-time faculty member. The many courses she teaches include one inherited from her much-admired graduate program adviser: Professor of Marketing Abdi Eshghi.

“We became close during a four-week graduate school tour of Eastern Europe,” she remembers. “I worked full time while doing the program, and he helped guide me through.”

A return to Bentley wasn’t part of her initial plan. After graduation, Beltre rose through the buying program at Filene’s to eventually become vice president of merchandising, Northeast, for Macy’s. She loved the job, and was good at it.

Her success inspired an invitation from Adjunct Lecturer in Marketing Mike Tesler. Would she be a guest speaker in his Retailing course?

“I want students to get many points of view, even if they contradict my own,” explains Tesler, an entrepreneur who built and ran the clothing chain Gatepost for two decades before joining the faculty in 1994. “I want a discussion in class, and for students to be critical thinkers.”

Beltre’s topics that day included her career since graduation, the state of retail and the many options beyond sales and advertising that are available to marketing grads.

“The reaction from students was amazing. Mike said I should think about teaching, but I wasn’t sure. I thought I might teach later on, in my 50s, but not quite yet.”

“Yet” came sooner than expected, when Macy’s restructured in 2016. Beltre’s reworked responsibilities required a move to New York City, but she rejected the relocation for her family. It was time to pivot.

She looked to a curated Bentley crew for career guidance. Tesler lent his syllabi and assignments for inspiration. Professor of Marketing Susan Dobscha dispensed work-life counsel over coffee. Administrator and diversity champion Earl Avery offered access to a PhD-level class focused on how to teach.

“One of the things I admire most about Isa is that she’s not all about the money,” says Tesler. “She’s chasing what she’s good at, and where she can help others.”

Toward that end, Beltre counsels small Boston retailers through her side hustle, Plush Consultants, and lends her myriad talents to charity. She is a board member for KodeConnect, a STEM-focused program for inner-city youth, founded by Eval Silvera ’99; serves as merchandise director for ADCOLOR, founded by Bentley trustee Tiffany R. Warren ’97 to champion diversity and inclusion in creative industries; and volunteers with Girls Inc., an afterschool program that gifted her a scholarship to Bentley more than 20 years ago.

And if commitments like these keep Beltre multitasking for years to come? So be it, she says. “I love the students and what I do.” Guest-lecturer-turned-faculty-member Isaura Beltre ’01, MSIAM ’02 and mentor Mike Tesler

The reaction from students was amazing. Mike said I should think about teaching, but I wasn’t sure.

The PROfile

LISA RAICHE, MST ’05 has made it her business to help women succeed. She co-founded wiseHer to connect women looking to grow their companies or careers with experts across a number of disciplines. The alumna’s own path offers plenty of guidance and inspiration. By Deblina Chakraborty Photo by Allana Taranto