Reaching Higher - Fall 2022

Reaching Higher Honoring a legacy

Dean Upinder Dhillon’s impact on SOM

The strength of our community

Dean Upinder Dhillon always loved the start of a new school year. He was always eager to meet new students, learn about summer internship experiences and find ways to continue improving the school. As we enter our first year since his passing, it’s difficult not to feel bittersweet. We are saddened that he isn’t here with us to welcome our students, but confident they will enjoy an excellent SOM experience that owes much to his leadership.

Upinder concluded his 21-year tenure as dean with SOM being ranked among the top 10 public business schools in the country. This was always a goal of his, and we couldn’t be prouder of his legacy. We’ve always known how strong the SOM community is — it’s motivating to know that others are taking notice.

As we celebrate this achievement, we also know the work doesn’t stop. We hope this edition of Reaching Higher will give you an idea of what’s in store for SOM. There is much to be excited about, such as

the launch of our new Transformational Leaders Program, successful startups from some of our young alumni and national recognition of our awesome faculty.

SOM has become one of the best public business schools in the country, and there is so much that is still possible, especially with strong support from our alumni and friends. If you’re looking to find ways to help, please reach out to us. There are many ways to get involved, from speaking in our classes to networking with students.

It’s an exciting time to be part of this community that Upinder was so proud of. We hope you’ll help us keep this momentum going.

Warm regards,

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Dionne, MBA ’94, PhD ’98

DEAN

Bobinski

ASSOCIATE DEAN

Jagannathan

DEAN

Reynolds, PhD ’21

HIGHER MAGAZINE

Wengert

Skyrca ’85

Borrelli

Hart ’22

Kocher

Seepersaud

Delviscio

DIRECTOR OF

Hovancik Jr.

Blando-George

Coker

Shelley Dionne, MBA ’94, PhD ’98 Dean, School of Management

SERVICES

On the cover: Remembering the legacy of Upinder Dhillon, who served as dean of SOM for 21 years until his death in April 2022.

JONATHAN COHEN

“SOM has become one of the best public business schools in the country, and there is so much that is still possible...”

SOM to social

star

SOM named a top-ranked public business school

The Binghamton University School of Management has once again been ranked as one of the best business schools in the nation, according to a top publication for business education news.

Of the 94 schools included in the Poets & Quants 2022 Best Undergraduate Business Schools ranking, Binghamton University came in at 27, up one spot from 2021. Among public business schools, SOM jumped into the ranking’s top 10.

Poets & Quants, an online publication for business education news, developed the rankings using data on admission standards, employment outcomes and alumni surveys of the undergraduate class of 2019 to get feedback on its academic experience. SOM was ranked in the top 25 for both admission standards and alumni experience.

Among the metrics that business school alumni were surveyed on, SOM received some significant accolades, including:

• Ranked #1 for business degree worth its cost in tuition

• Ranked #2 for quality of extracurricular opportunities

• Ranked #11 for quality of academic advising SOM also received at least an “A” rating from alumni in the following categories:

• Would recommend program to someone interested in business education

• Degree worth cost in time and resources

• Opportunities to nurture and improve soft skills in business

• Availability of faculty for mentoring outside of class

SOM launches EY Leaders Program

The School of Management has teamed with Ernst & Young (EY) to launch its new EY Leaders Program for undergraduate students. The multiyear program is designed for students with exceptional academic performance, a commitment to community and demonstrated leadership behaviors.

Students in the program will develop a mindset to analyze and innovate while thinking and acting glob ally. The program provides opportunities to develop leadership skills through purposeful discovery and

professional networking. Students will interact with EY professionals, campus ambassadors, Binghamton alumni and business executives throughout the program, with opportunities to visit EY workplaces.

The program also focuses on areas of technology and innovation, with the goal of ensuring that students develop the cutting-edge skills needed to be successful in the Fourth Industrial Revolu tion, including statistical and data-driven decision making, data visualization, creative leadership, programming, modeling and machine learning.

COHEN

Seniors of the Year

Bob Swan, MBA ’85, awarded honorary degree

Bob Swan, MBA ’85, an innovative leader who has helped shape the technology world, was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters at the 2022 SOM Commencement ceremony.

Swan has served in leadership positions in a number of prominent tech companies over his career, and was CEO of Intel until early 2021. In his remarks, he offered the Class of 2022 the advice he wished someone had given him upon graduation:

A positive spirit is contagious: “Every interaction you have is an opportunity to make a positive impact on a person, a team, a company, an industry and maybe even the world.”

Teamwork and the diversity of teams yield better outcomes: “A diverse team and environment where everyone can contribute to their fullest abilities is powerful. Great team players illuminate the great ness in others.”

Practice intellectual curiosity: “Learning is a continuous process, and intellectual curiosity will accelerate both your knowledge accumulation and your contributions.”

Leave it all on the field: “In the course of your career, you want to be able to say you did every thing possible in the quest to be great at whatever it is you were doing.”

Family matters: “The joy I have experienced [with my family] dwarfs anything I have achieved in my professional career.”

“Each of you, in your own way, can and will make the world a better place,” Swan said. “I hope that, like me, you will be shocked and amazed by your ability to have a positive impact on the world.”

Tim Ryan, senior partner and chairman of PwC US, shared invaluable lessons and advice with SOM students during a campus visit in March.

“The goal of a leader is to help people reach their full potential.”

Congratulations to the School of Management Seniors of the Year from the Class of 2022!

Isabella Martinez

Raquel Shapiro

The

Dhillon impact

Remembering Upinder Dhillon’s leadership of SOM

By Allen Wengert

It’s impossible to fully measure the impact Upinder Dhillon had on the Binghamton University School of Management. Beyond the many milestones the school achieved under his leadership as dean for 21 years, Dhillon made a lasting impression on the thousands of students who passed through SOM.

When the news of his death from an illness was announced in April, hundreds of SOM alumni shared their memories of Dhillon on social media. Some patterns emerged, starting with the words many alumni used to describe Dhillon:

Transformational. Inspirational. Fair. Generous. Gentle. Compassionate. Humble. Caring. Kind.

The second pattern was how many people recalled the interest Dhillon had in their success beyond college. He was not only concerned with the SOM student experience, he was invested in continued success after Binghamton. He knew that the two were integral to one another, as a school is only as successful as its students and alumni, and he made it his mission to ensure SOM was a place to foster success and excellence.

“In his 21 years as dean, he set very high standards for himself, his students and his school, leading the way for remarkable achievements, including building one of the top-ranked business schools in the country. He developed a loyal, engaged and generous alumni base, and a reputation on campus of always having a clear vision for his school’s and the University’s future, leaving SOM in a strong position to keep moving forward … most importantly, he was a wonderfully warm and positive person who always brought out the best in those around him.”

— Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger

Dhillon began his career as a project engineer and assistant plant manager at Shriram Chemicals in Kota, India. He eventually shifted his focus to finance and earned his MBA and PhD at Louisiana State University. He came to Binghamton as a visiting assistant professor of finance in 1987, becoming a tenure-track assistant professor two years later.

Dhillon received numerous awards for teaching and research in the years following, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 1997, he was promoted to professor and named a Koffman Scholar.

He was named dean of SOM in 2001.

Over the course of two decades, Dhillon helped take the school to the next level. Here are just a few highlights of his deanship:

A rise in reputation

As evidenced by rankings and faculty achievements, SOM continues to be recognized as one of the best public business schools in the country. Most recently, SOM was named a “Top 10 Public Business School” by Poets & Quants, and a “Top 50 Best College for Business Majors” by Money. SOM faculty are regularly published in top business journals and featured in major media outlets. The school’s AACSB accreditation was re-affirmed numerous times under Dhillon’s leadership, and in 2016 it earned the special distinction of holding a separate AACSB accreditation for accounting.

Exceptional student experience

With a strong focus on hands-on learning, numerous initiatives were developed to ensure SOM students have the best experience possible at Binghamton. Dhillon played a key role in establishing the Zurack Trading Room, which now boasts a student-run portfolio worth over a half million dollars, and the Innovation Lab, a new state-of-the-art location for students to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects. Enrollments for both undergraduate and graduate programs grew significantly, and the SOM Career Services Office was established to promote student success before and after graduation.

COHEN

Engaged alumni and partners

External funding and gifts to SOM increased significantly, and endowments were established for the SOM Excellence and Dean’s Excellence funds, which support student and faculty success. Several fundraising galas and mentoring events were held in New York City to keep graduates in major firms engaged. SOM alumni regularly give time and advice to help ensure students have the cuttingedge skills and professional networks needed for post-college success.

Diversity

The SOM Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee was established in 2020 to formulate long-term strategic initiatives to promote equity in the school. One of these initiatives, the newly introduced Transformational Leaders Program, was designed to develop

successful professional trajectories for students who are underrepresented and/ or facing economic barriers.

In his own words

Looking back on Upinder Dhillon’s words of wisdom from previous SOM publications.

On the SOM community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020:

“We’ve worked hard to create a community mindset for the School of Management. We want our students and alumni to feel part of this community long after they’ve left Binghamton. It’s a community where we help each other, and everyone ultimately benefits.

“I’ve heard so many say in recent months, ‘I understand this is a difficult time, and I’m here to help.’ Our network is strong. We were there for each other and are still there for each other.”

On SOM’s ranking as a top 10 public business school, 2022:

While he originally planned to step down as dean at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, Dhillon announced in March that he’d be retiring earlier than expected to focus on his health and family.

In his parting message to faculty, staff and students, he made it clear that the individual success of each SOM community member, as well as the collective success of that community, is what made him proudest about his time with the school.

“Serving the University and our students and having the privilege of working with so many of you has been the greatest honor of my professional career,” he said. “The exceptional quality and work ethic of SOM students has always been, and will continue to be, a great source of pride for the school.”

“The entire School of Management family celebrates this achievement. It reflects the hard work of our students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends.

“We are thankful for the positive feedback we received from our alumni. This ranking is proof of the School of Management’s long-lasting impact on students and alumni.”

On celebrating SOM’s 50th anniversary, 2019:

“I think that one can get complacent and relax … but that is not the environment we want to create in this school. We want to create an environment in which we are always striving to be better.

“School of Management students are the reason that I’m here. They are the best in the country.”

Opportunities ahead

Dean Shelley Dionne, MBA ’94, PhD ’98, on SOM’s future

a cycle: the better the school gets, the better the students we attract, which makes the school even better, and on and on. We’ve had to constantly raise our game simply because the quality of our students is always getting better.

What are some opportunities ahead for SOM?

One of the most important is addressing diversity, inclusion and belongingness, and we’re just starting that journey. We’re educating students on how to lead as change agents, and we’re recruiting students, staff and faculty to help us become the organization we are aspiring to be. It also aligns with our mission as a public school. Public education is transformative and accessibility is key.

Shelley Dionne’s history with SOM runs deep. An alumna of its MBA and PhD programs, Dionne joined the faculty in 2001 and has served in several roles since, including as associate dean and associate director of the Bernard M. and Ruth R. Bass Center for Leadership Studies. Dionne began her responsibilities as dean in June after a nationwide search.

How has SOM’s reputation grown since joining the faculty?

Upinder [Dhillon, former dean of SOM] recognized that we had the potential to be a top-tier business school. He had a real passion for SOM and could see what we were capable of becoming. He became dean the same year I was hired, and I remember him saying at that first faculty meeting that SOM was going to become a top 50 business school. At the time we were ranked around 155. He had an ambitious vision, and we achieved all of that and more under his tenure.

How has the school changed over the years?

Technology is an obvious one. The rate of change and the incorporation of technology into management education over the past 25 years is just mind blowing. But the biggest change is that the students just keep getting better. It creates

Another opportunity is research. I’d like to encourage more collaboration not only within SOM, but across the University. Hopefully this leads to more funded research. There are not many business schools with federally funded research. However this is likely to change as funding opportunities rely on interdisciplinary teams. SOM has experience in obtaining funded research and has potential to grow into a leader among business schools in this area.

What can alumni do to help?

The more alumni involved with the school, the better. This can mean anything from networking with students to speaking in our classes to sharing job openings in your organizations. SOM continues to excel despite not being as well-resourced as the major top-ranked public universities, and the way to continue excelling is to have more and more people excited about being SOM alumni. Don’t be shy! Talk about our accomplishments and our rankings and our placements. Encourage your friends and their kids to consider Binghamton. Show your SOM pride!

What did you learn from Dean Dhillon about leadership?

Absolute transparency is the most important thing. It’s something that he never came right out and said, it’s just who he was. He lived by example. He was an amazing person, and I can hear his voice all the time when working through situations. I will never forget him.

COHEN

Best of the best

SOM faculty members named best business professors

Two School of Management faculty members have been ranked among the best business professors in the country. Saeideh Mirghorbani and Srikanth Parameswaran were both featured on the Poets & Quants list of “The Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors of 2021” after being nominated by alumni and current students.

With over 1,200 nominations submitted to Poets & Quants, SOM was one of only a handful of schools to have multiple faculty members featured on the list.

Assistant professor of management information systems

Assistant professor of business analytics and operations

Started at SOM: 2018

Research interests: Applied operations research in healthcare systems, Markov decision processes, optimization, simulation, machine learning

When did you know you wanted to be a business professor? When I was a college student. I have always enjoyed teaching, and I knew I would eventually be a teacher. So when I started my PhD studies, I focused on skills required to succeed on this path.

What do you enjoy most about teaching? It is enjoyable to observe how students’ business-related thought processes improve throughout the semester.

What is most challenging? The challenge happens when I must convey complicated topics and at the same time keep the students engaged.

The best students are: Diligent and honest

What do companies and organizations today need to do a better job at? Being socially and environmentally responsible. They need to invest in issues such as the gender gap, racism, forced and child labor, and global warming, and reduce and potentially eradicate the business-related causes of these issues.

Started at SOM: 2018

Research interests: IT innovation, user-generated and web content mining, technology-mediated health outcomes, social media, social networks

When did you know you wanted to be a business professor? When I got the first opportunity to work on a serious research project as a master’s student and realized what an exhilarating experience research could be. Research is one of the best things one can ever do. It is cool that professors do that for a living. As a teacher, you get the opportunity and the fulfilling experience of making a positive difference in your students’ lives. What do you enjoy most about teaching business students?

Joy: The joy of helping students pick up new skills and watching them apply these skills in the business world.

Lead: Leading students to get excited for a subject the same way I got excited when I was a student.

Self-actualization: My day is made when a student writes to me saying that they built something new (a website or app) or solved critical issues at their workplace based on what they learned in my class.

The best students are: Inquisitive, virtuous, diligent

What do companies and organizations today need to do a better job at? Employee mental health, work-life balance, and acknowledging the intricate balance between human and environmental well-being.

Saeideh Mirghorbani

Srikanth Parameswaran

How to ‘Excel‘ in business

By Chris Kocher

Kat Norton ’15, MBA ’16, aka Miss Excel, finds success on social media and beyond

Every video that Kat Norton ’15, MBA ’16, posts on TikTok and Instagram fulfills a promise: You’re going to learn something about Microsoft Excel, and you’re going to have a little fun doing it. Oh yeah, there’s gonna be some dancing, too. Norton’s meteoric rise as social-media influencer Miss Excel has made her the go-to instructor for the ubiquitous software among the under-30 crowd. In just two and a half years, she’s embraced a necessary tool used by millions to track finances, manage projects or make important lists and turned it into a multimillion-dollar company fueled by her upbeat attitude, can-do spirit and creative abilities.

Not bad for a “painfully shy” girl from Long Island — and her path to internet fame started at the Binghamton University School of Management.

“I truly had the best experience at Binghamton,” she says. “I look back at it and tear up — I love it. It’s just such a special place.”

Finding her voice.

Norton always harbored an entrepreneurial spirit. As a kindergartener in Plainview, she sold paper fortune-tellers — the kind that children everywhere seem to know how to fold — to classmates for a quarter, and for a few months in the third grade, she started a newspaper on her block and collected subscription money.

At a young age, she told people she wanted to be a rock star, but paralyzing self-doubt took root as she grew older. She hung out with theater kids but watched from the audience as they took the spotlight. Public presentations crippled her, trying to talk to people led to embarrassed silence, and she even stopped having birthday parties because she couldn’t stand being the center of attention.

As an undergraduate at Binghamton — her top pick for college — she majored in business administration, with concentrations in marketing and leadership and consulting, and she minored in education. She found a core of like-minded students as part of Dickinson Community, led

by then-Collegiate Professor (and SOM Associate Professor) Kimberly Jaussi.

“Leadership 353 with Professor Jaussi was handsdown my favorite class. You do a consulting job for a nonprofit from start to finish, and at the end you create this beautiful book and give it to the client — I still have mine!” Norton says with a laugh. “We worked with the Boys & Girls Club, and it was just incredible to be able to give back. The skills I learned in that class were pivotal to my career.”

Norton became one of the founding members of the Dickinson Research Team (DiRT), a first-inthe-nation program that encourages independent undergraduate research. As the DiRT project coordinator, she helped to formalize the program and laid the foundations for its success over the past seven years.

“I loved having her in class and then working so closely with her,” Jaussi says. “She never failed to brighten up the room and to make a project better by being on the team. I knew I could count on her, no matter what — she never once let me down and was always willing to take on whatever developmental opportunity I put in front of her.”

To help Norton overcome her shyness, Jaussi pushed her to make 10-minute presentations in front of large groups without notecards. True, she still felt a “panic attack” inside, but she learned to tamp it down.

For her MBA, Norton focused on data analytics — and that’s when she really fell in love with Excel, especially its financial modeling capabilities. If she knew the right tricks, she could reshape the numbers to better understand the past and forecast the future.

“SOM also taught me so many soft skills, which are so underrated,” she says. “You learn those by doing group projects or getting into a suit doing mock interviews and similar things. When we started, I’d never owned a suit or done anything business-related before. It taught me what it means to be professional in a corporate setting.”

Becoming a TikTok star.

At the beginning of 2020, Norton worked as a senior consultant for Protiviti, a global consulting firm where she had interned the summer before earning her MBA. To write securitization reviews for banks, she’d fly out of New York City before dawn every Monday, travel to a different state and a different client, do the consulting job for three or four days, fly home, type up the report and then jet off somewhere else the following Monday. She still lived with her parents, because why get her own place when she was never at home?

“I’d done that traveling for three and a half years,” she says. “I was living in airports, living in hotels, bouncing around and just running without really looking at myself. I was balancing so many clients at once, because the job was never done after a week. It was a lot of work.”

The COVID-19 pandemic, of course, stopped

pretty much all travel overnight, so that left Norton working from her childhood bedroom and fighting off feelings of isolation. It also, however, gave her time to look inward and explore her fears, her goals and where she’d like to go next.

“I was meditating and trying to figure out: What do I love to do? What am I passionate about and what’s in my way? I had to work on myself every single day,” she says. “That’s when I finally removed all those blocks, those limiting beliefs and all the dark noise in my head so I can truly show up from an authentic place.”

As part of her role at Protiviti, Norton utilized her Excel skills to develop training workshops for coworkers. When she was trying to figure out what made her happy, “I remember that I literally wrote it down: ‘I like helping people. I like Excel. I like to dance.’ I was on the phone with one of my friends, and they were like, ‘What if you put the Excel tips on TikTok?’ For 48 hours after that, my brain and my gut were at war.”

In her mind, she kept hearing Drake’s song “Toosie Slide” with its lyrical repetition of “right foot up, left foot slide,” and she saw a screen above her explaining Excel’s left and right functions. The idea wouldn’t go away, so when she found some downtime, she recorded a 14-second clip. She watched a YouTube video to learn how to edit it, and “it actually looked really cool.”

Inspired, Norton redid her hair and makeup, then recorded 10 more clips. She created the Miss Excel account on TikTok in June 2020 and began posting a video each day. She told no one except

Norton’s Excel tutorial videos on TikTok and Instagram have racked up millions of views.

her mother and her boyfriend — but her coworkers soon told her they’d seen her online.

By the sixth video, the CEO of an IT company contacted her and asked if she could create training videos for students, parents and teachers going to remote learning.

“I formed an LLC, bought a greenscreen and a ring light, and made this little studio in my room by jamming my bed up against the wall,” she says. “I just remember my mom and my boyfriend trying to iron my 12-foot greenscreen with a steamer because it always got wrinkly.”

Within three weeks of posting her first video, she had gone viral on TikTok and created a brand-new niche: Excel influencer. She estimates that she worked 100-hour weeks that summer between her “day job” at Protiviti and building content for the Miss Excel brand.

“If you knew with 100% certainty that if you did x, y and z, you would have everything you ever wanted and do whatever you want with your life, would you do it?” she says. “I think back on it now and I can’t believe I did that, but everything in me was so clear. I was having a great time, too, because I just loved dancing and Excel and everything.”

Living the dream.

Life for Norton went into hyperdrive. As of September 2022, her TikTok account has over 860,000 followers; nearly 650,000 people follow her on Instagram. As she made more and more money through Miss Excel, she was able to quit her job at Protiviti in early 2021 and become the “chief Excel officer” full time. Earlier this year, after 16 months as “digital nomads” living around the U.S., she bought her “dream home” in Sedona, Ariz., and moved there with her boyfriend.

Norton’s business model is simple: Offer the social media videos as a free sample of the Miss Excel brand, then sell the training courses as the income generator. The courses cover Microsoft products as well as Google Suite and, for younger students, business basics. They break things down more slowly and don’t feature constant music or dancing, but she’s still willing to make things fun. Sometimes that means shooting a video in the desert, by the pool or while running around the house in a superhero cape.

“I view Excel as a blank canvas where you can create little working things,” she says. “One of my professors at Binghamton told the class that if you played The Sims growing up and like simulation games, chances are you’re going to like modeling and Excel. Guess who was a total computer nerd and played The Sims with herself all through middle school? Me!”

Her remarkable rise has garnered coverage from Business Insider, CNBC, FOX News, Bloomberg, The Times of London, The Daily Mail and Entrepreneur magazine, among other media outlets. Forbes magazine named her a Top Social Media Influencer of 2021, and she’s received help and support from Microsoft, including a Microsoft MVP Award and sneak peeks at planned changes to its software.

Her former professor looks on with pride. “I couldn’t be more thrilled for Kat,” Jaussi says. “She has worked so incredibly hard on her own development and the Miss Excel enterprise. She trusted her gut on what the market needed and

how to deliver it, and she was spot on. She also has not lost sight of who she is and who she will always be — she has been authentic and true to her core values the entire journey.”

As the Miss Excel brand continues to scale up, Norton is expanding her course offerings and is considering motivational speaking, business coaching or even NFTs. She also has her own theories about generating creative states of mind and keeping a healthy relationship with social media.

“How can I best be of service? That’s what it really comes down to for me,” she says. “I’m just listening and figuring out what people need.”

“If you knew with. 100% certainty. that if you did x,. y and z, you would. have everything you. ever wanted and do. whatever you want. with your life,. would you do it?”.

— Kat Norton ’15, MBA ’16

Breaking

BARRIERS

Transformational Leaders Program helps students become change agents

By Allen Wengert

When looking back on her first few days at Binghamton University, Yuliah Johnson recalls feeling how di erent college was than high school.

“The biggest di erence was the sudden accountability of having to do your work and keep up with your schedule. You had to be disciplined and know what needed to be accomplished each day,” says the Oneonta, N.Y., native.

Navigating the fast-paced environment of college sometimes makes it easy to lose sight of the big picture. Students may not realize how habits and decisions made in the present can impact the future.

An ambitious new program in the School of Management (SOM) is helping students keep that big picture in mind. Launched in fall 2021 and currently in its second year, the Transformational Leaders Program is already reaching its goals of developing the next generation of leaders both on and o campus.

“The program has had an impact on me,” says Johnson, an accounting major. “It allowed me to reflect on myself and think about how I want to move forward in the future.”

JONATHAN COHEN

Students in the program take part in an industry visit at Cleaner’s Supply and WAWAK Sewing Supplies in Conklin, N.Y. in April 2022.

New opportunities

The seeds of the Transformational Leaders Program were planted years ago in conversations between Upinder Dhillon, former SOM dean, and alumnus Mark Zurack ’78, LHD ’03. Both wanted to craft new ways to further the school’s mission of accessibility.

“They recognized the importance of public education and wanted to address the profound barriers that many still have to overcome to get here,” says Dean Shelley Dionne.

The resulting three-year program enrolls students who are from underserved populations or may be facing economic challenges. By leveraging the school’s strengths in the area of leadership studies, the program provides personal, academic and career development opportunities tailored to individual needs.

“Leadership development is a critical component of the program,” says Dionne. “If you’re going to overcome barriers, you need to be a change agent. If you’re going to be a change agent, you need to have leadership skills.”

The program is overseen by Jerah Reeves, a former college football player who planned to continue his athletic career until disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led him to a different path. He enrolled in a sports administration master’s degree program instead, and served an internship as a student athlete development assistant that had a major impact on him.

“You get the opportunity to focus holistically on the student athlete. You learn, and put into practice, what it takes to make a successful person on and off the playing field,” Reeves says. “It gave me an idea of

how to take that template from athletics and apply it elsewhere.”

The experience caused him to take a further interest in leadership development. When he found out about the Transformational Leaders Program, he knew he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to serve as the program coordinator.

“I truly believe that I was given this opportunity because I was ready for it,” he says. “I had prepared for it as soon as I realized what I was passionate about. I’m passionate about leadership, and I’m passionate about developing people.”

Reeves translated that passion into crafting the curriculum for the program, and was able to turn to the Bernard M. and Ruth R. Bass Center for Leadership Studies (CLS) for help. Housed in SOM,

“The program has had an impact on me.”

— Yuliah Johnson

the center was founded by Bernard Bass, who was widely recognized as a preeminent scholar in the field.

“The CLS is home to world-renowned leadership professionals. The fact that I am able to pick their brains and ask about anything I needed for this program is an unfair advantage,” Reeves says.

Before he knew it, the 20 students enrolled in the inaugural year of the program, including Johnson, arrived on campus.

“I don’t know exactly what I expected out of the program, but it sounded interesting,” Johnson says. “I decided to have an open mind to whatever was to come.”

A holistic approach

Each year of the Transformational Leaders Program focuses on the development of a specific skill set. This is accomplished through activities such as classwork, one-on-one mentorship, networking opportunities, employer visits, community service and professional development workshops.

The first year centers on self-knowledge by focusing on oral communication, goal setting and accountability. Year two prioritizes working effectively within teams and groups, while the final year of the program is about coaching and mentorship. Students eventually become mentors to new students in the program and are encouraged to take on leadership roles around campus.

“We want students to take what they learn and put it into practice. We want them to lead organizations and teach others about conflict management and accountability,” Reeves says.

It all starts with personal habits though, which is the focus for new students in the program — most of whom are new to college.

“We talk a lot about our values and what we hold true to ourselves,” Johnson says. “We talk about having a growth mindset and what success means. We’re building a foundation of knowledge of ourselves and how we should carry ourselves through life.”

Students meet separately with Reeves to discuss individual goals.

“When I talk with students, the first thing we do is a wellness check to see where they stand, and then discuss why that is,” he says. “We’re not just focusing on academics. We’re focusing on sustaining progress and sustaining relationships and taking a step forward in all those areas.”

Professional experiences are also an important

part of the program. Students take part in industry visits and meet with top executives from major companies.

“Exposure leads to expansion. I want you to see yourself shaking the hands of CEOs and leaving an impression on them,” Reeves tells the students. “Once you expose yourself to that, you change your behavior to achieve that feeling in that environment again.”

Looking ahead

As for what’s next, Johnson looks forward to mentoring first-year students in the program.

“I want to help students make sure that they’re not as lost and as scared as many people are when they first come into college, because it’s a big change. It’s definitely different than the lives that they were used to,” she says.

Now a sophomore, Johnson believes the program has been integral to her college experience.

“I feel like if I hadn’t joined the program, I really don’t know what my life would look like right now,” Johnson says. “It’s helped me set goals and work toward those goals.”

Seeing the impact it has made on students like Johnson, Reeves is optimistic about the positive effects the program will have on the campus community.

“You realize that there are people with some unreal potential that just needs to be pulled out of them. We’re helping them do that,” he says. “It changes everything, and Binghamton University will see the fruits of that shortly.”

“I’m passionate about leadership, and I’m passionate about developing people.”

— Jerah Reeves

What it takes

Francis Yammarino uncovers important lessons in leadership

By Anthony Borrelli

Francis Yammarino remembers making some interesting observations of the groups and teams he encountered as a teller at the bank he worked in many years ago.

The bank tellers and their supervisors didn’t always interact harmoniously, he’d observe, while he also tried to notice ways he and fellow tellers interacted with various customers who approached the counter. Just for fun, Yammarino liked to make predictions in his head about how different interactions might unfold.

Sometimes, he could predict exactly how a person would act; and other times, not at all.

Over the course of 37 years at Binghamton University’s School of Management, Yammarino’s fascination with leadership dynamics and organizational behavior has flourished beyond making stray observations behind a bank counter into focused research strategies for how to apply these scientific concepts toward advancing positive connections in the workplace.

These can be very technical concepts to test in research, he says, but they translate into universal practices people encounter every day.

“Everybody tries to focus on the technical side of the job, the details of doing the work and the skills to get that done, but that’s only going to get you so far,” Yammarino says. “You’ve got to focus on the people side of the business, get to know your people and interact with them in a mutually beneficial way. If you can do that, you’ll be an incredibly successful leader.”

Yammarino’s career at the University began in 1985, as an assistant professor of management; his primary teaching focus for the past decade has been doctoral students. He has become a worldrenowned researcher in the field of leadership, a

SUNY distinguished professor, and the director of the Bernard M. and Ruth R. Bass Center for Leadership Studies (CLS), which has teamed up with the likes of NASA and the U.S. Army and Navy on research projects.

When COVID-19 forced a remote workplace for many worldwide, it was also an opportunity for Yammarino to learn more about how the pandemic had promoted conversations about what could or couldn’t be accomplished through a remote or hybrid work schedule. For some employers, it meant re-evaluating certain aspects of how business was conducted.

Yammarino began at the University before office computers had entered the mainstream — he didn’t get an office computer until 1987. Unless he had class or a meeting planned, even in those days, he preferred working from home whenever possible.

In some cases, when virtual meetings became a daily practice, working from home allowed some employees to succeed. They could be just as productive, or even more productive, without certain distractions. Other workers, such as those who typically required more hands-on supervision or those with children and other family members around, encountered more challenges in working remotely.

Yammarino says using the lessons from adjusting work schedules will be critical for effective leadership in the years ahead.

“Leadership basically comes down to an interaction between leaders and followers, and up until recently, that interaction has primarily been face to face,” Yammarino says. “But if you’ve never had that experience beforehand, the nature of the interactions becomes very different, and that becomes more of a challenge in figuring out how to read people.”

Yammarino’s career in the University has allowed him to apply concepts like this to about 100 research projects over the years. In 2018, he participated in an international study that explored how different leadership styles affect the job performance of subordinates.

The study involved nearly 1,000 members of the Taiwanese military and about 200 adults working full time in the U.S.

Leaders who focused on completing tasks with little consideration of subordinates’ wellbeing tended to cause a negative impact on job performance, the study found. Positive impacts came from leaders who made subordinates’ well-being a priority, but the greatest positive impacts resulted when leaders were able to strike a balance between focusing on task completion and well-being.

Yammarino also participated in research published in 1997 that questioned whether managers see themselves how others see them, to study the implications on human resource management. This resulted in some varied findings depending on the leaders’ outlook on their own work.

“The critical thing is the discrepancy between how leaders see themselves versus how other people see them,” Yammarino says. “The smaller the discrepancy, the more likely the relationship and interaction will be better. And the bigger discrepancies meant more of a challenge to have positive leadership interactions.”

When the discrepancies aren’t much, he says, that could make it easier for employers to find solutions such as training programs or other learning opportunities to improve how the managers and employees can work together.

For years, leadership research largely focused on managers and how they treat their collective group of employees, Yammarino says. But after the 1970s, there came to be a better understanding that leaders don’t always treat everyone in their teams the same way.

“Some people are really good performers, they have good skills and abilities, and others have lesser skills and abilities, so you’re naturally going to treat them differently by giving them different jobs, assignments or learning opportunities to help them all improve,” Yammarino says.

“If you can master the skill of understanding — no matter if you’re the boss or the employee — what makes the other person tick and what motivates that person,” he says, “you’ll be a successful leader whether you’re in a formal leadership role or not.”

You’ve got to. focus on the. people side of the. business, get to. know your people. and interact with. them in a mutually. beneficial way..

JONATHAN COHEN

Recipe for success

Leighton Blackwood ’21 brings bubble tea to Binghamton

JUICE TEAS

By Kaitlyn Hart ’22

When Leighton Blackwood ’21 first came to Binghamton University, he was disappointed to discover how hard it was for him to get bubble tea, one of his favorite drinks back in his hometown of Queens, N.Y. So, he set out to change that.

Blackwood, who majored in business administration with a concentration in marketing, is now the founder and owner of 2nd Heaven, a campus bubble tea (also called boba) shop run out of the MarketPlace in The Union. 2nd Heaven sells juice teas, milk teas, iced teas and lattes that can be customized into over 100 possible drink combinations.

For those unfamiliar with bubble tea, Blackwood describes it as an iced beverage with a tea base to which customers can add sugar, fruit concentrates

and/or creamers. The drink often is paired with tapioca pearls and other unique and sweet toppings.

Blackwood always recognized that he wanted to create his own business, but also knew he needed a backup plan. He studied marketing and took on marketing internships and jobs, both during his time at the University and after graduation, all while working toward his goal.

When he had the idea for 2nd Heaven, he got started right away, coming up with a business plan and ideas in between his School of Management classes and homework.

“It was always a dream to have my own thing and build up my own future,” Blackwood says. “I knew that, long term, I didn’t want to stick in a nine-tofive job for the rest of my life. I always had business ideas, but I was always like, ‘How do you actually make it happen?’ And, of course, business is about finding the niche.”

Blackwood first had the idea for 2nd Heaven in his sophomore year, when he realized that a lot of students, particularly from New York City, missed bubble tea, and that there was a strong desire for it on campus.

“I came here from New York City, and a lot of my friends loved bubble tea from the city,” he says. “But getting it up here was pretty hard. I remember when College-in-the-Woods once introduced it in the dining hall for a limited time and my friends were really excited about that since it was hard for us to get to shops off campus. I didn’t have a car, so we had to get on a bus for half an hour, get some bubble tea and come back, making an hour round-trip. For us, there was a big interest in getting bubble tea on campus.”

Now, with 2nd Heaven open on campus since fall 2021, Blackwood has found himself taking on many different roles, from experimenting with new flavors and drinks, to ordering ingredients and equipment, and occasionally even working at the store and making drinks.

Through Blackwood’s journey of founding 2nd Heaven, he’s had help from his professional and personal support systems.

“There were so many people who helped me get to where I am today,” he says. “Binghamton University Dining Services, the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, the Cornell Cooperative Extension of

Broome County, the Small Business Development Center, my business partner [Darren Shi ’18, ’19], and my friends helped me a lot. This wasn’t something that was immediate, but rather several years of learning, personal growth, negotiations and competition with other bubble tea vendors who wanted the spot on campus. But, in the end, my support system made sure to help me overcome every obstacle I faced along the way.”

The road to opening 2nd Heaven took Blackwood two and a half years. In that time he learned a lot and continued to get the support he needed, all while working hard to open the shop.

“I opened a stand at the [Broome County Farmers Market] for eight months starting in 2020. So even there it was a lot of learning and development. It hasn’t been a linear journey, but the support that I’ve received from [Binghamton University] Dining Services has been an amazing opportunity for me to kind of just keep looking up,” he says.

“I’m just really excited for what we’ll do next. We have a lot of things in store.”

MILK TEAS

Investing in

change

Marisa Sweeney ’14 sees opportunity in clean energy

By Steve Seepersaud

Marisa Sweeney ’14 made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in energy for 2021. She is a vice president at Generate Capital. Over her career, Sweeney has invested more than $1 billion into projects and companies ranging from anaerobic digesters to community solar farms to clean water platforms to sustainable fertilizer factories. She majored in finance and politics, philosophy and law.

Q Why Binghamton University?

It was one of the most impactful choices I’ve made. I applied to 19 colleges, but after a high school friend, now Dr. Asli Ozcan ’13, let me sit in on her class during an admitted students’ day and told me how much she loved Binghamton, I enrolled that night. I was intent on making the most of my experience by meeting new people, getting involved and taking my studies seriously. I was constantly wondering what I was supposed to be doing with my life.

Q How did your career begin?

My friend and mentor, Josh Katz ’13, insisted I apply to the Goldman Sachs summer analyst program as a sophomore. After two summers of interning, I landed a full-time analyst role in the credit risk management and advisory group in New York. The job gave me context for the vast landscape of finance, which seemed elusive and daunting early on in my career.

It was a fascinating time to work in the credit department. My colleagues were impressive, highly motivated and engaging, and senior folks invested time to bring analysts up to speed. I’d arrive at 7:30 a.m. to support margin requirements for an interest rate trading desk in London, work on reporting for Goldman management and its many regulators and leave late at night after finishing credit analyses

on leveraged buyout transactions for industrial companies. The variety of work gave me a strong sense of what areas I enjoyed most.

Q Why change your focus to clean energy?

I knew working 70+ hours a week for decades without conviction in my work was a recipe for dissatisfaction. The allure of wealth accumulation and all its associated fancy trappings would not be enough to sustain my motivation if I didn’t have passion for my work.

I began focusing on what sectors made me excited and curious. I covered energy companies during my internship and was fascinated by the nuance in managing commodity prices, assessing the likelihood of project success and making huge capital investment decisions. I wanted to choose an area with a major growth trajectory, so I settled on technology and alternative energy.

While I’ve always been passionate about environmental causes and believe fighting climate change should be the highest priority of my generation, it wasn’t clear how this could translate to a career. Once again, I was inspired by Josh [Katz ’13] after he landed a job at Onyx Renewable Partners, a Blackstone-backed portfolio company focusing on renewable energy development and strategic acquisitions, and referred me for an open

analyst position. Though I was new to the space, I did my best to convey my interest, hunger and ability to work relentlessly to master new skills. I landed the job and knew I had found my niche.

QWhat are your current projects?

I’m spending more time investing in sustainable technologies and industries like anaerobic digestion, renewable natural gas and advanced recycling robust-growth profiles. Generate Capital PBC launched Upcycle, an integrated circular economy program that aims to provide corporate and municipal customers with waste-to-value solutions. Our platform even includes investments in upstate N.Y. facilities that process food waste that would otherwise be sent to the landfill.

In 2021, I launched Women in Climate Investing & Finance with co-founder Meghan Pasricha of Riverstone. The purpose is simple: provide a space for women to authentically connect under the broad tent of climate finance and united by their desire to support one another.

Q What are you proud of?

I’m proud of myself for identifying and leaning into my passion early once I recognized it. If my early 20s were characterized by optionality and constantly grappling with the tough question of what to do with my life, the last half was defined by going deep to pursue my mission: scaling solutions to climate change and generating above-market returns. I intend to spend decades investing in this space. I’m proud of following my gut instinct and taking the leap to try something new by breaking into renewable energy at Onyx. I’m proud that I moved to San Francisco where I knew very few people to work for a small investment company led by a compelling founding team. Generate Capital PBC has had stunning success, scaling from about $100 million of assets and 16 employees when I joined in 2016, to more than $3 billion of assets and 300+ employees today.

QHow does it feel to be included on the Forbes list?

I feel a strong sense of pride to be able to represent Binghamton! I aim to leverage any associated hype from the recognition to encourage people to seriously consider pursuing careers in the climate space. There is abundant opportunity and we’re at an all-hands-on-deck moment when it comes to the effort required to scale solutions to climate change.

Q Why have you remained connected to Binghamton?

I remain connected because I am so grateful for the excellent education I received. Faculty members such as Dina Layish taught me the fundamentals of finance and gave me the room to grow as a leader through the PwC Scholars program. I want to pay it forward for future Bearcats because alumni like Tracy Caliendo ’97, Maddy Deshchenko ’08 and Dennis Wall ’07 helped me when I was starting my career at Goldman. I want to stay connected because post-college friends and roommates like Joanna Kenney ’14; Saba Siddiqui ’14; Andrea Cioffi ’14, MBA ’20; Lauren Leong ’14, MS ’15; Tahmina Igamberdiev ’13; Alex Willis ’15; and Erin Roth ’15 supported me while I navigated the early years working in finance. Without their assistance, I’m not sure if I would’ve made it through the beginning of my career as smoothly or successfully. These folks helped me to believe in myself.

The late Dean Upinder Dhillon exemplified the servant leadership model. His unique combination of ambition, lightheartedness and dedication was rare. His passing is a great loss for the Binghamton community, and I am grateful for his leadership, guidance and commitment to mentorship.

“I wanted to choose an area with a major growth trajectory, so I settled on technology and alternative energy.”

We thank all the alumni and friends of the School of Management who have invested in our future. With your help, we are able to provide a top-ranked business education to students who will become the future leaders of business. Your support also allows us to offer opportunities such as our Innovation Lab, a state-of-the-art space for students from across campus to collaborate on cutting-edge projects. We look forward to continuing to build our school’s future together.

$250,000 to $499,999

Mrs. Beth Akel

Mr. Ronald Akel

BGM Foundation

Fidelity Charitable ^

YS Kim Foundation, Inc.

Mr. Charles M. Kim ’98

Ms. Jean Su Maeng‑Kim

Mrs. Caryn Unger

Dr. Howard D. Unger ’82, LHD ’19

$100,000 to $249,999

Estate of Ruth Bass *

The Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains

Ms. Gail Fitzgerald Scott, MBA ’84

Mr. Steven G. Glenn ’90

Mrs. Lenore M. Goldstein ’90

Mr. Mitchell S. Goldstein ’89

Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust

Mrs. Elizabeth Bloomer Nesvold ’90

Mr. H. Peter Nesvold

Mr. David J. Penski ’97

Publicis Media, Inc.

Mr. James D. Scott

SUNY Impact Foundation ^

The Mark Zurack & Kathy Ferguson Foundation

Dr. Mark A. Zurack ’78, LHD ’03

$50,000 $99,999

Dr. Manoj K. Agarwal + Mrs. Preeti Agarwal

The Blackbaud Giving Fund ^ Mr. Vincent Daniel ’94

EY ^

The Barry and Alison Goodman Foundation

Mrs. Alison Goodman

Mr. Barry A. Goodman ’79

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ^

Mr. Stephen D. Raich, MS ’78 Mrs. Toby S. Raich

Saw Mill Capital

Schwab Charitable ^

$25,000 to $49,999

Anonymous (2)

Ayco Charitable Foundation

Mr. Daniel R. Black ’94

Mrs. Lisa J. Black ’95

Mr. Mark Deutsch ’81

Mr. Marc S. Dieli ’89

Mr. Seth G. Drucker ’06 ^ Ms. Liping Fan, MBA ’93, MS ’93 Mr. Lalit Kumar Gupta, MBA ’94

Mrs. Kimberly E. Kump

Mr. Robert D. Kump ’83

Mr. Dean P. Schuckman ’73 Mrs. Ilyse N. Schuckman ’73 Mrs. Ilene S. Weinberg ’93 ^

Mr. Michael B. Weinberg ’92 ^ Mr. Ge Wu

$10,000 $24,999

Mr. Salo Aizenberg ’91 ^

Mr. Scott A. Bigman

Mr. Alan L. Chan ’97 Mrs. Colleen Chan

Mr. George W. Curth Jr. ’90 Ms. Jacqueline Cyran

Mr. Michael E. Cyran ’87

Mr. Daniel J. Damon ’88 ^

Davidson Fox & Company, LLP

Mrs. Sadev K. Dhillon ’92, ’95

Dr. Upinder S. Dhillon + * Ms. Rebecca Guilbert ’90 ^ HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

Mr. Todd D. Jacobson ’88

Stuart and Nicole Kovensky Family Foundation

Mr. Stuart R. Kovensky ’89 KPMG Foundation ^ Mrs. Wendy Yeh Lee, MS ’70 ^

Mr. Martin Luskin ’77

Mr. Gary C. Meltzer ’85

Mrs. Rina R. Meltzer ’85

Mr. Anthony J. Nappo ’94 ^ Mrs. Jennifer Nappo ^

The Newman Family Foundation, Inc. ^

Mr. Mark S. Newman ’71 ^ Mrs. Sharon M. Newman ^

Mr. James W. Orband ’81 Mrs. Theresa A. Orband Ms. Ali Porcelli

Mr. Thomas J. Porcelli Jr. ’96 Mrs. Linsy Kochupaul Puthiyamadam

Mr. Thomas J. Puthiyamadam ’97 Mrs. Debra Rappoport‑Bigman ’88

Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc.

Mrs. Carolyn Schapiro + Mr. Jeffrey Schapiro

Mrs. Joan Marie Schildkraut ’94 ^

Mr. Russell I. Schildkraut ’94 ^ Schorr Family Foundation ^

Ms. Jennifer Brink Schorr, MBA ’81 + ^

Dr. Lawrence J. Schorr ’75, MA ’77, LLD ’09 ^

Mr. Jay A. Schwartz ’85

Mrs. Louise W. Akel ^

American Online Giving Foundation ^

Mr. Jason M. Baker ’99, MS ’00

Mr. Richard Cole ^

Ms. Marion K. Dever ’90 ^

Dr. Peter J. Dionne ’88

Dr. Shelley Denise Dionne, MBA ’94, PhD ’98 +

Mr. Mark C. Donoghue ’93 ^

Ms. Cathleen M. Ellsworth ’86 ^

Mr. Kenneth J. Fasone ’83 Mrs. Lisa Fasone

Mr. Michael L. Sheptin ’91 Mrs. Cristin M. Singer ’96 Mr. Matthew R. Singer ’96 Sitchin Foundation Inc. ^

The Sloan Family Foundation Mrs. Francine Sloan

Mr. Fred P. Sloan ’78 Mr. Howard T. Spilko ’89 ^ Mr. Ben Wong Mrs. Joyce Wong

Mr. Brian J. Zakrocki ’99 Ms. Donna Zion ’92 ^ Mr. Isaac Zion ’92 ^

$5,000 $9,999

AllianceBernstein LP ^

BKD CPAs & Advisors ^ Mr. Seth H. Blackman ’95 ^ Ms. Stacey A. Blackman ’98 ^ Mr. Brian S. Chase ’99 Dr. Subimal Chatterjee + ^ Mrs. Sudipta Chatterjee ^ Ms. Randa Barsoum Cholera ’94, MS ’95

The Community Foundation for South Central New York Deloitte ^

Mr. Christopher P. D’Emic ’85 ^ Mrs. Sue A. D’Emic ’85 ^ Mr. Eishpal Singh Dhillon Mrs. Simi Dhillon Ms. Elsa Eng ’92 ^ Mr. David A. Farber ’96 Mr. Adeel H. Jivraj ’93 Mrs. Rozina Jivraj Ms. Maggie Chan Jones ’96

Mr. David J. Kaplan ’89 ^ Ms. Gayle Kraden ’90 Mr. Steven B. Kreinik ’97 ^ Dr. Allan R. Lyons ’62, LHD ’07 ^ Ms. Alison N. McNerney ’96

National Philanthropic Trust ^

Mr. Eugene E. Peckham Mrs. Judith C. Peckham Mrs. Marnie Raymond Mr. Stephen Spencer Raymond, MBA ’78

Mr. Ryan Reiff ^

Mr. Sam E. Schuster ’91

Mr. Marc D. Silverman ’85 Mr. Marc F. Thewes ’88

Vanguard Charitable Ms. Ellen A. Vellensky ’99 Mr. David S. Yass ’83 ^

$2,500 $4,999

Ms. Lisa M. Abbott, MBA ’93 ^

Mr. Geoffrey F. Feidelberg ’76 ^ Mrs. Bonnie Fox

Mrs. Lori Goldman ^

Mr. Richard A. Goldman ’79 ^

Mr. Michael S. Greenstein ’87

Mrs. Janet Gruner

Mr. Jerry Gruner ’99

Mr. Christopher R. Jacobson ’07

Mr. Jeffrey W. Jaenicke ’89

Mrs. Kathryn A. Jaenicke

Ms. Cheryl Kabalkin

Mr. Stuart F. Koenig ’73

Ms. Mini P. Krishnan ’90

Mr. Manoj T. Mahtani ’03

Mr. Daniel A. Pipitone ’96 ^ Ms. Anna Rizzo ^

Mr. Evan Roth ’10, MS ’11 ^

Mrs. Laura J. Roth ’10 ^

Mr. Gary M. Stehr ’81, MBA ’83 ^

Mr. Patrick Wong ’07, MBA ’10 ^

Ms. Susan Wu ’93 ^

Mr. Allen S. Zwickler ’79

$1,000 $2,499

Bank of America ^

Mr. Jonathan C. Berger ’90 ^

Ms. Anindita Biswas, MS ’04, MBA ’06 ^

Mr. Milton Biswas, MS ’03, MBA ’06 ^ Mr. Allan Blum ^

Ms. Lucy Bonilla‑Berger ^

Mr. Peter E. Breckling ’92 ^ Ms. Stacey Breckling ’94 ^

The Busfield Foundation ^

Charities Aid Foundation of America ^

Mr. Mario D. Cibelli ’90 ^

Mr. Lawrence Cyrlin

Ms. Nicole J. Cyrlin ’00

Mr. Sean G. Doherty ’89

Mr. Stephen P. Feehan, MBA ’90 ^

Mr. Andrew Fink ^

Dr. Marilyn I. Geller ’71, MA ’76, PhD ’80 ^

Ms. Melanie Whitaker Geller ’83 ^

Mr. Scott Geller ’82 ^

Mr. Christopher L. Giamanco ’13 ^

Mrs. Stephanie Glace ’90 ^

Mr. Alan K. Gorenstein, MBA ’92

Mr. Jeremy Goss ^

Ms. Michelle E. Grossman ’06 ^

Dr. Jodi Guttenberg‑Lipkin ’81

Ms. Corrie Hu ’06

Mr. Eric Hu ’06

Mr. Shane B. Hurley ’04 ^

J.P. Morgan Charitable Giving Fund via NPT ^

Mr. David L. Kahan ’04 Mrs. Nancy K. Kelly

Dr. Thomas F. Kelly + Ms. Cindy Kester + Mrs. Peggy King, MS ’72 ^ Mr. Adam Kipnes

Mrs. Jaime Kipnes ’00

Mr. John C. Koch + Mrs. Rebecca L. Koch

Mr. Johnny Kong, MBA ’88

Mr. Elias H. Lambros ’97 ^

Mr. Shlomo Lang ^

Mrs. Elaine Z. Leinung

Mr. John M. Leinung

Mr. Thomas D. Leyden ’98 ^ Dr. Lishin Lin

Mr. Scott H. Lipkin ’81 Ms. Deborah D. Lynch ^

Mr. Thomas P. Majewski ’95 ^

Ms. Carolyn Makuen, MS ’91 ^

Mr. Stephen M. Manning ’97 ^

Mr. Joseph P. Maturando II ’96

Mr. Michael J. McKeon Jr. ’77 ^

Ms. Dana M. Moro ’01 ^

Mr. Darren I. Moss ’00 ^ Mrs. Debra Sacks Moss ’99 ^ Ms. January B. Navarro ’00 ^ Mr. Andrew Nawoichyk ’03, MBA ’04

Mr. Deep R. Parekh ’01 ^ Mrs. Laurel A. Parrilli ’82 Mr. Matthew Parrilli ’82 Mrs. Monica Philippo ’99

Mr. Timothy J. Philippo ’97, MEng ’98

Mr. Robert R. Pim ’17 ^

Mr. Scott M. Porter ’96

Mrs. Beatrice Press ^ Mr. Eric M. Press ’78 ^ Mrs. Bonnie Russolillo ’80 ^ Mr. Raymond G. Russolillo ’80 ^ Mr. David Sakhai ’95 ^ Mrs. Lisa Sakhai ^

Mr. Robert A. Sass ’78 ^

Mr. Daniel E. Schain ’10, MS ’11

Mr. Jeff B. Schwarcz ’99 ^

Mr. David S. Silberman ’05 ^

Mr. Cornell V. Staeger ’01

Mr. Kenneth L. Stephens ^

Mr. Binh‑Co Tran ’98 ^

Ms. Thu‑Ha Tran ^

US Bank ^

Ms. Karen Miller Warshay ’06 ^

Mr. Peter L. Weiner

Mrs. Sheila C. Weiner

Mr. Adam B. Weinstein ’01 ^ Mrs. Jodi Weinstein ^

Mr. Adam Weisman ’77 ^

Mr. Sean C. White ’93 ^

Mr. Joseph A. Yacura, MBA ’77, MS ’82

Mrs. Sharon Yacura

Mrs. Geralyn Yousuf

Dr. M. Bashar Yousuf

Ms. Lisa F. Betz Zomback ’90 ^

Mr. Russell C. Zomback ’91 ^

+ Faculty/Staff/Retiree, * Deceased, ^ Binghamton Fund Donor,

You can help SOM shape the future

The School of Management is powering past competitors who have had a decades-long head start. With your help, we can continue to turn our relative youth into an advantage, keeping our flexibility and adaptability as we prepare for the next wave of innovation.

SOM is steadily rising in reputation and national rankings as it reinvents what a business education must be in today’s economy. Here are just some examples of what gifts to support the school have made possible to date:

Our Transformational Leaders Program offers mentorship and professional leadership experiences to students from diverse backgrounds, giving them opportunities to climb ladders and become change agents.

Our faculty are on the leading edge of business research, anticipating what’s next in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and preparing students to thrive in the new economy.

Students like Hannah Kozlenko ’23 have access to plenty of experiential learning opportunities: She became a PwC Scholar, won an M&A Case Competition championship and helped manage a portfolio as part of the Investment Fund club, among many other activities.

Moving at the speed of Binghamton, how can SOM take its boldest leap forward and evolve smartly to set the pace of business education? It requires your visionary support.

Be part of EXCELERATE Binghamton

Join us in shaping the University and management school of the future.

An exceptional education — grounded in discovery and innovation, taught by extraordinary faculty, fueled by students eager to learn — is who we are. Your support will ensure:

Faculty remain at the forefront of knowledge in a fast-changing world

We attract innovative teachers that inspire and shape students’ lives Superbly qualified students, even those with extreme funding gaps, can afford to attend

You can help SOM invest in the programs and people that will shape our world. Learn more about how you can join Binghamton’s most ambitious fundraising campaign ever: visit excelerate.binghamton.edu How far and how fast we go … depends on you.

“I had the chance at an exceptional education at Binghamton that I continue to use to this day. Great leadership and innovation come from investing in institutions that believe in greatness and have a vision. You can shape the future of business education and leadership by investing in the School of Management, to bring the best students and faculty here who will continue to drive discovery and meaningful change. You can help fulfill what the business world demands today and in the future.”

— Campaign Chair Howard Unger ’82, LHD ’19

Non-Profit Org. US

PAID

of Management PO Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000

SOM students team up with professionals from major accounting firms to build balloon towers as part of Accounting Color Wars, hosted by Alpha Kappa Psi. The annual event provides unique and fun ways for students to network and collaborate.

JONATHAN COHEN