Bryant Magazine | Fall 2024

The Magazine for Bryant University I Fall/Winter ’24 -’25

BLAZ -ERS TRAIL

FEATURES

Into Adventure: Safari lodge CEO brings Africa’s beauty to the world

Unlocking the mind’s secrets through addiction research INSIGHT

Driving Passion: Alum reinvents how car collectors do business IMPACT

20 Into Adventure Safari lodge CEO, fashion icon, and humanitarian Vimbai Masiyiwa ’17 brings Africa’s resounding beauty to the world.

BY STEPHEN KOSTRZEWA

28 Commanding the Conversation

From navigating a crisis to interpersonal conversation tips, Bryant’s faculty walk us through the talk.

BY EMMA BARTLETT AND BOB CURLEY

36

Growing a Vision

How two Bryant grads spun their business backgrounds into sustainable startups. BY JENNIFER SKUCE SPIRA

Vimbai Masiyiwa ’17.

Inge-Lise

of

Michelle L. Cloutier, ’05MBA, Vice President for Enrollment Management

Chuck LoCurto, MBA, Vice President for

Services and Chief Information

Donna Ng, MBA, Vice President of Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer

Tim Paige, Vice President for Human Resources and Secretary of the Corporation

Rupendra Paliwal, Ph.D., Provost and Chief Academic Officer

Bill Smith, J.D., Vice President of Athletics and Recreation

Edinaldo Tebaldi, Ph.D., Vice President for Strategy and Institutional Effectiveness and Interim Head of Marketing and Communications

David Wegrzyn ’86, P’23, M.Ed., Vice President for University Advancement

Bryant magazine is produced twice-annually by the Office of University Marketing and Communications. Questions, comments, or stories to share? Reach the editor at cnilsson@bryant.edu.

to Bryant, visit Bryant.edu/giving.

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The Trailblazers: Then, Now, and Into the Future

Dear Reader,

This is a particularly exciting time in Bryant University’s 161-year history.

As we unveil the Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center (BELC), a state-of-the-art facility that embodies our commitment to experiential learning and academic excellence, we honor our legacy while eagerly anticipating the future with determination and purpose.

The BELC is a testament to Bryant’s dedication to providing real-world, hands-on experiences that prepare our students to become confident, accomplished leaders. We are thrilled to introduce you to the innovative spaces and inspiring individuals that bring this new building to life, laying the groundwork for the strategic expansion of our campus and the continued success of our students.

Photograph by Dana Smith

Bryant graduates are known for their competitive spirit and innovative mindset. They consistently push boundaries and make a significant impact on the world, and our legacy is defined by the leaders they become. When students take their first steps around our wrought iron archway, they enter a community that shapes their growth and strengthens their resolve.

In this issue, we proudly feature alumni who exemplify this tenacious Bulldog spirit: Andrew Goldberg ’02, Vimbai Masiyiwa ’17, Valerie Mankus ’08, and Tom Madden ’08. Their stories, along with those of other trailblazers across our history, are woven throughout these pages. I hope they will inspire future generations of Bulldogs to strive for greatness and have the confidence to lead in a quickly changing world.

As we look to the future, we must also honor those who have paved the way for our achievements. Visionaries like Bill ’67, ’22H and Sue Conaty, along with their fellow founding members of the Jacobs Society, have left an indelible mark on our community. They are respected for their vision and driven by their desire to shape the future of Bryant. Their leadership and generosity have empowered our students to become the trailblazers of a new era, ready to write the next chapter in Bryant’s remarkable story.

With Heartfelt Thanks,

Ross Gittell, Ph.D. President

Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition

This year’s collegiate sales competition was bigger than ever. Bringing together hundreds of students from institutions across the United States and Canada, the two-day event was packed with challenges, skill development workshops, and networking opportunities that elevated the sales profession. news.bryant.edu/nisc2024

New Psych Research Center Opens Fall 2025

Expanding to 3,440 square feet, the new Psychology Research Center will be completed in time for the start of the 2025-26 academic year, when Bryant’s first cohort of Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) candidates arrive on campus. The facility was supported by U.S. Senator Jack Reed ’10H, who secured a $1.5 million earmark for its development. news.bryant.edu/psychresearch

Festival of Lights

Now in its 48th year, this annual holiday festival, held in the Unistructure and attended by faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends, serves a vital role in uniting the Bryant community. Read more to learn about the festivities celebrated this year and the valued traditions, including the candlelight ceremony in the Rotunda. news.bryant.edu/fol2024

2025 Economic Forecasting: What to Expect in the New Year

Are we headed for a recession, or will the economy grow stronger than ever? In the wake of a polarizing election, Fed rate cuts, and cooling inflation, Bryant’s leading faculty within the College of Arts and Sciences’ Mathematics and Economics Department share their predictions for the U.S. and global economy in 2025. news.bryant.edu/2025predictions

Entrepreneurship at Bryant

From a student who built a six-figure trading card operation to an MBA alum who won the Rhode Island Business Competition, Bryant’s community is built on a spirit of entrepreneurship. Read on to learn more about their businesses, and about Bryant’s new Center for Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking from Kristie DeJesus, its new director. news.bryant.edu/entrepreneurship

Read the latest on Bryant News, which features daily coverage of the Bulldog community — including faculty research, student profiles, alumni stories, major announcements, and more.

The Bryant Vision, Through the Ages INNOVATE

For more than 160 years, Bryant has stood at the forefront of higher education, driven by a spirit of innovation. At the turn of the 20th century, for instance, Bryant students didn’t just hit the books; they used engaging simulations like the "Second College Bank" (pictured here) to explore real-world challenges.

Bryant has always been ahead of the curve. Unlike many other schools, women were welcomed as students from day one and served as instructors from early on. Over the years, the university has grown and transformed, thanks to the Bulldogs who lead with determination and tenacity, from the classroom to the boardroom.

Read on to explore Bryant’s rich history and learn more about the trailblazers who shaped the institution — and laid the foundation for its bold future.

Follow along on our timeline

Black and Gold Meets Oxford Blue Undergrads expand their horizons through experiential trip abroad

For more than nine centuries, Oxford University in England has educated some of the world’s most influential people. And over the course of the past three years, more than 40 Bryant students have tapped into that legacy through a unique partnership that highlights the university’s commitment to providing a globally informed education.

The Head, Hand and Hertford Programme in Leadership and Innovation, a two-week study abroad course at Oxford, was envisaged by Bryant

President Ross Gittell, Ph.D., and his Oxford counterpart, Principal of Hertford College Tom Fletcher, after they were introduced by former Bryant trustee and board chair Michael Fisher ’67, ’15H.

“To have a study experience at Oxford, one of the best universities in the world, is a real feather in our cap as a university,” says Bryant Professor of Psychology Allison Butler, Ph.D., who leads the trip each June alongside Trustee Professor of Management Mike Roberto. The duo are the brains

behind Bryant’s design thinking initiatives, including the school’s flagship Innovation and Design Thinking for All (IDEA) bootcamp for first-years.

The experiential learning curriculum developed for Head, Hand and Hertford blends the shared expertise of Butler and Roberto — both of whom teach at Oxford as part of the program — with cultural immersion opportunities led by Oxford professors, including world-renowned scholars of Shakespeare and art history. Bryant is the only school in the United States to partner with Oxford University on such programming.

Honors Finance student Bridget McConnell ’26 signed on for the trip despite a fear of flying. A self-described “art nerd,” she was enticed by co-curricular opportunities such as exploring London’s National Gallery of Art and Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, the oldest in the United Kingdom.

“Two weeks is the perfect amount of time to travel if you’re not sure about going abroad,” says the Medford, Massachusetts, native, who enjoyed day trips to Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon, the culinary bounty of Borough Market, and shopping at Harrods for a cheeky souvenir (“My daughter went to London and all I got was this lousy t-shirt”).

The Bryant cohort not only learned at Hertford, which was established in 1282 and is one of the oldest of

Henry Bryant & Henry Stratton transformed business education in America by replacing apprenticeships with short, intensive training in a business school setting. Together, they launched more than 50 business schools across the country, including Bryant and Stratton National Business College in Providence, R.I.

Bryant organizes its first official sports teams, men's basketball and men's rowing. Women's basketball was introduced in 1924.

The University of Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest botanical garden in Great Britain.

The Bryant and Stratton National Business College opens.

A visit to Stratford-upon-Avon includes Shakespeare’s birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and gardens.

Oxford’s more than 30 colleges; they lived there, too. Students ate breakfast in a grand Harry Potter-esque dining hall, walked along the Thames River, rode the Tube, and shopped in the city’s historic Covered Market.

The nine days of classes vary year to year, as does the itinerary: This summer, for example, students visited a BMW Mini Cooper plant to learn how innovation enables the production of up to 1,000 cars per day.

Constants include a visit by Nina Luiggi ’18. A London native and member of the 2018 IDEA leadership team, Luiggi took a day off from her market research role at Verve to teach a design thinking session with Butler. She is also one of many alums who attended a posh networking event at the trip’s end, hosted by Gittell.

1935

As for McConnell, she’s overcome her fear of flying and is already researching her next adventure: a full semester abroad in Florence.

1949

Bryant creates the "warm seat" program to provide educational opportunities for veterans returning from World

Blanche Dolores Sheffield ’46 was the first Black woman on record to graduate from Bryant, obtaining her Bachelor of Secretarial Sciences. An active alumna post-graduation, she worked with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Kenya, Ghana, and the Congo (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

—Jennifer Skuce Spira

Bryant moves from downtown Providence to the city's east side and becomes Bryant College of Business Administration.

War II.

The Bryant travelers meet up at the famous Bridge of Sighs.

Students study innovation at BMW’s MINI Plant Oxford.

The National Gallery was just one stop on a tour of London.

The Radcliffe Camera is considered to be one of Oxford’s most beautiful buildings

Balancing the Books

Junior

makes the most of every opportunity as a woman

in finance

Initially, Andrea Cortes ’26 would have described her college ambitions as modest. The first-gen commuter student, who chose to major in Finance with minors in Accounting and Italian, thought she’d just drive to campus, take her classes, and drive home.

That all changed with a simple email: an invitation from Lecturer of

Finance Mara Derderian to a series of lunch discussions with other women studying Finance at Bryant. It was a little intimidating at first, especially for a first-year student, Cortes admits, but it opened a universe of possibilities.

“It was like a switch flipped on,” Cortes says. “I realized there’s so much I can do and want to be part of.”

That summer, Derderian offered another opportunity: a sponsored trip to the Women in Alternative Investments Career Forum in New York City. “I wrote in my application that I wanted to learn more about all of the opportunities in front of me,” says Cortes.

Actually attending the conference, though, was another leap, and she admits to hesitating by the door of the event. But once again Cortes found her courage — and reaped the rewards. More than a year later, she still keeps a notebook of everything she learned at the forum — and everyone she met.

“One of my favorite things about finance is all of the connections I’ve been able to make,” she says.

This May, Cortes took part in the inaugural Bryant Women in Business Retreat. Over four days, she and 22 other women-identifying Bryant students learned from and connected with women representing companies including CVS and Fidelity Invest-

ments. They also traveled to New York City to attend presentations, seminars, and networking sessions at the offices of BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, among other professional development opportunities.

“I was amazed by how young so many of the women we met were,” Cortes reflects. “You realize that could be you in a couple of years.”

Having that confidence, and a network of support like the one she’s found at Bryant, is important — especially in a male-dominated field, Cortes notes. “It’s not necessarily tougher to be a woman in finance,” she says. “It’s just different — but it’s definitely worth it.”

Now in her junior year, Cortes is doing some mentoring of her own — including serving as president of Bryant’s Multicultural Student Union. She most recently offered advice to Susanna Sayegh ’28, one of Bryant’s inaugural class of Wilson Fellows, who was chosen to attend this year’s career forum. In addition to some pointers on maximizing her experience, she also passed down the advice that’s served her so well: “Go for it.”

Cortes’ schedule is full now — a far cry from her initial plans. It turns out, she prefers it this way. “I’m already a junior, I only have two years left,” she explains. “I want to make the most of every moment.”

—Stephen Kostrzewa

1964

Bryant earns accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

1969

Bryant establishes the Graduate School of Business.

Gertrude Hochberg ’92HMBA helped Bryant earn national recognition and established opportunities for women students as part of the college leadership team and as Bryant’s first female vice president. The Gertrude Meth Hochberg Women’s Center was named in her honor.

Thoughts On:

Alleviating poverty and inequality through education

At Bryant, Professor of Economics Jongsung Kim, Ph.D., is advancing research on how education affects poverty, gender equality, and inequality.

“These issues are becoming more important — especially in relation to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” says Kim, a trained labor economist.

Developed in 2012, the 17 SDGs seek to address global environmental, political, and economic challenges. The goals, which the UN aims to accomplish by 2030, include everything from taking urgent action on climate change to ending hunger and malnutrition. Those same SDGs also inform Bryant’s required general education program, the Impact Core.

Kim plans to provide insight into three of those objectives through his education research: ending poverty, achieving gender equality and empowerment, and reducing inequality within and among nations.

Education plays a crucial role in economic mobility, notes Kim, who is analyzing how it affects an individual’s chance of falling into poverty and how deprivation presents differently across ethic groups. Additionally, he is looking at differences in education and inequality between the rich and poor, as well as men and women.

“Labor market success is based on skill set, which is acquired through education,” explains Kim. “For example, if someone speaks five languages, that skill cannot be taken from that person because it’s a part of that individual.”

For his research, Kim is using econometric and statistical models to analyze data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey, which was completed in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These datasets supply information on the country’s population and housing as well as income and poverty.

1971

Kim notes that despite the U.S. having one of the most affluent economies in the world, the poverty rate remains in the double digits. By contrast, according to Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office, poverty only affects 8.2 percent of that country’s population, while data from Statistics Canada reveal that 9.9 percent of Canadians lived in poverty in 2022.

“The good news is that it’s not 90 percent, but it’s still 11.5 percent,” he says, which represents 37.9 million Americans. He also points out that while intergenerational mobility has long been a point of pride in the U.S., statistics show it is getting weaker.

“Any good society or organization should protect its least advantaged people,” he says.

To fully understand — and solve — a complex problem like inequality, Kim emphasizes the need for people in other fields to add their expertise.

“We need to understand the education system and get insights from education administrators, sociologists, historians, and anthropologists,” he says

Intercultural Center, where she also served as a director.

—Emma Bartlett

Roberta “Berta” Hysell was hired in 1977 to recruit students of color and promote diversity on campus. Her work as director of multicultural student services laid the foundation for the establishment of Bryant’s

Bryant moves to its current home in Smithfield, R.I., on land donated by Earl Tupper ’68H, founder of the Tupperware Plastics Company.

Photograph by James Jones

Shaping the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Tyler Griffin ’26 got his first taste of entrepreneurship at the age of 11, helping to pitch his father’s startup — GeniCan, a “smart” wastebasket attachment that could read barcodes and create a shopping list — at trade shows. Something in him came to life in that atmosphere, he says. “I wasn’t a big talker, and I definitely wasn’t a public speaker before then, so this was a completely new experience,” Griffin, the president of Bryant’s chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO), recalls. “It really taught me a lot and it got me out of my shell.”

A native of Newtown, Connecticut, a town that came together in the aftermath of a horrific school shooting, Griffin learned at a young age that “without community, you have nothing,” he says. Born with a slight speech impediment — strangers are forever trying to place his unique “accent,” he laughs — he also grew to understand that everyone has something to give

1980s – 2000s

and deserves a place at the table.

At Bryant, Griffin found a supportive environment that reminded him of home, as well as opportunities to uplift others. Student-run organizations like the Multicultural Student Union, Bryant CEO, and Bryant Ventures (CEO’s startup accelerator) allowed him to pursue his passions and help shape communities. Once quiet and introverted, he found an opportunity to reinvent himself as a leader.

In Ventures and CEO, Griffin, a Leadership and Innovation Management major, found students — some entrepreneurs, others just hoping to develop entrepreneurial skills — who were as supportive as they were driven. “There is no one in CEO or Ventures who doesn’t want every other member to be successful,” he states.

Last fall, Bryant CEO was named Best Global Chapter for the ninth time in the last 18 years. It’s an impressive track record — but not a surprising

one if you know the group, says Griffin, who served as president of Ventures that award-winning year.

He points to last year’s Entrepreneurship Expo, a mini trade show where students displayed their developing startups — from Lifted Blends, a CBD-infused energy drink company, to LEGO brick reseller Summerfield’s Bricks — as an example. “We had a lot of great students with a lot of great ideas there. But we also had so many professors, and other students, and even alumni who came out to support them.”

This year, Griffin is especially excited for the opening of Bryant’s new Center for Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking, which will inspire, assist, and connect student disruptors through educational programming and events, resources, and funding. Like everything else in Bryant’s startup ecosystem, he notes, it’s the product of a group effort. “Bryant’s allowed members of CEO to be a part of the whole process, from helping to interview the director to providing feedback about what should be in the new maker space,” he says.

Griffin aims to use the new center to help Bryant’s entrepreneurial culture reach new heights. “We’re hoping to continue to build the community,” he says, “and then build a lot of other cool things together, too.”

E. Trueheart ’96H became Bryant’s seventh president, and the first Black college president in New England, in 1989. Trueheart led advancements in both academics and student life, including the establishment of one of Bryant’s most popular traditions, Extravaganza, a celebration of Black culture held in February.

Stanley Kozikowski, Ph.D., a professor of English literature, formulated the foundational plan to integrate business with liberal arts at Bryant. “This new direction is breaking up an age-old tendency in higher education to separate and divide areas of instruction from one another,” he told faculty.

William

Photograph by James Jones

Leading the Charge

New College of Business dean emphasizes collaboration, experiential opportunities

Todd Alessandri, Ph.D., Bryant's new dean of the College of Business, has joined the university at an exciting time. With the opening of the new stateof-the-art Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center (BELC) and Bryant’s prominent rise in national college rankings, Alessandri, previously the associate dean of undergraduate education for Northeastern University's D’AmoreMcKim School of Business, leads a college that’s gaining international recognition — and is positioned to continue to define excellence in higher education.

What do you bring to the table as the new dean of the College of Business?

“My background is strategic planning, so my focus will be to apply this mindset to the challenges and opportunities here at

1994

the College of Business.

Also, at my previous institution, Northeastern University, the co-op program was their calling card. As faculty director of the MBA program, and then associate dean of undergraduate programs, I built more experiential education into the classroom — and worked to increase it outside as well.”

How are your goals for the College of Business aligned with the rest of the university?

“One of Bryant’s strengths is its integrated curriculum. I spent a lot of time talking to corporate partners, and they want problem-solvers and people who can see things from different perspectives. I think that’s where there’s a lot of alignment, and we can start thinking about more areas for integrated programming.

“For example, sustainability and climate change are societal problems that are not going anywhere if business isn’t involved. We need to figure out how to integrate sustainability knowledge from the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, and social innovation and entrepreneurship from the College of Arts and Sciences, with the College of Business to address some of these bigger problems.”

Tell us about the importance of the Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center to the College of Business’s future.

“This state-of-the-art facility is going

Bryant's business programs earn accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Ronald K. Machtley ’21H, a former congressman and the university’s eighth president, presided over Bryant’s transformation, including the development of the Quinlan/Brown Academic Innovation Center, resulting in national recognition.

1996

to attract attention from corporate partners, students, parents, alumni, peers, everybody. The building was designed around the philosophy that learning doesn’t just occur in the classrooms; it occurs in labs, it occurs in after-class activities. One of the things that drew me to Bryant was I could see the upward swing that’s been happening, and the BELC gives us an opportunity to ramp that up another notch.”

Finally, give us your elevator pitch for the College of Business as if you were talking to prospective students and families.

“We have some building blocks here at Bryant to prepare students to enter the workforce. We’ve got a dedicated group of faculty who are going to support them the whole way.

“Then you’ve got the experiential learning piece that gives students opportunities to work with real-life situations — in the classroom, through internships, through capstone courses with practicums — to get all the experience they need so that on day one, when they leave here, they are ready to contribute.”

Meet Denise Horn, Ph.D., an international relations scholar and the new associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

2004

Bryant enters a new era as Bryant College becomes Bryant University and adopts its now signature integrated curriculum. Two undergraduate colleges, the College of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences, are established.

Bryant holds its first Women’s Summit, organized by Kati Machtley ’17H.

No Competition Spared

Head Coach Morgan Walsh-See is making a name for Bryant bowling

The thunderous clatter of overturning pins is a familiar sound for Bryant University’s women’s bowling team. On weekday afternoons at East Providence Lanes, the Division I student-athletes practice launching balls down the sleek, 60-foot-long runways — watching as the spiraling spheres unapologetically level the pins.

Head Coach Morgan Walsh-See, who was named East Coast Conference (ECC) Coach of the Year in the spring, spends practice running the women through a series of drills, shots, and matches. Charged with establishing the women’s bowling program in 2022, Walsh-See’s once empty roster has rapidly transformed into a team of athletes who’ve established themselves as powerful contenders. This past year, the team placed second at the 2024 ECC Championships,

increased its overall win percentage, and had three players receive all-conference team honors.

As the Bulldog Bowlers begin year three, Walsh-See plans on continuing that upward momentum.

“We’re focused on building off last year’s conference championships,” says Walsh-See, who was a collegiate bowler herself. “They were so close with that second-place finish, so we’re looking to harness that energy again.”

Bowling season stretches from October through April, with Bulldogs attending nine weekend tournaments that last several days. This year, the team is competing against more advanced opponents across the East Coast and Midwest. They still have a good chance of making the conference championships in 2025, with Walsh-See noting that the

2012

goal is to reach the National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championship.

Much of the team’s success is the result of Walsh-See’s coaching strategy. Originally a teacher, she combines her experiences as an educator, bowling knowledge, and understanding of pedagogy to execute a program with exceptional results. At the core of that program is a focus on mental health and team chemistry, which has helped the Bulldog Bowlers develop a strong foundation of communication, trust, and openness.

“When I started the program, I had six first-year student-athletes. Bonding was priority number one, and they had to learn to use each other as resources,” Walsh-See says. “Every year brings new challenges, but that’s the beauty of creating comfortability on our team. They’re able to jump right into it no matter what and trust that it’s always going to work out; we’re in it together no matter your role on the team.” —EB

2016

2014

Bryant completes its DI transition and becomes eligible for NCAA Division I Championships. The following year, Bryant baseball wins its first NCAA DI game in school history.

Bryant wins six NEC Spring championships — baseball, softball, men’s lacrosse, men’s tennis, and golf — the most by any school in a single season in NEC history.

After extensive research and development among faculty and leadership, Bryant’s Quinlan/Brown Academic Innovation Center, a groundbreaking facility for experiential learning, opens.

Photography by James Jones

Coach Walsh-See with Bryant’s women’s bowling team.

Comeback Kid

In the face of back-to-back injuries, Bulldog earns 2024 batting title

Zac Zyons ’25 captured the 2024 America East Conference batting title by a landslide; his league-best .373 average proved 26 points ahead of the next closest finisher. In May, Zyons brought that power to the America East title game diamond, earning a hit, driving in a run, and scoring twice to lead the Bulldogs to their first-ever conference championship.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better year,” Zyons, a second baseman who also earned First-Team All-Conference honors, says. “Winning a championship with all your best friends is the best feeling you can ask for.”

Beyond the accolades, Zyons’ emergence as a hitting machine is an ode to strapping on the comeback cleats for an unforgettable redshirt sophomore season.

First, a shoulder injury forced him to rehab during the 2023 fall-ball season. Just as that healed, Zyons tore his meniscus while grinding away in the gym over the winter. The South Kingstown, Rhode Island, native required knee surgery; the procedure took place the same February weekend the Bulldogs baseball team opened their 2024 season in Florida.

“Perseverance and powering through” were the two main ingredients that helped Zyons turn the corner and return to the field. “I try to do the right thing and keep myself healthy, but injuries are part of the game. When you play hard, you’re going to end up getting hurt.”

Zyons credits Bryant trainer Melanie Gran for helping him get back into the swing of things with the bulk of the season still in front of him. When he made his 2024 debut for Bryant on March 10, it marked game 11 of the season.

While he didn’t benefit from a normal seasonal ramp-up, Zyons says his coaches were patient as his hitting slowly returned to form. His hard work and support system paid off with a pair of hitting streaks of 10 or more games during the season. Despite missing time, he still finished third in total bases with 101.

“My coaches had faith in me,” he says of his superlative 2024 season. “Once I got hot, I just rode the high for the whole year.”

—Brendan McGair

Tom Kennedy ’18 was named first team All-Northeast Conference for both lacrosse and football. A wide receiver with the Detroit Lions, he also played lacrosse with the Boston Cannons, making him one of only two people in the nation to compete professionally in both leagues.

David Beirne ’85 & Terry Beirne supported key expansions for Bryant athletics, and the facilities were renamed the David ’85 and Terry Beirne Stadium Complex in 2016. A Bryant Athletic Hall of Fame inductee and longtime member of the Board of Trustees, Beirne served as board chair from 2020-2024.

Photography by James Jones

Breaking Barriers

Conatys make history with endowed fund for scholarships

In October, Bill ’67, ’22H and Sue Conaty made an historic $1 million contribution to establish the Conaty Scholars Endowed Fund at Bryant. This gift, the largest ever for endowed scholarships, will provide financial aid to high-achieving, first-generation students from low- and middle-income backgrounds, beginning in the fall of 2025.

“Sue saw the potential of creating something meaningful and lasting by establishing this scholarship fund now,” said Bill, a longtime Bryant trustee, former chair of the board, and

a first-generation college student himself.

This gift builds on the momentum of the Conatys’ historic $5 million investment in support of Bryant’s Vision 2030 Strategic Plan, which emphasizes economic mobility as well as academic excellence, vibrant student life, and community and belonging. A total of $2 million of their initial gift was allocated for future scholarships, with $1 million accelerated to have an impact on the Class of 2029.

“We recognize the growing need for financial support, especially for students with leadership poten-

tial who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend Bryant because of the challenges their families face financially,” said Sue, a former special education teacher who now volunteers with a program that helps children from underserved backgrounds read at level by the end of the third grade.

The Conaty Scholars will be business-focused students selected on the basis of financial need, academic achievement, extracurricular leadership, and a demonstrated commitment to community engagement. The Conaty Scholars Endowed Fund will support two students per academic year, offering each recipient a total of $25,000 over four years.

Bryant University continues to rank among the top institutions for economic mobility, according to Harvard’s Opportunity Insights project, and the Conaty Scholars Endowed Fund will further the university’s mission to be an engine of success for students from all backgrounds.

—Casey Nilsson

Bill Conaty ’67, ’22H & Sue Conaty become lead investors in Vision 2030 with a $5 million gift.

A Bryant Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Conaty also serves as a member of the Bryant Board of Trustees. The Conatys’ generosity was soon followed by $5 million gifts from Joe ’80 and Kathi ’81 Puishys and new Board of Trustees Chair D. Ellen Wilson ’79.

2022

Men’s basketball reaches NCAA tournament. That same month, based on the Harvard Opportunity Insights dataset, Bryant was named national champion for economic mobility compared to other March Madness contenders by The 74.

Unlocking the Mind’s Secrets

Kristin Scaplen uses fruit flies to tap into the human brain

The gentle hum of an oversized incubator greets all who enter the Scaplen Lab on the top floor of Bryant University’s Unistructure. It’s a Wednesday afternoon in early October and Elisabeth Hartzfeld ’25 — one of Kristin Scaplen, Ph.D.’s, student researchers — looks intently through one of the lab’s microscopes before moving to a nearby computer, where four graphs record realtime data on the fruit flies buzzing in a black box to her right.

Scaplen, a neuroscientist and assis-

tant professor of Psychology within Bryant’s School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, has a long-held interest in understanding how the brain alters experiences in our recollection; she uses fruit flies (also known as Drosophila) to conduct her research. In September, she received a $431,918 three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to support her neuroscience research project titled “Neural Circuitry Mechanisms Underlying Maladaptive Reward Memories in

2022

Drosophila.” She’ll be using the funds to home in on what alters a memory to make it strong, weak, or forgotten.

“Our current research program studies how memories for alcohol intoxication are formed. These are incredibly strong memories and are thought to underline the insatiable cravings that haunt people struggling with addiction,” says Scaplen, who is the first independent recipient of an NIH grant at Bryant. “This is important because, if we can understand how the brain works and how it is disrupted in the context of things like alcohol, then we can start to ask questions about how we can fix the brain.”

Despite millions of years of evolution, the basic connections in the human brain are still similar to those of a fruit fly. But while humans have 87 million neurons in their brains, fruit flies only have 100,000 — making their brains easier for researchers to study.

“Flies are a powerful model for studying how the activity of specific neurons in the brain orchestrates

2023

Bryant debuts its Exercise and Movement Science Lab, a state-of-the-art facility equipped with the field’s most innovative technologies. The lab provides a range of experiential learning opportunities for students in collaboration with expert faculty.

Bryant opens the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, led by Director Kirsten Hokeness, Ph.D.

behavioral responses because the field has developed genetic tools that allow us to precisely target individual neurons in the brain and manipulate their activity,” Scaplen says. “For instance, using these tools, we can momentarily silence or activate a neuron and see in real time how that neuron impacts a behavioral response. We can do this simply by raising the temperature of the room or shining red light on the fly at very specific times. This is powerful because it is simply not possible in other model organisms.”

In upcoming experiments, conducted in collaboration with Brown University researchers, the lab will use high-powered microscopes to visualize the activity of neurons in the brain when flies are exposed to alcohol. Researchers will also investigate how the activity of neurons important for alcohol-related memories change as flies learn that odor cues predict alcohol intoxication and form memories of these experiences.

2024

Faculty members are awarded prestigious research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Chemistry.

Abuzz with Ambition

During a typical week, it’s not uncommon to find Ramsha Gul ’25 in one of Bryant’s research labs dissecting the brains of fruit flies. The Bryant senior is using these tiny, rust-colored insects to determine if alcohol addiction causes depression or if depression causes alcohol addiction. As a second layer to her experimentation, she’s studying serotonin’s role within regulating voluntary alcohol consumption in fruit flies.

“We know serotonin plays a part in memory consolidation, especially for these types of addictive memories; however, we don’t know for sure what circuits are involved and how it looks on a molecular level,” says Gul, a Biology major on the pre-med track.

For her addiction and depression research, Gul used FLIC (Fly Liquid-Food Interaction Counter), a newly developed consumption assay, to continuously measure alcohol-related feeding behaviors in flies. She notes that the flies were given access to either 5 percent sucrose or 5 percent sucrose containing ethanol.

Starting with a 5 percent ethanol concentration in one of the sucrose samples, Gul gradually increased the percentage to 10, 15, and 20. She then looked for the dosage at which the flies start to show preference for alcohol, with preliminary data suggesting that they develop a preference for 15 percent alcohol but not 10 percent.

Gul began working in the lab under the guidance of Assistant Professor of Psychology Kristin Scaplen, Ph.D., in May of 2022. The experience has provided her with hands-on experience that is readying her for a career within the science and healthcare fields; it’s an opportunity that not everyone has the luxury of having, she says.

“Talking to my friends from other colleges, they tell me how hard it is for them to get research opportunities,” says Gul, who’s currently applying to medical school. “Working in Dr. Scaplen’s lab has given me the ability to make my resume more competitive while also getting a head start in the world of research before medical school.”  —EB

Bryant announces its Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) Degree, the university's first doctoral program.

Assistant Professor Kristin Scaplen, Ph.D., who teaches neuroscience within Bryant's Psychology Department, examines activity within a fly's brain.

Achieving the Vision

As Liam Fluharty ’23 leads a small tour through Bryant’s future Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center (BELC), his excitement is contagious.

Right now, in early July, it’s still very much under construction; we’re more than a month away from its August debut, or “showtime” as Fluharty calls it. But as a project coordinator with CSL Consulting, the firm hired to convert the BELC from office space to Bryant University’s new flagship building, he knows every inch of the first and second floors.

It’s a future he can already see clearly. When he passes the second floor elevator bank, he stops to point out a blank section of wall. “It’s going to say, ‘College of Business’ right there in big letters,” he says with satisfaction. “And it’s going to look amazing.”

Yet even as Fluharty, who majored in Leadership and Innovation Management, helps to build the university’s future, he can’t help but remember his past. One of the reasons he likes his job is that he gets to turn clients’ dreams into realities, and he knows this client particularly well.

It was as a student that Fluharty first learned about Bryant’s Vision 2030 Strategic Plan, of which the BELC is a signature piece, and was able to offer feedback through a student focus group. When he was assigned to work on the project after graduation, it seemed like fate.

As Fluharty points out the BELC’s new classrooms and labs, he recalls learning from mentors such as Lecturer of Management Robert Massoud, who taught him how to manage a thousand complex concerns while still keeping his eye on the big picture.

In the BELC, “there’s a space here for everyone to pursue their passion,” he says.

Further along, Fluharty notes rooms dedicated to Bryant’s student-run clubs and organizations and how his own involvements taught him lessons that went beyond the classroom — like how to lead as student government president, or how to make a positive impact by organizing a fundraising drive that collected more than $150,000 for cancer research.

Sept. 2024

Bryant’s Bold Future

Feb. 2024

The BELC opens its doors to students for the first time. The new home of Bryant's College of Business, the BELC features high-tech labs, institutes, and centers for leadership, entrepreneurship and design thinking, and finance.

Fidelity Investments gifts 100 Salem Street, a 250,000-square-foot, LEED Gold-certified building, to Bryant for the development of the Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center (BELC), a cutting-edge facility and the centerpiece of Bryant’s Campus Master Plan under Vision 2030.

As a student fellow, Fluharty helped organize a 160th anniversary celebration for Bryant. Some might see it as an odd year to commemorate, he admits, but he argues that it’s never a bad time to celebrate a place you love.

“I had an incredible experience at Bryant, and I wouldn’t change it,” Fluharty explains. “The BELC is going to help make sure that Bryant can continue to provide that experience to students in the future.”

The Future, Unveiled

Bryant University’s Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center (BELC) is more than just a new building; it represents “the realization of our shared vision for Bryant’s future,” said President Ross Gittell, Ph.D., at an October 25 grand opening ceremony for the stateof-the-art educational facility.

“We’re building the future of higher education right here,” said Gittell, addressing a crowd of dignitaries that included federal and state lawmakers, business leaders, alumni, faculty, students, staff, and many of the university’s leading donors — some of whom lend their names to the BELC’s centers, labs, and other facilities.

Gittell’s message was echoed by Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee ’23H, who attended the opening ceremony along with political leaders U.S. Senator Jack Reed ’10H, U.S. Representative Gabe Amo, Rhode Island House of Representatives Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, Rhode Island Treasurer James Diossa, and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.

“This state-of-the-art center will allow Bryant to take its business education to the next level,” said McKee, who along with other attendees later toured the BELC. “Beyond that, the center will be a hub for Rhode Island businesses to seek talent and expertise.”

Reed said the BELC “will give us the skills to meet the challenges of new technology, the challenges of new supply lines, the challenges that we are imagining at the moment — and the challenges that will show us how limited our imagination is when they come to pass.”

Donated by Fidelity Investments, the

250,000-square-foot building underwent a multimillion-dollar transformation into a cutting-edge hub for teaching and learning. “Our longstanding, mutually beneficial relationship spans over 25 years,” noted Adam Joffe ’93, ’95MBA, Fidelity’s head of asset management compliance, risk, and business operations.

The BELC, home to Bryant’s College of Business, includes centers that promote leadership, entrepreneurship, and design thinking; cutting-edge labs dedicated to artificial intelligence, data analytics, and sales; spaces designed to foster innovation; and the Corey E. Levine ’80 Dining Commons.

“For future generations of Bryant students, the BELC reflects our shared commitment to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, and academic excellence,” said D. Ellen Wilson ’79, chair of Bryant’s Board of Trustees.

The opening of the BELC also coincided with the unveiling of Bryant’s Jacobs Society, which recognizes bene-

factors who have contributed $1 million or more to the university. At an October 25 induction ceremony, 63 founding members of the society — named for Dr. Henry L. Jacobs, known as the “Father of Bryant University” — were honored.

The BELC grand opening and Jacobs Society events were preceded by an October 24 event honoring Bryant’s top supporters, including Joe Puishys ’80, vice chair of Bryant’s Board of Trustees, and his wife Kathi (Jurewicz) Puishys ’81. Also honored during the Lead Donor Recognition Ceremony were BELC Dining Commons benefactors Corey Levine ’80 and his wife, Karen, and Wilson, whose $5 million gift launched the BELC’s Ellen Wilson Leadership Center. Frank and Marion Hauck, whose names adorn the BELC’s innovative Frank ’81 and Marion ’81 Hauck Sales Performance Lab, were also in attendance, as was Jim Brady, namesake of the Barbara and P. James Brady ’81 Dean’s Suite.

“They used to call Bryant a ‘best kept secret,’” Brady reflected. With the opening of the BELC, he asserted, “that phrase is going away.”

Bryant University President Ross Gittell, Ph.D. (third from left), poses with local, state, and national figures who attended the BELC’s grand opening.

Frank Hauck ’81 (second from left) visits his namesake Frank ’81 and Marion ’81 Hauck Sales Performance Lab.

Photograph by David Silverman

National Park boasts a wide range of animals including elephants, lions, buffalo, leopards, impalas, zebras, and giraffes, as well as over 400 species of birds.

Into Adventure

Safari lodge CEO, fashion icon, and humanitarian Vimbai Masiyiwa ’17 wants to share Africa's resounding beauty with the world.

BY STEPHEN KOSTRZEWA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BATOKA AFRICA

Zambezi

“So

many people travel from all over the world to a city like London, to see Buckingham Palace and these beautiful manmade buildings and sites. But there is also so much beauty in these lesstouched spaces — in what nature itself has created.”

—VIMBAI MASIYIWA ’17

They call the waterfall Mosi-oa-Tunya, “the smoke that thunders,” notes Vimbai Masiyiwa ’17, CEO and chief creative officer of Batoka Africa.

The spray from Victoria Falls, one of the world’s largest waterfalls, geysers into the air as nearly 25,000 gallons of water pour over its cliffs every second, causing a deafening roar. Located on the Zambezi River on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the waterfall stretches for more than a kilometer and rises to more than 100 meters, a breathtaking testament to nature’s awesome power.

Witnessing that majesty in person, Masiyiwa notes, can be inspiring and humbling at the same time — and she has made it her mission to share that wonder with the world.

In the last few years, Masiyiwa, who was born in Zimbabwe and now resides in London, has received numerous accolades, including induction into Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30 class of 2024 and being named Outstanding Young CEO by the Zimbabwe CEO Network in 2022. A devotee of African couture, she was chosen by Tatler magazine, a

Condé Nast publication, for their “Best Dressed List,” which described her style as “all-out glamour.”

But Masiyiwa also knows what it means to track lions on the hunt and come face-to-face with an 11-ton elephant in the wild — to bow to the power of nature and be one with its grandeur. Equally at home in the boardroom and on safari, in both ballgowns and expedition attire, she launched the Batoka Africa eco-tourism company (“Batoka” being the Tonga word for “sky”) in 2020 with her mother, Tsitsi Masiyiwa P’17, ’24H, to introduce visitors to Africa’s beauty — and to redefine African hospitality.

“It is a chance to see how incredible nature can be,” notes Masiyiwa. “So many people travel from all over the world to a city like London, to see Buckingham Palace and these beautiful man-made buildings and sites. But there is also so much beauty in these less-touched spaces — in what nature itself has created.”

Under her leadership, Masiyiwa has used Batoka, the first Black femaleowned safari lodge group in Africa, to introduce visitors to new adventures while also helping to transform local communities in Zimbabwe.  She has found other ways to give back as well, including as an advisor to the African Union’s Special Envoy for Youth, advocating for mental health awareness, and co-creating the Innovate Elevate Youth Conference. >>

Zambezi Sands, Bakota’s first lodge, is nestled  inside  Zimbabwe’s Zambezi National Park, just upstream from Victoria Falls; a larger sister lodge, Gorges Lodge, is under construction at the edge of nearby Batoka Gorge. Both, she says, are conduits for life-changing experiences.

Ten percent of the revenue from guest stays at Zambezi Sands goes to the Tesse Fund, which allows the staff to create and support development projects in their own communities.

Masiyiwa at the 2024 One Young World Summit, which convened young leaders from 190+ countries and 250+ organizations who are working to accelerate social impact.

“You get out there and you realize that while humans may be the king of the modern world, once you get out into the wild, they are not.”

—VIMBAI MASIYIWA ’17

Below, Masiyiwa discusses her mission, her passions, and her hopes for the future.

Why is it so important that people broaden their horizons or try new things through travel?

“Traveling to new places is about more than just seeing different landscapes; it’s a way of truly immersing ourselves in the world and connecting with cultures and perspectives that are different from our own. While screens give us a window to other places, experiencing them firsthand has a unique power. Walking through a bustling market, feeling the energy of monsoon season in India, or sharing a meal with locals offers insights that go far deeper than what we see online.

“This kind of immersion helps us appreciate the diversity of human experiences, teaching us respect for different ways of life. It broadens our understanding that life in Lon-

don, Rhode Island, or Johannesburg is just one of many ways people live. Each place has lessons to offer, and by engaging with people and their stories, we gain a sense of empathy and understanding that enriches our own lives and, in turn, makes the world a bit more connected.”

Do you have a favorite place you go, or a place that fills you with awe?

“I don’t know if there’s a specific spot, exactly, but if you’ve ever been on safari, it’s such an amazing experience. You get out there and you realize that while humans may be the king of the modern world, once you get out into the wild, they are not. It can be humbling.

“Our Zambezi Sands location is located in a national park, which means there’s wildlife roaming around freely. They don’t wander into the camp very often, but sometimes they do. It’s incredible to see an elephant walk through, or to be able to simply watch and observe lions in nature.

“Just recently, I took a group of 14 people to our property, and as we were driving, we came face to face with a young bull elephant, and he just stared us down. When you see them like that, you realize just how powerful they are.”

Located inside Zambezi National Park, Batoka’s Zambezi Sands is a luxury tented camp situated along the Zambezi River.

What do you do in that situation?

“Our guide asked us to remain calm, which allowed the elephant to lose interest! Male elephants tend to be less threatening; it’s more unsafe when it’s a female elephant with baby elephants

around because they become very protective. Elephants don’t have very good eyesight, so all they can see is a big structure. They just need to know it’s non-threatening, so you turn off the car’s engine, sit quietly, and just give it a little bit of time to observe. Usually, it will back away. Being on safari with a trained guide is essential, as they understand wildlife behavior and are best equipped to ensure your safety.”

What’s next for Batoka?

“We’ve got a new property, which is much bigger than anything I’ve ever done before. We’re usually very boutique; we stick to 20 beds at most. This one is going to be over 100 beds, and it’s spread over a site that’s two kilometers across a gorge. We’re also working with the community in more depth than we ever have before. So, it’s a big project and we have a tight timeline.

“My favorite part of what I do is creating new experiences for people, so I’m very excited about this one. The

size can seem a little bit intimidating, but you only grow when you throw yourself into the deep end.”

As chief creative officer for both properties, you help to determine their visual aesthetic. You’re also something of a fashion icon yourself. How does that inform your process?

“At Batoka, our design philosophy is all about harmony with the natural environment. We’ve taken great care to create spaces that feel like a genuine part of the landscape, using neutral tones and incorporating local elements like feathers and natural materials throughout the property. Even our farm-to-table menus reflect this connection to the land, offering an authentically African experience that immerses guests in the beauty and spirit of the region.

“Personally, this approach extends to my wardrobe as well. When I’m on safari, I dress in subtle, earthy tones that allow me to blend in with the sur-

Masiyiwa, named one of 2022’s best-dressed women by UK’s Tatler magazine, is a supporter of African couture.

Zambezi Sands guests can enjoy breathtaking views of the river or venture out on guided game drives and nature walks.

roundings — avoiding bright colors like red, which can unsettle the wildlife, especially lions. It’s about respecting the environment, whether in the details of our properties or in how we experience them.”

Is there ever a conflict between the creative side of you and the CEO side? Or do they work together?

“The creative side doesn’t have a budget, but the board and the CEO do, so it’s always been interesting (laughs).

“I think being creative is also about being innovative in business. The creative side is really important in informing how we become a business that will last past my generation. The only way

we do that is if we are innovative and we’re doing something different. So, I think there’s a good balance.”

Do you have any advice for young women interested in business?

“Keep pushing forward. Society is nowhere near where it needs to be in terms of empowering women in the workplace, or making room for them, or respecting them, and that can take an emotional toll.

“But Bryant gives us the education we need to empower ourselves as we grow in these spaces. I found strength in really trusting that education and using it as a driving force in difficult spaces as a female in business or female

Batoka’s experiences, concierge services, and lodges have been carefully integrated with the surrounding community and environment.

in management.

“I also tell women to do as much reading as they can and as much learning as they can. Because when you have the facts, and people try to second-guess what you’re saying, you can back it all up.”

You’ve also done some work, through Batoka, on empowerment at the grassroots level. Could you tell us more about that?

“When we build on a plot of land, we lease that land from the community — and we become part of that community. I think there is a sense of responsibility that comes from using their land, from using their soil from their

Zimbabwe’s elephant population is the second-largest in the world.

The Zambezi, the fourth-longest river in Africa, provides sustenance to a diverse array of game, birdlife, and fish species.

ground, to build and generate profits. And part of that should go back into the local community, too.

“At Batoka, we take 10 percent of the revenue from guest stays and we ask our staff, ‘We’re part of your community; how can we tackle some of our challenges?’ It’s important to have that conversation, because 99 percent of the time, as an outsider looking in, you get it wrong.”

What do you see as your legacy?

“At the end of the day, I just want more people to want to visit Africa and explore — even if it’s not with Batoka as their partner. I want to be part of building this image for the continent as a place where people love, appreciate, and value what it has to offer.

“I want it to be the same as when people talk about their summers in Europe. They want to go to Paris. They want to go to Positano or the Amalfi Coast. I want what we’re building to encourage people to be like, ‘Oh my God, this summer I’m going to Rwanda,’ or ‘I’m going to Ghana.’”

This February, Masiyiwa will return to campus for a two-day visit as a Presidential Executive in Residence, where she’ll share what she’s learned with a new generation of Bryant students.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

A Bryant Foundation

What do you remember from your time at Bryant?

“One of the things I truly loved about the university was that, despite its size, it felt intimate enough to foster a strong sense of community. Two girls I met my first week at Bryant during the 4MILE program are still two of my very close friends, and we’ve all really enjoyed getting to watch each other grow in our respective fields.

“I remember returning after a year off for medical reasons, feeling vulnerable and out of place since many of my friends had already graduated. But the warmth of the community quickly reminded me why I belonged there — people greeted me with smiles, and professors were exceptionally supportive and understanding. I do think that’s a sense of community that’s quite unique to Bryant. I’ve gone to two universities post-Bryant and enjoyed them, but that same sense of community didn’t exist.”

Did you have a favorite class?

“I think my favorite class, a project management course with Professor Sousa, was also one of the most difficult ones. I think I might have thought of it as the worst one at the time (laughs). He was a tough professor but deeply cared about the quality of our work and our results — he genuinely wanted to ensure we were prepared for the workplace.

“I often revisit the projects we worked on, which, though unrelated to hospitality, taught me invaluable project management skills. There’s a document on project planning that I still refer to, asking myself, ‘How did we tackle this?’ It continues to guide me in overseeing the construction of our sites.

“The emphasis on critical thinking and effective project management is something I believe will stay with me throughout my career.”

Commanding the Conversation

Experts walk us through the talk, from crisis navigation and conversation tips to the latest public health communication research.

WRITTEN BY EMMA BARTLETT AND BOB CURLEY, ILLUSTRATION BY CHAD HAGEN

Messaging Matters

Interdisciplinary research is the key to crafting effective public health messages, interventions

Bryant’s student-athletes aren’t the only ones turning teamwork into big wins. Researchers from the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Communication and Language Studies and the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences are working together to improve public health messages on critical topics like vaccination, perinatal care, and student mental health — projects that are attracting attention on the national level.

“One of the biggest problems in health is assuming that one group has all the answers; bringing in more people is more likely to result in solutions,” says Christopher Morse, Ph.D., professor of Communication and chair of the Communication and Language Studies Department. “Because of Bryant’s size and the range of expertise here, we

are not siloed. The person you want to collaborate with is sometimes just two doors down.”

For example, recent research on vaccines and emotion involved communication and health experts including Morse; Associate Professor of Communication and Language Studies Julie Volkman, Ph.D.; Director of Bryant’s School of Health and Behavioral Sciences Kirsten Hokeness, Ph.D.; and several Bryant students. They were joined in their efforts by researchers from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Northern Arizona University.

Class Activity to Research Study

What’s more important in making healthcare decisions about vaccination: hope, or fear?

Hope, it turns out, really does conquer fear, according to Bryant-led research published in Health Communication that originated from a student exercise developed by Hokeness.

“The key to interdisciplinary research is to find something that everyone is interested in,” says Volkman, who has also contributed to communication research at the intersection of maternal and mental health.

In 2020, Hokeness assigned her first-year Biology students a reading about vaccination for human papilloma virus (HPV) and instructed undergrads to write a brief response. Unbeknownst to them, the article was authored by an opponent of vaccination, which Hokeness hoped would

When Disaster Strikes

The middle of a crisis is not the time to figure out how to communicate what’s happening. Every business and organization should have a crisis communication plan in place well before an emergency arises, deploy it for the duration of the event, and keep it active to deal with the aftermath, says Christopher Morse, Ph.D., professor and chair of Bryant’s Communication and Language Studies Department.

Crisis communication plays a role in the corporate world, as well as during natural disasters. While similar strategies are used for

spark some interesting conversations and critical thinking.  Instead, reactions included anger, fear, and even tears from students — many of whom had received the HPV vaccination themselves and were worried about the dire consequences described in the story.

“The article was accepted without questioning,” says Hokeness. “I was shocked that the students would just accept what was put in front of them, have such a visceral response, and share it with others. I went to the Communication and Language Studies Department and said this could be a good research topic.” >>

both, the desired outcomes are often different.

“In a hurricane or tornado, the goal is to minimize harm to people. In a business crisis, you’re usually trying to limit reputational damage to the company,” Morse says, referencing bad behavior by employees or product-related failures as examples.

KEYS TO DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE CRISIS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INCLUDE:

» Have a plan before a crisis arises.

» Choose a spokesperson carefully. “You need someone who is likable, credible, and has good presentation skills,” says Morse. “Often, this is not your CEO or president.”

» Respond quickly. “People tend to believe the first thing they hear,” Morse says. “If you don’t get out in front of the story, someone else will. Establish yourself as the authority.”

» Be truthful with the public and the press. “Most journalists are very supportive at the early stages of a crisis,” says Morse. “They want to get information, not spread gossip, but if you stonewall them, they’re going to go elsewhere to get the story.”

» Tailor messaging that considers your audience’s composition, concerns, and emotional state.

“People who are angry are interested in different things than those who are scared,” notes Morse.

» Deliver, and repeat, messages that are simple and easy to understand.

» Don’t treat crisis communication as a public relations exercise. “It’s better to address the worst-case scenario head-on rather than downplaying a crisis and having it turn out worse than expected,” says Morse.

» Factor in the politics of the moment. The government’s response to a crisis, for example, may be viewed quite differently if it happens during an election year.

» Address misinformation directly to tamp down rumors.

» Communicate via multiple channels, from traditional news outlets like radio, newspapers, and TV to the social media platforms favored by younger (TikTok, Instagram) and older (Facebook; X, formerly known as Twitter) users.

» Reassure people that the crisis is being addressed, and that there is a pathway back to “normal.”

» Remember that crisis communication doesn’t end when the crisis ends. Communities need time to recover, and that can take time (years, even).

The Social Life

Social media has changed the way we communicate. From deepfakes to cancel culture, Assistant Professor of Digital Communication Jerrica Rowlett, Ph.D., breaks down how we’re interfacing in the digital age:

CONNECTION, MEMEIFIED: “Memes are being used as a form of communication in two big ways. The first is where the only form of communication people have with each other is sending memes; this happens a lot with long-distance friends and is used for relationship maintenance. The second is where people share memes to communicate what they can’t put into their own words, or they don’t want to put into their own words. You see this a lot with what people choose to share on Facebook. Sometimes it’ll be something that resonates with their personal life and experience or the feelings and emotions they have.”

IN DEEPFAKES WE TRUST: “We’re seeing a lot more deepfakes (AI-generated images, videos, and audio) emerge, and I’m concerned that people aren’t thinking enough about the possibilities they present. I see deepfakes shared all the time by people wanting to believe them — which is where confirmation bias comes into play. If people see something that confirms their own bias and what they want to believe, they often trust those things and are less likely to fact-check.”

YOU’RE BLOCKED: “We live in a pretty black and white culture where you either line up with what I do, or you don’t. Cancel culture comes about when somebody with a large identity — whether that's a celebrity or influencer — does something that makes a large population of people upset, and they decide to 'cancel' them — which often comes in the form of unfollowing and telling other people to do that too. Blocking is a recent and more extreme version of canceling because their content isn’t going to show up on your page and it’s not going to show up to other people. The people who cancel want to cause harm to those who don’t have the same ideological beliefs that they do. For instance, if I’m not giving you views, I’m hurting you financially.”

Hokeness’ prompt resonated strongly with Volkman.

“Emotional state plays a huge role in information seeking and processing,” she says. “I was interested in how emotions can play a role in the perception of risk, and if that can be a predictor of information seeking.”

The resulting study was initiated just before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which thrust the issue of vaccine hesitation from the fringes to the center of a heated political and public health debate.

Volkman, in partnership with Hokeness and their colleagues, initially surveyed 225 college students on their attitudes about vaccines and their perceptions of vaccine safety — finding that students wanted to know more about risk and safety.

Their results prompted a follow-up study in 2022, which tested how two very different emotions, fear and hope, affect how people seek and receive information. This time, a group of 336 adults were queried about their attitudes, risk perceptions, and

emotions about vaccines.

Researchers found that fear did not affect whether the participants sought more information about vaccines. Interestingly, though, perceived current knowledge — i.e., their own understanding of vaccines — and a hopeful outlook regarding vaccines were both associated with information-seeking intentions, the study noted.

The findings are significant for crafting public health messaging and interventions, including on college campuses, and the pandemic provided some real-world validation of the study findings, says Volkman.

“There was hope that the vaccine would work, and everything would go back to normal,” she recalls.

Hope Helps Pregnant Women, Too

Volkman and Morse used what they learned in the vaccine study to inform another recent health risk messaging project, this time focusing on health concerns affecting pregnant women.

Did You Know?

Bryant University’s Communication and Language Studies Department is launching a Sports Industries, Communication, and Promotion program in fall 2025 that will help students gain a competitive edge in sports media. Through the new major, undergrads will acquire a comprehensive understanding of the sports industry, including its history and structure, while also developing media interaction skills and mastering techniques for interviews, press releases, and public relations.

Students will learn in state-of-theart production facilities and participate in experiential learning opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. With specialized tracks in esports and sports media and promotion, they’ll be equipped for careers in sports analysis, sports event coordination, sports commentary, and more.

“By mastering the art of sports promotion, and understanding media strategies and the inner workings of sports organizations, graduates will shape the future of sports and entertainment, driving fan engagement, brand loyalty,

and industry innovation,” says Communication and Language Studies Department Chair and Professor Chris Morse, Ph.D., noting that many Bryant alumni are already working in the sports industry and can provide valuable mentorship to current students. —EB

“The work on vaccine hesitancy led me to consider other health issues that convey risk to help people with behavior change,” explains Volkman.

Once again collaborating with researchers from other disciplines, the communication experts surveyed around 400 women in their first trimester of pregnancy to assess their perceptions of risk regarding gestational diabetes mellitus and hypertension, a pair of common health problems that are deeply rooted in behavior. The participants were asked about their sources of perinatal health information and assessed for health literacy, with various health messages tested for perceived credibility and effectiveness.

“There’s a lot of opinion and information aimed at people who, especially if this is their first pregnancy, haven’t encountered this situation before,” says Morse. That can lead some to underes-

timate their risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy, but it also causes some women with healthy lifestyles to overestimate their risk, causing unnecessary stress and worry.

Preliminary findings from the study, slated for publication next year, were presented in November during a panel discussion at the National Communication Association’s Annual Convention in New Orleans.

“The goal is to construct messages that help people who need it, and reassure those that don’t,” says Morse.

What Stresses Out College Students?

Interdisciplinary communication research at Bryant extends beyond risk perception. In a 2024 study published in the American Journal of Qualitative Research, for example, Volkman and Morse

studied triggers for anxiety and how college students cope with stress, working with Heather Pond Lacey, Ph.D., professor and chair of Bryant’s Psychology Department; Psychology Professor and School of Health and Behavioral Sciences’ Associate Director Joseph Trunzo, Ph.D.; and Associate Provost and Professor of Communication Wendy Samter, Ph.D.

Anxiety rates have risen in all populations since the pandemic, but adolescents and young adults have been particularly affected, notes Trunzo, who provided Volkman with expertise regarding anxiety, both in terms of clinical presentations and measurement for research purposes. The Bryant researchers analyzed daily diary entries, gathered over a two-week period, from undergraduate students who had previously been diagnosed with or treated for anxiety.

“Qualitative data collection

offers a more nuanced view than standard anxiety studies, which typically use inventories and other more standardized measures. The latter methods gather good information but can sometimes be more sterile and get in the way of deeper insights,” says Trunzo.

They identified five primary categories of anxiety-inducing or aggravating stressors: academic time management and performance; communication anxiety; competing life stressors; others’ presence and problems; and generalized uncertainty.

Coping strategies included employing a mix of intrapersonal (alone time, breaks, hobbies, music, and staying productive) and interpersonal techniques (hanging out with and talking to friends and family).

The findings are consistent with what Trunzo, a licensed and practicing clinical psychologist, sees on a regular basis.

“It’s nice to get good quality scientific data to support anecdotal experiences, as it paves the way to do additional work to address these important issues,” he notes.

Interdisciplinary research, states Trunzo, is almost always superior because it brings together different areas of expertise and ways of looking at the world, which benefits both research processes and outcomes.

“I think I contributed something of value to this study, and I am 100 percent sure I would not have had the skills and communication background to do something like this solo,” he says.

Volkman agrees. “Health communication, by its nature, is interdisciplinary,” she says. “It’s important for Bryant to lead these conversations.”

You Don’t Say

Language isn’t the only way people communicate; equally (and often even more) important are nonverbal cues such as hand gestures and eye contact, which can differ widely from culture to culture.

EXAMPLES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION, KANEMOTO SAYS, INCLUDE:

Beyond Words

In Japanese culture, a geisha is a traditional entertainer, highly respected for her skill in dance and singing. In the West, however, “geisha girls” are often wrongly viewed as women of the night — a massively insulting stereotype and cultural faux pas.

It’s the kind of erroneous assumption students in Bryant’s “Intercultural Communication” course are learning not to make.

In a classroom exercise organized by Emi Kanemoto, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of the Intercultural Communication Program in the department of Communication and Language Studies, students are shown a series of images depicting human interactions. They are then challenged to describe, interpret, and evaluate the nonverbal personal and cultural communication cues they see.

When an image of a bowing woman impeccably clad in a silk kimono comes up, student evaluators use descriptors like “formal,” “polite,” and “friendly” — descriptors that reflect what’s actually in the image —BC

PROXEMICS: the physical space and distance people use in communication. When people refer to their “personal space,” they are defining proxemics. U.S. visitors to the Mideast may find that conversations with locals can get a little too close for comfort, for example.

CHRONEMICS: how we refer to and perceive time. This includes behaviors like punctuality and willingness to wait. Experiencing “island time” on vacation, for instance, is a classic example of chronemics.

— without falling back on cultural assumptions or ste reotypes.

The nonverbal communications exercise is one facet of Kanemoto’s GEN201 class, a general education course that all Bryant students are required to take.  The requirement is unique to Bryant, says Kanemoto, whose teaching journey in the United States began when she emigrated from Japan about a decade ago. Yet, while it may be rare, the class is important.

tures, but also about ourselves.”

Unpacking stereotypes and oversimplifications is part of the learning process, as is unlearning attitudes about culture, race, gender, sexuality, national origin, and more, she says.

“In the work setting, you have to work with people from other cultures, even within the U.S.,” Kanemoto notes. “Navigating these spaces is important not only in the workplace, but in your personal life, as well.”

Course goals include teaching members of the dominant culture to avoid committing microaggressions and improving their respect for marginalized communities. But the class also helps international students and other members of minority communities thrive in a sometimes unfamiliar and confusing cultural environment.

“In class we do a lot of self-reflec-

KINESICS: body movements such as nodding or hand movements that are sometimes (but not always) accompanied by speech. Eye contact — or lack thereof — is also part of kinesics. Sustained eye contact is generally viewed as attentiveness in Western cultures but avoided in some Asian cultures as a sign of respect in certain social interactions.

“Students gain language to call out someone or explain issues, such as how to respond to microaggressions,”

Kanemoto says. “We learn about idioms and metaphors and how to navigate them. It helps students to live in a diverse space. We use knowledge to empower one another, as well as ourselves, to create an inclusive society.”

Lily Kimball ’27, a Biology major and Human Resource Management minor, sees the course as especially valuable for students who may have been relatively sheltered prior to college.

“For some students who come to Bryant, it’s their first interaction with people from different cultures,”

she says. “It’s important not to see one culture as being better than another, while at the same time respecting your own.”

Kanemoto, who was inspired to pursue intercultural education through personal conversations with members of marginalized communities, says the general education requirement for students reflects a deep commitment to diversity at Bryant.

“Bryant has a culture change happening on campus,” she says. “I want to be part of the change.”

HAPTICS: the use of touch in communication. Some U.S.-centric examples of haptics include functional-professional touch (a doctor touching a patient); social-polite touch (a handshake or a pat on the back); friendship-warmth touch (hugging or a kiss on the cheek); love-intimacy touch (kisses between lovers); and sexual-arousal touch. Touch rules and customs vary widely among cultures: Islamic communities, for example, generally frown upon touch between genders, but view behaviors like men holding hands in friendship as acceptable.

PARALANGUAGE: verbal and nonverbal aspects of speech that influence meaning, including tone, intensity, pauses, and silence. An extended pause to emphasize the meaning of a word or statement is one example. Culturally, speaking loudly is a type of paralanguage that can be viewed as authoritative in Western countries; in some parts of Asia, it’s considered rude or, in Japan, a sign of loss of control in some contexts.

Growing a Vision

How two Bryant grads spun their business backgrounds into sustainable startups in Maine.

BY JENNIFER SKUCE SPIRA PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSE BURKE

38

“The way life should be.”

It’s the state slogan of Maine, as well as the core philosophy of residents Valerie Mankus and Tom Madden. In a harmonious meeting of aims and attitudes, the 2008 Bryant grads have built a sustainable life — and flourishing businesses — together in the Pine Tree State.

The couple’s homestead, set amid nine acres in the Portland suburb of Scarborough, nourishes both work and pleasure. There’s the leggy patch of perennials that feeds Fawn Meadow Flowers, the growing flower business that Mankus launched from her kitchen table three years ago, and the verdant vegetable garden that replenishes Madden’s spirit after a day on the job as co-founder of Portland’s Lone Pine Brewing Company.

The family home sits atop a long dirt drive, offering views over a wide meadow of flora and fauna. Six-year-

old Sophie, the spitting image of her mother, happily helps tend chickens, geese, fancy feathered ducks, rescue pups Luca and Dublin, and Fred the turkey. The entire brood tolerates an ill-tempered peacock named Kevin. Their commitment to sustainability is evident in two electric vehicles powering up in the garage. Their clean caravan delivers fresh bouquets to farm-share customers in Kennebunk, brings supplies to their Airbnb apartment in downtown Portland, and serves as the primary mode of transportation to and from Lone Pine’s commercial brewing facility in nearby Gorham.

“We consider ourselves to be a little conglomerate,” jokes Mankus about their family. “And we laugh that Sophie has no concept of traditional schedules. Tom has his thing, we have our things, and we just go.”

Valerie Mankus and Tom Madden, members of Bryant’s Class of 2008, select flowers from their greenhouse.

Friendly ducks (above) and Fred the turkey are just a few of Mankus and Madden’s animals.

A Lifestyle by Design

Mankus is candid about the personal journey she calls “from the ’hood to the homestead.” She grew up in a threestory walk-up in New Britain, Connecticut, and paid her way through Bryant, studying Economics and Finance, as a waitress at Chili’s. She put her analytical mind to work in the insurance industry through her 20s but renounced the 9 to 5 grind shortly before Sophie’s first birthday.

“I had a retirement party at age 32, which was hilarious,” she says.

When she felt pulled creatively, their property provided a way forward: sustainable flower farming. An acolyte of Martha Stewart, Mankus learned how-to from books and flower-arranging workshops. She planted her first rows of perennials during the pandemic and Fawn Meadow Flowers launched soon thereafter. An ad in The Knot reaped her first bridal client.

Her Bryant education helped to prepare her for the fits and starts of small business ownership, says Mankus. “So much of running this business is not making bouquets,” she notes. “Good foundational knowledge in business will take you anywhere.”

Mankus embraces the agricultural life but eschews the Carhartt and tractor trope: “You don’t have to cosplay farmer to care about the environment. I’m out here in a sports bra and Lululemon.”

Today, Mankus books up to 20 weddings per year from a charming storefront in downtown Kennebunk, where she also crafts hand-dyed linens and her original brand of clean soy candles and soaps.

“I believe that it matters what you bring into your home and what we put on our bodies, but not in a preachy way,” Mankus says. “The goal has

always been to be approachable about sustainability; you’re not a demon if you shop on Amazon.” >>

In addition to floral design work, Fawn Meadow Flowers offers hand-dyed linens, Mankus’ original brand of clean soy candles and soaps, and more.

The Fawn Meadow Flowers shop in Kennebunk, Maine.

Tapping Into a Passion

About 30 minutes away from the farm, the towering stainless steel tanks at Lone Pine Brewing are heating up. The operation’s brew crew are exacting by necessity, as temperature and pH levels make or break flavor.

Top-selling Portland Pale Ale and Brightside IPA established the brand, but the brewery also embraces iconic Maine flavors — sea salt, maple syrup, blueberries, and oysters — to create distinctive small-batch pours.

“We’ve never been bashful about getting creative,” says Madden, who sources from small, family-owned vendors. He credits the grassroots “buy local” movement for influencing both his business and Mankus’: “People started to ask, ‘Why are we buying stuff from overseas when we can grow it here?’”

Madden’s entrepreneurial drive was cultivated in childhood, watching his father run the family wine and beer store in Saco, Maine, and grew as a Finance major at Bryant. He graduated into a traditional role that “didn’t really click,” and the economy’s financial collapse in 2008 instigated a move home to Maine.

At the same time, the craft beer boom presented interesting opportunities. Madden read zealously about the science and experimented with small-batch brewing in his basement. Confidence built, he worked 20-hour days alongside his partner and best friend, John Paul, to launch Lone Pine’s first tasting room in 2016, in the industrial East Bayside neighborhood of Portland.

“It was joyful,” he remembers. “You can’t help but, for lack of a better term, get intoxicated by the process.”

Madden pours himself a glass of Lone Pine’s Oh-J IPA.

The Lone Pine Brewing Company logo proudly marks a silo.

A tower of Lone Pine cans serves as a monument to success and good taste.

In less than 10 years, the brand has earned gold awards at both the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival Competition and built a customer base across 17 states and Ireland. Lone Pine has also expanded to two tasting rooms in greater Portland: a seasonal beer garden in Westbrook and a year-round space in Old Orchard Beach.

Watching her entrepreneur parents at work, Sophie is already considering her own empire-building. The first grader predicts, “I’m going to move to Paris and make cheese.”

Patrons enjoy a drink at a Lone Pine tasting room in Portland, Maine.

Madden samples new product straight from a fermentation tank.

Right: Madden and Mankus enjoy a quiet moment with their daughter, Sophie.

Open for Business:

B ryant's New Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center

To learn more about mentorship and corporate training opportunities, please visit bryant.edu/college-business.

Experience cutting-edge centers, institutes, labs at the BELC

This 250,000-square-foot LEED Gold-certified facility, the new home of Bryant's College of Business, is a high-tech hub for innovation and collaboration between faculty, students, alumni, and corporate partners. Take a tour and experience academic innovation in real time, with spaces devoted to leadership, entrepreneurship, finance, AI, data analysis and visualization, sales, digital marketing, supply chain, and marketing behavioral research.

IMPACT

“There’s research and underwriting and deals and terms and contracts and negotiations and deadlines — but we’re still talking about cars, and helping people achieve their goals! It’s so cool and I love it. It makes me laugh out loud sometimes.”

— ANDREW GOLDBERG ’02, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF COLLECTIBLE CARS, SOTHEBY’S FINANCIAL SERVICES

Photograph by Alex GagnePhotograph by Alex Gagne

Andrew Goldberg ’02 at the 2024 Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance.

Driving Passion

A ndrew Goldberg ’02 is reinventing how car collectors do business

Andrew Goldberg ’02, senior vice president and head of collectible cars at Sotheby’s Financial Services, strides through the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance with purpose. He’s on the clock — Sotheby’s is one of the event sponsors — but a galaxy of cars of every make, model, and color are parked in front of him on the lawn of the Breakers Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

He pauses a moment to take it all in.

There are cars here today that are so rare they might as well not exist; others have won laurels on prestigious European racetracks. Goldberg appreciates these marvels, but they’re not what he’s looking for.

Finally, he stops at the Ferrari division and gazes lovingly at a red F40, a mix of raw power and Italian elegance. “These are my favorite,” he says with satisfaction.

Goldberg’s passion for cars dates to

his childhood, where he grew up modestly in Simsbury, Connecticut. When he was nine years old, his family took him to a firefighters’ carnival, and he happened upon a midway dart game where one of the prizes was a framed photo of a red Lamborghini Countach.

As luck, or maybe destiny, would have it, Goldberg won the photo — and it sparked a lifelong ambition. “My dad helped me hang it in my bedroom and, overnight, it became a really important symbol to me,” he remembers. “I became obsessed with the idea of not just getting a car like that, but also reaching the level of success that it would take to own one.”

At J.P. Morgan, after a long career in investments, he was able to bring those twin goals together by creating the Passions and Pursuits Advisory Group, where specialists work with clients to identify their interests — which can include everything from cars, boats, horses, and planes to watches, wine, and art — and then develop a personalized financial plan that incorporates those passions.

In his current role at Sotheby’s, Goldberg leads a team of lending specialists dedicated to financing rare car collections, allowing collectors to borrow against their passion assets. “In terms of real institutional capital, we can lend up to $250 million at a time. Our biggest loan right now is $85 million, backed entirely by cars,” he notes.

Loaning against car collections at this scale is a relatively new business, says Goldberg. Part of that shift is a growing esteem for car collecting — a sea change he’s all for. “They are, to me, literally rolling art — and I think auction results really tell the story,” he says, noting that Sotheby’s sold a rare 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlen-

haut Coupé for $142 million in 2022.

“The total addressable market for this business is currently very, very narrow; it’s essentially defined as people who are wealthy enough to have $50 or $100 million worth of cars, but also currently still need money, either for business needs or to continue to grow their collections,” Goldberg says.

“That’s kind of a narrow window. But there’s an old saying that ‘in niches, there are riches’ — and this is the ultimate niche.”

He marvels at the career he’s built at the nexus of opportunity and passion.

“The work is very finance-oriented, and we take it very seriously. There’s research and underwriting and deals and terms and contracts and negotiations and deadlines — but we’re still talking about cars, and helping people achieve their goals! It’s so cool and I love it. It makes me laugh out loud sometimes.”

And through it all, the Countach from his bedroom wall has remained his dream car. “I’m told they’re actually a son of a gun to drive, but I don’t care,” says Goldberg with a wide grin. “Every time I see one, I still freak out.”

The Data Behind Quality Care

Financial health is top of mind for this wraparound services CFO

Crunching numbers is what Addy Kane ’91, P’21 does best. That task has never been more important — or as challenging — as it is today, when economic headwinds have caused rising healthcare costs, staffing shortages, and lower reimbursement rates within the healthcare industry.

“Being in a state with low reimbursement rates makes our jobs very difficult when we compete for talent and deal with increased costs,” says

Kane, a certified public accountant. “Understanding the financial results is key to measuring, monitoring, and steering a company’s path forward.”

Kane’s job involves balancing financial sustainability with an organization’s mission to provide quality care and services. Having spent more than twenty years on the financial side of healthcare, she notes that the

evolution of data analytics is giving healthcare organizations a competitive edge when it comes to reporting financial- and quality-related information — especially when dealing with third-party payers.

“If anybody asks me, ‘What should I do when I go to college?’ my first response is to go into data analytics because that area is crucial as we move forward,” Kane says, noting that the field offers a fact-based approach to highlighting opportunity areas and making the best financial decisions.

Born in Portugal, Kane immigrated to America with her family at 5 years old. As a high school senior, she fell in love with accounting and pursued the subject the following year at Bryant. She later obtained her master’s degree in business administration at Providence College in 1997 and has held public accounting roles at KPMG Peat Marwick, CVS Health Corporation, CharterCARE Health Partners, and HopeHealth.

Today, Kane serves as chief financial officer of Family Service of Rhode Island, a local nonprofit delivering wraparound services to low-income families. Kane and her husband, Steven — a ’90 Bryant alum — live in Lincoln, Rhode Island, with their two children, one of whom, Matthew, earned his Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Mathematics from Bryant in 2021. She is also a member of Bryant’s School of Health and Behavioral Sciences Advisory Council.

“I have had a very fulfilling and rewarding career and will be forever thankful for the education and skills I attained throughout my college experience at Bryant,” Kane says.

GOALS

From the field to the office, meet four studentathlete alums who turned their passion for sports into athletics-related careers:

Graduating Bryant with a degree in Management, Gasper was a member of the university’s baseball team throughout his college career. He made his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox in August 2024.

Vasic played for the women’s basketball team while earning her degree in Marketing. Today, the Bulldog alum is a Lululemon program and relationship manager for the company’s ambassador and campus partnership programs. She works with student and professional athletes for brand campaigns, large scale events, and partnership agreements.

Bobby Brown ’90

Brown, a member of the Bryant University Athletics Hall of Fame, is now the PGA director of golf at ATK Golf Services Inc. at Tashua Knolls Golf Course in Trumbull, Connecticut. He played golf for Bryant while obtaining his Finance degree. He and his wife, Jami ’91, who was a member of the women’s basketball team, live in Trumbull with their three daughters: Alexa, Taylor, and Kylie.

A former member of the women’s lacrosse team, Hansen graduated from Bryant with a Communication degree and is currently the head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at Saint Leo University.

Caitlin Hansen ’08

Mickey Gasper ’18

Naana (Ankoma-Mensa) Vasic ’14

’11, Kendal ’92, Goldstein Krishen

Damian Paul Santini

Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver P'19, Taylor Donald Donald Zahansky James ’93, Sam Sam Broomer Sam Merwin Samantha

Michael ’08, Michael Oliveri Oliveri ’08, Jim Brady ’81, Jim ’81, Jim Brady Sean ’14MBA, Richmond Sean Marino Greg ’14, Marino Greg ’14, Eric Bertrand Bertrand ’94, ’94, Eric Nicholas Nicholas ’93, Buziak Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak Margaret Dickinson ’10, Dunne Dunne Fasano ’94, ’94, ’94, Ed Ed Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen ’98,

Tully ’98, Stephen

Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz ’11, Kendal Cehanowicz Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew Corrado ’87, P'20, Andrew ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer ’92, Jason Fromer Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein ’91, Dustin Goldstein Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Krishen Khurana ’20, Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel Kortick ’97MBA, Daniel O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, Damian O'Rourke ’94, ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95,Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95, Paul Rovelli ’95,Paul ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Santini ’92, Nico Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver ’66, Mal Selver P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor P'19, Donald Taylor Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, James Zahansky ’95, Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Broomer ’93, Sam Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier ’92, Mark Bernier Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin ’12, Samantha Merwin Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Michael Oliveri ’08, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’81, Jim Brady ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean Richmond ’14MBA, Sean ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino ’14, Greg Marino Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand ’94, Eric Bertrand Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, Nicholas ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Buziak ’93, Nanette Dickinson ’10, Margaret Dickinson ’10, Margaret Dickinson ’10, Margaret Dickinson ’10, Margaret Dickinson ’10, Margaret Dickinson ’10, Margaret Dickinson ’10, Margaret, Margaret Dickinson ’10, Margaret Dickinson ’10, Margaret, Margaret Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Dunne ’07, Amanda Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Fasano ’94, Ed Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Ferrara ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Tully ’98, Stephen Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Hayward ’16 MBA, Garrett Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard ’13, Michael Leonard George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Bello ’58, George Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Bennett P'21, Carl & Carolyn Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08, Joseph Capezza, ’08,Joseph Capezza, ’08,

Garrett ’16 Garrett ’16 MBA, ’13, ’13, Leonard Bello ’58, Bello ’58, Carl Bennett P'21, Carolyn & Carl ’08, Joseph Capezza, Capezza, Joseph

Circle of Influence

Wall Street Council celebrates 10 years of support

46

At first, it was just an idea, Stephen Tully ’98 confided to the audience at October’s 10th anniversary celebration of Bryant University’s Wall Street Council, which included nearly 50 Bryant students. And at its core, the idea was simple: Bryant Bulldogs are stronger in packs — and they look out for one another.

As Tully, head of U.S. institutions at Cantillon Capital Management LLC, looked out on the New York finance scene 10 years ago, he knew there were other Bryant alumni out there, but they were lost in the clamor of a crowded and bustling Wall Street.

He asked himself: What if they were united? What if they could do more together to support each other, their alma mater, and future generations of Bryant students than they ever could alone?

This idea led Tully to connect with Nicholas Bohnsack ’00, president of Strategas Securities, another alum in New York finance. Together, they formed an executive board with other Bryant alumni and, with the support of the university and faculty advisors, the council was established.

Today, more than a decade later, the Wall Street Council has grown to more than 30 members: Bryant alumni and parents who work in financial services fields, both on and off Wall Street. They host regular events open to students and alumni, including the annual Financial Services Forum, and their philanthropic support helps to ensure that Bryant’s Finance and Financial Services programs are among the nation’s best.

But the true measures of the council’s success lie in its outcomes. Whether it be through mentoring, class visits, networking, or providing internships and job

opportunities, the council has proved itself a force to be reckoned with.

“We are scrappy and nimble. Bryant isn’t some Ivy League institution, so it’s on all of us to come together,” said Tully, who has passed leadership of the council to Amanda Dunne ’07 and a new executive board but remains on as an advisory board member. “It’s about our strength as a group.”

Nicholas Decelles ’26 attended the anniversary as part of Bryant’s annual Walk Down Wall Street. At the reception, he networked with keynote speaker Mark Orsley ’97, a portfolio manager at BlueCrest Capital Management, and had an in-depth conversation about investing philosophy, risk, and what life is really like on Wall Street.

“I think this is one of the best opportunities at Bryant,” Decelles marveled. “It’s about bridging the gap between what we study and the real world and about making real face-to-face connections.”

—SK

Stephen

Tully ’98,

How Bryant’s newest Recent Alumni Trustee earned her seat at the table.

On the Money

Alum talks successes, stumbling blocks in startup venture capital

Named to Business Insider’s “The Seed 100: The best early-stage investors” list for 2024, Nick Candito ’10 talks to Bryant magazine about his time building technology companies and transitioning into venture capital as the co-founder and managing director of Angel Collective Opportunity Fund.

In your Bryant days, was venture capital part of your vision?

“I knew I wanted to study business and play football, but I didn’t know much about technology, investing, and especially VC before I met (former Bryant board chair) Dave Beirne ’85.

“I got to know Dave’s son Matt because my roommate, Jackson Davis ’10, was his best friend at Aspen High School. We spent the Fourth of July with Dave, and I started talking to him about what he had done professionally and how he thinks about career opportunities and entrepreneurship.

“Fortunately, he became a friend and eventual mentor to me. Based mostly on his advice, I jumped into a small software startup after Bryant. Fast forward and I’ve now done five startups and started making small angel investments after the third one was acquired by Salesforce in 2014.”

Any stumbling blocks in those early years?

“Of course! I was actually fired from my first startup after bringing on my stepbrother. That was a somewhat special circumstance, but you quickly learn to pull yourself up.

“In the same day, you can think: ‘Joining this company was the best decision of my life,’ and, ‘There is no chance this is going to work.’

“That feeling intensifies drastically when you are the founder and everything in the company is now your problem. Overall, though, success is not a straight line. You get really good at not feeling too high or too low and learning to appreciate the journey.”

What sets the successful investors apart?

“I often say that being an investor is an easy job to have but an incredibly difficult job to do well. You need to be intuitive and instinctive related to people. You don’t always have time to sit back and wait for complete information.

“Every investment is a one-way decision, meaning that once you wire the money, you are wed to that founder. What I try to do is give every company a better chance at success because I’m involved. They still do most of the work, but amazing things can happen between investors and entrepreneurs when everyone is obsessed with winning; the market/customer is ultimately the source of truth.”

How do you evaluate potential investments?

“Traditional investors do a lot of market mapping and then look back into the top opportunity areas. I don’t think about the ‘addressable market’ much at all. For me, it’s all about the inevitability of the team and product.

“I like folks who have a chip on their shoulder and some kind of additional motivation. They care an obsessive amount, and that’s the thing that you can’t sacrifice. They have this burning desire. They don’t know how to fail.

“Products evolve and teams can pivot.

My best investments are all because someone willed them into existence. That’s the fun part — seeing from nothing to something.”

What opportunities do you foresee for early-stage investors?

“The hype around AI is real. We are still in the ‘early internet’ days of this wave of innovation, but it’s for sure the next big paradigm shift. I’m also interested in how technology will impact American defense, health, and traditional services businesses.

“My hope is that more Bryant alumni take what they learn in Smithfield and venture to get involved in technology and entrepreneurship.”

What’s an important skill to complement finance knowledge?

“My degree in Finance is helpful, but I don’t do much of that daily in my professional life. I’d say that communication is much more of a differentiator. Most of the capital in business flows based on storytelling, especially if you combine that with trust-built relationships.

“Understanding that all business is much more about relationships and motivation, that’s how anyone can apply an advantage to stand out.”

Changing the Face of Finance

Professor of Finance Asli Ascioglu, Ph.D., coordinator of the Financial Markets Center educational trading room and the Archway Investment Fund (AIF), has long been a proponent of “beyond the book” learning. In the spring, the AIF reached an incredible milestone when it passed the $3 million mark — the work of nearly two decades of highly dedicated student portfolio managers and faculty advisors.

For Ascioglu, who recently received Bryant’s Outstanding Faculty Award, preparing the next generation of finance leaders means rethinking the field altogether. A fervent advocate of incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG)  concerns into investment portfolios, she is also working to create programs that support women and students of diverse backgrounds.

ON PREPARING FOR THE GREAT WEALTH TRANSFER:

“The baby boomer generation holds a significant portion of the world’s current wealth, tens of trillions of dollars, and over the next few decades, this wealth will be transferred to younger generations. These younger generations will care about the impact they make with their wealth, so there will be a greater emphasis on aligning investment strategies with their values.”

ON THE FUTURE OF FINANCE:

“I think the biggest challenge is to find a way to increase wealth without increasing wealth disparity. Take artificial intelligence as an example, which will have a significant

impact on all of us. If AI is predominantly used only by the elite, then it will lead to more wealth disparity. We must, instead, find a way to make sure it has a broader base of trained users so it can be an equalizer.”

ON THE VALUE OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING:

“If we merely talk to our students about potential experiences, they are only passively listening. However, with the Archway Investment Fund, they actively engage in the learning process and remember what they actually did. This hands-on approach ensures that when faced with similar decisions in the future, they are better equipped to make the right choices.”

ON CHANGING THE FACE OF FINANCE:

“If you look at the studies, when the number of women on a company’s board of directors increases, the company performs better. Female traders do better than male traders under stress, and the more female financial advisors we have, the better we can represent female investors. Yet we still see a disparity, so we need to find ways to support women in the field and take direct action to change things.”

Photograph by Jesse Burke

With a gift through your will or estate plan, you can make an investment to support generations of future Bryant students and provide opportunities that will change their lives.

No matter the size of your gift, you will be welcomed into the 1863 Society, which honors those who have made a gift to Bryant through their will or estate.

Reach out to Robert Ferrell, Senior Planned Giving Officer, to make a plan that works for you.

401-232-6171 rferrell@bryant.edu

If you have already included Bryant in your estate plan, let us know! We would love to welcome you into the 1863 Society and ensure that your gift is used as you intended.

“Attending Bryant was a rewarding experience for me, and it has been rewarding for us to be able to help students achieve their goal of obtaining a Bryant education.”

from an article published in 2012

Visit Bryant's Planned Giving website by scanning the QR code

DAVID ALLARDICE '61

Quote

David was a proud graduate of Bryant University. He passed away in 2020.

David '61 and Barbara Allardice

Bryant University

1150 Douglas Pike

Smithfield, RI 02917

“Bryant University helped make me who I am and so much of my identity is tied to this school. That is why it’s been important to me to help out the students who came after me — it’s more than what we should be doing as alumni; it’s what you sign up for when you enroll at Bryant.”

—ANDREW GOLDBERG ’02