Startups

The School of Management has vaulted 13 places in Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking of the nation’s best full-time MBA programs, coming in at No. 47. Among public universities, the School of Management is No. 22.

The school also fared particularly well in the employer satisfaction component of the survey with a rank of No. 27 overall.

“This ranking mirrors the outstanding feedback we get from the employers who hire our graduates,” said Paul Tesluk, dean of the School of Management. “It shows that we are producing graduates who possess the skills and attributes most valued by businesses throughout the world.”

Bloomberg Businessweek focuses on how well MBA programs prepare their graduates for success in their jobs. Components include an employer survey (35 percent), an alumni survey (30 percent), a student survey (15 percent), job placement rate (10 percent) and starting salary (10 percent).

Of more than 16,000 business schools worldwide, the School of Management is one of only about 775 schools accredited by AACSB International and the only school in the Buffalo Niagara region to make the Bloomberg Businessweek ranking.

In addition, the school was again ranked as one of the country’s best undergraduate business programs in the 2017 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News and World Report.

Tied at No. 77, the school is up three spots from last year and ranked higher than any other business school in the State University of New York system. Among public business schools, the School of Management is ranked No. 48.

“Innovations like our Undergraduate Learning and Community Center and our Undergraduate Honors program are going a long way to enhance the quality of our student experience and our global reputation,” said Tesluk. “It’s always nice to see these efforts reflected in the rankings.”

Based on a survey to deans and senior faculty at accredited schools, U.S. News asks participants to rate the quality of all programs they are familiar with on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished).

In both rankings, the School of Management has earned a spot in the top 10 percent of accredited business programs.

Lindsay Macaluso, a UB MArchitecture/MBA student, was recognized at the 2016 Blackstone LaunchPad Under 30 Showcase, part of the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Boston, for her startup MemoryFox, a cloud-based platform for capturing, securing and sharing family oral history.

Macaluso founded the company with fellow UB MBA Chris Miano. The pair received an all-expenses-paid trip to attend the summit, where they pitched the Blackstone Charitable Foundation for additional prize funding and were featured by Forbes throughout the conference.

“When we think about the many people and departments from across campus that have helped Lindsay and Chris along the way, it is a testament to the support system that is quickly developing for our UB entrepreneurs,” says Tom Ulbrich, an assistant dean in the School of Management and executive director of its Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Blackstone LaunchPad at UB.

MemoryFox began as a concept for the 2016 Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition, where Macaluso and Miano finished as semifinalists.

During the past year, the team has taken full advantage of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at UB, earning third place in this year’s Buffalo Student Sandbox contest and participating regularly in the Blackstone LaunchPad.

The School of Management recognized Candace S. Johnson, president and CEO of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, as the 2016 Buffalo Niagara Executive of the Year.

Johnson accepted the honor at the 67th Annual School of Management Alumni Association Awards Banquet in November.

Established in 1949, the Buffalo Niagara Executive of the Year award is presented annually to an individual who resides in or has a major impact on the region, and whose career has been distinguished by executive success and civic leadership. Selected by a vote of past honorees and the alumni association’s board, Johnson is credited with re-energizing the 118-year-old organization and known for her results-oriented leadership style.

In addition, the School of Management honored the following individuals for their impact on the school, the community or their industry:

• Kathy Snyder Egan, CEL ’07, president and COO of Beaver Hollow Conference Center and the Biggest Loser Resort Niagara, for entrepreneurship.
• Nick Everest, clinical assistant professor of organization and human resources in the School of Management, for alumni engagement.
• Mark C. Rizzo, BS ’96, MBA ’03, vice president and senior relationship manager in M&T Bank’s commercial banking division, for service to the school.
• Bob Swan, BS ’83, chief financial officer of Intel, for industry leadership.
• Michael Weiner, MBA ’90, president and CEO of the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, for service to the Western New York community.

Five juniors in the undergraduate accounting program shared a $1,000 prize as winners of the 13th annual PwC Challenge, held in November at UB.

Shayan Ahmad, Matthew Conenna, Joshua Domagala, Marco Gangarossa and Hira Kashif made up the winning team, named Let’s Get Fiscal.

The winners also earned an invitation to the national PwC Corporate Responsibility Challenge.

Fifty-five School of Management accounting students participated in the event, which is sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers at about 100 campuses nationwide. During the competition, students hone their analytical, decision-making and teamwork skills by tackling a real-world business scenario.

Participants analyzed a fictitious company looking to restore its reputation after making headlines for environmental issues. With help from a faculty coach, a PwC mentor and a student mentor, the teams evaluated the financial and accounting implications of acquiring an environmentally conscious company or investing in the business’s internal capabilities, and proposed their recommendations to a panel of PwC judges.

“The PwC Challenge allowed us to be creative and propose ideas that might be unconventional,” says Gangarossa, a member of the winning team. “We considered every possible aspect of the case and presented a solid solution, backed up with facts. I couldn’t be more proud of my team and appreciate the support we received from other School of Management students.”

Jing Chen, assistant professor of accounting and law, and Martha Salzman, clinical assistant professor of accounting and law, coached the winning team. Ryan Walter, assurance senior associate at PwC, and Molly Booi, a School of Management accounting master’s student, assisted the winning team as their PwC mentor and student mentor, respectively.

Three alumni who work at PwC served as judges: Nathanael Carbrey, BS/MBA ’12, senior associate; Everett Pefley, BS ’06, senior manager; and Heather Warnes, BS ’11, MS ’12, senior associate.

Coming in second was Team Apex, made up of juniors Noah King, Tymon Nechipurenko and Anthony Vedella, along with sophomores Anita Lin and Vinicius Moura. The team shared an $800 prize.

Team Street Creds came in third, with sophomores George Gao, Chetinai Kalamaphichit, Kenneth Setiadi, Ayush Sharma and Tasnia Tonima.

With a mix of candor, humor and keen social media insight, Randi Zuckerberg quickly engaged an enthusiastic audience when she spoke at UB in October, sharing her experiences being on the early front lines of Facebook, running her own media company and realizing a dream of performing on Broadway.

Zuckerberg is CEO of Zuckerberg Media, the former marketing director for Facebook and sister of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. She also is the author of several books, including the best-selling Dot Complicated: Untangling Our Wired Lives. 

Zuckerberg’s lecture was part of UB’s 2016-17 Distinguished Speakers Series and was sponsored by the School of Management’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Executive MBA program.

“My dream was not to go into technology,” Zuckerberg told the audience. “My dream was, actually, to sing on Broadway. And that came about by chance. It’s important to be authentic to who you are and put yourself out there because you never know what opportunities are going to come to you.”

Prior to her mainstage appearance, Zuckerberg spoke to a small group of CEL participants and Executive MBAs at an informal session. 

Buffalo Business magazine has garnered many awards over the years, but this past June, in addition to a Gold Excalibur award, the magazine received the coveted Platinum Excalibur (best of show) award from the Buffalo Niagara Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The editorial team extends its appreciation to all our readers for sharing feedback and helping to make your alumni magazine a publication worthy of a world-class business school.

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