Six new faculty join the ranks

By Jacqueline Ghosen

Last fall, the school welcomed six new members to its already excellent roster. In addition to highlighting their expertise, we asked a few fun questions to help you get to know them.

Courtney (CJ) Burris is a clinical assistant professor of management science and systems. She teaches Business and Society: North America, Management Topics: Experience the 50, Social Network Analytics and Experiential IT Projects. Her research is in social network analysis; engineering education, including diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; and sports analytics. Burris earned her PhD and master’s at UB and her BS at Elmira College.

• First job? Math tutor to middle schoolers.
• Favorite book of all time? 1984 by George Orwell.
• Best advice you ever received? Growing up, my dad always told me to follow my heart. I might not be rich or live a life of luxury, but I will be happy and that’s more important. So that’s what I did.

Daniela Goya-Tocchetto joined the school as a clinical assistant professor of organization and human resources, and she teaches organizational behavior. Her research focuses on inequality perceptions and meritocracy beliefs; social class and racial biases in the workplace; and moral and political decision-making. Goya-Tocchetto has a PhD from Duke University; a PhD, MSc and BSc from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil; and an MSc from the London School of Economics.

• Best advice you ever received? An important piece of advice I received early on in my undergrad was to always be honest and never claim I know the answer to questions that I don’t know the answer to. Being honest about what we know and what we don’t leads to better conversations and debates. No one can know everything. If we are honest, we can research and figure out what we don’t know instead of trying to make up answers just to appear smart. 
• One item on your bucket list? Trying some winter activities like ice skating.

Marla Kameny is a clinical assistant professor of organization and human resources. She is teaching four LeaderCORE™ courses; Leadership: Executive Presence and Emotional Intelligence; and Workforce Engagement. She also serves as faculty director of both LeaderCORE and the new MS in Management program. Kameny has a PhD from Universität St. Gallen, Switzerland; an MBA and an MILR from Cornell University; and a BS from Binghamton University.

• First job? Sales clerk at Marjax Sporting Goods in Shoppingtown Mall in Dewitt, N.Y.
• Favorite book of all time? The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.
• Best advice you ever received? You can’t reason with an unreasonable person.
• Something about you most people don’t know? My husband, Daniel, and I took ballroom dancing lessons for 10 years.
• One item on your bucket list? Visiting all 50 states.

Celine Krzan is a clinical assistant professor of entrepreneurship. She teaches Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Small Business; Entrepreneurship Lab (eLab); Experience the 50 – Tech Trek to Silicon Valley; Technological Entrepreneurship; and How Entrepreneurs Use Creativity to Improve the World. Krzan has an MBA from the School of Management, as well as a BFA and BA from Niagara University.

• Favorite book of all time? The Harry Potter series introduced me to the magical world of reading and I never stopped after that.  My favorite business book has to be Deep Work as it reminds all of the importance to create space in your schedule that is distraction free to really unlock your full potential.
• Something about you most people don’t know? I lived in Charleston for one year as a professional actress performing at a regional theatre. My favorite show I performed in was 9 to 5: The Musical.

Katherine (Katie) Paladino, CPA, is a clinical assistant professor of accounting and law. She teaches Taxation of Business Entities; Advanced Topics in ASC 740 and IRC Subchapter K; Introduction to Federal Income Taxes; and Business and Society. She earned her MBA from the School of Management and her BS from the University at Albany.

• First job? I worked at Regal Cinemas from the time I was 16 until I graduated from college. We got free popcorn on our breaks and free movie tickets for ourselves and our family.
• Best advice you ever received? “Enjoy your kids while they’re young.” (Usually given to me by a stranger as my kids are hanging out of a shopping cart and trying to grab whatever’s in reach.)
• One item on your bucket list? I’ve always wanted to stay in one of those overwater bungalows in Bora Bora, and I’m hopeful I’ll make it there for a milestone wedding anniversary or something.

Milind Sohoni joined the school as chair and professor of operations management and strategy. He is teaching Supply Chain Analytics; Decision Making Under Uncertainty; Decision Models and Optimization; and Operations Management. Areas of research include transportation and logistics; supply chain analytics; mobility, platform operations and revenue management; and health care analytics. Sohoni has a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology; an MS from the University of Texas at Austin; and a BE from the University of Pune, India.

• First job? I joined Thermax Ltd. (a thermal engineering firm in India) as a design engineer in the chemical plants and process division. I learned a lot about heat-exchanger and stack design.
• One item on your bucket list? I would love to complete a full marathon.