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Ranked. Recognized. Rising.

The School of Management fared well in a variety of rankings for MBA, master’s and undergrad programs over the past year.

No. 2 for MBA ROI

Bloomberg Businessweek released its annual MBA ROI calculator, and the school was ranked No. 2 in the nation. The ROI is determined by subtracting MBA investment (tuition, interest on loans, plus forgone income) from gross return (10 years of earnings and raises over pre-MBA salary). The resulting net return is then annualized to show the compounded annual return on investment. 

No. 27 among public MBA programs

Bloomberg Businessweek again ranked the school’s MBA program one of the nation’s best. The school is up one spot in the 2025-26 ranking to No. 61 overall, and up three places to No. 27 among public business schools. The school fared exceptionally well in the inclusion component with an overall ranking of No. 13, and received high marks in the learning component with a rank of No. 31 (up four spots from last year).

Top 6 in U.S. for MS in finance

Financial Times has ranked the school’s Master of Science in Finance program as one of the best worldwide. The school debuted in the 2025 Masters in Finance ranking at No. 60, and was one of only six programs in the U.S. to be ranked. Among more than 19 components in the ranking, the school fared exceptionally well in “value for the money,” alumni network and career services. 

Top 15 nationwide for MBA employment rate

U.S. News & World Report ranked the school one of the best business schools in the nation, based on the percentage of its MBA grads who are employed within three months of graduation. Only 15 schools graduating more than 100 MBAs made the list, and the School of Management clocked in with an impressive 88.9% employment rate.

No. 9 in Northeast for entrepreneurship

Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review again named the University at Buffalo one of the top schools for undergraduate entrepreneurship studies. UB was ranked for the fourth consecutive year, coming in at No. 47 overall in the 2026 Entrepreneur magazine/Princeton Review annual ranking. UB also ranked No. 28 among public universities worldwide. 

Ananth Iyer.
“Our continued rise in these rankings demonstrates the school’s commitment to developing transformational leaders who roll up their sleeves and make the world a better place. ”
Ananth Iyer, Dean
School of Management

The School of Management is the only business school from the Buffalo Niagara region to be included in these rankings.

“Our continued rise in these rankings demonstrates the school’s commitment to developing transformational leaders who roll up their sleeves and make the world a better place,” says Ananth Iyer, dean. “Our grads enter the workforce with fresh ideas, sharp insights and the collaborative skills they need to create positive change.” 

Pay it forward: Refer a grad program candidate and save them $100

Your remmendation matters. When you encourage a colleague, friend or family member to explore a School of Management graduate program, you can truly help shape their future. As an added incentive, we’ll waive their $100 application fee and personally connect with them to share program details and next steps.

Making a referral is quick and simple. Just scan the QR code or visit bit.ly/ubmgt-refer and complete the short form. With one easy action, you’ll help someone take the next step in their career and strengthen the reach and impact of the School of Management community.

A half-century of service and scholarship

Winston Lin.

Lin

Winston Lin, professor of operations management and strategy, was honored at UB’s Celebration of Excellence for his 50 years of service to the university. Lin joined the School of Management in 1975 as an assistant professor, rose to associate professor in 1980 and full professor in 1994. He holds a doctorate in economics from Northwestern University, and his scholarly contributions span investment and finance, forecasting, production systems, information technology value and global efficiency studies. He has earned major research grants and prestigious awards, such as the Best Paper award from the Multinational Finance Society. Lin has engaged in extensive international collaboration and held visiting professorships, most notably at National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, and authored numerous journal articles and books focused on efficiency, IT value and global banking. He is also a recipient of UB’s Exceptional Scholar/Sustained Achievement Award. Throughout his career, Lin has been a foundational figure in bridging financial economics, operations and information systems research.

Driving impact with new faculty

The School of Management welcomed five distinguished scholars and industry leaders last fall, each bringing powerful expertise that elevates teaching, research and impact across business disciplines.

John Hennessy.

John Hennessy is a clinical assistant professor of marketing. He also serves as executive director of the school’s Center for Marketing Analysis where he develops corporate partnerships through the Behavioral Research Lab and other outcome-based research projects, industry events and curriculum collaboration. With a BA from Loyola University in Chicago, Hennessy brings more than three decades of sales and marketing leadership to his role.

Dan Liebel.

Dan Liebel was named clinical assistant professor of organization and human resources after serving for 18 years as an adjunct instructor. He is founder and owner of Dantlie Coaching. For more than 40 years, Liebel has worked in a range of industries, holding such leadership positions as president, vice president, CFO, treasurer, controller and audit manager. He has a BS in business administration from the UB School of Management. 

Anand Nandkumar.

Anand Nandkumar is professor of operations management and strategy, as well as academic director of executive and professional education. He holds a doctorate in public policy and management and a master’s in information systems and public policy and management, both from Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests are in intellectual property rights, innovation, entrepreneurship, organizational design, markets for technology, organizational political ideology, and AI and machine learning.

Parshan Pakiman.

Parshan Pakiman serves as an assistant professor of operations management and strategy. He earned both a doctorate and an MS from the College of Business Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago, and a BS from the College of Science at the University of Tehran, Iran. Pakiman’s research includes studying impactful health care and retail operations problems by designing new algorithms based on data-driven optimization, reinforcement learning and machine learning techniques.

Artem Streltsov.

Artem Streltsov joined the school as an assistant professor of finance. He has a doctorate in finance (with a minor in computer science) and a master’s from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, a master’s in economics from Duke University and a bachelor’s in economics from Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Streltsov’s research lies in the areas of financial technology, big data, textual analysis and digital economics.

Students offering free tax preparation

IRS-certified accounting students from the School of Management are once again providing free tax preparation services to individuals and families with annual income of $69,000 or less. 

Area residents and students are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity, which, by IRS estimates, can save taxpayers anywhere from $100 to $300 in preparation fees.

Free tax preparation is available on the following dates at UB’s South Campus, 100 Allen Hall (3485 Main St.) in Buffalo from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis only. Wait times may vary.

Remaining dates:

  • March 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 28 and 29
  • April 4 and 5

To view a list of what to bring, maps, directions and frequently asked questions, visit management.buffalo.edu/freetaxprep.

For more than 20 years, the award-winning, student-run tax service has been provided by the IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program with volunteers from the UB chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an international honors organization for accounting and finance students, and the UB Accounting Association. Cumulatively, School of Management students have brought nearly $14 million in refunds back into the region since 2008 by preparing more than 11,200 tax returns.

For additional questions, send an email to mgt-freetaxprep@buffalo.edu and a student volunteer will reply within two business days. 

Buffalo Business earns top PRSA honors

Autumn 2024 Buffalo Business Magazine Cover Page.
Autumn 2025 Buffalo Business Magazine Cover Page.

Buffalo Business, the magazine for alumni and friends of the School of Management, has been awarded a gold Excalibur by the Buffalo Niagara chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The Excalibur Awards celebrate the region’s most outstanding public relations projects, programs and practitioners.

At the chapter’s annual banquet in September, the School of Management’s Marketing and Communications team took home six awards overall, recognizing excellence across a range of communications disciplines. In addition to the gold award for the magazine, the team earned honors for a social media strategy campaign, two online communications projects, a media relations initiative and the autumn 2024 Buffalo Business cover story that explored AI in the workplace.

Congratulations to Jackie Ghosen, Kevin Manne, Alexandra Richter and Emily Gac for their creativity, collaboration and continued commitment to high-quality storytelling.

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