UB School of Management recognizes organizations, alumni for career development impact

By Matthew Biddle

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo School of Management honored individuals and organizations that made a significant impact on students’ career development over the past year during a reception on May 9 at the Saturn Club.

The school’s Career Resource Center (CRC) recognized Hero Alimchandani, BS ’04, managing director at Deloitte, as CRC Alumnus of the Year. Though his career has taken him from Buffalo to New York to Washington, D.C., Alimchandani has remained a dedicated School of Management alumnus, advocating for the school and helping to develop the collaborative relationship between UB and Deloitte. He’s guest lectured in classes, helped students develop connections within his company and serves on the school’s Accounting Advisory Council.

GEICO was named Recruiting Organization of the Year in recognition of the many ways its leaders interact with the School of Management, including recruiting on campus, participating in student club events and contributing to class projects. This year, GEICO doubled the size of its internship program, sponsored the CRC’s practice interview program and hosted the inaugural GEICO Interview Challenge on campus.

“The GEICO Interview Challenge was my first real job interview,” says Ruben Ocana, the junior who won the competition. “The experience was life-changing. I am very thankful to GEICO for their part on my journey to beginning my career.”

For Recruiting Partners of the Year, the CRC honored Eli Lilly leaders Tyler Grassman, BS ’16, global customer-facing capabilities associate consultant, and Wayne Russo, district sales manager. In her remarks, Gwen Appelbaum, assistant dean and director of the CRC, thanked them for their role in developing management students by broadly engaging with the school across several programs, classes and events.

In a new award, the CRC honored two “Faculty Members of the Year” for their significant contributions to students’ career success: Alex Ampadu and Ann Cohen, both from the Accounting and Law Department.

“Alex and Ann have played a big role in launching so many successful careers,” says Mike Draves, BS ’93, audit partner in KPMG’s Upstate New York office. “It’s difficult to find the right words to express the gratitude that I and countless others have felt over the years for their efforts, wisdom and devotion to their students.”

During the internship portion of the program, the CRC recognized two organizations: NetPlus Alliance, an industrial and contractor supplies buying group, and Blue Cardinal Capital, a real-estate private equity firm.

NetPlus Alliance received the Outstanding Internship Partner award in recognition of the credit-bearing internships it has provided in marketing, communications, finance and IT over the past six years.

As the New Internship Partner honoree, Blue Cardinal Capital was acknowledged for providing four School of Management internships in the past year alone, which students have described as being highly impactful with robust training that exceeded their expectations.

Finally, the CRC recognized three pairs of Interns and Supervisors of the Year. Interns nominate their supervisors for their mentorship and commitment; on the flip side, supervisors nominate their interns for exhibiting professionalism and initiative, and making a significant impact on the organization.

The intern and supervisor honorees were: Giang Le Huong Truong, BS ’18, and her supervisor, Suzanne Furlani, founder of Omantec LLC; Ashton Armstrong, BS ’19, and his supervisor Kyle Rhoads, sales and marketing coordinator in the UB Athletics Department; and Katherine Connors, MBA ’18, and her supervisor Lisa Wardynski, director of internal communications and community relations at Independent Health.