.: Study explores qualities of people who value socially responsible companies.

Karen Paul

Do you feel you have a lot to be grateful for in life? Would you pay a little more to buy a product from a company that has good environmental practices?

The questions may seem unrelated, but research by Karen Paul, professor, Department of Management and International Business in the College of Business Administration, brought them—and many others—together in the first studies undertaken to shed light on the relationship between positive psychology and the areas of business ethics and social responsibility.

“In the last decade, researchers have begun to look at psychology not in terms of pathologies, but rather, in light of certain positive attributes like happiness, success, and effective functioning,” Paul said.

In the first of the two studies, she and two colleagues looked at hope and gratitude. In the second, they focused on spirituality and generativity (concern for future generations). Their aim: to see how these aspects of positive psychology might relate to a person’s reaction to corporate policies.

“We found that all four qualities did predict people’s attitudes to corporate social performance,” Paul said. “We also discovered that people who scored high in both hope and gratitude had the strongest concerns about corporate social performance.” Read more. Listen.

FOCUS ON

.: Alumna’s career attains new heights.

Heather Freeland (IMBA ’03, BBA '00)

Heather Freeland (IMBA ’03, BBA ’00) has moved up in the world: to 8,000-plus feet. In her new position as special events and sales manager for The Club at Cordillera (cordillera-vail.com) in Vail, Colorado, she has a different perspective on the value of her experiences in the college—experiences that helped her win the job and ease her transition away from South Florida.

“During the second round of phone interviews, the interviewer was Joseph Petrash (BS ’83), executive vice president,” said Freeland, who marveled that another graduate would be working at the very place she was seeking employment, considering its remote location. “He knew I had a good education, and we had a lot in common.” Read more.

.: “A Night in Paradise” marks the end of ordinary fundraisers.

From left, 2006-2007 Business Alumni Chapter Board members James Rivera (BACC ’01), Manny Matalón (MACC ’03, BACC ’00), and Gilbert Santiesteban (BACC ’02)

After four short months on the Business Alumni Chapter Board, a small group of dedicated volunteers envisioned a creative charity event—one that would create funds for the college’s Business Alumni Scholarship Fund as well as contribute a gift to CHARLEE, a non-profit organization that helps abused and neglected children.

 The board’s mission was to develop a philanthropic event that would continue to grow and be passed on to the next generation of board members. They began working on what would be an invitation to a very special evening. Read more.

.: College’s Alumni Circle joins faculty for exciting connections.

Members of the Alumni Circle soon will participate in a new program designed by Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam, called Faculty Linkage.

Monique Catoggio (EMBA '03)

“Because the Circle is a college-wide group and is not attached to a particular degree program, it is important that its members have the opportunity to engage more deeply with faculty and students in their areas of expertise and/or interest,” stated Alumni and Partner Relations Director Monique Catoggio (EMBA ’03). “Through this unique program, we’ll be linking members with a faculty member in their desired academic area, and together, they will discuss ways they can benefit from each others’ work or research.” Read more.

.: Sunblazers return for the first Silver Pride Induction Ceremony and Reunion.

Juliana and Gregory Lee (BBA ’75) take in every little bit of the reunion, tailgate party, and game.

On Saturday, November 18, 2006, during Florida International University’s homecoming festivities, more than 200 alumni came back to campus to take part in a special ceremony in their honor—for blazing the trail for today’s students—and for the university’s first-ever alumni reunion for classes ’71-’81.

After attending the ceremony organized by the Alumni Association, college alumni joined Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam, Business Alumni Chapter President Manny Matalón (MACC ’03, BACC ’00), founding faculty members, and other administrators to celebrate their and the college’s many successes. Read more.

.: Alumni gather for Burger King’s Corporate Day.

About forty of Florida International University’s alumni who work at Burger King’s headquarters in Blue Lagoon gathered to celebrate their alma mater and to network with university administrators in attendace. The event, organized by the university’s Office of Alumni Relations and hosted by Burger King, was supported heavily by the college, which partners with Burger King in various ways. Read more.

.: Alumni Notes

• Ed Ricardo (BA ’83) has been added as a named partner at Coral Gables accounting firm Jordan Castellon & Company.

• F. Antonio Puente (BBA ’92) has joined Fairchild Partners as senior vice president for commercial sales and leasing.

• Barbara E. Reed (MBA ’94) has been promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer at Commercial Bank of Florida.

• Daniel Diaz (BS ’94) is the senior vice president of business development for Premier American Bank and was featured in Miami Today as a new Hispanic leader.

• The International Bank of Miami, N.A., has named Sergio Diego III (BBA ’01), assistant vice president of commercial real estate financing.

• Denise Minakowski (MBA ’02) has been named Port of Miami’s chief of seaport safety and security.

.: AMA members walk to help others.

Members of the college’s AMA chapter at the start of the Race for the Cure at Bayfront Park in Miami, Florida, on October 21, 2006

What do the Race for the Cure and the Simon Evening of Giving have in common?

A number of things: both are charitable events for good causes, both involve walking, and both benefited in 2006 thanks to the efforts of members of the college’s American Marketing Association (AMA) chapter.

Susan Komen Race for the Cure draws walkers of all abilities.

The Susan Komen Miami/Fort Lauderdale Race for the Cure took place on October 21, 2006, at Bayfront Park in Miami. It included a 5K Run/Walk, a one-mile Fun Walk, and a Tot Run.

“We raised $400 through member donations, and fifteen of us walked in the 5K event,” said Maria Glenny, AMA’s vice president and one of the participants.

Nancy Brinker established the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 1982 to honor the memory of her sister, who died of breast cancer at the age of 36. The event seeks to increase public awareness about breast cancer as well as to raise money for research. Read more.

Current members of the college's chapter of AMA were joined by former AMA president Jennifer Weiss (BBA '06)—lower right—along with Weiss' niece, at the Race for the Cure.

Joyce J. Elam

Since 1999, when she launched an initial, pioneering project consisting of ten online courses in the College of Business Administration, Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam’s name has been associated with online innovation and excellence. In early November, 2006, the university recognized her leadership by naming her Vice Provost for FIU Online.

After launching the pilot program, “she created what became the standard for the delivery of top-notch, technology-enabled courses throughout the university,” said Douglas Wartzok, the university’s executive vice provost. “Since that time, Elam’s visionary strategies have helped forge the unit currently known as FIU Online. In fall, 2006, more than 11,000 students are enrolled in 252 online or blended (part online/part face-to-face) courses.”  Read more. Listen.

.: NSHMBA conference makes impact on attendees...and vice versa.

Opening day at NSHMBA Conference and Career Expo

When Anand Shah, a student in the Executive MBA (EMBA) program in the college’s Chapman School, was offered a full scholarship to attend the 16th Annual Conference and Career Expo of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) in 2005, he declined. Instead, he spent the next twelve months preparing to attend the 17th annual event, held October 26-28, 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Working with Barry Shiflett, the college’s director of career services, he honed his resume, refined his interviewing skills, and shaped a vision of his future. He was ready, and yet the experience prompted “a 180-degree change.”

“This was an opportunity that turned my life around,” said Shah, an enterprise architect with Sun Microsystems. “It made me think and realize who I am, and it helped me focus on what I want to do. It was a testing ground for the year long process I had gone through crafting and molding myself.” Read more. Listen.                   

.: Insurance expert reflects on a changing industry.

An audience of 85 people attended the second Herbert A. Wertheim Lecture of the fall, 2006 series, presented by Bernard John Daenzer, CPCU, JD, and chairman of Daenzer Associates. He spoke on “The Incredible Growth of Professional Risk Management in the Last Fifty Years.” He should know. He’s been a major player all that time.

A very early casualty property insurance underwriter (CPCU), Daenzer became president of the Connecticut Chapter and the National Society, amassed twenty years of experience with stock insurance companies, and became CEO of Security-Connecticut Companies, where he started Security-Connecticut Life. For 23 years, he ran a Lloyd’s-type operation called Wohlreich and Anderson, which became Howden-Swann with 23 offices in the United States; was the first American on the board of a Lloyd’s Broker in London; and was the first American to become an Underwriting Member of Lloyd's. For twenty years, he practiced law and was a consultant to law firms.
 Read more. Listen.

.:Topping off ceremony tops off year of safe, hard work on new building complex.

On November 18, 2005, students, faculty, staff, alumni, college leaders, friends, architects, and donors signed concrete blocks for the foundation of the new building complex and joined in a groundbreaking ceremony. Less than a year later, about 100 guests gathered for yet another tradition: the topping off ceremony, which celebrated the completion of the roofs on two of the buildings on November 3, 2006. The timing was perfect: the last piece of the roof was poured two days earlier and certified on November 3rd.

The topping off ceremony has been a custom in the construction industry for many years. It often includes the hoisting of the last roof beam on which a flag or an evergreen tree has been placed. When there is no beam, crews use alternatives—such as installing the tree on the roof level—as the college did.
Read more. Listen.

.: Business Partners Luncheon provides pre-Thanksgiving treat.

Guests at the Business Partners Luncheon, seated from left: Colin D’Arcy, president, South Florida commercial division, Humana, Inc.,Chapman Executive Committee;Monique Catoggio(EMBA ’03), director, alumni and partner relations; Luis Tapanes, manager, Beckman Coulter, EMBA Advisory Board; Hernan Vera, director, marketing, global supply chain solutions, Ryder System, Inc., EMBA Advisory Board; Carolyn Donaldson (MSHRM ’06), vice president, Noven Pharmaceuticals, MSHRM Advisory Board; Carol Groulx, professional development consultant, Baptist Health South Florida; and Lorraine Montero, Genesis; standing, Natalia Echeverría Sol, director, corporate relations

Put a group of the college’s business partners and members of the staff together over lunch and you get a great result. Anyway, that’s always been the case at the annual Business Partners Luncheon. This year was no exception.

“We were pleased to have about 85 guests, including members of our seven Chapman School advisory boards, Dean’s Council, Alumni Circle, Latin American Forum, Latin American Human Resources Forum, Chapman Executive Committee, and corporate friends of Executive and Professional Education (EPE),” said Natalia Echeverría Sol, director, corporate relations. Her office coordinated the event, which took place on November 21, 2006, at The Palm in Merrick Park.
Read more. Listen.

.: Tour of NAP brings students to the start of the Internet.

“I can say that I have been to the beginning of the Internet,” said Kevan Edwards, office assistant in the Downtown Center and a student in the college’s Downtown MBA program.

With an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, Edwards has had a long-standing interest in the Internet. However, he never had the chance to see it up close until a recent visit to the Network Access Point (NAP) of The Américas. The facility routes Internet traffic among The Américas, the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe for more than 450 customers—including the college.

Irma Becerra-Fernández, associate professor, Department of Decision Sciences and Information Systems, made the arrangements with support from the Natalia Echeverría Sol, director, corporate relations. Attendees included students from the Downtown MBA and the Master of Science in Management Information Systems (MSMIS) programs along with some of their bosses and colleagues.  Read more. Listen.

.: Finance professor crosses borders to discuss cross-border transactions.

John Zdanowicz

John Zdanowicz, professor, Department of Finance, recently traveled to France and Italy to share his insights on matters of concern to the global financial community. Well known for his scholarship on money laundering and terrorist financing, he came to the attention of two sets of hosts in two different ways.

“Alejandro Picos, managing partner, Unisys Global Financial Services, Latin América, attended a presentation I made to the Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA), Inc. in August in Coral Gables and asked me to participate on a panel he was moderating at the Unisys Global Payments Conference in October co-sponsored by Oracle and titled ‘Transforming Payments across the Enterprise,’” Zdanowicz said. Read more. Listen.

.: Success blossoms as business plan for ergonomic tools wins first statewide competition.

Alexis Nogueras (MBA '06)

The presentations were impressive and the competition was keen at the first annual Florida Collegiate Business Plan Competition held October 27 and 28, 2006, at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida.

But when a panel of judges heard College of Business Administration graduate Alexis Nogueras (MBA ’06) present his plan for ergonomically designed lawn and garden tools, they were sold—and named Nogueras and his company, G-Force Tools, a winner.

Sponsored by the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center, Nogueras beat teams from five other universities in the competition’s limited investment track. In May of this year, Nogueras was named graduate-level winner in the center’s 2006 Howard J. Leonhardt New Venture Challenge. Read more. Listen.