As many of you know, I was appointed dean of FIU Business in June. I am honored and humbled to lead the college as we continue to make great strides. It’s an exciting time for the FIU Business community and for the city and region we call home. The cover story in this issue of FIU Business Now taps the expertise of our faculty and alumni to explore the region’s move toward becoming the nation’s next technology and financial capital.

You have surely noticed in recent years, how companies from Amazon to Netflix and beyond are providing customers with more and more personalized service. In this issue, our experts share insights into how firms from across industries can and should be doing the same.

As I mentioned earlier, FIU Business continues to have great momentum. In the spring, we learned that the grant for the FIU Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), housed at FIU Business, was renewed by the U.S. Department of Education. The CIBER will receive $332,499 each year for four years, plus matching funds from the college, to continue providing international programs for students and faculty (page 3). We also learned that FIU Business programs continued to be ranked among the world’s very best.

Over the summer, FIU Business celebrated our involvement in one of the world’s most important conferences on international business. The college served as the host institution for the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Academy of International Business, which drew more than 750 scholars, consultants, researchers and government and NGO representatives. As the conference’s host institution, FIU Business organized a gala dinner for the delegates at Miami’s Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, and it was quite a night.

Finally, I continue to be struck by the impact that support from our alumni and other friends in the community has had on changing student lives. In this issue, you will meet a woman, struggling as a student, who says she would not have made it to graduation had it not been for scholarship support she received. With your engagement and support, FIU Business can continue to change lives.

Enjoy this issue of FIU Business Now!

William Hardin,
Dean, FIU College of Business