2020 College of Business Honors Celebration
Lehigh University
Virtual Honors Celebration 2020

DEPARTMENT AWARDS
We’ll start our award presentations to students being honored by the academic departments in which they have their major courses of study.
Accounting:
The Department of Accounting is proud to present the following
Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Outstanding Senior Award
Given to a senior accounting major who has shown outstanding achievement in accounting and auditing:
Ryan Polizzi
The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Prize
Given to a senior who shines in academia, expresses a serious interest in accounting, and demonstrates a desire to continue in the accounting field.
Marley Cohen
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Award
Presented in recognition of academic excellence and high morals
Cate Shippee
Robert H. Mills Outstanding Accounting Award
Belinda Bell
Business Information Systems:
The Department of Decision and Technology Analytics is proud to present the following awards to majors in the Business Information Systems (BIS) major.
The Philadelphia Philanthropic Society for Information Management Scholarship is given to a high-performing student majoring in an IT-related area in order to enable the education of bright young people in IT and to highlight the need to foster attention on bringing talented individuals into careers in computer science, systems, and technology. The Philadelphia Philanthropic Society of Information Management Foundation is a bridge to the community for the greater Philadelphia area Information Technology leaders. This year’s scholarship winner is:
Carolyn Taylor
The Society of Information Management Future Leader Award winner this year is:
Sydney Steiner
Economics:
The Department of Economics is proud to present the following awards this year.
Richard H. Johnson Economics Prize
Given to a graduating senior majoring in economics who has had outstanding achievement in the study of economics.
Jeffrey Kirshenbaum
The Department of Economics also proudly recognizes the members of Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE) Economics Honor Society:
Alexis Browne
Reed Cunningham
Allison Gleich
Rohail Khan
Isabel Mallavarapu
Haley Morris
Madison Staiman
Economics Department Honors are awarded to:
Derrik Bell
Alexis Browne
Allison Gleich
Conor O'Grady
Kira Stevenson
Alexander Woods
Perella Department of Finance:
The Perella Department of Finance is proud to recognize the following award winners this year.
The Dreyfus Portfolio
For outstanding contribution to a student run investment portfolio
Austin Margulies
Geraldo Vasconcellos Thompson International Portfolio Award for outstanding contribution to run an international investment portfolio
Benjamin Durkee
Management:
The Department of Management is proud to recognize the following award winners this year.
The David A. Begelman Endowed Prize in the Department of Management
This prize is awarded to seniors in the Department of Management who are in good academic standing, exhibit a strong work ethic, are intellectually curious, and embrace life with enthusiasm.
Hira Awan
The Entrepreneurship Scholar Award is presented to a deserving scholar selected by the interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Curriculum Committee. The Entrepreneurship Scholar Award winner this year is:
Kelsey Swikart
Marketing:
The Department of Marketing is proud to recognize the following award winners this year.
The Department of Marketing Achievement Award
Awarded to a student who has a strong commitment to and demonstrated leadership toward improving the Marketing program outside of the classroom.
Megan Rankin
The Department of Marketing Commendation Award for a Class Project/Paper
Awarded to a project team which has demonstrated outstanding performance in a class project. Department faculty make nominations from the projects submitted in the prior two semesters, and award selection is made by the Marketing Dept. Chair.
This year’s award goes to two teams. Team members, when your name is called, please come to the front of the room for recognition and a photograph.
The first team is recognized for their paper entitled:
Whole Moods Project
James Ball
Brian Buzgo
Ben Kabakow
Peter Luba
Gabriela Recalde
Anneke Roy
Andrew Youwakim
The second team is recognized for their paper entitled:
Spin Cycle Project
Paula Grussi
Phillip Hernandez
Tamara Johnson
Morgan McCuaig
Kayla Rabin
Dominique Voitek
Matt Wong
Lambda Mu Sigma Honorees
Lambda Mu Sigma is an honor society that recognizes academic excellence among students in Lehigh’s Marketing Program.
Alexandra Ladda
Emily Preble
Haley Rothman
Carolyn Lovvoll
Madeline Gordon
Supply Chain Management:
The Department of Decision and Technology Analytics is proud to present the following awards to majors in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) major.
Senior Supply Chain Management Scholar Award
This prize is awarded to a senior in the Department of Management who is in good academic standing, exhibits a strong work ethic, is intellectually curious, and embraces life with enthusiasm.
Patrece Savino
Junior Supply Chain Management Scholar Award
This prize is awarded to a junior in the Department of Management who is in good academic standing, exhibits a strong work ethic, is intellectually curious, and embraces life with enthusiasm.
Madison Staiman
SCM Professor Award
This award is given to the supply chain management student who has made a strong commitment to and has demonstrated leadership toward improving the SCM program outside of the classroom.
Christine Balestra
Thank you to our academic departments for taking the opportunity to recognize the achievement of these department honorees.
COLLEGE AWARDS
We will now celebrate those recognized for College of Business awards. We are proud to recognize both students and faculty who have demonstrated excellence, both inside and outside the classroom.
We will start with awards that recognize the accomplishments of our students beyond the classroom.
Rauch Center for Business Communication:
Our first recognition will honor students under the guidance of our Rauch Center for Business Communication (RCBC). Students who served as Communication Consultants, as members of our inaugural Peller Data Analytics Case Competition Team, and as T.R.A.C. Fellow Coordinators for T.R.A.C. Fellows supporting Business Communications courses will be recognized.
Communication Consultants provide guidance and support for College of Business students who wish to improve their communication skills or succeed in their class assignments that involve writing, public speaking, and visual design. These Consultants are the inaugural cohort, and have worked to shape the program's future. They adapted quickly to meet the needs of distance learners in the spring 2020 semester by transforming in-person tutorials to online consultations through Zoom and email. The Communication Consultants were ready to assist their peers as soon as courses moved online.
Grant Kim
Lili Tang
Xinyi Cui
Erin Tressler
The Peller Data Analytics Case Competition Team works together to learn analytics and communication skills that will make them competitive on the job market and in intercollegiate competitions. The executive team honored here has led team meetings, set priorities, and successfully maintained the momentum of the team by moving activities online during the spring 2020 semester. The team is preparing to win competitions in the year ahead. Students are supported by a generous grant from Philip R. Peller '60.
Surge Zhu (co-captain)
Candy Deng (co-captain)
Michelle Seagull (secretary)
T.R.A.C. Fellow Awards. T.R.A.C. or “Technology, Research, and Communication” Fellows are selected by means of a highly selective application process to work as peer tutors. Fellows assist students with all phases of the writing process, consult with faculty on assignment design, and help with library and database research and the use of educational technology. T.R.A.C. Lead Fellows are responsible for coordinating the efforts across all 25+ T.R.A.C. Fellows across our introductory Business or “BUS” courses.
Alexis Browne (lead fellow, fall 2019)
Lana Butorovic (lead fellow, spring 2020)
Lehigh Business Undergraduate Councils:
We are proud to recognize the College of Business Undergraduate Councils, groups of student leaders in each class who demonstrated active interest to get involved and make the College of Business experience even better for our College of Business students. Councils meet regularly with Dean Zalatan to provide advice on many aspects of our undergraduate programs.
Lehigh Business Sophomore Council
Shannon Boyce
Lana Butorovic
Justin Choi
Victor Cochrane
Candy Deng
Evan Edelstein
Cate Glackin
Matthew Hom
Andrew Kam
Isabella King
Robby Lanni
Hannah Leland
Jungle Li
Rachel Liu
Seho Myung
Rachel Oppenheimer
Julia Patridge
Matthew Riel
Jack Schnall
Margot Schwartz
Max Serventi
Lauren Sgro
John Steitz
Lili Tang
Lehigh Business Junior Council
Hira Awan
Alexis Browne
Andrew Fedun
Chloe Fung
Jacquelyn Gage
Max Goldenberg
Natalie Herr
Matthew Hornung
Alec Krueger
Jenny Lin
Julia May
Skyler McCabe
Alyssa Nadler
Meghan Reynolds
Nicole Sparacio
Madison Staiman
Zachary Troxell
Paige Zytkowicz
Lehigh Business Senior Council
Andrew Caragher
Tiffany Chan
Jeffery Chen
Reed Cunningham
Palmer Ferrara
Abby Gabriel
Paige Galiani
Bridget Kelly
Michael Maguire
Rosie Morrissey
Cammi Nalesnik
Gen Nickerson
Will Pemberton
Ryan Polizzi
Dayshia Rene
Patrece Savino
Matthew Steelman
Undergraduate Programs Scholarships:
We now turn to celebrate students who have been awarded scholarships to pursue learning experiences that engage them outside the classroom - to explore, learn, and grow in new ways. These awards are supported through the generosity of those who recognize the value of linking theory to practice to develop the leaders of our future.
Harold S. Geneen Scholarships celebrate the shared commitment of the Geneen Charitable Trust and Lehigh’s College of Business to celebrate two rising seniors who hold promise to contribute to strong corporate governance and ethics in business, upon the recommendation of advisors, faculty, and work supervisors. Scholars are rising seniors with outstanding academic accomplishment, demonstrated leadership, a strong work ethic, and interest in corporate governance and business ethics. This year’s Geneen Scholars are:
Amanda Baran
Jenny Lin
Carolyn Taylor
Tauck Scholarships are awarded in the College of Business every fall to support international experiences abroad the following summer. This year, the Tauck Committee is proud to recognize 7 students. They were nominated on the basis of scholarship and chosen via a rigorous selection process:
Katie Eyring
Alexa Grill
James Hadinger
Meghan Murphy
Julia Pardee
Mikhaila Zacharia
Brian Zhao
THE NELSON LEIGHTON BOND MEMORIAL PRIZE is a college award given to an outstanding sophomore on the basis of character, leadership, and scholastic achievement in the College of Business. These year’s Bond Prize winners are:
Mary Clougherty
Matthew Hornung
Jenny Lin
Skyler McCabe
Julia Pardee
Carolyn Taylor
Zachary Troxell
Peter Woltersdorf
Paige Zytkowicz
BETA GAMMA SIGMA
Beta Gamma Sigma is the international honor society serving business programs accredited by AACSB International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest recognition a business student can receive in a business program accredited by AACSB International anywhere in the world.
The mission of the International Honor Society Beta Gamma Sigma is to encourage and honor academic achievement in the study of business, to cultivate and celebrate leadership and professional excellence, to advance the values of the Society, and to serve its lifelong members.
Undergraduates can be inducted into the Lehigh University Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma in either their junior or senior year at Lehigh. Juniors and seniors in each of our three undergraduate business degrees are nominated every spring, and must rank in the top 10% of their degree's class cohort. Beta Gamma Sigma’s mission is supported by four objectives.
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First, we encourage and honor high academic achievement by students of business through chapters in business programs accredited by AACSB International. At Lehigh, we honor academic achievement in each of our three undergraduate business degrees: the BS in Business and Economics; the BS in Computer Science and Business; and the BS in Integrated Business and Engineering.
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Second, we develop Beta Gamma Sigma members as students and professional leaders, and celebrate continuing leadership and excellence.
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Third, we foster in Beta Gamma Sigma members an enduring commitment to the founding principles and values of the Society: honor and integrity, pursuit of wisdom, earnestness, and service.
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And lastly, we strive to connect Beta Gamma Sigma student and alumni members to each other and to opportunities in their professional lives.
We start by extending our sincerest thanks to our undergraduate student officers of the Lehigh Chapter of Beta Gamma this year. These student leaders have demonstrated the values of Beta Gamma Sigma in ways ranging from welcoming new first-year students in the fall to recognizing new Beta Gamma Sigma nominees and forging the transition to new membership and student leadership next year:
President: Brandon Santos
Vice President Alumni Relations: Andrew Caragher
Vice President Finance: Linh Phuong Pham
Vice President Programming: Rosie Morrissey
Vice President Membership/PR: Bridget Kelly
On behalf of the College of Business , Senior Associate Dean Paul Brockman, President of the College of Business’s Beta Gamma Sigma, and Associate Dean Katrina Zalatan, Lehigh’s Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter Advisor, congratulate the undergraduates being inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma this year and welcome them to our Lehigh University Chapter:
Hira Awan
Christine Balestra
Amanda Baran
Mary Clougherty
Carly Cozzolino
Devin Crowley
Jacquelyn Gage
Claudia Hanover
Matthew Hornung
Aisha Kumar
Jenny Lin
Ashley Linehan
Charlotte Maria
Skyler McCabe
Michelle Nissan
Christopher Pento
William Peracchio
Shikhar Raj
Luke Resnick
Patrece Savino
Alexis Smith
Remington Smith
Nicole Sparacio
Madison Staiman
Beulah Stillman
Carolyn Taylor
Thuy Anh Tran
Peter Woltersdorf
Remi Ziff
Paige Zytkowicz
FACULTY AWARDS
We will now turn to recognize the College of Business faculty who have been honored this year by the College of Business Community with awards for their excellence.
Award winners were nominated by students within the College of Business and selected by a College of Business Faculty Awards Selection Committee consisting of past teaching award winners, staff, and students. We recognize faculty with awards for mentorship, teaching, and overall faculty excellence.
College of Business Mentorship Excellence Award: Professor Joseph Manzo
Professor Manzo is a faculty member who has demonstrated exceptional mentorship many times to many students. Nominees shared several examples of how he cares about them and their success beyond the classroom. Students raved about his active engagement with the Accounting Club, the trips he organized to New York, and how he advertises events and career opportunities so students know about them and can get engaged. He was also lauded by many for being “always open to giving career advice” and for helping to “mentor me through my majors, minor, and job applications.” Students also praised how he helped them work their way through decisions, even noting “...when I was having trouble deciding what internship to take and he went through all the pros and cons with me and helped me come to my final decision. Without Professor Manzo I never would have majored in accounting.” Another student simply summarized, “Great guy! Love this dude!” Congratulations, Professor Manzo, for winning the College of Business Faculty Mentorship Award this year!
College of Business Teaching Excellence Award: Professor Robert Duquette and Professor Frank Gunter
Professor Robert Duquette is recognized as a faculty member who teaches a wide variety of courses and always brings his strong professional experience to the classroom to enrich students’ preparation. His nominations abounded with references to his talent for bringing the “real world” to the classroom. Said one student, “Professor Duquette wants nothing but to help his students succeed, and learn more about the tax law in ways that will allow them to participate in and be relevant to conversations once they become young professionals. Every time Professor Duquette sees me studying in Rauch, he goes out of his way to sit down with me and have conversations about my future career, or shaping events that occurred in his career. He truly goes out of his way to help his students become more conversationally relevant, and is willing to do what it takes to see them succeed.” Others lauded the design of his courses and the extent to which he brought guest professionals to classes to share their experiences. In the words of one nominator, “I have never had a professor who was as passionate and excited about the subject as Professor Duquette. He always made me feel like he genuinely cared about the well being of his students and wanted them to grasp the material for real world application. He is compassionate, enthusiastic and made the class enjoyable. Having a professor who really cared about his students made me motivated to do well.” Congratulations, Professor Duquette, for winning the College of Business Teaching Excellence Award this year!
Professor Frank Gunter is also being honored with a College of Business Faculty Excellence Award this year. Many students praised his deep knowledge and his gift for making the complex easy to understand and enjoyable - “the perfect mix of being serious while also making the course fun.” Another student described, “I had [Professor Gunter’s] class at 7:55AM and always looked forward to listening to him teach. He captured my attention (along with many others I know) for the whole semester, and he did so in style. You’ll always find him equipped with a diet coke and an eagerness to teach every single class.” Students also praised the important connections Professor Gunter helped them see. As one student noted, “Professor Gunter took my knowledge of economics and made it real for me. Concepts that did not make sense to me were clarified in ways that apply to the real world. Gunter knew what would interest his students, so he incorporated history and business into his lectures. He introduced a new perspective for my economic experience, and I continue to use these teachings in my day-to-day decision making.” Another student appeared to summarize the sentiments of many, simply noting, “I strongly believe Professor Gunter is the best teacher I have and ever will have.” Congratulations, Professor Gunter, for winning the College of Business Teaching Excellence Award this year!
The Robert and Christine Staub Faculty Excellence Award: Professor Catherine Ridings
Since 2004, the College of Business has proudly recognized one faculty member every year with the Robert and Christine Staub Faculty Excellence Award. Included among past winners are Professors Parveen Gupta, Ken Sinclair, Nandu Nayar, Bob Trent, Zach Zacharia, Frank Gunter, Mike Santoro, Marina Puzakova, and Liuba Belkin.
We are proud to recognize Professor Catherine (Cathy) Ridings as our Staub Award winner this year.
As a professor who teaches upper-level Business Information Systems (BIS) courses, Professor Ridings is described as one who teaches “difficult” courses, but she is also described as a professor who clearly dedicates “a lot of effort and time” to be sure students understand the important languages and concepts in her courses. She is described as “patient” and “always available,” even responding to student emails late at night. Professor Ridings is also lauded as an instructor who helps students go deeper. As one student notes, “Most importantly, instead of just showing students how to write the code, Professor Ridings explains every logic behind the code and certain structures. She is one of the most dedicated professors I have met at Lehigh.”
Beyond her incredible commitment to her teaching, Professor Ridings has also led significant, impactful change in the College of Business. As the inaugural, interim chair of the new Decision and Technology Analytics (DATA) Department, Professor Ridings led efforts to ensure curricula that moved the program forward - curricula that are relevant and rigorous enough to prepare students for the “exploding change” and opportunities that technology and data bring to business. Under her leadership, there are “more BIS classes” and opportunities for students to gain critical skills in business analytics. As a teacher and an administrator, Professor Ridings has significantly impacted the development and future success of many students in BIS and across majors.
Congratulations, Professor Ridings, for being recognized as our 2020 Robert and Christine Staub Faculty Award winner!
UNIVERSITY RECOGNITION
Our final recognition at our College of Business Honors Celebration is to recognize those business juniors and seniors who will be honored by the University this year for their academic excellence, earning a cumulative GPA of 3.6 and above.
Congratulations, honor students - you make the College of Business proud!
Justin Angelel
Hira Awan
Samuel Axel
Matthew Bahr
Christine Balestra
Lauren Ballerini
Amanda Baran
Marisa Ben-Yishay
Bridget Beyer
Iman Braich
Alexis Browne
Camryn Buhr
Rachel Buonasora
Samuel Bupp
Julia Burakovsky
Lauren Busardo
Jack Byers
Adriana Caceres Ruiz Diaz
Abigail Capin
Andrew Caragher
Lyle Chamberlain
Chantel Chan
Samuel Chebruch
Evan Chinman
Luke Christman
Eric Cichocki
Mary Clougherty
Jordan Cohen
Marley Cohen
Dylan Condon
Victoria Connolly
James Conte
Sean Conway
Kate Cotter
Carly Cozzolino
Devin Crowley
Reed Cunningham
Phan Ha Dao
Yawen Deng
Matthew Dolce
Christian Doms
Elizabeth Drobiz
Benjamin Durkee
Ryan Elsabeh
Daniel Fajardo
Andrew Fedun
Katharine Ferguson
Palmer Ferrara
Romy Finkel
Jessica Fitter
Sophia Flanagan
Kieran Flynne
Ann Foley
Nicholas Fox
Zachary Freeman
Chloe Fung
Abby Gabriel
Conor Gaffney
Jacquelyn Gage
Paige Galiani
Yuwei Gao
Jeremy Garber
Sophia Garland
Jonathan Glickman
Abbey Goldenberg
Madeline Gordon
Demetri Greco
Demetri Greco
Ryan Groves
Daniel Grumbles
Francisco Enrique Gutierrez Aza
Pete Haffner
Matthew Hamati
Matthew Hand
Claudia Hanover
Melanie Haughey
Lenke Mila Havas
Harry Hawkes
Melissa Henry
Matthew Herwig
Kenneth Honer
Matthew Hornung
Kristen Hoy
Tiancong Huang
Avery Humphries
Sara Israel
Annika Jansa
Xinyi Jiang
Xiaming Jin
Jonathan Kanzler
Bridget Kelly
Parker Kent
Lisa Kestelboym
Wesley Klinvex
Pierre Klur
Jacob Knotek
Alexander Koby
Ivan Kok
Charles Kornberger
Kinga Kuczynski
Aisha Kumar
Julie Kurens
Alexandra Ladda
Srini Laliwala
Matthew Lamm
Stephanie Laugeni
Conor Leahy
Grace Lee
Spencer Leuba
Jenny Lin
Ashley Linehan
Ashley Linehan
Xingchen Liu
Yanzhe Ma
Alexandra Machlis
Michael Maguire
Isabel Mallavarapu
Andrew Mallett
Joseph Manning
Austin Margulies
Charlotte Maria
Ian Marshall
Jake Martin
Juan Gabriel Martin-Dyer
Sarah Mascioli
Julia May
Carl Mazzara
Skyler McCabe
Lucy McGinty
Griffin Middleton
Charles Miner
Haley Morris
Rose Morrissey
Alyssa Nadler
Cammi Nalesnik
Genevieve Nickerson
Michelle Nissan
Nicholas Norris
Theo Olsen
John Ott
Julia Pardee
Randall Parker
William Pemberton
Christopher Pento
William Peracchio
Linh Phuong Pham
Neekta Pico
Alyssa Plodwick
Christopher Pollan
William Powers
Rebecca Price
Owen Quinn
Erin Racano
Shikhar Raj
Forest Reichert
Dayshia Rene
Luke Resnick
Polina Riabkova
Daniel Rivera
Laura Roland
Maria Rooney
Jonathan Rovitz
Joshua Rutzick
Jessica Sandoe
Brandon Santos
Patrece Savino
Jared Scharf
Dylan Scheidle
Alexander Schiffman
John Schinto
Logan Schneider
Morgan Schurr
Allena Schwartz
Katie Shih
Shawn Silverman
Carolyn Simmet
Nicholas Sireci
Lindsay Slavit
Alexis Smith
Sophie Smith
Dean Sobel
Miriam Soriano Gregorio
Nolan Sornson
Paige Sottosanti
Ana Spangenberg
Nicole Sparacio
Jonathan Spinnell
Madison Staiman
Matthew Steelman
Beulah Stillman
Nova Stoller
Ian Taggart
Phacharapol Tanasarnsopaporn
Katelyn Taylor
Carolyn Taylor
Kelly To
Thuy Anh Tran
Zachary Troxell
Chun-yao Tseng
Caroline Tully
Nicole Vaccarella
Alexis van Ooyen
Zachary Vinik
Maggie Wadsworth
Fangyi Wang
Junming Wang
Shimeng Wang
Ruifan Wang
Sidonie Warnecker
Jordan Weintraub
Jack Wheatley
Jillian Wolfson
Peter Woltersdorf
Tianke Wu
Matthew Yagel
Fan Yang
Zhijian Yang
Jiaming Yao
Chaofan Ye
Xinyan Zhang
Yuzhi Zhang
Zhongrui Zhang
Xinyu Zhao
Yujie Zhou
Shengli Zhu
Remi Ziff
Dean Zimberg
Daniela Zito
Harry Zuckerman
Paige Zytkowicz