February 2026
Ready to see how the Saunders community is shaping the future? Our February Issue is full of high-impact research, student success stories, and our events calendar. Don't forget to contribute your own news for next month by visiting Saunders announcements or emailing us at communications@saunders.rit.edu.
Philip Minardo ’29 (finance and accounting), Mika Millard ’28 (management in the creation of video games), Alex Muneath ’28 (finance and accounting), and Trey Reedy ’27 (computer science) took second place in the 2025/26 MikesBikes World Champs competition. This contest, sponsored by Smartsims Business Simulations, is an opportunity for the best-performing MikesBikes Business Simulation teams from around the world to compete for the title of MikesBikes World Champion. The simulation is a feature of The Freshman Experience: Biz 1+2 at Saunders.
Gurjaan Bhangu ‘27 (finance) wrestling; Brody Brown ’27 (finance and accounting) basketball; Alexa Marsh ’29 (accounting) soccer; Andrew Rautzhan ’27 (finance and management and information systems) baseball; Linda Rulle ’27 (global business management) ice hockey; Kevin Scott ’27 (finance and accounting) ice hockey; and Alexander Sinclair ’28 (finance) tennis were inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the national scholar-athlete society, Thursday, February 12, 2026. The ceremony took place in the Skalny Room.
Dawn S. McWilliams ’00 (MBA) has been named President of the RIT Alumni Association Board of Directors. McWilliams recently retired from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management (Director of Marketing and Communications) after 37 years of Higher Ed Marketing Leadership positions at the University of Rochester, Cornell University, and Syracuse University.
Jeannie Khaw ’94 (accounting) ’95 (MBA) has been honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award, given to RIT alumni “who have performed at the highest levels of their profession or who have contributed to the advancement and leadership of civic, philanthropic, or service organizations.” Khaw has worked at the International Monetary Fund since 2001. She started as an accountant and has been promoted to roles of increasing responsibility over the past two decades.
Lindsay Connelly ‘11 (marketing) ‘18 (MBA) has won the 2026 Athena Young Professionals Award from the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. The award was presented at a ceremony on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Connelly is Digital Marketing Strategist and President at Linden Digital Marketing. Learn more here.
Josh Pagliaro joins the department of Executive Education as an adjunct professor beginning March 20, 2026.
Sriniwas Mahapatro, assistant professor in the department of finance and accounting, co-authored “Preventing Defaults in Response to Deteriorating Bank Health: The Prompt Corrective Action Approach,” in Contemporary Accounting Research. The study examines how regulatory intervention affects borrower loan repayment behavior when banks experience financial distress.
Kalan G. Horton, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of management, has been awarded an Early Career Research Grant from the Strategic Management Society. His research project: “In the Context of Platform Based Ecosystems: How Does the Nature of User-to-User Connections Affect Value Creation in Networked Products?”
Terri Monsees, Saunders College of Business Program Manager of Accreditation and Assessment and The Leadership Academy, successfully defended their doctoral dissertation, A University Perspective of Assessment Framework Measures for Student Success in Noncredit Programming, earning their Doctor of Education degree in January 2026 from Carson-Newman University.
Hao Zhang, professor in the department of finance and accounting, secured Saunders’ opportunity to host a local-level competition of the CFA Institute 2026 Research Challenge, Saturday, February 7. The competition brought together ten teams from nine western New York universities, including RIT. This was the first time Saunders has hosted the event. Learn more here.
Torrence Sparkman, assistant provost and assistant vice president for Faculty Recruitment in the Division of Access, Engagement, and Success, delivered the keynote “The Dream in Action: Honoring the Legacy from Movement to Action,” on Jan. 22 at Nazareth University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event.
Fortune Rankings: Best Business Schools and MBA Programs, 2026
Saunders College of Business’s MBA program is ranked #68 among the “Best Business Schools and MBA Programs” nationally by Fortune. This represents an impressive leap from last year’s ranking of #91. Also, the Saunders MBA ranked #6 in New York State (#8 in 2025).
Saunders Students Take Second Place in CFA Research Challenge
A team of Saunders students took second place in the 2026 CFA Institute Research Challenge, on February 7, at RIT.
