Saunders Faculty and Staff Go Above and Beyond
The hard work and dedication of the Saunders College of Business faculty give us an edge over the rest and contribute to what many consider a small college feel at a large technology university. We would like to recognize some of our faculty’s recent accomplishments and congratulate them on a job well done!
December 2025
Jennifer Rubianogroot ‘27 (MBA) joins the Saunders College of Business Dean’s Office as the new Sr. Coordinator of Academic Services, beginning December 1, 2025. Jennifer comes to us from the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, where she served as a Sr. Staff Assistant supporting the PhD program and a wide range of academic operations.
November 2025
Jacqueline Mozrall, dean, Saunders College of Business, published a column in Rochester Business Journal, “MBA ROI: Perspective matters.” She discusses the value of an MBA degree, the overall ROI, and how students should weigh the location of their schools relative to cost of living and quality of life considerations.
Malarvizhi Hirudayaraj, associate professor in the department of management, and Martin Anselm, professor and interim department head in the College of Engineering Technology, are co-leaders of a project to build “a comprehensive workforce development program in manufacturing for veterans and under-employed individuals to provide the needed skills-based training in electronics assembly.” The program, which began in 2016, is in collaboration with the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center.
October 2025
Sandra Rothenberg, professor of management and public policy, produced a video with the assistance of AI, “Making sustainability a core competency,” based on a research article co-authored by Clyde Eirikur Hull, professor of management, “Making sustainability a core competency: Consumer response to sustainable innovative products,” published in Sustainability, 2022.
Sandra Rothenberg, professor of management and public policy; Karl Korfmacher, professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences; and public policy alumni Mikkael Lamoca ‘24 and Roman Czornobil ’24 co-authored the paper “Potential of low-field MRI for increasing participation of Filipino Americans and underrepresented populations in Alzheimer's and dementia research.” Their research explores new strategies to increase participation of underrepresented populations in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia studies using low-field MRI technology.
Soon Hyeok (Steve) Choi, assistant professor in the department of finance and accounting, was featured on an episode of WXXI’s Connections, “The dangers of overbidding on a house.” The interview focused on Choi’s research published in The Conversation.
Soon Hyeok Choi, assistant professor in the department of finance and accounting, was interviewed for Cotality’s “Data in Context,” “Could a buyer’s market end bidding wars?,” based on his co-authored article, “The winner’s curse in housing markets.”
Sandra Rothenberg, professor in the department of management co-authored a publication with RIT professors, Qing Miao, associate professor in the department of public policy; Brian Tomaszewski, professor in the school of interactive games and media; James Fugate, assistant professor in the department of engineering studies; and researchers from the University of Rochester, “Disability inclusion in local emergency management: Evidence from a national survey of emergency managers” in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. This work is part of the NSF- and Department of Energy-supported project “Bridging the Gap between Essential Emergency Resources and Services and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community in Monroe County, NY: A Geospatial-Visual Approach.”
September 2025
Soon Hyeok Choi, assistant professor in the department of finance and accounting, published an essay, The real-estate ‘winner’s curse’: Study of nearly 14 million home sales over 20 years shows you don’t want to win that bidding war in Fortune. The piece originally appeared in The Conversation.
Sriniwas Mahapatro, assistant professor in the department of accounting and finance, presented his paper “Does Systemically Important Bank Status Affect Loan Performance” at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s annual bank research conference.
Archana Jain, associate professor in the department of finance and accounting, hosted 29 high school students as part of Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP), which introduces young people to the accounting field, May 30 through June 1, 2025, at RIT. Learn more on our blog.
Edwin Torres Areizaga, associate professor and chair, department of international hospitality and service innovation, and Dan Jin, assistant professor in the department of international hospitality and service innovation took a group of students on a company visit to the Rochester Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency Rochester, September 17, 2025.
dt ogilvie, dean emerita and professor emerita, was elected to the board of The PhD Project.
Aisha Faiq ‘24 (international business management) joins the department of Executive Education as Senior Admissions Officer beginning September 15, 2025.
Sriniwas Mahapbatro, assistant professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance, was featured in University News, “Mahapatro presents at European Accounting Association Annual Congress,” regarding his paper, “Impact of Stringent Regulation on the Ratings Market: Evidence from the Death of a Rating Agency.”
Anthony Testa ‘96 (MBA) joins the department of finance and accounting as a visiting lecturer beginning August 18, 2025.
August 2025
Sriniwas Mahapatro, assistant professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance, presented his paper “Impact of Stringent Regulation on the Ratings Market: Evidence from the Death of a Rating Agency” at the European Accounting Association Annual Congress in Rome, Italy, and at the American Accounting Association Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Evan Vershay ‘17 (marketing) joins the department of Executive Education as Program Manager of the Executive MBA program beginning August 29, 2025.
Joe Boyd ‘04 (chemistry) joins the department of finance and accounting as an adjunct professor beginning August 25, 2025.
Nicholas Bucciarelli ‘04 (MBA, MS software engineering) joins the department of MIS, marketing and analytics as an adjunct professor beginning August 25, 2025.
Léonie Lindsley Stone joins the department of Finance and Accounting as an adjunct professor beginning August 25, 2025.
Nikisha Alcindor, Ph.D., joins the department of Management as an assistant professor beginning August 13, 2025.
Dan Jin, Ph.D., joins the department of International Hospitality and Service Innovation as an assistant professor beginning August 13, 2025.
Jilian Qian, Ph.D., joins the department of finance and accounting as an assistant professor beginning August 13, 2025.
Guilherme D. De Alencar Ramos, Ph.D., joins the department of MIS, Marketing & Analytics as an assistant professor beginning August 13, 2025.
Muhammet Kesgin, professor in the department of international hospitality and service innovation, has facilitated a strategic partnership between Saunders College of Business and the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance. Saunders and the Alliance will “ take collaborative action to enable the hospitality industry to have a lasting positive impact on our planet and its people.”
Muhammet Kesgin, professor in the department of international hospitality and service innovation, published a co-authored (first author) article, “Legacy matters: Encouraging willingness to pay a premium for environmentally friendly off-premises food packaging,” in the International Journal of Hospitality Management.
Kristin Bain, assistant professor in the department of management, published a co-authored (first author) article, “Silenced by Incivility,” in the Journal of Business Ethics. The articles discusses how incivility can silence women in corporate settings.
Sriniwas Mahapatro, assistant professor in the department of finance and accounting, published a co-authored article, “The co-CEO model: Addressing the needs of a dynamic business landscape,” in California Management Review. The article explores the pros and cons of having co-CEOs.
Ali Tosyali, assistant professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, published a co-authored article, “Explainable Artificial Intelligence for mental disorder screening: A computational design science approach,” in the Journal of Management Information Systems. The article introduces an AI application for screening patients with mental disorders.
dt ogilvie, dean emerita and professor emerita, published a co-authored article, “Does the emperor have new clothes?: Toward a critical analysis of African management writers,” in Academy of Management Proceedings (June 2025). She also presented a paper of the same title at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, July 29, 2025, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
July 2025
dt ogilvie, dean emerita and professor emerita, gave an invited talk to the faculty of Centrum Business School, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, on AI & Entrepreneurship: Using AI to Empower Startups and Small Businesses for Success.
Quang “Neo” Bui, associate professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, has been awarded a Fulbright-University of Vaasa Scholar Award. The prestigious award is administered through the U.S. Department of State and jointly funded by the Fulbright Finland Foundation and the University of Vaasa. Bui will study cybersecurity in Vassa, Finland.
Kalan Horton, Ph.D., joins the department of Management as an assistant professor beginning July 1, 2025.
June 2025
Quang Neo Bui, associate professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, along with three co-authors, has published an article, “Survival of the fittest through digital transformation: Turning the board’s digital awareness to action,” in Information Systems Journal. The article explores the strategic imperative of board member preparedness in leading the way in the digital transformation process.
Jancy Nightingale-Burch ‘25 (MBA), assistant director of marketing, Saunders executive education, presented her economics independent study, “The non-profit church: Financial and community pressures in an era of uncertainty,” establishing the groundwork for a strategic, long-term evaluation on the economic role of non-profits in the Greater Rochester region.
Allan Ulrich, CPA, EMBA, adjunct professor in the Executive MBA program, was honored by the Marquis Who's Who organization for his expertise in finance and accounting.
Philip Gelsomino, MS, senior lecturer in the department of finance and accounting, accompanied a group of RIT students and their families on a cruise out of Brooklyn, NY, to the Bahamas, in March, 2025.
Congratulations to Saunders faculty for achieving “Top 20” status for Google Scholar Citations of their research: John Tu, senior associate dean, 12,000; Mike Palanski, professor in the department of management, 6,000; Hao Zhang, professor in the department of finance and accounting, 6,000; Clyde Hull, professor in the department of management, 5,000; Jerrie Hsieh, professor in the department of international hospitality and service innovation, 2,000; Manlu Liu, professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, 2,000; Emi Moriuchi, associate professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, 2,000; Ettore Spadafora, associate professor in the department of management, 1,000; Malar Hirudayaraj, associate professor in the department of management, 1,000.
William (Bill) Buckingham, chair emeritus of RIT’s Board of Trustees and a 1964 graduate of the business administration program in the Saunders College of Business, died May 17. He was 82. Buckingham joined RIT’s Board of Trustees in 1979, served as its first alumnus chairman from 1997 to 2002, and was elected Trustee Emeritus in 2020 for his lifetime of commitment to RIT.
Jesse Redlo, Ed.D., program manager for the Executive MBA program and adjunct professor, has been recognized as a thought leader in higher education by the Marquis Who's Who organization.
May 2025
At its May college meeting, Saunders recognized faculty and staff for their achievements during the 2024-2025 academic year, including length-of-service, promotions, faculty and staff awards, and more.
Congratulations to the following for their promotions: Edward “Ted” Ganster, M.S., department of international hospitality and service innovation, to Senior Lecturer; Muhammet Kesgin, Ph.D., department of international hospitality and service innovation, to Full Professor; Molly McGowan, Ph.D., co-director of executive education, to Principal Lecturer; and Edwin Torres, Ph.D., department of international hospitality and service innovation, to Full Professor.
Muhammet Kesgin, Ph.D., associate professor, Edwin Torres, Ph.D., professor and chair, Jerrie Hsieh, Ph.D., professor, Rick Lagiewski, Ph.D., assistant professor–all of the department of international hospitality and service innovation–and Jennifer Schneider, Sc.D., senior director of integrated curriculum and Eugene H Fram chair, attended the 6th Conference on Managing Tourism Across Continents (MTCON), in Istanbul, Turkey, April 30 to May 3, 2025. Saunders was a “gold sponsor” for the event, and Professor Kesgin served as co-chair.
April 2025
Sandra Rothenberg, Ph.D., Benjamin Forman Professor of Collaborative Research, department of management, received a Trustees Scholarship Award during A Celebration of Teaching and Scholarship, April 9, 2025.
Kevin Sweeney, Ph.D., associate professor of management and program director, MS in global supply chain management, appeared on a WHAM (channel 13) segment, Could tariffs rev up Rochester's auto manufacturing again? 'Quickly' says UAW. Sweeney weighed in as an expert on supply chain management.
Shal Khazanchi, associate dean of research and graduate programs, and Naveen Sharma, Golisano College associate dean of faculty affairs and industry engagement, organized and hosted an Industry Consortium for AI Research and Translation Workshop, April 3 and 4, 2025, in the Susan R. Holliday Center, Lowenthal Hall. The event was “a university-industry consortium, advancing responsible AI research to tackle complex business and societal challenges.”
March 2025
Jacqueline Mozrall, dean and professor, has been recognized by the RIT Office of Diversity and Inclusion as a Difference Maker as part of Women’s History Month, March 2025.
John Tu, professor of management information systems and associate dean, organized and led an AI Teaching Workshop on March 19, 2025, in Gueldenpfennig Auditorium, Saunders College of Business. Manlu Liu, professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, served as panel moderator, and Vic Perotti, professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, was a panelist.
February 2025
Mark Pangrazio has joined Saunders College as a Budget Analyst, beginning February 17. Prior to coming to RIT, Mark served as Senior Cost Accountant at Vuzix Corporation where he oversaw budgeting, forecasting, inventory reconciliation, and financial analysis.
January 2025
Molly McGowan, co-director of RIT Executive Education, and Natasha House, assistant director for Diversity Initiatives in Career Services and Cooperative Education, appeared on WXXI’s Connections with Evan Dawson on Jan. 7. They discussed Leadership Rochester’s upcoming symposium and shared insights from their work in developing future leaders.
Krista Vardabash ‘12 (EMBA) joined the department of Executive Education as an adjunct professor on January 6, 2025.
Ali Tosyali, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, has published a co-authored article, “Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Mental Disorder Screening: A Computational Design Science Approach," in the Journal of Management Information Systems. The paper introduces MDscan, a scanning tool that combines explainable AI and a ShapRadiation algorithm to create interpretable diagnostic images.
Jacquie Mozrall, Ph.D., dean of Saunders College and professor, was a featured guest on Greater Rochester Enterprise’s Make Your Mark podcast. Dean Mozrall spoke about how Saunders is doubling in size, which will support new event spaces that will host distinguished speakers, career fairs, and networking events for students, and about how this expansion will continue to prepare students to manage and lead technical organizations and drive business solutions.
December 2024
Victor Perotti, professor in the Department of MIS, Marketing, and Analytics, joined the Rochester Business Journal’s virtual panel AI for Business in December. The panel covered emerging trends and challenges in artificial intelligence, offering insights into its impact on business policies and practices.
Somail Bains ‘91 (MBA) will join the Saunders department of finance and accounting as an adjunct professor beginning January 2025. Bains is the director of sales operations at Integron, in Pittsford, NY.
Carlo Candalla, chief financial officer at Healthcare Commons, Inc., in Carney’s Point, NJ, will join the Saunders department of finance and accounting as an adjunct professor beginning January 2025.
John Tu, Ph.D., senior associate dean and professor of management information systems, and Quang “Neo” Bui, Ph.D, associate professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, working with undergraduate students from RIT China and Saunders College, co-authored a paper that received the Best Paper Runner-Up Award at the 34th Annual Workshop of the AIS Special Interest Group on Adoption and Diffusion of Information Technology, at the 2024 ICIS conference in Bangkok, Thailand. This paper grew out of Tu and Bui’s Global Faculty Research Grant, “Online Communities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Evidence from China and the U.S.”
Muhammet Kesgin, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of international hospitality and service innovation, published an article, “Legacy Matters: Encouraging Willingness to Pay a Premium for Environmentally Friendly Off-Premises Food Packaging,” in the International Journal of Hospitality Management.
Sheri Watkins ’18 (MBA) will join the Saunders department of finance and accounting as an adjunct professor beginning January 2025. Watkins is the chief of finance for Coordinated Care Services, Inc., Monroe County Office of Mental Health.
November 2024
Rick Lagiewski, Ph.D., Co-Director of Executive Education, presented a paper, "Destination Disasters: Supporting vulnerable consumers through Analysis, modelling, and visualization of tourism data" at the V CETT Smart Tourism Congress, “When AI meets Tourism,” in Barcelona on November 28. Lagiewski collaborated with Victor Perotti, Ph.D., professor of MIS, marketing and analytics, on this research, which focuses on analyzing the role of hotel businesses in supporting individuals who are experiencing vulnerability related to frequent natural disasters.
Michael Deats ’20 (Executive MBA) will join the Saunders department of executive education as an adjunct professor beginning January 2025. Deats is the senior vice president of service experience and operational strategy at Primepay.
Cara Decker will join Saunders College Management Department as Senior Staff Assistant starting Monday, December 2nd. Previously, Cara served as Director of Operations at The Launch Guild.
Jacquie Mozrall, Ph.D, dean and professor, and Rick Lagiewski, Ph.D., co-director of executive education, were featured on a LifeSciencesNY Spotlight Series conversation, November 13, 2024. Dean Mozrall and Professor Lagiewski discussed the Executive MBA program, among other things including experiential learning and the health sciences.
Pat Scanlon, senior writer, published an article, “A nineteenth-century activist,” about Churchville-born Frances Willard, in the November/December 2024 issue of 585 Magazine.
Rich DeJordy, Ph.D., chair of the department of management, will serve as Executive Director, and Terri Monsees, Ed.D., as program manager of Saunders Leadership Academy. The Leadership Academy provides experimental co-curricular opportunities—bridging business and technology—for high school students, RIT undergrad and graduate students, alumni, and working professionals.
Dena Bateh, Ph.D., adjunct professor in Saunders College, was interviewed for WalletHub’s “Ask the Experts” column. Professor Bateh offered her opinions on the top growing jobs looking toward 2030, what the most sought-after job skills are today, and what’s in store for the job market in 2024.
October 2024
Julie Purpura ’10 (hospitality and service management), MS, joined the Saunders faculty in October 2024 as an adjunct professor in the department of international hospitality and service innovation.
Nikki Lombardo has joined Saunders Marketing and Communications as a marketing specialist. She is an RIT alumna (School of Individualized Study) and a former student worker with Marketing and Communications. Nikki started in her new position on October 30, 2024
Noah Cherry,’10 (MBA), joined the Executive MBA and Executive Education team as the business development manager. He brings his experience in sales and customer service in the tech space to cultivate growth for custom programs and evolve the executive MBA capstone portfolio.
September 2024
Shubhobrata Palit, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty in August as a visiting assistant professor in the department of management. He completed his doctorate in 2021 at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Sriniwas Mahapatro, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of finance and accounting, has had his research cited in Forbes. In “NVIDIA’s Disclosure Needs To Catch Up With Its Valuation,” the author cites a paper co-written with Mahapatro and another business professor.
Two Saunders College of Business faculty members have been named to endowed professorships. Sean Hansen, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, is the E. Philip Saunders Endowed Professor. Chun Keung “Stan” Hoi, Ph.D., professor in the department of finance and accounting, is the Daniel D. Tessoni Endowed Chair in Accounting. Each of these positions is awarded to an outstanding teacher-scholar.
August 2024
Rong Yang, Ph.D., professor in the department of finance and accounting, co-authored an article—with Ashok Robin, Ph.D., professor in the department of finance and accounting and two others from outside RIT—“The impact of the JOBS act on the costs of going public: evidence from long-term audit costs,” which is forthcoming in Accounting and Business Research. One of the top accounting journals, Accounting and Business Research has an acceptance rate of just 3%
Jieun Lee, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an assistant professor in the department of management. Lee recently completed her doctorate at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Laura Segave, MBA, joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an adjunct professor in the department of marketing.
Jesse Redlo, Ed.D., program manager Saunders Executive MBA, has accepted an invitation to join the editorial board of the Journal of Business Leadership and Management. In its invitation, the board cited Professor Redlo’s “significant contributions to the field” and “the depth of your expertise.”
Michael Della Porta joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an adjunct professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics. He is a member of the Saunders advisory board for MIS.
Sandra Turner, MFA, joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an adjunct professor in the department of management.
Soon Hyeok (Steve) Choi, Ph.D., department of finance and accounting, won the Innovative Thinking Award (“Thinking Out of the Box”) from the American Real Estate Society for his article, “Selling Houses as Minority Broker: Quantifying Diversity Discount”. The award, which will be presented in March 2025 at the annual meeting of the American Real Estate Society, includes a cash prize of $1,000.
June 2024
Kwong Voon (James) Wong ’23 (EMBA), will co-teach an international finance class in the Saunders Online Executive MBA program in fall 2024. He is the Director of Global NEMA Product Management for Pfannenberg USA.
Siavash Rashidi-Sabet, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an assistant professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics. He recently completed his doctorate in Business Administration-Marketing at Texas Tech University Rawls College of Business.
Kevin Sweeney, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty in August as an associate professor in the department of management. Prior to coming to RIT, he was an associate professor of supply chain management at Sam Houston State University.
Sriniwas Mahapatro, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty beginning August 2024 as an assistant professor in the department of Finance and Accounting. He recently completed his doctorate at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India
Alex Butler ’11 (MBA), joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as a visiting lecturer in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics. Prior to coming to RIT, he was Integrated Planning Manager for Butler/Till
Yu-chin (Jerrie) Hsieh, professor, and Muhammet Kesgin, associate professor, both in the department of international hospitality and tourism management, co-authored the paper “Enhancing Inclusive Hospitality: An Investigation into Autism-Certified Hotels and Guest Experiences,” which won the Best Paper Award at the 11th Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Management (AHTMM) Conference
Kean Wu, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of finance and accounting, is having an impact on regulatory affairs in Washington, D.C. The Securities and Exchange Commission cited Wu’s article-in-progress, “Corporate Human Capital Disclosures: Early Evidence from the SEC's Disclosure Mandate,” in a recent recommendation regarding human capital management disclosure. In addition, another article co-authored by Wu, “XBRL Mandate and Timeliness of Financial Reporting: Do XBRL Filings Take Longer?” was cited by the SEC in a proposed rule and semi-annual report to Congress.
Clare Lagiewski, M.S., assistant dean of administrative services for the College of Art and Design at RIT, has been hired as Saunders director of administrative operations.
Peggy Tirrell, M.S., senior associate director of graduate business programs and admissions, was elected to a second term as board member for the Western New York/Northwest Pennsylvania Chapter of the Fullbright Association.
Clyde Eiríkur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, has been recognized by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) with the prestigious ICSB Mini-Globe Award for his “extraordinary dedication and substantial contributions to the organization.” The award letter praises Professor Hull’s “significant impact on the global entrepreneurship and small business community.” In addition, Professor Hull won First Place for the Journal of the International Council for Small Business Regular Access Award for his article, “Specific innovativeness, digital entrepreneurship, and female entrepreneurs.”
