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Achievements for October 2021

Achievements for October 2021
College of Business faculty, students and staff continue to excel in fulfilling the college's mission to drive discovery, create opportunity and empower individuals to lead the future of business.

Learn more about recent honors, appointments and publications at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Business in this month's achievements column. The achievements of faculty, staff and students are grouped within the college’s three mission-focused goals of research + discovery, learning + transformation and connection + engagement.

Research + Discovery

  • Dr. Jennifer Davidson, assistant professor of practice in economics and president of the Nebraska Council on Economic Education, was featured in WalletHub's Ask the Experts where she discussed no-credit-check loans. Read the WalletHub article.
  • Dr. Jennifer Ryan, Ron and Carol Cope College Professor and chair of the Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics, was selected as one of six faculty to represent Nebraska as a faculty fellow in the academic leadership program offered by the Big Ten Academic Alliance. Read the Nebraska Today article.
  • Rob Simon, associate professor of practice in marketing was interviewed for a recent article on Credit Card Insider’s website about when to consider getting a retail store credit card. Read the Credit Card Insider interview.
  • Dr. Eric Thompson, K.H. Nelson Professor of Economics and director of the Bureau of Business Research, was interviewed for a Sept. 19 Lincoln Journal Star article on Nebraska’s labor shortage. He said premier employers such as Kawasaki “will have more success in hiring than most companies,” with the potential to draw already employed workers looking for better pay and benefits. But companies on the lower end of the scale will continue to struggle to find workers, he said. Read the Lincoln Journal Star article. The Omaha World Herald also interviewed Thompson on the labor shortage.
  • Three graduate business students were named student fellows of the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center. They include: Ece Baskol, doctoral student in marketing; Mei Fong Looi, master of actuarial science student; and Izuchukwu Mbaraonye, doctoral student in management. Jeffrey Owusu-Ansah, '20, an international business alum now studying in the College of Law, will also serve as a fellow. Each student fellow will join a multidisciplinary team tasked with investigating a technology-related topic of their choosing over the course of the academic year. Read the Nebraska Today article.

Learning + Transformation

  • Nebraska ascended in the annual U.S. News & World Report ranking of undergraduate business programs. The college ranked No. 30 among undergraduate business programs at public institutions and No. 59 among all undergraduate accounting programs. Read the College of Business story.
  • The College of Business and College of Law announced Nebraska's newest major - the business and law major. The interdisciplinary major provides students with foundational legal knowledge to better solve business challenges. Graduates will be prepared to fill roles in multiple growing fields requiring some legal knowledge but not a juris doctor. Read the College of Business story.
  • The Wall Street Journal examined graduate degrees at 567 schools across the country and found the graduates of MBA@Nebraska have the fifth lowest debt-to-income ratio. Known for being a best value, the MBA@Nebraska offers online courses taught by tenured faculty in eight-week sessions. Read the College of Business story.
  • Twenty-four first-year business students begin the inaugural year of the Inclusive Business Leaders scholarship program. They learn how to lead and champion diversity and inclusion while also being supported in their career goals with exclusive networking and mentorship opportunities. Read the College of Business story.
  • Thirty-five students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln start their journey as Clifton Builders. Clifton Builders learn how to build, lead and manage people, and they pursue a program track as a business builder, team builder or community builder. Read the College of Business story.
  • The Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship announced its Innovation Challenge winners. The creative task they solved was creating value from mismatched socks. First place went to: Divyn Williams, freshman business administration major from Omaha, Nebraska, and Caroline Abels, senior communications studies from Lincoln, Nebraska. Two teams tied for second place including: Kyran Thomas, sophomore business administration major from Lincoln; Reese McReynolds, freshman finance major from Lincoln; and Eduardo Sicilia, sophomore marketing major from Benito Juarez, Mexico. 

Connection + Engagement

  • Aakriti Agrawal, '16, an MBA@Nebraska student from Lincoln, received the Founders Award at the 2021 Inspire Awards for her work as co-founder of Girls Code Lincoln, a nonprofit that ignites passion for technology and leadership in young girls. Erika Casarin, senior management major from Lincoln, was a finalist for an Inspire Scholarship for her work on The Palette Project, which provides murals to nonprofits through team-building volunteer events. Dr. Susan M. Fritz, '79, emerita executive vice president and provost of the University of Nebraska, also received the Excellence in Education Award. The Lincoln Journal Star published an article on the award winners.
  • Erika Casarin, founder of The PALETTE Project, is working to facilitate the creation of a mural on Lincoln’s Proyecto Cultural building. The Lincoln Journal Star published a Sept. 27 article on the project. Additionally, The PALETTE Project hosted a collaborative mural-painting event Sept. 1 on the greenspace north of the Nebraska Union. The Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business commissioned the mural, which was the first venture for the student-led startup. KOLN/KGIN aired a Sept. 1 story on the event. 
  • Dr. Kalu Osiri, director of the International Business Program and associate professor of practice in management, received the Dr. Michael W. Combs Legacy Award. The award honors the outstanding contributions of faculty of color on the campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The award is named after Dr. Michael W. Combs, professor of political science, who dedicated his life to the uplift and education of those around him. Also as part of the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center Hall of Fame awards, Chau Nguyen, '21, was inducted into the hall of fame recognizing her leadership in the Asian Student Union and impact on campus. Read the Nebraska Today article on the awards. Read the story about Nguyen's student leadership.
  • Nine seniors in the College of Business were named Homecoming royalty finalists. Finalists included: Ethan Carlson, management major from Norfolk, Nebraska; Zachary Cheek, economics and trombone performance major from Omaha, Nebraska; Luke Gomez, economics major from Topeka, Kansas; Chloe Higgins, economics major from Nebraska City, Nebraska; Riley Knust, economics and finance major from Plymouth, Nebraska; Katie Lamb, management major from Grafton, Wisconsin; Bobby Martin, management and marketing major from Omaha, Nebraska; Samuel Stott, marketing major from Lake Winnebago, Missouri; and Josh Thiele, actuarial science major from Elkhorn, Nebraska. Read the Nebraska Today article.
  • Three business students served as International Student Welcome Team members, including: Sheng Jit Koo, business administration major from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bruno Salles, finance major from Porto Alegre, Brazil; and Sharon Yu, management major from Taiyuan, China. The students led New Student Enrollment events for incoming international students in August and currently serve as peer mentors to organize activities and engage students throughout the year.

This column is a monthly feature of the College of Business. Faculty, staff and students can submit achievements to be considered for this column via the News Proposal Form at the bottom of https://business.unl.edu webpage. On the form, select Recognize Achievement and fill out the related questions.

Published: October 1, 2021