Periods of change often precede moments of great progress.

When I was appointed interim dean of the Gabelli School of Business in July, I was humbled and honored, yet deeply excited, to serve an educational institution that is so passionately committed to preparing the next generation of leaders and innovators for the changes occurring now and for those that lie ahead.

It is that same commitment to progress and to promoting the concept of “business with purpose” that has intrigued me most during my 14-year tenure at the Gabelli School. It has served as the underpinning for all that we do — from addressing the pressing issues of climate change to ensuring an uncompromised level of social and corporate responsibility.

Gabelli School Hosts NYC Hive of One Young World 2022 Summit

The One Young World 2022 Manchester Summit took place in Manchester, England on Sept. 5-8, and convened more than 2,000 of the brightest young leaders from every country and sector who are working to accelerate social impact both in-person and digitally.

An MBA Orientation and So Much More

Many MBA programs offer orientations designed to acclimate students to the curriculum and provide time to get to know faculty members and classmates prior to the start of the semester. The Gabelli School of Business takes this initiation period — known as “Gabelli Launch” — to a whole new level, helping incoming full-time MBA students, over a four- to five-week period, to build the skills and establish the relationships that will ensure their success. Through meticulous planning by Alex Markle, PhD, associate professor and director of the full-time MBA, and Linda Agnew, the program’s administrative manager, students are immersed in a truly thought-provoking journey. From building quantitative skills to developing executive presence, gaining an understanding of design thinking to learning how to draft a résumé, they are empowered to achieve.

During an Event to Welcome the Class of 2026, Mario Gabelli Provided Sage Advice to Students Just Beginning Their Academic Journeys at the Gabelli School of Business

As he has done for many years, Mario Gabelli, chairman and CEO of GAMCO Investors, and philanthropist, returned to the Gabelli School of Business to share his insights with incoming students. This year, he visited campus on Sept. 12 to welcome the Class of 2026. Gabelli, who was senior-year president of the Class of 1965, and who graduated summa cum laude from the school that now bears his name, gave students sage advice and provided them with an optimistic view of the business world despite recent troubling headlines and disruptions.

During his many past engagements with students, Gabelli has told them that he likes to hire candidates with a PhD — meaning “poor, hungry, and driven,” which he proudly claims as being part of his own background growing up in the Bronx. But this time, he referred to PhDs as being “passionate, hungry, and driven.” To illustrate this point, he cited the story of a Gabelli School student from China who took the initiative to travel to Connecticut where Gabelli was meeting with clients at a function.

Gabelli School Partners with the Chartered Accountants Worldwide Network USA

The Gabelli School is the only academic institution to join a select group of partners and sponsors from across the country and around the world that includes organizations such as: New York Welsh, St. George’s Society, Circular Economy; the Accounting Blockchain Coalition; AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants); NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy); IFAC (International Federation of Accountants); and PACE (Profitability Analytics Center of Excellence).

Faculty Research

In “The influence of interpersonal relationships on brand-related behaviors for gifted brands,” published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology this year, Marina Carnevale, PhD, and Luke Kachersky, PhD, associate professors of marketing, explored relationship dynamics and how they affect the way people perceive brands. Their findings show that the more positively the recipient feels about the gift-giver, the more positively and frequently he or she engages with the brand.

Photo courtesy of Keith Nordstrom

Dennis Hanno, PhD, on the power of education and social entrepreneurship

This fall, Dennis Hanno joined the Gabelli School faculty as a clinical associate professor. The former president of Wheaton College in Massachusetts, Hanno is a higher education leader, educator, and social entrepreneur. In 2014, he founded IDEA4Africa, a nonprofit which educates, mentors, and supports young entrepreneurs in several African countries.

News Nerds:

Institutional Change in Journalism

Allie Kosterich, PhD, Assistant Professor of Communications and Media Management

The content of news has not changed much over the last century — politicians, celebrities, wars, crime, and sports still dominate the headlines. Yet, the ways in which journalists gather and disseminate information have been upended.

Today’s journalists are coding, programming, running analytics, and developing apps. These “news nerds” are industry professionals working in jobs at the intersection of traditional journalism and technologically intensive positions that were once very separate. Consequently, news nerds have changed the institutionalized view of journalism.

In her book, News Nerds (Oxford University Press, 2022), Allie Kosterich, PhD, explores how technological, economic, and societal changes are impacting the profession of journalism. She draws on a mixed-methods research design that blends interviews, social network analysis of LinkedIn data, job postings, and industry publications to make sense of how skills and practices become entrenched throughout the news industry. Taken together, these data reveal the ways in which the profession is evolving to incorporate new technological skill sets and new routines of production.

Challenging conventional wisdom is a common thread throughout the extensive body of research Aksoy has published over the past two decades. Her recent research, published in the Journal of Service Management, investigates the disconnect between companies’ environmental, social, and governance metrics and customer perceptions of social innovation. The 2022 paper has already been downloaded more than 1,600 times — a testament to the keen interest in corporate social responsibility, a theme in Aksoy’s work since she joined Fordham in 2008.

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Opinions expressed in this publication may not necessarily reflect those of the Fordham University faculty or administration. © 2022, Fordham University Gabelli School of Business