Selected for the 2025–2026 Fulbright US Student Program, Walker-Wilson received a United Arab Emirates (UAE) Research Award and will be conducting research on how startups in the UAE use artificial intelligence to drive business decisions. “I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to marry my interests,” she explained. “Dubai is notorious for being the sort of city that everyone flocks to for business. I’m really excited to see the AI landscape there, not only for small business, but also with regard to entrepreneurs and how the technology is being utilized in everyday life.”

According to Cynthia Bush, director of the Gabelli School’s Personal and Professional Development Center (PPD), internship experiences are invaluable. “Students are able to take what they’ve learned and see what it’s like to work in a particular field,” she noted. “Internships provide a great framework for moving forward in their careers, often with an internship leading to a full-time offer.”

That was the case for Alaina Stanisci, who is pursuing a B.S. in Marketing with a concentration in global business. This past summer, Stanisci interned at BlackRock, where she conducted a competitive analysis of annual private market outlooks. “I presented key recommendations to senior management, which was a great opportunity to hone multiple skills.” After graduation, she will join the firm as a marketing analyst.

A roster of renowned industry experts, government officials, and law enforcement agents dove deep into topics that are more relevant now than ever before—from ransomware attacks and radicalization on the Dark Web to defending against deepfakes and bridging the gap between cyber security and AI.

“We are following through on the bold plans that we have collectively created. It is gratifying to see faculty members and administrators coming together to execute their parts of the plan and deliver meaningful results,” said Lerzan Aksoy, Ph.D., dean, George N. Jean Ph.D. chair, and professor of marketing at the Gabelli School. “We will continue to build upon this early success, accelerating strategic initiatives to ensure that the Gabelli School remains well positioned to serve our students, to make a difference in local and global communities, and to thrive in the business education marketplace.”

The Fordham Board Fellows Program will launch this fall, placing Gabelli School graduate students as ex-officio members on local nonprofit boards. They will provide participating nonprofits with fresh perspectives and help these organizations to advance their strategic priorities.

“The upgrades are practical innovations that will enable students, and faculty and staff members to better utilize common and academic spaces,” said Marisa Villani, Ph.D., senior assistant dean for undergraduate studies.

New audio-visual equipment has been installed in every classroom in the building, implementing the latest technology to enhance presentation capabilities and the learning experience. Frandy Medina, associate director of information technology, who led the overhaul of classroom technology, noted, “We set out to modernize our learning spaces to make them more reliable, sustainable, and effective for all of those who use them.”

To keep our Gabelli School alumni informed and connected, we have launched a comprehensive new alumni website. It is a work in progress, and new content will be added regularly to ensure it remains current and relevant, providing a home base that encourages engagement and builds community. From learning about the ways you can get involved to staying up to date on alumni, professional, and networking events to signing up to audit a class—this is a home base for activity, news, and inspiration! The site also contains direct links to the Forever Fordham Alumni site and Fordham Business magazine. In addition, you can update your information and make a gift to the Gabelli School. We love to share stories of alumni success and have added a “Share Your Success Story” button to make it easy for you to do so.

Attendees enjoyed Coney Island–style favorites, including a photo booth, caricature artists, and a soundtrack that evoked the spirit of summer by the shore. The evening buzzed with conversation as attendees shared memories, caught up, and networked.

he Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis was established in 2013 with generous support from Mario Gabelli, GABELLI ’65, as part of a $35 million gift to the Gabelli School of Business. Through the leadership of James Russell Kelly, the Center’s founding director, and Sris Chatterjee, Ph.D., the Gabelli Chair in Global Security Analysis, the Center established itself as a leading voice in value investing, an investing strategy that involves purchasing stocks, which are trading for less than their calculated intrinsic value.

Paul Johnson joined the Center as a fellow in 2020 and assumed the role of executive director in 2024 when Kelly became chairman of the Center’s advisory board. With more than two decades of experience teaching value investing as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and the Gabelli School, Johnson seeks to energize the next generation of investors while connecting them to a larger ecosystem of professionals, academics, and, especially, alumni.

“These studies exemplify the principles of responsible research,” stated Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro, chair, Fellows RRM Award Selection Committee, in an announcement about the awards. “They strive for broad and significant societal benefits by informing policy, improving practice, and advancing theory. The winners are truly the ‘best of the best.’”

“Set & Done: Trade-offs between stakeholder expectation and attainment pressures in corporate carbon target management,” the paper which Kim co-authored with Patrick J. Callery, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Vermont, examines corporate carbon targets, the public commitments companies make to reduce carbon emissions by a set future date. Although these commitments have been widely adopted by businesses, especially over the past decade, they have failed to significantly reduce emissions.

“That gave me an appreciation for differences in language, including vocabulary and styles of speaking,” she said. “It also gave me an appreciation for culture and why people do what they do.”

Lerman studied French language and literature as an undergraduate at Brandeis University and, although she had “visions of jet-setting around the French-speaking world as a management consultant,” she ultimately pursued a career in business education with a focus on marketing, language, and consumer behavior.

Over the 25 years she has served on the faculty of the Gabelli School of Business, Lerman has taught several courses, including Marketing with Cultural Intelligence, Strategic Branding, and Consumer Behavior. She co-authored the book, “The Language of Branding: Theory, Strategy, and Tactics,” and her extensive research has been published in numerous scholarly journals. Currently, she is researching the impact of Generative AI usage with Associate Professor Marina Carnevale, Ph.D.

Ren began painting as a child, studying color, light, and perspective through formal lessons as she strived to master the technique and precision to create detailed, figurative art. After setting aside painting as she pursued her academic career, a casual sketch during the COVID-19 pandemic reignited her passion and rekindled her creative practice, inspiring her work inside and outside the classroom. Her paintings, once grounded in realism, now explore impressionism, abstraction, and sequential art, reflecting what she describes as “the multidimensional nature of human experience.”

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