Lessons Learned by Doing—A Hands-on Approach to Business Education.

In the past, business schools largely focused on providing academic-only knowledge and relied upon companies to provide the real-world application. Today’s rapidly evolving business landscape has made that notion of business education obsolete. Companies demand that the future leaders they hire already have the critical thinking, creativity, cooperative mindset, and real-world knowledge that can only be honed through hands-on learning experiences.

At the Gabelli School, we provide our students with extensive opportunities to learn by doing—invaluable internships at top companies and organizations, unsurpassed networking opportunities with industry leaders, team-based projects and competitions that serve our communities and encourage the exchange of new ideas, and study abroad immersions that afford the global perspective needed to succeed in an increasingly interconnected world.

This issue of Fordham Business magazine offers insight into the breadth of these opportunities. Our focus on experiential learning, which prepares our students, increases our visibility and reputation, and defines the unique brand of education we deliver, shines through as an important and enduring factor in our success.

Fordham Gabelli School of Business & the Deloitte Foundation to Fund Scholarships for Students Pursuing a Fifth-Year Master’s in Accounting

IN AN EFFORT TO SUPPORT A RACIALLY and ethnically diverse student population and help strengthen the pipeline of diverse CPA talent, the Gabelli School of Business has announced its collaboration with the Deloitte Foundation in the Deloitte Foundation Accounting Scholars Program (DFASP).

Launched in 2021, the DFASP works in parallel with Deloitte’s MADE (Making Accounting Diverse and Equitable), a $75 million commitment to fuel greater racial and ethnic diversity in accounting and tax and generate more opportunities and leadership pathways for the next generation of certified public accountants (CPAs). The Deloitte Foundation expects to fund $30 million in scholarships for students over the next several years, including students interested in pursuing a fifth-year master’s degree in accounting, master’s of tax, or master’s of accounting with a concentration in audit, advisory, or tax through the DFASP. The Deloitte Foundation is collaborating with nearly 20 participating colleges and universities across the U.S., including Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business, in an effort to increase representation of racially and ethnically diverse students in these programs. DFASP participating schools and the Deloitte Foundation will cover 100% of tuition (excluding books and living expenses) for selected students.

Ground Floor Course Provides Students with an Entry Point into the World of Business and Its Power to Move Society Forward

Students are exposed to presentations by discipline-specific Gabelli School faculty members and guest lecturers throughout the semester; are responsible for individual work deliverables, including four business-thinking essays based upon business-related current events; and are responsible for team-based deliverables including developing a new business idea and writing a business plan which, in the fall (when most students take the course), culminates in the PVH “Ground Floor Challenge” competition. The Challenge requires them to create a new product or service, concentrating on developing a business plan that incorporates one or more socially innovative or socially responsible approaches for conducting business.

Spring Break Global Immersions Connect Students to Businesses Driving Change around the World

Professional MBA students traveled to Madrid, Spain, packing in visits to 14 companies across emerging business sectors—from artificial intelligence to transportation, and energy to sustainable fabrics. They also had the opportunity to tour historical sites in Madrid and Toledo, and enjoy social and cultural events, including a tapas cooking class.

Gabelli School Faculty Members Bring Real-World Experience to the Classroom

“Our instructors offer students a ‘real-world’ approach to learning that is grounded in the experiential and goes way beyond the walls of the classroom,” said Lerzan Aksoy, Ph.D., dean of the Gabelli School of Business. “In addition to their studies at Fordham’s London Campus, those enrolled in business-related courses are able to expand their education through interactions with senior-level business executives, as well as site visits to the headquarters of top companies and organizations, including Jaguar and Barclays.”

Two faculty members who are revered for their expertise in the areas of ethics and law, as well as their ability to translate complex concepts into meaningful lessons, are featured below.

Michelle Kogolo, MBA ’23, got her first taste of marketing when she was working in finance administration at an ophthalmology insurance firm in New York City. She was invited to participate on a team to brainstorm ideas for a philanthropic marketing campaign for hearing aids.

“I was blown away about the psychology of it, the science of it, knowing what target you’re going for, and what you want the brand narrative to be,” Kogolo said. “I thought it was super interesting and tied back to my undergraduate minor in psychology. And then I just couldn’t get it off of my mind.”

After doing some research, Kogolo, who earned her bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University, decided to pursue an MBA in marketing. She chose Fordham partly because her older brother graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill, and also because the Gabelli School most closely aligned with her values. “It checked all the boxes,” she said. “I resonate with the culture, the community, and the Jesuit values, and how [the School] is a change maker at the forefront of ESG. All of that meshed with what I want to do.”

Now, with graduation around the corner, Kogolo will soon take what she’s learned in the full-time MBA program to her position as a marketing associate at Morgan Stanley. The opportunity materialized after she completed a summer internship in the firm’s global brand marketing division.

“I rang every single doorbell and said, ‘It’s me!’ I ended up getting five babysitting jobs,” van Weringh said. “I always wanted to work and pay for my own things.”

Through high school, she ran her own digital marketing business and worked as a grocery store cashier. Then she landed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as an au pair for an American family with two young boys and homes in New York, Massachusetts, and California. The position led her from the Netherlands to the states and, ultimately, to Fordham.

Despite her struggles with the English language, van Weringh managed her way through the college application process, including the written essay—the first she ever wrote in English. She committed to Fordham without stepping foot on campus, moved into her dorm herself with two suitcases in tow, and paid her way through her freshman year with her earnings.

From day one, van Weringh immersed herself in campus life. She’s been a resident assistant, freshman advising mentor, and teaching assistant for the Gabelli School’s Ground Floor class.

From undergraduates to MBAs, Gabelli School students have taken on many professional-level consulting projects, most recently working directly with the leadership teams of a New York City-based healthcare group, a national nonprofit, a global footwear company, an international veterinary pharmaceutical organization, and even the School’s own marketing division. They are solving actual business challenges with their creative ideas and research capabilities, learning to work effectively individually and in teams, and honing presentation skills they will use in their future careers.

Experiential learning projects such as these not only provide a platform for students to build their skill sets and résumés but also make it possible for them to establish and expand their professional networks, showcase their knowledge and talents, and pave the way for future job opportunities.

Faculty Research

One aspect of Pirson’s work has focused on the area of human flourishing, which involves the continual development of human potential and living well as a human being by being engaged in relationships and activities that are meaningful. “Human flourishing is the ultimate purpose of life,” Pirson said. “And from all the evidence we have, there’s not much human flourishing happening in organizations. We have a systemic, an organizational, and an individual symptom assembly, and ultimately it’s deeply rooted in one thing—how we lead.”

Apostolos Filippas, Ph.D.

In the paper, “The Production and Consumption of Social Media,” Filippas and his coauthors studied user engagement to better understand how attention bartering shapes content production and consumption.

“It’s different from traditional media,” he said. “Not only can we consume [others’] content, now we receive some attention, stay on there more, see more ads, and [the platform] makes money,” Filippas said, adding that, for the purposes of this study, the researchers looked at user engagement on #EconTwitter, a Twitter community of professional and amateur users who tweet about economics.

FIRESIDE CHAT on the recently published book, The Enduring Value of Roger Murray, features insights from his students, Mario J. Gabelli, BS ’65, and Leon Cooperman

Fordham University President Tania Tetlow and Gabelli School of Business Dean Lerzan Aksoy delivered opening remarks. The event, which took the form of a fireside chat, highlighted the tremendous influence Roger Murray (1911-1998)—a crucial figure in the history of value investing and a renowned economist and advisor to Congress—had on the students he taught at Columbia Business School over the many decades he was there. He was the successor to the legendary Benjamin Graham, who is regarded as the father of value investing, and who taught the securities analysis course at Columbia prior to Murray taking on this all-important task.

The Enduring Value of Roger Murray

The book combines a biographical account of Murray’s life—including background on his close-knit, hardworking family through his undergraduate years at Yale—and details his multifaceted career as a financial professional, educator, and economist. The authors highlight Murray’s strong work ethic, educational philosophy, and mentorship, including personal recollections from his students about his teaching and influence.

Murray was the successor to the legendary Benjamin Graham as professor of the securities analysis course at Columbia Business School. There, he mentored generations of students, including Mario Gabelli, BS ’65, Charles Royce, Leon G. Cooperman, and Art Samberg. The Enduring Value of Roger Murray includes the transcripts of four pivotal lectures Murray delivered in 1993, hosted by Gabelli, which became legendary in the investing community. These lectures inspired Bruce Greenwald to ask Murray to co-teach a security analysis course, leading to the resurrection of value investing education at Columbia Business School, which had waned after Murray’s retirement in 1977.

“In a shareholder direct listing, companies don’t raise funds; instead, the listing simply provides an outlet for existing shareholders to sell their shares,” explained Brent Horton, associate professor and area chair of Law and Ethics at the Gabelli School of Business. The problem, he said, is that “there is no underwriter for these transactions, an important oversight feature of IPOs.” That means companies opting for direct listings may not be vetted as carefully.

Shareholder protections are one of the main focuses of Horton’s research. He has published prolifically in law journals, and his recent paper on Spotify’s direct listing was cited in an amicus brief in Slack v. Pirani, a case involving Slack’s direct offering, which was heard by the Supreme Court in April. “My target audience is attorneys and judges,” Horton said. “When the disputes arise, they are going to have to interpret statutes and regulations that were not drafted with these new factual scenarios in mind.”

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