Already in Action

The FSC is “a private forum for Family, Firms, Funds, or Offices (FFOs) to engage in honest conversations around the unique challenges these firms face,” Cole explained. Its conferences have already inspired new knowledge and vital discussions on topics such as succession planning, family office dynamics, and philanthropy, reinforcing the Gabelli School’s academic expertise, industry relevance, and role as a thought leader in this space.

“This initiative directly supports all three of our strategic goals: it promotes innovation by tackling emerging challenges and opportunities unique to family businesses; it strengthens our community by deepening ties with alumni and industry partners; and it drives impact by helping businesses navigate transitions in ways that are ethical, inclusive, and forward-thinking,” Jason-DiBartolo said.

Designed for law enforcement agents, cyber threat analysts, information technology specialists, security systems administrators, IT auditors, and security architects, general and parallel sessions will provide firsthand knowledge of the latest developments in government cyber security policy, cyber resilience strategies, and emerging cyber technologies. Topics include: How the Media Reports on Cybersecurity, The Threat of Ransomware and How to Manage Negotiation, and Mitigating Financial Risks Associated with Cyber Attacks, among many others.

Porco affirmed that the Gabelli School’s role in hosting ICCS “enables integration of the School’s and the University’s shared mission in a much more deeply connected way. Conference sessions will offer insights to attendees while informing our curriculum and research. This, in turn, reflects the Gabelli School’s new Strategic Plan—being innovative, expanding our networks, and exposing our community to a critical and ever-evolving aspect of business.” For more information visit Fordham.edu/ICCS.

Lerzan Aksoy, Ph.D., dean, professor of marketing, and George N. Jean Ph.D. chair of the Gabelli School of Business, served on a panel at WCD’s annual conference last year, and in April, moderated a virtual thought leadership program, “Maneuvering at the Intersection of AI Risks & Opportunity.” The online discussion explored the impact of AI on business and the opportunities and challenges it presents, including legal and ethical considerations, as well as best practices for responsible board governance.

The partnership elevates the Gabelli School’s visibility—one of the eight initiatives of the Strategic Plan. “Our relationship with Women Corporate Directors provides the Gabelli School of Business with strategic access to one of the most influential global networks of women corporate board leaders,” Aksoy said. “Engaging with this community enhances the Gabelli School’s reputation as a business school that is connected to the highest levels of corporate leadership and governance.”

Dennis Hanno, associate clinical professor, Leading People and Organizations, who serves as a Strategic Plan initiative administrator co-lead, will be working closely with Francis Petit, Ed.D., associate dean of global initiatives and partnerships, and Mith. He commented, “the Foundry has done amazing things over the course of its history, and the addition of a community director will help to grow and strengthen its connections to the communities it serves.”

Over the next year, Mith plans to “expand and solidify” those connections by offering more opportunities for students and alumni to participate in Foundry activities and events, and by involving New York City, and local community leaders and entrepreneurs in many of the Foundry’s key initiatives. “We’ve got such a strong network of business owners and early startup entrepreneurs who credit the Foundry for their success,” she said.

Another critical goal is to identify and implement targeted ways in which the Gabelli School can create meaningful social impact through business. To pave the way, the former Social Innovation Collaboratory—a network of Fordham University students, faculty, administrators, alumni, and community members—has been consolidated into the Fordham Foundry, adding new pathways for everyone to make a difference.

“This initiative, which directly ties into the Strategic Plan directive of cultivating new partnerships in the Bronx, across NYC, and the tri-state area, involved meetings around entrepreneurship and is all about social impact,” said Hanno. He ran the seminar with the help of 16 Gabelli School undergraduate seniors who served as mentors and coaches.

Students were asked a simple question… “What can you build in the next few weeks that would have a positive impact on your community?” And the students delivered. The winning team developed a peer mentoring program to address bullying and harassment in high schools. Other teams, comprised of mostly ninth and tenth graders, created a swap-shop for recycling goods and a book exchange. “They did a great job of drilling down and coming up with projects that would help to improve the experience in local high schools and neighborhoods,” Hanno confirmed. Plans are currently underway for creating the next seminar series to be held in the spring of 2026.

This fall, according to Marisa Villani, Ph.D., senior assistant dean for undergraduate studies, the Gabelli School will welcome its largest undergraduate class ever to Fordham’s Rose Hill campus. To meet the needs of its growing student body, the Gabelli School is expanding its menu of personalized experiences that engage students from the day they are admitted. One example is boardroom events, which are corporate visits designed to offer students the opportunity to meet with alumni working at industry giants such as Goldman Sachs and Deloitte, and to hear about the ways in which their Gabelli School education has focused their career trajectory and accelerated their professional growth.

A new initiative introduced this year is Finance Forward: Your Business School Jumpstart Program. “This program invites a select group of admitted students to campus to engage in a two-day program introducing them to key areas of finance—from financial asset investment and fundamental analysis to corporate finance, risk management, and the exciting world of alternative investments,” Villani said.

Incoming students also are matched with first-year mentors—successful, upper-class students who host Zoom meetings and keep in touch with them over the summer. Once they arrive on campus, the first-year mentors and class deans host discussion groups to help new students transition smoothly to life on campus.

“While the first three months for students are critical because we really want them to understand the foundation of their Gabelli School experience, we work diligently throughout their time here to make them feel that they are an intergral part of the Gabelli School and the Fordham community,” said Villani. This, in turn, provides the connectivity and momentum for them to stay involved as lifelong learners and members of the Fordham family for years to come.

Students also benefit from the Center’s new Alumni in Residence (AiR) program. “The AiR program is composed of Gabelli School alumni who have years of professional experience in their fields and who want to give back,” Kussin explained. “Students can meet with these individuals to discuss their career aspirations, how to break into a field, network, forge critical relationships, and prepare for interviews.” Current AiR counselors hail from companies that include: Accenture, Netflix, EY, Google, PepsiCo, Nickelodeon, Amazon Business, Grubhub, and Spotify, among others.

The new Student Success Center aligns with the Gabelli School’s Strategic Plan on multiple fronts, particularly in terms of building community, providing critical programming that supports students through the lifecycle of their educational journey, and keeping alumni connected by offering a plethora of ways to stay involved and help prepare the business leaders of the future.

The marketing team also has mapped the national and international labor markets so that graduate programs, which are professionally geared for students who wish to launch or advance their career, have relevance not only in the New York metropolitan area, but also across the country and around the globe. “We have seen good movement in the graduate numbers and our mission is to build upon this early marketing success,” Curcio-Kleinman said.

According to Silvia McCallister-Castillo, senior assistant dean for graduate admissions,“the admissions team is also leveraging partnerships with other universities, local governments, and international organizations to raise visibility, drive peer rankings, and tap high-potential markets—including Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India, among others—to build high volume recruitment pipelines.” She added, “we are traveling the world making important connections, while also working closely with the marketing team to better understand the recruitment markets where expansion is in our best interest.”

The School’s recently launched AI Initiative represents another facet of the Strategic Plan coming to life by continuously implementing innovations that shape the future of business education teaching and learning. Its goals are threefold: to empower faculty with the latest technology, upgrade internal operations for greater efficiencies, and prepare students to become tech-savvy business leaders. “The School has launched a new M.S. in Artificial Intelligence degree,” said Tal Goldhamer, former chief learning officer at EY and current Gabelli School AI consultant. “It’s also building a culture in which AI is understood, embraced, and applied ethically across disciplines.”

In recent months, the Gabelli School has hosted several “AI academies” for faculty and staff, introducing them to real-world applications of the technology. Monthly innovation forums offer a space for experimentation, collaboration, and ongoing support. Students also launched an AI club this spring, which is supported by faculty, including the club’s advisor, Accounting and Taxation Professor Stephen Bryan. They just hosted the club’s first campus-wide event. In the near future, foundational AI workshops will be offered to all incoming students, helping them to build fluency in the latest technologies throughout their college years.

During the spring 2025 semester, the Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis worked with the Fordham investment office to establish a $500,000 fund that will be managed exclusively by Smart Woman Securities (SWS), a Gabelli School club with a mission to educate undergraduate women on the intricacies of finance through weekly seminars, mentoring initiatives, hands-on fund management, and exposure to successful business professionals.

The SWS Value Fund was established through a gift to the University’s endowment by Mario J. Gabelli, ’65, chairman and chief executive office of GAMCO investors and a generous supporter of the school that bears his name. The fund is distinct from Fordham’s Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF)—a global fund that encompasses stocks, bonds, and alternative assets. The new fund is designed to be an equity fund and will be managed through the SWS club. Both funds complement the Gabelli School’s academic concentration in value investing, giving students an opportunity to put classroom learning into action.

Dean Aksoy sees the direct link between the newly launched fund and the Strategic Plan in its ability to “empower undergraduate students to make real investment decisions, while enhancing the School’s value investing program and preparing future women leaders in finance.”

The Spiros Segalas Charitable Trust also made a generous gift that named the Gabelli School’s Global Initiatives and Undergraduate Advising Suite on Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. This gift honors the late Spiros Segalas, a pioneer in growth investing and founder of the equity management firm Jennison Associates. It also celebrates the Segalas family’s close ties to the University, including several family members who are Fordham graduates and current students. The Undergraduate Advising Suite guides students in their academic journey by helping them assess their strengths, identify goals for college, and lay the foundations for their future careers.

Benefactors like these see the value of a Strategic Plan that puts students first, advances critical research, builds transformative partnerships, and addresses the challenges and seizes the opportunities of the rapidly evolving global business environment.

“From our donors to our faculty, students, staff, and industry partners, there is an immense shared enthusiasm among the individuals who are dedicated to making this Strategic Plan a success,” Dean Aksoy gratefully acknowledged. On reflecting about what the future will look like five years from now, she is confident that the success envisioned now through the Strategic Plan will become a reality in the form of greater opportunities for Gabelli students, increased resources for research and innovation, elevated thought leadership and reputation on a global scale, stronger alliances with corporate partners, greater diversity of revenue streams, more efficient operations, increased financial stability, and the ability to move confidently and boldly into the future.”