Nathan M. Bisk College of Business Recognizes Students and Faculty
Guest Blogger: Dr. Joan Wiggenhorn, Associate Professor
The Nathan M. Bisk College of Business held its annual Awards Banquet on April 12, 2012. Both individual scholarship awardees and 24 Delta Mu Delta student inductees were honored at the banquet. The Delta Mu Delta induction ceremony was held just prior to the banquet and both the history of Delta Mu Delta and the induction pledge were given to the students at that time. The students honored were: Theordore Alex, Marc Bielak, Brendan Boley, Austin Catherman, Bonette Crowe, Jesaiah Feltus, Jessica Fulford, Jacqueline Griffin, Hsu-Hui Huang, Kaylin Jaichon, Kathryn Kingfield, Kalle Mansson, Nathan Marles, Rian Mehta, Roselyn Piscitelli, Gregory Poulin, Chelsea Pushman, Christine Ragona, Christopher Sailer, Matthew Schwanda, Yieleen St. Amour, Salime Torbey, Robert Wilkes, and Seth Wofford.
The invocation was given by the Reverend Darice Dawson and then both the dean, Dr. Annie Becker and the President, Dr. Anthony Catanese, welcomed all of the guests to the dinner. Dr. Catanese expressed his pride in the number of FIT graduates who find jobs directly after graduation. Dr. Becker spoke about the COB’s new vision statement: “Excellence in Educating Future Entrepreneurial Leaders”, and that our core values have the acronym IDEaL: Innovation, Diversity, Ethics, and Leadership.
Following the dinner, the student scholarship winners were recognized. These included: Thomas Veltri, Andrew Horner, Yielleen St. Amour, John Sterling, William Browne, Zhiyun (Daisy) Wang, Kristina Milia, Mackenzie Stevens, Kraig Clabough, Renaldo Lachica, and Jaylene Becker.
In addition, there were several other awards: Laraine Schultz and Mary Baldwin were recognized for their contributions to the Women’s Business Center, and Dr. Donn Miller-Kermani was recognized for her service to the center and small business center. Claudia Haines Jones was recognized for her contributions in entrepreneurial leadership in education and community service and she gave a very inspiring talk speaking directly to the students about how she shaped her career. She broke into Wall Street by her resourcefulness and determination. She then left Wall Street to get her law degree and has worked both in South Florida and the Melbourne Area. She expressed her gratitude that her law firm allows her to remain active with the community and the university. Her talk certainly inspired students to not accept “no” in pursuit of their career dreams.
The last, but certainly not the least, to be remembered were the two retiring faculty, Dr. Roger Manley and Dr. Caroline Fausnaugh. Dr. Fausnaugh has had two tenures at FIT along with a very successful career as an entrepreneur and she continues as an advisor to small businesses. Dr. Manley has been here since 1979, serving in various capacities in different schools including Dean of the College of Business. They will both certainly be missed. The night ended on a bittersweet note.
