Accomplishments from Saunders Students
At Saunders College of Business, students are always on to something amazing, even before graduating! If you are a student at Saunders College and have exciting news to share, email communications@saunders.rit.edu.
April 2025
Saunders Multicultural Business Association was honored with the inaugural Tiger Unity Award at the Student Appreciation Week: Student Organization Awards, April 17, 2025. The club, led by president Laura Gutaman ‘26 (marketing, new media interactive development), is in just its first year of existence.
Irina Sidorenko ‘26 (global business management), Alli Miller ‘25 (industrial engineering), Kristen Cassar ‘25 (supply chain management), and Sarah Fillip ‘25 (supply chain management) ‘26 (executive MBA) represented RIT in the 12th Annual National Undergraduate Supply Chain Case Competition held at the University of Minnesota, April 9-12, 2025. The students were accompanied by Kevin Sweeney, Ph.D., associate professor and program director, MS in global supply chain management, who is the advisor to the Saunders chapter of the Association for Supply Chain Management.
American Hotel and Lodging Association RIT Student Chapter hosted an event—Murder, Mystery, and Dinner- Can you Figure Out Who’s the Killer?—April 11, 2025, in Saunders College Susan R. Holliday Center. The evening included a Murder Mystery Game, dinner, and a silent auction. Proceeds support student members attending conferences.
Owen Cavo ‘28 (finance and management information systems), Cole Hess ‘27 (finance and management information systems), Justeena Paulson ‘26 (finance and management information systems), Kethyapheara Chan ‘25 (MS finance), and Lorenzo Graham ‘28 (accounting and management information systems) represented RIT in the 2025 CFA Institute Research Challenge. The competition “provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis.”
Owen Cavo ‘28 (finance and management information systems), Shane Girolamo ‘28 (finance and accounting), Spencer Dennis ‘27 (finance and accounting) and Gabriel Foltz ‘24 (MS finance) attended Quinnipiac’s Global Asset Management Education Forum in New York City, April 3-4, 2025. GAME is the largest student-run financial conference in the world.
Kelsey Pinkowski ‘26 (global business management) has won the prestigious 2025 Gorsline Scholarship, which is awarded to promising young race car drivers. Pinkowski has been juggling racing and her studies since 2021, before her senior year in high school.
Rylan Ganeko ‘27 (marketing) and Angel Yang ‘22 (medical illustration) ‘25 (MFA visual communication design) co-founded Spotlight Creators, a social media site–currently in alpha testing–where artists can post works-in-progress as well as finished creations. The collaboration got its start in an Applied Entrepreneurship class offered through RIT’s Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
March 2025
ASCM@RIT, RIT’s Supply Chain Management Club, facilitated a site visit to the Rochester office of QuidelOrtho, a medical device and testing kit manufacturer on Thursday, February 27th.
On March 25, 2025, Next Generation of Accountants hosted Thomas Whelehan (audit manager), Frank Ferrari (audit supervisor), and Joshua Peterson (senior accountant) from Insero & Co. CPAs, who discussed the financials of NFL teams.
On March 23-25, 2025, sixteen students from the Hospitality and Tourism Management program visited Choice Hotels Headquarters, Marriott International Headquarters, the offices of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and Le Meridien Washington D.C., The Madison–all in the D.C. metro area.
Linda Wiener ‘83 (MBA), with Jessica Drachler, of Allied Financial Services conducted an interactive tax session with members of Next Generation of Accountants on Wednesday, February 19th. The session focused on tax planning, using specialized accounting software to show how different life events, such as marriage, children, or rental real estate losses, affected the taxes owed or refunded for both federal and state.
Charlie Slaymaker ‘25 (accounting) was awarded a scholarship from Financial Executives International Rochester at a ceremony held at the Jackrabbit Club in Rochester. The scholarship goes to a student who has a high academic record in overall course work and in major subjects, displays characteristics of high integrity and ethics, passion for the profession, and a high degree of potential for future business leadership.
February 2025
Jancy Nightingale-Burch, assistant director of marketing at Saunders College of Business, Dhwani Doshi ‘25 (business analytics), and Jen Spencer ‘23 (Executive MBA) placed third in a case competition on health equity challenges at the 21st Annual Columbia Business School Healthcare Conference on Feb. 7 in New York. Their team presented a solution to address the primary care gap and quantified the potential return on investment.
Phatsimo (Olebile) Koboto ‘26 (MS hospitality business management) and Julia (Jay) Ferreira ‘28 (BFA interior design) attended the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles, January 28-30, as student ambassadors representing RIT. ALIS, according to Phatsimo, “brought together top hospitality and investment leaders to dive into key topics like hotel development, market trends, and where the industry is headed.
Amal Aboushanab ‘25 (hospitality and tourism management), Anika Ying ‘26 (hospitality and tourism management), Jenna Kelley ‘25 (hospitality and tourism management), and Pablo Vargas ‘24 (hospitality and tourism management) will take over the Commons pasta station each Tuesday and Thursday throughout the month of February. On their respective dates, the students will serve Egyptian Koshary (Amal), Stir Fried Rice Cakes (Anika), Birria Tacos (Jenna), and Hispanic Pupusas (Pablo).
January 2025
The RIT Intercollegiate Athletics Department inducted nine Saunders student-athletes into the Alpha Rho chapter of the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society in a ceremony on January 23, 2025. Chi Alpha Sigma celebrates four-year collegiate student-athletes who have excelled in both the classroom and in athletic competition. The Saunders inductees are:
- Isaac Braegelmann ‘26 (management information systems) – Baseball
- Joey Golden IV ‘25 (management information systems) – Men’s Soccer
- Seth Grottenthaler ‘24 (finance) ‘25 (MBA) – Men’s Lacrosse
- Bailey Kehl ‘25 (international business) – Women’s Ice Hockey/Softball
- Tyler Mahan ‘26 (finance) – Men’s Ice Hockey
- Sarah Polek ‘27 (global business management) – Women’s Rowing
- Ian Reeve ‘25 (finance) – Men’s Soccer
- Emily Sanchez ‘26 (marketing) – Women’s Soccer
- Douglas Scott ‘25 (management) – Men’s Ice Hockey
Saunders College of Business student delegates for 2025 are Chris Soukup ‘25 (EMBA), graduate delegate, and Annie Hong ‘25 (management information systems), undergraduate delegate. They will represent Saunders at the 2025 convocation and commencement ceremonies.
Ben Hart ‘25 (MBA), founder of RIT’s Real Estate Club, participated in RIT’s Summer Accelerator program through the Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and won the People’s Choice award in the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship’s ROC the Pitch competition.
Frank D. Cammarata ‘25 (management information systems and global business management) led a team of students that won the ROC The Project competition, organized by PMI Rochester. His team–including Julia Geigel ‘24 (MBA), Yusra Khalid ‘25 (MS computer science) and Fanny Qian ‘28 (management information systems)–assisted Coffee Connection/Project Empower to plan their fundraising event.
December 2024
Evan Macko ‘25 (finance), Carter Ptak ‘25 (software engineering), and Rosa Kauffman ‘27 (Japanese) won the 2024 Bloomberg Global Trading Challenge as the “Tigers Trading” team. The interdisciplinary RIT team, advised by finance and accounting associate professor Hao Zhang, placed first among 2,453 teams from 396 universities in 46 countries.
Alec Waight-Morabito ‘24 (global business management) was featured on Spectrum News on New Year's Eve as part of their Getting mentally and physically fit segment on New Year's Resolutions regarding health and fitness. Alec was interviewed about his fitness journey and overcoming a debilitating autoimmune disease.
November 2024
Amal Aboushanab ’25 (hospitality and tourism management), Daniel Lootens ’26 (management information systems), Kimberly Kaleta ’25 (marketing), Luchunzi Wang ’26 (MS hospitality business management), Matilda Gjini ’26 (MS hospitality business management), and Dan Hooper ’27 (hospitality and tourism management) attended The Hospitality Show, October 28-30, in San Antonio, Texas. The Show featured programming, networking, breakout presentations, and an exhibition hall featuring hundreds of vendors.
October 2024
Amanda Bosh, Ph.D., ‘24 (Executive Online MBA) has been promoted to Executive Director of Lowell Observatory, in Flagstaff, AZ, where she previously served as Chief Operating Officer. States W. Lowell Putnam, Sole Trustee of Lowell Observatory, “We are excited to welcome Amanda as our new Executive Director. Her extensive experience in planetary science, along with her proven leadership as Chief Operating Officer, makes her the ideal candidate to guide the observatory through this next era of discovery and public engagement.”
Joshua Michaels ’26 (marketing), Chad Chapman ’27 (computer science), Emmanuel Boakye ’26 (individualized study), and Nemesis Velasquez ’26 (new media interactive development) are the inaugural winners of the Ramsey Family Innovation Award, which provides annual support for a student team each year enrolled in the RIT Student Accelerator program. The team, led by Michaels, developed OnCall, a platform that connects available nurses to nearby healthcare facilities.
Chris Soukup ‘25 (Online Executive MBA) published an article, “How Companies Can Use AI to Better Serve Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Customers,” in Harvard Business Review. Soukup is the CEO of Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), a pioneer of accessible communication services and technologies for the deaf community for nearly 50 years.
September 2024
Annie Hong ’25 (management information systems) completed an internship this past summer as an Operations Analyst Intern with JPMorgan Chase in New York City. She reports that she “had the opportunity to work on KYC [know your customer] due diligence for high-income clients from Latin America.”
Ericka Chen ’26 (accounting and management information systems) completed an internship this past summer at the New York Climate Exchange in New York City. This was the first year for the internship program, and Ericka was the first student from RIT to participate.
August 2024
Justin Maine '28 (business exploration), graduate of Dansville High School, Jack TeBeau (marketing and management information systems), and Keegan Dennis '28 (finance), graduates of Livonia High School are 2024 recipients of E. Philip Saunders Endowed Business Scholarships. The three recipients will receive scholarships valued at up to $100,000 over the course of four years. The award was established in 2006 by E. Philip Saunders to provide four-year scholarships annually to graduates of designated Livingston County high schools who are enrolled in Saunders College of Business.
Joshua Michaels ’26 (marketing) and his team presented “OnCall,” a digital nursing agency, as part of the RIT Student Accelerator Demos, on August 7. Notably, his was the first team in over a decade and 21 cohorts to be awarded the Ramsey Fellowship for Innovation.
Adelle Young ’24 (graphic design), who worked as a graphic designer for Saunders College during her junior year at RIT, has begun a new job as Contract Graphic Designer for TPH Academy.
Emma Schock ’25 (management information systems) completed a successful summer 2024 IT internship with St. Luke’s University Health Network in Lehigh Valley, PA.
Amal Aboushanab ’25 (hospitality and tourism management) began, on June 10, 2024, a Management Training Internship with Marriott International at Renaissance Sharm El Sheikh Golden View Beach Resort in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Logan Burns ’25 (accounting) has been named a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Scholar. The award comes with a $15,000 scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year.
Emma Goetze ’25 (management information systems) is completing a summer internship at the Lake House on Canandaigua. She joins Cornell hospitality; interns to help staff The Lake House, one of Greater Rochester's premier hospitality destinations in the Finger Lakes.
