Saunders Faculty and Staff Go Above and Beyond

The hard work and dedication of the Saunders College of Business faculty give us an edge over the rest and contribute to what many consider a small college feel at a large technology university. We would like to recognize some of our faculty’s recent accomplishments and congratulate them on a job well done!

December 2024

Sheri Watkins ’18 (MBA) will join the Saunders department of finance and accounting as an adjunct professor beginning January 2025.  Watkins is the chief of finance for Coordinated Care Services, Inc., Monroe County Office of Mental Health.

November 2024

Rick Lagiewski, Ph.D., Co-Director of Executive Education, presented a paper, "Destination Disasters: Supporting vulnerable consumers through Analysis, modelling, and visualization of tourism data" at the V CETT Smart Tourism Congress, “When AI meets Tourism,” in Barcelona on November 28. Lagiewski collaborated with Victor Perotti, Ph.D., professor of MIS, marketing and analytics, on this research, which focuses on analyzing the role of hotel businesses in supporting individuals who are experiencing vulnerability related to frequent natural disasters.

Michael Deats ’20 (Executive MBA) will join the Saunders department of executive education as an adjunct professor beginning January 2025. Deats is the senior vice president of service experience and operational strategy at Primepay.

Cara Decker will join Saunders College Management Department as Senior Staff Assistant starting Monday, December 2nd. Previously, Cara served as Director of Operations at The Launch Guild.

Jacquie Mozrall, Ph.D, dean and professor, and Rick Lagiewski, Ph.D., co-director of executive education, were featured on a LifeSciencesNY Spotlight Series conversation, November 13, 2024. Dean Mozrall and Professor Lagiewski discussed the Executive MBA program, among other things including experiential learning and the health sciences.

Pat Scanlon, senior writer, published an article, “A nineteenth-century activist,” about Churchville-born Frances Willard, in the November/December 2024 issue of 585 Magazine.

Rich DeJordy, Ph.D., chair of the department of management, will serve as Executive Director, and Terri Monsees, Ed.D., as program manager of Saunders Leadership Academy. The Leadership Academy provides experimental co-curricular opportunities—bridging business and technology—for high school students, RIT undergrad and graduate students, alumni, and working professionals.

Dena Bateh, Ph.D., adjunct professor in Saunders College, was interviewed for WalletHub’s “Ask the Experts” column. Professor Bateh offered her opinions on the top growing jobs looking toward 2030, what  the most sought-after job skills are today, and what’s in store for the job market in 2024.

October 2024

Julie Purpura ’10 (hospitality and service management), MS, joined the Saunders faculty in October 2024 as an adjunct professor in the department of international hospitality and service innovation.

Nikki Lombardo has joined Saunders Marketing and Communications as a marketing specialist. She is an RIT alumna (School of Individualized Study) and a former student worker with Marketing and Communications. Nikki started in her new position on October 30, 2024

Noah Cherry,’10 (MBA), joined the Executive MBA and Executive Education team as the business development manager. He brings his experience in sales and customer service in the tech space to cultivate growth for custom programs and evolve the executive MBA capstone portfolio.

September 2024

Shubhobrata Palit, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty in August as a visiting assistant professor in the department of management. He completed his doctorate in 2021 at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Sriniwas Mahapatro, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of finance and accounting, has had his research cited in Forbes. In “NVIDIA’s Disclosure Needs To Catch Up With Its Valuation,” the author cites a paper co-written with Mahapatro and another business professor.

Two Saunders College of Business faculty members have been named to endowed professorships. Sean Hansen, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics, is the E. Philip Saunders Endowed Professor. Chun Keung “Stan” Hoi, Ph.D., professor in the department of finance and accounting, is the Daniel D. Tessoni Endowed Chair in Accounting. Each of these positions is awarded to an outstanding teacher-scholar.

August 2024

Rong Yang, Ph.D., professor in the department of finance and accounting, co-authored an article—with Ashok Robin, Ph.D., professor in the department of finance and accounting and two others from outside RIT—“The impact of the JOBS act on the costs of going public: evidence from long-term audit costs,” which is forthcoming in Accounting and Business Research. One of the top accounting journals, Accounting and Business Research has an acceptance rate of just 3%

Jieun Lee, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an assistant professor in the department of management. Lee recently completed her doctorate at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Laura Segave, MBA, joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an adjunct professor in the department of marketing.

Jesse Redlo, Ed.D., program manager Saunders Executive MBA, has accepted an invitation to join the editorial board of the Journal of Business Leadership and Management. In its invitation, the board cited Professor Redlo’s “significant contributions to the field” and “the depth of your expertise.”

Michael Della Porta joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an adjunct professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics. He is a member of the Saunders advisory board for MIS.

​​Sandra Turner, MFA, joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an adjunct professor in the department of management.

Soon Hyeok (Steve) Choi, Ph.D., department of finance and accounting, won the Innovative Thinking Award (“Thinking Out of the Box”) from the American Real Estate Society for his article, “Selling Houses as Minority Broker: Quantifying Diversity Discount”. The award, which will be presented in March 2025 at the annual meeting of the American Real Estate Society, includes a cash prize of $1,000.

June 2024

Kwong Voon (James) Wong ’23 (EMBA), will co-teach an international finance class in the Saunders Online Executive MBA program in fall 2024. He is the Director of Global NEMA Product Management for Pfannenberg USA.

Siavash Rashidi-Sabet, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as an assistant professor in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics. He recently completed his doctorate in Business Administration-Marketing at Texas Tech University Rawls College of Business.

Kevin Sweeney, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty in August as an associate professor in the department of management. Prior to coming to RIT, he was an associate professor of supply chain management at Sam Houston State University.

Sriniwas Mahapatro, Ph.D., joined the Saunders faculty beginning August 2024 as an assistant professor in the department of Finance and Accounting. He recently completed his doctorate at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India

Alex Butler ’11 (MBA), joined the Saunders faculty in August 2024 as a visiting lecturer in the department of MIS, marketing, and analytics. Prior to coming to RIT, he was Integrated Planning Manager for Butler/Till

Yu-chin (Jerrie) Hsieh, professor, and Muhammet Kesgin, associate professor, both in the department of international hospitality and tourism management, co-authored the paper “Enhancing Inclusive Hospitality: An Investigation into Autism-Certified Hotels and Guest Experiences,” which won the Best Paper Award at the 11th Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Management (AHTMM) Conference

Kean Wu, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of finance and accounting, is having an impact on regulatory affairs in Washington, D.C. The Securities and Exchange Commission cited Wu’s article-in-progress, “Corporate Human Capital Disclosures: Early Evidence from the SEC's Disclosure Mandate,” in a recent recommendation regarding human capital management disclosure. In addition, another article co-authored by Wu, “XBRL Mandate and Timeliness of Financial Reporting: Do XBRL Filings Take Longer?” was cited by the SEC in a proposed rule and semi-annual report to Congress.

Clare Lagiewski, M.S., assistant dean of administrative services for the College of Art and Design at RIT, has been hired as Saunders director of administrative operations.

Peggy Tirrell, M.S., senior associate director of graduate business programs and admissions, was elected to a second term as board member for the Western New York/Northwest Pennsylvania Chapter of the Fullbright Association.

Clyde Eiríkur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, has been recognized by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) with the prestigious ICSB Mini-Globe Award for his “extraordinary dedication and substantial contributions to the organization.” The award letter praises Professor Hull’s “significant impact on the global entrepreneurship and small business community.” In addition, Professor Hull won First Place for the Journal of the International Council for Small Business Regular Access Award for his article, “Specific innovativeness, digital entrepreneurship, and female entrepreneurs.”

View last year's faculty and staff accomplishments!