January 2023

New Year, New Zicklin Leader

Prof. Paquita Davis-Friday assumed the leadership role of Interim Dean of the Zicklin School of Business, Prof. Marios Koufaris (Paul H. Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics) is now Interim Associate Dean, Administration and Finance, and his colleague Prof. Nanda Kumar is the new chair of the Paul H. Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics. Meanwhile, Prof. Raquel Benbunan-Fich (Paul H. Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics) has been appointed Baruch College’s Interim Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, Research, and Innovation.

Zicklin Undergrad Makes Over $60K Writing Video Game Stories

Like many college students, Zicklin undergraduate Arash Lahijani (BBA, ’24) decorates his room with inspiring quotations. His all-time favorite is courtesy of Albert Einstein: “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”

#WhyZicklin? “Best investment”

Former television anchor Shilpa Paidighantom MS, ’22) explains why she decided to pursue a master’s degree in business analytics at the Zicklin School of Business. “Everybody’s talking about data and harnessing data to help them drive their businesses,” she says. “The program is a great amalgamation of data and business.

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January Webinar: Inside the NBA Bubble: How Black Players Performed Better Without Fans

In the NBA, predominantly Black players play in front of predominantly non-Black fans. Two professors used the “NBA bubble,” a natural experiment induced by COVID-19, to test whether the performance of Black players was affected by the absence of fans. In brief, their key finding is that Black athletes performed better relative to White players in the bubble when the fans weren’t present. What data did the authors use and how did they set up their tests? Are their findings due to race—or to something else? What are the implications for the sport, the NBA, and the players themselves? Larry Zicklin (BBA, ’57) discusses these questions with Prof. Babak Somekh, Lecturer in the Wasserman Department of Economics and Finance, and Prof. Paolo Falco, Visiting Assistant Professor, Stanford University, and Associate Professor of Economics, University of Copenhagen. With an introduction by Interim Dean Paquita Davis-Friday and a Q&A session moderated by Associate Dean Gwen Webb.

Zicklin in the Media

Lauren Block, Lippert Professor of Marketing (Allen G. Aaronson Department of Marketing and International Business), co-authored research on food waste that was cited by The Conversation.

Doug Carmichael, Claire and Eli Mason Professor in the Stan Ross Department of Accountancy, was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article about the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Staff member Tina Coco, Pre-Law Advisor at the Starr Career Development Center, won the 2023 Excellence in Pre-Law Advising Award from the Association of American Law Schools Section on Pre-Law and Admission to Law School.

Alumnus Charlie Dreifus (BBA ’66, MBA ’73) was featured in Baruch Alumni Magazine for establishing the Charles and Madeline Dreifus Scholarship, Baruch College’s largest-ever one-time scholarship gift. The first recipient was Zicklin undergraduate Shaya Chabot (BBA, ’26).

Professor Marc Edelman (Department of Law) published articles in Forbes about unlicensed sports gambling and fantasy sports, the NCAA Division I’s 14-sport-minimum rule, and the National Labor Relations Board’s charges against the University of Southern California and the NCAA.

Professor Donna Gitter (Department of Law) published an article, “First Amendment Challenges to State Vaccine Mandates: Why the U.S. Supreme Court Should Hold that the Free Exercise Clause Does Not Require Religious Exemptions,” in the American University Law Review.

Associate Professor Kalin Kolev (Stan Ross Department of Accountancy) co-authored research published in the Review of Accounting Studies.

Associate Professor Leonard Kostovetsky (Bert W. Wasserman Department of Economics and Finance) was interviewed by the Boston Herald about the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

Alumnus Wayne Lambert (MBA, ’11) was appointed to the Procurement Policy Board of the City of New York.

Alumnus Reuben Rosenfeld (MBA, ’87) was interviewed for Citybiz.

Alumnus Peter Shafer (MBA, ’06) was named to the New York State Cannabis Advisory Board.

Alumnus David P. Thomas (MBA, ’89) was appointed CEO, Markets and Medicaid, of Centene Corporation.

Undergraduate Tien Hai (“Jake”) Vu (BBA, ’25) was profiled in The New York Times.

Undergraduate Riley Walz (BBA, ’24) was featured in Business Insider for his invention of the Fast Food Index, a searchable database of fast food prices nationwide.

Associate Professor Yajun Wang (Bert W. Wasserman Department of Finance) co-authored research that was published in The Journal of Finance.

Alumnus Leo Zhang (MBA, ’16) is now vice president at Pursuit.