He quickly learned just how many steps that takes.

As a quality engineer co-op, Coughenour is supporting the launch of ALTA Rounds, a new plastic-free coffee pod. Working with the quality team, he has contributed to product trials, data analysis and quality checks on the manufacturing floor.

“Being in the plant has shown me that a product launch is not just one big step, but a lot of smaller steps that all must come together,” Coughenour said.

He was drawn to the opportunity because it paired hands-on manufacturing experience with a product designed to reduce environmental impact.

“No week looked exactly the same as we prepared for the launch,” Coughenour said. “I collected samples and interpreted data during quality and R&D trials, led two associates at the end of the production line, and worked with outside companies to calibrate and test equipment.”

The experience also changed how he thinks about quality in manufacturing.

“Quality is not just about inspecting a final product,” Coughenour said. “It is about understanding the process, identifying opportunities for improvement and helping ensure consistency from start to finish.”

One of his most meaningful responsibilities was helping coordinate, establish and lead end-of-line quality checks. The work gave him a direct role in determining whether the product consistently met quality standards.

“I was trusted with a responsibility that directly tied into the quality of the product,” Coughenour said. “It helped me see how my work fit into the bigger picture of the ALTA Rounds launch.”

Coughenour also worked on improving the calibration process to make it more automated and efficient.

Together, those projects gave him hands-on experience in operations, problem-solving and production while showing him how much coordination goes into maintaining product quality.

The internship also helped clarify the kind of work he wants to pursue.

“I want to do work where I can see the impact of what I am doing,” Coughenour said. “Being at KDP has shown me that I enjoy the hands-on side of supply chain, especially when it involves operations, problem-solving and production.”

He also wants that work to contribute to environmental sustainability. Supporting the development of a plastic-free coffee pod showed him how supply chain and manufacturing roles can connect day-to-day operations with a broader purpose.

“Knowing that my work could contribute, even in a small way, to environmental sustainability gives me a greater sense of purpose and motivation,” he said.

His advice to other students is to stay open to unfamiliar work and bring consistent effort to the experience.

“Be open, persistent and dedicated,” Coughenour said. “Be open to asking questions and taking on new challenges. What you put into this experience is ultimately what you will get out of it.”

“I wanted something that would challenge me even more,” Keicher said. “Something without the training wheels.”

His manager responded by turning over a raw-material sourcing project that had originally been part of his own workload. Keicher researched potential suppliers, analyzed sourcing options and developed a strategy that he later presented to senior leaders in supply chain management and engineering.

The project became one of the most meaningful parts of his internship.

“I asked for another project because I wanted to push myself,” Keicher said. “Being trusted with that level of responsibility gave me the chance to work through the strategy independently and present my recommendation to company leaders.”

The opportunity also connected Keicher with an interest that began years earlier. He took flight lessons throughout high school, developing an early passion for aviation and firsthand familiarity with the industry.

He soon realized, however, that “no one likes a creative pilot who wants to test the conventions of flight mid-air.”

Instead, Keicher found a place for that curiosity in aviation manufacturing.

“I love the aviation industry,” he said. “Nothing is cooler than being able to say you help build jets for a living.”

Keicher, a supply chain management and data analytics major from Sycamore, Ill., worked with Honda Aircraft’s procurement team at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C.

His internship included production meetings, supplier visits and regular walks through the manufacturing floor. He learned more about sourcing strategy, the purchase-order life cycle and the role procurement plays in keeping aircraft production moving.

One of his first visits to the production floor gave him a closer look at Honda’s “go to the spot” philosophy. When a part had a quality issue, Keicher went directly to where it was being used and spoke with the technician working with it.

“I was able to understand what was wrong, why it was wrong and what information the supplier needed to fix the issue,” Keicher said.

The experience helped him see how procurement decisions connect to the work happening on the production floor and how communication among technicians, buyers and suppliers can help resolve problems.

Throughout the summer, Keicher contributed to projects involving sourcing, workload analysis, process improvement and employee training.

He helped develop a Power BI dashboard for the procurement team, created tools intended to streamline internal approval processes and documented procedures for onboarding new suppliers. He also led training sessions for incoming associates.

Keicher took the initiative to propose several updates to the company’s internship program. His recommendations included resources to help interns set goals with mentors, transfer knowledge to future interns and provide more useful feedback at the end of the experience.

The range of assignments allowed him to work across data analysis, supplier relationships and internal operations while seeing how each area supports a larger manufacturing process.

His coursework at the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business helped prepare him for projects that combined supply chain strategy with data analysis and communication.

In Introduction to Supply Chain Management with Coleman Rich, associate teaching professor of operations and supply chain management, Keicher learned tools including RACI matrices and critical path analysis. A course with Vinayaka Gude, assistant professor of business analytics, helped him strengthen his skills in data visualization, dashboard development and communicating findings clearly.

The internship confirmed Keicher’s interest in building a career in aerospace. It also reinforced the value of asking for the opportunities he wanted rather than waiting for them to appear.

“You have to ask the question,” Keicher said. “Ask for what you want the experience to be. That will define what you get to do.”

The program paired undergraduate students with faculty members to support AI-related projects across the school. Student fellows helped develop and deliver workshops, interview faculty and build materials for future courses and boot camps.

Sakura Kawakami ’26 worked with Scott Oakes, assistant teaching professor of management, and fellow students Julia Amodeo ‘26 and Katie Geraghty ’26 on workshops for Gateway classes.

The team visited eight classes and reached approximately 240 students through 20-minute sessions with hands-on exercises. The workshops introduced students to Gemini Pro, available through ������Ƶ, and focused on practical skills such as improving prompts through iteration and added context.

“The primary goal was to establish a baseline of AI fluency among Gateway students, who are primarily first-year business students,” Oakes said. “We also wanted to test whether a short, bootcamp-style training session could effectively introduce students to practical AI skills within a classroom setting.”

Faculty established the project’s overall objectives before the students joined. Kawakami, Amodeo and Geraghty then helped develop classroom activities, learning objectives, presentation materials, pre- and post-session surveys, and the rollout plan. The students also led the workshops and helped analyze the resulting data.

“My role as an AI Fellow was to act as a bridge between students and faculty, advising students on how to use AI to enhance their learning, not replace it,” said Kawakami, a Business Analytics and Project Management major from Rotorua, New Zealand. “The goal was to make sure students felt confident using these tools in ways that supported them.”

One focus was helping students understand that effective use of AI often requires refining a prompt rather than accepting the first response.

“One of our biggest teaching points was the importance of iteration when prompting AI,” Kawakami said. “By refining and tailoring your prompts to your own needs, you get far more accurate and useful responses.”

Oakes said the student fellows strengthened the project by bringing their own experiences with AI into the classroom.

“Peer-to-peer learning is incredibly powerful,” he said. “First-year students often feel more comfortable asking questions and exploring new technologies when they see successful upper-level students demonstrating how they actually use those tools.”

Another team worked with Kem Zhang, associate professor of business analytics, on projects designed to support more advanced AI use in business courses.

Thomas Case ’26, a supply chain management and business analytics major from Atlanta, G.A. and Oliver Lorraine ’27, a project management and business analytics major from Red Bank, N.J. gathered input from faculty and developed materials for future workshops. One project focused on Associate Professor David Jiang’s, Bring the Venture to Life entrepreneurship course, where students develop and launch venture ideas.

Based on the needs identified for the course, the team created materials for an “AI-powered entrepreneurship” workshop covering topics such as prompting for code, e-commerce, payment integration and deployment.

Case led the workshop design and drafted presentation materials. Lorraine documented the development process and built reusable coding templates for future workshops and boot camps.

“The transition from AI users to AI builders or AI architects is an important distinction because knowing how to use a tool generally is much different than knowing how to use a tool to innovate,” said Case.

Lorraine also created Google Colab notebooks with coding templates for future use.

Zhang said the goal is to help students move beyond basic familiarity with AI tools.

“For business students, knowing how to use an AI tool is expected,” Zhang said. “The real advantage comes when they understand how these tools can be used in problem solving and to create concrete, AI-based solutions.”

Several projects from the spring semester are expected to continue during the 2026-27 academic year, including the entrepreneurship workshop, an AI Boot Camp for incoming students and additional work on AI integration.

The spring 2026 AI Student Fellows were Brandon Boudreau ‘27, Thomas Case ‘26, Oliver Lorraine ‘27, Dylan Stone ‘28, Julia Amodeo ‘26, Sakura Kawakami ‘26, Lindsay Balick ‘27, Katie Geraghty ‘26, Katrina Papierman ’26 and Tristan D’Adamo ‘28.

Sarah Bunnell, director of ������Ƶ’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and associate professor of psychology, and George Talbert, assistant professor of marketing and sales, co-presented “The Power of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Individual and Institutional Transformation, in Business Schools and Beyond.” The online session marked the group’s second community event and drew educators from across Europe and beyond.

Bunnell opened by tracing SoTL’s roots to Ernest Boyer’s influential 1990 framework, which expanded the definition of scholarship to include systematic study of student learning. She then expanded on the field’s history to include later contributions from scholars like ������Ƶ’s Peter Felten, assistant provost for teaching and learning, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, and professor of history, whose work has helped establish public dissemination, peer review and collaboration as foundational principles of SoTL practice.

Talbert then offered a personal lens, reflecting on his own transition from a senior marketing and sales career into higher education and how engaging with SoTL has reshaped his approach to teaching and student learning. Rather than focusing solely on content delivery and student satisfaction, he described moving toward deeper questions about how students’ thinking develops and whether his teaching approaches achieve their intended learning outcomes. This personal insight was highlighted by event organizers as a “”, and its accessibility to faculty across disciplines, not just educational researchers.

Bunnell and Talbert’s work is an example of meaningful collaboration between faculty across disciplines who center student learning, professional growth, and development of one’s teaching practice within their work. Their session is a meaningful contribution to the growing international dialogue about SoTL’s role in higher education, which ������Ƶ is increasingly recognized as leading. The invitation for the keynote reflects the continued recognition of ������Ƶ’s leadership in undergraduate teaching and educational development on the global stage. Following the session, Bunnell and Talbert were invited to remain engaged with the international SoTL community, with plans to continue building on the conversation in future collaborations.

Teza shares what she hopes to accomplish in her new role and how ������Ƶ students can benefit.

How would you describe your career path?

My career path consists of a series of lateral and advancement roles that provided exposure to multiple facets of the apparel industry. These positions prepared me to lead several market-leading brands, develop strong teams and implement transformation across complex regional and global businesses.

What does serving as an Executive in Residence at the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business mean to you?

I am excited to mentor and guide the next generation of leaders. I look forward to translating classroom learning into real-world scenarios and creating professional pathways through networking, internship opportunities and exposure to different industries.

What kinds of conversations and experiences do you hope to create for ������Ƶ students during your time on campus?

I look forward to meaningful conversations regarding leadership, insights into managing domestic and global businesses and how students can create a pathway to finding a career in which they will thrive.

What perspectives from your work in global consumer brands are you most excited to share with ������Ƶ students?

Leading a winning global brand combines emotional brand equity, operational scale and local execution. Managing global teams is both challenging and rewarding; it is critical to be well-versed in regional cultures to maximize employee engagement, create consistency in brand positioning and delight consumers.

What advice would you offer students who are interested in leading teams or managing large, complex organizations?

Leading a large organization requires the alignment of people, capital and processes to deliver results at scale. Aligning on priorities, building strong teams, operational excellence, constant communication, establishing decision-making rights and protecting a culture are the foundational blocks for success.

Beyond your résumé, what should people know about you and what you enjoy outside of work?

My primary focus is my family and making the most out of every day. My husband and I travel extensively to explore off-the-beaten-path locations, and we have a passion for boating, pickleball and golf. We enjoy spending time with our three children as they navigate their own career and life journeys, and we continue to coach people and businesses to help them maximize their potential.

Hosted in partnership with William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business, the summit invited participants to think not only about how AI is changing higher education, but also what should remain central to the student experience: judgment, curiosity, ethical decision-making, human connection and the ability to keep learning.

The summit opened Friday evening with a program that blended student innovation, music and conversation about AI’s role in business education. Haya Ajjan, dean of the Love School of Business, welcomed attendees before Margarita Kaprieylan, associate dean of the Love School of Business, guided the event as the program’s main host.

The evening featured student AI tool showcases, AI Fellows presentations, a performance by Vital Signs, ������Ƶ’s a cappella group, and a fireside chat with higher education leaders.

Student presentations highlighted a range of AI applications, from financial education and career preparation to human resources and access to technology. Projects included a gamified credit simulation that helps students practice financial decision-making and GRIFFIN, an AI-powered tool designed to support human resources classification and pay decisions.

The fireside chat was moderated by Casey Evans, associate dean for undergraduate programs and student services at American University, who also joined the discussion alongside Stephen Walls, assistant dean at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, and Hussein Issa, associate professor of accounting information systems at Rutgers Business School.

Saturday began with a keynote conversation between Anuj Mehrotra, dean of Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, and Jeff Sanders ’00, chief architect at Microsoft.

“Even a year ago, people were still doubting whether AI is here or not,” Mehrotra said. “At this point, AI is here.”

For Mehrotra, the question is no longer whether students should use AI, but what business schools are preparing them to do in a world where AI can already summarize, create, analyze and simulate.

“What has not changed is curiosity, the value of integrity, judgment and the importance of human relations,” Mehrotra said.

He challenged business schools to think beyond content knowledge and focus on the value students bring when information is abundant.

“We have to figure out what that North Star is going to be,” Mehrotra said. “It’s not going to be simply knowing something or being able to analyze something, because AI can do it for them.”

That theme continued during the “What Industry Wants Now” panel, which brought together leaders from Microsoft, Gartner, Bank of America and OpenAI.

“Universities now have the task not just to prepare students for a first job anymore,” said Nicole Perrelle, head of AI executive advisory service at Gartner. “It is to prepare them to have that life of continuous learning.”

For panelists, that preparation includes more than technical fluency. It also requires judgment, communication and the ability to use AI responsibly in complex workplaces.

“How do we accelerate the adoption of AI but do it in the right way?” said Danielle Nashold ’04, head of AI monitoring and controls strategy at Bank of America. In a highly regulated industry, Nashold discussed the importance of building governance, monitoring and control structures that allow organizations to use AI responsibly.

Amy Robbins ’14, brand insights lead at OpenAI, said AI fluency was expected when she interviewed for her role, but the conversation focused more on the human skills she would bring to the work.

“They were much more interested in how I think, how I approach complex problems, how I communicate,” Robbins said.

For Robbins, that human perspective remains essential, even inside an AI company.

“It’s not layering AI into existing systems for us,” Robbins said. “It’s layering the human into the AI systems.”

Jeff Sanders ’00, chief architect at Microsoft, added that higher education and industry will need to learn together as AI continues to change careers and roles.

“We don’t have all the answers,” Sanders said. “We know that careers are going to change. We know jobs are going to change.”

During the AI Fluency Mapping session, Tawnya Means, founding partner and principal of Inspire Higher Ed, helped prepare participants for the afternoon design sprint by walking them through ways to use AI with more purpose.

Casey Evans, associate dean for undergraduate programs and student services at American University’s Kogod School of Business, offered examples from Kogod’s redesigned curriculum, where students learn to evaluate AI critically and understand where their own judgment adds value.

“Students really need to learn how they are adding value, not just cutting and pasting,” Evans said.

Means then introduced tools participants could use in the design sprint, including the CRAFT framework, which helps users build stronger prompts by defining context, role, action, format and tone.

The summit also featured faculty pitches from ������Ƶ and William & Mary, giving participants examples of how instructors are already experimenting with AI in their classrooms.

In the afternoon, participants applied ideas from the summit during the “Hack the Business Curriculum” design sprint.

The design sprint concluded with three winning teams.

First place went to Calibra, a classroom tool designed to help faculty evaluate and strengthen assignments for AI resilience, critical thinking, curiosity, metacognition and career development.

Second place went to Essentials of Business Reimagined for AI, which proposed redesigning an introductory business course around a semester-long AI-powered simulation.

Third place went to Roast My LinkedIn, a career-readiness tool that uses humor to review LinkedIn profiles before offering practical feedback.

The summit concluded with remarks from Katherine Guthrie, associate dean at William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business.

“This doesn’t end here,” said Guthrie. “This collaboration started after William & Mary hosted an AI summit last year, and it has grown into a shared effort to create space for educators, students and industry leaders to think more intentionally about AI in higher education. We’re looking to next year, where the summit will continue at William & Mary and build on what has been started here.”

The summit was supported by sponsors including Quinncia and Global Academic Ventures. Quinncia provides career-readiness tools that support students in the job search process. Global Academic Ventures supports study abroad programming and international learning opportunities.

Additional sponsors included Breakout Learning, Interpretive Simulations, McGraw-Hill, QuantHub and GMAC.

Katherine Guthrie, associate dean at William & Mary with fellow colleagues

Casey Evans, associate dean for undergraduate programs and student services at American University, moderating the discussion alongside Stephen Walls, assistant dean at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, and Hussein Issa, associate professor of accounting information systems at Rutgers Business School

Margarita Kaprieylan, associate dean at the Love School of Business introducing the keynote

Tawnya Means, founding partner and principal of Inspire Higher Ed, and Casey Evans, associate dean for undergraduate programs and student services at American University’s Kogod School of Business, at the AI Fluency Mapping session

Quinncia presenting at the AI Summit

Global Academic Ventures presenting at the AI Summit

Margarita Kaprieylan, associate dean at the Love School of Business, and Katherine Guthrie, associate dean at William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business

Vital Signs performing at the AI Summit

Casey Evans, associate dean for undergraduate programs and student services at American University, moderating the discussion alongside Stephen Walls, assistant dean at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, and Hussein Issa, associate professor of accounting information systems at Rutgers Business School

Anuj Mehrotra, dean of Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, and Jeff Sanders ’00, chief architect at Microsoft

Anuj Mehrotra, dean of Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, and Jeff Sanders ’00, chief architect at Microsoft

Anuj Mehrotra, dean of Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, and Jeff Sanders ’00, chief architect at Microsoft

A full list of award and scholarship recipients appears below.

Academic Achievement Award Recipients

Academic Excellence Award in Accounting
Kirsten Myburg
Allie Rosinger

This award is given to a senior Accounting major who has demonstrated superior academic achievement, provided significant contributions to the department, and possesses potential for intellectual growth.

Challenge and Expect Award in Accounting
Kate Rohan
Zachary Taylor

This award is presented to a senior Accounting major who has demonstrated excellent growth in academic achievement and in contributions to the department.

Earl D. Honeycutt, Jr. Sales Leadership Award
Alex Scheinler

This award recognizes a senior majoring in marketing or minoring in professional sales who has shown leadership in the sales program, has the potential to positively impact their future organization, and has demonstrated an overall positive attitude in supporting their fellow sales students.

Excellence in Financial Education Student Award
Justin Betts
Andrew Glas
Em Orendorff

This award is given to a senior finance major who has demonstrated excellent academic achievement and possesses potential for professional growth in financial services.

Goldstein Family Award
Maggie Blakeney

This award is for a graduating senior who, after transferring to ������Ƶ (and the LSB) earlier in their academic career, has established a record of sustained engagement and high academic success and who embodies the university’s engaged learning focus through participation in high-impact learning activities.

Walter Hattenbach Award
Kaila Burke

The senior marketing major with the highest GPA receives this award, which Dr. and Mrs. James W. Johnston established in honor of their friend, Walter Hattenbach.

John Kappas Economics Award
Quinn Faller

This award goes to the senior economics major who best demonstrates enthusiasm for economics, potential for leadership and classroom excellence. It is named in honor of the late John Kappas, a 1985 ������Ƶ graduate.

Love School of Business Academic Excellence Award
Greta Hessenthaler
Kirsten Myburg
Katrina Papierman
Anthony Vozella

This award is presented to the student with the highest GPA among those graduating with a major in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

Love School of Business Courageous Leadership Award
Noah Biggers

This award is given to a student who exemplifies courageous leadership within and outside of the Love School of Business.

Love School of Business Responsible Leadership Award
William Foster

This award is given to a student who exemplifies leadership, service and academic achievement within the Love School of Business.

Perseverance Award in Accounting
Ben Lyons

This award is presented to a graduating accounting senior whose resilience and commitment led to significant improvement while successfully navigating the rigors of the four-year curriculum.

Student Achievement in Business Analytics Award
Greta Hessenthaler

This award is given to a senior business analytics major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her courses as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in Economics Award
Jin Kobes
Daisy Martinez-Jimenez

This award is given to a senior economics major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her courses as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in Economic Consulting Award
Sivan Danziger

This award is given to a senior economic consulting major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her courses as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in Entrepreneurship & Innovation Award
Juan Daniel Chiriboga
Taylor Sluss

This award is given to a senior entrepreneurship & innovation major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her major as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in Finance Award
Liam Becker
Emily McAninch
Asa Traylor

This award is given to a senior finance major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her major as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in Human Resource Management Award
Maddy Shapiro

This award is given to a senior human resource management major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her courses as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in International Business Award
Melena Hasskerl-Friedrich

This award is given to a senior international business major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her major as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in Marketing Award
Rachel Buckle
Lauren Kulda

This award is given to a senior marketing major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her major as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in Project Management Award
Anna Johnson

This award is given to a senior project management major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her major as well as promise for future achievement.

Student Achievement in Supply Chain Management Award
Maylee Clerici

This award is given to a senior supply chain management major who has shown enthusiasm and success in his or her major as well as promise for future achievement.

Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Dean’s Awards for Faculty and Staff

Excellence in Teaching
Jose Cerecedo Lopez

The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes a faculty member who exemplifies the ������Ƶ teacher-scholar model. This person is outstanding in the classroom, engages students in the learning process, maintains academic rigor, and provides evidence of commitment to the intellectual development of students through mentoring and related activities.

Excellence in Scholarship
Feng Dong

The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Dean’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship recognizes one or more faculty members each year whose scholarly work has a significant intellectual impact in keeping with the ������Ƶ scholar-mentor model. Selection factors for this award include publication or presentation of peer-reviewed research in quality outlets and evidence that the faculty member engages in scholarship-related activities. These activities might include supporting the scholarly endeavors of colleagues, advancing the school’s reputation, and mentoring students in undergraduate research.

Exemplary Service – Faculty
John Wimmer

The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Dean’s Award for Exemplary Service-Faculty recognizes one or more faculty members each year who have contributed in meaningful ways to the ongoing welfare and betterment of the college, university and profession. This award follows from the ������Ƶ servant-leadership model. Selection is based on service in the preceding year, plus overall willingness to volunteer one’s time when needed and to carry new ideas to reality.

Exemplary Service – Staff
Sara DeVane

The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Dean’s Award for Exemplary Service-Staff recognizes a staff member who has contributed in meaningful ways to the ongoing welfare and betterment of the LSB.  This contribution includes performing duties above and beyond the staff member’s regular functions to support and advance the LSB.

Exemplary Service – External
Rob Springer

The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Dean’s Award for Exemplary Service-Staff recognizes a member of the larger ������Ƶ community who has contributed in meaningful ways to the ongoing welfare and betterment of the LSB.  This contribution can take the form of assisting the LSB with a specific program or project or providing ongoing support for LSB activities.

LSB Sophomore Recognition

Benjamin Grover Johnston Award
Andrew Abraham
Logan Brzezanski
Lindsay Butkus
Izzy Butler
Gabrielle Evans
Addie Gilner
Henry Ginsburg
Dylan Golden
Isabella Johnson
Avery Launer
Jordyne Lewis
Ben Peake
Hope Rosen
Isaiah Scott
Greta Smith
Casey Steinert
Dani Stuart
Ben Waechter
Ellis Weber-Provost
Sophia Winston

This award honors the sophomore(s) with the highest GPA in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. Dr. and Mrs. James W. Johnston established this award in memory of Dr. Johnston’s brother, Benjamin Grover Johnston.

2026-27 Endowed Scholarships and Awards

The Andras Family Award
Abigail Mulvaney

The A. Vance Beck, Sr. and Gwendolyn D. Beck Scholarship
Virginia Manning

The Calvert C. and Margaret H. McGregor Scholarship
Maximiliano Camacho Garcia

The Charles David Smith Endowed Scholarship
River Cranford

The David A. Stevens ’81 Internship Scholarship
Chaise Hannibal
Winter Oaster

The David O. Bowden Economics Scholarship
Ellis Weber-Provost

The Department of Economics Endowed Scholarship
Sophia Winston

The Don S. and Margaret M. Holt Scholarship
Ashley Valency
Skylar Zimmerly

The Dudley Ray Watson Memorial Scholarship
Mackenzie Ross

The Frechette Family Foundation Fund for Global Engagement
Madisen Groff
Brennan Higgins

The Frederick K. Gilliam, Sr. Scholarship
Sophia Arminio
Lauren Beckman
Colleen Bolger
Elizabeth Moores
Anna Rubino
Jesse Sherrill

The Humphries Achievement Award
Loren Palma

The J. Harold Smith Scholarship
Jordyne Lewis

The James T. Toney Endowment Fund
Madeline Dolan

The Janie E. Council Scholarship
Patrick Drury

The John and Helene Sparks Scholarship for Business
Dulio Sorel di Donato

The John L. Sills, Jr. Scholarship
Benjamin Peake

The John R. Hill ’76 and Lesley W. Hill Endowed Fund for Engaged Learning in Business
Marlie Barhorst

The Linda Thompson Weavil Endowed Scholarship
Kristen Covington
Jasmine Newkirk

The Mark A. Horsburgh Study Abroad Scholarship
Michael Dumiec
Peyton Jones

The Mary C. Bullock ’47 and George P. Bullock ’47 Business Scholarship
John Cirelli
Jane McNeil
Avery Wilson

The Mills Family Endowed Scholarship
Tristan D’Adamo
Sahrahie Enamorado

The Myers Family Endowed Scholarship in Business
Aidan Roche

The Park Business Scholarship
Alyssa Adams

The Peter L. Tourtellot Endowed Scholarship in Business
Emma Cincotta

The R. Alston Team III Endowed Scholarship in Business
Eli Karpas
Emma Meunier

The R. Cruse Lewis Master Pools Guild/Love School of Business Endowment Scholarship
Gabriela Maldonado Alvarez
Ashlyn Wenner

The Rehnert Family Business Internship Award
Rita Ho
Korey Philpot
Fanyu Sha
Abigail Wong

The Rose Family Endowed Fund for Engaged Learning in Business
Samuel Bernard

The Samuel L. Burke Endowed Scholarship
David Graves
Elizabeth Shum

The Sirabella Family Scholarship for Engaged Learning in Business
Alison Whipple

The Taylor S. Davis Scholarship for Engaged Learning in Business
Anna Maddox

The Troy Family Endowed Scholarship for International Study
Shannon Cross
Jack Miller

The Waesche Engaged Learning Scholarship
Luke Shatkin

The Wells Fargo Scholarship
Jackson Steiner

The William A. Klopman, Jr. Memorial Scholarship
Megan Abbot

The Yearwood Family Scholarship
Bong Realiza

An accomplished business leader whose career spans global technology, consumer brands and corporate turnarounds, Findley accepted the university’s top award for entrepreneurship on April 22 inside LaRose Digital Theatre.

Findley currently serves as president, CEO and director of Sleep Number and has held leadership roles at Alibaba, Etsy and Blue Apron.

������Ƶ President Connie Ledoux Book presented the medal alongside Haya Ajjan, dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

The ceremony opened with a video tribute featuring remarks from Book, Ajjan, Elizabeth Caran and Jeffrey Pugh, former Distinguished University Professor and Maude Sharpe Powell Professor of Religious Studies at ������Ƶ, both of whom were in attendance.

Caran, Findley’s sister, emphasized her sibling’s commitment to making people feel heard and included. Pugh described Findley as someone who “makes everything better wherever she goes,” guided by both intellect and a strong moral compass.

In her remarks, Findley reflected on what entrepreneurial leadership has come to mean in her own life and career.

“When you told me I was receiving the medal for entrepreneurial leadership, I’ll be honest, I had a moment of pause,” said Findley. “Because when I think about entrepreneurs, I think about founders. People who start companies from scratch. And that’s not my path.”

Instead, Findley said, her career has been defined by stepping into companies in moments of change and choosing to lead with ownership, resilience and a willingness to act before feeling fully ready.

“Entrepreneurial leadership isn’t really about whether you started something,” she said. “It’s about how you show up, the risks you take, the responsibility you assume and how you bring people along with you.”

Findley, who grew up in nearby Greensboro, told students that ������Ƶ played a transformative role in helping her see herself and her future differently. She described struggling academically and socially in high school before arriving at ������Ƶ, where she found an environment that encouraged exploration, curiosity and growth.

“������Ƶ didn’t just teach me what to learn,” Findley said. “It taught me how to think.”

She credited the university’s interdisciplinary approach, study abroad opportunities and especially a set of religion courses with Pugh for reshaping her perspective.

“Those classes exposed me to such a broad world of ideas, perspectives, modern views on longstanding concepts,” she said. “That changed everything about how I thought of myself and what I could do in the world.”

That openness to possibility would later shape major decisions in her career, including a move to Hong Kong without a job lined up after finding it difficult to break out of communications roles in the United States. The leap eventually led to a role at Alibaba and marked a major turning point in how she thought about risk.

“You don’t wait until you’re ready,” Findley said. “You go. You do. You open yourself up to learning. And that’s what makes you ready.”

Throughout the evening, Findley returned to the idea that leadership is less about titles and more about how people are treated along the way. She said one of the reasons she wanted to become a CEO was her belief that companies can succeed without losing sight of the people who make that success possible.

“Customers and teams matter most, and you could build a successful company while still treating people like humans,” she said.

That people-first approach also shaped how she described her leadership style during a question-and-answer session with students. Rather than entering organizations assuming she has all the answers, Findley said she tries to create the conditions for others to do their best work.

“My assumption is that everyone else in the room knows more than I do,” Findley said, “and my job is to get out of their way and get everything else out of the way so they can do it.”

Students asked Findley about topics ranging from career pivots and leadership style to failure, resilience and decision-making. In response, she emphasized the importance of core values, communication and internal resilience, especially when navigating uncertainty.

“You’re never going to please everyone,” she said. “You’re never going to make everyone happy, and you’re never going to have respect from everyone. But you will get respect for actually making a decision and making a change and taking action when people don’t like it.”

She closed her remarks by offering students three challenges: take one real risk in the next 30 days, put yourself in rooms where you are not the most qualified person, and act like an owner before you ever receive the title.

“Entrepreneurial leadership isn’t about starting companies,” Findley said. “It’s about taking responsibility for outcomes, for people and for your own path.”

About the ������Ƶ Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership

The ������Ƶ Medal Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership is co-presented by the Love School of Business and the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Since 2009, the award has been given to an entrepreneur who is a leader in industry and who exemplifies the values of ������Ƶ. These values include integrity, innovation and creativity, passion for lifelong learning, and a commitment to building a dynamic community.

About the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship was established by an endowment gift from Ed and Joan Doherty, entrepreneurs from Saddle River, N.J., and parents of Kerry Doherty Gatlin ’07. The Dohertys have served on the university’s Parents Council, and Ed Doherty currently serves as an ������Ƶ Trustee. Their company, Doherty Enterprises, Inc., is one of the nation’s leading franchise operators of quality family restaurants, including Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Panera Bread and Chevy’s Fresh Mex.

Twenty Fellows collaborated on developing a U.S. market-entry strategy for Uniwellsity, a European digital wellness company focused on emotional learning and mental well-being. As the project progressed, eight students traveled to Prague to represent the team and deliver the final presentation to the client.

“Throughout the year, I stretched my global business perspective by thinking critically about how a Czech-based company could successfully integrate into the U.S. market,” said Maren Giambanco, a marketing major from Norwood, Mass. “Being able to then fully immerse myself in Czech culture during our visit made the entire experience even more unique and eye-opening.”

Her experience reflects the broader scope of the project, which required students to move beyond theory and into the complexities of entering a highly competitive market.

As the work progressed, teams analyzed positioning, refined strategy and collaborated across time zones to ensure the final deliverable reflected the full group’s efforts.

“Meeting with Czech Founders, a venture capital firm in Prague, was incredibly insightful, especially in understanding how they assess pitch decks and the qualifications that determine which ideas are strong enough to be part of their portfolio,” said Em Orendorff, a finance major from Annapolis, Md. “I also found it interesting learning about how the startup environment in the EU differs from the U.S.”

Those interactions offered additional context for the team’s recommendations and expanded their understanding of global business practices.

“Presenting in Prague made everything feel real,” said Jack Poulos, an economics major from New Albany, Ohio. “It was the first time I could clearly see how the work we do in the classroom translates directly into real-world impact.”

The experience reflected the expectations of a professional consulting environment, where preparation, adaptability and clear communication shaped every stage of the project.

“The presentation wasn’t just the end of two semesters of hard work,” said Jadon Dorsey ’26, an economic consulting major from Charleston, W.Va. “It showed how confidence, teamwork and believing in something can come together to create something meaningful.”

Keynote Speaker

​​Bert Brokaw ’13, senior director of sales development at Rippling, kicked off Sales Week as part of the Chandler Center Speaker Series with his talk, “Breaking into Venture-Backed Tech Sales.” He shared insights from his career in sales leadership and his journey from ������Ƶ to the tech industry.

“It took me a really, really long time to figure things out,” said Brokaw. “For those of you who feel like you need to have everything figured out right now, you don’t.”

Brokaw opened Sales Week by reflecting on his own path after ������Ƶ.

“I graduated without a job. I was going up and down the East Coast interviewing, and it just wasn’t what I was looking for,” he said. “So I took a risk, moved to New York City, and got a job in media sales, where I quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit.”

That experience, he explained, shaped how he now thinks about early career decisions.

“It really took me a long time to figure out what I actually wanted to do,” Brokaw said. “You’re at a point where you can take some early risk, but not all risk is created equal. Those first two years are pivotal. They can set you on a launch pad or limit your opportunities.”

When it comes to breaking into tech sales, Brokaw was direct about the realities of the job market.

“Applying online is more likely than not going to work against you,” he said. “You’re competing with hundreds of applicants.”

Instead, he encouraged students to approach the job search like a sales role itself.

“You need to sell yourself before you actually have a job,” Brokaw said. “You’re not just saying you can do the job, you’re showing it.”

That often means going beyond traditional methods and taking initiative.

“Pick up the phone. Cold call hiring managers. Try your pitch,” he said.

For Brokaw, that willingness to act is what ultimately sets candidates apart.

“Differentiation is a function of doing what others refuse to do.”

Young Alumni Panel

The week also featured a young alumni panel, moderated by Chris Nelson, associate professor of marketing and director of the Chandler Center.

The panelists included:

• Gabi Drumm-Schwartz ’23
• Cassidy Perkins ’23
• Kylee Herbert ’22
• Jack St. Pierre ’22
• Macklin Williams ’23

They shared advice on breaking into the industry and navigating early careers:

• Networking starts early. Build real relationships, not just job asks. One connection can move you from hundreds of applicants to a shortlist, and it pays off over time.
• Resilience matters early on. Entry-level sales come with rejection. Don’t take it personally. Stay consistent, learn quickly and focus on what you can control.
• Communication sets you apart. Be prepared, follow up, and make people feel heard. Strong communication and organization build trust and leave a lasting impression.

Coffee with a Sales Leader

Students also connected during Coffee with a Sales Leader on March 13, engaging with sales leaders through one-on-one and small group conversations focused on career advice and networking.

Participants included Bob Chandler and alumni Ryan Byrnes, Meg Hewitt, Dave Brown and Katie Chung, all members of the center’s advisory board.

Hands-On Sales Experience

Around 70 current students had the opportunity to put classroom knowledge and speaker feedback into practice with the Grainger Sales Challenge.  Students practiced cold calling Grainger employees to sell products. The top 10 students were selected to go to Grainger headquarters in Chicago for a second round.

• Caden Cerminara ‘27
• Leah Misicko ‘26
• Colin O’Connor ‘27
• Jacob Balizer ‘27
• Ethan Perry ‘27
• Luke Prince ‘27
• Daniel Pawl ‘27
• Ridgely Bryer ‘28
• Ava Matikowski ‘27
• Coco Kouyoumjian ‘27

Additionally, students and Chandler Center partners gathered at Topgolf for a networking event, offering a more relaxed setting to connect with industry professionals.

Attending Chandler Center partners included:

• AlphaSights
• Brightly Software
• Grainger
• Group Management Services

“Sales Week represents everything I love about ������Ƶ’s culture,” said Nelson. “Students learning and growing outside the classroom while engaging with successful alumni who are passionate about investing in their success.”