Nearly 1,000 students in the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (FIU) graduated in Fall Commencement ceremonies on Tuesday, December 13, 2011.
In the morning, 582 business students received their bachelor’s degrees; 411 graduate students, two of them new PhDs, graduated in the afternoon.
College has strong presence among Worlds Ahead Graduates.
Three FIU Business students were named Worlds Ahead Graduates: Laura Cortes (BACC ’11), Ana Maria Silva (BBA ’11) and Charles Stack (BBA ’11). The honor singles out individuals with strong leadership qualities, a desire to change lives and a record of academic achievement.
A first generation college graduate, Cortes, who received a Bachelor of Accounting degree, helped conduct a yearlong survey in the city of Sweetwater that laid the foundation for a news literacy program for residents; she also helped low-income residents of North Miami Beach fill out their federal income tax forms. She plans to pursue a CPA and is starting a party supply retailing business in her native country, Colombia.
Marketing major Silva, who won the 2008 Freshman of the Year Award and the 2009 Sophomore of the Year Award, also received the 2009 Mary L. Pankowski Outstanding Leader Award, the Aventura Marketing Council Fellowship, and the LeaderShape Conference scholarship. She attended the Summer Venture in Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2010 and has joined the management training program at Macy’s in Miami.
Cum laude graduate and finance major Stack managed the energy sector of the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF)—FIU’s $200,000 student-run portfolio—and was chosen to lead a team of seven students representing the fund at the Quinnipiac Global Asset Management Education Forum an international gathering of financial industry leaders who explore global financial markets. He hopes to go to Wall Street, following completion of his Master of Accounting (MACC) at FIU.
College employees complete degrees.
Among the newest graduates were several known not only to the faculty for their classroom contributions but also to the staff since they are business school employees.
The Department of Management and International Business had two graduates. Student assistant Stefannie Aguilar received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and David Wernick, senior lecturer, was one of the college’s graduate students to receive his PhD.
Two tutor facilitators in the Ernst & Young Student Learning Lab completed graduate degrees. Accounting tutor Juan Duarte (BACC ’10) received his MACC, as did accounting tutor and student assistant Joey Insua.
In addition to lab intern and Worlds Ahead Graduate Charles Stack, a second intern in the State Farm Financial Literacy Lab, Erika Szekely (BBA ’11), graduated with a major in international business and finance.
