EMBA Helps Smeal Alum Achieve Success
After being laid off from his job, Tony Pagano decided to invest in his education. Five years later, he had earned his EMBA from the Smeal College of Business at Penn State and founded his own company. Pagano is the founder and CEO of StrataScape Technologies, a next-generation IT service and support firm that is focused on advising, selling and supporting both managed IT services and cloud computing platforms for small and mid-sized companies.
Pagano decided on Smeal because of its diverse student body, experienced faculty and the recognition of a Penn State University degree. “The class was very diverse and spread out with experiences,” Pagano said. “The professors were another big deciding factor. I was so impressed with their knowledge and experiences. The third and maybe the biggest piece, was Penn State’s big networking dimension.”
Smeal Welcomes Exec. VP of Dick’s Sporting Goods
The Penn State Smeal College of Business will welcome Executive Vice Prsedeint, COO/CFO of Dick’s Sporting Goods, André J. Hawaux to campus on April 10. Hawaii will speak as part of the Executive Insights program at Smeal. The event will be held from 11:15 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. at the Struthers Auditorium, Room 110 of the Business Building at the Penn State campus.
During the event, Hawaux will take part in a moderated discussion with Charles H. Whiteman, John and Becky Surma Dean of Smeal. Those interested in attending the event can complete a registration form online.
Smeal Hosts International Women’s Day Events
The Penn State Smeal College of Business has created a series of events to be held over the course of two weeks to celebrate International Women’s Day. The events were coordinated by the Women of Smeal initiative. The celebration will begin on March 18 with two events. The Smeal Executive MBA Program’s Women’s Leadership Forum is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the ACE Conference Center in Lafayette Hill, and a virtual session by co-author Sara Laschever about the importance of negotiation for women titled “Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation — and Postive Strategies for Change” is slated for 125 Business Building.
Other events include, “Women and Money: Unique Challenges & Opportunities” by Farnoosh Torabi ’02 —a virtual session from 12:40 to 1:40 p.m. March 20 in 124 Business Building, “Financial Literacy Presentation” by Dr. Daad Rizk, Penn State’s financial literacy coordinator from noon to 1 p.m. March 24 in 124 Business Building and Striving Toward Awareness & Respect Tomorrow (S.T.A.R.T.) Conference from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 27 at the Nittany Lion Inn.
Smeal Final Deadline for Financial Aid Apps Feb. 1
The final deadline for all applicants that are seeking merit-based financial aid for the Smeal College of Business MBA program is Feb. 1. Prospective students who complete their application by this time will receive an admissions decision by April 1. The tuition cost for the program for Pennsylvania residents is $23,080. The cost for out-of-state residents is $36,962.
Smeal offers scholarships and graduate assistantships every year. These awards are based on merit using the admission-process criteria. The criteria consider a students academic ability, working experience, leadership skills and the student’s overall fit with the MBA program at Smeal. All prospective students who apply to Smeal by the Feb. 1 deadline will automatically be considered for funding. There is no additional application for the financial awards.
Smeal Names Director of eLDIG
The Smeal College of Business at Penn State University has named Matthew E. Mooney as the director of the college’s new eLearning Design and Innovation Group (eLDIG). The new administrative unit was launched during the fall 2014 semester and is dedicated to instructional design for online and resident instruction.
The eLDIG is an administrative unit that is dedicated to instructional design. faculty in this group will assist other faculty with the design of new online courses as well as converting existing course content in to an online format. The group is not just limited to working with faculty on online and hybrid courses. In class instruction will also be provided with design support.
Smeal MBAs Place Second at Sustainability Comp.
A team of MBA students from the Penn State Smeal College of Business placed second in the inaugural Smeal MBA Sustainability Case Competition. The college hosted the event in its Business Building on the Penn State University Park campus. Smeal was awarded $5,000 for second place.
Purdue won the $10,000 prize for first place and Indiana took home $2,500 for third place. Teams from Dartmouth and Ohio State were the other finalists invited to campus from an initial field of 29 teams. The Smeal team included MBA students Darius Yuwono, Miguel Iturralde, Farm Chanduayvit and Shan Nie.
