LA Tech College of Business

Thank you to alumna Sharilyn Gasaway for inspiring students during yesterday’s Inside the C-Suite lecture! She shared her leadership journey, including the road to her Kentucky Derby win and the role she played in Alltel’s transition through the largest private equity buyout in the telecom sector.

Students also had the chance to see the handcrafted 2024 Kentucky Derby trophy—a special anniversary edition to celebrate the 150th Run for the Roses.

Career and Student Success Week kicks off on Monday! This annual weeklong event features over 20 sessions, including career readiness and student success workshops, resume reviews with employer partners, major panels with alumni, and our annual Employer Reception.

Special thanks to Northwestern Mutual - North Louisiana for sponsoring the week!

STUDENTS: Check your Tech email for event details and Zoom links.

Registration for our Fall College of Business Employer Reception and Accounting Employer Information Night is underway! Looking for an internship or fulltime role? This is the perfect opportunity to network with 60+ companies looking to hire you!

Employer Reception (all COB students)
📆: Wednesday, Sept. 25
⏰: 5-7 pm
🔗: tinyurl.com/EmployerReceptionStudent

Accounting Employer Information Night (accounting students)
📆: Thursday, Sept. 26
⏰: 5-7 pm
🔗: tinyurl.com/AcctEIN24

Alumna Sharilyn Gasaway celebrated in the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle with her thoroughbred, Mystik Dan, this Spring. Now she'll share about the experience during the year's first Inside the C-Suite lecture. The lecture will focus on Sharilyn's Derby win and her corporate role leading Alltel through the largest private equity buyout in the telecom sector.

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/4uddrak9

Congratulations to Dr. Marcia Dickerson, the 2024 recipient of the University Senate Chair Award! Dr. Dickerson was presented with the award during Tech’s annual Fall Convocation, and was recognized for her significant contributions to the University in the areas of research, teaching, and service.

Our faculty even collaborate on another continent! 🌍 Dr. Nono Gueye and Dr. Jake Lee met up in Seoul, South Korea, over the summer while Dr. Gueye was attending the 28th Pacific Conference of the Regional Science Association International, where he chaired a conference session and presented a research article. Dr. Lee provided Dr. Gueye with a tour of his hometown and the two were able to grab lunch.

We’re officially back in business! ❤️💙

There’s no better way to kick off the Fall Quarter than first day of school pics and donuts with the Dean!

Our own dean, Dr. Chris Martin, is this week's special guest on the Beyond 1894 podcast! Give it a listen to learn a little about him, his favorite moments as dean, and where the College is headed. Spoiler: Business is definitely booming at the COB!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

105. Chris Martin: Business is Booming Interviewed by guest host LeAnn Waldroup from the College of Business, Dean Chris Martin recounts the stops in his career that brought him to Louisiana Tech and talks about all things COB. He shares details on the College’s sky-high placement rates and the sustained growth and success of their pro...

Business faculty and staff are back on campus and gearing up for a wonderful year! During our fall meeting, Dean Chris Martin recognized our 2024 Argent Innovation in Teaching Awards and A+ Research Awards. Congratulations to this year’s recipients!

Argent Innovation in Teaching Awards
💡Dr. Bill McCumber
💡Dr. Selina Sun
💡Dr. Craig Van Slyke

A+ Research Awards
📊Dr. Jake Lee
📊Dr. Julie Moulard
📊Dr. Nasim Sabah

We've launched two new certificates designed to equip students with the knowledge needed to help organizations make data-driven decisions to propel success.

📊Graduate Certificate in Business Data Analytics (online)
📊Undergraduate Certificate in Business Analytics (in-person)

Both certificates offer analytics-focused courses across the business disciplines, including computer information systems, accounting, finance, marketing, management, and economics.

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/bdhtrbt6

Mastered it. ✅

Congratulations to our Summer 2024 grads! We can’t wait to see how you impact the world!

INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT | 💼 | MAcc student Madeline Townsend is in Dallas this summer serving as a tax intern with BDO USA. Through her role in STS-SALT (Specialty Tax Services - State and Local Taxes), she has learned more about the field by analyzing invoices, completing tax forms, and managing and organizing internal documents—all to help her team complete their own tasks more efficiently.

“The College of Business prepared me for this role by hosting a multitude of networking events with prominent employers in the industry. This helped me network with individuals in my field and learn more about day to day responsibilities and office culture.”

Congrats, Madeline!

Our Center for Information Assurance earned the prestigious re-designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research by the NSA and received a $500,000 anonymous gift to support ongoing high-impact research and education.

Louisiana Tech is one of only 46 institutions nationwide and the only in Louisiana to hold designations as both a CAE in Cyber Research and a CAE in Cyber Defense Education.

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/yzpnenj7

INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT | 💼 | Alijahnique Cain spent her summer in Washington, D.C. as an intern at the US Postal Service headquarters. As a marketing major, she worked on specials projects like advertising, SEO, analytics, and marketing automation.

“From the moment I received my acceptance letter, I knew this internship would be special. I have been beyond blessed to join a historic organization with such a significant role in our country. Not only has this been eye opening for my career, but also for my environment. D.C. is vibrant and full of opportunities for young professionals. I enjoyed exploring the museums and historic landmarks. I am forever grateful for how the College of Business developed me professionally through programs like the Etiquette Dinner and Employer Reception. From those interactions alone, I've learned to be more outspoken and encouraged to excel in my career. Tech's exceptional marketing program genuinely developed my professional character and I'm so grateful!"

Congrats, Alijahnique!

We’re so proud of these College of Business OSLs who welcomed and encouraged incoming freshmen during this year’s Orientation sessions. ❤️💙

Thank you to Walker Pearson, Ben Ponder, Ben Weaver, Quint Mitchell, DJ Lanier, Riley Jones, Sammie Wilson, and LK Dupuy for representing the COB and Louisiana Tech so well!

Our fourth Orientation has come and gone which can only mean one thing… Fall is almost here! 💙🐶❤️

MBA students are exploring San Jose, Costa Rica, this week to learn about the culture and business environment. 🇨🇷 Students have been paired with a Costa Rican client company and will end their trip with presentations of their consulting deliverables.

Meet Mary Kate Pierot, our new Director of the MBA Program!

Mary Kate joins our Graduate Programs Office, and will be a primary point of contact for our ever-growing MBA program. She is a 2021 College of Business grad, and we’re excited to welcome her back in this new capacity!

Visit her in COB 218 or reach out via email: [email protected].

Welcome Mary Kate!

INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT | 💼 | Lauren Hays, a business economics major, is spending the summer in Pittsburg, PA, at Wabtec Corporation, the world’s foremost rail technology company. Through her role as a finance intern, she assists with month-end reports, including securitization reports, gross margin analysis, and surcharge calculations. Lauren was also assigned a summer-long project to forecast accuracy analysis and data visualization that she will present at the end of her internship.

Thanks to her College of Business professors, she was able to standout during her time with Wabtec. “My professors provided a solid foundation of business concepts as well as real-world examples in class. This gave me the ability to understand and learn more throughout my internship.”

Congrats, Lauren!

The best friends are new COB friends!
🐶🤝🐶

We had so much fun meeting these new Business Bulldogs at Orientation 3. The countdown to Fall is officially on!

This year’s Student Managed Investment Fund analysts took an assertive stance and placed emphasis on investments in international and domestic defense, technology, and well-performing international sectors. Their wise investment research and portfolio positioning allowed the SMIF to outperform its benchmark by 7.28%.

Congratulations to each member of the Student Managed Investment Fund team and thank you to our SMIF Advisory Board members for their ongoing insight and support!

Read More: https://tinyurl.com/cw26shbp

INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT | 💼 | Management major Garrett Lewis spent the first part of summer on Capitol Hill, serving as a Congressional intern for Speaker of House Mike Johnson. Over the course of his time in DC, Garrett communicated with various constituents, responding to and recording their comments, conducted tours of the Capitol, attended Committee hearings, and much more to serve the people of Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District.

“Through my management and HR classes, the College of Business equipped me with the skills needed to excel in a fast-paced environment. Those classes honed my communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills which are essential for operating here. Tech provided important character-building opportunities and developed my professionalism, both of which have been invaluable in preparing me for the demands of working in the Office of the Speaker of the House.”

Congrats, Garrett!

Congrats to our 2024 Top Pup winners!

🥇 Harmony Brew
🥈 Bubbles for Bulldogs
🥉 UNI-RIDE

Providing early exposure to entrepreneurship, Top Pup teams develop and pitch their ideas, products, or businesses as part of our BUSN 110 course. The winning team from each quarter then competes for the grand prize of scholarship funds in the Spring.

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/u3huf3ad

During our June School of Banking, each second-year banker participated in BankExec, an intensive simulation designed to provide an understanding of financial management challenges in banks. Divided into seven banks, teams competed throughout the week and presented their final results prior to graduation. Congratulations to our winning team!

“Bank of Hope”

➡️ Chad Doucet, South Louisiana Bank
➡️ Layne LaBudde, First Horizon Bank
➡️ Reed Trisler, Guaranty Bank & Trust
➡️ Jonathan Vedros, B1 BANK
➡️ Mackenzie Willis, Louisiana National Bank

INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT | 💼 | Claire Garbarino, a marketing major, is in Sugar Land, Texas, this Summer working for global energy technology firm Baker Hughes. As a marketing intern for their OIC Upstream and Downstream Product Management division, she is helping to launch several new product marketing campaigns, working on brand consistency, and researching ways to streamline processes.

“The marketing courses I have taken are helping me so much. International marketing has specifically been helpful as my team is global, and I am working with people in different countries every day. I also really benefited from taking marketing communications with Dr. Alford, and I’m glad that I was able to take it before he retired since the skills I learned in that class are helping me so much now.”

Congrats, Claire!

Orientation weeks are the best weeks. 🤠🐶 We can’t wait to see these Business Bulldogs back on campus in the Fall!

INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT | 💼 | Management major Bobby Simpson is working at Origin Bank this summer as a business development intern. His work includes assisting HR in recruitment, shadowing and supporting commercial lenders, and supporting the training and development team. He’s also working on three projects to present to his respective managers by summer's end.

“Louisiana Tech’s College of Business has been instrumental in my transition into banking, with classes in economics, accounting, and finance introducing me to financial statements and industry jargon, and CIS classes enhancing my Excel and Word skills. I’m grateful for the opportunities at Origin Bank and my education from Louisiana Tech."

Congrats, Bobby!