In other news: December 2024

Thought leaders

• Professors Paul Friga and Chip Snively will teach business concepts to Charlotte-area rising high school juniors and seniors in the new Tar Heel Business Academy in June 2025 at the School’s new Charlotte campus in the Bank of America Tower. As part of the weeklong program, students will also work on individualized assessments and future goals with Associate Dean of Talent and Administration Tammy Samuels. The priority application deadline is Jan. 17. Click here to apply.
• UNC Research showcased Professor Jan-Benedict Steenkamp’s book “Warrior, Queen, Scientist, Activist: Gritty Women Who Bent the Arc of History” in a look at recent books by Carolina faculty. The Readers’ Choice Book Awards named Steenkamp’s book a finalist in the best adult-book category.
• Professor Mark McNeilly talked with Carolina Connection student radio about the potential impact of artificial intelligence tools in the classroom.
• Professor Katrijn Gielens spoke to Carolina Stories about Black Friday retail strategies for its “Ask a Professor” series.

Standout students and alumni

• A project by Freeda Alvarez (BSBA ’26) was highlighted in The Daily Tar Heel’s overview of the year in research at Carolina. Through the Family Enterprise Center, Alvarez is leading a team of students creating a database of local family-owned businesses and marketing initiatives to create stronger connections within the state’s family business community and encourage mentorship.
• Chris Riker (MBA ’16) was named COO of Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc., a global leader in environmental and energy services and products. He most recently served as the company’s senior vice president of thermal.
• Sargent McGowan (MBA ’02) joined Brown Advisory as the investment management firm’s CIO for endowments and foundations. For the past 11 years, he was the managing director of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company.
• Rany Burstein (BSBA ’06) talked with CanvasRebel about co-founding the roommate and housing platform Diggz and the future of the rental industry.
• Jason Liberty (MBA ’15), president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, celebrated awarding $600,000 to the UNC Center for Galapagos Studies in support of several research projects. The center operates the Galapagos Science Center on San Cristobal Island with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. “UNC has a long history of providing the world with pioneers and passionate thinkers,” said Liberty. “I take pride in announcing this gift that will help fund more student field experiences, innovative research projects and training opportunities for residents.

Khalil Smith

• Khalil Smith (MBA ’13) announced that his book “The Performance Culture” will be released Jan. 29, 2025. “I look forward to sharing the book’s strategies with leaders who are eager to build their performance culture,” he shared on LinkedIn. Smith is vice president of inclusion, diversity and engagement at Akamai Technologies.
• Irfaun Delgado Karim (BSBA ’24) will work in marketing and data analytics for the Cleveland Browns and the Columbus Crew soccer club for the next year as a Haslam Sports Group Diversity and Opportunity Fellow.
• Casey Cooper (MBA ’08) received the North Carolina Healthcare Association’s 2024 Distinguished Service Award, the group’s highest honor. He is the CEO of the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority.
• Constance Ranea Jones (BSBA ’03) received a Distinguished Fellow Award honoring her work as an Eisenhower Fellow. She will study violence prevention strategies and community engagement in Ghana and Brazil. Jones is the CEO of Noble Schools, a Chicago private charter school network.
• Ellen Struck (BSBA ’00) was named vice president of clean energy subscription service Sunrun. She was previously vice president of channel operations at SunPower.
• David L. Johnson (MBA ’00) was named COO of biotechnology company Vera Therapeutics. He most recently served as the CCO of Global Blood Therapeutics.
• Frank Suarez (BSBA ’99) was appointed president and CEO of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation. He previously served in executive director roles for the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gambling and the North Carolina Education Lottery.
• Dante Calabria (BSBA ’96) was named head coach of Italy’s Pistoia Basket 2000 basketball team. He has coached professional and college teams for 15 years and played professionally in Europe from 1996 to 2011. At Carolina, he was a member of the 1993 NCAA championship men’s basketball team.
• Denise Murrell (BSBA ’76) curated the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition “The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernity.” She joined the museum in 2020 and was named Meryl H. and James S. Tisch Curator at Large in 2022.
• Allison Carroll (MBA ’05) was named CCO of revenue platform Clari. She previously served in various roles at IBM and was most recently a senior vice president at Avalara, a tax compliance software company.

UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Alpha Challenge winners celebrate

Spotted on social

• UNC Kenan-Flagler students excelled at the 20th annual Alpha Challenge investment pitch competition, hosted by the Center for Excellence in Investment Management. Professor Pramita Saha, the center’s executive director, shared on LinkedIn that UNC student teams placed first and third in the equity category and shared the winners of the Alpha Challenge’s inaugural undergraduate bracket. The Alpha Challenge, hosted annually at Chapel Hill, brings together students from top 20 U.S. MBA programs and over 70 investment management recruiters. It was also the first year of the Investment Management for All: Wealth and Women event. “We wanted to create a one-of-a-kind event which breaks down barriers and welcomes people from all walks of life into investment management,” Saha wrote on LinkedIn.
• MBA students in Professor Barry Bayus’ course reimagined Tic-Tac-Toe as an exercise in prototyping and iteration. “The class warm-up was a rock-paper-scissors tournament!” Bayus shared on LinkedIn.
• Associate Director of Career Coaching Spencer Shih met with first-year MBA students at a Walmart for hands-on lessons in consumer packaged goods marketing and retail.
• Charlotte Burnett (MBA ’19), vice president of J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Raleigh, celebrated her company’s sponsorship of the Business School’s inaugural “Investment Management for All: Wealth and Women” forum and meeting former Tar Heels point guard and assistant coach Phil Ford (BSBA ’78) at the Carolina Basketball Museum. “A truly memorable experience that highlighted the importance of education, collaboration and community engagement,” she shared on LinkedIn.
• The Master of Accounting Program (MAC) held its annual MACsgiving lunch for students. “We’re thankful for the dedication, curiosity and energy our students bring to the MAC Program every day,” the program shared on LinkedIn. “They remind us why we do what we do.”
• Each year, Professor Jim Kitchen’s entrepreneurship class raises money for Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina by having students pitch a business idea, launch it and then donate the proceeds. Mary Elizabeth Bennett (ABJO ’17), the nonprofit’s vice president of development, wrote on LinkedIn that the class raised a record-breaking $87,000 in 2024, bringing its total to over $400,000 raised over nine years. “THANK YOU, Tar Heels!” Bennett wrote. “What a difference you are making locally in eastern North Carolina. I always leave Chapel Hill with a full heart and immense gratitude.”