News & Stories
In other news: February 2026
Innovating in career education
Sarah Crockett, associate director of UBP career development, works with a student.
The Undergraduate Business Program (UBP) career team recently launched Connect2Career, a self-paced career education course for UBP students.
Through Connect2Career, students have the opportunity to learn more about themselves, explore career pathways, get familiar with essential tools and resources for recruiting, and strengthen their understanding of career development. While not required or credit-bearing, it is designed to provide foundational skills and knowledge to students in an asynchronous style.
To enhance the experience, the course integrates a BlueChipAI agent, giving students access to personalized AI-driven career exploration.
Thought leaders
- Many firms file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy outside their home state, with about half choosing Delaware. Research from Professor Aymeric Bellon finds that filing in Delaware drastically reduces the likelihood of establishment closure, increasing post-bankruptcy employment growth as a result.
“AI in Business” class
- Second-year students at the BITS School of Management in India completed the “AI in Business” class with visiting UNC Kenan-Flagler faculty member Daniel Ringel. As a part of the course, they completed a capstone project by building AI-driven solutions.
- Professor Jayashankar Swaminathan was announced president-elect of the Production and Operations Management Society.
- UNC Kenan-Flagler Executive Development shared insights on why human judgement still matters in a world of AI. They concluded that AI performs best in low-risk, high-volume, pattern-based decisions where efficiency and precision matter more than context or nuance. That can mean data entry, trend recognition or predictive analytics.
Standout students and alumni
Becca Wright (MBA ’21)
- Becca Wright (MBA ’21) was featured by UNC-Chapel Hill for turning her grandmother’s cheese biscuit recipe into Piedmont Pennies, an award-winning business that was named the “Coolest Thing Made in North Carolina” in 2024.
- After the success of her social media series, “Bakemas,” Ann Michael Maye (BSBA ’25) is teaming up with NBC 10 Boston/NBC Sports Boston for a baking show titled “Beyond Bakemas with Ann Michael Maye.” She teased the show on Instagram.
- Ron Salateo (MBA ’02) was appointed principal at Heritage Capital Group. He has 15 years of experience advising middle-market healthcare and financial services companies on mergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships.
- Nancy Combs (BSBA ’10) stepped into an expanded role at Shake Shack as senior vice president of growth. She was previously the senior vice president of culinary and calendar innovation.
- Mazda featured Rebekah Teranobu (MBA ’24) in an “Inspired by Mentorship” story. Her journey at the company was guided by mentors, including those who helped lead her to pursue an MBA at UNC Kenan-Flagler.
Spotted on social
- Shuban Gouru (BSBA ’26) shared his experience at the 2026 Undergraduate Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) as someone with no real venture capital experience. “All I could offer was 100% of my effort. To my surprise, that was enough,” he said on LinkedIn.
- As a part of the Doing Business In program and in partnership with Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, nine UNC Kenan-Flagler Class of 2026 MBA students braved a leadership trek through the mountains of Argentinian Patagonia.
- “Lessons from the Field” at UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Charlotte campus brought together business leaders, sports professionals and Carolina Athletics for a conversation on coaching and leading at the highest level. “Hearing from panelists who have created championship results reminded me that leadership is not just strategy — it’s how you equip, support and challenge people to thrive,” Myles Robinson (BSBA ’15) wrote on LinkedIn.
MBA students in Argentinian Patagonia