News & Stories
In other news: May 2026
Celebrating May graduates
Congratulations to the Undergraduate Business Program (UBP), Full-Time MBA, Online MBA, Master of Science in Management (MSM) and PhD students who graduated from UNC Kenan-Flagler this month!
Many shared their accomplishment on LinkedIn, reflecting on the lessons gained throughout their time at the Business School.
Maya Fitzgerald (PharmD, MBA ’26)
“Don’t compete with anyone but yourself,” Maya Fitzgerald (PharmD, MBA ’26) encouraged in her post. “Focus on personal growth.”
Blair Liu (PhD ’26) and Professor Brad Staats
Blair Liu (PhD ’26) celebrated her PhD hooding by thanking her hooder, Professor Brad Staats. “I hope there will be a day I can be as good as these people I look up to.”
“What got me here wasn’t talent,” Nick Creasey (MBA ’26) shared. “It was accountability to myself, to the people around me who refused to let me lower the bar, and to the version of me that kept showing up even when it was uncomfortable.”
Aaron Gomes (BSBA ’26) said his time at Carolina has been “nothing short of transformative.”
Above all, the Class of 2026 is excited for what’s next.
Thought leaders
- Each year, UNC Kenan-Flagler faculty and staff celebrate the Weatherspoon Awards, recognitions made possible through the support of the late Kay and Van Weatherspoon (BSBA ’54) and Roy W. Holsten. Staff winners this year include Dominic Abbenante, Laura Howe, Crystal Reed, Michael Penny and Dave Moore. Faculty winners include Timothy Kundro, Lynn Dikolli, Nur Sunar, Barry Bayus and Camelia Kuhnen.
- Zoey Kernodle, director of the UNC Center for the Business of Health, received an award from the American Public Health Association recognizing her leadership in public health ethics.
- The PhD Program hosted its annual Henry and Felicité Latané PhD Student Recognition Banquet, in which Angelica Leigh (PhD ’20) gave the keynote address. The doctoral students recognized include Jaeho Yoo (PhD ’28), Zhanzhi Zheng (PhD ’27), Richard Maxwell (PhD ’26), Brigham Brau (PhD ’26), Yifan Ji (PhD ’29), Natalie Holzaepfel (PhD ’27) and Blair Liu (PhD ’26). This year’s graduates will join the faculty of Virginia, Penn State and IE Business School, among others, and firms such as LinkedIn.
- Organizational Behavior Professor Laura Sonday won a 2026 Student Undergraduate Teaching Award for her ability to make complex ideas accessible, her unwavering positivity and her talent for keeping students engaged.
Standout students and alumni
- Five UBP students were selected as Phillips Ambassadors for summer 2026 study abroad programs in Asia: Sachi Akmal (minor), Allison Royal (BSBA ’28), Gitzelle Enciso-Ramirez (BSBA ’28), Jarissa Molina (minor) and Will Carter (BSBA ’28).
- Cooper Delo (BSBA ’28) and Adler Rice (BSBA ’28) won third place in Innovate Carolina’s Luby Pitch Competition for their social booking and networking app startup, PlugVerse.
- Amy Wozniak (BSBA ’26) received the Eric Montross Award for Public Service for her leadership in advancing student-athlete mental health and fostering a culture of service at Carolina.
Real estate education celebrates 25 years
More than 700 students, alumni, faculty and industry leaders gathered at the Dean E. Smith Center for the 2026 UNC Real Estate Conference, celebrating the event’s 25th anniversary with keynote speaker Roy March and featured speaker Tom Barkin.
To celebrate 25 years of impact, the Wood Center for Real Estate Studies launched a video series asking one alumnus from each graduating class to reflect on how the center shaped their personal and professional journey.
Spotted on social
- Kirstie Moore (BSBA ’21) was featured on the Tamron Hall Show to talk about her recent venture, Dear Neighborhood.
- UNC Kenan-Flagler hosted its first-ever AI in Business Day last month. The event started with faculty presenters sharing their research around AI, then concluded with a Prompt-a-thon, where teams of faculty, staff and students created agents impactful to the Business School.
- Finance Professor Gill Segal presented his paper “Uncertainty After Dark: Evidence from 19 Million Nights of Sleep” at the Florida State University Truist Beach Conference.