ST. JOHN’S Fall 2018 T P J. T NEWS AND INSIGHT FROM THE PETER J. TOBIN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS BusinessC B TAX TIME STUDENT VOLUNTEERS SERVE COMMUNITY, GAIN EXPERIENCE BOARD OF ADVISORS CHAIR KEVIN F. REED ’75C SHARES HIS BOND WITH THE TOBIN COLLEGE REAL ESTATE REVIVAL Market faces risk, but demand remains high T P J. T ST. JOHN’S BUSINESS | Vol. 2 No. 2 Fall 2018 C B FEATURES 12 Getting Real 16 Tax Time 18 Giving Back Experts from the real Each year, St. John’s to Tobin estate industry and The University student vol‑ Kevin F. Reed ’75C, Peter J. Tobin College of unteers save thousands Chair of the Tobin Board Business reflect on the of dollars for clients who of Advisors, shares his current state of the real qualify for the Internal thoughts on the vision estate market. Revenue Service’s Volun‑ for The Peter J. Tobin teer Income Tax Assis‑ College of Business. tance program. DEPARTMENTS 2 From the Dean 6 Going Global 20 Alumni Profiles Dean of The Peter J. Highlights from the and Class Notes Tobin College of Busi‑ 2018 Global Destination In‑depth profiles of ness Norean R. Sharpe, Course program. alumni Mark P. Kritzman Ph.D., discusses the new ’73CBA; Theresa Ahlstrom Distinguished Scholars 8 Faculty ’83CBA; and Tim Parker, Program and the Tobin Scholarship ’14TCB. Also, get up CEO Seminar Series. Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan, to date on your Tobin Ph.D., writes a new book classmates. 3 Tobin Trends examining the history 2018 Tobin College and economics of Eastern 24 President‘s Perspective Commencement; Tobin European countries; Yanni St. John’s University students place third at Ping, Ph.D., joins President Conrado Beta Alpha Psi’s Best The Peter J. Tobin College “Bobby” Gempesaw, Practices Competition; of Business; and Sven Ph.D., has reason to and Fulbright Scholar Jay Horak, Ph.D., discusses believe the future is bright Nathan visits Hungary. the role of informal insti‑ for The Peter J. Tobin tutions in business. College of Business. Editor Contributors Alumni should send Chris Blose Calvin Hennick address changes to Jennifer Lubell William G. Schaeffer Dean Managing Editor Melanie Padgett Powers ’73CBA, Director Norean R. Sharpe, Ph.D. Tim Gregorski Sona Pai of Development, at Robert Woods 718‑990‑6802; Director of Communications Art Director [email protected]. and Marketing Carolyn Duff St. John’s Business Syd Steinhardt welcomes inquiries, Project Manager opinions, and comments Design and Production Ellen Tarantino from its readers. Please send an e‑mail to Syd Steinhardt at [email protected]. As part of their investment-related studies, St. John’s University finance majors participating in the May 2018 Global Destination Course visited private equity firms in London, England. 2 ST. JOHN’S BUSINESS | Fall 2018 CONTENTS stjohns.edu/business | ST. JOHN’S BUSINESS 1 FROM THE DEAN STRENGTHENING TOBIN TRENDS THE TOBIN COLLEGE REFLECTIONS FROM DEAN NOREAN R. SHARPE, PH.D. ur faculty and staff at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business have been busy this past summer developing innovative programs, creating research opportunities for students, and exploring ways to increase our pipeline for students to major corporations in the metropolitan New York area. I am particularly proud of the work of COMMENCEMENT a faculty task force that has resulted in the encouraged graduates to set the bar high for creation of a new Tobin Dean’s Distin‑ themselves. guished Scholars Program for talented incoming first‑year Dean Sharpe reminded the students, Ostudents. This scholarship program includes the opportunity among other things: to learn something to reside with other scholars in the residence halls; conduct interesting every day, to take your work more research with a faculty member in their major; and receive a global scholarship to partic‑ 2018 seriously and yourself less seriously, and to ipate in a Global Destination Course. We view this program as essential to enhancing the DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS PROVIDE be more judgmental about ideas and less student experience for our most talented students at Tobin, and we are working with our THOUGHTFUL ADVICE TO GRADUATES. judgmental about people. Office of Undergraduate Admission to promote this new scholarship for qualified high This scholarship ascal Desroches ’86CBA, Executive Later that week, on May 20, the St. school applicants. program includes the Vice President and Chief Financial Of‑ John’s undergraduate Commencement was Thanks to a dedicated and talented team of faculty and staff, we continue to create opportunity to reside P ficer, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., held. Each year, undergraduate students new degree programs, recruit experienced faculty, and collaborate with our colleagues in with other scholars and member of St. John’s Board of Trustees, who achieve a 4.0 grade point average are the Paul and Carol Evanson Career Services Center to strengthen career opportunities. delivered the Commencement address to the awarded the Presidential Gold Medal. This For our fall Tobin CEO Seminar Series, we welcomed Stephen Distante ’88CBA, Chief in the residence halls; M.B.A. and M.S. graduates and their families year’s medalists were Enbo Jiang and Sada‑ Entrepreneurial Officer of Vanderbilt Financial Group, and Kenneth G. Langone, co‑ conduct research with at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business shaya Maitlall. founder of The Home Depot, philanthropist, and author of the recent book titled I Love a faculty member in Commencement Exercises on May 16, 2018. The nearly 300 graduates are launching Capitalism! An American Story. their major; and receive Recalling his own graduation three decades their careers in a range of industries. The In this Fall 2018 issue of St. John’s Business magazine, you can read about the global a global scholarship to earlier, Mr. Desroches remembered his mother top employers of Tobin graduates continue activities of our students in the Going Global section, as well as the Volunteer Income participate in a Global telling him to “just do your best, so that when to be AIG; Aon; BNY Mellon; Broadridge Tax Assistance program, in which our accounting students dedicate their time to complet‑ you look back at the effort you put in, you Financial Solutions, Inc.; Deloitte; EY; Grant ing tax returns for those in need. Destination Course. will be proud and have no regrets.” Thornton LLP; KPMG LLP; Protiviti; PwC; Also in this issue is an interview with our Board of Advisors Chair, Kevin F. Reed ’75C, and —Dean Norean R. Sharpe, Ph.D. Following that advice, Mr. Desroches told and Willis Towers Watson. profiles of Theresa Ahlstrom ’83CBA, Partner at KPMG LLP, and Mark P. Kritzman ’73CBA, graduates that he has since developed three Commencement was followed by a cele‑ Chief Executive Officer at Windham Capital Management—as well as Tim Parker ’14TCB. simple lessons: every day is an audition, believe bration in the state‑of‑the‑art Tobin College I hope you enjoy reading about our talented Tobin College alumni, faculty, and students in yourself, and never stop learning. of Business building, which was honored as in this issue of St. John’s Business. As always, we are grateful for your service and generosity. In her remarks before introducing Mr. an “Outstanding Design, Interior Renova‑ Go Red Storm! Desroches, Norean R. Sharpe, Ph.D., Dean tion” by American School & University in its of The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, 2018 Educational Interiors Showcase. Sincerely, Norean R. Sharpe, Ph.D. Dean Joseph H. and Maria C. Schwartz Distinguished Chair Professor of Decision Sciences The Peter J. Tobin College of Business 2 ST. JOHN’S BUSINESS | Fall 2018 stjohns.edu/business | ST. JOHN’S BUSINESS 3 TOBIN TRENDS Global Business Research Symposium Held Professor Jay Nathan Visits Hungary as Fulbright Scholar rofessor of Management Jay Nathan, Ph.D., The winners for Best Papers Awards were Professor of Management, spent 15 days at the After moderating her University of Pécs in Hungary in February on a panel, Dean Sharpe met P • “The Unintended Consequences of Using in the campus courtyard Fulbright Foreign Scholarship. with Julapa Jagtiani, Mobile Devices in the Classroom” During his two-week stay in Hungary, Dr. Nathan met Special Advisor at the Ivan Abel, Ph.D., St. John’s University, USA Federal Reserve Bank with the University’s Rector, Jozsef Bodis, Ph.D., D.Sc., of Philadelphia; Montse I. Hilmi Elifoglu, Ph.D., St. John’s and delivered a series of nine lectures and seminars on Guardia Guell, Digital University, USA Challenge & Emerging topics concerning issues in international business and Technologies Director international relations. His audiences included M.B.A. at Banco Sabadell; and • “Access-Based Consumption: Its Hilda Arango de Ortega, Technological Determinants and Implications students and corporate executives. Dean of the International Dr. Nathan had previously been a Fulbright Scholar to School of Economics and for Future Businesses—The Polish Example” Administrative Sciences at Aleksandra Burgiel, University of Thailand, Poland, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. He called the University of La Sabana this particular opportunity “a dream come true,” due to in Bogota, Colombia. Economics in Katowice, Poland Jolanta Zralek, Ph.D., University of his long-standing interest in the history and culture of Economics in Katowice, Poland central Europe. he Peter J. Tobin College of Business’s “Hungary is a strategically located country that 13th annual Global Business Research • “Sustainable Consumption and Values straddles both East and West,” he said, likening the Symposium (GBRS), held June 13–15, for Consumers” T nation to a “ferry boat” between the two sides of 2018, at the Rome campus of St. John’s Slawomir Smyczek, Ph.D., University of the former Iron Curtain. The University of Pécs, which University, attracted 73 participants from 11 Economics in Katowice, Poland celebrated its 650th anniversary in 2017, is Hungary’s countries.