“It’s amazing to be in a school that allows you to take advantage of being in New York,” Vilela said. “There’s something about the pace and person that New York attracts—it’s a driven individual who wants to be able to explore multiple interests.”

What she didn’t expect was that she’d get to explore a completely different interest as well—all while she made connections and secured a full-time position at Deutsche Bank.

Vilela, who’s a senior in the Gabelli School, said her background as an international student from Brazil helped inspire her to major in global business. But minoring in art history wasn’t something she saw coming.

“It’s one of the things that would have never crossed my mind if it wasn’t for the core curriculum,” she said. “Fordham is so good at giving us the opportunity to be exposed to and pursue disciplines we are passionate about. You don’t have to give up one over the other.”

After she took an introductory art history course, Vilela studied abroad at Fordham London, where she took a course on art and architecture. All the classes, she said, met in museums.

“It trains different parts of your brain,” she said of studying art history. “It wires you, in a way, to be very detail-oriented. Your critical thinking gets honed to a very sharp degree. It hones in a part of your brain where you’re constantly questioning things.”

From Art to Investment Banking: Asking the Right Questions

Vilela said she used some of those skills to stand out as when she interned at Deutsche Bank.

“Especially at a junior level you’re expected to ask questions,” she said. “I think the art history part my brain was incredibly helpful in that.”

Vilela will start as a sales, trading, and structuring analyst at Deutsche Bank following graduation. She credits Armani Nieves, GABELLI ’21, with helping her in the recruitment process. Nieves helped create networking events as a student, such as Finance Diversity and Inclusion Night.

“He mentors students from Latinx backgrounds into the investment banking recruitment process, said Vilela, who as part of her major is pursuing a concentration in global finance and business economics. “He connected me with Fordham alums who were incredibly supportive and helped me prepare for my interviews.”

Vilela said that she’s seen this level of support throughout her time at Fordham.

“Everything is so much smoother because everyone’s in it together.”

Business for Positive Change

Vilela also said that she appreciated the Gabelli School’s focus on business with a purpose.

“I got accepted into Ignite Scholars Honors Program—it’s for people who have a social entrepreneurship background who want to use business to affect positive change, which is very cool,” she said.

She also serves as an Angel Fund fellow at the Fordham Angel Fund, where she works to connect with Fordham entrepreneurs and vet their applications for funding.

“What’s cool about it is it’s not an undergrad club; it’s people from the Law School, MBA students, and undergraduates,” she said. “It’s also a really nice opportunity to learn from your peers—that’s what I love the most about it. You put a business student and a master’s in social work student and a law student together—the types of questions we’re asking these companies are very different.”

The Gabelli School of Business seniors are both first-generation immigrants from Eastern Europe (her parents are from Hungary, his are Albanian). Both were born at the same hospital in Manhattan and attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the Upper East Side. Both commuted to Rose Hill as first-year students and transferred to the Gabelli School at Lincoln Center their sophomore year, where they both majored in global business with a concentration in digital media and technology.

Both have opted to stay at Fordham to earn master’s degrees in computer science at the Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS). And they’ve been a couple since their first year at the University.

It’s been an eventful path to graduation for each of them.

A Nudge Toward Something New

Although Marko tried her hand at marketing when they first enrolled at the Rose Hill campus, it didn’t quite click for her. Becaj suggested she give computer science a shot.

“Before that, I never really knew what computer science entailed. No one ever talked to me about it. Then I took Computer Science 1 and I just instantly loved it,” she said.

Not only did she take to it, but because she had AP credits from high school and took summer classes, she finished her undergraduate studies a semester early and enrolled in GSAS this spring to begin her graduate studies. This summer, she’s interning at Take Two Interactive, the makers of Grand Theft Auto video games; she expects to graduate with her master’s in December.

Becaj started out with a pre-med concentration at Fordham College at Rose Hill before transferring to the Gabelli School, and will be taking a little longer to finish his graduate studies. At the Gabelli School, he tried his hand at finance and marketing as well. He credits Marko with giving him the strength to try—and fail at—new things.

Feeding Off Each Other’s Successes

“I’m actually more comfortable with trying things when she’s around. I’m just a lot more comfortable doing it. She steps out of her comfort zone all the time,” he said. In their sophomore year the couple were finalists for the Consulting Cup, a semester-long course where student teams are tasked with investigating real companies.

Marko currently works part-time as a salesperson for BLU Reality Group, but is hopeful that upon graduation, she will be able parlay her Take Two internship, which is in infrastructure automation, into a position in that area. Becaj is considering working this summer alongside his father, who turned 71 this year, before plunging full-on into his graduate studies. Like Marko, he’d like to intern for a software development company.

Both students say they take inspiration from their families. Marko’s father moved from Győr, Hungary, when he was 14, and found work as a limousine driver and personal assistant to Placido Domingo. Becaj’s father likewise made his way to the United States when he was a teenager; he has been a superintendent for nearly 50 years at a building on the Upper East Side—a far cry from where he came from.

“My dad was from a family of very poor farmers. The first time he had shoes, I think, was when he went into the army when he was 17,” he said.

Needless to say, Marko and Becaj, who both received scholarships to attend Fordham, are grateful for the opportunities they’ve been given. Marko credited Michael Kadri, an adjunct professor of computer science, with turning her on to computer science, while Becaj said James McCann, a lecturer of finance and business economics, made business easier to grasp.

The Great American Story

Vincent DeCola, S.J., assistant dean for the B.S. in Global Business at Gabelli, is their “number one” though, they said, and not just because he helped them transfer to Lincoln Center.

“I hear stories about what he’s done for other students who have gone through difficult times, and he’ll just be there to listen or provide advice. That’s technically not his job, but he goes above and beyond,” said Becaj.

Father DeCola, for his part, has fond memories of the couple visiting him five times, by his estimate, over a year and a half to change either their concentrations or minors. He called theirs a “great American story.”

“They both have very positive attitudes. That’s one of reasons I never got tired every time they came to my office thinking about changing their career path. They’re always so positive and just pleasant to work with. I always found it cute that they’d come in together, and that they were still together,” he said.

“And if they decide they want to come back and get married, I wouldn’t mind if they ask for my services in that capacity as well.”

At the event, held on May 18 in the McNally Amphitheatre, Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., dean of the Gabelli School, said the Class of 2018 served as a testament to the program’s potential. While the Gabelli School had distinguished faculty; academically talented students; and a campus in the middle of New York City, one of the most powerful financial centers in the world, Rapaccioli said there were still a few unknowns when the program started.

“There was a lot that we couldn’t foresee, but in business and in life, we learn that you can expect great things when they’re not expected,” she said.

Since 2013, the graduates have made New York City their campus, she said. Many of them participated in their first Consulting Cup challenge, launched socially conscious business ventures as Social Impact 360 fellows, and helped to enhance electric vehicles for BMW through Fordham’s Social Innovation Collaboratory. She shared that members of the Class of 2018 have also interned at institutions and companies such as Memorial Sloan Kettering, Bloomberg LP, and the Dr. Oz Show. This year’s graduates have accepted offers at companies such as the Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase, and CNBC, Rapaccioli said.

“Truly [this]inaugural class of the Gabelli School of Business has exceeded our expectations,” she said, “but I know…the best is yet to come.”

The Lincoln Center awards ceremony conferred awards upon dozens of students, including Dean’s Award recipient Victoria Cleveland and Alumni Chair Award recipient Joseph Gorman. In addition to recognizing academic excellence, the Gabelli School honored students for their efforts to advance the educational and social programs of the school across a variety of concentrations, from global finance and business economics to digital media and technology.

‘Pioneers’ of the Gabelli School

During the ceremony, Michael McSherry, GABELLI ’78, was awarded the 2018 Gabelli School of Business Alumni Inspiration Award, which honors an alumna or alumnus who has made an admirable contribution to the present and future of the Lincoln Center program. An EY retired executive partner and adjunct professor at the Gabelli School, McSherry also assists the University on entrepreneurship curriculum as a member of the Fordham Foundry’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. In his speech, McSherry called this graduating Lincoln Center class “pioneers” of the Gabelli School. He advised them to continue to dream big and set audacious goals.

“While dreaming, make sure to be patient,” he added. “Things don’t always happen when you want them [to]and sometimes they happen when you least expect it and sometimes they happen by luck and hard work.”

The International Awareness Award went to Andrea Mennillo, parent of Francesco Mennillo, GABELLI ’16. A senior partner and managing director of IDACAPITAL, Mennillo serves as the international chair of the Parents’ Leadership Council and a member of the executive committee of the Gabelli School’s advisory board. He said he sees the graduates as “ambassadors of the Gabelli School of Business and its distinguished values.”

“My request to you is that you embody those values in your careers and life,” he said. “Please remember to be compassionate business leaders. This will help you to discover and create new ideas and make them accessible to the next generation.”

Gabelli School faculty were also celebrated for their distinguished achievements. Mathematics professor David Swinarski received the Gratias Tibi Award  in recognition of his contribution to the overall experience of students and faculty. The Faculty Cura Personalis Award, which recognizes a faculty member who embodies the University’s Jesuit values and focuses on “care for the whole person,” went to James McCann, a lecturer in finance and business at the Gabelli School, and Brian E. Johnson, Ph.D., an associate professor of philosophy at the Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

At the 2018 graduate awards brunch, held earlier in the week on May 14, the Gabelli School also honored Dario Werthein, GABELLI ’91, with the Alumni Award.

Wertheim, who worked on his family farm, spoke about the importance of hard work and said that his time at Fordham helped reinforce the values he was raised with. He said that Gabelli School faculty provided him with valuable professional advice.

The graduate awards brunch recognized the distinguished accomplishments of graduating master’s students, faculty, and alumni. Students were honored for service, for overall academic success, and for achievements in their chosen concentrations.

A native of Wooster, Ohio, Gorman is a member of the Gabelli School’s inaugural Lincoln Center class. He’s graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Global Business, and he’s one of the top students in his year. But he didn’t get there without a little help.

During his junior year, he earned an internship with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the world’s largest private cancer center, through an interaction he had with Ian Cairns, GABELLI ’18.

“He said, ‘I like the things that you said in class. I’m interning at Memorial Sloan and part of our role is to help recruit,” recalled Gorman. “Why don’t you send me your resume?”

Cairns passed Gorman’s resume along to recruiters at the hospital. After being interviewed, he was offered a role as an investment management intern. When his internship ended, Gorman helped to recruit and interview other Fordham students for his role, just as Cairns had done for him.

“If you like your employer, and you like Fordham, then you want to help them both find one another,” he said, adding that he hopes younger classmates will follow his and Cairns’ example.

After completing several internships, Gorman served as a chief economist for the Gabelli School’s Student-Managed Investment Fund. He also worked on the Dean’s Council alongside Vincent DeCola, S.J., assistant dean of the Gabelli School of Business, to help improve the academic experience of undergraduates at the Lincoln Center campus. And he’s volunteered at open houses for admitted students and events for first-year students.

“I remember being in their place four years ago and trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and talking to current students was very helpful,” said Gorman.

Hu— who is graduating with a Master of Science in taxation— has helped to organize networking events with Fordham alumni as a board member of the Fordham Accounting and Tax Society. She also helped spearhead a career fair with representatives from firms like Friedman LLP and Ernst & Young. Last spring, she put together an event with a professional English-language teacher for international students interested in improving their English.

Her drive to help other students in her program was inspired by a phrase her mother, a quality controller at a food company, used to say to her growing up.

“She would always tell me that ‘helping others is helping yourself,’” recalled Hu, a native of Nehe, China. “That helped to build my character. I never go somewhere and expect that I could just receive things and take that for granted.”

Hu said her father, a part-time computer shop owner and farmer, would talk about macroeconomics around the house when she was young.

“He wasn’t able to go to business school but supported my decision to go,” she said. “I was able to stand on his shoulders, learn more, and see a broader field.”

Hu and Gorman both said the experiential learning opportuni- ties and classes they have had at the Gabelli School helped to shape their post-graduation goals.

Gorman said he has always been interested in math but didn’t know what career path to take until he served on the winning team of the Gabelli School’s Consulting Cup challenge, the biggest on-campus academic competition for sophomores at the school. He also took a financial management course that same year.

“That’s when it clicked that I wanted to try something in the finance area,” said Gorman, who has interned for North Brookside Capital and the French investment bank Société Générale, where he will soon work as a full-time investment banking analyst.

“We were talking about current events around that time, about the border adjustment tax and the tax plan the new administration had been proposing. It was kind of eye opening to see those things in the news and then come to class and put some numbers behind it,” he said.

Hu’s aha moment came in an international taxation course, where she studied the tax systems of the U.S. and foreign countries as well as topics related to tax treaties, transfer pricing, and foreign tax credits.

“I’m interested in how international transactions work and how businesses get taxed in different jurisdictions,” said Hu. “A lot of the logic makes sense to me, especially with my international background.”

Hu recently accepted a position in Ernst & Young’s Diversified Staffing Group in Houston. She said she looks forward to putting her accounting training into action.

“My job would be to become a well-rounded tax professional in the beginning and then specialize in one area,” she said. “It’s really cool to know that what I was learning will apply to my job later on.”

Two of this year’s graduates—Andrew Santis, who is receiving a bachelor’s of science in marketing with a concentration in global business, and Stephanie Ballantyne, who graduates with a dual master’s degree in public accounting and taxation—have worked, lived, and studied in more than a dozen countries between the two of them.

To Ballantyne, the global bent at the Gabelli School felt like home. Born in Germany and raised in Switzerland, she completed her undergraduate degree in accounting finance at the University of Stirling in Scotland, and then worked for Deloitte Zurich before coming to Fordham.

The move was challenging, she said; but then, having attended an international high school and traveled as a student to the likes of Egypt, Russia, and Greece, the challenge was a familiar one.

“I’ve always had culture shock happening at some point or another, but I grew up knowing I’d have an international lifestyle,” said Ballantyne, whose credits include president of the Gabelli School’s Accounting and Tax Society and chief operating officer of the Finance Society.

“I like New York,” she said. “Switzerland is a bit more laid back—they start work earlier, but also leave earlier, and on the weekends their phones are turned off. For someone starting their career, it can seem a bit slow.”

The New York pace has suited Ballantyne. She interned at Deloitte in Manhattan last summer, and by August she had secured a full-time offer.

“It was a big change, coming here—especially because I started at Fordham in 2014 during the polar vortex. There were about two snow days per week, which made it hard to meet people,” she said. “But overall, Fordham was definitely the right choice.”

For Santis, a native New Yorker, it was a study tour to Spain during his junior year that sparked his passion for global business—but his real adventure began when he returned home to his internship at Cardwell Beach, a digital marketing agency.

“My boss knew how much I enjoyed Madrid, and in March he called and said they wanted to offer me compensation for my work, which would be to send me abroad to work for the summer,” he said. “It didn’t even have to be Spain—I could choose any country I wanted.”

His options boundless, Santis chose a multi-city tour of Europe. He began with a week in Paris, and then joined up with fellow Gabelli School students for a summer semester program at Fordham’s London Centre. After London, he continued on to Germany, where he spent a week each in Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich.

In the mornings Santis explored the city, and in the afternoons, once his New York colleagues were at the office, he worked on creating buyer personas for Cardwell Beach.

“It was definitely a test of strength and character,” Santis said. “I learned a lot about myself by venturing out to another part of the world on my own.”

Both Santis and Ballantyne have jobs lined up following graduation. Ballantyne will continue with Deloitte in Manhattan, and Santis will take a full-time position at Cardwell Beach (a position for which he will craft his own title and job description).

“Fordham prepared me well,” Ballantyne said. “All the opportunities are here—you just have to take the initiative to go get them.”

Alberto Sanchez, GSAS ’96, returned to Rose Hill this week with advice for the next generation of business leaders: If you want to be successful, then for goodness’ sake, don’t tell knock-knock jokes.

Sanchez, the managing director and head of investment strategies for the Americas Banco Santander, gave the keynote speech on Nov. 17 for the Gabelli School of Business’s International Business Week, a four-day series of lectures, panels, and executive lunches on the topic of global business.

A well-traveled businessman and a member of the President’s Council, Sanchez told global business students that to be successful in their careers, they must cultivate three qualities: cultural empathy, honesty, and a sense of humor.

Cultural understanding is critical when you are working with clients and companies from around the world, Sanchez said. Before traveling to another country for business, it’s important to research the country’s history and its latest local newspapers.

If you want to be especially savvy, Sanchez said, you can take your knowledge a step further than historical facts and current events:

“There’s one thing that always works—soccer. Every country loves soccer,” said Sanchez, who is a native of Spain. “Know who won the league last year, know a few of the major players in that country, and, of course, know what happened to that country’s team in the World Cup.

“If you go to Brazil and you know they were defeated 1 to 6 by Germany in their own home, don’t bring that up. But if you go to Germany, you should definitely bring that up.”

Keep It Honest

Honesty is another key to success, Sanchez said. He warned students that distorting the facts or being sneaky in negotiations and transactions will likely cost them their clients’ trust.

“Your reputation will follow you everywhere,” he said. “Your word is your bond. Never promise something you cannot deliver.”

Most important, he counseled the students not to become discouraged by dishonesty in the rest of the business world. Being Jesuit educated, Fordham students might take for granted that values are a necessary part of one’s work, Sanchez said. Unfortunately, not everyone is of the same mind.

“People lie and cheat, and you’ll see that in business. And sometimes they’ll win and you’ll feel really bad. But you have to stick to it. In my experience, honesty is what works in the long run,” he said.

But Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

After cultural empathy and honesty, maintaining a sense of humor is critical to success in global business, Sanchez said.

“Business is serious enough as it is. You’re going to have a lot of pressure and a boss who will ask you for unrealistic results. So, in the end, you need a sense of humor.”

However, he cautioned the students against telling jokes. Not all cultures share the same humor (“Knock-knock jokes are very bad,” Sanchez said. “No one in the rest of the world laughs at those jokes.”) Moreover, if you are unfamiliar with the nuances of a culture, your risk inadvertently making a joke that is politically incorrect or offensive.

When it comes to humor, then, your best bet is to laugh at yourself, Sanchez said.

“Humor is very useful from a psychological point of view because it makes you vulnerable, normal, human. Everyone wants to deal with the guy who has a sense of humor, who laughs and enjoys life, who isn’t so serious all the time.

“If you want to be successful, you have to let them know you’re approachable.”

International Business Week continues today with a tour of the United Nations Visitor Center and a keynote address from Fran Horowitz, GABELLI ’90. For a complete schedule for the week, visit the International Business Week page on Gabelli Connect.