On August 13, 2011, undergraduate and graduate students at Florida International University (FIU) shared the excitement of the university’s first-ever Summer Commencement. The added ceremony was needed to accommodate the growing number of annual graduates, currently about 10,000.
Among the happy new alumni were 426 students from the College of Business Administration’s R. Kirk Landon Undergraduate School and 393 from its Alvah H. Chapman Graduate School.
Leaders of two student organizations capture Worlds Ahead Graduate designation.
Two of the undergraduate students, Jose Betancourt (BBA ’11) and Jeffrey Zelaya (BBA ’11) were recognized as Worlds Ahead Graduates. The honor singles out individuals with strong leadership qualities, a desire to change lives and a record of academic achievement.
As chapter president of Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL) in 2009-2010, Betancourt brought the chapter its first corporate sponsors in Pepsi, Target and Enterprise Holdings, providing the means to mentor and compete on a national level. In 2011, FIU placed second in the nation in just its fourth year of competition.
Zelaya was the first FIU student to win first place at the American Marketing Association (AMA) National Sales Competition, competing against 100 students. The chapter was named “International Collegiate Chapter of the Year” in 2011. He also was the first-ever “Mr. FIU Business,” an honor his fellow students gave him as the student who best represents the College of Business Administration academically and professionally.
Two college employees complete their degree work.
In addition, two employees of the college received their degrees.
Finance major Samantha Davis (BBA ’11), who minored in criminal justice, is the administrative coordinator of the college’s State Farm Financial Literacy Lab.
David Thackeray (MSF ’11), a finance tutor in the Ernst & Young Student Learning Lab, who works in collaboration with the Department of Finance, graduated from the Master of Science in Finance program.
The afternoon ceremony for the business school took place at the U.S. Century Bank Arena on the Modesto A. Maidique Campus.
