LHBS officially kicked off the Professor-In-Residence Program in 2024, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at fostering meaningful collaboration between academia and the corporate world.  At the heart of this program lies the opportunity to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom and real-world application.  Erin Moran, Business Council member and Vice President Brokerage & Office Leasing at JLL, hosted the first pilot engagement.  Read on  

This new initiative is a joint effort between the LHBS Corporate Relations Officer, Faculty Department Chairs and the Business Council. Together, they match faculty interests with willing organization participants and Business Council member hosts. The aim is to create dynamic and mutually beneficial experiences that enrich the professional development of our faculty and strengthen practical learning for students.  

This immersion experience includes the opportunity for professors to shadow executives and discuss real time business problems and industry specific intricacies.  To date, four professors have participated with members of the LHBS Business Council in the areas of logistics, accounting, marketing, and commercial office leasing. 

Program Spotlight  

Jonathan Daigle, PhD, LHBS Graduate Program Director and Associate Professor of Finance was partnered with Erin Moran from JLL – a full-service global real estate company – to explore how the challenges of leasing an office building in the current environment impact owners’ financing. Together, Professor Daigle and Erin toured a sampling of Class A assets in central Jersey while discussing what today’s tenants are looking for to encourage a “return to office” and the landlords’ costs to provide such amenities. They talked through the high-level components of an office lease and the expenses landlords are facing to make deals: free rent periods, tenant improvement / construction allowances, and commissions, to name a few. Professor Daigle also had the opportunity to sit down with JLL’s Capital Markets for a discussion on how interest rates are impacting property values and what the market is expecting in the years to come for the landlords who go “underwater” – when they owe more than what the asset is worth. 

“Textbooks are great, but they have limitations,” says Daigle. “This opportunity allowed me to ask questions and gain insights into the industry’s current state and future direction.” 

Professor Daigle then turned his “day at the office” into a future case study for his students in both Corporate Finance and Real Estate Finance, Investment, and Taxation this spring. The aim will be to increase students’ level of knowledge about the commercial real estate market (namely the office segment) by identifying potential solutions to reduce vacancy levels in an office building and evaluate how those proposed solutions directly impact landlords’ financials. Professor Daigle has invited Erin to the case study presentations and participate in an overall discussion about what they’ve learned in the finance classroom and how it can be applied in commercial real estate. Interesting fact: one of the buildings that Jonathan and Erin toured during their day at the office is currently “underwater.” Maybe the students can find the answers! We will share highlights of the classroom discussion in Part II of our spotlight. 

Professor Daigle also used this initiative in his professional development. He presented his experience and case study at the Financial Education Association Annual Meeting in San Antonio where other professors expressed interest in incorporating his case study into their courses! 

As a second-generation graduate of Monmouth University for both undergrad and MBA degrees, Tanya was excited to be reached out to by fellow alumni Natasha Chandler to join the Leon Hess Business Council last September. She spent most of her life and career in New Jersey moving to Yardley, PA about 11 years ago after she and her husband adopted their son. Looking back at her time in college, she attributes much of her early leadership experience to the organizations she was involved in including Alpha Sigma Tau and how the career center resources helped her in getting her first job in healthcare as a medical sales representative. 

She has held various commercial roles as an individual contributor and leader in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry working for large and mid-size companies. Leading Sales, Marketing and Customer Experience teams in areas such as Cardiovascular to rare specialty conditions has given her many varied opportunities of experience. Tanya also enjoys mentoring and has served leading Women’s groups and programming at two of her former companies. 

Since joining the council, she has enjoyed meeting and helping out students with projects, career advice and general mentoring around topics like building your network and how to find a job in the pharma or life sciences industry. She’s enjoyed working with Tanner Purdy and his team to learn more about their award-winning idea presented to the council last year and conversations with Alana Aufiere and Thomas Viru about the AMA. It was a pleasure to be invited to speak last fall with Michael Chattalas joining in on a great conversation sharing with students some ideas on how to pursue a sales or marketing career in the healthcare industry. 

In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering, mentoring and spending time with family and friends. She most recently started a new job and is looking forward to continuing to be part of the business council in 2025 speaking as part of a panel coming up in April thanks to Richard Ricciardi leading the program. 

The Leon Hess Business School (LHBS) is delighted to celebrate the strides we have made in our teaching and learning experiences, faculty scholarship, and meaningful societal impact of our stakeholders. Through hands-on entrepreneurial projects, impactful scholarship, and community service, our students, faculty, and the LHBS Business Council member’s publication we have held true to our promise to provide “personalized education to promote business as a force for good.”  Read on 

In Fall 2024, LHBS achieved significant milestones in our continuous improvement efforts, particularly in refining assessment processes and addressing areas of growth identified therein. These initiatives underscore our commitment to excellence in teaching, learning, and meaningful impact. 

Our distinguished faculty continue to advance both business practice and academic scholarship. Among the highlights:  

• Dr. Anna Sadovnikova was honored with the prestigious Bright Ideas Award at Seton Hall University, a testament to her innovative contributions to business teaching and research. This recognition, bestowed by the New Jersey Collegiate Business Administration Association, highlights the excellence of New Jersey’s top business educators. 

• Dr. Ashley Bosonac, in collaboration with MBA student Carissa Civitello ’24, co-authored the insightful peer-reviewed article, “Catering to the Quiet and the Sociable: A Proposal for Introversion and Extraversion as Emerging Market Segments,” published in the International Journal of Business and Social Science Research. This work exemplifies our focus on integrating cutting-edge research with the student experience. 

• Dr. John Buzza continues to lead transformative entrepreneurial experiential projects, empowering our students to connect theory with practice while driving innovation with societal impact. 

Student excellence was recognized with the Monmouth University team awarded second place in the Kislak Real Estate Institute Challenge competing against Villanova, CUBY Baruch and Rutgers Newark. 

Our students also shine in their commitment to service and stewardship. This fall, seventy local high school students participated in the Financial Literacy Program sponsored by LHBS.  Our students set the curriculum, organized activities and mentored participants demonstrating the values of community responsibility, a key tenant of the LHBS mission. 

These accomplishments reflect our dedication to shaping thoughtful, capable leaders who will contribute meaningfully to their fields and communities. We look forward to building upon these successes and driving forward the mission of LHBS with passion and purpose.