The stars of Indian film, politics, and business, along with leaders in those arenas in the U.S., all came together for the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum in Tampa in late April. As part of the Indian International Film Academy Awards held in Tampa this year -- also known as the Bollywood Oscars -- The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry organized the business forum in conjunction with the USF College of Business. You can read more on our website and view a full photo gallery on our Flickr page.   

Two new grants from the State of Florida will help information systems and accounting students at USF take smaller classes, learn more, and, ideally, graduate in less time. USF's School of Accountancy received a TEAm grant for $1.1 million, and the Information Systems & Decision Sciences Department received $705,000. Read more.   

At this year's Fast 56 awards, nearly half of the firms and alumni honored were College of Business graduates -- including the No. 2 fastest-growing business, AirHeads Trampoline Arena. The Fast 56 recognizes growing USF alumni owned or led businesses all over the world. Read more about all 56 companies.  

'Breakfast with a CIO' event brings banking executive to tech community

JPMorgan Chase Head of Banking Technology Mark

Ashton-Rigby spoke to an audience from the Tampa tech community on April 22 as the keynote speaker for the

USF Information Systems & Decision Science Department's second "Breakfast with a CIO" event. Read more.   

Advertising students give their all to national competition

For more than two decades, USF has been sending students to the National Student Advertising  Competition, which asks students to spend a year coming up with a multimillion dollar campaign for a national sponsor client. The project gives students a chance to get real-world experience, find solutions for the client, and get feedback from people in the industry. This year, USF students looked to find a solution to the problems facing Mary Kay in reaching the millennial market. Read more. 

The new Center for Supply Chain Management & Sustainability at the USF College of Business will train both undergraduates and graduates in issues related to supply chain management, reverse logistics, and sustainability -- with the goal of increasing the number of trained professionals entering the workforce. A recent partnership with Career Source Tampa Bay gives USF students experience in the international supply chain industry now. Read more. 

In Other News

USF's American Marketing Association brought home a Silver Chapter Award from this year's International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans. The award places them in the top 3 percent of North American chapters. Faculty advisor Jill Solomon won the Hugh G. Wales Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award for 2013-2014. Faculty advisors are nominated by students. Solomon is the third USF faculty member to receive the recognition. 

Congratulations to the 665 College of Business students who graduated this spring! We have a few photo galleries to share: the Beta Gamma Sigma induction ceremony and the BBC graduation ceremony were both held on May 3. You can also view a mini-gallery of commencement pictures on our Facebook page.  USF Accounting Student Stephanie Walton was named a King O'Neal Scholar at the recent spring  commencement, the designation given to students who graduate with a 4.0 GPA.  This is the fourth consecutive commencement where a School of Accountancy graduate has been recognized as a King O'Neal Scholar.

An $8 million gift from George and Jane Morgan will benef it USF Athletics, the College of Business, and the College of Marine Science. The gift  establishes the George and Jane Morgan Endowment for the College of Business, the George and Jane Morgan Endowment for Marine Science, the George and Jane Morgan Endowment for Men's Golf and the George and Jane Morgan Endowed Football Scholarship.      

The USF Center for Entrepreneurship's sixth annual Fintech Business Plan Competition awarded the $20,000 first prize to Aquamelon, a company owned by graduate student Desmond Williams that produces a watermelon beverage. Williams recently was interviewed on Bay News 9 about the product and the Student Innovation Incubator. 

From a Google Glass application for people with cognitive and physical disabilities to a grocery store chain that sells healthy food in low-income neighborhoods, some of the best student developed healthcare technology is being developed in the Sunshine State. But only one creation would reign supreme at the recent State of Florida Healthcare Innovation Competition. Find out more about the Center for Entrepreneurship and Florida Blue-hosted competition on WUSF's University Beat. More photos of the event are available on our Flickr page.  

Lizabeth Sismilich has joined the College of Business as senior director of development. Sismilich previously served as the director of leadership gifts for the USF Foundation and brings more than 20 years of fundraising experience to the college.  Debbie Lundberg has also joined the college as executive director for business and industry engagement. She will be developing a "catalog of services" for the business community, which includes executive training programs and industry-education partnerships. 

ISDS Associate Professor Manish Agrawal received an NSF Rapid Research Grant ($15K) for the "RAPID/Collaborative Research: Emergency Response Authorities' Microblogging and Community Needs: An Analysis of the Boston Bombings" project.  

Marketing Associate Professor Andy Artis was awarded the Outstanding Paper Award for the Education Track Marketing Management Association Conference in Chicago, IL in March, 2014 for "Content Analysis of Marketing Education Journals" with K. McManus, D.E. Fleming, and M. McDermott.

Today: Entrepreneurship Gala at the Westin Tampa Harbor Island, benefiting the Michael W. Fountain Scholarship Fund. Tickets and more information are available here.

May 29-30:  Accounting Circle CPE conference, Tampa Convention Center.  Tickets and more information are available here.

August 29:  Save the date for the annual USF College of Business Scholarship Luncheon.

Oct. 5-11: Save the date for USF Homecoming Week.