The revamped 16-week course will teach leaders in the hospitality industry how to bring in top talent and retain that talent. Read more.

Students with the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program got a taste of what it’s like to stage an esports competition last month. They served as production assistants, social media assistants and stream supporters, all paid positions in the inaugural Tampa Beasley Gaming Series Tournament.

“They learned about the event operations side of esports,” said Derek Watford, co-founder of High Point Gamer, a consultancy that supports the esports industry. “They were able to put their social media knowledge to use and operate the capture and posting of content. They were able to see how tournament software is used to organize and record the competition and they saw how a big media company like Beasley Media Group used esports as an activation to sell to their sponsors."

Three graduate students, Sean Kennedy, Madi Shane and Tolu Adebakin, helped stage the event.

“This was the first in-person esports gaming event some of our MBA students worked, in this burgeoning esports industry,” said Michelle Harrolle, director of the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program.

"This tournament provided a perfect outside-the-classroom experience our students need to be successful after graduation," she said. "Esports is a fast-growing industry and our students need to see first-hand how these events take place."

Brianna Paulich, assistant marketing professor, and V. Kumar received word that their article, “Relating Entertainment Features in Screenplays to Movie Performance: An Empirical Investigation,” will be published in the Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, an FT50 publication.

Lin Jiang, who teaches Strategic Market Assessment in the USF Center for Entrepreneurship, is collaborating with the T2U program of NASA, using NASA-patented technology in the course. To read more, click here.

Greg Greenhalgh, a visiting professor with the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program, was quoted in a recent WalletHub article. To read more, click here.

Rob Hooker, a marketing professor, was quoted in the Tampa Bay Times on the reasons for the rising cost of food and its effect on Tampa Bay restaurants. Read more.

Tony Kong, associate professor in the School of Information Systems and Management, recently received a research grant for his work in negotiation communication through an international, competitive process.

Moez Limayem, the Lynn Pippenger Dean of the Muma College of Business, was interviewed on a Credly podcast, in which he discusses the importance of diversity in the workplace. To listen to the podcast, click here.

Matt Mullarkey, program director of the DBA, recently published research on a COVID-19 detection device. The work appeared in Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation. Read more.

Evelyn Viens, (’19, Accounting) will play soccer for Team Canada in this summer’s Olympic games in Tokyo. Viens holds the record as top scorer with USF’s Women’s Soccer. From 2016-19, she led the Bulls in goals and points for four straight years, earned a record 15 Player of the Week titles from AAC and broke the AAC record for all-time goals (73).

Brian Kornfeld, (‘14, Executive MBA) was named to the Forbes Next 1,000 list of entrepreneurs making an impact on their communities. He is the CEO and co-founder of Synapse Florida, a nonprofit designed to help build Florida as a destination for the tech and innovation community.

Chip Whitworth (’12 Executive MBA) was recently promoted to vice president of safety and security at Tampa Electric. He served the previous 24 years as senior director at the utility. 

Jennifer Cainas, an accounting instructor, was the recent recipient of the Bea Sanders’ AICPA Innovation in Teaching Award, which recognizes successful teaching practices in the first sequence of accounting. Cainas’ winning submission co-authored by accounting doctoral student Juliana M. Kralik, uses a “virtual escape room" in Excel that challenges students to solve problems in a timed session. Cainas also won honorable mention for her work on an unrelated interactive dashboard project.

Kemel Thompson, a USF alumnus who has worked with the university for more than 10 years in development roles with the USF Athletics and the USF Alumni Association, was named interim senior director of development for the Muma College of Business earlier this month. Thompson will play a critical role in engaging the college’s top donors and prospects and help with strategy and planning as the development team undergoes a restructuring. Over the past seven years, Thompson served as director of development for the USF Alumni Association, where he was responsible for fundraising through major and principal level gifts from individuals, corporations and foundations, to benefit the work of the university.

From 2002-07, he trained as a professional track and field athlete, competing at the highest level at national and international competitions. He competed in two Olympics and from 2003-07, he maintained a Top 8 world ranking in the 400-meter hurdles and was No 2 in the world in 2003.