Awards

John "Dutch" Summers, CEO of Graywood Companies, Jasco Heat Treating and Jasco Pharmaceuticals LLC, has been named the 2018 recipient of the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award, presented by Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology. The award, which is given to entrepreneurial leaders within the upstate New York region, was presented at Oak Hill Country Club on June 6.

Saunders College of Business closed out the 2017-2018 academic year with many honors and awards for both itself and its faculty.

Rankings

Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf inducted 26 new members into the Delta Xi chapter of the Epsilon Pi Tau honor society at a ceremony on May 1.

Epsilon Pi Tau recognizes the academic excellence of students in fields devoted to the study of technology and the preparation of practitioners for the technology professions. Epsilon Pi Tau also extends the honor of membership to outstanding practitioners in the technology professions, to scholars, and/or to persons who have significantly supported or advanced technology professions.

A team of three computer engineering majors has developed a prototype for an emergency mass notification clock, which won the top prize and $5,000 in Rochester Institute of Technology's first STEAM competition.

The contest, sponsored by RIT's Center for Public Safety Initiatives, encouraged teams of students to develop ways public safety problems can be helped with the use of solutions involving science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

The Fram Advisory Board honored Saunders exhibits, recognizing them for their specialized and applied critical thinking. The two teams awarded are “Commercializing Pumice Roofing Tiles in Nicaragua” and “Molecular Glasses Consulting Project — Feasibility of the Automotive Industry.”

Saunders College of Business student, Danni Wang, was awarded the New York State Society of CPA's 2018 "Excellence in Academic Achievement Award."

 Rochester Institute of Technology honored researchers who served as principal investigators on active awards in fiscal year 2017 at an April 18 reception.

Also recognized were the 19 recipients of Seed Funding Awards and 10 new inductees in RIT's PI Millionaires. 

RIT investigator efforts led to $60 million in research funding in the 2017 fiscal year.

Philip Gelsomino can be described in many ways-among them are honest, straightforward, compassionate, boisterous and just plain loud. In fact, the visiting lecturer in the Saunders College of Business says his booming voice and near constant movement in the classroom help to keep his students engaged and interested in the subject material. These qualities, along with 32 years of experience owning several small businesses including a public accounting firm, have earned Gelsomino RIT's Outstanding Teaching Award for Non-Tenure Track Faculty.

The Celebration of Teaching and Scholarship, which honors the recipients of the annual Eisenhart Awards, is set for Tuesday, April 17. The awards recognize members of the RIT community "who contribute significantly to student learning and academic scholarship." This year's recipients come from four different RIT colleges:

Three faculty members of Saunders College of Business were awarded the Provost’s Learning Innovation Grants for 2018. Those awarded include Hao Zhang, Julie Cecchini and Clyde Eirikur Hall.