Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Category: Announcements

Brown Bag Research Seminar Series

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The campus community is invited to hear Laura Connolly, assistant professor of economics, present ‘Labor Mobility and the Affordable Care Act: Heterogeneous Impacts of the Preexisting Conditions Provision,’ as part of our Brown Bag Research Seminar Series, Noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, September 29 in Academic Office Building room 101.

Laura Connolly

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) preexisting conditions provision ensures that insurance companies cannot deny coverage or charger higher premiums to individuals due to a prior health condition. We evaluate the impact of this provision on job mobility in the U.S. to determine whether the provision reduced job lock for individuals with chronic conditions. Our results highlight the heterogeneous impacts of the policy on different subgroups of the population. We find significant improvements in labor mobility among male household heads with prior health conditions, but no significant change in labor mobility among females. Declines in job lock are largest among families with children and household heads with relatively low levels of education. The results are consistent with the policy improving access to healthcare, and both mental and physical wellbeing, which ultimately increased labor market flexibility for some workers.”

About the College of Business
The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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Branding Expert, Alumna Monica Hahn Visits Tech Marketing Students

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Students members of the Michigan Tech chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) this week spent time with College of Business alumna, brand management expert, and entrepreneur Monica Hahn. After a successful career in marketing for well-known global brands, Hahn is now thriving as a franchisee with Elements MassageTM. Elements Massage is one of the largest retail massage franchises in North America. Hahn owns and operates two studios in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Before joining the Elements family, Hahn spent several years as a brand strategy consultant and career coach, focused on inspiring brands and individuals to reach their potential. Before beginning her own practice, she was a respected senior executive for a number of large companies, including ARAMARK, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Burger King Corporation, and Whirlpool.  

Junhong “Jun” Min, faculty advisor to the AMA group, says that learning real-world marketing stories and examples is an essential feature of Marketing at Michigan Tech.

Monica’s passion for education and leadership development reaches outside her day job. For a decade, she was a board member for The Leadership Investment, a Denver-based nonprofit focused on advancing the collaborative power of women and men leading together. Since 2012, she has served on the Board of Directors for Asante Africa Foundation, a nonprofit working in East Africa to educate and empower the next generation of change agents, whose dreams and actions are transforming the future for Africa and the world. And through her work in Africa, she connected with the Michigan Tech Pavlis Honors College, and is a member of their External Advisory Board. Hahn has been a member of Michigan Tech’s Presidential Council of Alumnae since 2007. 

Vice president of AMA, Ryan Calkins, says that a key takeaway following Hahn’s presentation was that connecting with people is one of the most important aspects of brand management. And Jaxon Verhoff, president of AMA, adds: “It was really fulfilling to hear Monica discuss her experiences in marketing. Listening to her validated my decision to choose marketing as my major.”

In addition to the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration she earned at Michigan Tech, Hahn holds an MBA in marketing from Western Michigan University. She is passionate about food, travel, education and a healthy outdoor lifestyle, and resides in northern California with her husband.

About the College of Business
The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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Xin Li Joins College of Business Faculty

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Xin Li is an assistant professor of finance in the College of Business at Michigan Technological University. He earned his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Cincinnati and a Master of Economics from Texas A&M University. His Bachelor of Economics was obtained from the Central University of Finance and Economics.
Professor Xin Li
Dr. Li’s research interests are in empirical asset pricing, bond pricing, institutional investments, fintech, market microstructure, and risk management. He presents his research at national and international conferences including American Finance Association, Financial Management Association, European Financial Management Association, Eastern Finance Association, Southern Finance Association, and American Risk and Insurance Association. A paper based on his dissertation was invited to revise and resubmit for the publication of Management Science.  

He has served as an ad-hoc referee for journals such as the Pacific-Basin Finance Journal and the Journal of Financial Counselling and Planning. Li’s teaching areas include principles of finance, advanced financial management, risk management, and investment. In the past, he was the sole winner for the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award of the College of Business at University of Cincinnati and also won the Finance Department Teaching Award as well as the Dean’s List of Teaching Excellence. Li was the winner of the Spencer Doctoral Candidate Scholarship. He also won university-wide awards including the GSG Research Fellowship and the Excellence Award for Exemplary Scholarship from the University of Cincinnati.

About the College of Business
The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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College of Business Student Selected as Gates Scholar

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Jaylen Body is no stranger to scholarship applications. The Warren, Michigan, native who attended Chandler Park Academy was a finalist in both the Impact Scholarship and Leading Scholar events on campus earlier this year.

Michigan Tech student Jaylen Body

The two competitive awards served as a warm up for Body who would later learn about the Gates Scholarship from his college counselor.

Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates Scholarship is intended for minority and low-income, college-bound students. Body was one of 300 students to earn a full-ride award out of an applicant pool of nearly 35,000 across the nation. The three-phase scholarship process began back in summer 2020, culminating in a five-day virtual conference in spring 2021.

“The Gates Scholarship is a foundation for my future; putting ‘Gates Scholar’ on my résumé makes me stand out as a driven and determined person, and that makes me feel incredibly proud,” Body says. Michigan Tech student Jaylen Body

Jaylen began his college search early. By the 10th grade he was sold on Tech’s business program and already connected to many faculty and staff on campus. “I knew I wanted to go to a college with an atmosphere that was not only academically innovative but also made me feel comfortable for being different.”

Browsing YouTube, he found “Jack’s Vlogs.” The quick-hitting, student-produced videos gave him a preview of Tech’s atmosphere. “Those videos really made me fall in love with campus,” he adds.

For Body, who is pursuing a dual major in accounting and management, his goals on campus go beyond simply earning a degree. “I truly hope to make as many contributions as I can to help foster the growth of Michigan Tech. It’s my second home and I want it to be the best it can possibly be.”

About the College of Business
The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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Chow Recipient of MIS Alumni Scholarship

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Congratulations to Fiona Chow, recipient of the Management Information Systems (MIS) Alumni Scholarship. The MIS Alumni Scholarship is an endowed scholarship created and funded by College of Business MIS graduates. Selection criteria include being an MIS major (or dual major) with a strong academic standing, a demonstrated commitment to the degree program, and professional communication skills.

“Being honored with this scholarship makes my final semesters at MTU much more meaningful. With the support of this scholarship and our alumni, I feel confident in my ability to fully focus on academics while giving back and making an impact through campus involvement,” Chow says.
Fiona Chow
The fourth-year MIS student, who will graduate in December 2022, is interning this summer as a data engineer with Polaris, Inc. Chow is researching and integrating a new weather data source into the powersports leader’s analytics database and creating an application to better understand supplier capacity information, while learning new programming languages including SQL and R.

Jeff Wall, associate professor of MIS, says that Chow is ambitious, focused, and driven—with a bright future ahead. Her career interests include data analytics, data science, brand management, entrepreneurship, and research and development. She says that she is a curious person who is interested in learning about ways to bring people and solutions together through technology.
Fiona Chow
On-campus, Chow serves as project manager of SENSE Enterprise (Strategic Education Through Naval Systems Experiences). She is responsible for overall Enterprise strategy, leadership, direction, and growth. She is also an Orientation Team Leader, a founding member of the MTU Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) chapter, a College of Business student ambassador, IRHC broomball player, and participant in swing club lessons and Ridge Roamer climbs.

About the College of Business
The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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