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Student Spotlight: Dylan Silva (’18)–The $10 Million Pioneer

When Dylan Silva goes on a job interview, he has a unique talking point — he has already successfully pitched an eight-figure idea — thanks to his extensive internship experience.

A senior from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Silva majors in Business Management at LIU Post’s nationally-ranked College of Management, and is also the face behind the mask of LIU Post’s mascot, the Pioneer.

Silva began an internship at 1-800-Flowers in digital marketing.  1-800-Flowers is an innovative company that operates 17 different companies under its flagship umbrella, giving Silva the opportunity to work with subsidiary companies – Florist.com, Fruit Bouquets, and Personalization Universe.

He was then accepted into an exclusive internship program as a business analyst at Meijer, the $16.6 billion company, ranked as the No. 19 largest privately held company by Forbes. There, he pitched a $10-million idea to the executives. Silva based his proposal to provide wider width shoes in a variety of styles on market research he had found that showed that wearing casual footwear had the effect of widening feet over time. Meijer implemented his finding.

Silva later returned to 1-800-Flowers where he was accepted into its elite Digital Leadership Program.

“I am in charge of testing theories and breaking hypotheses about the technology industry,” he explained. “1-800-Flowers works very closely with Google, so I utilize Google analytics and Google adwords to create marketing campaigns. I recently developed the go-to-market strategy for one of their new companies: BerryliciousBerries.”

After graduating this May, Silva plans to continue in the Global MBA program, which partners LIU Post’s internationally recognized business school with Cambridge University and Fudan University.

“I want to go into the consulting industry so the fact that I can get an MBA where I study in three different countries will really help me stand out amongst my competitors when it comes time to apply for jobs,” he said.

 

 

Student Spotlight: Julia Raie (’17), Road to the Big Four

 

Julia Raie came to LIU Post as a student who knew exactly what she wanted.  She enrolled in LIU Post’s School of Professional Accountancy — part of its prestigious College of Management — because of its established network with the Big Four accounting firms.

Excelling in her studies, Raie approached her Accountancy professor Dr. Jeffrey Hoops, a former partner at Ernst and Young, for an internship opportunity with the prestigious corporation. Dr. Hoops connected Raie with key associates who facilitated the challenging entry into this exclusive program, which included an interview for the EY Emerging Leaders Program, a three-day session that consisted of formal meetings and interviews within the company, attendance at a professional baseball game, and a barbecue at a partner’s home.

“The whole process was like an informal interview – although there were formal parts where we had to interview, there were informal parts where they were watching how you would behave in different settings,” Raie said. “Like the baseball game was informal where we were dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but the whole process was an interview so we were on our toes.”

Raie shined in the Emerging Leader’s Program and was accepted into the discriminative summer internship program that commenced with a week-long training in Chicago, where interns were introduced to a rigorous learning session that prepared them for the work ahead. They were taught the specific systems practiced by Ernst and Young, the rules and regulations, and the tax code information that they put to use throughout the summer. Each intern was assigned a mentor to help navigate the corporate atmosphere, creating an ideal learning environment.

Raie knew that she wanted to work in international tax law and was therefore assigned to that department, where she gained valuable experience meeting with clients and inputting data. Ernst and Young concluded the internship period by sending the students to Orlando for four days where they experienced more training, along with visiting Disney World and meeting with partners, senior managers, recruiters and Marc Weinberger, Global Chairman and CEO of Ernst and Young.

Today, Raie has her BS degree in Accountancy, and she is forging ahead through LIU’s accelerated Global MBA program with a coveted internship experience and a full-time position awaiting her at esteemed Ernst & Young.

“This two-month process confirmed that this is what I want to do and this is the company I want to launch my career from,” Raie said.

The job offer confirms that the feeling is mutual.

LIU Brooklyn’s Soccer Star Gio Savarese Is Named New Head Coach of Portland Timbers

Gio Savarese, LIU Brooklyn's class of '94, is the new head coach of the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer's Western Conference. (Photo courtesy MLSsoccer.com)

Giovanni Savarese, once upon a time a star forward on LIU Brooklyn’s soccer team, has scored again.

Savarese has just been named the manager of the Portland Timbers, which play in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference. And so, in barely half a dozen years of his managerial career, he’s risen to the top tier of professional men’s soccer in the United States and Canada.

Before he became a coach, Savarese made a name for himself as a ferocious player. After he graduated from LIU in 1994, Gio joined the Long Island Rough Riders before being drafted by the New York/New Jersey MetroStars (now the New York Red Bulls), where, soccer writer Dave Martinez writes, he was “the dynamic attacking marauder who won the hearts of MetroStars fans in the founding years of the league.”

Since then, Savarese has become “one of the hottest coaching commodities” on the continent, adds Martinez.

After Savarese joined the Cosmos in the USL Premier Development League, he led the team to the North American Soccer League title in 2013. He didn’t stop there. In 2016 his team, nicknamed the “Cardiac Cosmos” because of their heart-stopping tenacity on the field, won the third club title since he took over as their manager.

Born in Caracas in 1971, Savarese came to the U.S. with his parents from Italy and demonstrated his soccer prowess with the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds. As a senior in 1993, he earned All-American honors, having scored 50 goals in four years. During his 18-year professional playing career, he racked up 52 goals in 121 MLS regular-season and playoff appearances, according to MLSsoccer.com.

Merrit Paulson, owner of the Timbers, couldn’t be happier that he’s brought Savarese to Oregon. “Gio is an intelligent, attack-minded coach,” said Paulson in a statement provided by the team, “and is a driven individual who is both a great fit with us on and off the field. We are extremely pleased to welcome Gio and his family to Portland.”

Savarese called the move “ideal.”

“The passion, ambition and support surrounding this club is truly inspiring,” he said in a statement. “I am sincerely honored and grateful for this opportunity to lead it on the pitch and to build on the club’s history of success for the community and the incredible supporters of the Portland Timbers.”

He is their third full-time head coach since they entered the MLS.

Savarese likes to credit the trajectory of his success to his own coach at LIU, Arnold Ramirez.

“He was someone who was there all the time for all the players he coached,” Savarese recalled last summer when he was still involved with the Cosmos. “For me, that was a great lesson from a young age, to see how much he cared for us, not only from the standpoint of doing well in soccer, but that we advanced with our studies and in our lives—and that we developed as people.”

He enjoyed coaching the Cosmos but now he’s gone west to show what he can do at another level. Brooklyn’s loss is now Portland’s gain. But he’ll always be remembered here as a Blackbird who learned how to fly above the rest.

LIU Brooklyn Student Emily-Anna Barba Represents Japan at Model UN Environmental Conference

Before coming to LIU Brooklyn, Emily-Anna Barba had never been to Japan.

Now, she’s preparing to represent Japan.

In early January, the President of LIU Brooklyn’s student government will travel to the Galapagos Islands to attend a National Model United Nations conference on San Cristobal Island.

There, Barba will serve as the Japanese representative in simulated meetings of the UN Environment Assembly, which will discuss “Management and Reduction of Waste in Urban Areas” and “Eco-friendly Technology for the Protection of Oceans and Seas,” two of 10 topics related to climate change scheduled for discussion at the conference.

“It’s very exciting,” Barba said. “I can’t wait to go.”

Researching solid waste management
 in Japan without being in the country may seem very difficult. However, after representing Ireland and Singapore at two previous Model UN conferences (one of which took place in Japan), Barba has gotten used to the process.

“This paper is easier than the ones I’ve written in the past,” Barba said. “It shows what experience can do for you. You start working, and it all floods back.”

Besides, challenging herself to look at
the world from unfamiliar perspectives is what Barba enjoys most about Model UN.

“Model UN is truly understanding the world,” she said. “It’s completely removing yourself from your own surroundings, taking the country you’re representing and creating yourself in their world.”

Barba’s passion for exploring different global perspectives was sparked during her first year at LIU Brooklyn, while studying utopian and dystopian fiction in a class with political science professor Si Sheppard.

“Every class, he would blow my mind,” Barba said. “Toward the end of the class, he mentioned that there are people who do what we were doing, but in the real world, and that was Model UN.”

As she completes her degree in Health Science, Barba has her eyes on a career with the real United Nations, the World Health Organization, or another group that takes on health challenges around the globe.

“Health care in America is so different from the rest of the world,” Barba said.  “We’ve created a different society.”

For Barba, the skills that she has developed through Model UN are the key to developing the global perspective that she’ll need to put her education into action.

 

Macy’s Features LIU Professor and former Trustee for Black History Month Event

Macy’s Herald Square presented a special evening celebrating the release of Hildi Hendrickson’s biography of Reverend Dr. Paul Smith, Senior Pastor Emeritus of the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn.

Hildi Hendrickson, Chair, Department of Sociology/Anthropology and Associate Professor of Anthropology at LIU Brooklyn, penned the book Listening for the Sound of the Genuine: Race, Religion and Renewal in the Life of Rev. Dr. Paul Smith to create contexts for talking and thinking about race in America.

Dr. Smith, a former LIU trustee, shared his experiences and the wisdom he has gained over the course of his career. Following the discussion, guests enjoyed live music from a jazz band as they were served refreshments. Reverend Dr. Smith autographed copies of his new biography.

LIU Pharmacy Poised to Do Pioneering Research in Genomics

Long Island University is on the forefront of the genomics revolution. The building block of precision medicine—designing therapeutic drugs to precisely treat a particular patient’s disease—is the study of genomes. And that’s just one fascinating aspect of the far-reaching research now underway at LIU Pharmacy.

Helping LIU Pharmacy lead the way is Dr. Jeffrey Idle, who has joined the university to head the new Systems Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics Division. Dr. Jeffrey Idle is a world leader in the fields of metabolomics and pharmacogenetics. Dr. Idle’s work in this field and in pharmacogenetics has been instrumental in moving therapeutics towards more patient-specific treatments (“precision medicine”) in a broad range of medical specialties.

In addition, metabolomics has been successful in the discovery and definition of biomarkers of disease susceptibility and outcome, for example, in various types of cancer patients. Metabolomics and precision medicine may also lead to breakthroughs in treatments for osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and liver and lung disorders, among others. The building block of precision medicine is the study of genomes.

“The entire field of the treatment of human disease is moving toward precision or personalized medicine,” says Dr. John Pezzuto, Dean of the College of Pharmacy at Long Island University. “Basically, we’re all different people. One size does not fit all. By understanding the differences in terms of metabolism and genetics, systems, pharmacology and epigenetics, a more efficacious and more advantageous therapeutic approach can be designed.”

A genome is the complete set of DNA of an organism. Therefore, the human genome is all the genetic information in the DNA that has been used to produce and to operate a human being. Each of us has a unique genome, with the exception of identical twins, who share a common genome. The human genome comprises approximately 3 billion so-called “base pairs” arranged into units called genes, each of which has particular biological functions. We have somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 individual genes and, despite the Human Genome Project, the exact number is still uncertain.

Since our genome is largely responsible for our individuality, including our response to drugs, the study of how the genome affects drug responses, pharmacogenomics, is one of the main building blocks of precision medicine. This is why the pharmaceutical industry is collecting information on 2 million genomes, so that drugs can be better tailored to individual patients. By stratifying patients using genomic information, the licensing of new drugs by FDA will be streamlined.

“Systems pharmacology and pharmacogenomics research at LIU will furnish new insights into the mechanisms of drug action and adverse drug reactions, and therefore assist in the development of programs of precision medicine, fueling the greater good,” says Dr. Idle.

“We will move to the top of this area of precision medicine,” says Pezzuto. “In turn, this will lead to many important partnerships with various other institutions, hospitals, and clinics throughout the city, the nation, and, perhaps, the world. State-of-the-art technology and expertise will be right here at LIU.”

LIU Pharmacy Grad Dieter Weinand Is Bayer AG Board Member and President of Pharmaceuticals

As a member of the board of management and president of Pharmaceuticals at Bayer AG, Dieter Weinand described his experience earning his master’s degree at LIU Pharmacy in 1987 as “essential” to his career.

He remarked that his education at LIU gave him a foundation of “solid scientific understanding required to identify unmet medical needs and opportunities for medical or pharmaceutical intervention,” and reinforced that “seemingly minor scientific nuances can make a meaningful clinical difference.”

Looking forward, Mr. Weinand stated, “We are moving from population-based medicine to individualized personal medicine yielding better outcomes.” He reflected on the evolution of the industry and the unmet medical needs around cancer and complex cardiovascular or neurological conditions, as well as the growing and consequential body of research on stem cell technologies and artificial intelligence. Under Mr. Weinand’s leadership, Bayer is focusing on two primary therapeutic areas: cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In hemophilia, women’s health care, and ophthalmology, he sees Bayer uniquely positioned in the respective disease segment. As such, the company is well prepared to confront, and one day perhaps even overcome, some of the top health concerns impacting patients and health care systems today.

For the pharmaceutical industry to successfully deliver solutions for today’s major health concerns, Mr. Weinand says the true focus must be on the best science and delivering true value. “We have become agnostic as to whatever the cutting-edge science is and go to where it comes from, be that at academic institutions, small or large companies, or internally. Our focus is on providing health care solutions that benefit societies.”

For aspiring pharmacists, Mr. Weinand advises, “Continue your education, share your knowledge and learn from perspectives of others. Most importantly, go where the science is. In our globalized environment, scientific excellence has no geographic boundaries. Young scientists need to embrace flexibility to get the best out of all the different approaches to deliver true innovation that benefits patients.”

LIU Post Alum Jonathan Ortiz Featured by Wall Street Journal for Empowerment Efforts

Socially responsible LIU Post alumnus Jonathan Ortiz (MS, 2009) has been featured in the Wall Street Journal discussing the plight of students weighed down by college loans. In a recent video called “Student Debt in America and the Hope of Affordable Education,” Ortiz outlines the problem and becomes part of the solution.

Ortiz is the director of the Phipps Neighborhoods Financial Empowerment Center, a non-profit organization based in the Bronx, dedicated to helping struggling New York City residents improve their lives.

“For over nine years, I have assisted New York City residents rise above poverty by empowering them with information that impacts the way they move forward in managing their finances,” said Ortiz. “From budgets to credit scores, the goal is for my clients to move forward and break the cycle of poverty that in over 95 percent of the situations has been holding them back from acquiring basic necessities.”

He oversees a team of counselors that handles more than 2,000 counseling sessions a year. Their work has been covered by Telemundo, Univision, Bronx News 12, El Diario, and Bronxnet, to name a few media outlets. Ortiz is also an active LIU GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) member.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the total U.S. government student loan portfolio in September 2017 topped $1.4 trillion. Nationwide some 5 million Americans are now in default. In the Bronx, the Journal reports, 19 percent of the students default on paying back their loans—the national rate is 22 percent.

“What ends up happening,” Ortiz says on the video, “is that you end up in deep debt that you don’t know how to control because you’re coming out with a certificate or a degree and you’re not finding jobs that are paying you enough to ever make a dent on these student loans.”

To see Ortiz in the Wall Street Journal video, click here.

LIU Brooklyn Adjunct and Alumnus Curtis Stephen Honors Simeon Booker in CJR

LIU Brooklyn's Curtis Stephen with legendary journalist Simeon Booker (photo courtesy Curtis Stephen)

Curtis Stephen, an LIU Brooklyn adjunct journalism professor and alumnus, praised the legacy of legendary journalist Simeon Booker in a tribute recently published in the Columbia Journalism Review under the heading, “Simeon Booker was a leader among early, unheralded reporters on race.”

Thanks in part to Stephen, a member of the George Polk Awards’ panel of advisors, Booker was honored for his accomplishments in 2016. When Booker took the stage at the ceremony to accept his life-time career achievement award, he received a standing ovation.

“The sheer magnitude of the moment was lost to no one,” observed Stephen. “He covered America during the civil rights years—at a point when he surely could have been killed for doing so.”

Booker died Dec. 10, 2017, at the age of 99, and a memorial service was held Jan. 29, 2018 at Washington National Cathedral, which featured a eulogy from Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights icon. In 1961 Booker had joined Lewis on the Freedom Rides through the deep South when African Americans pushed the barriers on segregated bathrooms and restaurants in bus and train stations.

As noted by Stephen, Booker was the first full-time black reporter for The Washington Post and the first black correspondent to cover the Vietnam War. For five decades, Booker served as the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for Jet and Ebony magazines. Working his beat during the Watergate scandal, Booker kept the focus on Frank Wills, the black security guard who discovered the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in June 1972 perpetrated by President Richard Nixon’s men. That’s just one of the many stories Booker covered in his remarkable career.

“Without question,” Stephen writes in the CJR, “we owe Booker and his peers a debt of gratitude for their service, both to our profession and this country.”

Stephen, an award-winning New York-based journalist, is currently working on a biography about the late New York radio DJ, Frankie Crocker, to be called “Chief Rocker.”

LIU Hornstein Center Poll Shows the State of the Union Is Definitely Divided

Response to President’s Address Falls Along Party Lines

A new Long Island University Hornstein Center for Policy, Polling and Analysis poll showed that reactions to President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 30, were either favorable or unfavorable consistent with the party affiliation of those who watched.

But the national poll highlighted that many Americans are dis-engaged from party politics. Some 41 percent responded that they did not identify with one party over another, or did not engage in partisan politics. Nearly 40 percent did not watch Trump’s State of the Union address. Of those who watched the President’s speech, opinions are largely split down party lines, with 26 percent responding that they disapproved, while 28 percent found the speech “favorable” or “very favorable.” Only 27 percent reportedly believed that the Trump can deliver on his policy proposals, while more than 40 percent believed he could not. The poll consisted of slightly more Democrats (33 percent) than Republicans (22 percent), though an analysis of data shows that party identification played a large part in how respondents reacted.

What Americans polled by the Hornstein Center could agree on was that they felt dissatisfied with the current state of affairs in the United States. Nearly 55 percent did not believe the state of the union is strong, while only 20 percent agreed with President Tump’s assertion that it is.  The majority of Americans believe that immigration, infrastructure and national security issues are of paramount importance to the state of the nation.

“It’s clear that while Americans are holding tightly to their ideological beliefs and view the President through the lens colored by their personal politics, they are also tired of the constant division,” said Dr. Edward Summers, Fellow at the Hornstein Center.  “The President’s job, then, will be either the continued play to his tightly-held base or the appeal to Democrats in crafting policies that are less divisive to bring the nation together.”

The findings are based on a published public opinion poll conducted from January 30-31, 2018, of 1031 Americans.

Dr. Summers, who obtained his Ph.D. in Public Policy, is a Fellow at the Hornstein Center. His career includes experience in public policy, higher education, and opinion research.

 Long Island University
Steven S. Hornstein Center for Policy, Polling, and Analysis
National Survey
January 30-31, 2018

 

What is your reaction to President Trump’s State of the Union address?
Answer Choices Responses
Very Favorable; 17.65% 182
Somewhat Favorable; 10.57% 109
Somewhat Unfavorable; 6.79% 70
Very Unfavorable; 19.01% 196
No Opinion; 7.27% 75
I did not watch the address; 38.70% 399
Do you think President Trump can deliver on his proposed policies?
Answer Choices Responses
Yes; 27.35% 282
No; 40.35% 416
No Opinion; 8.92% 92
I did not watch the address; 23.38% 241
Were Democratic members of Congress who boycotted the address correct to do so?
Answer Choices Responses
Yes; 30.55% 315
No; 37.63% 388
Unsure; 18.33% 189
No Opinion; 13.48% 139
Do you believe that the state of the union is strong?
Answer Choices Responses
Yes, I am satisfied with the current state of affairs in the country; 20.08% 207
No, I am not satisfied with the current state of affairs in the country; 54.80% 565
Unsure; 14.35% 148
No Opinion; 10.77% 111
 

 
With what political party do you primarily identify?
Answer Choices Responses
I primarily identify with the Republican party; 21.63% 223
I primarily identify with the Democratic party; 32.69% 337
I primarily identify with another party; 4.17% 43
I do not primarily identify with one political party; 28.23% 291
I do not engage in partisan politics; 13.29% 137
Are you registered to vote?
Answer Choices Responses
Yes, I am registered to vote; 89.14% 919
No, I am not registered to vote; 10.86% 112
What do you believe to be the most important policy position discussed in the address?
Answer Choices Responses
Immigration; 28.49% 284
Infrastructure; 21.26% 212
National Security; 19.76% 197
Defense policy; 5.02% 50
Foreign policy; 6.12% 61
Tax reform; 19.36% 193
Age
Answer Choices Responses
18-29 18.45% 190
30-44 27.28% 281
45-60 31.94% 329
> 60 22.33% 230
Gender
Answer Choices Responses
Male 46.60% 480
Female 53.40% 550
Household Income
Answer Choices Responses
$0-$9,999 8.74% 90
$10,000-$24,999 11.07% 114
$25,000-$49,999 17.86% 184
$50,000-$74,999 14.76% 152
$75,000-$99,999 11.55% 119
$100,000-$124,999 9.13% 94
$125,000-$149,999 5.44% 56
$150,000-$174,999 2.82% 29
$175,000-$199,999 1.84% 19
$200,000+ 4.76% 49
Prefer not to answer 12.04% 124
Region
Answer Choices Responses
New England 5.49% 56
Middle Atlantic 15.98% 163
East North Central 14.22% 145
West North Central 5.88% 60
South Atlantic 16.96% 173
East South Central 6.57% 67
West South Central 9.51% 97
Mountain 8.04% 82
Pacific 17.35% 177

 

Polling Methodology

This Long Island University Steven S. Hornstein Center for Policy, Polling & Analysis poll was conducted through Suveymomkey January 30-31, 2018 in English to 1031 Americans over the age of 18. Polling data was sorted by age, gender & geographic location in efforts to ensure a nationwide representative sample. This poll has an overall margin of error of +/- 3 points.

The Steven S. Hornstein Center for Policy, Polling, and Analysis at LIU Post conducts independent, fair, and balanced polling, empirical research, and analysis on a wide range of public issues including lifestyle preferences. The Center’s goals include informing the community, public and policy makers about critical issues.

 

 

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