Student-athletes active with Business Leader of the Year event
May 8, 2013
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
Four Alaska Nanooks student-athletes, as well as one student assistant coach, participated in the Business Leader of the Year Banquet, which took place back on April 19 at the Westmark Hotel.
Volleyball junior Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo./Business administration), rifle junior Michael Liuzza (New Orleans, La./Business administration), women's basketball senior Jacqueline Lovato (Gunnison, Colo./Business administration) and men's basketball student assistant Ondrej Palecek all played active roles on the committee, as they each helped plan the event since last January, while rifle sophomore Mats Eriksson (Malung, Sweden/Business management) served as a student volunteer for the evening of the banquet.
“This is one of the biggest opportunities students have available to them in terms of the professional field,” Lovato said. “Every important person that I've met or encountered in Fairbanks was there. It's cool for us to be able to network and have the opportunity to meet those people. A lot of people coming to this event are looking for future interns and employees, so as a business student, it's exciting.”
BLOY is sponsored by the Associated Students of Business (ASB) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks' School of Management. The honorary banquet is organized and put on by a committee made up of business students, along with the SOM director of development and outreach Tammy Tragis-McCook, who serves as the event coordinator.
“I had a chance to get up there in front of 500 business professionals from the state of Alaska and speak,” Lovato said. “It's an honor to be involved but it's also about the students and for the students. It helps the School of Management and the university as a whole so much. I am proud to be a part of the prestigious event.”
The 2013 recipient of the BLOY award was David Hale of Hale & Associates. The winner is chosen based on leadership in the Fairbanks business community, business achievements, community service and educational support. Past winners relating closely to Nanook athletics include Bart LeBon of Mt. McKinley Bank (2002) and Dr. Cary S. Keller, M.D., FACSM, of Sportsmedicine Fairbanks Orthopedic Center (2009).
For more information on the Business Leader of the Year event, visit the university's School of Management website.
Lovato's message to students about this type of opportunity: “Get involved! Don't be afraid of opportunities like this. I've used basketball as an excuse not to do things for so long but there are these fantastic opportunities out there for us. The little amount of time it takes out of your normal routine is worth it.”