Points of Pride
Carson College of Business students partnered with Visit Vancouver WA to support the city’s tourism strategy through real-world consulting projects. They identified 68 potential clients and developed strategic proposals for Vancouver’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Zone. Read the full story on WSU Insider.
Henri Holtrop (’26 Accounting, Mgmt. Info. Sys.) and Victoria Petersen (’26 Accounting, Intl. Busi.) earned third place in the Innovation and Progress category at the Beta Alpha Psi Mid-Year Competition in San Jose, California.
Kendall Larson (’28 Hospi. Busi. Mgmt.) joined Landmark Event & Catering Company as a full-time event coordination intern. The internship provides hands-on experience planning and coordinating events with the Spokane-based hospitality company.
Mariam Sylla (’26 Finance) received the MLK Distinguished Service Award during WSU’s 2026 MLK Week celebration. The award recognizes faculty, staff, and students whose work reflects Martin Luther King Jr.’s values of connection, service and community. Sylla served as a Carson College peer mentor and McNair Scholar and helped establish the college’s Black in Business club while serving in leadership roles with WSU’s Black Student Union.
Joanna Torres (’27 Busi. Admin.) was selected to participate in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology PLACE Summer Camp, a competitive international program bringing together students from around the world. She received a full waiver of the program’s $2,800 fee along with a travel grant to support her participation.
Meredith Lamb (’24 Mgmt. Info. Sys., Accounting) and Benjamin Bledsoe (’20 Busi. Admin.) were featured panelists at “Thriving Authentically: Alumni Journeys from Graduation to Greatness,” a collaboration between the WSU Academic Success and Career Center and WSU Alumni Association. They shared career experiences and advice with more than 60 students.
Charley Carey (MBA ’27) was promoted to associate buyer for Kroger. He previously served as an assistant buyer with the company.
Richard Galtieri (EMBA ’27) was promoted to deputy chief fire marshal for the City of Spokane. He previously served as the city’s assistant chief fire marshal.
Sam (’97 Accounting) and Andy Largent are expanding Flatstick Pub with a new location in Woodinville. The brothers opened their first golf-themed pub in Kirkland in 2014 and have since expanded across the Puget Sound region, as well as to Bellingham and Spokane.
Paul Wayne Pennington (’90) published “Gut Punch: A Caregiver’s Life After Normal.” The memoir explores the hidden emotional and practical challenges faced by caregivers following a loved one’s serious illness. Pennington is an attorney and mediator whose legal career spans more than 30 years.
Alberto Preciado (’23 MBA) was named finance director for the City of Davis, California. He previously served in finance leadership roles with several California municipalities.
Daniel Puckett (’86 Accounting) was appointed by Procept BioRobotics to its board of directors and audit committee. Puckett was most recently the chief financial officer of Shockwave Medical.
Kennedy Richmond (MBA ’28) was promoted to vice president of sales at NAVEX. Richmond, who previously served as sales director, has worked at NAVEX for eight years.
Eric Robertson (’14 Finance), an attorney with Miller Nash LLP, has been named president-elect of the Nonprofit Organizations Law Section of the Oregon State Bar.
Mark Schuster (’95 Accounting, Finance) is director of industry connected programs at WSU Tri-Cities. In his new role, Shuster oversees industry-focused programs Career Center and Cougar Tracks.
Andy Tai (MBA ’21) was promoted to executive vice president of Li & Fung. He previously served as the company’s senior vice president.
Carolyn Hubman Distinguished Professor and Senior Associate Dean Robert Crossler delivered a keynote address at the Southern Association for Information Systems Annual Conference on the role of artificial intelligence in information systems education. In March, he also helped lead the AI@Carson: Skills for the Modern Business World workshop at WSU Vancouver, introducing students to practical applications of AI through hands-on business projects.
School of Hospitality Business Management Director Jim Harbour, Associate Professor Dipra Jha, Professor Dogan Gursoy, and Professor Emeritus Bob Harrington have been named as Global 100 Influential Educators in Hospitality (2026) by the International Hospitality Institute, a global advocacy, training, and standards organization for the hospitality industry. The award celebrates academics who continuously advance hospitality curriculum and student success. Honorees will be featured in the upcoming edition of Global Hospitality Magazine. Read the full story on WSU Insider.
Ashton Hyman, assistant professor of accounting at WSU Vancouver, was named the 2025-26 Educator of the Year by the Washington Society of CPAs. The WSCPA is a professional community of CPAs who work in business and industry, education, government, not-for-profit organizations and public accounting.
Marketing Professor and International Business Institute Director Jeff Joireman and coauthors T.J. Weber, David E. Sprott and Chris Hydock received the 2026 Thomas C. Kinnear Award for their article, “Differential Response to Corporate Political Advocacy and Corporate Social Responsibility: Implications for Political Polarization and Radicalization,” published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. The award recognizes articles that have made the most significant contribution to the understanding of marketing and public policy issues during the previous three years.
Assistant Professor Lily Zhu is a coprincipal investigator on a WSU President’s Big Ideas Initiative project developing an AI-powered precision biology platform for microbiome research. The project was one of 10 selected from 144 proposals for funding across the WSU system, with Zhu leading its entrepreneurship and commercialization efforts.