BGS presents 2016 Dean of the Year

Beta Gamma Sigma presents 2016 Dean of the Year and Outstanding Chapter Advisor Awards to Dr. Faye W. Gilbert and Prof. Jessica A. Magaldi

BGS recognizes students who are the best in business through our programs, awards, and events. We also want to honor those individuals who play leading roles in BGS members' lives and successes: our deans and chapter advisors. 

Dean of the Year: Dr. Faye W. Gilbert
Dean, College of Business, The University of Southern Mississippi

Faye W. Gilbert was appointed Dean of the College of Business at The University of Southern Mississippi in 2014. Upon arriving at USM, she encouraged the Beta Gamma Sigma chapter to become more active by sending students to the leadership conference and enhancing induction and tapping ceremonies. At a time when BGS was offering new initiatives and programs to increase visibility, Dr. Gilbert said yes. The chapter immediately took steps to meet new standards set by BGS 2.0.

During her first year with USM, Gilbert shepherded USM's BGS chapter through its first of offcer elections and its first formal tapping ceremony. Kayla Alford, current BGS Student President, said of Gilbert, “I witnessed the swelling pride she had in us…as she welcomed and congratulated us on our remarkable academic accomplishments. She convinced me that the hard work I had done and would continue to do would take me to the top.”

Gilbert plays an active role in developing BGS members as students and professional leaders. Under her leadership, USM sent members to the leadership conferences in San Diego and Orlando in 2015, and then she helped organize a leadership seminar on campus to "share the wealth.” Speaking of sharing the wealth, Gilbert has also worked to fund membership fees for invitees who need financial help. Additionally, she has found matching funds for students to attend the leadership conferences.

A true champion for Beta Gamma Sigma and its member community, Dr. Gilbert exemplifies the BGS mission in her work every day.

Outstanding Chapter Advisor: Jessica A. Magaldi
Clinical Associate Professor, Pace University

Jessica A. Magaldi is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. She is also Director of the Business Honors Program on the NYC campus and Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter Advisor for the Pace University Chapter. Professor Magaldi teaches Business Law and Advanced Business Law, as well as a number of specialty law classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

In addition to teaching, Professor Magaldi is a business and legal consultant, specializing in technology and intellectual property law and transactions. She advises clients on substantive legal issues and works with in-house legal departments on business process re-engineering and employee training. Professor Magaldi recently concluded an engagement by NYSE to manage Project Pearl, a strategic intellectual property initiative.

Earlier in her career, Professor Magaldi was a law clerk to the Honorable JamesB. Zagel, US District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. She also worked in-house at two internet start-up companies during the dot-com era of the late 1990s and early 2000s. She began her legal career as an associate in the Strategic Sourcing and Technology Group in the New York office of international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, LLP.

Professor Magaldi received her BS , magna cum laude, from the State University of New York at Albany and a JD from New York University School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the New York University Review of Law and Social Change.