About Us
The origin story and people behind…
MAJOR SUSTAINABILITY
Major Sustainability is the result of a “major” effort by over 30 faculty and students from across the Smeal College of Business, led by the Center for the Business of Sustainability. We began in 2017 with a simple question, “What should business schools be teaching students about sustainability?” We decided to answer that question for each major. Thus, “Major Sustainability” was born–the idea that each major plays a role in sustainability. Later, we decided to add minors as well.
After taking two years to identify sustainability learning objectives by major, we decided to create a resource to make them accessible for all business schools. A student and faculty advisor(s) worked on each business major and minor to create content to make the learning objectives concrete, practical, and credible for students and faculty. Each set of webpages for a particular major was user-tested by current students, and reviewed by faculty and by an industry expert.
The site continues to be maintained by the Center for the Business of Sustainability, and was made possible with generous support from its donors.
Zoë and Victoria are two of the amazing students who have worked on the site over the years. Learn more about the students below.
Contact Us
Center for the Business of Sustainability
210 Business Building
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802 smealsustainability@psu.edu
Project Leads
Erik Foley
Director
Erik Foley, Director of the Center for the Business of Sustainability and Instructor of Management and Organization, is responsible for the vision, development, and outreach related to the BEST (Business Education for Sustainable Transformation) and Major Sustainability project.
Susie Wright
Content Manager
Susie Wright, Associate Teaching Professor of Accounting, is responsible for overseeing student authors’ content creation within their majors.
Megan Nollman
Project Manager
Megan Nollman, Program Coordinator for the Center for the Business of Sustainability, oversees hiring and project deliverables and timelines for the Major Sustainability project.
Student Authors
Saige Cestone
Risk Management and Actuarial Science Pages
Saige Cestone graduated from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Management and minors in Legal Environment of Business, Labor and Employment Relations and Sociology in May 2021.
Zoë Cykosky
Management Information Systems Page
Zoë Cykosky graduated from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Supply Chain Management and a minor in Sustainability Leadership in May of 2021.
Taylor Hutsell
Business Law Minor updates
Taylor Hutsell graduated from the Smeal College of Business in Risk Management and Economics in May 2022.
Victoria Kipiller
Management & Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Pages
Victoria Kipiller graduated from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Management supported by minors in Sustainability Leadership and Legal Environment of Business in May 2021.
Cece Minnick
Accounting and Finance Pages
Cece Minnick graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Accounting and minors in Information Systems Management and Legal Environment of Business in May of 2020.
Kiara Mueller
Design and Site Promotion
Kiara Mueller will graduate from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Marketing in May of 2023.
Riya Nandedkar
Supply Chain and Marketing Pages
Riya Nandedkar graduated from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Supply Chain and Information Systems and minors in Economics and Entrepreneurship and Innovation in May 2021.
Joyail Tokas
Accounting and Finance updates, Site Promotion
Joyail Tokas graduated from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Finance and certification in Operational Excellence for Professionals in May of 2022.
Jack Vlazny
SCIST and ISM Minor Pages, Web Design
Jack Vlazny graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Management Information Systems in May of 2022.
Danielle Yzaguirre
Supply Chain and Information Systems Page
Danielle Yzaguirre was the first student to contribute to the Major Sustainability vision. Danielle graduated from the Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in Supply Chain and Information Systems and a minor in Sustainability Leadership in December 2017.
We would like to thank the faculty and staff who contributed to Major Sustainability:
Lisa Bolton, Professor of Marketing
Dave Cather, Clinical Professor of Risk Management
Dan Cahoy, Robert G. and Caroline Schwartz Professor, Research Director of Center for the Business of Sustainability
Shelley Curling, Assistant Teaching Professor of Accounting
Carolyn Dang, Assistant Professor & Cook Fellow in Ethics
Mark DesJardine, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization
Dan Guide, Smeal Chaired Professor of Operations & Supply Chain Management
Christoph Hinkleman, Clinical Associate Professor of Finance
Ed Jenkins, Professor of Practice in Accounting
Ron Johnson, Associate Teaching Professor of Management and Organization
Art Jones, Associate Teaching Professor of Management Information Systems
Kyle Kaplan, Clinical Assistant Professor of Business Law
Maurie Kelly, Director of the Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access, Instructor of Risk Management
Akhil Kumar, Professor of Management Information Systems
Mallory Meehan, Assistant Clinical Professor of Real Estate
Jeanette Miller, Associate Director of Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Assistant Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship
Celeste Newcomb, Instructor of Management and Organization
Beth Phillips, Programmer, RIIT Group
Lisa Posey, Associate Professor of Risk Management
Tessa Recendes, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization
Kitty Riley, Associate Teaching Professor of Management Information Systems
Ashley Rippey, Executive Director of the Business Career Center
Sajay Samuel, Clinical Professor of Accounting
Johanna Slot, Assistant Professor of Marketing
Evelyn Thomchick, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management
Linda Treviño, Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior and Ethics
Michael Tyworth, Assistant Clinical Professor of Management Information Systems
Kate Wang, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization
Lei Wang, Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems
Karen Winterich, Gerald I. Susman Professor in Sustainability
Susie Wright, Associate Teaching Professor of Accounting
Jiro Yoshida, Associate Professor of Business
Zhongyi Yuan, Associate Professor of Risk Management
Nan Zhu, Associate Professor of Risk Management