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Coggin College of Business
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2022 Summer Newsletter

UNF and CCB welcome new President

Headshot of President Moez Limayem with a red tie, blue collar shirt and black blazer with brown and white backgroundThe University of North Florida and the Coggin College of Business celebrate the selection of the seventh UNF President, Moez Limayem, Ph.D., who takes over the position Aug. 1.

The UNF Board of Trustees selected Dr. Limayem who was then confirmed by the Florida Board of Governors June 30. He comes from the University of South Florida where he served as Lynn Pippenger Dean of the Muma College of Business since 2012.

Limayem was chosen following a national search after Dr. David Szymanski stepped down as UNF President in 2021 and Dr. Pamela Chally filled in as interim UNF President. Get the full details of this momentous development in UNF's history.

McLaughlin research endowment established

A black and white headshot of a man with a collared shirt and tie wearing glassesA new endowment program has been established to honor a generous donation and the legacy of one of the original founders of the University of North Florida business college.

The Frank and Phyllis McLaughlin Research Endowment will allow the Coggin College of Business to make annual summer research grants of at least $6,000 each in support of faculty research. The endowment is named after the late Dr. Frank McLaughlin and his late wife Phyllis.

The initial winner of this summer’s first award is Dr. Yanji Duan for her project titled “Blockchain Adoption and Supply Chain Transparency: Consumer Knowledge and Involvement.”

McLaughlin was a founding UNF faculty member and the inaugural chair of the Department of Management, Marketing, and Business Law. He was also assistant dean of the College of Business Administration and was eventually promoted to associate dean. A gift of $200,000 was donated to CCB through the McLaughlin estate.

Dean busy bringing CCB into the future

Six people wearing business attire sitting at a conference table with windows and a TV in the backgroundDr. Richard Buttimer has had a busy two years since he arrived at UNF. His accomplishments and the College’s progress is growing on a daily basis. There are no signs of slowing down now as Buttimer guides the College well into the 21st century. Here are some details about Buttimer and reflections on his first two years as dean.

Coggin Graduate Alumni Network (CGAN) takes flight

A group of people in business attire in small groups speaking with each otherThe Coggin Graduate Alumni Network (CGAN) launched in 2021 creating a community for graduate alumni and strengthening ties between the business community and the College. CGAN has grown into an active circuit for graduate alums to connect and further their careers and professional interests.
Benefits of joining the CGAN network include:

• Priority invitations to Coggin Graduate mixers and roundtables.
• Exclusive invitations to Coggin Graduate Alumni socials.
• Priority invitations to Coggin Executive Programs.
• Opportunities to participate in the mentor programs at Coggin.
• Access to the Coggin Graduate Alumni Network LinkedIn group.
• Annual lunch with Coggin College of Business Dean.
• Opportunities to network with other Coggin College Graduate alumni.
• Invitations to select Coggin College of Business hosted UNF athletic events and program
hospitality.

More information on CGAN can be found here.

Coggin's Executive Briefcase Program launches for Jacksonville's executives

A tv with welcome executive briefcase and a sign with UNF logo and executive programs coggin college of businessThe University of North Florida Coggin College of Business launched a new Executive Briefcase program to
help senior executives and executive team members gain a unique competitive edge by building a versatile toolkit of technical and interpersonal skills.

The four-topic series focuses on empowering business leaders and managers to convey data in an insightful and impactful manner, give and receive feedback from their team, exert executive influence and persuade and communicate their vision with gravitas.

The Executive Briefcase program has received stellar reviews from CxOs in companies such as Regency Centers, CSX, Borland Groover, SMT and NLP Logix. A participant said, “The past few days were informative and a great opportunity to reset from the daily grind. I’ve been in executive roles for 15 years and it was not only a great refresher, but I learned some lessons that would have saved me some grief if I had taken this program sooner.”

For information about the Coggin College of Business Executive Briefcase program, visit the website or contact Coggin Executive Programs at CogginExecutivePrograms@unf.edu.

IANA Competition welcomed by Dean Buttimer

A man in suit and tie at a podium with two people sitting at a table with a presentation slide in the backgroundUNF was the site of the Intermodal Expo Academic Challenge on April 1, drawing dozens of students from various schools to our campus. Students from nine different universities were welcomed to the event by Coggin Dean Richard Buttimer

The competition included paper presentations based on intermodal topic prompts. Industry judges reviewed the submissions from competitors. Additional competition included teams of students providing recommendations on industry cases. We appreciate all students who visited and took part in the competition.

Frieder elected to Southern Management Board

Coggin Assistant Professor of Management Dr. Rachel Frieder was elected to serve a five-year term on the Boardof Directors of the Southern Management Association. The organization
Headshot of Rachel Frieder with a pink shirt and a blurred green background
 represents management scholars.

Frieder is currently in her second year of the five-year rotation on the panel. As the current program chair and vice president of the Southern Management Association, she’s tasked with coordinating the organization’s annual meeting slated for Oct. 18-22 in Little Rock, Arkansas. ” 

The SMA is the largest domestic affiliate of the Academy of Management. After completing her role this year, Dr. Frieder will become president-elect of the Southern Management Association in 2022-23 and then advances to president in 2023-24. 

This Year...

A black and white aerial view of the UNF college campusThis year is the 50th Anniversary of UNF, and we are proud to have achieved new national recognition as a Carnegie R2 University during this historic moment. There is plenty to reminisce about when you consider five decades of academic excellence. Many of us have fond memories of our UNF days such as Bill Healy, a 1982 graduate of the business college who wrote a heartfelt essay. Consider celebrating these memories and achievements by making a gift to Coggin that can help define our College for the next 50 years and beyond. To discuss how you can invest in the Coggin College of Business and establish your gift to UNF, contact Michael J. G. McLaughlin.

Leadership Event a success

The dean speaking at the podium with 3 people sitting at a desk speaking through microphoneCoggin College’s 50 Years of Excellence event was a huge success with a panel discussion packed with outstanding business executives. It was one of the UNF events marking the university’s half-century mark honoring the founding of the institution in 1972.

Coggin College of Business Dean Richard Buttimer helmed the lively discussion that tackled such timely challenges as economic mobility and the role businesses play in bringing about economic progress in a market such as Jacksonville.

Coggin College was honored to host the distinguished panelists for this landmark event in the university’s history including David Garfunkel, president of LIFT JAX; Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce; and Melanie Patz, vice president of Baptist Health.
Coggin Building and fountain with blue gradient and UNF logo with osprey logo and Coggin College of Business
A blue circle with dark blue the letters i and n inside Give now in dark blue letters with light blue background in circle button