FIU Alumni Board of Directors elects new president, officers and welcomes five new board members

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FIU Alumni 2024-2025 Executive Committee
The FIU Alumni Board of Directors has formally elected Sean Gazitúa ‘04 to serve as president for the 2024-2026 board years, along with new officers and five new directors. Joining the Executive Committee with President Gazitúa is Vice President Manny Niebla ‘05, Secretary Lemar White ‘06, Membership Relations Sylvia Fumero ‘91, Fund Development Barbara Yvonne […]

Bringing It All Back Home: PAW 2024 Fosters Reconnection, Growth and Pride

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FIU student at Career Fair during PAW 2024
Pop quiz! (And don’t look up the answer. Hey! We saw that peeking!)  What anniversary of Panther Alumni Week just took place?  *Patiently waits for answer*  If you guessed 11, you’re right!  From February 5th to February 12th, Panthers came back to FIU for more than 20 engaging events that connected almost 6,000 alumni and […]

Panther Alumni Week 2024: A Stellar Start!

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Malik Wilkes '08 speaks at the Financial Wellness Workshop
Panther Alumni Week (PAW) 2024 is off to an exhilarating start, boasting an impressive, turnout of over 1,200 enthusiastic alumni and students. This PAW is set to be the most successful since its inaugural inception a decade ago. The FIU community has already been out in full force with attendees experiencing networking opportunities, thought leadership, […]

From startup to $2 billion empire: Alumnus founder to share ‘secrets of success’ on campus

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Image of Gaston Taratuta
Originally published on January 24, 2024, on news.fiu.edu. Written by Michelle Lopez Gaston Taratuta MBA ’98 is eager to share his formula for success with entrepreneurial hopefuls at a presentation, Introduction to Unicorn Entrepreneurship, aimed at developing high-potential ventures. In 2005, he founded Miami-based Internet Media Services, seizing on the explosion of internet access via mobile […]

FIU launches first-of-its-kind Center for Fraternity and Sorority Enrichment

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greek community fiu
Originally published on January 23, 2024 on news.fiu.edu. Written by Clara-Meretan Kiah Fraternities and sororities have a new home at FIU: the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Enrichment. FIU’s is the first center in Florida dedicated to enhancing fraternity and sorority members’ collegiate experience on a holistic level while building affinity that persists long beyond graduation. […]

Don’t junk it! Engineering Ph.D. starts company to repurpose building materials

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Piyush in front of board
Originally written on December 4, 2024 on news.fiu.edu. Written by Irene Ferradaz   Piyush Pradhananga remembers the aftermath of an earthquake that flattened his town in Nepal, one of the world’s most natural disaster-prone countries, when he was in his early 20s. Aside from the pain his family and many others suffered, something else left an […]

Student earns State Department fellowship en route to foreign service career

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Originally published December 20, 2023 on news.fiu.edu. Written by Todd Ellenberg Francisco “Frank” Gamez, a political science major, was born in Caracas, Venezuela and grew up in the cultural melting pot that is Miami. But it was a professional stint in Switzerland that fixed his resolve to become a diplomat – which led to a […]

Ph.D. student shares what’s cool about NASA’s Langley Research Center

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Originally published December 18, 2023 on news.fiu.edu. Written by David Drucker   It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to ship one pound of matter into orbit. FIU Ph.D. student Kazue Orikasa is leading cutting-edge research to help NASA get the most out of every launch. Orikasa is researching how plastics might be able […]

FIU alumni Tina Vidal-Duart and Carlos Duart gift to name wine studies program at Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

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Originally published on December 8, 2023 on news.fiu.edu. Written by Yvonne Yee-Amor   FIU alumni Tina Vidal-Duart ’02, MBA ’04 and Carlos Duart’94, MA ’99 have announced a gift establishing the Vidal-Duart Wine Studies program at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. The only wine studies program in the country named by a Hispanic family, this commitment underscores the […]

Business students’ ‘smart forest’ app takes first place in global challenge

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Originally published on December 1, 2023 on news.fiu.edu. Undergraduate and master’s degree students worldwide showcased their classroom knowledge at the 2023 AIS Software Innovation Challenge, and three FIU Business undergraduate business analytics students won first place. The virtual event tasked students with developing and presenting their software-based information systems solutions to focus on any of […]