New Dean of LaPenta School of Business Creates Student Advisory Board, Amplifying Student Voices

Iona College’s newly appointed dean of the LaPenta School of Business, Dr. Lynne Richardson, has established a new Dean’s Student Advisory Board. Serving as a representative group of all undergraduate business students, the board was created to empower students to communicate concerns, opinions and/or general thoughts regarding their experience and education.

Currently, there are 15 student board members, representing every major in the LaPenta School of Business as well as each class – with three freshman members, four sophomores, four juniors and four seniors.

“I’ve created a board like this at every school where I have served,” said Richardson. “The students are invaluable as a sounding board and, since they represent freshman to seniors and all majors, they are truly representative.”

The new student advisory board has already tackled several topics during their first meeting such as: students having the option to study in vacant classrooms, putting signs in study rooms to give preference to two or more students using the room, what direction the school’s future social media accounts should go in and the different types of events that students are interested in attending.

Dean’s Student Advisory Board Members:

  • Reuben Alinsao
  • Logan Balsan
  • Matthew Bruno
  • Lilianna Casarrubias
  • Cara Donnelly
  • Abiel Hernandez
  • Robert Huscher
  • Juliana Maldonado
  • Mustafa Naeem
  • Alex Ponce
  • Jamie Sheeran
  • Holly Smith
  • Xavier Smith
  • Grace Sparrow
  • Mia Tovar

ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2024 national list of “The Best 389 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.