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CBPP Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter Welcomes New Inductees

April 26, 2022
Beta Gamma Sigma Student Inductees Nine of the 23 student inductees after the 2022 Beta Gamma Sigma induction ceremony (left to right) Yu-Hsuan Chu, Kylie Reese, Meghna Bathija, Kelsey Logan, Niki Pepper, Clare Baldwin, Atlin Bell, Wes Little, and Amy Lin outside Rasmuson Hall, Friday, Apr. 15, 2022.

The College of Business and Public Policy honored several students and faculty on April 15 by inducting them into CBPP’s Beta Gamma Sigma chapter. “Beta Gamma Sigma is the premier honor society for business students and educators,” said Dr. John Nofsinger, Dean of the College. “This is the highest national recognition that a student of business can achieve while an undergraduate or graduate student at an AACSB accredited college.”

Twenty-three students and 13 faculty were eligible for membership in Beta Gamma Sigma. Undergraduate students must be in the top 10% of their class and master’s level students must be in the top 20% of their class to be invited. Tenured faculty members are also eligible to join.

During the ceremony, student inductees received certificates and blue and gold Beta Gamma Sigma honor cords. Dr. Terry Nelson, Dr. Sharon Lind and Dr. Theresa Stephenson described the characteristics of each of the three Greek letters in the Beta Gamma Sigma name, and explained that members of the honor society are asked to uphold these every day. Beta stands for Honor, Gamma stands for Wisdom, and Sigma stands for Earnestness.

Inductees were both proud and grateful for the acknowledgement.

Like many students at CBPP, Wesley Little works full time while pursuing his degree. He currently works in supply chain management for Alyeska Pipeline, and will graduate this year with an MS in Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management (GLSCM). He said he felt privileged to be in the group inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma.

Kelsey Logan is a manager at Southcentral Foundation who will graduate in May with her BBA in GLSCM. She was surprised when she heard about the program, and pleased that she qualified for it based on her academic achievement.

Meghna Bathija said she felt proud to be inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma. “It felt really important to be here today.” Meghna will receive her MBA this May, after earning a BBA in Accounting at CBPP as well. She’s also planning to get her CPA. She admits that path isn’t for everyone, as it was very challenging to do both degrees back-to-back. Meghna has a job lined up in Juneau working with the state Legislative audit section. Her sister is also a CBPP student and was happy to attend the induction ceremony and take a video to send to their parents. When asked which Beta Gamma Sigma letter resonated most with her, Meghna said “Gamma,” or Wisdom. “It’s really meaningful to be invited to this group, which is the top 10% of students,” she said. “Wisdom doesn’t just mean smart people. It’s people who put the time in, and who make a lot of sacrifices for their education.”

Nikia Pepper works in tourism and will graduate with her BBA in GLSCM this fall. She was grateful for the invitation to be welcomed into Beta Gamma Sigma, and she also talked about sacrifices. “When you come back to college as a non-traditional student, things like this can mean a lot more than if you came here straight from high school. I know all the blood, sweat and tears that my family put in so that I could get my degree. They sacrificed. I worked hard. It was challenging learning how to balance everything… to be more than just a mom. I discovered that I had a self-worth outside of being mom, and it’s humbling.”

“We want to give our sincere congratulations to all the inductees,” said Associate Dean of the College, Dr. Terry Nelson. “They had to work very hard, especially through the pandemic, to achieve the highest academic success. The benefits of Beta Gamma Sigma membership will be available to them throughout their careers, and we know they will represent the UAA College of Business and Public Policy with distinction.”

2022 Student Inductees

  • Meghna Bathija, MBA
  • Rea Catapia, MS
  • Danae Eulloqui Barajas, MBA
  • Ryan Horn, MBA
  • Keaton Lauder, MBA
  • Wes Little, MS
  • Gina Martfeld, MBA
  • Jim Pickel III, MBA
  • Clare Baldwin, BA Economics
  • Atlin Bell, BBA Accounting
  • Yu-Hsuan Chu, BBA Management
  • Toni Endsley, BBA Management
  • Amy Lin, BBA Accounting
  • Kelsey Logan, BBA Logistics
  • Henry Mildon, BBA Economics
  • Magnus Noroey, BBA Management
  • Niki Pepper, BBA Logistics
  • Kylie Reese, BA Economics
  • Kaylee Reierson, BBA Managment
  • Vojtech Ruzek, BBA Management
  • Kimberly Searcy, BBA Accounting
  • Chelsea Spaulding, BBA Management
  • Tasha Talvi, BBA Management

2022 Faculty Inductees

  • Jonathan Alevy
  • Kevin Berry
  • Kori Callison
  • Ajit Dayanandan
  • Guruprasad Gadgil
  • Sumeet Jhamb
  • Paul Johnson
  • Yoshito Kanamori
  • Chris Lake
  • Darren Prokop
  • Juergen Sidgman
  • Vicky Tao
  • Helena Wisniewski