A former student dropped by my class yesterday.
She is a Macaulay Honors student with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Photographer: Chelsea Rosado
Afrika’s Struggle Welcomes a Former Student
June 7, 2025 - Events
June 7, 2025 - Events
A former student dropped by my class yesterday.
She is a Macaulay Honors student with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Photographer: Chelsea Rosado
May 26, 2025 - Events
Over the Memorial weekend, amidst birthday celebrations, I met two restaurant moguls.
The first is Marva Layne, founder of Negril Village. She owns three other restaurants and is working on a new one.
Negril Village is the best Jamaican restaurant in Manhattan.
The second is Ai Kumar, the owner of 39 fine-dining restaurants—yes, 39! He is going to open a new restaurant in Times Square this summer.
Mr. Kumar is the father of a former student who took two of my classes. My former student plays a pivotal role in his father’s restaurant empire.
Today, Mr. Kumar gave the birthday celebrants and me a tour (with pomp and circumstance) of Jade Eatery and Lounge, a historic Asian fusion restaurant in Forest Hills.
The ambiance, the service, and the food are top-notch in both Negril Village and Jade.
The organic ginger tea with organic agave is a must-try at Negril Village!
I highly recommend the special salmon dish at Jade.
April 25, 2025 - Events
First, I would like to thank Senior Director Laura Abrams and Director Zavi Gunn for introducing me to Queens College Alumnus Christian Figorito.
Second, I apologize to the 25 students who did not participate in the photo op (see photo) because the photographer took the picture during the break. During the break after the Q&A session, 25 students departed without knowing about the photo op.
I welcomed Christian Figorito, Senior Director of the Certificate in Quantitative Finance at FitchLearning, to an overcrowded classroom with approximately 50 students.
The 50 students consisted of regular students, students from other sections, former students, friends of regular students, and a student from another CUNY college visiting my class.
I am honored to have an esteemed alumnus, who oversees his company’s divisions (Certificate in Quantitative Finance) in NY, London, and Singapore, to speak to my class.
His IQ and EQ were on fire – on full display during his entertaining and informative presentation. He put on a show for the class.
Mr. Figorito presented on Quantitative Finance Careers.
Christian Figorito (glasses) stands to my left in the picture. (Twenty-five other students are missing from this picture.)
April 17, 2025 - Events
Two of my current students—Jaquan Perry (a fellow Jamaican) and Amit Dhanda—represented Queens College in the inaugural Global Trade Competition 2025 (a New York statewide competition).
They won third place in the competition, although an insider argued that a miscommunication between two judges cost them the championship.
Baruch College got first place, and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) came second.
My only critique of the slides (i.e., the slides of the three winning teams) is that they contain too much text or wordiness. Live presentations should adopt the Steve Jobs model: images with little or no text, focusing on the presenter(s). However, reading the competition’s guidelines gives presenters leeway to use lots of text.
I commend the tireless and driven Professor Jian Xiao for her role and august leadership as faculty advisor.
I would be remiss if I did not commend Andreia Duarte (aka Tiger) for her work as a technical coordinator behind the scenes.
On a side note, Dean Kate Pechenkina, Ph.D., asked Mr. Perry to represent Queens College in the competition after I introduced him to her at our last Business Breakfast. He then asked his best friend, Mr. Dhanda, to join him; the rest is history.
I will represent the Economics department at the award ceremony (including cash prizes) at Baruch College on May 7th.
Jaquan Perry (Calabar Alum)
Amit Dhanda