The Best of Daniels 2025

Personal Scandals Sink CEOs More Often Than Financial Misconduct

The viral, and now infamous, Coldplay “kiss cam” incident is just another story that showcases thet ramifications of CEO personal misconduct—something Daniels College of Business faculty member Michael Nalick has been researching for years. Nalick, an assistant professor in the Department of Management, recently completed research that explored the different consequences that stem from CEO personal misconduct and financial misconduct.

Setting Professional Development Goals for Career Success

Companies of all sizes and across a variety of industries rely on professional development goals to chart a path forward for their employees. These goals are often key markers of job satisfaction and professional growth, serving an important purpose for both employees and their employer. Andy Cohen, assistant professor of the practice in the Department of Management, explains the importance and difficulties associated with the professional development goal process.

A Tale of Two Mayors in Grand County

More than 3,800 DU alumni live west of the Continental Divide, and two of them are neighboring mayors and friends who serve the adjacent towns of Fraser and Winter Park. Brian Cerkvenik (BSBA 2002), mayor of Fraser since 2024, is a Pioneer Leadership Program alum, an avid DU hockey fan and owner of Home James Transportation Services. Nick Kutrumbos (BSBA 2005), mayor of Winter Park since 2020, was raised in Observatory Park near DU, where his mom was a professor. He’s also a hockey fan and owner of the family restaurant Deno’s Mountain Bistro.

The pair sat down with DU Magazine to talk about their work in Grand County and how DU prepared them for public service.

Finding Purpose: A Finance Student’s Internship Experience in New Zealand

Before Andrew Bachrodt visited Nicaragua as part of a University of Denver class, he had never left the country. But through his studies at the Daniels College of Business, he’s had the opportunity to visit three continents, including an internship at ecoPortal in Auckland, New Zealand. The eight-week opportunity was made possible, in part, by the Ron Rizzuto Student Opportunity Fund, which provides a $1,000 stipend for students doing unpaid internships with startups and nonprofit organizations.

Finding Purpose: A Finance Student’s Internship Experience in New Zealand

Before Andrew Bachrodt visited Nicaragua as part of a University of Denver class, he had never left the country. But through his studies at the Daniels College of Business, he’s had the opportunity to visit three continents, including an internship at ecoPortal in Auckland, New Zealand. The eight-week opportunity was made possible, in part, by the Ron Rizzuto Student Opportunity Fund, which provides a $1,000 stipend for students doing unpaid internships with startups and nonprofit organizations.

Microgrants Support Students’ Curiosity and Innovation

Imagine having an idea for a product or service that could solve a problem or fill an unmet need. Uncovering the answers needed to determine the viability of a new product- or service-based business is easier with the Entrepreneurship@DU Microgrant Program. One-time microgrants of up to $2,000 are available to full-time undergraduate, graduate and PhD students from any area of study across the university.

Pioneer Venture Group Rides New Wave With Women’s Health Startup Investment

The Pioneer Venture Group (PVG), a Daniels College of Business venture capital fund entirely run and managed by a team of DU students, hears roughly 20 pitches from founders around the Rocky Mountain region each year. But a pitch earlier this year got the group especially excited: Wave Bye, a startup that offers a line of supplements aimed at promoting period cycle regularity and ovulation, as well as curbing period pain and symptoms such as bleeding and cramps.

Corporate Partnerships a Win-Win for Daniels, Aramark, Bona

In the MBA programs at the Daniels College of Business, things often come full circle. After completing their respective degrees, Kirk Roberts, now senior VP of strategic development at floor care company Bona, and Carl Mittleman, Aramark’s chief operating officer, immediately wanted to figure out how to stay involved with Daniels.

The result: Both Bona and Aramark have been major partners of Daniels for the past several years, sponsoring corporate and global challenge projects for Daniels MBA students. The partnerships have been helpful for Daniels students, but they have been a big boon for the companies as well.

Quiet Generosity, Enduring Impact

Daniels is fortifying its future, thanks to an extraordinary $3 million trust distribution from Charlton “Buzz” Chatfield (BSBA 1969, MBA 1970), a two-time alumnus whose belief in the power of education was the foundation of his personal and professional success. The gift will bolster the Dean’s Discretionary Fund, providing Daniels with timely and flexible resources needed to advance the priorities emerging from a new college-wide strategic planning process. This funding will empower the College to move quickly to activate initiatives focused on transformational student experiences, impactful research, entrepreneurship, market connectivity and innovation.

Education at the Extremes

The Daniels Executive MBA program wants to be where the world is headed, rather than where it’s been. So when it comes the locations of each cohort’s global trip, students have few—if any—familiar options to choose from.

After two weeks of company visits, firsthand research and unforgettable experiences, EMBA Cohort 82 returned from Rwanda and Kenya with a dramatically different perspective and a newfound motivation to do good.