Global Collaborations

Your faculty have connections all over the world.

At the Sawyer Business School, we don’t just talk about global business. We are global business. With partnerships at universities, think tanks, and professional associations in countries like China, India, and Israel, you’ll learn about global business from the experts who have experienced it first-hand.

Fulbright Scholar

Richard Torrisi

Associate Professor of International Business and Finance C. Richard Torrisi was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant for the fall 2013 semester. The grant is part of an international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and State Department. And it’s competitive—only about 1,000 faculty and professionals receive grants each year for lecturing and research in more than 120 countries.

From September through January, Torrisi was on sabbatical from Sawyer Business School to teach two global business and strategy courses at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also worked with the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic to study foreign direct investment flows in Central Europe. Torrisi has published widely on FDI in emerging economies and in the European Union.

This was Torrisi’s second time serving as a Fulbright Scholar. In fall 2006, he lectured at Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland.

“My trip to Poland really energized my interest in what was going on in Central Europe and the European Union," said Torrisi at the time. "I met a lot of smart and interesting people who were creating many new startups in Poland when the economy was doing well and competing successfully in the EU.”

 

Research & Publications

Some faculty members are working with researchers overseas to study global business theories and trends.

Carlos Rufin

For Carlos Rufin, who’s native to Brazil and fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, having a global mindset is a way of life. He studies the relationship between business, government, and society in developing countries. His work with the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), for example, is helping low-income families in Rio de Janeiro manage their energy needs and gain access to new resources.

Rufin is currently helping ABRADEE, the association of Brazil’s electricity distributors, learn more about utility regulation.

Jodi Detjen

Instructor of Management and Entrepreneurship Jodi Detjen is working with a professor from the Goa Institute of Management to write a book chapter on managing corruption in India.

 

Teaching

Carlos Rufin

Carlos Rufin has taught abroad at PUC-Rio and the Instituto de Empresa Business School in Madrid, Spain.

Jane Zhu

Jane Zhu’s partnership with Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT), is a vital component of her Global Marketing Consulting course in Boston. Her students work virtually with students in China to complete consulting projects for business clients. Communicating via Skype and email, the students cross cultural boundaries and time zones to learn how business practices vary around the world.

Zhu, who is native to China, also works closely with the Development Research Center of Chinese State Council on industry-level initiatives in the Chinese energy and tea markets.

Lew Shaw

Since 2008, Chair and Associate Professor of Accounting Lew Shaw has been teaching two accounting courses at the University of Haifa’s Graduate School of Business in Israel every summer. He’s also collaborated on research projects and helped share the school’s curriculum.