Galloway, N.J. _  Stockton University students in Monica Amadio’s Technology and Innovation Management course had a chance to listen and learn from high-profile alumni speakers in a special speaker series that showed students how technology is evolving and being used in different industries.

“I wanted our students to see the variety of different opportunities available to them,” said Amadio, professor of Business Studies and General Studies. “I benefitted from the guest speakers as a student in the Doctor of Organizational Leadership program and wanted to provide a similar experience for my students in the School of Business.”

Speakers were David Lester, a former director at Walt Disney Imagineering and  founder of Arcologue; Theodore R. Sanchious, Vice President and Director of Product Solution Consulting, Deluxe Corporation; Angelo Longo, U.S. Information Security Officer & Head of End User Services at BetMGM; and Jennifer Dalton, Executive Director – Product Owner for Small Business Card at JPMorgan Chase.

Students said speakers presented them with a real-world point of view. “Each of the speakers shared their own unique perspectives about their field of work and offered a word of advice,” student Adrian Lopez said.

Lester, a writer, director, animator, and engineer has contributed to: Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, and Avatar: Flight of Passage. His company, Arcologue, Inc. started in 2021.

Student Antonio Caraballo said he would like a job like Lester’s after graduation. “He relates to me because he was a part of a major corporation and was able to develop and put his creative ideas to use. That’s what I would love for my future,” Caraballo said.

Sarra Barker remembered Sanchious’ talk about “...  taking things day by day and to always pay it forward.” His words are something she will  “try to implant in my everyday life.”

Sanchious leads a product solution consulting team supporting Deluxe’s ongoing effort for growth in global commerce. In his career, he has worked in an executive role for some of the larger firms in the financial service sectors, such as Citi, Capital One, and First Data. He has had active roles in teams responsible for product line performance including product strategy, product planning and issue prioritization.

Camryn Geiser focused attention on both Lester and Sanchious. “In the future I want to be a finance manager. Ted, being in financial services, caught my attention. He is a very kind man, who knows how to treat those around him,” Geiser said.

Longo leads information security for BetMGM, LLC and has conducted disaster response, incident management, lead cyber forensics investigations and developed enterprise security architecture.  He is an undergraduate alumnus of Stockton.

Dalton is the recipient of two Chase Champion awards and Project Management Awards at JPMorgan Chase, Verizon, and GMAC for complex project implementations. She holds a leadership role for the Pride BRG.

“The guest speakers were very gracious with their time and advice for students. Several shared their personal email addresses to enable Stockton students to follow up,” Amadio said. She  encouraged her students to follow up directly with each guest lecturer via LinkedIn, as well.

 “In addition to course content, we are teaching our students to expand their personal networks,” Amadio said. “I thank the guests for investing in our students and I look forward to hearing from them again in the future.”