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New Learning Center for Finance and Technology opens on UNH campus:
Surprise gift from Board member Ralph DellaCamera adds to the excitement
At the conclusion of last week’s meeting of the UNH Board of Governors, the brand-new Samuel S. Bergami, Jr., Learning Center for Finance and Technology was officially opened for business as the board celebrated the completion of this fabulous “trading room floor” classroom.
This classroom was funded thanks to the generosity of Sam Bergami, EMBA ‘85, the new chair of the Board, and his wife, Lois; and the technology in the classroom was supported with a gift from Ralph DellaCamera '75, who recently joined the Board. When Sam was approached with the idea of helping to fund this state-of-the-art learning arena, he went home and spent hours researching the benefits of such a classroom on student learning. He came to the conclusion, as he told the group, that all of the best business schools feature a similar classroom, and he made this gift in order to keep our business school on its way to becoming one of the best.
The ceremony celebrating the opening of the new Learning Center was opened with ringing a ceremonial bell, as most stock exchanges open for business, and then Jess Boronico, Dean of the College of Business, and some of his faculty delivered a presentation that clearly demonstrated all the pedagogical "bells and whistles" that make this space so critical to UNH students' learning. The classroom is equipped with software that rivals most professional trading room floors. Stephanie Fernandes, an MBA candidate who spoke on behalf of the business school students, told us that she had never seen anything like this classroom, and she knew that it would attract new students.
Stephanie's comments, and the faculty presentation, were so inspiring that when Ralph DellaCamera stood up to help Sam Bergami ring the "closing bell" on the celebration, he announced that he was contributing $25,000 for students to use to invest through the trading room floor. This surprise gift will expose our students to the experiential learning for which we will become well known.
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Jim Murdy, assistant professor of hospitality and tourism, demonstrates one of the new learning tools.
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Sam Bergami, Jr., EMBA ’85, and Ralph Della Camera ’75 ring the closing bell for the ceremony as President Steven Kaplan applauds their generosity and spirit.
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Standing Room Only: Members of the UNH Board of Governors, students, faculty and staff fill the new Samuel S. Bergami, Jr., Learning Center for Finance and Technology to celebrate the completion of this dazzling new classroom.
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