Master of Business Administration (MBA)

The István Széchenyi Chair in International Economics is a permanent, endowed faculty position. The position was established in September 2008 by an anonymously donated endowment. Christopher Ball, associate professor of economics in the School of Business and Engineering, currently holds the faculty chair position.

The chair oversees the Central European Institute, a campus-wide initiative devoted to fostering opportunities for international education. The chair also administers the Hungarian American Business Leaders Scholarship program, which provides annual scholarships for Hungarian students to  pursue graduate studies at Quinnipiac and gain experience working at American companies.

Watch a video introducing the program.

The Hungarian American Business Leaders Scholarship (HABL) was launched in 2009 in cooperation with Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Budapest, Hungary. The program provides annual scholarships for two Hungarian students to pursue graduate studies and gain corporate experience at American companies.

During the first two years of the scholarship, students take MBA courses and work part-time. In the third year, they intern full-time. After completing their studies, students are required to return to Central Europe. To facilitate their transition and provide professional assistance, students are assigned executive mentors from the region.

The Hungarians Beyond the Borders Scholarship, originally launched in cooperation with Sapientia University in Csikszereda, Romania, has been folded into the main program. Scholarships are offered to Hungarian students living in Hungary or in neighboring countries. Candidates are selected through the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and through board members and private academic advisers. Applications must come through one of these three channels.

2012 New HABL Scholars

Márta Lőrincz
Lőrincz graduated in July 2011 from the Babeş-Bolyai University in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), Romania, where she specialized in corporate financial management. She worked at Evalueserve as a business analyst for more than two years, providing market research for companies worldwide. Prior to starting her MBA, she worked at FRSGlobal Wolter Kluwers Financial Services as a financial analyst providing liquidity risk supervision and credit risk analysis for major European banks. During her stay in the U.S. she is focusing on finance and currently works as a business controlling intern at Henkel Corporation North America.

Katalin Németh
Németh holds a master's degree in communications and media studies from the Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Hungary. She also attended the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, where she specialized in applied media studies and completed their leadership program. She joined the HABL Scholarship program after serving industrial accounts for more than two years at Cook Communications Consulting Ltd, and founding and managing her own company in her home town in Hungary. During her stay in the U.S., she is focusing on information technologies. She worked as an account executive at LinkVehicle, a Stratford-based web-marketing company. She is currently interning for the UTC Climate, Controls & Security Systems World Headquarter in Farmington, Conn., where she contributes to a global IT project in support of the Marketing-Communications Department.

Current HABL Scholars

Éva Bartalos
Bartalos currently works at Henkel Corporation North America as a finance manager responsible for rolling out six sigma for the business units and optimizing the accounts receivables transactions. She holds a degree from the Corvinus University of Budapest and from the Mathias Corvinus Collegium where she specialized in international studies with a focus on the European Union. She interned in Hungary at the Department of Security and Foreign Policy in the Prime Minister's Cabinet. She worked in property management at Charter Oak Communities and its affiliate company Rippowam Corporation while completing her MBA at Quinnipiac, graduating in May 2012. Her executive mentor is Miklós Kerezsi, CEO of East Consulting Ltd.

Ildikó Dombi
Dombi currently works at Travelers Insurance in the Personal Insurance Division's Business Intelligence and Analytics Group. She graduated from the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transilvania in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc), Romania, where she specialized in economics and management. After graduating in June 2009 she worked for Animal Food LLC, a small spirits and disinfectants producer, and also for Sapientia Hungarian University of Transilvania. She will complete her Quinnipiac MBA in May 2013. Her executive mentor is Péter Hajdú, General Director for South East Europe, Cisco International.

Bence Erdélyi
Erdélyi currently works at InterMerchant Services, a credit card processing start-up in North Haven, Conn. He graduated in June 2011 from the Corvinus University of Budapest and from Mathias Corvinus Collegium. He previously interned for the fastest growing natural gas trading company in Hungary, MOL Energy Trade Ltd., as business development analyst. He is an entrepreneur who continues remotely to manage his company in Hungary, iProperty, while working and studying in the U.S. He will complete his Quinnipiac MBA in 2013. His executive mentor is András Tombor.

András Herczeg
Herczeg currently works for the pricing group at UIL Holdings Corporation, a New Haven, Conn.-based electric and natural gas utility, focusing on energy policy, rate making and regulatory finance. His previous experience was also in the area of supply chain management and the energy sector respectively at the Davidson Company Inc. in the United States and KPMG Advisory Ltd. and MOL Plc. in Hungary. He earned an integrated BA/MA degree in economics from the Corvinus University of Budapest and MBA from Quinnipiac University. His executive mentor is Benjamin Lakatos, CEO of MOL Energy Trade Ltd.

Blanka Balázs

Blanka Balázs completed her undergraduate degree in 2008 at Sapientia - Hungarian University of Transilvania in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc), Romania, specializing in management and economics. She earned her Quinnipiac MBA in December 2009. During her MBA studies, she interned for Covalence SA in Geneva, Switzerland, in summer 2009. Following graduation, she interned at UTC Power in South Windsor, Conn. Returning to Europe, she went to work for Statoil's headquarters in Stavanger, Norway, taking part in a three-year rotational corporate graduate program focusing on corporate governance, risk management and compliance.

Dániel Erdélyi

Dániel Erdélyi currently works at Raiffeisen Bank in Budapest, Hungary, as the executive assistant to the CEO. He graduated from the Corvinus University of Budapest, specializing in macroeconomic analysis and forecasting with a minor in applied statistics. He worked for Raiffeisen Bank Hungary as a senior credit risk analyst. He completed his Quinnipiac MBA in December 2010. During his MBA studies, he interned for Birinyi Associates Inc., a stock market research and money management firm in Westport, Conn.

Alexandra Pleier

Alexandra Pleier currently works as a direct report to the logistics director in charge of transportation planning at Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary. She graduated in June 2009 from the Corvinus University of Budapest specializing in international studies. She completed her Quinnipiac MBA in December 2010. During her MBA studies she interned at energy research firm IHS Herold, Inc., in Norwalk, CT. After MBA graduation she worked in Supply Management at United Technologies Corporation in Farmington, CT.