Posted on April 19, 2018 by Joanna Carver
As part of the 2018 University Life Awards, two business students were named Most Outstanding Students in the College of Business.
Aashiq Jivani, a senior majoring in marketing and finance, won the Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student award.
A graduate of Lee High School, Jivani will graduate in three years this May.
“My goal was to study hard and take care of business,” said Jivani, who is a member of the Honors College. “I’d heard great things about the business school.”
In addition to his studies, he was also active in student organizations. Jivani founded the Society of First Generation Scholars, an organization that connects first-generation students and assists with resources and networking.
He also has been active with the Business Student Council and the American Marketing Association. This year he served as co-president of the Business Student Council and vice president of the American Marketing Association.
“I’ve gained valuable leadership experience through my work with these organizations,” said Jivani. “I’m proud of the things that I’ve accomplished at UTSA. I’ve also tried to pay it forward and help others as well.”
He also credits faculty members Max Kilger, Lalatendu Misra and Rick Utecht as outstanding mentors and amazing professors.
“It is really a nice honor to receive this award,” said Jivani. “It is rewarding to know that university leadership felt that I was deserving.”
Already accepted to several top 10 law schools, Jivani will begin law school this fall.
Eric Bachura, a Ph.D. student in information systems, was named the Most Outstanding Graduate Student in the College of Business.
Bachura is in the second year of the Ph.D. program. His research interests include insider threat, data analytics, cyber security, deception and cognition, information transparency and math theory.
“It was nice to be recognized because it reinforces to me that what I am doing is right,” said Bachura.
Since joining the Ph.D. program, he received the Best Paper Award at the 2017 Americas Conference on Information Systems award and has already been published in academic journals.
“The faculty are very open to working with doctoral students,” he said. “I’ve been exposed to a variety of multidisciplinary research areas.”
Prior to his career in academia, Bachura served in the United States Marines while working with the intelligence community at the National Security Agency and as a contractor with the Department of Defense.
In addition to his coursework, he has taught data analytics courses for the college as well as workshops for faculty and doctoral students in Python. Upon graduation, he looks to enter academia and continue pursuing his research interests.
— Joanna Carver
