Cohn Honored Among Long Island’s Top 50 Women in Business

At a live evening event on October 28, Deborah Y. Cohn, Ph.D. (M.B.A. ’89), interim dean of the School of Management, was honored as one of the Top 50 Women in Business by Long Island Business News (LIBN).

The award, launched in 2000, recognizes Long Island’s top women professionals for their mentoring, business acumen, and community involvement. The program’s honorees, selected by a judging committee, represent the most influential women in business, government, and nonprofit fields. For the 2021 awards program, more than 300 applications vied for the 50 spots, the largest applicant pool since the program launched, LIBN noted at the event. 

Mentoring, Business Acumen and Community Involvement

Cohn fulfills the award criteria in many ways, including her service to New York Tech. Since 2019, she has served as a faculty mentor for new students, and in the 2019-2020 academic year, she also was a coach in the Achieving College Excellence (ACE) program. In this last academic year, she was a coach in the iAchieve program, serving as a mentor to academically struggling undergraduate students.

Additionally, she teaches and puts into practice the latest marketing techniques on behalf of New York Tech students, involving them in experiences outside of the classroom as well as in research projects, in some cases to help them win scholarships. Cohn pursues her own academic research, secures funded grants, and develops and supports professional enrichment opportunities. She has published numerous papers (on her own and with other researchers) and frequently speaks at conferences as part of her commitment to build reputation and support recruiting and retention efforts at New York Tech.

Further, she believes that education is a lifelong pursuit, which underscores her role as director of the John Rebecchi Professional Enrichment Program, serving our two New York campuses since 2010.

Cohn also volunteers with Footsteps, Marketing Edge, and the Queens Career Connect Central Queens YM&YWHA, among other organizations.

“I am really excited to lead the School of Management into a future that includes the success of students, faculty, and staff,” Cohn shared in her award nomination. “I came to New York Tech in 1987 to find a career. The amazing faculty, who I now have the privilege to work with, helped me find my career by encouraging me to complete a Ph.D. Now, as faculty, interim dean, and director of Professional Enrichment, I help students find their careers.

Read about the 2021 honorees in a special section in Long Island Business News.