“I love staying up to date on industry trends and technological advancements,” says Gianna Mangicaro ’18, G’24, G’26, who is pursuing an online MSBA in the Whitman School.
All Gianna Mangicaro ’18, G’24, G’26 ever wanted to do was go to Syracuse University. Now that she’s made it to campus, the industrious student employee has no plans to leave.
A fixture in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, Mangicaro is pursuing an online master’s degree—her second—in business analytics. The program does more than enhance Mangicaro’s quantitative and technical skills. It’s also preparing her for a possible career in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, because of a unique STEM designation.
“I love staying up to date on industry trends and technological advancements,” admits Mangicaro, who began her current program shortly before earning an online MBA in marketing and business analytics.
Mangicaro (pointing) compares the Whitman School’s residencies to three-day business conferences.
From her undergraduate studies in management, where she excelled as a member of the Goodman IMPRESS Program, to her current research, Mangicaro heaps praise on her faculty mentors. “They’re experts in their respective fields. I feel like I can ask them anything,” says the East Syracuse native, who also works for Information Technology Services (ITS).
These specialists include adjunct professors Luz Lee and Leanne Martin, who recently led Mangicaro and her online MBA peers in a three-day, in-person residency. Mangicaro compares the experience to a business conference, overflowing with workshops, panel discussions and professional networking opportunities.
While the Whitman School offers residencies all over the world, this one occurred on Main Campus. It was titled Leading Change and Improvements in Your Organization and addressed change management models and methodologies. In one role-playing exercise, Mangicaro helped run a small ad agency. “We learned how to simplify the process of buying and selling ads while improving their placements and performance,” she recalls. “It was fun and really informative.”
Mangicaro explains that with the rise of Big Data, business leaders need to stay ahead of consumer business trends. That’s where business analytics comes into play, she continues, because it combines statistics and information technology to help marketers make informed decisions. “The Whitman School teaches me how to lead with an individualized touch. Customers need to feel valued and understood.”
Behind-the-Scenes Brilliance
Mangicaro’s curiosity spills over into ITS, where she’s an associate director of Learning Environments and Media Production (LEMP). Based in Lyman Hall, Mangicaro oversee a four-person team that “works on the MP side of things,” providing audiovisual support and media production services to students and faculty.
“We do about 250 jobs a year,” she estimates. “Some are small and don’t require a lot of preparation, like classroom video recordings. Others are high profile and involve weeks of planning, such as the ’CUSE50 Alumni Entrepreneur Award ceremony and the NVRC [National Veterans Resource Center] summit.”
One of her best memories occurred in 2022 in the K.G. Tan Auditorium in the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building. There, the LEMP team provided technology for Micron’s historic announcement about bringing leading-edge memory manufacturing to Central New York.
On hand was Mangicaro’s father, John, a 40-year-veteran of ITS. Gianna remembers racing, at one point, to ITS MakerSpace—a fab lab that John supervises—to output 3D microphone clips for several guest speakers, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ’80.
“I joke about being married to my job,” says Mangicaro, whose fiancée also is an alum employed by the University. “That’s OK because I get to put my Syracuse degrees to work in ITS.”
All in the Family
Mangicaro comes from a long line of people who bleed Orange. She has fond memories of accompanying her father to campus for Take Your Child to Work Day. “I’d run around the Quad and peer into the classrooms at the grown-up college students. I wanted to be like them,” she reminisces, adding that John used to drum in MakerSpace when it was the legendary Jabberwocky Café.
Meanwhile, her mother, Carolyn ’13, earned a liberal arts degree from the College of Professional Studies, while many of Gianna’s aunts, uncles and cousins are Syracuse graduates.
Mangicaro also oversees a team in ITS that provides audiovisual support and media production services to students and faculty.
It’s the sense of belonging that keeps Mangicaro attached to her biological family at home and her extended one on campus. “Orange is in my blood,” says Mangicaro, who also is a Wellness Champion and Generation Orange Leadership Council volunteer.
Mangicaro’s staying power is a testament to the University’s welcoming culture. Whether working alongside her dad, winning a senior capstone competition or volunteering at an alumni event, the self-avowed “coffee-guzzling, book-obsessed,” two-time graduate cherishes her Orange roots.
“I feel like I can wear a Syracuse T-shirt anywhere in the world, and someone will recognize it,” she says. “The connection is always there—whether you’re a student, a graduate, an employee or, in my case, all three.”
