2022 Cincinnati Business Achievement Awards honor Lindner students, alumni and company partnerships
Annual event celebrates business excellence and individual service
The 2022 Cincinnati Business Achievement Awards (CBAAs) were marked by recognition of current students, distinguished alumni and generous givers to the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
Presented by Lindner’s Alumni Council, the 37th annual CBAAs were held at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati, a welcome return to an in-person celebration after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2021 CBAAs to transition to a virtual fundraising event.
The 37th annual Cincinnati Business Achievement Awards were held at the Duke Energy Convention Center and hosted a crowd of 350.
The region’s longest-standing event that recognizes achievement in business and service to communities (both locally and globally), the CBAAs also raise funds for scholarships and financial assistance at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Last week’s event raised nearly $50,000 in scholarship support.
Lindner Dean Marianne Lewis, PhD, emceed the event. Other speakers/presenters included UC President Neville G. Pinto, PhD, and Cory Sims, Bus ’11, chair of the Lindner Alumni Council.
Lindner Dean Marianne Lewis emceed the 2022 CBAAs.
A 90-minute networking and reconnection reception preceded the awards program and dinner for the 350 attendees.
Lewis opened the awards program by touching on Lindner’s five points of distinction: problem-solving mindset, experiential learning, flexible pathways, inclusive community, and the city of Cincinnati being a great space for businesses of all sizes.
After two challenging years, Lewis observed that the evening was an important occasion to “pause and reflect.”
“Just think about how much we’ve learned,” she said. “Such resilience, mutual care and creativity helping us through hardships.”
UC president Neville G. Pinto delivered remarks centered around the progress made by both the Lindner College of Business and the university at-large.
In his remarks, Pinto noted nearly two and a half years ago marked the opening of the brand-new Lindner Hall.
“The building is providing an environment for our faculty and students to thrive in their education and scholarship,” Pinto said. “It is wonderful to see Lindner alive with activity again.”
Eric C. Broyles, Blue Ash ’90, Bus ’92, received the night’s top award: the Carl H. Lindner Award for Outstanding Business Achievement. Broyles, CEO and founder, Nanocan Therapeutics Corporation, was Lindner’s Most Outstanding Student in 1992 and was introduced by a childhood friend, Nathaniel Lampley, Jr., Law ’88.
Broyles' acceptance speech touched on his upbringing in a “poor, working-class neighborhood” in Hamilton, a city roughly 25 miles north of UC’s Clifton campus, while extolling his supportive parents.
Eric C. Broyles, Blue Ash ’90, Bus ’92, received the Carl H. Lindner Award for Outstanding Business Achievement.
“My mother used to say to me, ‘I wouldn’t take a million (dollars) for you.’ My dad said, ‘Why would I buy a new car, son, when I invest everything in you?’” Broyles recalled. “My dad never had a new car until I bought him one for his last Father’s Day.”
Broyles, who chairs the UC Foundation’s development committee, said the first place where he felt like “anybody could be somebody was when I stepped on the campus of the University of Cincinnati.”
“It’s at the University of Cincinnati where I finally found the affirmation that my parents had been giving me my whole life,” he said. “I got it because we had great professors who cared about the students, who went the extra mile.”
Arnold C. Hanish (second from right), Bus '70, retired vice president and chief accounting officer for Eli Lilly & Company, was honored with the Distinguished Service Award.
The Distinguished Service Award was bestowed upon Arnold C. Hanish, Bus '70, retired vice president and chief accounting officer for Eli Lilly & Company. Hanish’s accounting scholarship was the first of its kind for Lindner’s Business Fellows program, which fosters community and connections for Black, Latinx and Native American students.
Hanish was “truly humbled” by the recognition.
“For the past 52 years, I've tried to live my life by paying it forward,” he said. “I was grateful to have many mentors, professors, guidance counselors and others over the years who took time to assist me and provide me with a foundation on which I was able to build upon.”
AMEND CEO and co-founder Craig Todd (right), Bus ’89, spoke on behalf of his company, which was honored with the Business Partnership Award.
AMEND, a Cincinnati-based, independently owned management consulting firm, garnered the Business Partnership Award. AMEND CEO and co-founder Craig Todd, Bus ’89, called on businesses to utilize Lindner’s top-five ranked co-op program. AMEND has employed over 100 analysts from UC.
“AMEND would not be who we are today without all that help,” he said.
Brandon D. Trame, Bus '15, and Annette Echikunwoke, A&S '18, Bus '19, were each honored with the PACEsetter Award.
Trame, manager of analytics and optimization at 2060 Digital, singled out Lewis and Ric Sweeney, professor-educator, department of marketing, for embodying the values of PACE (professionalism, academics, character, engagement).
Echikunwoke is a paid search specialist for Empower who became UC’s first NCAA champion in track and field when she won the 2017 indoor weight throw title.
Annette Echikunwoke, A&S '18, Bus '19, garnered one of the two PACEsetter Awards.
“Before coming into the MS marketing program at Lindner, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to pursue professionally,” Echikunwoke said. “After the program, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. I was assured in my skillset and confident going into the marketplace.”
Two awards went to current students. William Kegg, Bus ‘23, was the recipient of the Carl H. Lindner Outstanding Junior Scholarship. Pinto introduced and presented Kegg with the award.
“I see life as a journey of self-improvement, one strewn with joys, obstacles, choices, and many opportunities to learn and make mistakes each day,” Kegg said. “A mentor suggested to me that the wisest people he knew were the ones who had already made all the mistakes there were to make.”
Xander Wells, Bus ’23, received The Heart of William J. Keating Jr. Leadership Award, which was presented by Liz Keating, daughter of William J. Keating Jr.
“One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Live a great story,’” Wells said. “Each one of us, in our lives, has a finite period of time to write our own story, and all we can do is hope that one day it will be a story worth telling.”
Bringing the evening’s festivities to a close, Lewis encouraged audience members to continue collaborating with Lindner as the college pursues its mission to empower business problem solvers.
“Let’s take away insights from these remarkable role models, both the rising leaders and the experienced leaders. Their examples are impactful in terms of innovation, engagement, support and grit,” Lewis said. “Please, I call on all of you and our community: keep pushing us, keep working with us, and we will continue to raise ourselves, this community and these remarkable student leaders that we love.”
Join us in congratulating this year’s honorees:
- Eric C. Broyles, Blue Ash '90, Bus '92, CEO & Founder, Nanocan Therapeutics Corporation — Carl H. Lindner Award for Outstanding Business Achievement
- Arnold C. Hanish, Bus '70, Vice President & Chief Accounting Officer (retired), Eli Lilly & Company — Distinguished Service Award
- AMEND — Business Partnership Award
- Annette Echikunwoke, A&S '18, Bus '19, Paid Search Specialist, Empower — PACEsetter Award
- Brandon D. Trame, Bus '15, Manager of Analytics & Optimization, 2060 Digital — PACEsetter Award
- William Kegg, Bus ’23 — Carl H. Lindner Outstanding Junior Scholarship
- Xander Wells, Bus ’23 — The Heart of William J. Keating Leadership Award
A variety of attendees enjoyed the 37th annual CBAAs.
Thanks to the sponsors of the 2022 CBAAs:
Premier
- Great American Insurance Group
Silver
- Morgan Stanley/Troy Neat
- Western & Southern Financial Group
1906
- AMEND
- Ameritas
- Bob and Rose Fealy
- Cincinnati Bell
- Deloitte
- Elliott Management Group
- Enerfab/HBH
- Ernst & Young
- Johnson Investment Council
- Nanocan Therapeutics Corporation
- PNC Bank
- The David J. Joseph Company
- Total Quality Logistics
- UC Health
Red & Black
- The Cincinnati Insurance Company
- Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL
- Lindner Graduate Programs
- UC Real Estate Center
Featured image: The 37th annual CBAAs recognized six award winners and one employer partner, AMEND. Left to right: Lindner Dean Marianne Lewis, PhD; PACEsetter awardees Brandon D. Trame and Annette Echikunwoke; AMEND CEO and co-founder Craig Todd; Carl H. Lindner Award for Outstanding Business Achievement honoree Eric C. Broyles; Distinguished Service Award honoree Arnold C. Hanish; Carl H. Lindner Outstanding Junior Scholarship awardee William Kegg; The Heart of William J. Keating Leadership Award honoree Xander Wells; and UC President Neville G. Pinto, PhD. All photos by Lauren Meisberger.
The CBAAs Legacy of Giving
The Cincinnati Business Achievement Awards is the region’s longest-standing event that recognizes achievement in business as well as service to community. This flagship event for the college makes a direct impact on the student experience by raising funds for scholarships and financial aid.
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