Michael DiNardo ’20 first visited Syracuse University with his sister at thirteen years old when she was touring the school, and decided that Syracuse would be the place for him. “Five years and 15 college applications later, I rediscovered my love for the university after touring it again back in April of 2016,” said Michael. “It was as if I was returning to my roots; my 13-year-old-self saw something in SU and felt right at home.”
Michael has certainly taken root at Syracuse, being drawn to the multitude of organizations and school spirit the university embodies, as well as the opportunities the Martin J. Whitman School of Management had to offer. “Even though I was not sure what I wanted to do in business,” Michael said, “I knew that I would get a strong business education and make many connections.”
Since his freshman year, Michael has been a part of the Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, and currently serves as President. He is also a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society and serves as a Whitman and Honors Peer Mentor. This year, Michael was selected to be a Remembrance Scholar, representing one of the Syracuse University students lost in the terrorist attack on flight Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland during “Remembrance Week”, which will take place October 20-26, 2019.
Michael has also been a member of OrangeSeeds, a First Year Leadership Empowerment Program designed to help first-year students get acquainted to campus and develop their leadership skills through community service. Michael has been the co-director for the past two years, and has been on the Executive Board for three.
Additionally, Michael served on two committees for OttoTHON and SU’s Dance Marathon. In choosing to be a part of a variety of organizations, he said that, “one of my favorite aspects is how small this large university can get as soon as you get involved on campus.”
Aside from being able to get involved, another one of Michael’s favorite aspects about SU and Whitman is the connections and relationships he has built with his professors. “I believe this has helped shape my college experience because I truly value having mentors who can help guide me throughout my academic career into the real world,” explained Michael.
“Additionally, I am extremely fortunate for the way the Whitman curriculum is set up because without having to take core, I would most likely not have discovered Supply Chain Management. As I prepare to graduate, I feel like I am leaving SU with a well-rounded academic course load because I had the opportunity to dip my toes in various fields.”
To further pursue his Supply Chain studies, Michael obtained an internship this past summer as a Demand Planning intern at Danone North America in White Plains, NY. “I was given day-to-day responsibilities, such as managing all the “Brand Dannon” SKUs in the short-term planning process,” described Michael. “I would review our planning book every week at a SKU-location level and adjust forecasts accordingly for the next 6 weeks while accounting for seasonality, month-end activity, and sales events.”
Michael also reviewed various forecasts and ran three weekly reports—Shorts Replanning Tool, Alerts Report, and the Pacing and Trends Tool—which were used by Demand Planning and cross-functional teams to align on future forecasts. After graduation, Michael will be returning to Danone North America full-time within their Supply Chain Department, and hopes to continually build a career with Danone and his experiential learning in Supply Chain.
As far as the long-term, Michael hopes to be able to tie in his Psychology major. “Although I am not sure exactly what this will entail, I am considering pursuing a master’s program for Industrial/Organizational Psychology down the road,” explained Michael. “I think it would be really cool to get into this field because I really enjoy helping others and pursuing a career in this field would allow me to combine my two interests.”
Prior to joining the Whitman School, Julia worked several jobs in service and hospitality, from working as a barista to bartending. Julia enjoys creating through writing blog content and poetry, photography, and other outlets.
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