SUNY Morrisville professor receives prestigious Fulbright Specialist Award that will support a teaching exchange in India

SUNY Morrisville Professor Christopher Scalzo has been sharing his business knowledge globally for more than two decades.

Next year, it will take him to India through a prestigious Fulbright Specialist Program Award he received from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Scalzo will complete a project at GHRaisoni Institute of Engineering & Business Management, in India, where he will train and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions and communities, both in the United States and overseas, through workshops and training activities in entrepreneurship.

Scalzo, of Liverpool, is one of more than 400 United States citizens who share expertise with host institutions abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program each year.

"This opportunity has taken four years to achieve, but worth the wait to work with a great institution," he said of the January 2025 trip.

In India, Scalzo will provide workshops and training on entrepreneurship and starting new businesses with students, as well as provide workshops and discussions on teaching entrepreneurship, case teaching and simulations.

"I chose this institution because I felt I could help meet the need for teaching and workshops in entrepreneurship given my background in teaching, applied learning and owning my own business," he said.

The Fulbright Specialist Program is a unique opportunity for academics and established professionals to engage in two- to six-week, project-based exchanges at host institutions across the globe. Recipients of

Fulbright Specialist Awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership in their field and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the United States and abroad.

Scalzo's international philanthropy has taken him all over the world.

Last year it also earned him recognition with his second President's Volunteer Service Award from Winrock International, a national honor which lauds international volunteer service. The award is issued by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, a group created by former President George W. Bush to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers make to the nation.

Scalzo has contributed more than 1,000 hours of volunteer service on international assignments in Honduras, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi (remote) and Nigeria.

Working with Winrock and USAID under the Farmer-to-Farmer program, he completed financial training and analysis with dairy farmers in Honduras, strategic planning workshops and training with Kabba College of Agriculture in Nigeria.

"I am happy to utilize my experience to help other areas of the world," Scalzo said. "These trips allow me to sharpen my business skills and experience different cultures up-close while making friends in various parts of the world."

In addition to his work being a catalyst for companies and farmers in developing nations, it also sheds a unique light in his SUNY Morrisville classroom.

"These trips help students by providing experiences that broaden their perspective about business, culture and the world," he said. "I bring these trips to life for the students through case studies and projects that students would not normally get in a traditional class."

Scalzo's consulting includes three trips to Kenya, one to help a soy and maize-producing company enhance its operations, and another to Lebanon to assist several companies in the organic food industry with creating a business model and conducting financial analysis.

He also ventured to Nanjing, China, where he taught macroeconomics at Nanjing Institute of Industry and Technology (NIIT) and spent three weeks as a consultant, sharing his expertise in Kabba, Nigeria, where he worked with a team on a five-year strategic plan at the Kabba College of Agriculture. The college is a division of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, located in West Africa.

Scalzo's interest in business and economics began at an early age. By the time he was 18, he was hatching ideas, examining investment strategies and conjuring up plans to run his own company.

His first big business plan was a home run - financing for a tool and die company. And it didn't stop there. As news of his business and entrepreneurial savvy spread, friends and colleagues turned to him for advice about finances and marketing. He set out to teach others the tools of his trade, consulting and working for small and large companies, handling budgeting and forecasting financials.

Ten years later, in graduate school, a professor turned him on to the idea of teaching. He started out with a college investment course part-time and the rest is history.

He went back to school to earn his doctorate degree and has spent the last nearly 30 years working in academia, 24 of them at SUNY Morrisville where he teaches business, marketing, finance, operations and entrepreneurship.

About Fulbright Specialist recipients
Fulbright Specialist Award recipients address critical global issues in all disciplines while building relationships, knowledge and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 60 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 88 who have received Pulitzer Prizes and 39 who have served as a head of state or government.