Honors Thesis Program

"The honors thesis program served as a capstone to my overall Fordham experience. It tapped the broad knowledge base I had developed during my earlier school years in addition to the financial skill set I had developed through internships. It was a pleasure to participate in the program and work with a true scholar, mentor, and friend in Dr. James R. Lothian."

Daniel Fedeyko
CBA 2005
Credit Derivatives Trading, JPMorgan Securities

Superior and gifted students of Fordham’s College of Business Administration have the opportunity to distinguish themselves by participating in the CBA Honors Thesis Program. During the students’ senior year, this two-course sequence enables them to conduct original business research of publishable quality. Two Co-Directors of the Honors Thesis Program manage the process and administer one seminar each term: Prof. Marcia Flicker in the fall, Prof. Patricia Ramsey in the spring. Our fields are Marketing and Management Systems, respectively, so Honors students need the active involvement of thesis advisors in their own fields. This document is written to help juniors invited to apply to the program understand it and their potential role in it.

During the first (fall) semester of the Honors Thesis Program, each student learns research methodology, chooses a thesis advisor, and – with the advisor’s help – defines a specific topic for his/her thesis. The outcome of the fall semester is a proposal (outline below), including comprehensive literature review, for an theory-based study comparable to the paper a professor would present at an academic conference.

The second (spring) term sees the implementation of the proposed research, including data gathering and analysis, writing a first draft, and editing it under the advisor’s and seminar leader’s supervision into the final draft of the thesis. All students to complete an Honors Thesis earn a sash and medal at Awards Night in May; the thesis voted “best” each year earns a special award.