Quinnipiac University inducts Laszlo Birinyi Jr. and Thomas J. Orloski into its Business Leader Hall of Fame

HAMDEN, Conn., Nov. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Quinnipiac University School of Business inducted Laszlo Birinyi Jr., founder and president of Birinyi Associates, and Thomas J. Orloski '61, the late president and owner of Oak Creek Funding, into its Business Leader Hall of Fame on Nov. 22 at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan.

"The Hall of Fame honors men and women, like Laszlo Birinyi and Thomas Orloski, who exemplify the leadership qualities, business acumen and values that we seek to instill in our students," said Matthew L. O'Connor, dean of the School of Business.

Orloski's widow, Carol, accepted the award. In 1981, Orloski founded Oak Creek Funding, a computer leasing firm. Prior, he worked in construction, served in the U.S. Air Force and pursued an accounting degree at Quinnipiac. After graduating, he was employed at the General Accounting Office in Washington, D.C., and worked for a decade at Systems Capital Corp. as a controller before starting Oak Creek. He died in 2011.

Birinyi, who heads a stock market research firm, was once dubbed "Wall Street's No. 1 number cruncher" by financial journalist Louis Rukeyser, O'Connor noted. Birinyi was born in Hungary and came to America as a child. He studied history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but also delved into computer programming and worked on Wall Street, combining his computer skills with his passion for the stock market.

Birinyi joked that he learned more from his college liberal arts courses than he did from his accounting class. "The media is doing an inadequate job in reporting financial news and unfortunately, putting editorial views on page 1," he said. Read his speech here.

The School of Business presented Outstanding Business Alumni Awards to Bart N. Miller '93, CEO of Centrinex, a call center business in Kansas City; and Jonathan C. Potokin '01, MBA '05, MS '05, director of finance and administration for K2 Advisors, a worldwide investment advisory firm. Emerging leader awards were presented to three students who demonstrate excellence in and out of the classroom. Amanda Colin '14, an accounting and computer information systems major; Giosue "Josh" Improta '14, accounting; and Kayla Ketcheson '13, MBA program. See photos from the event here.

Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., enrolls 8,700 undergraduate and graduate students in 78 programs of study.

SOURCE Quinnipiac University