New appointments at Corvinus – Introducing our newly promoted colleagues

At Corvinus, we have a long-standing tradition of celebrating our colleagues’ academic progress and welcoming new lecturers, researchers, and professors emeriti. Since last November, we have brought a more personal touch to this tradition by presenting the certificates at the monthly Senate meetings. This enables the university leadership to congratulate everyone in person, right after their appointment. Most recently, we celebrated the appointments of the following colleagues. 

Ilan Alon – Research Professor (Institute of Strategy and Management) 

He is an internationally recognized professor and researcher in the fields of business administration, international strategy, and emerging markets. He earned his doctorate from Kent State University in the United States. Previously, he served as a professor at Ariel University in Israel and the University of Agder in Norway, and also as the Dean of the College of Management. His outstanding academic work is highlighted by numerous studies published in prestigious journals (e.g., Harvard Business Review), as well as scholarly books published by recognized publishers. In addition, he is the editor-in-chief of several international journals. His excellence in teaching and research has been globally recognized: he has been named ‘Professor of the Year’ multiple times and has also received the European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus award. He is dedicated to mentoring early-career researchers and supervising PhD students. 

Csaba János Békés – Professor Emeritus (Institute of Global Studies) 

Since 2009, he has been carrying out outstanding teaching, research, and academic organization activities at Corvinus University of Budapest and he was a Visiting Professor at Columbia University and New York University in New York for seven semesters. The Cold War History Research Center, which he founded and directs, plays a prominent role in promoting the university’s internationalization through its programs and extensive international relations. He is an internationally recognized expert on the history of the Cold War and East–West relations; he was awarded the Academic Prize by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) for his seminal monograph published in 2019, which summarizes his pioneering research. The book was published in English as “Hungary’s Cold War” by the University of North Carolina Press in the prestigious New Cold War History series. His teaching work is also definitive for the university: he has supported the professional development of numerous students and colleagues as a thesis supervisor, mentor, and by organizing research projects. The university recognized his outstanding scholarly and educational activities with the Corvinus Gold Medal in 2022. 

Balázs Tibor Felsmann – Associate Professor (Regional Centre for Energy Policy Research) 

He is a recognized researcher and educator in the fields of regulated industries and corporate strategy. He earned his PhD with summa cum laude honors from the Corvinus University of Budapest, where he previously served as the Head of the Strategic Management Department and Head of the Institute of Strategy and Management. Alongside his extensive academic and publishing work (including articles in Q1-ranked journals), he possesses significant domestic and international leadership experience in both the corporate sector and public administration, having previously served as the State Secretary for Infrastructure. He is a member of the Presidential Committee for Sustainable Development at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His outstanding talent management and educational activities have been recognized at the university with the ‘Teacher of the Year’ and ‘Excellent Mentor’ awards. 

Manuel Sebastian Mariani – Associate Professor (Institute of Data Analytics and Information Systems) 

He is a staff member of the Department of Network Science at Corvinus University. He obtained his degree in Physics from the Sapienza University of Rome, and his PhD from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Later, he worked as a Research Associate Professor in complexity science at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu, and from 2022, he served as a Research Group Leader at the University of Zurich. His interdisciplinary research examines the intersections of network theory, data analytics, and behavioral modeling; his results have been published in leading journals such as PNAS, Nature Communications, and the National Science Review. His teaching activity is also outstanding: his courses taught in the fields of network analytics and machine learning consistently receive excellent student evaluations 

We sincerely congratulate our newly appointed colleagues and wish them continued success in their work.