Staff

Professor Hubbard is a specialist in public finance, managerial information and incentive problems in corporate finance, and financial markets and institutions. He has written more than 90 articles and books on corporate finance, investment decisions, banking, energy economics and public policy, including two textbooks, and has co-authored Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System. In a recent book, Tax Policy and Multinational Corporations, he argues that U.S. tax policy significantly affects financing and investment decisions of multinational corporations. Hubbard has applied his research interests in business (as a consultant on taxation and corporate finance to many corporations), in government (as deputy assistant of the U.S. Treasury Department and as a consultant to the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and many government agencies) and in academia (in faculty collaboration or visiting appointments at Columbia, University of Chicago and Harvard).

With deep belief in the power of intercultural education and the transformative options and opportunities it affords, Joshua has spent over 25 years in higher education committed to leading, building, and managing organizations and centers of excellence devoted to international learning and exchange.

As managing director of global programs and initiatives at Columbia Business School’s Chazen Institute for Global Business and Columbia University’s Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy, Joshua oversees a wide array of curricular, extra-curricular, research, and industry outreach programs and initiatives. In this capacity he is responsible for strategic planning, innovative program design and development, capacity building, project management, and operations.

Concurrently and prior to these positions, Joshua oversaw Columbia University’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), funded by the U.S. Department of Education, where he developed educational and outreach programs to increase and promote the nation's capacity for international understanding and competitiveness.

As senior associate director of Columbia Business School’s Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Joshua spearheaded research programs and public forums promoting knowledge and understanding of Japanese business and economics in an international context. At Columbia University’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Study Center, he fostered and managed collaboration on Asia Pacific policy research, exchanges, and joint conferences to help establish an emerging region-wide network of personal and institutional relationships for all member economies in the Asia Pacific region.

Joshua holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Oberlin College, an M.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures with a focus on contemporary Japanese history from the University of Kansas, and is pursuing an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration at Teachers College.

He has traveled to nearly 35 countries and lived and taught English in Japan on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program.

Jennifer Tromba Morisco is the director of global travel and risk management for the Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business at Columbia Business School. Jennifer collaborates with students, faculty, and administrators to further globalize the Business School by developing the Chazen Institute’s active agenda of programs. 

In this role she oversees the Institute’s global travel initiatives. These include Global Immersion Program and block week classes; Global Consulting Projects and the Chazen Institute Travel Fund, which provides need based travel funds for students participating in Chazen travel opportunities. She also works on the Jerome Chazen Case Series, which seeks to increase global cases into the Business School curriculum. 

Prior to joining the Chazen Institute in 2003 she was at Time Inc., doing marketing for the international editions of Time Magazine and Asiaweek.  Jennifer holds an MBA from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University and BS/BA degrees from the University at Albany.

Caitlin O'Donnell is the Associate Director of the Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business.  She has been passionate about international education and travel ever since she studied abroad in London in 2005.  She graduated from Siena College in 2007 with a B.S. in Marketing and International Education.  From there she went on to work for a technology focused investment bank before heading back into education and receiving her Ed.M in Planning, Policy, and Administration for Higher Education from Boston University while running academic programs for their Economics Department.  She recently completed her Certificate in Business Excellence from Columbia Business School's Execute Education program.

She joined the Chazen Institute team in 2010 running student programs focusing on student programs and currently runs the Institute’s exchange partnership programs and blockweek classes.  She enjoys working with students and being in the business school environment that allows her to continue to develop new global learning opportunities.

In her free time she enjoys reading, cooking, tennis, planning trips, and trying new foods while traveling the world.  

Betsy Wiesendanger is a lover of words, music, art, and ideas. Her past experience includes editorial positions at Consumers Union and Time Inc. (where she oversaw corporate publications for Citigroup, Unilever, and United Parcel Service). In what little free time she had, she studied English literature at Hunter College (favorite books: Middlemarch and To the Lighthouse) As a freelance writer, her work appeared in the New York Times, Money.com, and on National Public Radio.

She joined the Chazen Institute in 2010 as an editor and now oversees communication strategy. She earned an MS in Strategic Communications from Columbia University in 2015.

She has recently developed a passion for drawing and is an active member of New York Urban Sketchers. In addition, she enjoys practicing the piano and mastering new classical repertoire.

Melissa Spooner inherited a passion for travel from her grandparents. As a small child, she looked at a map of the world covered with colorful pins that displayed their adventures. 

Originally intending to be an international lawyer, she studied Criminal Justice as an undergraduate at Northeastern University in Boston. Three years of living in Japan on the JET Program shifted her focus. After graduating with her MA in International Education, she joined the Chazen Institute team in 2018.

Melissa now facilitates the research interests of international academics and practitioners at Columbia Business School through the Visiting Scholar Program. Additionally, she encourages students and staff to expand their language repertoire by signing up for the Chazen Language Program. In her free time, Melissa loves playing sports and being outdoors with her border collie mix named Kansai.  

Zina Sockwell has been passionate about language learning and cultural immersion since childhood, growing up in a diverse immigrant community in Newark, New Jersey. Since then she’s learned Spanish, French, Portuguese, and (a little) Korean, studied abroad in Madrid, and tried to cook dishes from cuisines around the world.

A Lion at heart, she graduated from Columbia College with a BA in Sociology. After college, she moved to the Bay Area to work for Intuit, where she developed a passion for entrepreneurship (and the empowerment of entrepreneurs!). She has since moved back to New York and is combining her love of cross-cultural learning with her passion for entrepreneurship.

Zina manages the Chazen Language Program (through which she learned Spanish years ago!); the Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Latin America (ECLA) and in Africa (EC-Africa) programs; the Bridging the American Divide course; CBS’s partnership with USIU in Kenya; and doctoral and faculty research grants.

In her free time, she loves to continue studying languages, cook all different kinds of food, and hone her amateur painting skills.

Ryan Hata is the (Events) Program Manager at the Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business. He joined the Institute after completing his degree in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College in May of 2019. In his role, he plans events for the China Business Initiative (CBI) and the Indian Business Initiative (IBI). Some events include the Lulu Chow Wang Senior Visiting Scholars Program, the Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum, the N.T. Wang Distinguished Lecture, and the Khemka Speaker Forum. He will also manage the Institute’s visiting scholars program.

Ryan has always been passionate about helping international individuals. Prior to joining the Chazen Institute, he worked at Barnard College with the International Student Services team and taught English in Tottori, Japan on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

Additionally, Ryan holds a B.A. in Communications from Loyola Marymount University, an M.A. in Asian American Studies from San Francisco State University, and an M.A. in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Originally hailing from Honolulu, Hawaii, Ryan is an avid hiker, beach-goer, and swimmer. He also enjoys traveling and experiencing new cultures. When not outdoors, you can find Ryan enjoying his time watching sporting events.