Gatton Team Fourth in Nation at Biz Quiz

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 6, 2011) − For the fourth consecutive year, students from the University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics turned in a strong showing in the annual Wall Street Journal National Biz Quiz competition held recently at The Ohio State University in Columbus.

"I am pleased to report that our 2011 squad placed fourth out of 24 schools from across the nation in the team competition," said Gordon Holbein, a senior lecturer in strategy and leadership at Gatton who serves as coach.  "Our Gatton team bested students from excellent programs such as Purdue, Carnegie-Mellon, Emory, North Carolina, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Arizona and others.

Team members were Jonathan Evers, a junior finance and math major from Paducah; Alyssa Rivard, a marketing and management sophomore from Pikeville; and Danail Kelisakiev, a finance senior and Gatton Global Scholars from Varna, Bulgaria.  Ryan McFerran, a junior finance and economics major from Hebron, qualified as the team's first alternate.

The Biz Quiz is co-sponsored by the Nationwide Insurance Financial Leadership Rotation Program and challenges competitors with several rounds of fast-paced, head-to-head quick response competition.

Questions are drawn from nearly two months of issues of the Wall Street Journal and cover a wide array of topics including the economy, politics, international affairs, corporate strategies, accounting policies, personal finance, sports, the arts, medicine, and social trends.

"Not only did they gain knowledge for a lifetime, our students had wonderful opportunities to interact with students and faculty from other top-rated programs, and gain rich exposure to executives who support the event," Holbein said.

MEDIA CONTACT: Carl Nathe or Andrew Jarrells, (859) 257-3200