Reopening and Returning to Work

Andrew Quagliata is a Senior Lecturer in Management Communication at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, where he teaches courses in persuasive communication, interpersonal communication, entrepreneurial communication, real estate communication, and business writing.

Professor Quagliata is the author of “Build Better Slide Decks: Create Sharper Slides, Stronger Stories, and Standout Presentations” (November 2025) and several eCornell courses, including “Building Compelling Slide Decks and Reports,” “Developing Self-Advocacy Skills,” “Generative AI for Written Communication,” and “Preparing for Effective Presentations Using AI.”

Brad Treat is a serial entrepreneur with deep Cornell roots. He is the founding CEO of Mezmeriz, a high-tech company making interactive projectors and reality capture cameras to embed into mobile phones. Mezmeriz is based on patented MEMS technology developed by company co-founder Shahyaan Desai at Cornell. Previously, Brad was the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Cornell University.

Brad is also the co-founder and CEO of SightSpeed, an innovative video and voice communications company. Together with co-founders Aron Rosenberg and Cornell professor Toby Berger, Brad grew SightSpeed from a university research project into the world’s premier video-calling software. SightSpeed was profitably acquired by Logitech for $30MM.

Earlier in his career, Brad worked for eight years in the automotive industry in both the U.S. and Spain at Bowles Fluidics and GKN Automotive. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State and an MBA from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell.

Brad lives in Ithaca, New York. He is faculty at Ithaca College and at Cornell’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management teaching practical entrepreneurship. With the loving support of his wife Kristin, he competes in long-distance triathlons in the “Clydesdale” division, has done a few Ironman triathlons, and has finished a handful of marathons without walking.

With transformation and culture change in her DNA, Judy McKinney Cherry is a seasoned leader and successful entrepreneur recognized for her expertise in economic and community development. Ms. Cherry is currently the Executive Director for SCOPED, the Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development, and the CEO/CFO for the Schuyler County Industrial Development Agency. Ms. Cherry’s diverse background includes over 25 years of executive experience across the private sector, public sector, and university settings, including appointments by the Governors of New York and Delaware.

Nellie Brown is a certified industrial hygienist providing virtual and on-site training and technical assistance on a wide range of occupational safety and health hazards, including crisis and violence prevention, ergonomics, occupational stress, and hazard analysis techniques for employers, labor unions, and the public. Ms. Brown is frequently interviewed by the media, including CNN, and was a speaker on workplace violence for a BBC television special. She is the author of numerous occupational health hazard manuals, training programs, and articles; her publications on Cornell University’s DigitalCollections@ILR e-Library have been downloaded over 290,000 times in over 180 countries.