Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Seven Syracuse Alumni Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Lists

Thursday, January 5, 2017, By John Boccacino
Share
alumniCollege of Arts and SciencesCollege of Visual and Performing ArtsNewhouse School of Public CommunicationsSchool of EducationWhitman School of Management

Seven University alumni appear on Forbes Magazine’s sixth annual 30 Under 30 listings of the most influential people under the age of 30. The lists, which span 20 different industries, honor entrepreneurs, breakout stars and agents of change across their respective disciplines.

Six hundred innovators in their fields garnered this honor, including the following Syracuse University alumni:

Ross Burack, Martin J. Whitman School of Management ’11, Food and Drink.

Laura Foti, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications ’13, Marketing and Advertising.

Michael George, College of Visual and Performing Arts ’11, Music.

Drew Taggart, Visual and Performing Arts ’12, Music.

Jacquie Katz, College of Arts and Sciences/Newhouse ’09, Hollywood and Entertainment.

Evin Robinson, Visual and Performing Arts ’12, iSchool G’14, Education.

Jessica Santana, Martin J. Whitman School of Management ’11, iSchool G’13, Education.

 

30under30peepsAbout the Syracuse honorees:

Burack, 27, is the co-founder of Choza Taqueria, a Mexican restaurant with four locations in and around New York City, including in the Westfield market at the World Trade Center. Burack currently runs a commercial real estate leasing and investment sales company. After studying the industry’s trends, he decided to open Choza, a “fast-casual” restaurant. A resident of New York City, Burack earned a degree in finance and entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises.

Foti, 26, is the head of paid media and analytics for General Electric Digital. According to Forbes, Foti, who graduated with a public relations degree, “uses her experience helping clients navigate business transitions plus her PR background to coordinate large new technology roll-outs and encourage user engagement through paid media and inbound analytics.” Among her most recent projects, Foti, a Boston resident, is working on the Industrial Internet of Things business, which produces applications and an operating system custom-made for industry.

George, 27, is the artist manager for SB Projects in Los Angeles. A resident of New York City, he is credited with discovering Martin Garrix, a phenom in the Miami dance music scene, for talent manager Scooter Braun in 2013. With George’s help, Garrix blossomed into one of the top DJs in the country, earning $16 million in 2016. George studied in Syracuse’s Bandier Program and earned a degree in the recording and allied entertainment industries.

Taggart, 27, is a musician for the electronic dance music duo The Chainsmokers, who were nominated for three Grammy awards this year, including Best New Artist for their hits “Don’t Let Me Down” and “Closer.” Taggart, a West Hollywood resident, and bandmate Alex Pall are among the favorites to win a 2017 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Taggart studied in Syracuse’s Bandier Program and earned a degree in the recording and allied entertainment industries.

Katz, 29, is a television literary agent for Creative Artists Agency, an American-based talent and sports agency located in Los Angeles. Katz has worked with comedy writers and directors for successful television shows like “Modern Family,” “Transparent” and Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” as well as “The Daily Show.” Katz’s clientele also includes Amber Ruffin, a writer on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and the first African-American woman to write for a late-night, network television talk show. Katz, a resident of Los Angeles, was a dual major, earning degrees in both psychology and public relations.

Robinson, 26, and Santana, 27, are the co-founders of New York on Tech, a nonprofit organization that aims to create and improve pathways for impoverished students and those from underrepresented populations to gain exposure to and proficiency in the fields of technology and innovation. Through immersive programs for high school students that include internship opportunities and mentoring, as well as after-school educational programming, Robinson and Santana help a forgotten segment of the population receive access to this training.

Robinson, a Brooklyn resident, earned undergraduate degrees in both economics and communications and rhetorical studies before earning his master’s in information management from the iSchool.

Santana, a Brooklyn resident, studied accounting as an undergraduate, and earned her master’s degree in information management from the iSchool.

Forbes allows an honoree to earn this distinction once in his/her career.

The designation was handed out in the following categories: Art and Style, Consumer Tech, Education, Energy, Enterprise Tech, Finance, Food and Drink, Games, Healthcare, Hollywood and Entertainment, Law & Policy, Manufacturing & Industry, Marketing and Advertising, Media, Music, Retail and E-commerce, Science, Social Entrepreneurs, Sports and Venture Capital.

For more information on the honorees, visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2017/01/03/meet-the-2017-class-of-30-under-30.

  • Author

John Boccacino

  • Recent
  • University Musicians, West Point Band to Perform Together This Weekend As Part of Events Around Military Appreciation Day
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Christine Weber
  • Turning Young Enthusiasts Into Scientific Researchers
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Hope Alvarez
  • Fall 2023 Career Week: Helping Students Achieve Professional Goals
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Gabrielle Lake
  • A Commitment to Arts and Sciences Excellence
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Dan Bernardi

More In Media, Law & Policy

Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna

Languages act as a guide for communicating our goals and dreams. It’s how we make sense of the world and connect with the communities around us. Become fluent in a variety of languages, and it’s like collecting keys that unlock…

Law Student Tyriese Robinson Named Inaugural Recipient of the NDNY FCBA Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66, L’71 Law Scholarship

The first recipient of a scholarship established in honor of the Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66, L’71 is second-year law student Tyriese Robinson. The Northern District of New York (NDNY) Federal Court Bar Association (FCBA) Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66,…

Robertson Fellows Aspire to Serve as Foreign Service Officers

Interested in careers in the foreign service, Zoe Prin and Forrest Gatrell took advantage of internships and other opportunities as undergraduates that exposed them to the inner workings of government, policymaking and service from differing vantage points. While Gatrell obtained…

Craig M. Boise to Conclude Tenure as College of Law Dean at End of Academic Year

When Craig M. Boise stepped into his role as dean of the College of Law in the spring of 2016, he described his vision to create “a sustainable law school that leverages the knowledge, skill and imagination of its faculty…

Meet Biko Skalla ’18, Voice of the World-Famous Savannah Bananas

Baseball is America’s pastime, a game rich in history and time-honored traditions, where change is slow to be embraced and slower still to be adopted. Then, there are the Savannah Bananas, a minor league baseball team that has changed the…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.