In addition to dedicating his academic career to educating Quinnipiac students in marketing and international business, Falcigno also held the unique distinction of creating and serving as the first director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute. Today, the Quinnipiac University Poll is a nationally and internationally recognized public opinion research organization.

Now, Falcigno’s spirit of innovative research lives on through the state-of-the-art lab which carries his name. Located in the School of Business, it combines traditional methods with high-tech analytical tools, including eye-tracking hardware and software, alongside facial-expression emotion detection, choice-based conjoint analysis, response timing, geographical mapping, and Qualtrics survey software.

Through the lab’s Behavioral Research Fellowship Program, undergraduates take part firsthand, gaining practical experience while contributing to meaningful research.  

Learn more about the Professor Emeritus Paul A. Falcigno ’54 User Experience & Behavioral Insights Lab

This year, an inaugural group of affiliated faculty fellows from the School of Communications, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Health Sciences, and School of Computing & Engineering has expanded the lab’s reach.

The broader collaboration is designed to create more opportunities for students from across Quinnipiac to engage in research, learn from faculty across disciplines, and gain hands-on experience. In many ways, this expansion continues Falcigno’s lasting legacy of mentorship and investment in students throughout the university.  

On October 15, Quinnipiac celebrated his legacy during an event which brought together the Coltons, Falcigno’s wife, Judy, and many members of the extended Falcigno family as honored guests.  

Judy Falcigno first met her husband early in his career as a professor at Quinnipiac, where she was an instructor of secretarial studies. Many years later, they reconnected and were married.

“He was an amazing person,” Falcigno said. “He loved his students and he loved the polling institute — he was so proud of it. I’m very happy to see that he’s being honored. It’s beyond what I thought would ever happen, but he certainly deserves it.”

Event guests were joined by Holly Raider, dean of the School of Business; Aimee Marcella, assistant vice president of advancement and campaign development; Charles Brooks and Tilo Ghosh Chowdhury, marketing professors and lab co-directors; Justin Sieow, assistant marketing professor and interim lab co-director; and Patricia Norberg, marketing professor and chair of marketing. They were accompanied by faculty, staff, and students from across the university.

Dean Raider said the lab dedicated to Falcigno realizes a dream of creating a research space where insights from across disciplines combine with business expertise to generate new knowledge and help shape our understanding of human behavior.  She noted it was especially meaningful to learn that Falcigno’s in-class, real world experiential project led to creating an assignment as the basis for the original Quinnipiac Polling Institute.  

“That started in a classroom. It was started by a professor who was so caring about how students learned, and that they do it in a real-world, engaged way,” Dean Raider said. “As I look around the room at all of our faculty, I see in each of them Professor Paul Falcigno. I see today as honoring Professor Falcigno’s legacy, and honoring the extraordinary impact of alumna Deb Colton and her husband Bill; and I see all of the possibilities in our faculty and students.”

Marketing majors Elisabeth Duffelmeyer ’27, Ryan Fraser ’27, and Brandon Meas ’27 presented their unique research projects conducted in the lab. Co-director Brooks also shared that when the Coltons toured the lab earlier this year, Meas was inside, presenting his research during an online conference. His presentation later earned the conference’s Best Paper award for its track, over submissions from tenured and tenure-track faculty.

Brooks said the lab’s Behavioral Fellows Program has also supported students beyond business, such as an engineering student fellow who presented his summer lab research at a recent United Nations conference on sustainable development. 

Noting how alumni through the years have frequently named Falcigno as a mentor who profoundly shaped their lives, Brooks thanked the Coltons for honoring that legacy and inspiring interdisciplinary research across campus.

“I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to Deb and Bill for the commitment they’ve made to the university, and particularly for the naming gift for Professor Falcigno’s work and the contributions he made at Quinnipiac that we continue to see move forward,” Brooks said. 

“We are grateful for the investment that you’ve made in this next inflection point in Quinnipiac and in the future of the students that we have here today.”

Complementing the ambitious goals of the lab, the Coltons’ establishment of the Professor Emeritus Paul A. Falcigno ’54 Endowed Scholarship will help exceptional School of Business seniors experiencing financial need cross the finish line to graduation.

For seniors with strong academics and community involvement, the scholarship can cover remaining balances after all other aid is exhausted, removing final-year financial barriers so that these deserving students can achieve their degree.

As a former student who was greatly inspired and motivated by Falcigno, the opportunity to create a lasting tribute to him at Quinnipiac was deeply meaningful for Deborah Colton. Her path as a visionary patron and advocate began at Quinnipiac, where, encouraged by Falcigno, Colton became Marketing Club president and, in 1978, made university history as the Student Government Association’s first female president.

Colton’s tremendously successful career with 3M was followed by many years devoted to uplifting the work of international artists, leading to founding the Deborah Colton Gallery in Houston, Texas, in 2000. Dedicated to promoting global artists and fostering positive social change, her gallery has now raised over $15 million for nonprofits worldwide.

As a Quinnipiac marketing management major and psychology minor, Colton took several classes with Falcigno, including his Marketing Honors Thesis class. She also remembers when he first conceived of the polling idea.

“One day I was in Professor Falcigno’s office, and he told me that he had an idea to start a marketing research poll through Quinnipiac,” Colton recalled. “I thought that was an amazing idea! He thought it would be good for the college and also was well-needed in the country -- hence, the Quinnipiac Poll.”

As an educator, he consistently challenged his students to strive for excellence, she said. “Professor Falcigno not only encouraged his students to be their best, but he also set the example through his personal contributions and care for others,” Colton said. “Whenever I mention his name at alumni events, people share similar stories. He reached out to everyone and was a true inspiration to all. This was a trait of so many Quinnipiac professors and was one of the main reasons Quinnipiac was so special.”

Colton feels the vast contributions of Falcigno and many other professors continue to resonate across Quinnipiac today.

“Many alumni come back and remember how incredible their professors were, and how their hard work contributed so much to the university today. With Quinnipiac University’s 100th anniversary approaching, the future looks great! I’m so impressed with your new president, the deans and the faculty here today,” Colton said.

Having a daughter who is a middle school math teacher and a son who is a college economics professor, Colton said she personally sees how devoted educators are, and how much they care.

“Educators teach and inspire the next generation and help them achieve and contribute. I have great hope for the future, and I thank all educators and staff at Quinnipiac University for what you do each and every day. Nothing is more important than this,” Colton said. 

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