Every year, Poets & Quants for Undergrads releases its list of The 50 Best Undergraduate Business School Professors, a national roundup of standout educators shaping the future of business education. One of the names in the class of 2025 is a familiar one: Jessica Magaldi, JD, Ivan Fox Professor and Scholar of Business Law at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business.
The honor came after 19 colleagues, administrators, and alumni nominated Magaldi for her academic rigor, compassionate mentorship, and commitment to innovation. “She exemplifies what this award seeks to honor: a professor whose influence extends far beyond course content,” says alumna Samantha Dorsi ’23. “At the same time, she maintains rigorous academic standards and brings genuine passion into the classroom.”
Another one of her nominators, alumna Dhruvi Gandhi ’18, puts her reasons for nominating her even more succinctly. “Professor Magaldi is the standard by which I measure what an exceptional professor should be.”
Her former students’ testimonials make it clear: while academic excellence may be the foundation for such an honor, it’s Magaldi’s deliberate, student-centered approach that truly sets her apart.
In the Top 50 list, Magaldi’s name is the first under the list of Classroom Innovators. For Magaldi, classroom innovation begins by connecting with what students care about.
Twenty years ago, Magaldi used a copyright case in her intellectual property class involving George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” and The Chiffons’ 1960s hit “He’s So Fine”—a controversy with lasting effects on media law. But over time, she found the example no longer resonated with students. Many didn’t know George Harrison or even what a ’60s girl group was.
“This generation of teachers kind of lets ourselves off the hook,” Magaldi muses. “We say our culture is more important than the culture of students.” But Magaldi wanted her students to relate to the material so they could relate to the class. “So, I thought about it,” she says. “And I asked them: who is your favorite musical artist?”
"Professor Magaldi is the standard by which I measure what an exceptional professor should be."—Gandhi
The answer to this question led to one of her most popular classes: Music Industry and the Law (Taylor’s Version). The class uses Taylor Swift’s career to teach intellectual property and music industry law, linking the curriculum to a notable figure that students have an interest in.
“As I heard students talk about Taylor Swift in other contexts, I saw how powerful that connection was. I wanted to harness that interest that students had in Swift to direct it to the business and legal issues that she was involved in,” Magaldi explains. “Rather than insisting that my view of culture is the one that controls, could I take things that are culturally important to my students and use them to teach the things that either I or the curriculum thinks are important?”
Alumna Natalie Filkins ’25 took Music Industry and the Law (Taylor’s Version) and cites Magaldi’s ability to connect curriculum to student interests as one of the reasons she nominated her. Filkins explains, “Her class bridged a gap between the business and humanities departments, and she developed it in response to student interest,” says Filkins. “She has been able to bridge the gap between current events and complicated legal topics.”
Magaldi brings the curriculum into her students’ world, showing that great teaching starts with meeting students where they are.
Magaldi’s passion for keeping her curriculum relevant and engaging isn’t just for the sake of her students, but also for her own love of learning. “I don’t want to stand in front of the room and teach the same thing I’ve been teaching for 20 years and then do it for another 20,” Magaldi explains. “I want to be someone who’s been teaching for X number of years, but not Groundhog Day-ing it.”
Her wildly popular Taylor Swift-focused business law class isn’t the only way Magaldi has worked to adapt curriculum to be more interesting and relevant to her students. When Pace began piloting First-Year Seminars, Magaldi jumped in with a new course that again connected her expertise to student interests: Pop Culture and the Law.
“She did not just teach me law—she helped me discover my passion, develop resilience, and build the foundation for a career I truly love.”—Dorsi
As the course went on, Magaldi found that her curriculum inspired more than academic discussion. “I used My Cousin Vinny and Legally Blonde—both fish-out-of-water stories,” says Magaldi. “They’re both about people dropped into a new scenario trying to figure out the rules—how to dress, how to talk—and figure out how much of themselves to keep.” The class became a vehicle to relate to these first-year students who were experiencing their own fish-out-of-water experiences and to help them decode a university’s unwritten rules and norms, something particularly important with Pace’s population of first-generation Americans and first-generation college students.
Magaldi’s course delivered on the promise of the First-Year Seminars—not only by engaging new students and easing their academic transition, but by meeting students where they are and setting them up for success.
That instinct to meet students where they are extends beyond what Magaldi teaches into how she teaches.
“I have a lot of compassion for the learning process,” she explains. “There are some things that come easy to me and some that don’t. I don’t assume every student has to come to my class with the same level of ability, capability, interest in the subject matter, or even the privilege of being able to concentrate.”
Recently, she’s worked with students navigating everything from familial self-deportation to short-term disability, financial stress, and personal trauma, all while still trying to achieve their academic goals. “There are so many things students are dealing with. We have to appreciate our students as whole people in the context of their larger lives.”
“She has been able to bridge the gap between current events and complicated legal topics.” —Filkins
Dorsi can attest to the power of having a professor care beyond the gradebook. “Perhaps most importantly, Professor Magaldi supported me as a whole person,” Dorsi says. “During times when personal challenges made me doubt my ability to succeed, she believed in me unwaveringly and pushed me to persevere. That mentorship made all the difference.”
This is reflected in Magaldi’s driving mission. “We have to find some meaning,” she says. “My job can be very difficult. The best parts are being able to make real connections with people.”
There’s no stronger testament to her commitment to connection than the alumni who nominated her as one of the Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors.
“It’s incredibly gratifying to have the kind of relationships with my students that mature into these other relationships where we are all looking out for one another as people, where we are supportive of one another,” she says.
Filkins explains how Magaldi’s mentorship didn’t end with graduation. “I worked as a research assistant for Professor Magaldi for three years,” she says, “She was, and continues to be, a huge source of inspiration for me in pursuing a legal career.”
“Some professors teach courses. Professor Magaldi changes the direction of lives.”—Gandhi
For Gandhi, Magaldi’s guidance has remained a constant—shaping decisions, career moves, and personal growth. “Professor Magaldi has shaped the foundation of my personal and professional life. As an entrepreneur and business owner, I still seek her guidance when making critical legal and strategic decisions,” she explains. “Her influence has followed me across countries, institutions, and years, and it continues to guide my decisions today.”
Just as deeply as these alumni feel Magaldi’s impact, Magaldi finds inspiration in her former students as well. In 2019, Magaldi received the Homer and Charles Pace Faculty Award, only two years after becoming full-time faculty. She recalls that when asked who she wanted to bring, she decided not to invite her elementary-aged daughters (who might not enjoy a very grown-up gala anyway) and instead invited the alumni who nominated her. “Why wouldn’t I want to surround myself with these people? They’re amazing.”
That reciprocity of respect and connection is key to how Magaldi approaches not just teaching, but her life. “I'm trying to nurture that because it’s the thing that makes my job better. When you do that, it comes back to you.”
What comes next for one of the nation’s top professors? For Magaldi, it’s all about staying on top of what is new and interesting.
One of her recent projects includes building an AI tutor for two of her classes, inspired by AI-powered tutors Gabriel Terrizzi, Pace’s director of web, mobile, and AI services, used in his AI in the Workplace class. “I'm conscious of the potential negatives of AI, but I don’t want to be left behind. I want to understand how my students are using it and I want to get as much good out of it as I can.”
"The best parts [of my job] are being able to make real connections with people.”—Magaldi
Building on her experiences as a professor and in the First-Year Seminar, Magaldi is also co-authoring a book focused on helping students navigate their own first-year experience and feel connected at school. “I've been in a lot of places where it feels like everyone knows what's going on except you,” she explains. “I'm trying to demystify that for students entering college.”
As Magaldi looks ahead, exploring new tools, new questions, and new ways to connect, her impact is already written into the stories of her students’ lives.
“I know without question that I would not be where I am today without Magaldi’s guidance,” says Dorsi. “She did not just teach me law—she helped me discover my passion, develop resilience, and build the foundation for a career I truly love.”
For Gandhi and so many others, Magaldi’s impact is rooted in her belief in her students and how she shows up for them. “She sees potential in students long before they see it in themselves and then stays invested in that potential,” says Gandhi. “Some professors teach courses. Professor Magaldi changes the direction of lives.”
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