Shirley S. Zaragoza

Professor Shirley Zaragoza, C.A.S. from the Department of Business Leadership, Education and Technology, New York University
Academic Fields of Expertise:  Finance, International Marketing and Management.
Professor Zaragoza, B.S., M.A., C.A.S. was born in Tokyo, Japan but spent most of her life in New York City.  She has eight years of experience in the small business and corporate sector, including employment with Kemper Insurance, U.S. Trust Co. and The Bank of Tokyo.  Following her stint on Wall Street, she became a professor at BMCC in 1985.  Before joining the faculty of BMCC, she taught at Indiana University, Hudson Valley Community College and Jersey City State College.  She teaches classes in Business Organization and Management, Introduction in Business, Advertising, Consumer Behavior, Money and Banking, Finance and Financial Management and Critical Thinking.  
Professor Zaragoza received her Bachelor of Science in Business Management at Babson College, her Master of Arts in Spanish Literature at Indiana University and her postgraduate degree (C.A.S.) in Business Education from New York University (Steinhardt School of Education).  Professor Zaragoza is fluent in Spanish and English and comprehends Taiwanese and Japanese. Professor Zaragoza is a mother of three children, an author of textbooks and articles that speak to management and finance issues and has a black belt in Kyokushin Karate.  
Recognizing the trials and tribulations of juggling parenting and work life, as a wife and mother rearing three children in Manhattan, NY, Professor Zaragoza wrote a book on the challenges of organizational management called Navigating the Playground 1, a 12-Step Litmus Test for Parenting, Personal and Business Management, Cengage Publishing, 2006.  Outlining the basic principles of her book, she gives management presentations to different educational, social and work organizations.  Professor Zaragoza promotes her love of athletics and is proud of her sabbatical research on curriculum development for recreation facilities management.  In the fall of 2010, she highlighted the fusion of her martial arts background with her college teaching in an article entitled “The Chi of a Management Professor.”   In 2012, Professor Zaragoza wrote Navigating the Playground 2, Finance (Kendall Hunt Publishing) focusing on her concept of teaching basic finance in twelve steps.  She is often invited to give talks and presentations to professional women and educational groups that focus on balancing work and family responsibilities. 
Professor Zaragoza’s awards and merits of recognition include being honored in 2002 by BMCC as one of the prominent woman leaders that fostered both a commitment to teaching and leadership and being honored in 2006 by New York City’s YMCA for her volunteer work with coordinating a Junior Knicks’ children’s basketball program.  Shirley’s passion for sports also crosses over to soccer where she managed her son’s U-11 competitive soccer team.  Professor Zaragoza not only writes educational texts, but has written poetry in both English and Spanish and is currently co-writing a screenplay revolved around her love for soccer.