Math has always been his passion. Binghamton University helps him use it in business

Matthew Campagnola is, very simply, a numbers man.

His mother, a high school math teacher on Long Island, instilled in him a fascination with the scientific certainty rooted in mathematical formulas. Solving complex problems is where Campagnola thrives, whether it’s by assembling Lego sets at home or testing his mettle at mathematical equations in a classroom.

At first, Campagnola came to Binghamton University as a mathematics major, but a friend’s involvement in a School of Management (SOM) case competition for Starbucks changed his course. He saw how his affinity for numbers could lead to more opportunities in the finance arena than he initially realized. He buckled down, put in the work and switched to SOM as a business administration major with a concentration in quantitative finance in the spring semester of his first year.

It’s a move he hasn’t regretted.

“I’ve always felt math is so much bigger than looking at numbers and formulas because it’s not about memorizing facts; it’s about putting your brain to work to understand a broad concept that can be applied in any number of ways,” Campagnola said. “One of the great things I’ve discovered about business is that there’s really no limitation when it comes to branching out and applying those skills once you have them. Where you go simply depends on whichever way your mind thinks.”

Even though Campagnola was a first-year student who had just switched majors, he was hungry for practical experience. That’s what brought him to Long Island Sports Network (LISN), a sports broadcasting company whose hockey league he had played in during high school.

Campagnola pitched the owners a few ideas that could help him grow his business skills while contributing to LISN’s mission of providing high-definition sports productions, particularly live streams of youth and high school sports events.

Approaching it from a past player’s perspective, he asked himself, “If I’m playing in the league, what would I want to see that isn’t being offered already?”

Then it clicked: he could bolster LISN’s social media content. Using original mathematical formulas and statistics, Campagnola created the network’s first varsity hockey team power rankings.

He employed his skills in a fresh way to compare teams that typically didn’t play each other, which made ranking them difficult. He created a ranking for each team out of 100 and used that as the basis for their placement in the list.

“Once you know what to do, it’s not as complicated as it sounds,” Campagnola said, “but it was fun to do something that hadn’t been implemented in the league before.”

Graphics based on the rankings were posted each week on the network’s social media platforms, allowing players to see how their team stacked up against a team they never competed with. This encouraged more community engagement with LISN’s social feeds.

Campagnola looks forward to discovering more ways to incorporate his math talents into projects that help businesses and organizations grow. He’s eager to explore a career in investment banking, asset management or real estate.

The emphasis SOM places on employer networking, career fairs and guest speakers from different facets of the business world have shown him how those goals could become a reality.

“All of these classes, from Management 111 to financial accounting, are geared toward setting you up for your future in a successful career,” Campagnloa said. “They put you on the tracks, and while it’s up to you to do the legwork, they do set you on those tracks very well.”