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Office Artifacts: Suzanne Markham-Bagnera

SHA clinical assistant professor reveals her quirky collections

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Suzanne Markham-Bagnera can tell you exactly how many rubber ducks she has lining the shelves of her School of Hospitality Administration office: 131. They are dressed as chefs, witches, scuba divers—some even sport Hawaiian leis.

The SHA clinical assistant professor started her collection years ago while working various positions in the hospitality industry. One duck bears the imprint of tire tracks: Markham-Bagnera recalls finding it in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express in Cambridge, where she was general manager. Eventually, friends started to give the squeezable birds as gifts, as they are popular freebies at industry trade shows. “The ironic thing is I absolutely hate the color yellow,” she says with a laugh.

The collection soon became a calling card of sorts for Markham-Bagnera, who even used the ducks to decorate the cake table at her wedding. Today, as a professor, a SHA faculty advisor, and BU’s American Hotel & Lodging Association student chapter faculty advisor, she likes how the ducks can be an icebreaker, creating “an environment that’s welcoming. Ducks are a conversation starter to make students feel comfortable.”