The Fragrance Foundation (TFF) has announced the 21st annual Circle of Champions event honoring Fashion Institute of Technology’s Virginia Bonofiglio, assistant professor and head of the Bachelor of Science program in Cosmetic and Fragrance Marketing; and Stephan Kanlian, professor and head of the master’s degree program in Cosmetic and Fragrance Marketing and Management.
 
The Fragrance Foundation Circle of Champions honors individuals within the fragrance industry who have made an exceptional impact over a significant period of time.
 
About Virginia Bonofiglio
 
With more than 40 years of industry experience, Virginia Bonofiglio brings a wealth of fragrance and cosmetic marketing experience, business, brand strategy, and corporate management to her leadership of FIT’s Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing Department. In her 15 years at FIT, she was instrumental in creating the Annette Green Fragrance Foundation Studio, the only one of its kind on a U.S. college campus. Bonofiglio developed and teaches the specialized curriculum for the undergraduate program in Cosmetic and Fragrance Marketing, and also created a specialized certificate program in perfumery. Moreover, in conjunction with Allure magazine and FIT’s Center for Continuing and Professional Studies, she developed a fully online certificate program for the beauty industry, Beauty Industry Essentials.
 
Bonofiglio trained in perfumery at the Givaudan Corporation, expanding her portfolio with many executive positions throughout her career, where she developed fragrances for a wide variety of product categories, including fine fragrance, personal care, and home care. Today, she maintains those strong industry connections, continually consulting with professional advisors, refreshing equipment and consumable supplies, and updating the curriculum in order to ensure student preparedness for internships and jobs in the cosmetics and fragrance industry.
 
About Stephan Kanlian
 
Stephan Kanlian joined the FIT graduate faculty in 1999. He founded and continues to lead FIT’s master’s degree program in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management for emerging leaders in the cosmetics and fragrance sector. Recognized as the industry’s think tank in the U.S., the CFMM program, which celebrated its 21st anniversary in 2021, develops holistic thinkers, with dual competency in creative and analytical business skills, through both academic and experiential learning.
 
Kanlian mentors the program’s graduating students in qualitative and quantitative global research on business and leadership, which are presented annually to an audience of 700 industry leaders and press at the college, and at business and academic conferences in the U.S. and abroad. He developed the original fragrance knowledge course for the Masters Program, which he taught in Paris, and has since developed two global field study courses which he leads each year, providing students with access to industry and thought leaders, including perfumers and executives at all the major fragrance houses, in multiple regions of the world.
 
During his tenure at FIT, Kanlian has organized business conferences, seminars, panels, and speaker series on a broad range of industry topics including focus on innovation at
retail and the future of fragrance. He has been an invited speaker at the American Express Luxury Summit, the Wharton School, and Sotheby’s New York, and a quoted industry expert for CNN, Crain’s New York, and BBC Radio. Kanlian holds graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Durham University in Great Britain, and was a Presidential Management Fellow and Diplomatic Officer Candidate for the U.S. Commercial Service in Washington, D.C. He is a 2008 recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
 
“Virginia Bonofiglio and Stephan Kanlian have had a major impact on the fragrance industry and community over decades in their FIT leadership positions creating outstanding programs at FIT. They are industry experts and have devoted their careers to nurturing talent of the students that will represent the future of our industry,” said Linda G. Levy, president of The Fragrance Foundation.
 
“FIT couldn’t be prouder of Professors Bonofiglio and Kanlian and the programs they lead,” added Dr. Joyce F. Brown, president of the college. “The programs they have nurtured through their diligence, foresight and commitment are pioneering—perfect models of both the business and creative sides of FIT—and steeped in innovation. Year after year, these programs have attracted gifted, high-achieving students who go on to great success in the industry. I am most appreciative of the work of these two devoted and inspiring professors—and add my congratulations for this well-deserved honor.”
 
The event will take place in New York City at 583 Park Avenue the evening of November 4 in accordance with New York City and New York State health guidelines. Proof of vaccination will be required for all attendees.
 
Tables and ticket sales will open in September.