Hartford Business Journal ranked Quinnipiac University’s President Judy Olian among its 2024 Power 50 list on March 4. 

The Power Players list is a section that highlights private- and public-sector, nonprofit, higher education, real estate and healthcare officials in Connecticut, who are not only top leaders within their organizations but also the broader business community, per the journal’s website. 

Olian ranked No. 21. 

“This is really a recognition for Quinnipiac University and the increasingly impactful role our university plays in the civic life of Connecticut,” Olian wrote in a March 6 statement to The Chronicle. “We all need to be engaged in lifting the communities in which we live.”

She wasn’t the only individual from Quinnipiac to make the list. Quinnipiac School of Law alum and Hartford’s newest mayor Arunan Arulampalam was featured at No. 7.

The No. 1 spot belonged to Gov. Ned Lamont and first lady of Connecticut Annie Lamont.

The Journal’s editorial staff chose and ranked the fifth-annual Power 50 class. Though it is not an official ranking, the staff identifies newsmakers and swindlers who have a broad impact within the region and state, according to the website.

The article attached to Olian’s profile recalled the Quinnipiac men’s hockey 2023 NCAA Championship win, and her seizing the opportunity of the school’s sudden popularity to cast a positive spotlight on the small private college. 

The article also highlighted the South Quad project and quoted Olian on the Hartford HealthCare partnerships that expanded hands-on learning opportunities for students in health care and other industries. 

Hartford HealthCare’s President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Flaks sat at No. 2 on the list. 

However, Olian wasn’t the highest ranked college president on the list. The No. 3 spot belonged to Radenka Maric, president of the University of Connecticut. 

Justin Elicker, New Haven’s mayor, made the list at No. 14. 

Benjamin Zachs, chief operating officer of Fine Fettle, a cannabis company with several retail dispensaries, rounded out the list at No. 50.