Simon Business Alumni Magazine Fall 2011

Transcription

SimonBusiness
Simon Graduate School of Business | University of Rochester | Fall 2011
Simon New York City Conference:
National Experts Discuss
Emerging Risks to America’s Financial Stability
Christie
Khuzami
Anita
Peterson
Robert
Sands
Joel
Peter G.
Smith Jr.
Novy-Marx
Benet
Clifford W.
Robert
Jay S.
Steven
Robert
Levitt
Shiller
Christopher J.
Seligman
Inside: Undergraduate Business Education • Career Management • Commencement
An Undergraduate Business Major
B
arry Florescue, BS ’66, a University
of Rochester alumnus, member of the
University’s Board of Trustees, and a member
of the Simon School’s Executive Advisory Committee,
has contributed $5 million to create and support an
undergraduate business major. In recognition of the
support and contributions Florescue has provided
for the development of the major, it will be named
the Barry Florescue Undergraduate Business Degree
Program. (See a profile of Barry Florescue, page 12.)
The program, which is a collaboration between the Simon School and the
College at the University of Rochester, will provide undergraduates the opportunity
to study business in a rich learning environment from faculty across disciplines.
The $5 million gift will be used to support tenure-track faculty at Simon who
will be teaching courses related to the core curriculum of the major. It will also support related costs associated with offering the new major. An extension of the preexisting business minor, the major was approved by the New York State Department
of Education in February. Richard Feldman, dean of the College, says that there
has been increased student interest in a business major, which will provide an expanded selection of courses in economics and statistics, as well as business-related
disciplines, including finance, accounting, marketing, operations management, and
organizational strategy. Undergraduates who complete this major will graduate with
a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in business from the College.
“We are excited about the distinction the program will bring the University of
Rochester and the two units that are partnering together to deliver it: the College
and the Simon School of Business,” says Dean Mark Zupan. “The program reflects
well on the ‘One University’ approach that President Joel Seligman has promoted
and may well end up being one of the most significant cross-disciplinary programs
on our campus. There is appreciable student interest and a market need for students
who possess the first-class business training that the Simon School can provide coupled with the liberal arts excellence that has long been a hallmark of the College.”
The major, which has been in development for two years, will be supervised by a
steering committee of faculty and administrators from both Simon and the College,
which will monitor the program's enrollment numbers and course offerings, and
oversee internships, special lectures, and other opportunities that can enhance the
student experience. SB
Contents
Fall 2011
03
Dean’s Corner
04
Upfront
• Simon in the News
• About the Creative Side of Business
• Learning the Business of Health Care
• Commencement ’11
• Donors Contribute to Simon Initiatives
08 Research Highlights
• Consumer Choice of Health Care Significant
• Cutting Corners in Nonprofit Nursing Homes
—by Sally Parker
10
A Blueprint to Transform the Career Center
—by Sally Parker
12
Barry Florescue: Building Business and Business Education
—by Richard Zitrin
16
Cover Story: Simon New York City Conference
Emerging Risks to America’s Financial Stability —by Charla Stevens Kucko
21
Alumni News
• Alumni Gatherings
• Class Correspondents
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Class Notes
Alumni Leader Profiles:
Teresa Cox ’88
Mukul Kasliwal ’88
Jeff Berardi ’02
Neil Amrine ’78
Sean Allen ’11
U n i v e r s i t y o f R o c h e s t e r | S i m o n G r a d u a t e S c h o o l o f B u s i n e s s | S i mo nBusi ness | 01
Dean
Mark Zupan
Dean and Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Admissions and Financial Aid
Rebekah Lewin ’02
Executive Director of Admissions and Administration
Advancement
Christian Gordon
Executive Director of Simon School Advancement
Career Management Center
Robert Park
Executive Director of Corporate Relations and Career Management
Executive Programs
Carin Conlon ’99*
Executive Director of Executive Programs
Faculty and Research
Rajiv M. Dewan, ’84 MS, ’87 PhD
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research; Co-chairman, PhD Program
Finance and Operations
J. C. Stevens ’98
Executive Director of Finance and Operations
Information Technologies
Alex Nakonechnyi
Executive Director of Information Technologies
Marketing and Communications
Keir Meisner
Executive Director of Marketing and Communications
Masters Programs
Delores Conway
Associate Dean for Masters Programs; Professor of Statistics
and Real Estate Economics
Program Development
Ronald W. Hansen
Senior Associate Dean for Program Development; William H. Meckling Professor
of Business Administration; Director of the Bradley Policy Research Center
Executive Advisory Committee
J. Peter Simon ‘08 LLD, Chairman
Sami Abbasi ’88
Joseph W. Abrams ’74
Edward J. Ackley, BS ’53, MS ’64
Mark S. Ain ’67
Gerald A. Altilio Jr. ’92
John W. Anderson ’80
Brian S. Archibald, MS ’94
Ajay Asija ’96
Neil A. Augustine, BA ’88, MBA ’89
Michael J. Behrman ’92
Joseph M. Bell
Jay S. Benet ’76
Russell P. Beyer ’82
Taj S. Bindra ’86
Paul A. Brands ’66
Michael A. Braun, BA ’71, MBA ’72
Steven P. Brigham ’99*
Hollis S. Budd
David J. Burns ’78
Andrew Carter
Eduardo Centola ’93
Kevin P. Collins ’82
Donald L. (Skip) Conover ’79*
W. Michael Corkran ’77
José J. Coronas ’75*
Clifford J. Corrall, BA ’86, MBA ’87
Frank G. Creamer Jr. ’70
Carol A. (John) Davidson ’88*
John L. (Jack) Davies, BA ’72, MBA ’73
Harindra de Silva, MBA ’84, MS ’85
Joseph G. Doody ’75
Robert B. Dorr ’97
Stephen Down, BA ’88, MBA ’95
Christopher T. Dunstan, BA ’77, MBA ’81
Ronald H. Fielding, MA ’73, MBA ’76
Barry W. Florescue, BS ’66
William G. Forman, BA ’82, MBA ’83
Philip G. Fraher ’93
Roger B. Friedlander, BS ’56
W. Barry Gilbert ’82
James S. Gleason ’68*
Robert B. Goergen, BA ’60
Scott J. Gordon, BA ’84, MBA ’85
Gwen Meltzer Greene, BA ’65
Bruce M. Greenwald, BS ’68, MBA ’69
Mark B. Grier ’80
Terence L. Griswold ’83
Jeff Hanson
Robert O. Hudson ’80*
Charles R. Hughes ’70
Harvey H. Jacobson ’82
Rene F. Jones ’92
Rufus M. Judson ’06*
Vineet Kapur ’99
Robert J. Keegan ’72
John M. Kelly
Dennis Kessler
David M. Khani ’93
David H. Klein
Ronald B. Knight, BS ’61
Robert B. Koegel
Salvatore A. LaBella ’78*
Evans Y. Lam, BA ’83, MBA ’84
Daniel G. Lazarek ’91
John C. MacDonald ’86
Rohtash Mal
Jeff E. Margolis, BA ’77, MBA ’78
Donna L. Matheson, BA ’78, MBA ’79
Louise McDonald ’99*
Charles W. Miersch ’70
Richard T. Miller ’91
Carlos P. Naudon ’74
Jeffrey R. Olsen ’91
Robert M. Osieski, BA ’77, MBA ’78
Sandeep Pahwa ’95
Steffen W. Parratt, BS ’85, MS ’87
Warren (Barry) Phelps III ’73
Kevin M. Pickhardt ’90*
Dennis M. Pidherny, BA ’86, MBA ’87
James Piereson
Adm. Stuart F. Platt, BS ’55, MBA ’70
Mark D. Quinlan, BA ’82, MBA ’85
David Reh ’67
Robert E. Rich Jr. ’69*
Efrain Rivera ’89
John B. Robbins ’74
Stephen E. Rogers ’90
Michael P. Ryan, BA ’81, MBA ’84
Albert I. Salama, BA ’73, MBA ’74
Richard Sands
Leonard Schutzman ’69
Joel Seligman (ex officio)
Muriel Siebert ’04 LLD
William E. Simon Jr., Esq.
Art P. Soter ’72
Gregg M. Steinberg
Martin L. Stern, BA ’79, MBA ’80
Michael C. Stone ’95*
Amy Leenhouts Tait ’85*
Andrew J. Thomas ’91
Jon D. Van Duyne ’85
Sanjay Vatsa ’89
Kapil Wadhawan
Kathy N. Waller, BA ’80, MBA ’83
Ralph R. Whitney Jr., BS ’57, MBA ’73*
Janice M. Willett ’78
Joseph T. Willett ’75
Timothy W. Williams ’86*
Alan S. Zekelman MS ’87
____________________________________
Editor
Kathryn Quinn Thomas
www.simon.rochester.edu
Contributing Writers
Charla Stevens Kucko, Sally Parker, Joy Underhill, Richard Zitrin
Art Director/Designer
Geri McCormick
Production Manager
John M. Robortella
Copy Editors
Ceil Goldman
Photography
Annette Dragon, John Smillie, Shannon Taggart
SIMONBUSINESS, Vol. 25, No. 1 © 2011. ISSN 1077-5323
____________________________________
Published twice a year by the University of Rochester, William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, 2-341 Carol G. Simon Hall, Box
270100, Rochester, New York 14627-01000.
Simon Alumni News
Office of Marketing and Communications: (585) 275-3736 (phone), (585) 275-9331 (fax), marketing@simon.rochester.edu.
Contributing Writers
Kate Gruschow, Kelly Rains
Postmaster: Send address changes to the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, 2-341 Carol G. Simon Hall, Box 270100,
University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627-0100.
© 2011 William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rochester
*Executive M.B.A. graduate
SMC 10-11-74
02 | S i m onB u s i n e s s | S i m o n G r a d u a t e S c h o o l o f B u s i n e s s | U n i v e r s i t y o f R o c h e s t e r
Dean’s Corner
S
ummer is never a quiet time in
academia. As we offered our
kudos and bid our goodbyes
to the Class of 2011 in June (see
page 6) we were also looking ahead
to the classes of 2012 and 2013
and planning our activities for the
coming academic year. The year will
bring a number of opportunities for
Simon alumni to reconnect with the
School, the faculty, and former teammates.
The fall brings Meliora Weekend to campus, Oct. 20–Oct.
23, 2011, the perfect time of year to visit and reminisce. Bill
Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and
42nd President of the United States, will deliver the keynote
address live at the newly and spectacularly renovated Kodak
Hall at Eastman Theatre. Supreme Court Justice Antonin
Scalia will headline a discussion on “The Meaning of the
Constitution,” moderated by Arthur Miller ’56, ’08 (LLD),
noted television host and law professor. The weekend also
includes our all-alumni reunion celebration and awards dinner
on Saturday night, this year at Locust Hill Country Club, where
we announce our latest Distinguished Alumnus, Alumni
Service, and the Wilder Award winners. For more details, visit
www.rochester.edu/melioraweekend.
Although it will be a tough act to follow, we are already
planning on topping the success of last spring’s Second
Annual Simon Conference in New York City (see page
16). The alumni who attended were pleased and proud to
be affiliated with this event that garnered the attention of
all of the country’s primary business news media. We will
certainly keep you informed of our plans going forward and
hope to see you at the next conference.
Following reorganization, our placement numbers are
surpassing last year’s, as our Career Management team
continues to persevere with their new employment-agencystyle strategy (see page 10). We expect continued positive
results from Robert Park and his team as they develop
even stronger expertise in both counseling and recruiter
outreach.
One of our more creative tools to aid in placing our students
is—IamSimon.me—the Meliora Network. Developed by
James Brown ’11 and Christopher B. Sturgill ’11, this
private social network for the Simon community has so far
enrolled 1,600 members. Not only has the network helped
Simon to reconnect with alumni, it also gives our students a
networking edge. Because the site offers the ability to search
for contacts across other social network platforms, it raises
the number of leads for our students within any particular
firm by at least a factor of 10. Contact support@iamsimon.me
for more details.
We could certainly use your help with any placement
opportunities. If your company has hiring needs, please
consider interviewing a Simon student for the job. Contact
me, mark.zupan@simon.rochester.edu, or Robert Park, robert.
park@simon.rochester.edu, with any potential job leads.
Meliora. SB
Mark Zupan
Dean
A Simon Education: A Lifetime Return on Investment
The Simon School was rated among the top business schools
both nationally and internationally this past academic year.
Simon was ranked as the top private US business school for
return on investment by Bloomberg Businessweek. Simon is
ranked the seventh US business school overall and 15th globally for ROI.
Bloomberg Businessweek calculated ROI by adding the total
dollar amount the average student spends on a degree (tuition,
fees, and living expenses) with the total salary given up to
attend business school. The median pre-MBA salary was then
subtracted from the median post-MBA salary, and the difference was divided into the total amount spent on the MBA.
The resulting number represents the length of time, in years,
it will take the average student to make a return on their investment. The average is 4.33 years for Simon graduates.
In the same rankings, Simon was 3rd in accounting, 3rd in
teamwork, 5th in analytical skills, 6th in operations, and 8th
in most innovative curriculum.
“Our reputation among corporate recruiters is of primary
importance to our students in terms of job placement,” says
Dean Mark Zupan. “These latest rankings place the Simon
School among the finest business schools in the world for
value added to the firms hiring our graduates, and for this we
are justly proud.” SB
Upfront
Simon in the News
“If you had to identify a culprit for a double-dip
recession, this would be it.”
—Mark Zupan on rising gas prices, quoted in “Gas Prices
Set to Rise Further as Oil Spikes on Libya Strife,” by
Ben Rooney for CNNMoney.com and
Yahoo Finance, February 24, 2011
“Big government is significantly stifling job creation.”
—Mark Zupan on “Where Are the Jobs,” Fox Business,
Varney & Co., February 7, 2011
“The real estate here is very inexpensive, it’s about the
same as renting and it actually makes sense for
families. The houses are solid investments, with good
school systems, that are fairly priced.”
“Governments are going to have to decide if they want
to raise taxes or cut services or do a bit of both. There’s
no other way out of this. State and local governments
have become like Detroit car manufacturers, trapped
under pension promises that are growing faster than
their economies.”
—Delores Conway, associate dean for masters programs
and professor of statistics and real estate economics,
in “Rochester and Pittsburgh Offer Plenty of Housing
—Robert Novy-Marx, assistant professor of finance, in
“Public Unions Take On Boss to Win Big Pensions,” by
Charles Duhigg for the New York Times, June 21, 2011.
Bargains,” for ABC News and Forbes.com, May 14, 2011
“Super Bowl XLV will be an auto company spectacle.”
—George R. Cook, executive professor of business
administration, in “Car Ads Back in the Super Bowl
Spotlight,” by David Gelles, Financial Times,
January 30, 2011
“The company has made a fixed promise to employees.
If there are risky assets in the company pension plan and
there’s a shortfall, the company bears the risk. In this
environment, it means the employees are carrying less
risk and the owners of the firm are bearing more.”
—Clifford W. Smith Jr., Louis and Henry Epstein
Professor of Business Administration and professor
of finance and economics, in “Is the 401k DOA,” by
Christopher Carosa, Fiduciary News, February 23, 2011
“Right now we’re rated sixth in the world in finance
by the Financial Times. (The Simon School) is a wellregarded brand, and (the MS in NYC program) will help
us build visibility in the world’s financial capital for our
degree programs.”
“The business world involves having to make a lot of
educated guesses about the future and basing one’s
operating decisions in the present on those risky,
educated guesses.”
—Mark Zupan in “Simon School Makes Push Into New
York City,” by Nate Dougherty, Rochester Business
Journal, February 4, 2011
—Mark Zupan in “CEOs Do Make Better Decisions When
Their Interests Align with the Stockholders,” an opinion
piece for the Huffington Post, May 4, 2011
About the Creative Side of Business
A
t the Simon School, spring
brings the climax of the Mark
Ain Business Model Competition. This year, 16 interdisciplinary
teams of would-be entrepreneurs from
Simon, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School of Engineering
and Applied Sciences, and the School of
Medicine and Dentistry submitted business plans. The teams were competing
for $14,000 in cash prizes.
“Entrepreneurship has gotten more
exposure as we struggle to come out of
the Great Recession,” says Nicholas
Czop ’11, student organizer and past
president of the Simon Entrepreneurs.
“The Mark Ain Competition attracts
entrepreneurially minded students
from all schools at the University of
Rochester and represents the capstone
of the entrepreneurship experience at
the Simon School. Students apply the
skills they have learned throughout
their Simon experience and create business models that very well may one day
change the world.”
Czop says the club organizes a series
of three workshops to prepare students
for the competition by covering topics
From left: Christopher Larsen ’11, Tim DeGrave ’11, Henry Eshenour ’11, Mark S. Ain ’67, and Vice Provost
Duncan Moore.
such as evaluating market opportunity,
writing a business plan, and creating a
financial model.
Five finalist teams presented their
business models to a panel of judges on
a Wednesday in May. First place and
$10,000 went to Simon students Henry
Eshenour ’11, Tim DeGrave ’11, and
Christopher Larsen ’11 for their take
on a baby formula preparation system
called BottleBrew.
The competition is made possible by
support from Simon alumnus and entrepreneur Mark S. Ain ’67, founder and
executive chairman, Kronos Incorporated in Chelmsford, Mass.
In addition to Ain, the panel of judges
included Edward J. Ackley ’64, owner
and president, The Filter Store Plus in
Mendon, NY, and former CEO, Consler
Corporation (now owned by Graver
Technologies); Eli Futerman, co-president and CEO, Hahn Automotive Warehouse Inc.; and John MacDonald ’86,
managing director, Signal Hill Updata
Advisors.
Along with Mark Ain’s generosity,
the competition is supported by the
Simon Entrepreneurs and the
University of Rochester Center for
Entrepreneurship. SB
Learning the Business of Health Care
I
ndividuals with a scientific
background interested in acquiring
the business skills necessary to
navigate an increasingly complex
health-care industry now have a
new option. The Simon School is
introducing a full-time Master of
Science in Business Administration
with a concentration in Medical
Management to its expanding
specialized master’s program offerings.
“With the market demand for
affordable, quality health care and
the phasing in of some important
public policy changes mandated by
Washington, business skills are more
crucial than ever for those involved in
this growing sector,” said Dean Mark
Zupan. “This new full-time program
complements our existing part-time
Medical Management master’s program
for working professionals in the health
care industry.”
The full-time Medical Management
master’s curriculum is designed to
provide in-depth perspective and
the analytical tools for individuals
interested in pursuing a career in
health care apart from the practice
of medicine. World-renowned Simon
faculty members lead program
instruction in areas including finance,
operations, marketing, and strategy and
how they apply to health care.
In addition to existing scholarships
for the full-time Medical Management
master’s program, Simon has
introduced need and merit-based
scholarships for qualified applicants
to the part-time Medical Management
master’s program. The part-time
program is an evening and weekendbased program aimed at working
professionals in the health-care sector.
SB
Upfront
Commencement ’11
T
he Simon School
Commencement was held on
Sunday, June 12, in Kodak
Hall at the Eastman Theatre. The
theatre was jam-packed this year, as
Simon fielded its largest graduating
classes: A total of 282 full-time
and part-time MBA students, 38
Executive MBA students, 189 MS
students, and five PhD students. Our
Executive MBA Program in Bern
added another 26 graduates.
The annual Beta Gamma Sigma
Luncheon on Friday, June 10, kicked
off Commencement Weekend. Alumnus
Michael D. Monteith ’92, owner
of Strategic Estimating Systems, in
Sugar Land, Texas, spoke to the group
about the value of the Simon alumni
Kapil Wadhawan
community. Professor Ron Schmidt
initiated 98 Simon students into the
honor society.
On Sunday, Kapil Wadhawan
delivered the Commencement address.
Wadhawan told the story of his father’s
death when Wadhawan was 26 and his
mission to carry on the dream of home
ownership for everyone in his country
of India. The School’s partnership with
Wadhawan and his family serves to
illustrate the global nature of a Simon
From left: Dean Mark Zupan, Louis Zamperini, John Naber, Kapil Wadhawan, President Joel Seligman, and
Michael P. Ryan ’81, ’84S (MBA).
education. Wadhawan is chairman and
managing director of Dewan Housing
Finance Corp. Ltd., one of the leading
housing finance institutions in India.
The Wadhawan family, owners of a
multi-billion dollar conglomerate of
real estate holdings, supermarket, and
restaurant chains, and luxury hotels
throughout Western India, pledged $1.5
million to the Simon School in 2009
to establish an endowed professorship
fund—the first gift of its kind from an
Indian family to a leading American
business school.
Louis Zamperini, who earned our
Commendation Award, and John
Naber, a four-time Olympic gold
medalist in swimming, offered a look
into Zamperini’s truly heroic life. An
Olympic runner (who met Adolph
Hitler at the German Olympics) and
a World War II prisoner of war, Louis
endured two years of torture at the
hands of the Japanese in World War
II. Yet he has publicly forgiven his
torturers. When the war ended and he
returned to California, Louis settled
into life, married, raised two children,
and sold war surplus to film studios.
But he wanted to accomplish more. By
chance, Louis attended an early Billy
Graham revival and found religion.
He started the Outward Bound-style
Victory Boys Camp, an organization
that annually teaches thousands of
high-school drop-outs outdoor skills
such as rappelling, skiing, water skills,
and horsemanship. Zamperini’s life
story, Unbroken: A World War II Story
of Survival, Resilience and Redemption,
is a current best-selling book written
by Pulitzer Prize winner Laura
Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit.
Zamperini’s life is a testament to the
tenacity of the human spirit, and the
power of compassion.
Michael Ryan ’81, ’84S (MBA)
received the Distinguished Alumnus
Award. Ryan related the story of his
time as a junior varsity basketball player
and how “failing spectacularly” can
teach us more than success. Throughout
his distinguished career as a Wall Street
executive, Ryan has been a steadfast
advisor, supporter, and volunteer for the
Simon School. He is chief investment
strategist for Wealth Management—
Americas, head of Wealth Management
Research—Americas, and chairman
of the Wealth Management Americas
Investment Committee at UBS. With
more than 25 years of experience in
the financial industry, he is widely
recognized as a leading market expert.
Ryan appears regularly on CNN,
CNBC, PBS, TV Tokyo, and Bloomberg
Television. He is frequently quoted
in The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones
News Services, Reuters, Financial
Times, Nikkei News, and Bloomberg.
Ryan is also a member of the Simon
School’s National Council and Executive
Advisory Committee. SB
Donors Contribute to Simon Initiatives
T
he Simon School received five
major gifts totaling nearly
$7 million this past year to
advance strategic initiatives in the
areas of faculty recruitment, curricular
enhancement, and scholarship support.
Mark S. Ain ’67 and Carolyn
C. Ain have made a $3 million
gift commitment to support
entrepreneurship education and
scholarships at the Simon School.
Mark Ain is the founder of Kronos
Incorporated, the Chelmsford, Mass.based market leader in the workforce
management industry.
Ain is a longtime supporter of
entrepreneurship at the Simon School
and the University of Rochester.
Since 2007, the Mark Ain Business
Plan Workshops and Business Model
Competition have been open to
both Simon students and University
undergraduates. Ain has also provided
meaningful internship and scholarship
support, as well as a high profile lecture
series through the University’s Center
for Entrepreneurship. His support
has enabled students to meaningfully
contribute to economic development
in the Rochester region through
internships designed to bolster small
businesses and the community.
Ain is an actively involved member
of the University of Rochester Board of
Trustees, the Simon School Executive
Advisory Committee, and a recipient
of the 2005 Distinguished Alumnus
Award, given at Commencement.
Prior to establishing Kronos in 1977,
Ain led an independent management
consulting practice, focused on strategic
planning, product development,
and market research to technology
companies. Earlier in his career, while
in management at Digital Equipment
Corporation, he was instrumental
in introducing the firm’s first minicomputer business management system.
Alan S. Zekelman’87, and his
wife, Lori, have pledged $1.5 million
to establish an endowed finance
professorship. The Lori and Alan S.
Zekelman Professorship of Business
Administration will allow the School to
recruit a distinguished scholar to join
its globally renowned finance faculty.
Zekelman is a board member of the
John Maneely Company, which owns
Atlas Tube Inc., an Ontario, Canadabased manufacturer of steel tubing for
a variety of industrial and aesthetic
uses. Zekelman’s father founded Atlas
Tube. “The Simon School has always
been a leader in the field of financial
economics,” Zekelman says. “Lori and
I are both excited and committed to
making sure that Simon remains at the
forefront of research and pedagogy in
finance for years to come.” Zekelman
is a member of the Simon School’s
National Council and Executive
Advisory Committee.
Robert J. Keegan ’72 has made a
$1 million commitment to support
strategic initiatives at the Simon School.
Keegan is retired chairman of the
board for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Company. Previously, he was CEO and
chairman of the board. Prior to that,
he was president of the Consumer
Imaging business and an executive vice
president at Eastman Kodak Company.
He is a member of the University’s
Board of Trustees and the Simon
School Executive Advisory Committee.
“My family and I are very pleased to
be making this gift to the University of
Rochester with a focus on the Simon
School of Business,” Keegan says. “The
University has a rich academic and
research history and strong momentum
for the future. We trust that our gift
will enable President Joel Seligman and
his leadership team to accelerate this
momentum.”
Charles W. Miersch ’70 is pledging
$900,000 to the Simon School Annual
Fund to support strategic initiatives and
scholarships for deserving students.
Miersch retired in 2004 after 30 years
of service to the University and the
Simon School, most recently as senior
associate dean for corporate relations
and institutional advancement at
Simon. He is an active alumnus and
member of the School’s Executive
Advisory Committee. “My 30-plus
years at the University and Simon
provided a level of satisfaction and a
set of colleagues that, for me, could not
be equaled anywhere else,” Miersch
explains. “I am grateful and happy to be
in a position to provide some support to
make Simon an even stronger business
school going forward.”
Dennis Kessler, Simon’s Edward
J. and Agnes V. Ackley Executive
Professor of Entrepreneurship, and
his brother, Laurence, have committed
$500,000 to enhance entrepreneurship
education at the School. Dennis is a
member of the Board of Trustees at
the University’s Medical Center and
Laurence is a member of the University
Board of Trustees. “We believe in
the value of education at all levels
and supporting the Simon School
Entrepreneurship Program will directly
benefit not only Simon but our entire
community with job creation and
innovation,” Kessler says.
“We are very grateful to the Ains,
the Zekelmans, the Keegans, Charlie
Miersch, and the Kesslers for their
generosity,” says Dean Mark Zupan.
“Their support will help us to continue
to provide our students with the best
possible management education in the
years to come.” SB
Research Highlights
Consumer Choice of Health Care Significant — by Sally Parker
W
hen it comes to health care, does choice matter
to consumers? Conventional wisdom has long
said it does. But until now, it wasn’t proven.
“Consumer Choice and the Decline in HMO
Enrollments,” a new study by Gerard J. Wedig, associate
professor of business administration, quantifies the value
of consumer choice in health care. “I show that it’s pretty
significant,” Wedig says.
The paper, forthcoming in the journal Economic Inquiry,
tests the notion that a desire for choice led to a flight from
health maintenance organization (HMO) enrollments
in the early 2000s. During those years, HMOs and other
insurers were moving away from selective contracting,
which offered consumers a limited set of health care
providers on the basis of cost, efficiency and service
quality. It was a popular approach in the 1990s, when
HMOs were in their heyday. During the 2000s, when most
insurers moderated their use of selective contracting, HMO
enrollments fell, and health care costs accelerated.
To determine just how large a role consumer choice
played in the decline of HMO enrollments, Wedig studied
the health plan decisions of several thousand federal
employees in Florida from 1999 to 2003. Employees
were provided with a list of plans and clearly defined
prices. During those years, employees who wanted more
provider choices voted with their feet and migrated to less
restrictive plans.
Even cheaper price tags failed to woo them. The more
restrictive HMO plans offered lower cost, but that didn’t
seem to make a difference, Wedig says. The value of choice
was greater than the desire for cost savings. The result:
Health plans using selective contracting could not achieve
sufficiently large volume discounts from hospitals to
compensate for enrollment declines.
The study’s results suggest that “people do think ahead of
time about their choice restrictions when they’re choosing
health arrangements, and they don’t like them,” Wedig says.
Women value choice more than men do, Wedig found, and,
perhaps not surprisingly,
people with higher incomes
were willing to pay more
for plans that offer greater
choice. While it’s now clear
that having a more complete
choice set appeals to more
people, Wedig is not sure
why this is so. They may
simply want to keep their
options open; they may have
a variety of preferences
Gerard J. Wedig
that don’t fall into the same
plan; or they may have clear
favorites that are not offered in any HMO plan. Or, Wedig
says, “everyone wants all choices. When the time comes
when we need health care, we want the best.”
Ongoing debate over health care reform highlights this
issue. In an effort to promote accountability and reduce
costs, the reform bill attempted to make it easier for
caregivers to work together, or manage care, on patient
cases. But the notion of managed care implied limited
provider choice and set off alarm bells with the public.
“Just about any managed care proposal is likely to restrict
people’s choices,” Wedig says. “We need to understand why
they value choice. Is there any chance to restrict choice and
still appeal to people?”
If insurers knew the specific drivers that motivate
consumers to embrace greater choice over lower cost, they
could create options that appeal to their tastes. Wedig plans
next to explore what drives consumers’ desire for choice.
“It’s difficult to restrict choice to control costs, and it
will continue to be difficult because consumers value
choice,” Wedig says. “If insurers want to know if it meets
market tests, they should know how much they save
and how much the consumer values choice. If it doesn’t
balance out, it won’t work.” (FR 10-17) (http://ssrn.com/
abstract=1621710) SB
Cutting Corners in Nonprofit Nursing Homes — by Sally Parker
N
onprofit nursing homes that rely on donations
have great incentives to take advantage of donors’
information asymmetry, leading them to cut
corners in areas that are less easily observed by the public,
including donors, a study by Susan Feng Lu, assistant
professor of economics and management, reveals.
Lu’s paper explores a national experiment, a mandatory
quality-disclosure policy, the Nursing Home Quality
Initiative (NHQI), to investigate the impact of donations on
the behavior of nonprofits. NHQI requires nursing homes
to file quality-of-care reports on selected areas of care. The
information is then made available to the public. When it
was introduced in 2002, the initiative brought changes in
incentives for maintaining quality at nursing homes, Lu
says. As a profit maximizer, for-profit homes put greater
focus on ensuring quality in areas that appear in the report
card and less on unobservable areas, where they cut corners.
Lu calls this “teaching to the test.”
“If for-profit firms are doing well on reported dimensions,
they can attract demand. Meanwhile, they diminish quality
in less observed areas. This can help them minimize costs
and maximize profits”
There has been little investigation into whether nonprofit
nursing homes, so called profit-deviators, behave similarly
to their for-profit alternatives. Contrary to conventional
wisdom, nonprofits, she says, are as responsive to changes in
incentives for maintaining quality as for-profits are. Nonprofit
nursing homes rely on donors for financial support. Their
donors tend to be small and lack the level of oversight that
larger donor foundations can
carry out. But while they are
poorly informed on areas
that are less observed, donors
do care about quality. They
are sensitive to the NHQI
report card results and give
more money if scores are
good, Lu says.
Nonprofits ride a wave
of popular sentiment that
says they exist solely for
Susan Feng Lu
the good of society and
maximize quality. Seeing the
nonprofit as altruistic, donors trust that the organization will
provide good quality in both seen and unseen areas. Nursing
homes may take advantage of the fact that donors lack full
information, Lu says. Those with a higher percentage of
donated revenue are more likely to pour resources into
ensuring quality in reported areas and to trim costs with
lower quality in unreported dimensions.
“They are more likely to cut corners to break even,” Lu
says. Nonprofit nursing homes are complex organizations,
the author says.
Their two goals—to fulfill their mission of doing good
and to make money so they can continue operating—must
co-exist. This type of organization can ensure quality to
consumers even as consumers have less data on which to
judge it.” (FR 10-14) (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1570765) SB
Looking For An Investment?
The Center for Entrepreneurship has
created a website for investors looking
for business potential by connecting
them with the University of Rochester’s diverse list of patents.
Researchers and scientists at the
University have developed more than
400 patents for inventions in medicine,
optics, computer technology, and other
fields. For the newly launched Entrepreneur-Ready Technologies website—
www.rochester.edu/entrepreneurship/
ereadytech—the Center’s officials chose
the most promising technologies and
presented them in clear language so
entrepreneurs can easily choose one
that suits their needs.
The site presents a diverse portfolio
of technologies in a variety of industries. The long list of business opportunities includes:
• Acoustical Measurement During a
Music Performance. This method for
acoustics measurement can provide
analysis through low-energy test
signals that are masked by the music.
• Video Game Treatment for Lazy Eye.
An action video game used to treat
“lazy eye” (amblyopia).
• Low-Cost Fuel Cell Catalyst. Catalysts of a specific shape meet goals for
a four-fold improvement in the use of
platinum in automotive fuel cells.
Creating and maintaining the website
is a collaboration among the Simon
School, the Center for Entrepreneurship, and the University’s Office of
Technology Transfer. SB
A Blueprint to
Transform
The Career Center
— by Sally Parker
S
imon School students ready to launch careers
and internships are finding a highly personalized
approach to job hunting under a reorganized Career
Management Center.
Staffers in four teams of two—a career consultant and a
corporate relations professional—work together to match
the interests of job candidates and employers. Each team
specializes in a career path: marketing, finance, operations,
or consulting.
Robert Park, executive director of corporate relations and
career management, is leading the restructuring.
“I modeled it after an executive search firm,” says
Park, who worked for Robert Half International and was
managing director of NextPoint Advisors, a coaching,
development, and job placement company. “The only
difference is you wouldn’t have two-person teams; in an
executive search firm you don’t counsel. I didn’t want to take away the counseling teams because there’s still counseling
that needs to be done.”
The paired team approach—one person looking for jobs,
the other knowing the candidate side—makes the office a
richer resource for Simon’s students. The corporate relations
staffers develop strong ties to recruiters and have a deep
knowledge of potential employers. Working in specific
industries, they become specialists in marketing, finance,
consulting, and operations.
On the counseling side, Simon’s career consultants know
the interests and strengths of their candidates.
“Their responsibility is almost to be like a recruiter,” Park
says. “They have a responsibility to fill a job that a corporate
relations professional brings in.”
“We’re like a recruiting firm with a fixed inventory,” adds
Ron Carlson ’01, a Simon director of corporate relations in
the finance sector.
Workshops and other educational programming remain
part of the mix. But in one-on-one sessions, career
consultants review a candidate’s interests, professional
background, and strengths. What emerges is a highly
personalized picture of the type of career the student
hopes to build. This gives the consultant a stronger sense
of what type of employer would be a good fit. A finance
student with IT experience, for example, may want to
return to an IT setting and assume a different role.
At Simon, career consultants are subject matter
experts in the careers on their watch. Like the candidates
themselves, they attend seminars to learn about the
opportunities available in various industries—and pass
that knowledge on to candidates in the School.
Together team members are more informed about their
candidates than they would be working separately, Park
says. And they are more agile, responding quickly and
aggressively to job postings and targeting recruiters who
might not typically make the trip to Rochester.
Park says it’s not easy to attract recruiters to Rochester.
The pool of candidates—roughly 170 full-time MBA
students graduated this spring—is small compared with
most of its peers. The tailored approach is particularly
useful for handling unsolicited job openings; it requires
staff members to actively follow up with suitable
candidates.
“Calling ourselves an agency suggests to me that I have
to fill these jobs,” Park says. “I can’t just post a job and
expect them to apply.”
Both students and clients like the new model, Carlson
says. The companies he deals with appreciate the fact that
candidates are vetted first. Instead of firing off the resumes
of 50 students, the teams examine each job posting closely
and dig a little deeper into candidates’ experiences,
interests, and skills.
“It could be the case that it’s the kind of job everybody
knows they want,” Carlson says. “Some are going to be
very qualified, but a job description has a lot of subtleties
to it. We’ll head-hunt our own people. We’ll find out which
one’s the best. That’s a fine line.
“You basically take that person’s background, make
a 20- to 30-second pitch and make a bunch of calls,”
he says. “You’re talking about a person; you’re starting
a conversation. It just opens the door to a better
conversation and shows that you know your people.”
Kyle Struble ’12, an MBA student in finance with
a concentration in corporate accounting, landed an
internship at GE Capital, Americas’ headquarters in
Stamford, Conn. Struble says the personalized approach
was “one of the most important resources I found in my
internship search. I felt as though I had an ally.
“Bob offered my résumé to numerous employers,
facilitated introduction to corporate contacts and advised
me in navigating my final decision on multiple offers,”
Struble says. “Most importantly, it was Bob that forged the
relationship with GE Capital, which led to my internship.”
The office’s former structure stymied communication
between staff reaching out to employers and those helping
students find jobs, Park says. When he arrived last
November, corporate relations and career counseling rarely
worked together. Park says this is typical of most business
school career offices. Large schools, in fact, have no choice
but to operate this way because they are dealing with
hundreds of candidates and large-volume recruiting visits
from potential employers. But a small school like Simon
benefits from a more aggressive model personalized for each
student.
“The smaller your inventory, the more selling of the
candidate,” Park says. “I felt like our size should be an
advantage, not a disadvantage. The reason we can put an
executive search firm approach in place is because we have
a small class.”
The office now is more sales-driven, with metrics and
accountability in place to track progress.
“Some of this stuff they were doing, but they weren’t
doing it in a systematic way. We put structure around it to
make it how we do business now,” Park says.
Only one staff member has left the office since
the reorganization began. Park added two directors
of corporate relations, including Carlson, and a lead
management professional. He also hired a career
consultant and another is slated to come on board.
The stakes are high.
“We have a lot of work to do. We need sales people
really. The people we’re hiring are more hunters than
relationship managers.”
Park, who dealt with all the major business schools as
a recruiter, says Simon offers a “significantly stronger”
foundation than other MBA programs that are more trackfocused. For example, finance students still take marketing
courses.
“The core curriculum offers a more well-rounded
candidate,” he says. “Harvard and Wharton will outinterview a Simon student, but a Simon student will
outperform Harvard or Wharton.
“It’s not just about the Simon brand. It’s about finding a
particular student for a particular job.” SB
Sally Parker is a Rochester, NY-based freelance writer.
Barry
Florescue
Building Business and
Business Education
—by Richard Zitrin
B
arry Florescue’s parents were both
hairdressers when he was growing up in
Rochester in the late ’50s and early ’60s,
but his mother, Gertrude, had other plans for
Barry and his four siblings. She was adamant
that all five children continue their education
beyond high school, and all five did; four went to
college and one became a dental hygienist.
Barry Florescue, BS ’66
A brother and sister became lawyers, but that was not one
of the options Barry’s mother laid out for him. “I tell the
story jokingly,” Florescue says. “My mother said, ‘You can
be a doctor, a veterinarian, or an accountant.’ I couldn’t
stand the sight of blood, so I didn’t have much of a choice.”
Thus was born a future CPA. After graduating from the
University of Rochester in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in
business administration, Florescue headed to New York City
and a job with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. on Pine Street.
Florescue realized early on, though, that accounting was
not for him. He found the business world more appealing
and went to New York University at night and in the summer to get his MBA. “The mantra back then was you had to
be a millionaire before you were 30,” he says.
He ventured into the wide world of business after finishing graduate school at NYU in 1970, succeeded in making
his first million before he turned 30, and has gone on to a
long, successful career as an entrepreneur in a variety of
enterprises.
Florescue credits the University of Rochester for having
provided the base for all that he’s accomplished, and he has
shown his appreciation over the years by sharing his time
and wealth with the University. As a member of the Simon
Executive Advisory Committee since 1987 and the University Board of Trustees since 1999, he sponsors undergraduate and graduate business scholarships; he also provided
funding for the Florescue-von Manstein Plaza, the commons linking Schlegel Hall and Carol G. Simon Hall, that is
named for his and his ex-wife’s parents.
In addition, Florescue is at the center of a revival of
the University’s undergraduate business program, similar to what existed when he was on the River Campus
in the ’60s. Florescue is funding the program, which will
be named the Barry Florescue Undergraduate Business
Degree Program.
“Many of us believe an undergraduate program in business is both desirable and very supportive of the University
itself,” Florescue says. “Because of where I come from and
how close it is to my history, I became the initial sponsor for
the program and get it moving.
“I’ve always had a strong affinity to the Simon School and
the University,” Florescue continues. “It’s where I came
from. My mom and stepdad were hairdressers. I lived at
home and was fortunate enough to receive scholarships. I’ve
said it many times that if I had not been able to go to school
at Rochester, I might be driving a truck rather than owning
the companies. It was a phenomenal experience in terms of
bringing a whole new perspective to my life.”
University President Joel Seligman says Florescue is
“incredibly loyal to the University and devotes an amazing
amount of time to his alma mater.”
“He is someone who really is proud of the education
here and would like to see the University progress further,”
Seligman says. “He’s an incredibly successful businessman,
but what’s interesting is that, with me, what he talks about
is not so much his business career as his aspirations for the
University. He wants to know how to best strengthen the
University.”
Longtime Simon School administrator Charles Miersch,
who has known Florescue for about 30 years and has been a
business colleague of his, says Florescue is a hard-working,
thoughtful man who goes all out when he gets involved in
projects. “Barry has the kind of drive and intelligence that
would make someone successful,” says Miersch, who retired
in 2004 as senior associate dean for corporate relations and
institutional advancement at Simon. “It doesn’t surprise me
that he’s done as well as he has. Obviously, he cares deeply
about the University. He’s a devoted, active alumnus, someone who has been willing to put some of his wealth to work
to make the University a better place.”
Florescue’s first foray into the business world came
roughly four decades ago, when he became chief financial
officer for turnaround specialist Ed Smith, who took over
Serosonic Laboratories, a blood analyzing firm. “We worked
at the business until we got it back to health, then we sold
it, so we were out of a job,” Florescue says.
They weren’t idle long, however. Through Wall Street
contacts, Smith and Florescue were introduced to two engineers from RCA Advanced Technology Laboratories, who
had created a voice data entry system. Florescue, Smith, and
the two engineers went into business together—Florescue
was CFO, Smith was CEO, and the two engineers were senior officers—and they started a small company, Threshold
Technology, in southern New Jersey. They took Threshold
public to secure financing and, after a while, sold the company to EMI in London.
Florescue then headed to Fort Lauderdale to be close to
his mother and his then-wife’s family. He looked around
for a while for his next venture and found it in the fast-food
sector. Florescue became a Burger King franchise holder,
buying two stores that were in trouble and in time growing
his holdings to 15 stores.
Meanwhile, Florescue and several associates noticed a
small American Express firm, Horn and Hardart, that was
a Burger King franchisee in New York City, and approached
company officials to explore the possibility of going into
business together. The Horn and Hardart CEO rebuffed the
offer, setting off a proxy fight that Florescue and his colleagues won.
Barry Florescue, BS ’66, standing at center, with some of his Florescue Scholars: standing at left, Thach Chu ’11; standing at right, Aaron Pollard ’11. Seated from left,
Alexander Sylvester ’11, Jason Reminick ’13 MBA/MD, and Nicholas Butkowski ’11.
With these moves, and at the age of 31, Florescue found
himself CEO and chairman of a restaurant and mail-order
company. With Florescue at the helm, Horn and Hardart
grew to a chain of close to 500 restaurants under different
flags—Bojangles, Arby’s, Burger King, and King’s Table—
and, in over 10 years, went from a company with $50
million sales and no net worth to $700 million in sales and
$150 million in net worth.
This journey for Florescue ended in 1988 over a strategic
disagreement with the Horn and Hardart board over the
company’s direction. “They bought me out. I went on my
way and they went on their way,” Florescue says. “The
company proceeded to lose $300 million over the next three
years. It was sad to see what I had taken 10 years to build
literally turn into a pile of garbage.”
Florescue spent the next several years managing his personal assets, then he happened upon his next major enterprise, Marietta Corp., an amenities provider based in upstate
New York. The company had fallen on hard times after the
first Gulf War in 1991. “I was fascinated by its business, got
very friendly with the management team, and through a series of events, the company got put into play by a Wall Street
group,” Florescue says. “I had accumulated a lot of stock and
was approached as being one of the largest stockholders, and
I participated in and won the bidding contest for the company.”
The upstate New York native found himself back upstate,
moving to the Marietta headquarters in Cortland in 1995
to run the company as day-to-day CEO. He helped take the
small-amenities provider and filler to a global packaging
company with a focus on the hotel segment; Marietta became the world’s largest filler of shampoos and lotions, with
offices in Singapore, Sydney, and London.
“We took the company from about $60 million to $180
million over a nine-year period before selling it to a leveraged buyout firm in 2004,” Florescue says. “It was a great
run, great people, great time.”
Miersch, one of Florescue’s partners in Marietta, has high
praise for the job Florescue did helping turn the company
around and, in the process, multiplying investors’ stakes
many times over.
“It’s an interesting story of what can happen to a company when owners begin to run it, as opposed to managers who have stockholders,” Miersch says. “This was our
investment to make or break and, in large part because of
Barry’s efforts and other people’s as well, we turned the
company around, and it became quite successful before we
sold it.”
While back in upstate New York, Florescue also became
more involved with his alma mater. By the time he arrived in Cortland in the mid-’90s, Florescue already was a
member of the Simon Executive Advisory Committee. He
had one more goal: to become a member of the University of
Rochester Board of Trustees. He realized that aspiration in
1999.
“It became a life ambition of mine to become a trustee,”
Florescue says. “I was very lucky that during [former
University President] Tom Jackson’s tenure, several trustees had taken a liking to me, and invited me to be on the
board.”
Florescue’s family also has ties to the University; his
brother Leonard Florescue, an attorney in New York City,
graduated from the University in 1967, and Leonard’s
daughter, Heather Florescue, has both her undergraduate
(2000) and medical school (2004) degrees from the University. She now is a physician in Rochester and a clinical
instructor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
at the Medical Center.
Florescue has three children: Gretchen, a special education teacher in Colorado; Geremy, who lives in New Jersey;
and Bryan, who works with Florescue in his Florida office.
Today, Florescue’s main focus is his Florida-based BMD
Management Co., which he describes as an eclectic portfolio
of more than 30 properties from Florida, New York, Colorado, and Utah valued from $1 million to $75 million apiece.
He also serves on several public and private boards.
Florescue also had a 20-year run in the banking business
as chairman of the board of Century Bank, a thrift headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., that grew from one location to
11 and from assets of $60 million to $1 billion.
Florescue is cutting back on his work schedule and increasingly spending time with his charitable organization,
the Florescue Family Foundation. With homes in Florida,
New York, and Colorado, he enjoys playing tennis and
traveling with his companion, Sharon Gustafson. South
America, the only continent left that he has not visited, is
on his to-do list.
“I’m not working anywhere near as hard as I used to,”
Florescue says, “not nine days a week, but five. I’ve been
very lucky. We’ve had to work hard, but fortunately we’ve
seen the fruits of our labor.”SB
Richard Zitrin is a Rochester, NY-based freelance writer.
Simon New York City Conference:
National Experts Discuss
Emerging Risks to
America’s Financial Stability
—by Charla Stevens Kucko
Christie
Khuzami
Three years ago, students in Dean Mark
Zupan’s “Meliora” class—the course
dedicated to ideas for improving the Simon
School—recommended that Simon develop a
more visible presence in New York City, the
world’s financial capital. One of the products
that resulted from the recommendation was
an annual economic conference. In April
Anita
Peterson
Robert
Sands
Joel
Peter G.
Smith Jr.
Novy-Marx
Benet
Clifford W.
Robert
Jay S.
Steven
Robert
Levitt
Shiller
Christopher J.
Seligman
2010 Simon inaugurated the event, which
was well attended, but definitely quiet in
terms of public notice.
The Second Annual Simon Graduate
School of Business Conference on May 19,
2011, hit New York City with a bang. This
year, nearly 300 people gathered to hear
experts from industry, government,
Novy-Marx
President and securities expert
Joel Seligman examined
financial regulation response
and enforcement priorities
after the crisis. “We must
prevent future Madoffs,”
Seligman said. “The SEC failed
Robert
to do so and needs to be more
vigilant.” Khuzami said effective
enforcement means asking the
right questions and being smart about what you do.
Since coming on board in early 2009, he has made a
significant impact by, among other
things, streamlining enforcement
staff and practices, creating
specialized teams to examine hedge
funds and reducing bureaucratic
red tape. He knows the inner
workings of Wall Street having
previously served as in-house
Joel
counsel for Deutsche Bank, and
prior to that, the U.S. Attorney’s
Office in Manhattan, where he
ran a securities and commodities fraud unit and
prosecuted those responsible for the 1993 World
Trade Center bombing.
During the lunch hour, the inaugural
Executive of the Year award
was presented to Peter G.
Peterson ’94 (LLD), founder
and chairman of the Peter G.
Peterson Foundation and the
former CEO of Lehman Brothers
and co-founder of The Blackstone
Group. A noted philanthropist
and “deficit hawk,” Peterson
previously served as the United States Secretary of
Commerce and chaired the Federal Reserve Bank of
Khuzami
Seligman
Peterson
Christie
New Jersey Governor Christopher J. Christie speaking at the New York City conference.
Peter G.
and academia discuss “Emerging Risks to
America’s Financial Stability.” The conference
garnered media attention from around the world
and most certainly has put the Simon School on
the top of the list of emerging economic thought
leadership.
This year’s one-day event began with New Jersey
Governor Christopher J. Christie, who discussed
his state’s renewed commitment
to making the regulatory
environment there more
favorable for business. Christie
says he is cutting both taxes and
regulations, since high marginal
tax rates drive individuals and
businesses from the state. “Some
Christopher J.
think I’m too direct,” Christie
said. “But I am determined to
make sure that government is
running efficiently and effectively
in New Jersey.”
In a lively exchange with Simon School
Professor and government pensions expert
Robert Novy-Marx, Christie called for more
legislation on how pensions are handled for
public employees. “Unions have to be willing to
sit down and talk about pensions and there has
to be compromise,” Christie said. Novy-Marx
said the government’s pension
crisis is getting worse by the day.
“State and local governments
have enormous unfunded
liabilities in the trillions of
dollars and pension plans have
become the primary vehicles
for circumventing their own
Robert
balanced budget rules,” explained
Novy-Marx. His research on
the topic took him to Capitol Hill earlier this
year to testify before Congress. His new study
on government pensions with co-author Joshua
Rauh of Northwestern University was featured in
The New York Times in June, and is continuing to
generate national media coverage.
The discussion continued later that
morning when SEC Chief Enforcement Officer
Robert Khuzami ’79 and University of Rochester
Smith Jr.
Levitt
Steven
Shiller
New York. During his remarks, Peterson said, “The biggest
problem we have is our dependence on foreign lending and
the associated interest costs are staggering.” The award was
presented by President Seligman with an introduction by
Edmund A. Hajim ’58, president of Diker Management
LLC and chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees.
Peterson was honored in recognition of his outstanding
professional achievements, his deep respect for our nation’s
fiscal health, and his significant pattern of public service
and philanthropy. He served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce
during the Nixon Administration. His recent book is
titled The Education of an American Dreamer: How the
Son of Greek Immigrants Learned his Way from a Nebraska
Diner to Washington, Wall Street and Beyond. Peterson was
presented a glass sculpture specially created by Rochester
artist Nancy Gong for the occasion.
Following the Executive of the Year Award presentation,
Simon Professor Clifford W. Smith Jr. shared his
perspective on the impact of global financial regulation
changes. “The deficit and borrowing are what most people
are talking about, but the more important question is ‘What
is the government spending money on in the first place
and how do those expenditures match with our collective
valuation of what’s being purchased?’ ” Smith
said. “If the Fed doesn’t move aggressively
to reduce the monetary base over the next
three years, the result will be dramatically
higher inflation and interest rates,” he
continued. Smith also weighed in on the topic
of government pensions. Recent research on
the major challenge facing state and local
Clifford W.
governments regarding pension obligations to
public employees look dire, Smith said, but at
least as far as New York State is concerned, it understates
the case. “Is the government pension crisis as dire as it
appears? It’s worse, especially for New York State,” he said.
Later in the afternoon, SuperFreakonomics co-author
Robert
From left: University President Joel Seligman, Peter G. Peterson ’94 (LLD),
Edmund Hajim ’58, and Dean Mark Zupan.
Steven Levitt delivered the William E. Simon Memorial
Lecture. Levitt cited a conversation he had with UK Prime
Minister David Cameron before he was elected about
how to handle the country’s budget crisis. Levitt used the
example of the UK health care system, explaining that
if health care is free to every citizen that provides the
wrong incentives. Using the UK health care system as a
model for purchasing a car, Levitt
suggested to Cameron that all
British citizens should be able to
walk into an auto dealership and
choose the car of their choice for
free. Of course, Cameron didn’t
like the idea. But Levitt said it
illustrates a critical point. “The
problem is that all the incentives
in health care are misaligned,” Levitt said. “Individuals
don’t pay on the margin and, in any viable long-term
system, people are going to have to share some of the
cost of their health care. People are going to come to the
realization that health care and other goods are really not
that different.” Levitt said policy decisions are a big part of
the reason that certain issues continue to be pervasive in
the economy. The William E. Simon Memorial Lecture is
delivered by outstanding men and women from business
and government who exemplify the principles and values
that guided Bill Simon’s life. J. Peter Simon ’08 (LLD),
son of the School’s benefactor and namesake, introduced
the speaker.
Earlier in the day, Yale economist Robert Shiller
said this country has to completely rethink its mortgage
institutions. “People take leveraged, undiversified
investments in homes with their entire life savings and
that’s a risky thing to do,” according to Shiller. He says it
doesn’t get talked about much, but it led to the financial
crisis. “Major innovation in financial markets needs
to happen,” Shiller said. “We have to democratize and
humanize finance. People, not corporations, are what
matter and finance should serve the people.” To that end,
Shiller said that many things have to happen. “We should
rethink how people get their information, facilitate getting
information better, think about how
people manage their risks to their
homes, to their health, their businesses,
their careers, all of these things
are amenable to improved
financial products that serve
people’s needs better,” Shiller
explained.
International Media that Featured
Simon’s New York City Conference
The information sharing and gathering theme continued
as UBS COO Anita Sands predicted the decade ahead
will be “exciting, transformative and
disruptive” in terms of technology and its
impact on the financial sector. Sands said
UBS is focusing attention on four things:
mobile, social networking, collaboration,
and cloud technology. “My view is that
these are phenomenon that are taking
place in the broader technology industry Anita
and that every company needs to adapt,”
Sands said. “Clients’ expectations have
changed, so we now have to build applications that are
intuitive and that are immediately understandable and
interactive.” For UBS financial advisors, the changes are
even more profound. “Our bet is around the power of
mobile, and allowing our financial advisors to be wherever
their clients need to be, giving them the information at
their fingertips that they need to do the job that they want
to do.”
Prominent alums from the business arena also
examined emerging risks to the nation’s financial stability.
Ricardo Leiman ’99, CEO of Noble Group Ltd., and
Jay S. Benet ’76, vice chairman and CFO, Travelers
Insurance, sat on a panel moderated by
Simon alumna and former Bloomberg
TV journalist Melissa Long ’04.* The
panel covered the European debt crisis
and future of the Euro zone, as well
as the impact of natural disasters
on risk management strategies.
Long is currently an evening news
anchor at WXIA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta. Prior to
Bloomberg, she was a news anchor for CNN and HLN.
The conference generated coverage from national media
outlets including Fox Business, Bloomberg Businessweek,
The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones), Thomson Reuters,
Fortune, Forbes, Management Magazine, the Daily
Telegraph (UK), National Underwriter Property, Crain’s
New York Business, Barron’s, Agenda, Law360, the
Newark Star Ledger, WNYC Radio and NJ.com. Advance
coverage included stories in the Rochester Democrat and
Chronicle and Rochester Business Journal.
Major events like these are part of Simon’s strategy to
establish more of a national presence in New York City.
“New York is still the world’s financial capital, it’s our
second largest alumni base outside of Rochester, and it
Jay S.
Benet
Sands
is also the media capital of the world, so having a highly
visible event that sheds light on issues that are of prime
importance to government and to business nowadays
reflects well on all of us at Simon,” said Dean Mark
Zupan. The original idea came from a student team with
input from Simon’s Executive Advisory Committee,
and Zupan intends to build on it in the years to come.
Plans are already under way for the third annual NYC
Conference next spring. To view more NYC Conference
photos, visit the Simon Flickr at http://bit.ly/im9dZs.
The third annual NYC Conference is scheduled for
early May 2012. For up-to-date information, visit
www.simon.rochester.edu/nyc SB
Through
you,
prepared
Simon students are
While at Simon, students develop
an in-depth, multi-faceted knowledge of business. The Simon Experience
incorporates cross-cultural experiences, global thinking, team-focused
learning, and inspires creativity and leadership.
To make a gift, please visit
Rochester.edu/annualfunds or use
the envelope enclosed in this publication.
AnnuAl GivinG ProGrAmS
univErSiTy of rochESTEr
800.598.1330
annualfunds@rochester.edu
As a Simon Annual Fund supporter, YOU have the ability to make
a significant impact on today’s Simon students. Your annual fund gift,
in any amount, provides much needed support for Simon students,
allowing for the development of skills and experiences that will translate
into professional success.
Thank you for supporting the Simon Experience.
Your five-year pledge of $1,500 or more may qualify you for George Eastman Circle
membership. To learn more about The Circle and how you can make a lasting impact
on Simon and its students, please contact Christian Gordon at 585.273.1756
or visit www.rochester.edu/giving/gec.
AlumniNews
Share Your News!
To submit a class note, send an e-mail to the Simon Advancement Office in
care of Kelly Rains at kelly.rains@simon.rochester.edu, or to your
Class Correspondent below.
Class of 1982: Sameer Shah, sameer.shah@db.com
Class of 1983: Ellen Stevens, ellenetc@bellsouth.net
Class of 1988: Jeff Durbin, jeffreydurbin@yahoo.com
Class of 1992: Eric Suitos, esuitos@infionline.net
Washington, D.C.—Area alumni gathered for an evening of networking on April 14, 2010,
hosted by Stan Voudrie ’01 and his wife, Alison.
Class of 1994: Rosanne Tierney Schwartz, rosannets@gmail.com
Class of 1995: Hakan Akbas, hakan@akbas.us
Philipos Minaidis, fivera@otenet.gr
Nikolaos Veraros, nveraros@hotmail.com
Class of 1996: Aditya Kapoor, modernprefab@gmail.com
Class of 1998: Geoff Laughlin, GLaughlin@rwbaird.com
Class of 1999: Helen Zamboni*, hzamboni@underbergkessler.com
Class of 2001: Bob Tracy, rjtracy1234@yahoo.com
Class of 2004: Karen Sweet, karensweet9@gmail.com
Class of 2005: Rameet Kohli, rameet.kohli@gmail.com
Seiichiro Takahashi, seitaka1210@gmail.com
Class of 2006: Chris Johnston, chrisjohnston04@gmail.com
Class of 2008: Chris Adams, christophius1@hotmail.com
Christine Stoelting, christine.stoelting@gmail.com
Don’t see your class represented here? Interested in becoming a Class Correspondent?
Contact Kelly Rains at kelly.rains@simon.rochester.edu to learn more.
Rochester—The Class of 1985 is pictured at the Meliora Weekend Reunion Celebration and
Awards Dinner on October 16, 2010.
Atlanta—Area alumni gathered for an evening of networking on October 21, 2010.
New York—Last summer’s interns working in the
New York City area joined alumni for an evening of
networking on July 22, 2010.
AlumniNews
New York—A lecture and book signing, “An Evening with Andrew Ross Sorkin,” by New York Times reporter and
columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin, was followed by an alumni networking reception on January 20, 2011.
Washington, D.C.—A panel discussion entitled “Net Neutrality and Broadband Regulation: What’s
at Stake? What’s the Endgame?” featured Professor Rajiv Dewan ’84 MS, ’87 PhD, Andrew Lipman,
Dr. Michael D. Pelcovits, Roger C. Sherman and was moderated by Dean Mark Zupan. The event was
hosted by Kevin Sheldon ’04 and Marty Stern ’80 at K&L Gates. (Pictured, from left): Dr. Michael D.
Pelcovits, Andrew Lipman, Marty Stern, Dean Zupan, and Roger Sherman.
Rochester—Current part-time students joined area part-time alumni
for an evening of wine tasting and networking hosted by David
Cole ’89 and Peter Lijewski ’93 at Constellation Brands on January
6, 2011. (Pictured, from left): Peter Lijewski, Larry Hessney ’88,
Andrea Lever ’01, and Bill Lever ’01.
Los Angeles—A dinner
with Delores Conway,
faculty associate dean
for masters programs
and professor of real
estate economics and
statistics, was hosted
by National Council
member Evans Lam ’84
on November 4, 2010.
Charlotte—Area alumni participated in an Open
Doors student-alumni virtual networking session before
gathering for alumni networking on January 27, 2011.
(Pictured, from left): Executive Director of Advancement
Christian Gordon, John Donnelly ’09, and Chris
Domeny ’07.
Ohio—Alexsandra Sukhoy ’03 hosted a gathering in her home last fall
for Simon alumni in the northeast Ohio area. (Pictured, from left): Jeff
Anderson ’79, Gary Lisy ’81, Chris Karr ’90, Alex Sukhoy, and Chris
Brophy ’02.
Rochester—The Meliora Weekend Reunion Celebration and Awards
Dinner was held on October 16, 2010. The John N. Wilder Award was
presented to Evans Lam ’84; the Distinguished Alumnus Award was
presented to Jay Benet ’76. (Pictured, from left) Dean Mark Zupan,
Evans Lam, President Joel Seligman, and Jay Benet.
&
Mergers
1990
Paul Caseiras and his wife,
Gisele, welcomed the arrival
of their son, Felipe, born
November 8, 2010. Felipe
joins older sister Beatriz.
Paul is a director at Credit
Suisse. He and his family
live in New York City.
1995
Hakan Akbas and his
wife, Songul, welcomed the
arrival of twin daughters,
Ela and Alya Akbas,
born on February 23,
2011. Hakan is president
of strategy, business
development and insurance
services, at Sabanci
Holding. He and his family
live in Istanbul, Turkey.
Tomoyuki Ohno and his
wife, Noriko, welcomed
the arrival of their son,
Hiroaki Ohno, in December
2009. Hiroaki joins older
brother Takaaki. Tomoyuki
is general manager of the
environmental business
department at Mitsui &
Co. Europe Plc. He and
his family live in London,
England.
1999
Jennifer L. Cotton and her
husband, Kelly, welcomed
the arrival of twins Thomas
Jack and Charles Patton
Acquisitions
Cotton, born December
13, 2010. Jennifer is a
vice president at Madison
Capital Funding. She and
her family live in Hinsdale,
IL.
2000
Deniz Tunca and his
wife, Ipek Tunca ’00,
welcomed the arrival of their
son, Bati Brooklyn Tunca,
born August 11, 2010. Bati
joins older brother, Kaya
Deniz. Deniz is a director
at Stirling Ackroyd; Ipek
is a director at Microsoft
Corporation. They live in
Istanbul, Turkey.
2001
Drew Hearon and his wife,
Amy, welcomed the arrival
of their daughter Margot
Frances Hearon, born
Adaptiv Technologies and
principal at Gold Product
Development. They live in
Scarsdale, NY.
Elizabeth Busch and her
husband, Christopher
Busch ’03, welcomed the
arrival of their first child,
Cian William Busch, born
August 9, 2010. Elizabeth is
a manual processing leader
at GE Capital Americas.
They live in Chicago, IL.
2004
Gabriela Gutierrez
Brillhart and her husband,
Kevin Brillhart ’04,
welcomed the arrival
of their son, Max K.
Brillhart, born November
October 29, 2010. Margot
joins older sisters Avery and
Celia. Drew is a director at
Deutsche Bank Securities.
He and his family live in
Garden City, NY.
2003
Tamara Arbesman
married Adam Gold on
August 30, 2009, at Fort
Tryon Park in New York
City. Tamara is director
of academic affairs at
Columbia Business School;
Adam is co-founder and
chief technology officer of
6, 2009. Max joins older
sister Alexa. Gabriela is
vice president of global
financial risk management
at Barclays Capital; Kevin
is vice president of equitylinked capital markets with
Wells Fargo Securities.
They live in West New
York, NJ.
Jonathan Kuo married
Chanida Vakindacha on May
15, 2010, in Arlington, VA.
Jonathan is a management
consultant at Hildebrandt
Baker Robbins in
Washington, DC. Chanida is
a senior technical consultant
at High Performance
Technologies Inc. They live
in Fairfax, VA.
Lee McNeer and his wife,
Michele, welcomed the
arrival of their daughter,
Laine Antoinette, born July
12, 2010. Laine joins older
siblings Max, Beck, and
Cade. Lee is vice president,
originations, at Red
Mortgage Capital. He and
his family live in Charlotte,
NC.
Jon Scahill married Alexis
Fabricant on September 4,
2010, at the Sagamore Hotel
in Bolton Landing, NY. Jon is
president and chief operating
officer at Quest Patent
Research Corporation, an
intellectual property asset
management corporation in
New York City; Alexis is a
senior account executive at
The Lane Communications
Group, a public relations firm.
They live in New York City.
U n i v e r s i t y o f R o c h e s t e r | S i m o n G r a d u a t e S c h o o l o f B u s i n e s s | S i mo nBusiness | 23
&
Mergers
Acquisitions
Salvato, welcomed the
arrival of Lauren Ashley
Salvato, born February 6,
2011. Larissa is a channel
marketing manager at Petz
Enterprise Inc. She and
her family live in Dublin,
OH.
Christopher R. Seitz
and his wife, Karen,
welcomed the arrival of
their daughter, Paige Seitz,
2008
born January 30, 2011.
Paige joins older sister
Caroline, 5, and brother
Gavin, 2. Christopher is an
executive search consultant
at Heidrick & Struggles.
Foxborough, MA.
2005
Pressigny Alcindor and
his wife, Muthla, have
welcomed the arrival of two
children, Nouri, born in
2009, and Nasser, born in
2010. Pressigny is a bank
examiner at the Federal
Reserve Bank of New
York. He and his family
live in New York City.
Julio Castillo married
Alexia Soler on
September 11, 2011, in
Barcelona, Spain. Julio is
a manager at Europraxis
Consulting; Alexia works
in product marketing
for Ingram Micro. They
live in Barcelona, Spain.
(Pictured, from left):
Pedro Grau ’05, Nuria
Hernández ’05, Julio
Castillo ’05, Alexia Soler,
Esteban Dávalos ’05, and
Soledad Cortez.
Inc. She and her family
live in Farmington, NY.
2006
born July 14, 2010. Emily
is a financial analyst at
Xerox. She and her family
live in Webster, NY.
Saswata Banerjee married
Teeas Bhattacharya on
December 2, 2009, in
Kolkata, India. Saswata is
Bradley J. Bismark and
his wife, Rashmi, welcomed
the arrival of their second
child, daughter Priyanka
Erika Bismark, in October
2010. Priyanka joins older
sister Ananya Jennifer.
Bradley is head of channel
analytics (North America)
at HSBC. He and his family
live in Buffalo, NY.
a senior financial analyst
at Chartis Insurance in
New York City; Teeas is a
Web content manager for
the Goethe Institut in New
Delhi, India. They live in
New York City.
Emily Aronstam Duga
and her husband, Jason
Duga, welcomed the arrival
of their first child, daughter
Sienna Katherine Duga,
Kristopher Giardino and
his wife, Sheri Giardino,
their daughter, Olivia Lynn
Giardino, born August
10, 2010. Kristopher
is a project manager at
the Rochester Genesee
Regional Transportation
Authority. He and his
family live in Rochester,
NY.
2009
Jailendra Singh and his
wife, Anuprita, welcomed
the arrival of their son,
Aarush Pratap Singh,
Patrick K. Murphy
and his wife, Michelle,
their son, Patrick Keith
Murphy IV, born May
28, 2010. Patrick is a
commercial banker at
Middlesex Savings Bank.
Wrentham, MA.
born December 14, 2010.
Jailendra is a research
associate at Susquehanna
Financial Group. He
and his family live in
Parsippany, NJ. SB
Larissa A. Salvato
and her husband, Jason
Jamie F. Block welcomed
the arrival of daughter
Jenna Block in June 2009.
Jamie is a tax manager
and financial planner at
Wealth Design Services
ClassNotes
1973
Joseph H. Safier was
appointed to the 2010–11
Los Angeles Civil Grand
Jury (CGJ) and selected by a
panel of judges and others as
foreperson. Unlike the more
familiar Criminal Grand
Jury, the CGJ is a citizens
watchdog group whose sole
public presence is a report
issued at the conclusion of
their one-year term in June.
Joe previously served as a
member of the 2008–09 Los
Angeles CGJ.
1976
Geoffrey P. Lantos
has recently published
a textbook, Consumer
Behavior in Action: Real
Life Applications for
Marketing Managers.
Geoffrey is a professor of
business administration at
Stonehill College in North
Easton, MA.
1981
Alan D. Barasky had
an essay published in the
May 10, 2010, issue of the
Christian Science Monitor, “A
Man For All Seasonings.”
Alan is an associate advisor
at TechPar Group in
Hackensack, NJ.
1983
Kenneth R. French (PhD)
was featured in The New
York Times for convening a
group of 15 distinguished
economists to produce
“The Squam Lake Report,”
a compilation of ideas
and recommendations for
preventing future financial
crises. Kenneth is a professor
at Tuck School of Business
at Dartmouth College in
Hanover, NH.
Alumni Leader Profile
Teresa Cox ’88
1988
Teresa Cox has been
appointed to serve as a trade
advisor to the US Department
of Commerce, working on
small- and minority-business
initiatives. Teresa, who will
be a member of the Industry
Trade Advisory Council, is a
senior contracts negotiator at
Symantec Corporation.
1990
Paul Seguin (PhD) recently
published GMAT Business
Ready™ Quantitative Skills,
a comprehensive review
of the analytical tools and
techniques used in everyday
business that defines the
set of quantitative skills
prerequisite for the pursuit
of an MBA (available from
the Graduate Management
Admissions Council). Paul
is a principal at Argus
Partners in Atlanta, GA.
1992
Amy Hutton (PhD) and
co-authors Patricia Dechow
’93 (PhD) and Richard
Sloan ’92 (PhD), received
the American Accounting
Association’s inaugural
Distinguished Contribution to
Accounting Literature Award
for their research paper,
“Causes and Consequences
of Earnings Manipulation:
An Analysis of Firms
Subject to Enforcement
Actions by the SEC.” Amy
is a professor of accounting
at Boston College, Carroll
School of Management in
Chestnut Hill, MA. Patricia
is the Donald H. and Ruth
F. Seiler Professor of Public
Accounting and Richard is
the L. H. Penney Professor
of Accounting at the
I
n a career that has
spanned engineering,
supply chain, and
contract management, as well
as Silicon Valley, Wall Street,
and the White House, Teresa
Cox is undoubtedly a woman
to watch.
Currently senior IT
International Contracts
Negotiator for Symantec
Corp., Cox was recently
tapped by the Obama
administration to serve as an
advisor on the Industry Trade
Advisory Council. In that
capacity, Teresa will develop
small- and minority-business
initiatives and promote
US economic interests
in international trade
agreements. She will also
advise on key objectives and
bargaining positions for global
trade negotiations and other
trade-related policy matters.
This isn’t the first time
Cox has made news. In 1985,
she was the first AfricanAmerican woman in the
nation to earn a degree in
nuclear engineering. In her
current capacity at Symantec,
she negotiates and awards
international contracts for IT
suppliers.
Cox was attracted to
Simon for its high ranking
in finance and credits the
unique New York Recruiting
Program in helping her land
a job at one of the largest
Wall Street firms. “I’ve been
able to apply many of the
skills I learned from earning
my MBA,” she says. “Skills
such as investment analysis,
marketing competitiveness,
operation efficiency, and
concise writing have all led
to greater job opportunities
regardless of the industry.”
Outside of work, Cox
enjoys traveling, exercising,
and spending time with
her family. She serves as
a community activist in
education, small minority
businesses, health care, and
international trade.
Her must-read? Never in
My Wildest Dreams: A Black
Woman’s Life in Journalism,
written by her friend,
Belva Davis. “Belva’s rise
from humble beginnings
to national journalist
chronicles some of the most
significant events in recent
American history,” adds
Cox. “Her story of survival
and determination can be an
inspiration to us all.” SB
M
ukul Kasliwal is a
global industrialist
and entrepreneur
and executive chairman
of MW Corp., a family
business based in India. The
conglomerate is involved in
a variety of industries, from
textiles to renewable energy
and has operations across three
continents. Kasliwal’s career
demonstrates just how far a
company can grow when it
adopts savvy business practices.
Kasliwal was attracted to
the focused finance program
at Simon, which he heard
about from close friends and
his brother’s professors at
Harvard. “Simon was an upand-coming school, ranked
very highly in finance,”
Kasliwal says. “It gave me a
solid background in financial
analysis and valuation.”
Working in the family
business benefitted both
him and the company. For
example, he soon realized
that the family business
needed to diversify. He drove
the company’s expansion
into renewable energy in the
early 90s, and the business
soon grew into a formidable
conglomerate.
From 2000 to 2005, the
business was completely
restructured, then, in 2006,
split four ways. Kaslliwal
was the driving force behind
the restructuring, which
resulted in MW Corp., a global
competitor in renewable
energy, infrastructure
development, and textiles.
In 2008, MW Corp. acquired
Klopman, one of the world’s
largest textiles manufacturers
and market leader in work
and protective wear. Later this
year, MW Corp. will bring
the Maheshwar Hydel Project
online, which will produce 400
megawatts of electricity and
help establish the company
as a dominant player in
hydroelectric power.
“It was at Simon where
I learned the tools I use
every day for analysis and
decision-making,” he notes.
“In any situation, I strive to
understand the cost benefit,
which is not always measured
in strictly financial terms.”
Kasliwal is committed to
building MW Corp. into a
global enterprise that cherishes
its people and operates as a
responsible and professional
corporate citizen.
Kasliwal serves on Simon’s
Executive Advisory Committee.
Kasliwal spends his spare
time with his wife, 11-year-old
son, and a handful of good
friends. He enjoys listening
to music, watching movies,
swimming, and developing his
spiritual approach to life. SB
ClassNotes
Haas School of Business,
University of California at
Berkeley.
1995
general partner, and
portfolio manager at Ada
Advisors LLC/Ada Series
Total Return Fund LP in
Rochester, NY.
Marc Sachdev is now
chief financial officer of
Aquavation in Pittsford, NY.
1996
Debasish Deb is currently
a country manager at CocaCola Far East Limited in
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
1997
Sean L. Rugless is now
president and chief executive
officer at the Greater
Cincinnati & Northern
Kentucky African
American Chamber of
Commerce in Cincinnati, OH.
1998
Joel J. Levesque was
honored in November 2010
by the Central Asia Alumni
Group of the Simon School
at a reunion in the Hall of
Heroes at the Pentagon. He
has now retired from active
duty in the US Army, having
completed 21 years of service
and serving in a number of
Daniel Forrester released
his book in January
2011, entitled Consider:
Harnessing the Power of
Reflective Thinking in Your
Organization, on the concept
of reflective thinking in an
age of immediacy. The book
is available through Amazon.
com. Daniel is a director at
Sapient Corporation.
Paula Pingel* has
recently accepted a position
as an energy services
commercialization leader
with GE Energy Services.
She and her family will be
relocating to Charlotte, NC.
Sarah Plasky-Sachdev* is
now chief executive officer of
Aquavation in Pittsford, NY.
combat tours in Afghanistan
and Iraq since 9/11. The
retirement ceremony was
also attended by the cofounder of the Central Asia
Group, Army Reserve Lt. Col.
Edmund L. Luzine Jr. ’89.
The alumni group was formed
by Joel (at right) and Ed (at
left) at Bagram Air Base,
Afghanistan, in early 2002.
1999
Laura L. Fichter* is now
chief investment officer,
2002
Jeffrey J. Berardi, chief
marketing officer at K&L
Gates LLP in Boston, MA,
was recently recognized as
the International Marketing
Professional of the Year at the
Hubbard One Excellence in
Legal Marketing Awards.
Anurag Heda recently
launched a New York Citybased strategy consulting
firm, Naissance, providing
practical sales and marketing
Jeff Berardi ’02
advice to investment
managers trying to increase
assets in the competitive
investments industry.
2003
Melissa Long* has been
named co-anchor of the
“11Alive” 10 p.m. news on
WXIA television in Atlanta,
GA. Previously, Melissa was
a journalist at Bloomberg TV
in New York City, Hong Kong,
and Sydney, Australia, and
served as an anchor/reporter
with CNN, HLN, and CNN.
com.
Matthew T. Madden is
working as a production
manager at The Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Company in
Dalian, China.
Alexsandra Sukhoy, who
has recently released her
second novel, Chatroom to
Bedroom: Rochester, New
York, is a writer for Creative
Cadence LLC.
2004
John C. Allen has joined
Travelers Insurance in
Farmington, CT as a financial
consultant.
Michael Camarella was
recently promoted to senior
portfolio manager and vice
president at Oppenheimer
Funds Inc. in Rochester, NY.
Samuel A. Coronado is now
country manager for Mexico
at Shell Oil in Houston, TX.
Cesar Garcia-Brena is
a managing partner at
consulting firm Bremass
Energy Advisors LLC in
Houston, TX, and a professor
in the MBA program at
the Instituto Tecnológico
Autónomo de México
(ITAM) in Mexico City.
Jonathan Lee was promoted
to general manager of the
Dunlop and Kelly brands
at The Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Company in Akron,
OH.
Arturo Picicci recently
accepted a position as director
of national consumer strategy at
Verizon in Basking Ridge, NJ.
C. Patrick Scholes is now a
senior analyst covering gaming
and lodging companies at FBR
Capital Markets in New York
City.
Roberto Vazquez has
relocated to Uruguay to
be closer to his family. He
joined OCA–Itau Group in
Montevideo, Uruguay, as a
consultant in February 2011.
2005
Christopher Antola accepted
a position in August 2010 as
vice president of sports rights
and corporate finance at
Fox Sports Media Group in
Beverly Hills, CA.
Bradley J. Bismark has
relocated from Paris, France, to
Buffalo, NY, taking on a new
position as head of channel
analytics (North America) at
HSBC.
A
s chief marketing
officer at K&L
Gates LLP, in
Boston, Jeff Berardi has
witnessed phenomenal
corporate growth. “When
I started here less than a
decade ago, we were just 10
offices located only in the US.
Now we have 2,000 lawyers
in 36 offices across the
globe,” he says.
That kind of growth has
led to more than $1 billion
in annual revenues and has
earned the firm the most firsttier rankings in the inaugural
edition of U.S. News & World
Report’s “Best Law Firms.”
Berardi leads a marketing
team of 65 people dedicated
to building brand awareness
and growing the business.
He was recently named the
International Marketing
Professional of the Year by
Hubbard One Excellence, a
division of Thomson Reuters,
in its Excellence in Legal
Marketing Awards. The
awards recognize innovative
marketing professionals in
law firms and corporate law
departments.
After earning an
undergraduate degree in
psychology from Boston
College, Berardi worked in a
full-service marketing agency
before deciding to round
out his education with a
Simon MBA. “The analytical
approach to problem-solving
I learned at Simon was
invaluable,” he notes, “and
it helped me build credibility
and communicate well with
our attorneys.”
Berardi particularly
enjoyed the Kauffman
Internship Program at
Simon and Ron Schmidt’s
teachings in the managerial
economics course. “Simon’s
entrepreneurial track taught
me that I could continue to
learn outside the program,”
he notes. “That is exactly
what I’ve had to do in this
fast-growing law firm.”
With two kids under the
age of three, Berardi values
all the family time he can
get. When possible, he fits
in some skiing and escapist
reading, such as the futuristic
novel Infinite Jest by David
Foster Wallace. SB
Esteban R. Davalos has
relocated from Barcelona,
Spain, to London, England,
where he is now a global
marketing manager at Reckitt
Benckiser.
Neil Amrine ’78
I
n recent years, few
businesses have changed
more than the travel
industry. As president of
Guide Service of Washington
Inc., Neil Amrine is
well acquainted with the
challenges of such constant
change.
After several years of work
with Fortune 500 companies
and Ernst & Young in New
York City, Amrine made his
way to the DC area, where
he initially worked at the
Department of the Treasury.
His career as an entrepreneur
was launched when he and
his mother bought into the
tour company that provides
licensed tour guides and group
tour packaging for the DC
metro area.
“I spend a lot of my time
trying to think like my
customers,” says Amrine, who
now spends less time on the
financial side of the house and
much more coming up with
creative products and focusing
his energy on marketing.
What’s changed the most?
“The Internet. People are
much more sophisticated and
knowledgeable about their
buying decisions, but there’s a
lot of misleading information
out there,” Amrine says. Not
only are booking times much
more condensed, but people
are looking to be part of an
experience, not just see the
sights. Amrine has crafted a
niche selling tours to groups
rather than individuals.
While at Simon, Amrine
took advantage of the 3-2
Program as a math major.
His MBA prepared him to
work well in very different
environments. “At each job, I
was astounded at how cuttingedge my Simon education
was,” he notes. “I value
how Cliff Smith and [former
Simon faculty member]
Lee Wakeman taught us
to communicate our key
messages to decision-makers
in just 90 seconds. As an
entrepreneur, I’ve used the
presentation skills I learned at
Simon over and over.”
Amrine enjoys collecting
antique watches and clocks,
and walking dogs. “I’ve been
involved in the rescue of
several sheepdogs over the
years, and right now, I’m
caring for three,” he says. SB
ClassNotes
Rameet Kohli joined the
GE Energy–Smart Grid
Center of Excellence in
San Francisco, CA, as a
senior consultant in August
2010, where he is part of
a team offering strategic
consulting services focused
on smart-grid technologies to
customers, including utilities,
governments, and universities.
Ariane Krenichyn
is now a research and
measurement manager
at Partners+Napier in
Rochester, NY.
Jasmin Kung recently
launched an e-commerce site,
www.indeeyo.com, based in
Burlingame, CA, that features
independent clothing/
accessory designers across the
country and eventually from
around the world.
Gonçalo Souto was one
of approximately 150
participants in the recent
Sea Paddle NYC. The group
planner at Wealth Design
Services Inc. in Rochester, NY.
Frederico C. Cruvinel is
currently a procurement
manager at Votorantim
Cimentos in Curitiba, Brazil.
Tracy D. Gossett was
promoted to special processes
engineering manager for the
Commercial Sector–Aircraft
Group at Moog Inc. in East
Aurora, NY.
Charles S. Pulire is now
a portfolio manager at
Oppenheimer Funds Inc. in
Rochester, NY.
Katy N. Purwin has
accepted a position as a senior
manager, customer marketing,
at Novartis: CIBA VISION
in Atlanta, GA.
Justin A. Sansone is now
a senior international tax
accountant at Eastman
Kodak Company in
Rochester, NY.
Duane M. Todd recently
accepted a new position as
a strategy and operations
manager at Stork Materials
Technology in Saint Paul, MN.
paddled 28 miles around
the island of Manhattan
on paddle boards, raising
$250,000 for autism research.
2006
Gregory D. Bauch is now a
finance manager at Lender
Processing Services in
Jacksonville, FL.
Jamie F. Block obtained the
CFP marks after passing the
November 2010 exam. Jamie
is a tax manager and financial
Tao Zhang was promoted
to vice president, financial
analysis manager, at
JPMorgan in New York City.
2007
Heidi L. Sommers is now
a product manager at Nestle
Nutrition in Florham Park, NJ.
2009
Charles (Dusty) Riddle
was promoted to associate on
the business analytics team
at Booz Allen Hamilton in
Washington, DC. SB
Moments
Meliora
Debra S. Maddow, ’04S (MBA)
What inspired you to become “ever better”?
Share your story today!
“After the longest team meeting ever held for a 10-point economics
assignment, we turned in our work with my answers on it, and
scored our first 100% for the course! From that moment on, I realized
I did belong, that I was good at the quantitative ‘stuff,’ and most
importantly, I never again worried I was the weak link on my team.”
meliora.rochester.edu
UR_Simon_Ad_Fall11_final_0803.pdf
1
8/3/11
2:52 PM
u
o
y
k
Than supporting our.
e
c
n
e
for
i
r
e
p
x
E
1
1
0
n
2
o
f
o
m
i
s
S –The Clas
Annual fund gifts directly impact Simon students' daily experiences
and future success. To learn more about annual giving, please visit
www.rochester.edu/annualfunds.
William E. Simon Graduate School
of Business Administration
Rochester, New York 14627
Change Service Requested
Chasing Stars?
Hire Top Performers
In a New York Minute
Our Premier Program
For Corporate Recruiters
2011-2012
In a New York Minute
Friday, September 30, 2011
Doubletree Guest Suites—Times Square
New York Recruiting Program (NYRP)
Friday, January 20, 2012
Doubletree Guest Suites—Times Square
The Simon Graduate School of Business and the University of Rochester have been
partnering with New York City area recruiters for over 30 years. We have a talent
pool of skilled business students with the level of education and experience you are
seeking. Looking to hire a graduate with the knowledge and ability to make an impact? Our MBA, MS, and undergraduate students graduate with the tools to solve
business problems creatively and to make tough decisions in real-world situations.
Hire With Ease
Our New York City events are designed to bring the best and the brightest talent
from the Simon School and the University of Rochester to key employers in your
area. We organize and offer these programs to provide companies with all of the
amenities and comfort of our own recruiting facilities, without the travel time and
expense.
We continue to set recruiting trends by bringing our students to key cities and
providing opportunities for businesses to meet with top Simon candidates.
To learn more about or register for these events, contact:
Karen Grip
Simon Career Management Center
(585) 273-4448
karen.grip@simon.rochester.edu
www.simon.rochester.edu/recruiters

Simon Business Alumni Magazine Fall 2011

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