7757 Cover 1 - University of Miami School of Business

Transcription

SUMMER 2006
BusinessMiami
U N I VE RSITY O F M I A M I S C H O O L O F B U S I N E S S ADMINISTRATION
THIS PAGE (LEFT TO RIGHT FROM TOP):
OLIVIA PEREYRA U.S.A.
MANUEL STEREMBERG U.S.A.
STAVELY LORD U.S.A.
KARIM ZIWAR United Arab Emirates
THOMAS BAUER Germany
ERIKA BOOM U.S.A.
GIL SHAVIT Peru
MIN “ENYA” HE U.S.A.
HUBERT J. WINSTON Dominica
ANTONIA CAMERON U.S.A.
MICHAEL NAGTEGAAL Costa Rica
DIEGO LEON U.S.A.
MAYUREE TREEPRASERTPOJ Thailand
CHRISTIAN PETERSMANN U.K.
ROBERTA SILVA Brazil
GLOBAL
ACHIEVERS
Six years after appearing on our
cover, 16 international MBAs
are taking the business world
by storm. Irena Chang-Yen is
making her mark in New York
City. Where in the world are
the other 15? Find them on the
back cover, then turn to page 24
for their stories.
A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
BusinessMiami
DEAN
Paul K. Sugrue, PhD
World Champions
A
s you have seen on our cover, this issue of
BusinessMiami revisits some old friends — a group
of 16 former MBA students, now alumni, who
appeared on the cover of our Spring 2000 issue. That story
focused on the strong appeal that the School’s MBA program
had for students from around the world. The students we
photographed then were selected not only for their high academic standing but also for the variety of countries, 14 in all,
that they represented.
PAUL MORRIS/GPA
Finding them took a bit
of detective work, but we’re
pleased to report that they
all are doing quite well.
They are scattered around the world —
eight remained in the U.S., four returned
to their home country, and four are living
and working in a different country — and
many of them conduct business globally.
One of the common threads that run
through their stories is the value that their
MBA studies brought to their careers.
Several mention using what they learned
here at the School on a daily basis, and a
few have remained in touch with some of
their professors.
We continue to attract a strong cadre of
international students — fully one-third
of those in our MBA program are from
outside the U.S. Why? For the same reasons students have always come to the
School. We provide the knowledge and
the skills necessary to succeed in today’s
global business environment. In addition,
we’re blessed with a beautiful climate,
and Miami is a multicultural metropolis
that makes everyone feel at home.
Interestingly, many of the 16 former
students originally aimed for corporate
jobs but ended up becoming entrepre-
neurs. That’s a strong trend in business
today that is reflected in the growth of
entrepreneurship studies and activities
here at the School. This issue also
features the winners of our fourth
annual Rothschild Entrepreneurship
Competition. You’ll see that the quality of
the winning ideas is better than ever —
and that two of the winners just happen to
be international students. Like business,
entrepreneurship today knows no borders,
and we’re proud to be an influential force
in the center of it all.
Finally, as we were putting this issue
together, we received some very good
news. BusinessWeek, in its first-ever ranking of undergraduate business programs,
ranked us No. 1 in Florida and No. 44
in the nation. The report also noted that
our outstanding Mentor Program “wows
students” (story, page 22). We were
thrilled ourselves by the ranking, and we
are happy that we have so many successful alumni around the world helping to
spread the word about the School every
day by bringing their knowledge and
skills to the global marketplace.
Contents
volume X, number 2
VICE DEAN
Harold W. Berkman, PhD
DIRECTOR, ALUMNI RELATIONS
Faye M. Harris
DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT
Connie Kazanjian
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Robert S. Benchley
MANAGING EDITOR
Sue Khodarahmi
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Lawrence A. Armour, Karen Bennett,
Stacey W. Betts, Carole Bodger,
Barbara Brynko, Jill Colford,
Clayton Collins, Susan Delson,
Catherine O’Neill Grace, Bella Kelly,
Stephanie Levin, Michael J. McDermott,
Jennifer Pellet, Susan Plawsky,
Hannele Rubin, Molly Rose Teuke,
Ellen Ullman, Bob Woods
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Mitch Shostak
Shostak Studios, Inc.
ART DIRECTOR
Corey Kuepfer
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Mark Alcarez, Fareed Al-Mashat,
Marguerite Beaty, Walter Calahan,
Dan Demetriad, Irvin Durand,
Paulo Fridman, Andy Goodwin,
Gerhard Gscheidle, Fred Karrenberg,
Alan Levenson, Michael Marko,
Paul Morris, Ozzie Newcombe,
Tim Pelling, Jeffery Salter, Tom Salyer,
Kevin Sansbury, Ann States, Tom Stepp,
Kemuel Stubbs, Suzette Tori
PRINTING
12
24
FEATURES
12 / VARIETY SHOW
Diversity marks the winning business plans in the 2006
Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition.
14 / Building for Boomers
Where yesterday’s hippies can retire together tomorrow.
16 / Betting on the Net
Creating an incentive for gambling online.
18 /Strapping Lads
TranSupport is tied to logistics.
20 / Going with the Flow
Gravity puts a new twist on an old idea.
22 /GUIDING FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS
BusinessWeek ranked the B-School’s undergraduate program No. 1 in
Florida and says the Mentor Program “wows students.”
The Lane Press, Inc.
24/GLOBAL ACHIEVERS
EDITORIAL OFFICE
University of Miami
School of Business
215 Jenkins Building
Coral Gables, FL 33124-6521
(305) 284-4052
E-mail:
alumni@exchange.sba.miami.edu
BusinessMiami is published by the University of Miami
School of Business, Office of Alumni Relations and
Development. No portion of this magazine may be
reproduced in any form without prior permission from
the publisher. Nonprofit postage paid at Burlington,
VT, and other locations; Permit #175. © 2006 by the
University of Miami, An Equal Opportunity/
Affirmative Action University. All rights reserved.
Six years after being featured in this magazine as students, these
16 international MBA alumni have taken the business world by storm.
DEPARTMENTS
2 / DEAN’S MESSAGE
World Champions: How the School prepares future business
leaders for the global economy.
4/ IN THE NEWS
Bahamas classroom is dedicated; scholarship donors are recognized; $1 million
is given for ethics programs; Jenkins Building celebrates 25 years.
— Dean Paul K. Sugrue, PhD
36 /ALUMNI NEWS
Catch up on the activities of your friends and classmates. Plus, profiles of
alumni achievers in banking, restaurants, financial services, energy and more.
Cover photograph by Dan Demetriad
36
InTheNews
New Funding
Spurs Hyperion
Council Projects
NEW CLASSROOM
DEDICATED AT
BAHAMAS EVENT
THE HYPERION COUNCIL, a service organization for undergraduate business students that is
now in its third year, has begun a series of community service projects targeting at-risk youth.
Using funding from the School of Business
and a grant from the Marcus Foundation, the
THE SCHOOL’S LONGTIME Saturday MBA
Council’s Titans (as its members are known)
Program for Professionals in the Bahamas
have been applying their business knowledge to
— now in its 31st year — entered its next
benefit students as near as Miami and as far
generation with the dedication of a new state-
away as Romania. Four projects were put in
of-the-art classroom on June 29 in Nassau.
place during the past academic year. Three of
The classroom, which was modeled after
them involved seminars about financial topics
those at the School’s Coral Gables campus,
such as saving money, getting a good credit
is located at the College of the Bahamas,
rating and avoiding identity theft. The seminars
with which the School has had a strong edu-
were conducted for students at Braddock High
cational relationship.
School in South Miami, former foster children
Newly inducted Hyperion Council Titans: (back row, left to right) Nick Gavronsky, David Pierlus, Brandon Quarles,
Dante Roldan, Henri Albin and Ross Votel; (front row, left to right) Jennifer MacKenzie, Robyn Parris, Laura
Farach, Lauren Petrosky and Judson Dry.
ethical financial and business practices.
“in which they can utilize their business skills to
The dedication took place following the
who had aged out of the system after turning 18,
More programs are planned for the fall
help less fortunate members of our society.”
installation of a plaque presented by the
and UM freshmen. For the fourth project,
semester, says Ellen McPhillip, Director of
Interested alumni take note: She is looking for
through a connection forged by a Titan whose
Undergraduate Admissions and an advisor to
more volunteers to serve on Hyperion’s Busi-
aunt is teaching in Romania, they developed a
the Hyperion Council. “Students are learning a
ness Advisory Board. She can be contacted at
curriculum for teaching students there about
form of social entrepreneurship,” she explains,
emcphillip@miami.edu or 305-284-2987. ■
School to the College of the Bahamas directly
outside the classroom. Present for the dedication were Rhonda Chipman-Johnson, Acting
Standing with the portrait of George W. Jenkins after its unveiling are (left to right) Hoyt R. (“Barney”) Barnett, vice
president of Publix Super Markets Charities; UM President Donna E. Shalala; Carol Jenkins Barnett, daughter of
George Jenkins and president of Publix Super Markets Charities; UM Trustee Chuck Cobb; and Dean Paul K. Sugrue.
President of the College of the Bahamas; Faye
M. Harris, the School’s Director of Alumni
Relations; and David Green, the School’s
Director of Graduate Business Recruiting
and Admissions.
Following the dedication, a reception was
held at the British Colonial Hilton Nassau
Jenkins Building
Celebrates 25Years
MIAMI BANKER’S GIFT BENEFITS ETHICS PROGRAMS
ADRIENNE ARSHT, chairman of Miami-based
TotalBank, was honored at a breakfast reception on April 26 in the School’s James W.
McLamore Executive Education Center
Hotel. Approximately 100 alumni and prospective students enjoyed refreshments and an
ON MAY 4, THE SCHOOL CELEBRATED THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY of a milestone in its history —
dining room to celebrate her gift of $1 million
evening of conversation and networking. ■
the opening in 1980 of the George W. Jenkins Building, which was made possible by a naming gift from
to UM Ethics Programs. The School, which
Jenkins, the founder of the Publix supermarket chain and a UM trustee. It was much more than a large
has a long history of ethics in its curriculum,
and generous gift; it was the beginning of the modern era of the School of Business.
has held two debates, a speakers series and a
symbolizing the significance of Arsht’s gift
that same year), the School of Business went from being a concept to being a physical place. Jenkins
passed away in 1996, but the building is a permanent reminder of his generosity.
To honor “Mr. George” (as Publix employees still refer to him), the School held a luncheon and
unveiled a portrait that now hangs in the Storer Auditorium foyer. The event (which had been postponed
from last fall due to Hurricane Wilma) was held in the James W. McLamore Executive Education Center
dining room and attended by UM and School of Business staff, Jenkins family members, Publix executives, and students who are recipients of scholarships endowed by Publix Super Markets Charities.
“George Jenkins was more than a talented businessman,” said Dean Paul K. Sugrue. “He was a
At the classroom dedication (left to right):
Rhonda Chipman-Johnson, Faye M. Harris
and David Green.
visionary who loved UM and who saw that he was in a position to help generations of students have a
more meaningful educational experience. The School has seen the direct benefits of his generosity for
a quarter of a century now, and we are grateful for what he gave to us.” ■
Business Miami
0 4 Summer 2006
T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M i a m i S c h o o l o f Bu s i n e s s
BOTTOM: TOM STEPP/PYRAMID PHOTOGRAPHICS; TOP: FAREED AL-MASHAT
film series. Shown with an oversized check
Gables campus. With the opening of the Jenkins Building (and the Stubblefield Classroom Building
BOTTOM: KEMUEL STUBBS; TOP: TOM STEPP/PYRAMID PHOTOGRAPHICS
At that time, the School’s classrooms and departmental offices were spread throughout UM’s Coral
are (front row, left to right) Anita Cava, Associate Professor of Business Law, Director of
Business Ethics Programs and Co-director of
UM Ethics Programs; Sergio Gonzalez, Vice
President, University Advancement; UM
President Donna E. Shalala; and Arsht; (back
row, left to right) Dean Colson, Chair of the
UM Board of Trustees; George Feldenkreis,
UM Trustee; and Ken Goodman, Associate
Professor of Medicine and Philosophy and
Co-director of UM Ethics Programs.
Business Miami
0 5 Summer 2006
■
InTheNews
Rothschild (AB ’73), managing director of Roth-
Amos (BBA ’73, MBA ’75), president of The
ALUMNI
ENTREPRENEURS
MAKE NEWS IN
MIAMI HERALD
CONTEST
Abkey Companies, on the food and beverage
WHILE THE STUDENT WINNERS in the School’s
industry; George F. Giampetro, president of
Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition were
Whip ’N Dip Ice Cream Shoppe, on family
garnering much of the attention on campus this
schild Trust Holdings, led off the panel by discussing how to be successful in business today
and how to be a successful entrepreneur overall.
Other speakers were Mike Fernandez, president of MBF Healthcare Partners, on health
care; Tarek Al-Fassi (BLA ’00), president of T. K.
Investments, on college and careers; Betty G.
Career Day panelists (left to right): Mike Fernandez, Tarek Al-Fassi, Betty G. Amos, George F. Giampetro, John W.
Hoover Jr. and Leigh M. Rothschild.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP DAY ATTRACTS STUDENTS
businesses; and John W. Hoover Jr. (BBA ’67),
spring (story, page 12), three alumni were making
senior vice president of First East Side Savings
headlines in the annual Miami Herald Business
Bank, on banking. The panel was moderated by
Plan Challenge.
Elisah B. Lewis (PhD ’90), Director of Under-
FIRST-PLACE WINNER TONY BELLO (BBA ’77)
graduate Career Options Counseling, and Philip
and his partner Joseph Reid took top honors
Needles (BBA ’91), a lecturer in the Manage-
with a product called Dish Rags — fitted cloth
ment Department who coordinates the School’s
covers for 18-inch satellite dishes that feature
entrepreneurship curriculum.
the licensed logos of 28 colleges and universi-
Betty G. Amos (center) receives her award from Donna
Arbide and Gregory Cesarano.
Cynthia Chapel (center) receives her award from
Donna Arbide and Gregory Cesarano.
UM Alumni Association
Honors Business Alumni
Afterward, a networking session was held in
ties. Both are cable industry veterans; Bello is
TWO OF THE SCHOOL’S ALUMNI were honored May 4 at the University of Miami Alumni Associa-
the Storer Auditorium foyer to give students an
vice president and general manager of Cable-
tion (UMAA) Annual Awards Reception.
STUDENTS INTERESTED in becoming entre-
Department faculty, School of Business admin-
opportunity to meet the speakers one-on-one,
Vision in Miami. They have reached a deal
The Henry King Stanford Alumni of the Year Award was given to Betty G. Amos (BBA ’73, MBA
preneurs turned out in force on March 1 for the
istrators, and students from the Business Am-
and everyone enjoyed ice cream provided by
with DirecTV to have the covers sold by the
’75). It is presented to a graduate “who has rendered continuous exemplary service to the University.”
fourth annual Spring Career Day program,
bassadors and the Entrepreneurship Club.
Whip ’N Dip Ice Cream Shoppe. “This was a
company’s installers for a $10 commission, thus
Her citation reads: “For more than a decade, Betty Amos has been a great ambassador of the Uni-
“Careers in Entrepreneurship.” Hosted by the
Following the luncheon, a panel presenta-
very successful event,” said Lewis. “The stu-
providing them with a large, inexpensive sales
versity. Her leadership is evident through her work as chair of the [Robert and Judi Prokop Newman]
Office of Undergraduate Career Options Coun-
tion was held in the School’s Storer Auditorium.
dents gained a great deal of information about
force to fuel growth. Other distribution deals
Alumni Center ad hoc committee, UMAA past president, membership on the President’s Council and
seling, the program began with a luncheon
Each speaker discussed how to be a successful
entrepreneurship because of the variety of
are in the works.
Board of Trustees, and her service as a mentor in the School of Business Administration. She has proven
attended by the guest speakers, Management
entrepreneur in a particular field. Leigh M.
industries represented by the speakers.” ■
THIRD-PLACE WINNER JARED FLETCHER (BBA
REAL ESTATE EXPERTS SPEAK TO STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS
On March 30, the School’s chapter of the American Marketing Association held a
sports marketing panel discussion in Storer Auditorium. Representatives from the
area’s four major professional sports teams talked about marketing issues related to
team performance, image and branding. Panelists were (left to right) Ken Lehner Sr.,
director of marketing and branding, Miami Dolphins; Michael McCullough, chief
marketing officer, Miami Heat; Sean Flynn, vice president of marketing, Florida
Marlins; and Chad Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing, Florida Panthers.
On April 4, the Entrepreneurship Club held its 2nd Annual Real Estate Forum. Speakers
included Brett Dill, president of Swerdlow Group; Guillermo Olmedillo, former director of
planning and zoning for the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County; and Joel Goldman,
a commercial real estate attorney with Greenberg Traurig LLP. John Dellagloria, a lecturer
in the School’s Business Law Department, was the moderator. Shown in photo (left to
right): Aaron Greenblott, Entrepreneurship Club vice president; Dill; Olmedillo;
Dellagloria; Goldman; and Tom Hacker, Entrepreneurship Club president.
Business Miami
0 6 Summer 2006
to be an outstanding University volunteer who has shown tremendous devotion to her alma mater.”
[Amos also is a Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition judge (listing, page 17).]
a Miami-based résumé verification company.
The Outstanding Young Alumnus Award was given to Cynthia Chapel (BBA ’01, MBA ’06). It is
Fletcher says that most applicants aren’t investi-
presented to a recent graduate (within 10 years) “who has demonstrated commitment to the University
gated until after they have already been hired;
of Miami through personal effort and enthusiastic participation.”
ResTrust provides a pre-employment screening
Her citation reads: “Chapel has been actively involved as both a student and alumna of the Uni-
tool. For a $40 fee from the applicant, ResTrust
versity through her service in numerous campus and community organizations. From her current role
will research a job seeker’s education, career his-
as an assistant director in the Division of Student Affairs to her ongoing work with the UMAA Alumni
tory and criminal record, if any. The electronic
Council and Miami Alumni Club, she is a quintessential role model and dynamic alumni leader.”
résumé will then be certified with a tamper-
The awards were presented by Donna Arbide (MBA ’95), Associate Vice President for Alumni
proof digital seal and unique ID number. There
Relations and the Annual Fund and UMAA Executive Director; and Gregory Cesarano (JD ’76),
is no fee to the employer. Fletcher has received
UMAA President. ■
commitments from several large South Florida
SAVE THE DATE!
companies, and his business plan projects the
company verifying 135,000 résumés annually
ENJOY A DAY OF GOLF WITH
ALUMNI, FRIENDS AND CLIENTS
within five years.
COMPETITION JUDGE BHUSHAN VEERAPANENI
PHOTOS: TOM STEPP/PYRAMID PHOTOGRAPHICS
SPORTS MARKETING PANEL DISCUSSION
BOTTOM LEFT AND TOP: TOM STEPP/PYRAMID PHOTOGRAPHICS; BOTTOM RIGHT: FAREED AL-MASHAT
’95) caught the judges’ attention with ResTrust,
(MBA ’05) was the winner of last year’s Miami
13th ANNUAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
SCHOLARSHIP GOLF TOURNAMENT
November 17, 2006
Herald Business Plan Challenge. A supply chain
consultant with extensive experience in startups,
Veerapaneni formerly was a project manager at
Contact:
Faye M. Harris, Director of Alumni Relations
305-284-4052
Ryder Systems. He currently is assisting a U.S.
Department of Defense contractor develop an
e-commerce site for MREs (meals ready to eat). ■
Business Miami
0 7 Summer 2006
InTheNews
Visiting Scholars Speak at School
TWO PRESTIGIOUS SCHOLARS — an economist and a historian — brought their insights to
the School’s Storer Auditorium in a pair of
presentations to students, faculty, staff, alumni
and guests.
R. Glenn Hubbard, former chairman of the
White House Council on Academic Advisers
and currently dean and professor of finance
and economics at the Columbia Graduate
School of Business, spoke on February 27. His
presentation was sponsored by the Economics
FORMER AMBASSADOR SPEAKS ON CHINA
INVESTMENT ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSES FUND CHOICES
James R. Lilly, former U.S. ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, delivered a
lecture on April 4 entitled “U.S.–China Cooperation and Competition in Intelligence.”
Ambassador Lilly (left in photo) was introduced by James Kilpatrick, Visiting Professor
in the Political Science Department (right in photo). He later attended a private
luncheon and discussion with faculty members and students.
“Index vs. Actively Managed Funds” was the topic of the annual Investment Manager
Roundtable, held in Storer Auditorium on April 6. Shown here with moderator UM Vice
President and Treasurer Diane Cook (MBA ’79) are speakers Weston J. Wellington, vice
president of Dimensional Fund Advisors, Inc. (left) and Mario J. Gabelli, chairman and
CEO of GAMCO Investors, Inc.
Department and his publisher, Prentice-Hall.
Hubbard was introduced by Professor
Michael Connolly of the Economics Depart-
Professor Michael Connolly (left) with Glenn Hubbard.
ment, who called the Orlando native “a Florida success story who designed and pushed through the
reduction in the capital gains and dividend tax for most investors — a major step in reducing the
double taxation of corporate earnings.” This tax reform, he added, “has provided major incentives
for investment and entrepreneurial activity.”
PROFESSOR LECTURES ON TEACHING TECHNIQUES
Corporate governance was the principal focus of Hubbard’s presentation, and his words were a
startling predictor of the outcome of criminal cases against executives of Enron and other compa-
VAIDY JAYARAMAN, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
quizzes take roughly 10 minutes of class time
the mastery level, a grade of “A”. Students
nies in the news since February. Simply put, said Hubbard, “Long jail sentences for officers who rob
in the Management Department, lectured to fac-
and are given once per week on a random basis.”
choosing not to master the material will receive a
from and deceive shareholders will be more effective than the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.”
ulty, staff and students on April 20 about teaching
Jayaraman pauses frequently during his lec-
grade appropriate for the level to which they
Niall Ferguson, professor of international history at Harvard University and senior research
techniques that he says create an atmosphere of
tures to ask students if they understand the
progress on the assignment. The students’ moti-
fellow at Oxford University, spoke on April 11 about the relationship between globalization and
active, engaged learning. Jayaraman, winner of a
material well enough to take an SCQ at the end
vation, says Jayaraman, shifts from accumulating
business. Called “the most influential British historian of his generation,” he was named one of the
University-wide Excellence in Teaching Award
of the class. This gives him constant feedback,
points to mastering concepts — a skill far more
“100 most influential people in the world” by Time magazine.
in 2005, was invited to speak at the Whitten Uni-
indicates what material needs to receive addi-
useful later in their careers. ■
versity Center as part of the Faculty Lunch and
tional coverage, enables students to get extra
Learn series.
help while still in the classroom and keeps the
over several years of teaching,”
2. BRIDGE TASKS USING
said Jayaraman. “They are very
THE “MASTERY LEVEL” MODEL.
relevant because many stu-
These are homework assign-
dents have short attention
ments. “At regular intervals
spans. They focus too much on
during the semester, students
doing well on major exams,
will complete a bridge task
rather than on mastering the
that requires them to synthe-
material, and then forget what
size the concepts and compe-
they have learned.” Jayaraman
tencies covered up to that
hasn’t given an exam in several
point in the course,” said
years. Instead, he uses two
Jayaraman
Jayaraman. “Each one contains
FACULTY WIN AWARDS
HOWARD GITLOW
Professor, Management Science
VAIDY JAYARAMAN
Associate Professor, Management
PHILIP NEEDLES
1. SHORT COLLABORATIVE QUIZZES (SCQ). This
is the in-class element. “At the end of a standard
have learned to solve new issues they have not
ARUN SHARMA
lecture, students are given a quiz about the
previously encountered.”
Assignments are turned in using a “mastery
“They may use notes and texts, and are encouraged to confer with classmates in answering. The
resubmit the same assignment until it reaches
Business Miami
0 8 Summer 2006
“The good news,” noted Ferguson, “is that
Assistant Professor, Political Science
Lecturer, Management
level” model. That is, students may continually
The presentation was a good news/bad
news approach to the impact of globalization.
JEFFREY DROPE
dents to apply the concepts and principles they
material just presented,” explained Jayaraman.
stand it economically?”
Six faculty members were presented with
the School’s Excellence in Teaching Award
by Dean Paul K. Sugrue during the
spring faculty meeting. The winners were:
one or more ‘extension tasks’ that require stu-
techniques that he says work much better.
historically,” he asked, “if we don’t under-
Professor and Chair, Marketing
KAREN TURNER
Lecturer, Business Law
BOTTOM: MICHAEL MARKO/PYRAMID PHOTOGRAPHICS; TOP PHOTOS: TOM STEPP/PYRAMID PHOTOGRAPHICS
students’ attention level high.
Terren S. Peizer, chairman and CEO of Hythiam, a
company developing innovative protocols for treating
alcoholism and drug addiction, delivered the annual
Rothschild Entrepreneurship Lecture on February 7
in Storer Auditorium. Peizer (right in photo) launched
six companies in seven years in the fields of
technology, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The
lecture series is sponsored by Leigh M. Rothschild
(AB ’73) a Miami-area entrepreneur (left in photo).
of business. How can we understand our world
“These techniques evolved
Ferguson said that it is important “to build bridges between the study of history and the study
INVESTMENT ENTREPRENEUR DELIVERS
ROTHSCHILD LECTURE
the global integration of markets has resulted in higher growth, lower inflation and
ALUMNI MARSHALS
AT COMMENCEMENT
Seven alumni served as marshals at the
School’s commencement on May 12
lower volatility worldwide — especially for
Americans.” Miami, he said, “is in the right
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BANNER MARSHAL
place at the right time.” The bad news, how-
Frank Diaz (BBA ’98)
ever, is that “Globalization has happened
before and sunk before. It can go quickly, as
ALUMNI MARSHALS
the result of a war, or slowly, through such
Lauren Camner (MBA ’98)
moves as cross-border trade restrictions.” He
Heather L. Almaguer (BBA ’93)
listed three threats to globalization: the on-
Christina H. Hudson (BBA ’92, MBA ’04)
going crisis in the Middle East, the world
Richard W. Porto (BBA ’91)
economy’s ties to Asian-American economic
Patricia Hayhurst (MBA ’86)
relationships, and the conflicting agendas
Sandy Jukel (BBA ’79)
between environmental protectionism and
Niall Ferguson signed books prior to his presentation.
the elimination of poverty.
Business Miami
■
0 9 Summer 2006
InTheNews
LARRY BIRGER ENDOWED BUSINESS SCHOLARSHIP
JOYCE SHUTER GALYA FAMILY ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Donor Arlyne Birger (right) with recipient Patricia Mazzei.
Joyce Galya with recipient Christian Riera.
PAT & LON WORTH CROW SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT
SOUTHEAST BANKING CORP. FOUNDATION ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Donor Pat Crow with recipient Scott Shipley.
Donor representative George Bassett (MBA ’76) (left) with recipient Jonathan Fichman.
EDWARD J. FOX ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
MARTIN E. SEGAL BUSINESS LAW DEPARTMENT SCHOLARSHIP
Recipient Allison McElhaney and donor Gary Fox.
Donor Martin Segal (left) with recipient Alex Lieberman.
Donors Recognized at Scholarship Luncheon
MORE THAN 100 scholarship donors and recipients attended the 26th
Dean Paul K. Sugrue welcomed the donors and thanked them for their
Annual Scholarship Donor Recognition Program & Luncheon on Febru-
generosity. He talked about the importance of scholarships to outstanding
ary 24. Those in attendance, some of whom are shown in the photographs
students, some of whom might not otherwise be able to attend UM.
on these pages, represented a substantial number of the School’s 51
For information about funding scholarships, contact Connie Kazan-
endowed scholarships and 15 annual scholarships.
jian, Director of Development, at 305-284-4373 or ckazanjian@miami.edu.
ALBERT & ESTHER GREEN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PURCHASING MANAGEMENT OF
SOUTH FLORIDA/ISM ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Donor representatives Susan Montes (MBA ’01) (left) and Terry Byrnes with
recipient Zaviear Lue.
JUDI PROKOP NEWMAN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Student recipients (left) Adam Groom and Jessica Miller with donors Lee Sawyer
and John W. Hoover Jr. (BBA ’67).
Recipient Rachael Maltese (center) with donors Judi Prokop Newman (BBA ’63)
and Robert Newman.
LEE RUWITCH ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ALUMNI FUND SCHOLARSHIP
Recipients JoeJon Manning (left) and Faraz Imam (right) with donors Francien and
Robert Ruwitch (BBA ’87).
Marianela Hernandez (BBA ’83, MBA ’85, MS ’86) (center), representing the
alumni donors, with recipients (left to right) Scott Meyer, Halley Profita, Laura
Morris and Amit Jain.
Business Miami
1 0 Summer 2006
JAMES A. SAWYER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP ESTABLISHED BY
THE HAROLD W. SIEBENS FOUNDATION
Recipient Luca Marseglia with donor Esther Green.
Business Miami
1 1 Summer 2006
Variety
Show
Diversity marks the winning
business plans in the 2006 Rothschild
Entrepreneurship Competition
By Bob Woods • Photographs by Tom Salyer
here might groups of baby boomers live when
they retire? How can nervous novices play online
poker with no risk? Can boat haulers minimize
potential damage to their precious cargo? Is there
a better bottle cap?
These are the wide-ranging, real-world questions posed by
the quartet of winners in this year’s Rothschild Entrepreneurship
Competition, each seeking to solve problems in creative, business-minded ways. Coming up with solutions not only challenged the students’ abilities to create a viable business plan, but
also impressed the inquiring minds of an astute panel of judges.
“The quality of this year’s presentations — the detail and the
passion — was tremendously exciting and satisfying,” says Leigh
M. Rothschild (AB ’73), the Miami-area entrepreneur and main
sponsor of the four-year-old competition, which is open to all UM
students. One hundred fifteen ideas for novel products and ser-
W
Business Miami
vices were submitted, from which 16 finalists were chosen to
fully develop business plans and pitch them to the judges.
To reflect even more business-world realism this year, the
competition was divided into two categories: Small Business and
High-Potential Venture. The winner in each category received a
prize of $8,000; the runner-ups were awarded $4,000 each. The
remaining 12 Honorable Mentions each received $1,000.
“The real value of this competition is getting in front of the
judges,” Steven Witkoff, chairman and CEO of Witkoff Group, a
New York City-based real estate developer — and one of the
judges — told the winners at the awards luncheon on April 21.
“There are exceptional opportunities out there if you really believe in your idea. And as a friend of mine says, ‘Success belongs
to those who believe in it the most.’”
It’s easy to believe that the following winners could very well
become successful entrepreneurs.
1 2 Summer 2006
The winners of this
year’s Rothschild
Competition (clockwise, from lower
right): David Gunnarsson, Jeffrey
Blum, Ralph Jorge,
Aaron Greenblott,
Alexandra Ingersoll,
Sam Hill, Philip
Osborne
FIRST PRIZE: HIGH-POTENTIAL VENTURE $8,000
HONORABLE MENTION
$1,000
The following teams received
honorable mention awards for their
business concepts.
SMALL BUSINESS CATEGORY
Building forBoomers
DRINKMATE
Rebecca Adam
Dawn Matthews
Where yesterday’s hippies can retire together tomorrow
MYCOLLEGECRIBS.COM
Anna-Marie Wascher
eaders of woodstock
generation age or
anyone familiar with the
subculture of the ’60s
will recall the commune
concept of group living.
Well, lots of those hippies are today’s prosperous baby boomers, some on the verge of
retiring and perhaps again looking for a
place to live together in peace and harmony — but much more comfortably than
their cohabitating predecessors. That’s the
groovy idea behind CoHousing of America, the business plan for a targeted real
estate development company proposed by
Alexandra Ingersoll (BBA ’06) and Aaron
Greenblott (BBA ’06).
Both Ingersoll and Greenblott transferred to UM two years ago, enticed by
the School’s Entrepreneurship program.
Their common paths converged in the
classroom, where “we had 13 of our 15
classes together,” Greenblott says. For
one of those classes, Management 353,
they teamed up to write a business plan,
and thus began the brainstorming and
partnership that led to CoHousing of
America winning a first prize in the Rothschild Competition.
“We said, ‘Where’s the money?’” Ingersoll says, recalling their initial discussions. “That quickly brought us to baby
boomers and eventually to housing for retirees. We first thought of an assistedliving facility, but it seemed so dreary. We
then thought about making it funky, and
R
the term ‘cohousing’ came up. We wondered what that was.”
The Rothschild Entrepreneurship
Competition’s market research component helped solidify the tandem’s notion.
Cohousing originated in Denmark in the
1960s as a type of “intentional community” where 15 to 40 individuals or families agree to live together, albeit in
separate houses that they typically own,
designed in a cluster around a shared
common building and other facilities. The
residents divvy up various duties, from
maintenance to child care. The concept
reached the U.S. in the early 1980s. Today,
a handful of developers have built more
than 80 cohousing projects, with at least
that many more in the planning stages,
though exclusively for families or seniors.
“Right now no one is doing cohousing
for the boomer generation,” Greenblott
says, citing economic and population statistics that make that maturing and wellheeled demographic group desirable to so
many marketers. They also discovered,
while attending workshops sponsored by
cohousing developers in California and
Colorado, the potential to commercialize
the business. “People have put together
groups first and then found developers,”
Ingersoll explains. “We want to reverse
that — to find residents, specifically
boomers, who want to live in cohousing
[developments], but who don’t want to
assume responsibility for developing the
communities themselves.”
The team assembled the business
Business Miami
1 4 Summer 2006
PAPERBANC
Ilean Nachon
Bryan-Michael Suarez
THEJUMPOFF.COM
Adam Weiss
HIGH-POTENTIAL VENTURE CATEGORY
3RD CHANNEL
David Crystal
COLD FUSION FAT FREE CREAMERY
Sam Pearlman
Jeremy Singer
COLLEGE STAFFERS
Rishi Kapoor
EDORMS
Alex Phillips
EZ ORDER
Nicholas Gigantes
Recent graduates Aaron Greenblott and
Alexandra Ingersoll build a future for aging
baby boomers — and themselves.
plan “by playing to our individual
strengths,” Greenblott says. “Aaron did
the financials,” Ingersoll adds, “and I’m
a big market research person. Our
strengths are different, but they work so
well together.”
They relied, too, on the competition’s
mentoring component. “Our mentor,
Steven Witkoff, gave us some great realworld advice that we incorporated into the
plan,” Ingersoll reports. “He made us think
about this not as a presentation for school
but as an actual sales pitch to an investor.”
The next step toward making CoHousing of America a reality is “to get experience and a better perspective on how
to get this done,” Greenblott says. They
plan to meet with several of the competition’s judges, especially those in real
estate. “We’re only 23-year-olds, but we’re
going to surround ourselves with good,
smart people and learn from them,” Ingersoll insists. Hardly a far-out idea, man,
for budding entrepreneurs.
Business Miami
1 5 Summer 2006
INTELIFRIDGE
Jason Ayars
Jeffrey Blum
INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL SUPPLIERS
AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Jennifer Kennedy
MARTI’S MEAT MACHINE
George Freund
Marti Schulman
FIRST PRIZE: SMALL BUSINESS $8,000
PANEL OF JUDGES
BETTY G. AMOS (BBA ’73, MBA ’75)
The Abkey Companies
CYNTHIA R. COHEN
Strategic Mindshare
DAVID DEUTCH (BBA ’90)
Betting on the Net
Pinnacle Housing Group
SCOTT DEUTSCH (BBA ’89)
Orange Clothing Co.
Creating an incentive for gambling online
ike lots of college kids,
I’ve played poker online,”
J e ff r e y Bl um, a seni or,
says, admitting to being
part of the Internet gaming
phenomenon. Unlike his
contemporaries, though,
Blum has used the experience to further his entrepreneurial aspirations. And he’s had luck at that game,
winning first prize in the Rothschild Competition’s Small Business category.
“I used to lose,” Blum says of his virtual card playing. “So I thought, How can
I get on the other side and win more than
I’m losing? I decided that Cash 2 Bet was
the way to do it.”
Cash 2 Bet not only became a Rothschild winner, but it is already earning
money too. Blum’s venture falls squarely
into the “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”
camp. “I knew I couldn’t start my own
online casino,” he says, referring to the
Web-based entities where millions of
people play cards, bet on sporting events
and try their luck at other forms of gambling. So he created www.Cash2Bet
.com, which attracts new customers to existing gambling sites. “Cash 2 Bet reaches
people who either don’t want to risk their
own money, or maybe they’re too afraid to
go ahead and play online. We allow them
to play risk-free.”
Here’s how it works. After registering on
Cash2Bet.com, players can link to one or
more of its 14 different online casino and
sports book partners. There, they supply
L
DAVID EPSTEIN
personal information and create an account
into which they deposit a minimum, usually
$50 to $100. They then use that money to
gamble and, regardless of winning or losing,
return to Cash2Bet.com to apply for a cash
rebate equal to or greater than the amount
deposited into their casino account.
“The casinos capture new customers
who are likely to return,” says Blum, explaining part of the business equation,
“and the customer, who might not have
tried it before, may find it fun and play
again.” Cash 2 Bet receives a set fee for
each referral, plus opportunities for further commissions depending on the partner relationship.
This win-win-win scenario exemplifies
summer, nearly six months before taking
an entrepreneurship class taught by Assistant Professor Marc Junkunc, where he
learned about the Rothschild Competition. “I didn’t have a business plan before
entering,” Blum says, “so I was running it
on the fly. The competition forced me to
do research and find out more about my
target market.”
Blum garnered additional support from
Andrew Heitner, his mentor and one of
the judges. “He was critical in helping me
revise my plan to reflect Cash 2 Bet’s
growth potential, which I think is what
hooked the judges in my presentation,”
Blum contends. Indeed, some have expressed interest in investing.
Presidential Capital Partners
MIKE FERNANDEZ
MBF Healthcare Partners
MEHDI GHOMESHI (BBA ’78, MBA ’80)
Great Florida Bank
SANDY GOLDSTEIN (BBA ’81, MBA ’84)
Capsicum Group
WILLIAM HEFFNER (BBA ’77)
Agg Rok Materials Co.
ANDREW HEITNER
New Frontiers Information Corp.
IVAN HO (BBA ’89)
Ivanho Enterprises, Inc.
“CASH 2 BET REACHES PEOPLE WHO
EITHER DON’T WANT TO RISK THEIR OWN
MONEY, OR MAYBE THEY’RE TOO AFRAID
TO GO AHEAD AND PLAY ONLINE.”
classic product sampling, akin to getting a
new toothpaste or cereal sample in the
mail. “You try it out, and if you like it, you
buy it on your own,” says Blum, now a
senior majoring in Entrepreneurship.
(Despite the possibility of future legislation that could impede U.S.-based online
gambling and casinos, Cash 2 Bet for the
time being remains a viable company, both
for consumers and investors, Blum notes.)
Actually, Blum started Cash 2 Bet last
Business Miami
1 6 Summer 2006
ROBERT NEWMAN
Greenwood Gulch Ventures
LEIGH M. ROTHSCHILD (AB ’73)
Rothschild Trust Holdings
While he hardly ever gambles online
anymore, Blum plans to take his chances
on entrepreneurship. “I’ve always been interested in working for myself,” he says,
recalling the Web design business he
started in high school. “The fact that Cash
2 Bet has been accepted by a panel of
judges is a great feeling.”
ROBERT RUWITCH (BBA ’87)
Marlin Group
JEFFREY W. SASS
Connected Media Technologies
MATTHEW W. SHAW (BBA ’91, MPrAcc ’92)
Crossbow Ventures
Jeffrey Blum is going all in with his Internet
venture, Cash 2 Bet, which allows people to try
their hand at online gaming virtually risk-free.
STEVEN WITKOFF
Witkoff Group
Business Miami
1 7 Summer 2006
RUNNER-UP: HIGH-POTENTIAL VENTURE $4,000
Ralph Jorge (left)
and Philip Osborne
aren’t kidding when
they say “handle
with care.”
Strapping Lads
TranSupport is tied to logistics
f at first you succeed, try again.
That play on words about stick-toitiveness motivated Philip Osborne (BBA ’06), the third-place
winner in last year’s Rothschild
Competition, to come up with another successful business plan.
This year’s idea, TranSupport, is
I
appropriately an extension of his previous idea for a boat-hauling venture called
StraightLine Logistics.
Osborne did, in fact, launch a modified version of StraightLine last summer,
transporting vessels locally — rather than
throughout the Southeast as envisioned
— in the Naples, Fla., area where his
Business Miami
1 8 Summer 2006
family’s boat dealership is located. As
odd luck would have it, a glitch in that
business led to this proposed new one.
“TranSupport was born out of necessity,” says Ralph Jorge (BBA ’06), Osborne’s partner on the project. “Phil
encountered problems with some boats
being damaged when they arrived at
BOAT MODEL (THIS PAGE) COURTESY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MENTOR JACK ZACHS. BUILDING MODEL (PAGES 14-15) COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE.
“I WANTED TO DO EVERYTHING MYSELF. BUT
IN THE REAL WORLD, THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE —
UNLESS YOU WORK 23 HOURS A DAY.”
their destinations.” The strong ratcheting straps used to secure boats to trailers,
if not completely tight, can flap and rub
against the hull and damage the finish,
Osborne explains. “Typically, haulers
fasten carpet squares or shipping tape to
the straps to protect the boats,” he says,
“but they can come loose and fly off
when you’re going down the road.”
TranSupport’s solution: the “RhinoRub” strap system. The system uses
heavy-duty, nonabrasive protective
sleeves that cover the straps where they
meet the boat’s surface. “They stay on
all the time, so the result is a durable
strap that will not mark exposed finishes,” Jorge says. RhinoRub straps are
designed in various strengths and
lengths, and can be used not only for
hauling boats, but for cars, trucks and
other vehicles, as well.
“I was fascinated by the idea, even
though I come from an automotive background,” Jorge says, referring to his
family’s auto accessories business in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla. He and Osborne, both
of whom graduated from the School as
Entrepreneurship majors in May, roomed
together as sophomores and have known
each other since freshman year. “We
work well together, because we think in
similar terms but approach things from
different directions,” says Osborne, a
soloist on last year’s business plan.
“Ralph has an education background in
finance, whereas mine is more technical.
His knowledge of risk management was
huge, because there’s so much liability
involved with these products.” TranSupport also plans to manufacture and
market a line of rubber rollers for loading
and cradling boats on trailers, as well as a
line of truck beds made specifically for
hauling boats.
Along with the knowledge and experi-
ence gained in assembling the elements of
the business plan — product development, marketing, operations and such —
both students learned the value of teamwork. “When I first came to UM, I hated
group work,” Osborne admits. “I wanted
to do everything myself. But I’ve learned
that in the real world, that’s impossible —
unless you want to work 23 hours a day.
There are very capable people out there,
and you have to be willing to split up responsibilities.”
“You have to trust other people’s
competencies,” Jorge adds. “You could
try to do everything yourself, but you’re
only going to get so far.” After getting
this far, Jorge and Osborne appear tethered to the entrepreneurial world.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Two past winners are still on the move
FIRST PRIZE 2003: CRUE CLOTHING
Three years ago, Zach Schlichter (BME ’05) and Kurt Stange (BBA ’05) walked away from
the very first Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition with more than first prize. They also
left with a financial backer for Crue Clothing (www.cruewakeboarding.com), their winning
idea to launch a line of hip apparel for wakeboarding enthusiasts. Scott Deutsch (BBA ’89),
the owner of Orange Clothing Co. in Miami and a competition judge, took the pair under
his wing, and the business has soared — albeit on a slightly different flight pattern of late.
“The Crue brand is still selling well in specialty retail stores,” reports Stange, whose presentation at this year’s awards luncheon undoubtedly inspired the latest group of winners,“but
we’re using the designs of our board shorts and T-shirts to also build a private-label business.”
Stange, now a partner at Orange and head of its “surfer lifestyle” lines, is busier calling on Wal-Mart, JCPenney,
Kohl’s and other retail giants than he is the surf shops that carry a more limited Crue brand. “This takes away the
high marketing costs that Crue has,” he explains. “It’s a smarter way to do business and a quicker way to grow.”
Schlichter, meanwhile, has waved good-bye to the entrepreneurial world for the time being. “I just finished my
first year at Vanderbilt Law School,” he says from Ocala, Fla., where he is working for a law firm this summer. Yet
he and Stange have been best friends since fourth grade back in their native Wisconsin, so their partnership is
likely to resume in the future. “We still have plenty of ideas,” Stange says, adding that they’re “looking to start
another company, something completely different.”
FIRST PRIZE 2004: COLLEGE HUNKS HAULING JUNK
Things are moving along smoothly for Omar Soliman too. Literally. The 2004 first-prize
winner’s College Hunks Hauling Junk (www.1800junkusa.com), started up in his hometown of Washington, D.C., last summer,“is making giant strides forward,” Soliman says.
The enterprise now owns five trucks and employs 24 brawny college students to load
them with residential customers’ household junk bound for local dumps.
Soliman, who projects that revenues will reach $1 million in 2006, is in the process
of franchising the concept, with hopes of having two opened within a year. “We’re writing manuals for each position so it can be a turnkey system that will fit anywhere in
the U.S.,” he says. While his original business plan has been tweaked, as “we continue
to perfect the system, it was a great, necessary first step,” Soliman insists. “Without the
Rothschild Competition, I wouldn’t have started this business.”
And the connection is still paying dividends, as he has enlisted the ongoing advice
of one of the judges, William Heffner (BBA ’77), the president of Agg Rok Materials in Columbus, Ohio. “Omar is
already doing very well,” Heffner observes, “and he’s going to do exceptionally well in the future.”
Business Miami
1 9 Summer 2006
— B.W.
RUNNER-UP: SMALL BUSINESS $4,000
Going with the Flow
Gravity puts a new twist on an old idea
nspiration comes in many flavors
— or even no flavor at all. Such
was the case with a bottle of
plain water that sparked the idea
for PureG, the runner-up in the
Rothschild Entrepreneurship
Competition’s Small Business
category. “I was sitting in the
library and had a plastic water bottle
that made that annoying cracking
sound every time I squeezed it,” says
Sam Hill, recalling the inspiration for
the idea he and his partner, David Gunnarsson, came up with last January.
The two foreign-exchange students,
both going into their senior year —
Gunnarsson from Uppsala University in
Sweden, and Hill from Glasgow University in Scotland — heard about the
competition only a few days before the
entry deadline. Recalling the noisy
bottle, they thought, Why not invent a
better bottle cap — one that would
eliminate the squeezing and thus the
confounded cracking — and form a
company to patent it and license it to
beverage and container makers?
“The force of gravity is the crux of
the idea,” says Hill, a mechanical engineering major, explaining the basic
workings of the plastic device pictured
in their business plan for Pure Gravity,
the formal and aptly descriptive name
of the proposed enterprise. Savvy
enough to understand the U.S. patent
process, he and Gunnarsson politely
decline to delve too deeply into their
I
proprietary design. “We’re in the final
stages of our application,” Hill reports.
Suffice it to say that the innovative
“ProFlow” cap is intended to improve
consumers’ experience while quaffing
water and other non-carbonated drinks
from the ubiquitous bottles that have
flooded the marketplace. As stated in
the plan: “The ProFlow cap will allow
users to drink from a constant-pour
bottle. You will not have a thirsty pause
as the flow stops because the bottle is
sucking in air. You will not need to
squeeze the bottle just to drink. There
will be no harsh noise as the plastic
cracks back into shape. Simply under
the force of gravity, the beverage will
flow into your mouth, uninterrupted,
for effortless refreshment.”
What Gunnarsson and Hill willingly
talk about is the collaboration behind
their winning effort, which apparently
bubbled over at times.
“It’s like a marriage,” says Gunnarsson, a finance and management major,
about commingling their distinct educational backgrounds. “You have to have
arguments, otherwise it doesn’t work.”
(Neither is married, although Gunnarsson does have a longtime girlfriend, he
notes.) Adds Hill: “It works well to
come from different disciplines and to
challenge each other. You have to explore different options in order to get
things done.”
They readily agree, however, that
the Rothschild Entrepreneurship ComBusiness Miami
2 0 Summer 2006
Foreign-exchange students David Gunnarsson
(left) and Sam Hill think they’ll be drinking to
success with their winning business plan.
petition has been a highlight of their
time spent at UM. “I came here for the
type of hands-on experience I couldn’t
get back home,” says Gunnarsson, who
will graduate in January. “I like the international diversity in my classes and
the fact that so many of my professors
have actually accomplished things in
the business world.”
Hill, on track to graduate in May,
says he’s always had the notion of inventing things and becoming an entrepreneur, yet merely taking part in the
competition has been reward enough.
“The money wasn’t the important part
of winning,” he insists. “It was really
more to enjoy the experience and to try
our best.” It would seem that that thirst
has been quenched. ■
BUILDING A
LAUNCH PAD
competition’s judges and their companies,” he says.
Program aims to help students get
their businesses off the ground
ence in helping students strengthen their business plans,” Needles says.
In a related move, this year’s competition instituted a mentor program, matching student teams with judges. “They wanted to share their knowledge and experi“Our mentor, Steven Witkoff, gave us some really great real-world advice that we
used in finalizing our CoHousing of America plan,” says Aaron Greenblott, who with
PHILIP NEEDLES
“For students who have viable concepts, the
Alexandra Ingersoll won first prize in the High-Potential Venture category. “He made
question we keep getting is, ‘What’s next?
us think in different ways.”
How do I get this business started?’” says
Another judge and mentor, William Heffner, is behind yet another boost to aspir-
Philip Needles (BBA ’91), a lecturer in the
ing entrepreneurs. He is funding the Heffner Entrepreneurship Internship Endowment,
Management Department who coordinates
which will cover expenses for two student interns each summer. “Internships are
the School’s Entrepreneurship curriculum and serves as the primary advisor to
extremely valuable, because they allow students the opportunity to get some real-
Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition participants. The answer may well lie in
world experience under their belts,” Heffner says. “Not every student can afford to live
the latest wrinkle in the always-evolving competition when it goes into its fifth year,
in places like New York and [they] wouldn’t be able to take internships.”
a few months earlier than in the past, in September rather than January.
Heffner is coordinating the endowment with Marc Junkunc, an assistant pro-
“We’re starting what we call the Venture Launch Program,” says Needles. “It will
fessor of management who also teaches Entrepreneurship classes. “This doesn’t
be a mechanism to help the School’s Entrepreneurship majors and finalists from
help the students find internships,” Junkunc says, “but pays up to $2,500 for their
the competition launch their businesses.” The program will refer students to a net-
travel, housing, utilities and other living expenses.”
work of investors and lenders, support services such as lawyers, accountants, tech-
Two UM students, both seniors this fall, were selected from a list of finalists who
nical experts, human resources and other start-up components. “We want to pro-
applied for the endowment. They are Adriana Vanderlely, interning at Forbes maga-
vide mentoring and guidance from the School’s faculty and alumni, as well as the
zine in New York, and Kermit Michel Hunter, interning at UBS Financial in New York.
Business Miami
2 1 Summer 2006
Guiding
FutureBusiness
Leaders
Mentor Gene Gomberg
shows protégés Aaron
Greenblott (left) and Tom
Hacker (right) the rules
of the road at his company’s training facility.
BusinessWeek ranked the B-School’s undergraduate program No. 1 in Florida
and says the Mentor Program “wows students”
B Y B A R B A R A BR YNKO
W
hat do two School of Business entrepreneurship majors and the CEO of the largest
homeowner association management organization in the United States have in common?
Plenty. Just ask 2006 BBAs Tom Hacker and Aaron Greenblott. For Greenblott, the
Mentor Program “was as much of a real-life exposure to a successful entrepreneurship venture as I
could have asked for,” while Hacker remembers being “blown away from the first meeting” with mentor
Hacker and Greenblott were president
and vice president, respectively, of the undergraduate Entrepreneurship Club this
past year. Gomberg is a self-proclaimed
“down and dirty entrepreneur” who has
worked on his own for the past 35 years
and launched The Continental Group, a
residential property management and
maintenance service firm, in 1990. When
the young entrepreneurs met Gomberg
the first time, their meeting was only supposed to last half an hour; it ended four
and a half hours later after a whirlwind session that tackled what Greenblott calls
“real aspects of business.” Their yearlong
relationship created a business and personal bond that all see continuing.
Mentors in the School’s program are
business professionals from South Florida
who help ease the transition for juniors,
seniors and graduate business students
from classroom to workplace. When asked,
most share Hacker and Greenblott’s enthusiasm. The recent BusinessWeek ranking of
undergraduate business programs nationwide (which put the School at No. 44 in the
country and No. 1 in Florida) reported that
the Mentor Program “wows students.”
COMPETITIVE EDGE
Faye M. Harris, the School’s Director of
Alumni Relations and the director of the
Mentor Program, is the quintessential
matchmaker when it comes to pairing
Business Miami
2 2 Summer 2006
T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M i a m i Sch o o l o f Bu s i n e s s
mentors with students to enhance specific
career objectives or professional development. Last year, Harris worked with 189
mentors and 231 students; each mentor
was handpicked to offer a competitive
edge to one or more students.
The personal interaction encourages a
deeper understanding of corporate culture,
career direction and networking, with mentors and students meeting at least monthly.
Hacker, Greenblott and Gomberg met at
The Continental Group’s headquarters, at
off-site business operations or over dinner,
keeping up-to-date with e-mails and phone
calls in between. Hacker says the experience was “even better than I thought it
would be, especially since our mentor was
TOM SAYLER
Gene Gomberg (BEd ’70), CEO and founding partner of The Continental Group, Inc.
a true entrepreneur. He was pretty close to
being perfect.”
Mentors and students set their own
agendas. Once initial contact is established,
Harris doesn’t micromanage. “They are on
their own,” she says, although she does provide basic guidelines for successful mentoring relationships in the Mentor Program
Handbook, and is in touch with the mentorprotégé teams throughout the year.
Gomberg described his two protégés as
“driven and enthusiastic,” calling his first
mentoring experience with the program “a
great experience for all three of us.”
Hacker and Greenblott, who were
primed for the mentoring experience, left no
stone unturned. “If anything, they pushed
me,” says Gomberg, who sees mentoring as
a way to teach students about corporate realities where the classroom leaves off.
During their sessions, “Gene discussed
the ins and outs of starting his own business,” says Greenblott, “to show us how
thinking outside the box might help us
when starting a company. We also discussed current events that were going on
with his company to see from the inside
what it is like to run such a large and successful company.”
PRACTICAL EXERCISES
For Gomberg, mentoring made him look
at his business in a new light. He found
the experience to be “extremely rewarding. It made me refocus on the past. I
started digging through my business
records from 35 years ago when I started as
a single-person entrepreneur.” (His company now has more than 5,000 employees
and more than $300 million in annual revenues, while providing service to 650,000
residential homes.) Service is key to The
Continental Group, which is proud of its
97 percent client-retention rate from year
to year. Gomberg even included his two
protégés in his actual strategy sessions and
developing a five-year business plan.
Gomberg packaged the realities of business into practical exercises. “We’d take an
everyday idea, something simple like shining shoes, and create a game plan to
[launch] the idea into a multimillion-dollar
Business Miami
2 3 Summer 2006
business. We talked about executing business theories. There’s always the potential
for starting a successful business. You just
need to develop a sound business plan and
be willing to work harder than you could
have imagined.”
Applying some of what he learned,
Greenblott and a partner entered the
School’s Rothschild Entrepreneurship
Competition this year and won first prize in
the High-Potential Venture category (story,
page 14). He says that Gomberg “gave us
some advice that really helped us go into
the presentation knowing the perspective
of someone on the other side of the table.”
Hacker adds, “We learned specifics in
the classroom, but the Mentor Program is
about an overall experience. It’s a great
transition into the real world of business.”
“Aaron and Tom are fine examples of our
students who realize the value of fully participating in the School’s Mentor Program”
says Harris. “The Program’s success rate is a
direct result of the students’ commitment
and that of mentors like Gene who generously share their time and expertise.” ■
FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Top Row (left to right): MICHAEL NAGTEGAAL, Curaçao • DIEGO LEON,
Ecuador • THOMAS BAUER, Germany
CHRISTIAN PETERSMANN, Germany • GIL SHAVIT, Israel • IRENA
CHANG-YEN, Trinidad and Tobago
Middle Row: MIN HE, China • ANTONIA DONTCHEVA, Bulgaria
ERIKA BOOM, Colombia • ROBERTA SILVA, Brazil • OLIVIA FERNANDEZ
PEREYRA, Bolivia
BusinessMiami
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Bottom Row: KARIM ZIWAR, Egypt • MANUEL STEREMBERG, Colombia
MAYUREE TREEPRASERTPOJ, Thailand • STAVELY LORD, U.S.A. •
HUBERT WINSTON, Dominica
INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS
Bringing a Global Perspective
to Business Education
Six years after being featured as
students, these 16 international
MBA alumni have taken the
business world by storm
he cover of the Spring 2000 issue of BusinessMiami featured a
group photograph of 16 MBA students who showed great
promise. They represented 14 countries (Colombia and Germany
each had two), and they were in the spotlight to represent the variety of students who were attracted to the School’s world-renowned MBA
program. They came to Miami from throughout the Caribbean and Latin
America, from Europe and the Middle East, from Africa and Asia, and, of
course, from the United States.
T
We decided to try to find all 16 of them
and see what had become of their careers. It
took a while to do so — some were so busy
that they hadn’t kept in touch with the
School — but alumni on the fast track leave
a trail of career successes that isn’t difficult
to pick up. We found them through our
Graduate Business Programs office, through
GlobalAchievers
their fellow cover subjects, through their
employers and, of course, through Google.
What they all have in common,
besides their UM MBA, is a tale of career
success, achieved through a mix of classroom training, creative networking, workplace smarts and gritty determination.
Here are their stories.
TAKING A GLOBAL VIEW
as a fulbright fellow at um in 1999, christian petersmann
had already begun the four-and-a-half-year course of study required
for the advanced degree program in Germany. “I realized I could get
(MBA ’00)
an MBA in Miami in the 10 months I was there by taking a massive
Investment Analyst
amount of courses in the two semesters,” Petersmann says. Not one
Silver Point Capital
to languish, he then did back-to-back internships — one at Morgan
LONDON
Stanley in London, the other at Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt —
before returning to his German university to finish a master’s in business administration
and economics.
With two advanced degrees under his belt, Petersmann joined Morgan Stanley’s corporate finance department, working for two years in London and one in São Paolo. After a
year and a half at the special opportunities investment fund D.B. Zwirn, Petersmann
joined Silver Point Capital, a multi-strategy credit opportunity fund that saw its start in
2002 in Greenwich, Conn.
Now based in the firm’s London office, Petersmann sources, analyzes and executes
investment opportunities, mainly in German-speaking countries. His work involves investing along the entire capital structure. Although he maintains that one can’t learn the attributes that breed success in the financial world (“analytical capabilities, commercial mind-set
and diligence”), he says he gained much from his studies at UM. A class taught by Associate
Professor of Computer Information Systems Robert Plant “was a stand-out,” he notes, “because he made students understand and think about businesses and business models in his
case studies.” Petersmann also cites Associate Professor of Finance Tie Su’s derivatives class
as having been “highly interesting.”
Petersmann originally chose finance because he “loved working with math and numbers, with a view of being able to apply them.” Now, he says, he enjoys “thinking about and
understanding businesses in the larger context of the global economy they are operating in,
as well as on an individual level of the company itself.” He chose to live in London because
of the diversity of its population and its vibrant and varied arts and cultural offerings. Reflecting on both the global economy and what he has learned in his career thus far, Petersmann offers this: “The simplest questions usually yield the best insights.” — Karen Bennett
KEVIN SANSBURY/GPA
CHRISTIAN
PETERSMANN
Business Miami
2 5 Summer 2006
T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M i a m i Sch o o l o f Bu s i n e s s
GLOBAL NETWORKER
CHANGE LEADER
stavely lord left
UM planning to
(MBA ’01)
drive to Hollywood
Business Development
and apply her MBA
Specialist
to a career in the
U.S. Agency
for International
entertainment inDevelopment
dustry. But a stopWASHINGTON, D.C.
over in Washington,
D.C., to visit family dramatically changed
the American’s route.
“I decided to stay for a while, and then
9/11 happened, pulling the rug out from
under the job market,” recounts Lord, who
was suddenly faced with the challenge of
rethinking her career prospects. “I’d made
lots of contacts in L.A., but I hadn’t prepared for opportunities in D.C.” She soon
zeroed in on international development,
where her new MBA, knowledge of
French, Spanish and Italian, and interest in
helping people would be a perfect fit.
Today, as a business development spe-
some call it instability and are frightened. others call it
dynamism and are energized. Manuel Steremberg is firmly in the
latter camp. “I was fortunate to graduate right after the Internet
(MBA ’00)
boom, which created a lot of dynamism in the marketplace,” says
Product Manager,
the Colombian native. He views change as opportunity, and he has
Consumer Laptops
Hewlett-Packard
let the constantly shifting global business environment propel his
MIAMI
career upward ever since.
Before attending UM, Steremberg worked in Buenos Aires as an operations manager
for Carvajal, SA, a Colombia-based multinational whose primary business is printing and
publishing. After receiving his MBA, he rejoined the company in a new role, one that allowed him to remain in Miami, as business development manager for a line of electronic
data interchange services for retailers in Colombia as well as Peru and Venezuela —
countries to which he helped open the door.
In 2004, Steremberg moved to Miami-based Sysgold Corp., the largest supplier of
wireless applications in Latin America. As business development manager, he helped
change the corporate focus from traditional software provider to service solution
provider for small to midsize businesses, designing marketing plans and campaigns to
implement the new business model.
cialist for the U.S. Agency for International
Development’s (USAID) Office of Development Credit, Lord works on projects to
support economic growth in more than 80
developing countries. “In Rwanda, for example, more than 90 percent of the population works in agriculture, and coffee is a
major crop,” she says. “But until four years
ago the quality of the coffee beans grown
there was extremely low. USAID has been
working to help Rwanda’s coffee farmers
produce specialty coffee for export rather
than the lower-quality beans.”
Lord’s role in Rwanda involved encouraging private banks to make loans to new
specialty coffee producers by offering U.S.
Treasury credit guarantees. With the loans,
coffee washing stations can be built and
coffee cherries bought from farmers.
USAID’s activity has drawn overseas coffee
buyers. “Major buyers, such as Starbucks
and Whole Foods in the U.S. and Sains-
MANUEL
STEREMBERG
are committed to building leadership skills,
encouraging students’ involvement in external community activities and fostering an
international perspective,” she says. “Many
friendships I made at UM are going strong
today. Some of those people are here in the
U.S., but a number are spread around the
world, creating a great global network.”
bury’s in the U.K., have been buying up all
the coffee they can,” she says, noting that
the project has been a huge success: “What
was undrinkable four years ago is now
some of the finest coffee in the world.”
Lord credits UM for nurturing her interest in international business, as well as
helping develop skills she draws upon
daily. “The MBA program and the teachers
— Jennifer Pellet
SCHOLARSHIP AND SOCCER
as a fulbright scholar pursuing studies in international
business, Thomas Bauer had no idea that he would be sent to
(MBA ’00)
Miami. “Fulbright decides about the placement of students,” he exSenior Consultant
plains, “not the students themselves.” But he’s very glad he ended
McKinsey & Company
up at UM — and not only for its academic strengths.
MUNICH, GERMANY
“Miami is great,” he says. “I enjoyed the ethnic diversity on
campus and in the city, and the nightlife. Since I graduated in 2000, I’ve come back to
visit friends from school at least once a year.”
Those friends include several of Bauer’s former professors. “I particularly enjoyed my
strategy classes, and am still in touch with Jeffrey Kerr and John Mezias of the Management Department,” he says. “Also with Robert Plant from my Computer Information Systems course. We try to meet when I’m in Miami.”
Coming from Germany, Bauer was impressed by the UM campus and what it had to
offer. “I was excited to see the great facilities, from the classrooms to the gym. And the
research options, like free access to online journals. That’s something we didn’t have at my
school in Germany.” As a soccer fan, Bauer was also taken by the passion for UM sports.
“I’ll always remember my first visit to a Hurricanes game at the Orange Bowl,” he says.
“What I just could not believe was that there were many more people in the stadium than
would fit into the arena of any professional soccer club in Germany — and soccer is big in
my country, as anybody who followed the World Cup this year would know.”
Business Miami
2 6 Summer 2006
PAUL MORRIS/GPA
THOMAS BAUER
TOP: WALTER CALAHAN; LEFT: GERHARD GSCHEIDLE/GPA
STAVELY LORD
After graduation, Bauer took a position
in Munich with McKinsey & Company, the
international management and consulting
firm. “Among other things,” he says, “they
have a great program to support consultants
who want to obtain doctoral degrees.” After
two years there, he took a leave of absence
to complete his doctoral thesis, which considered strategic management and what it
can learn from contemporary fine art. Since
the beginning of this year, he has been back
at McKinsey as a senior consultant.
In addition to professional advancement, this year has brought Bauer two other
significant events — Germany’s hosting of
the World Cup and the birth of his first
child, Lucie, which happened more or less
simultaneously this past June. “Two good
reasons for sleepless nights,” he laughs. “I
couldn’t ask for better.”
— Susan Delson
A year later, Steremberg was recruited by Hewlett-Packard, where he today serves as
product manager for consumer laptops in Latin America, accountable for the business
unit, and designing the regional business plan, including product and lineup definition,
pricing strategy, promotions, forecasting and consumer/customer understanding.
Still based in Miami, and the proud father of a newborn son, Steremberg spends about
half of his time traveling throughout Latin America. He keeps in touch with the School by
participating in the Mentor Program, and so far he has mentored three students. This “real
world” perspective is invaluable, he says, especially when matched with what is taught in
the classroom. “The School’s MBA program gives you what you need when you come into
the job marketplace,” he says. “It gives you a broader sense of the business world that is
complemented by a multicultural group of classmates who help you understand how business is done worldwide. UM also taught me that networking is very important. I made very
good friends there whom I can say are like my family.”
— Carole Bodger
Business Miami
2 7 Summer 2006
(MBA ’01)
Managing Director
TEN Group
BANGKOK, THAILAND
when thailand-born mayuree treeprasertpoj came to um,
she felt immediately at home. “Even though Miami is so far from
Thailand, I have to say, ‘So far and yet so near,’” she says. “Weatherwise, it’s very similar to Bangkok, and the people are really nice.
Moreover, Thai food in Miami is so delicious!”
What led her to UM in the first place was its international mix
of students, which she believed would reflect a “real business
environment” more than other schools she considered. Add an educational environment
she felt was technologically advanced and interactive and, she says, “No hesitation, I
chose UM.”
She found it hard to leave Miami after earning her MBA, so she worked for a year managing Moon, a popular Thai and Japanese restaurant in Coral Gables — “It was becoming a really
hot restaurant then,” she says — before returning to Thailand to join the family business.
Treeprasertpoj’s family operates three distinct enterprises in Thailand. The first, manufacturing and trading women’s apparel under the name S.M.S. Design Co., Ltd., is what she
calls “the big vessel of all the business.” They’ve been in the garment industry for more
than 20 years and are now expanding the clothing line into shoes, bags and accessories.
The second is Ten Stars Inn, a 93-room hotel catering to merchandisers doing business
around Pratunam, Thailand’s largest wholesale market. The third is a newer factory real
estate enterprise, building mini-factories for manufacturers of local products supported by
the Thai government.
Treeprasertpoj is managing director of all three businesses, with some 110 employees
under her direction. She, her younger sister and their parents work closely together, but
are clear in assigning responsibilities to avoid getting in each other’s way. “A family business is real great in trust,” she says, but she acknowledges there are downsides to handling
ranking and hierarchy in the company.
At UM she was a serious Hurricanes fan, and it’s just possible that the team spirit and
cooperation she witnessed at the Orange Bowl contributed to her education — at least in the
realm of teamwork. We’d have to ask her family.
— Molly Rose Teuke
Business Miami
2 8 Summer 2006
roberta silva juggles many hats: She’s
(MBA ’00)
a wife, mother and
President
gourmet cook. But
Anauê Café &
she’s also a business
Gourmet
owner and the driCAMPINAS, BRAZIL
ving force behind
Anauê Café & Gourmet in Campinas,
Brazil. The restaurant has been a huge
success since it opened, despite the fact
that working in the food industry was the
furthest thing from Silva’s mind when she
entered the School’s MBA program.
“My undergraduate degree is in systems analysis,” she says. “In fact, I met
my husband, Ricardo, while I was
interning one summer as a systems analyst at Robert Bosch Company in Campinas.” In 1998, the couple married,
Ricardo accepted a job as marketing and
planning director for DirecTV Latin
America in Florida, and Roberta applied
ROBERTA SILVA
PAULO FRIDMAN/GPA
MAYUREE
TREEPRASERTPOJ
RECIPE FOR
SUCCESS
LEFT: TIM PELLING/GPA; BOTTOM: PAUL MORRIS/GPA
ALL IN THE FAMILY
to UM. The School’s international flavor appealed to
her, but she notes that her
primary reason for applying
was the reputation and rigor
of its MBA program.
Silva had never taken a
business course before arriving in Miami. She credits two
classes, Corporate Finance
and Strategic Management,
with preparing her launch
into the business world.
“Those classes were generic
in nature, each offering me a
different view of the business
world from a broader, rather
than a narrower, perspective,” she says.
“Corporate Finance taught me about all aspects of finance, while Strategic Management taught me how to think long term.”
Shortly after graduation, Silva gave birth
to her son, Rodrigo, and in 2001 Ricardo
was tranferred by DirecTV to Mexico City.
He left that position in 2002, and the
couple returned to Brazil. In 2004, using
their own capital, Roberta and Ricardo
opened Anauê Café & Gourmet. Anauê
means “hi” in Tupi Guarani, an indigenous
language from the Amazon region. Modeled after European cafeterias and pep-
pered with a Brazilian flair,
Anauê was an instant success. Revista Veja O Melhor da
Cidade, a culinary magazine,
named it the best cafeteria in
Campinas.
“The business garnered
$1.3 million in revenue in
our first year and has provided its own working
capital ever since,” says
Silva. Her husband is her
business partner; he focuses
on marketing while she
manages the financial and
operational responsibilities.
“Our current projection is to
franchise five cafeterias throughout Brazil
by 2010,” she says. At the moment,
though, her life is gloriously full thanks to
the birth in July of her daughter, Raíssa.
“I have the best of all worlds,” she says.
“I adore what I do, I love where I live, and I
have a magnificent family.” — Stephanie Levin
TRIUMPH OVER TERRORISM
diego leon pursued his mba to upgrade
his skills and deepen his understanding of
(MS ’00, MBA ’01)
technology, and he planned to become a
Director of Finance
global manager. “I realized, having lived in
Niutech
small countries, that you need strong creBOCA RATON, FLORIDA
dentials to be marketable worldwide,” says
the Ecuadorian native. Little did he know that his career plans
would initially fall victim to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. that
occurred on September 11, 2001.
By the time Leon graduated, the technology bubble had started
to burst and the economy was beginning its downward spiral. Job
prospects were slim. “I knew I had to get into the market right away,
but when I left school in June 2001, it was difficult to find employment,” he recalls. Leon conducted an exhaustive job search that
brought him to New York City on three occasions, the second of
which happened to be September 10. The next morning, the terrorists struck, bringing travel within the U.S. to a virtual standstill.
When Leon was finally able to return to Miami 15 days later, the job
opportunities he had been pursuing had dried up.
DIEGO LEON
Business Miami
In early 2002, he resumed the search, spending April through
June in New York, but the market was still depressed. In July, he
went back to Ecuador, where he hadn’t lived in 10 years, and did
some teaching and small business consulting. His wife was working in the U.S., so he spent a year traveling between Miami and
Ecuador. Nonetheless, “I felt better,” Leon says, “because I was
earning money and using my knowledge.” Ultimately, however,
the long-distance arrangement was hard on his wife, so he returned to Miami at the end of 2003, when her company sponsored
her for a visa that allowed Leon to work too.
Finally, things began looking up. At the end of 2004, Leon was
hired as a project manager for Niutech, an Internet marketing company in Boca Raton, Fla. Since then, he’s been promoted twice and
is now the director of finance, in charge of budgeting and financial
planning. “It’s a field I know and can contribute a lot to,” he says.
Leon credits the School’s MBA program with rounding out his
technical background and making him a skilled professional. He
praises the education he received from the extraordinary faculty,
especially in management and technology.
— Ellen Ullman
2 9 Summer 2006
’CANE CONNECTED
OPEN TO CHANGE
olivia pere yra
always wanted to
work in internation(BBA ’98, MBA ’00)
Vice President
al banking. Today,
HSBC Private Bank
thanks to an amazInternational
ing array of connecMIAMI
tions to UM, she is
armed with one degree in economics and
two in finance and is happily ensconced
as a vice president at HSBC Private Bank
International in Miami. “I serve wealthy
clients from Latin America and manage
their portfolios,” she says.
Pereyra enjoys every bit of it. “I love
learning about different places and the different needs and concerns that people
have,” she explains. Her overall focus is on
wealth management, which includes the
delivery of tailored investment, insurance
and estate planning solutions.
Pereyra also enjoys the interactions
with her clients. “I feel like I become a
egyptian-born karim ziwar loves to travel, and he isn’t afraid
to journey halfway around the world for the right opportunity. When
(BBA ’99, MBA ’00)
he began looking at universities in the U.S., a major requirement
Corporate Finance
was proximity to Egypt and Europe. UM was closer than other
Manager
Tejari FZ
schools he considered.
DUBAI, UNITED
But what really attracted him were the multicultural environARAB EMIRATES
ment and the quality of a UM education. “Miami in general and
UM in particular stood out for their international mix,” he says, “and I wanted to study
in the finance program at the School of Business.” His focus on finance prepared him
well for the multifaceted job he now holds at Tejari FZ LLC, the Middle East’s first
business-to-business online marketplace, launched in 2000 in Dubai. He was recently
promoted to corporate finance manager. “I work between the Finance Department, the
International Business Department, and the New Ventures and Commercial Department, as well as the CEO’s office,” he says. In addition, he is part of the team responsible for the launch of new subsidiaries as Tejari, a semigovernmental corporation
owned by Dubai World, expands into 18 countries over the next three years.
“Tejari is the Middle
E a s t ’s s o l e o n l i n e
procurement service
provider with a demonstrated knowledge of
the unique challenges
and traditions of the
region’s business community,” says Ziwar. As
it expands, he adds, it’s
diversifying from an
online procurement
pl a t f o rm t o a f ul l service online platform.
Ziwar traveled for a
year after earning his
MBA, then spent a
year in Cairo working
as a financial analyst.
He visits friends and
family in Egypt often,
and expects one day to
return to his roots. But
for now, he’s happy in Dubai. “It’s very fast-paced and growing faster than anywhere in
the world,” he says. “It’s multicultural, with 80 percent of the population being expats.
It’s a new city, and always evolving.”
It’s the perfect place for someone who admits to loving a good time. “I partied a lot
while at UM. I couldn’t avoid the South Beach scene and even worked for some of the
largest clubs on the beach,” he says. “This is one of my hobbies, and I hope in the near
future I will open up my own places, once I decide where to relocate for a few years. I
never plan way in advance. As long as there are new opportunities for growth, I am always
— M.R.T.
open to change.”
part of their families,” she says. Her
degrees also help her bond with them
because “a lot of wealthy families in Latin
America send their kids to UM.”
Helping her clients safeguard their
wealth so they can take care of their families rings true with Pereyra, who is married
with a 2-year-old son. Her job entails a lot
of traveling, which she finds “very challenging when you have a family and a husband [Alejandro Pereyra, MS ’02] who
travels even more than I do.”
She looks forward to business trips to
her home country of Bolivia because she
can bring her son (also named Alejandro)
with her and leave him with her parents
while she attends to meetings. “I still get
to see him in the evening, so I don’t miss
him as much as when I travel to other
places,” she explains.
Travel is nothing unusual for Pereyra.
She came to the U.S. when she was 18,
KARIM ZIWAR
L. Diaz (MBA ’79), the president of HSBC,
posted the position at the School’s Sanford
L. Ziff Career Services Center.
Despite loving her job, she admits to
missing her days as a student. “I enjoyed
studying and miss the dynamic classes and
meeting different people,” she says. “I
enjoyed the whole university experience.”
ultimately earning her undergraduate
degree at UM. In doing so, she was following in some family footsteps — both her
father, Juan Carlos Fernandez (BBA ’73),
and her uncle, Pablo Fernandez (BSCE
’73), attended UM. But the ’Cane connections don’t stop there. Her cousin, Oliver
Dauelsberg, just received his MBA in
May. And she found her job after Manuel
— Jill Colford
BUSINESS BUILDER
gil shavit lends new meaning to the term “high-flying.”
Besides piloting his own 200-employee development company, this
(MBA ’02)
Israeli-born, U.S.-educated, Peru-based entrepreneur has logged
Owner
millions of miles jetting between three continents while growing his
Grupo Capital
business and his family.
LIMA, PERU
It all began in 1989, when Shavit moved from Tel Aviv to Miami
After graduating, he established a telecommunications comdegree.
to get his bachelor’s
pany serving Latin America. In 1995, he married a Peruvian woman he met in Miami, and
the two relocated to Israel. Shavit kept his business aloft via frequent flights to Latin America, which eventually took their toll. Two years later, he again moved from Israel to Florida.
Back in the Americas, he explored other lines of business — technology, agriculture,
finance, real estate and security — and Grupo Capital really took off. Shavit describes his
work as “identifying needs and then identifying, integrating and supplying solutions to
private entities and governments in Latin America.” Grupo Capital is, in essence, a holding company for Shavit’s various ventures.
After completing a deal, Shavit moves on. “I like to sign a contract, do the work, turn
it over to someone else and look for the next thing,” he says. “Staying and managing
would prevent me from looking for the next opportunity. When I manage, I don’t have
time to develop new business.”
On Shavit’s professional journey, UM was akin to a stopover, where he touched down to
Business Miami
3 0 Summer 2006
OZZIE NEWCOMBE/GPA
GIL SHAVIT
TOP: PAUL MORRIS/GPA; LEFT: SUZETTE TORI/GPA
OLIVIA PEREYRA
refuel academically. “For what I wanted to
do, I needed an MBA,” the entrepreneur
explains. Shavit continued to run his business while attending the School full time.
He flew to Latin America almost weekly,
running from class to the airport and, days
later, from the airport to his next class.
Shavit moved to Lima in 2004. He
recalls, “We went to Peru for my wife’s
sister’s wedding with our suitcases packed
for three weeks, and we just stayed.” It
made sense: Dafna could live closer to her
family; Shavit could keep work and family
(now including daughters Danielle, 9;
Noa, 7; and Maya, 5) on the same continent. “I love the mentality here, the
people, the social life,” he says of Peru.
“I’m exactly where I want to be.” Ever
restless, he adds, “But the road I’m traveling isn’t finished yet.”
— S.P.
Business Miami
3 1 Summer 2006
(MBA ’00)
President
Belina SA
ALAJUELA, COSTA RICA
michael nagtegaal’s mba program motivation was straightforward: to boost his earning power. “I felt I wasn’t getting paid
what I deserved,” says Nagtegaal, who was selling professional
recording equipment to television stations and movie producers in
Latin America for Panasonic when he enrolled in UM. It proved
the right decision. “It’s something I would do 100 times over,” he
asserts. “It gave me the mental discipline to dedicate myself.”
Nagtegaal planned to use his degree as a launching pad for a career with a Fortune
500 company. But when visa status trouble precluded his acceptance of an offer to join
Cartier, the marketing major found himself embarking on a doomed startup venture. “I
started a company marketing waterproof cement that a friend of mine invented,” he explains. “The combination of the size of investment required and the difficult county
requirements drove me to drop the marketing eight months later.”
But the experience gave Nagtegaal a taste for entrepreneurship. He launched a new
business, Belina SA, in Costa Rica that distributes pet food and care products.
“Most of the pet food available in Costa Rica is made locally or imported from Brazil
or Mexico, where there are few restrictions on quality control,” explains Nagtegaal, who
was born in Curaçao, grew up in Aruba and Costa Rica, and speaks Dutch, Spanish and
Papiamento in addition to English. “People who love their pets want U.S.-made pet
food, because the controls in place ensure good quality,” he says.
Belina now distributes $100,000 worth of dog, cat, horse and fish food, as well as pet
shampoo products, every month. He recently relocated from Miami to Alajuela, Costa
Rica, where the company has its own warehouse, six 20-ton delivery trucks and 22
employees.
While ramping up the company, Nagtegaal says he drew on the workplace experiences shared by Management Professor Chester A. Schriescheim in his course on leadership. Along the way he augmented the principles and skills that his MBA education
provided with a few business theories of his own. “Whatever you think your initial investment is, double it, add another 50 percent and then multiply by three,” he advises.
“And make sure you have an exit plan.”
— J.P.
Business Miami
3 2 Summer 2006
some people are
born entrepreneurs;
others stumble into
(MBA ’00)
President
it. Erika Boom is
Belly-n-Kicks
one of the latter.
MIAMI
“My dad was a corporate man for 40 years,” says the Barranquilla, Colombia, native. “I got my MBA
to find a corporate job.”
After graduation, Boom spent a couple
of years working for Internet companies
that targeted the U.S. Hispanic market.
During that time, she had a side business
as a personal trainer, working with clients
in the morning, at night and on weekends.
As the Internet industry began collapsing,
ERIKA BOOM
MARGUERITE BEATY
MICHAEL
NAGTEGAAL
SHAPING
A GROWTH
BUSINESS
LEFT: MARGUERITE BEATY; BOTTOM: ANN STATES
BARKING UP THE RIGHT TREE
Boom decided to expand her business
and become a certified trainer with a
focus on pre- and postnatal care.
Today, she owns a very successful
personal training studio called Belly-nKicks that caters to pregnant and postpartum women. Working with such a
specified niche has paid off — Boom’s
customer base has increased by 150
percent each year. “I work one-on-one
with each mom,” she says. “It’s
incredibly rewarding.”
Boom says that UM helped her
succeed in both the corporate world
and on her own. The people she met and
the relationships she developed exposed
her to new ideas and were a source of constant growth. “Since one-third of the student body is international, it makes for a
very rich learning experience,” she says.
“If you listen carefully, you can learn from
the people around you. I’m very grateful to
UM for that.”
For someone with an undergraduate
degree in industrial engineering, the School
of Business was a real eye-opener. “My
background was almost entirely theoretical, and I had zero knowledge of business,” she laughs. “UM let me put into
practice a lot of what I learned in class.”
Another benefit was that UM is
where she met her husband, Nicolas
Vivero (MBA ’00), a fellow Colombian
who helped her come up with the
Belly-n-Kicks concept. “It was a blend
of my love of exercise and his love of
children,” she says.
Not surprisingly, Boom develops
quite a bond with her clients. “I enjoy
seeing them becoming empowered as
their pregnancy progresses,” she says.
“They feel good all the way through
because they are taking such good care of
themselves. When they come back after
the baby is born, they know I’m there and
— E.U.
that I can help them.”
ACCIDENTAL ACADEMIC
when min (“enya”) he graduated in 1992
from No. 3 High School in Harbin, Heilong(MBA ’01)
jiang Province, China, her sights were set
Assistant Professor
on medicine, not academia. “I was going to
University of North
be an MD, not a PhD,” says He, who has
Texas College
of Business
just received her PhD from the University
Administration
of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.
DENTON, TEXAS
The year He entered college, China’s
quota
had places for only four applicants
top medical school’s
from her province. “I wasn’t one of them,” she says, “so I made
a U-turn, charted a new course and entered the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing.”
After receiving her bachelor’s degree, He entered a graduate
program in Beijing. To finance her first graduate degree, she
worked full time for Swiss Life Insurance, which furthered her
interest in risk management and her desire for an MBA grew
stronger. “MBA programs are not as popular in China as they are
abroad. I looked at programs in both Australia and the USA,”
she recalls.
UM was high on her list, yet studying in the U.S. was an
expensive proposition. When her acceptance into the School’s
MBA program came accompanied by a generous financial aid
MIN (“ENYA”) HE
Business Miami
package, He caught the next plane to Miami. “The program was
an enormous investment of time and money, but I knew in the end
the return would be a handsome one,” she says.
He credits a cadre of professors at the School with shaping her
way of thinking. “I don’t think I appreciated Professor [and
Finance Department Chair Douglas] Emery’s Introduction to
Finance class until I went car shopping,” she says. “The salesperson stood stunned when I took out my calculator, punched in
numbers and told him how much interest I would be paying. In
that moment, I realized that knowledge is power.”
He received her MBA, along with a Certificate in Personal
Financial Planning, in 2001. At UM, He worked as a teaching
assistant for Management Science Department Professor Howard
Gitlow, who she says was influential in her career choice. “I’d
always loved teaching, but wasn’t sure I could handle the research
part of the job. I worked on a consulting project with Dr. Gitlow,
we turned the project into a case study, and it was published in an
academic journal. That was the turning point for me. I decided to
go for my PhD and become an academic.” With her doctorate in
hand, she and her husband, Truman Du, move this fall to Denton,
Texas, where she will work as an assistant professor at the University of North Texas College of Business Administration.
— S.L.
3 3 Summer 2006
A COLORFUL CAREER
ISLAND PURVEYOR
those changes has required all his business
knowledge, plus a little psychology. “You
have to help others so they can help themselves and, in turn, help you,” he says.
But things have begun to click. He’s
growing the marina segment of the business, attending boat shows in the U.S. and
Europe to learn how to attract international
boaters. “A lot the of islands benefit from
the yachting and boating industry,” he says,
“and Dominica hasn’t seen it.” A major refueling dock, set to open, could change that,
and his ambitious bid to attract oil and gas
distributors could benefit the entire region.
For Winston, it’s just business. “We’re a
company that’s always trying to bring in
something for which there’s a need.”
— Clayton Collins
EXPECTATIONS SURPASSED
“i had no idea that miami was tropical,” laughs antonia
(Dontcheva) Cameron, recalling her arrival in South Florida in 1999.
“The weather was a shock to me. I couldn’t breathe. I thought, Is
this normal? Or is it just the airport, with all the planes and cars? It
was a complete surprise. I’d been focusing on UM, not Miami.”
(MBA ’01)
Senior Business Analyst
Having researched American business schools online, the BulgarGrace Performance
ian-born Cameron knew UM offered a lot to international students.
Chemicals
“I was looking forward to a good program and meeting a lot of
BOSTON
people,” she says. “But UM surpassed my expectations.”
Cameron credits the School’s Sanford L. Ziff Graduate Career Services Center with
helping her find her first job. At a career event held two months before graduation, she had
an opportunity to speak with a representative of the World Fuel Services Corp. “There was
such a line in front of that booth!” she recalls. “But the person there wasn’t just an HR rep,
he was the chairman and CEO of one of the divisions, as well as executive vice president
of the whole company. Later he became president and COO of World Fuel Services.”
It took months of steady pursuit, but eventually Cameron was hired as a financial analyst in the Marine Division, then promoted to senior financial analyst two years later.
“Being a foreign student looking in the very depressed job market of 2001, I consider
myself lucky to have found a career job and sponsor company,” she says. “I spent a total
of four years there, working closely with the management team on a variety of projects,
ANTONIA S.
(DONTCHEVA)
CAMERON
Business Miami
3 4 Summer 2006
irena chang-yen has lived in london, trinidad, miami,
Puerto Rico and now New York, but her transcontinental career
(MBA ’00)
path has led her to a field she loves — the beauty industry. A brand
Brand Manager,
manager in the Professional Color Division at Procter & Gamble in
Professional Color
Stamford, Conn., Chang-Yen decided to pursue an MBA while an
Division
Procter & Gamble
undergraduate at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad,
STAMFORD, CONN.
where she was raised. A professor there recommended UM, and
after working for PepsiCo Bottling in Trinidad for three years, Chang-Yen was accepted
into the School’s MBA program.
An internship at Procter & Gamble led to a job in the Fabric and Home Care
Department in P&G’s Puerto Rico division immediately upon graduation. “It was a dream
job,” says Chang-Yen. The Puerto Rico division’s focus, she notes, is on marketing to Hispanic consumers in Puerto Rico and the U.S.
In April 2004, Chang-Yen was offered a job as an assistant brand manager in Stamford,
and she moved to New York City. “From a professional standpoint, it was wonderful
because I was going to
work in beauty care,
which was very different,” she says. “I was
interested in the scope
of the job. From a personal standpoint, I
wanted to experience
New York.” New York
also brought exciting
change to her personal
life; this summer, she
married Javier Bonilla,
a creative director at
Grey Advertising.
Promoted to brand
m a n a g e r l a s t y e a r,
Chang-Yen now works
directly with stylists to
find out what consumers want in the
salon. “It’s a complex
category, very different
from mass marketing to
the consumer,” she
says. “It has been a great learning experience to find out just how relationship-based the
whole industry is. You have to make deep, meaningful connections to the stylist for them
to trust you. If a stylist gets a bad result with a hair color, he or she loses a client, who then
tells other clients. You have to get them to trust the brand, to be a loyal user.”
Chang-Yen appreciates the courses that involved team projects and leadership. “With
marketing,” she notes, “you learn more as you put theory into practice, so case-study-based
classes were very helpful, too.” Other pointers? “Getting a good internship was a great step.
It gave me a good flavor for what existed out there and made the job search easier.” — K.B.
IRENA CHANG-YEN
DAN DEMETRIAD
the family business
means providing a
lifeline of basic
DOMINICA
goods and services
— including groceries and propane — to
Dominica, the island nation of 69,000
where he was raised. Expanding it could
bring new prosperity to a broader swath of
the Caribbean region. “It’s a huge responsibility,” he admits, “but I love challenges.”
Sukie’s Enterprises, the company
Winston has captained for a little more
than a year, was founded as a bakery by
his grandparents. It was named for, and
eventually run by, his father, Herbert
“Sukie” Winston, who at age 12 delivered
fresh bread by bicycle and who remains
active in the firm.
Hubert got an early start too. “In the
Caribbean you almost have to be born into
(MBA ’01)
President & CEO
Sukie’s Enterprises
a business,” he says. “At a young age I was
involved, and then I took off to go to
school in the U.S. with the idea of coming
back and making a difference.” After earning an undergraduate degree, he headed
home to Dominica for two years before deciding to pursue an MBA at UM. “I did a
lot of research,” he says. “The business
program was up-and-coming, very competitive. And it’s well-respected in the
Caribbean and Latin America.”
The degree helped him win jobs in
Miami with Smith Barney (as a junior
broker) and then Enterprise Rent-a-Car (as
a branch corporate accounts manager and
management assistant). He also built a network of UM contacts that remains active.
More than three years passed before
Winston decided he was ready to assume a
leadership role at Sukie’s. “Working back
in the Caribbean, I found there were a lot
of things I had to change,” he says. Making
LEFT: MARK ALCAREZ; TOP: IRVIN DURAND
for hubert j.
HUBERT J. WINSTON Winston, running
and for the most part reporting directly to
the vice president of strategic planning
and analysis.”
Married last year, Cameron and her
husband, Daniel, relocated to Boston.
Since last August, she has been working as
a senior business analyst at Grace Performance Chemicals, a business unit of W.R.
Grace & Co. “Boston is a very fast-paced
place to live and work,” she says, “so it
took some adapting from Miami.”
While Cameron appreciatively recalls
the teaching skills of specific professors,
she speaks warmly of her School of Business experience as a whole. “UM for me
is all the relationships I built, all the
good times I had, all the hard work. I’m
thankful to UM for being such a wonderful springboard for my career and my
life in the U.S.”
— S.D.
Business Miami
3 5 Summer 2006
AlumniNews
Richard E. Jaffe,BBA ’50
Ruben D. Nava,MBA ’70
FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY LEADER, SOUTHWEST REGION
DELOITTE & TOUCHE, LOS ANGELES
1940s—1950s
RETIRED, MIAMI
FOLLOWING THE MONEY
They say working for the IRS is steady but boring. Just don’t say it to Dick Jaffe.
Jaffe enrolled at the University of Miami and became a CPA after he returned from field artillery
service during the Korean War. But a quiet life working as a Special Agent for the Internal Revenue
Service wasn’t in the cards.
“After Korea I decided to stay in the Army Reserve,” says Jaffe. “At that time I was in the early
stages of my IRS career and began to interface with Coast Guard intelligence, where I soon accepted
a direct commission as a reserve officer, from which I retired in 1980 as a Commander.”
Jaffe volunteered for reconnaissance flights during the Cuban missile crisis. “We’d be out there for
eight hours flying off the north coast of Cuba, taking pictures of Soviet Bloc vessels bringing supplies
NEVER A
DULL MOMENT
ALLAN ALTMAN (BBA ’58, MBA ’60) retired in 2005
from Morgan Stanley. He lives in Kentfield, Calif.
WALTER A. CLOT (BBA ’57) is a retired Baptist pastor
living in Columbia, Tenn. He is treasurer and accountant
for Discipline House, a transitional housing facility for
women recently released from jail, which he established
with his wife in 2005.
TAYLOR LARIMORE (BBA ’49) has co-authored The
Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing, published by Wiley &
Sons. He lives in Miami with his wife of 55 years.
JACK NEIMARK (BBA ’49) lives in Calabasas, Calif.
PETER M. SPRENKLE (BBA ’57) has published his second book, A Youth Baseball Coaches Tool Kit, a guidebook for baseball coaches. He lives in Boulder, Colo.
Ruben Nava has been with
years. That’s a long time
with a single employer. “I
guess spending 37 years at
one company is a little unusual,” he says, “but it’s a
great firm and I love it.”
Those years have been anything but dull.
Nava was named a partner in 1979, 10 years after
By 1973, he was running Project Haven, an IRS investigation into tax evasion using Bahamian banks.
With assistance from an informant, he was able to copy the contents of a Bahamian bank official’s
briefcase while the official was out to dinner with a female associate. The documents produced a list
of 350 depositors in Castle Bank and implicated several prominent American tax attorneys and many
of their clients. Federal legal wrangling with that case created major issues that were later addressed
by the U.S. Supreme Court. Jaffe was
honorably retired from the IRS in 1979
after 22 years.
“The last three years of my career
were marred by the unsuccessful efforts of corrupt interests within the
government to have me prosecuted
for doing my job too well,” Jaffe
wrote to author John D. MacDonald
in 1981, proposing that they collaborate on a book. MacDonald politely
declined, though he called Jaffe’s
files “juicy.”
In 1980, Jaffe went to work for the
Miami State Attorney’s Investigation
Division as their supervisory investigative accountant. In 2004, he retired
again, although he freelances as an independent contractor for troubled
Miami banks—as recently as March he
was still chasing bad guys through
their Florida bank records. And he’d
still like his story told. “Maybe it’s time
to write a letter to John Grisham,”
he says.
Business Miami
—Catherine O’Neill Grace
3 6 Summer 2006
joining the firm. In 1986, he
1960s
LANCE HARRISON (BBA ’64) is a CPA with Levine &
Seltzer, LLP, in New York City. He lives in Ft. Lee, N.J.
ROBERT HOWARDS (BBA ’67) is CEO of Lighthouse
Marketing, LLC, which he founded in 2005. The company is headquartered in Tampa, Fla., and has offices in
Los Angeles and Cincinnati. He lives in Lutz, Fla.
MICHAEL KLEIN (BBA ’63, JD ’66) was recently named
to the University of Miami Board of Trustees. He is a
senior partner with Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and
Dorr, LLP in Washington, D.C.
H.W. MIKE MYRICK (BBA ’66) has been an agent/
owner with State Farm Insurance for 27 years and lives
in Knoxville, Tenn. He plans to retire in 2007 to focus on
security consulting as well as traveling for Ambassadors
of Christ Jesus.
FRED NANUS (BBA ’61) has been a self-employed CPA
for 35 years. He has practiced tax preparation for 46
years and looks forward to reaching the 50-year mark.
He lives in Lake Forest, Fla.
SUZETTE S. POPE (BBA ’69, MBA ’71) has retired as
chief accountant for the Dade County Public Schools.
She was recently awarded the President’s Award by the
Alliance for Aging, recognizing her contribution of outstanding service to the elderly of South Florida. She has
also been elected to a third term as president of the
American Legion Auxiliary, Coral Gables, Unit #98.
PAUL H. TOCKER (BBA ’60) has been an attorney in
private practice in Schenectady, N.Y., for 34 years. He
was recently presented with the B’nai B’rith
Distinguished Service Award for his involvement in the
organization.
ALBERTO L. VEGA (BBA ’69) was recently named exec-
became head of Deloitte’s
national insurance practice,
which meant he regularly
rubbed elbows with top
people at Equitable,
Prudential, TIAA-CREF,
GEICO, Pacific Life and
other leading insurance
companies.
He was part of the Deloitte team that helped the
Union Mutual Life Insurance Co. transform itself
into UnumProvident, a
publicly owned company.
This was the first time a major U.S. mutual had converted to public ownership, and Nava became, as
he puts it, “something of a specialist in the field.” He is frequently called on to provide expert testimony at state hearings on insurance company reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions. He is also a
sought-after speaker for insurance industry seminars.
Through other professional circumstances, Nava has become something of an expert on terrorism.
From 1980 to 1993, his office was on the 99th floor of One World Trade Center. He was at work
during the 1993 bombing, and had to walk down 99 floors to evacuate. Deloitte moved out of the
World Trade Center in 1993, and Nava moved to Los Angeles in 1997, but as luck would have it he
was in New York on business on September 10, 2001. He had dinner that night at Windows on the
World, leaving at 10 p.m., which meant he was one of the last people to have eaten at the restaurant.
The next morning he was on a 7:30 flight out of Newark, bound for Los Angeles. “Obviously,” he
recalls, “we didn’t make it [to Los Angeles]. I still remember our pilot coming on the intercom at
about 10 and saying ‘due to extreme terrorism in New York’ the FAA is grounding all airplanes in the
ALAN LEVENSON
Some of the rule-violators Jaffe went after were prominent businesspeople and alleged mobsters.
JEFFERY SALTER
ality. It irritates me when I see lack of integrity. It bothers me when I see people violating the rules.”
1970s
Deloitte & Touche for 37
in,” Jaffe recalls. “I guess I’m a risk taker. It’s long been one of the major components of my person-
utive vice president of Ocean Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in Florida. He lives and
works in Miami.
GARY K. WOHRLE (BBA ’65) is a financial advisor for
Brookstreet Securities in Aventura, Fla., where he also lives.
He proudly boasts of the birth of four grandchildren in the
past three years and predicts all of them will attend UM.
U.S. After getting on the phone we discovered what had happened at the World Trade Center and
learned that more planes — possibly ours — were potential hijack candidates. It was a big relief to
—Lawrence A. Armour
land in Omaha about an hour later.”
Business Miami
3 7 Summer 2006
PHILIP ALESSI (BBA ’71) is an account manager with
Dancker Sellew & Douglas, Inc., in New York City. He
lives in West Islip, N.Y.
C. ROBERT DRAKE (BBA ’72) is a real estate developer in Marina, Calif. He also serves as president of
the Marina Rotary Foundation and is advisor on real
estate to the Monterey Peninsula School District. He
was recently named City Commissioner of the Year
after chairing the Marina Planning Commission.
WILLIAM W. EVANS III (BBA ’70) is president and
managing director of the Petionville Club, a golf and
tennis club in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
NEIL G. FRANK (BBA ’71) is an attorney and senior
partner with Frank, Weinberg & Block, PL, in Plantation,
Fla., where he also lives. He was recently tapped and
initiated into the Iron Arrow Honor Society.
IRA LANDE (AB ’73, MBA ’79) serves as controller of The
Innovation Factory in Duluth, Ga., which is a nationwide
medical-related incubator that creates, launches and
manages its offspring businesses. He lives in Atlanta.
JAY LUNT (BBA ’73) is president and co-owner of Lunt
Enterprises, Inc., in Pensacola, Fla. In 2004, he and
his wife purchased the Folkers Window Co.
PETER C. MILLER (BBA ’72, MBA ’79) is president of
Coastal Systems Corp. in Marietta, Ga., where he lives.
DAVID F. PAULSEN (BBA ’77, BSSA ’77) was recently
named United States director of human resources for
Accenture in Reston, Va. He lives in Herndon, Va.
WILLIAM P. SKLAR (BBA ’77, JD ’79) is counsel to
Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge and also has served
as an adjunct professor in the UM School of Law’s
Real Property Graduate Law program for more than 27
years. He and his wife, LORI SKLAR (MBA ’81), have
founded Genetic Information to Stop Breast and Ovarian Cancer, which reaches two specific population
groups through Reach Global (www.reachglobal.org)
and Jacob International (www.jacobintl.org). The organization focuses on educating women about the benefits of genetic testing to ascertain their hereditary risk
of breast and ovarian cancer.
TIMOTHY SUMMERS (MBA ’78) has been a securities
analyst with Stanford Group Co. in Chicago for 15 years
and has worked on Wall Street since graduation. He
credits much of his success to his professors at UM.
ROBERT VAN DER MERWE (BBA ’75) is president and
CEO of Paxar Corp. in White Plains, N.Y.
AlumniNews
1980s
A SIZZLING CAREER
BusinessMiami caught up with Ralph Alvarez on a typically busy day for the president and COO of
McDonald’s Corp. Following a 6 a.m. interview with the magazine, he planned to spend the rest of
the day with other company executives — including fellow alumnus Jose Armario (MSPM ’03), president of McDonald’s Latin America — at a think tank in California.
Alvarez is responsible for setting strategy for more than 31,000 McDonald’s restaurants around the
world, most of which are owned and run by more than 5,000 franchisees. His professional experience
since graduating from the School 30 years ago has made him uniquely qualified for the job.
“One of the benefits of UM is its diverse student body,” Alvarez says. “I learned early on that diversity can be a great strength.” Also, “the School prepared us for the business world — the real world
— not just for passing the CPA exam.”
He did pass the CPA exam, though, and after working for a couple of years at a major accounting
firm, Alvarez got a job in the quick-service restaurant industry. “I liked the industry right away, even
more so as I got to know the business better,” he recalls. “The fast pace, the rapid growth, the young
people who were running it — it all appealed to me.”
Alvarez held a variety of positions at Burger King and at Wendy’s before joining McDonald’s in
1994. Over the past dozen years, he has been a regional vice president for the company’s Sacramento
region, a regional director for Chipotle Mexican Grill (a McDonald’s partner brand), president of
McDonald’s Mexico and president of the 4,300-restaurant central division of McDonald’s USA. He
subsequently held the titles of COO and then president of McDonald’s USA, and most recently president of McDonald’s North America, before being promoted to his current position.
Alvarez remains involved with UM, serving on the President’s Council and the School’s International Board. He’s also part of a UM family — his brother Orlando is a professor of physics, and his
son Kyle received a bachelor’s degree from the School of Communication in 2005. He and Armario,
friends for 27 years, attend a couple of Hurricanes games together every year and still play touch football before the Florida State game. “The young guys ask if they can join us, but we always say no,”
Alvarez laughs. “We get enough pulled hamstrings as it is.”
Business Miami
—Michael J. McDermott
3 8 Summer 2006
VICE PRESIDENT, TERRABANK, MIAMI
MAINTAINING HER BALANCE IN BANKING
When it came time for college, Marianela Hernandez had a choice. Born in Venezuela but living in
Miami at the time, Hernandez was accepted to both Columbia University and the University of
Miami. Would she join the Ivy League or stay close to home?
She chose UM and she has no regrets.
“I don’t feel like I missed out,” says Hernandez. “If anything, I gained because the community
in Miami and South Florida has become so diverse and so vibrant, and watching this diversity grow
has been an important part of my career development and knowledge base.”
As a vice president at Terrabank, which serves South Florida, Hernandez manages two types of
clients: major private banking clients — generally, individuals who own a company that is an important part of their portfolio — and entrepreneurs who run small to midsize businesses.
Before joining Terrabank three years ago, Hernandez spent 17 years at Chase Manhattan Bank
(now JPMorgan Chase). Toward the end of her tenure there, she managed the emerging markets
portfolio and securities business in Venezuela.
“It’s an exciting time to be in the business,” she says. “Up until a few years ago, the banking business was much more static.” When she began her career, “people said that banking was 3-6-3,” Hernandez says. “You would pay 3 percent interest, charge 6 percent on loans, and you would be at the
golf course by 3 in the afternoon.” But by the late 1980s, “the banking industry was being deregulated and becoming much more competitive. It was evolving into a different world.”
Hernandez says her interest in banking was sparked and sustained by her professors at the
School. They prepared her well for career opportunity. When it came time to find a job, Chase was
“looking for international students who would be willing to relocate. At the time, I was single, just
graduating, and it was a nice fit.”
Later, when she decided to
marry and have a family, Hernandez found “there are always
obstacles, especially if you’re a
woman, but you deal with
them.” She and her husband
have two children, a 13-year-old
daughter and a 10-year-old son.
Despite the challenges of
balancing a demanding career
and family life, she remains
active in the UM Alumni Association and keeps in touch with
friends from her university
days. “UM has grown to be an
excellent school,” she says.
“The fact that the whole university has improved so much
JEFFERY SALTER
PRESIDENT & COO, MCDONALD’S CORP., OAK BROOK, ILL.
Marianela Hernandez,
BBA’83,MBA ’85,MS ’86
ANDY GOODWIN
RalphAlvarez, BBA ’76
JAMES BLOCH (MBA ’83) lives in Seattle.
BRENDA BROWN (BBA ’86) has been promoted to
director of financial aid at the UM School of Law.
HUNTING F. DEUTSCH (MBA ’82) has been named
executive vice president of wealth management for
BankUnited Financial Corp. in Coral Gables. He will oversee the company’s growing wealth management divisions, including domestic and international private
banking groups and BankUnited Financial Services. He
will also develop a private asset management group and
focus on expanding the bank’s insurance products. He is
a former member of the UM Board of Trustees and past
president of the UM Alumni Association.
BETTY GONZALEZ (BBA ’86) has been awarded the
Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation by the CCIM Institute, which acknowledges the
completion of graduate-level class work and a level of
qualifying experience. She is also a member of the grievance committee for the Realtors Association of Greater
Miami and the Beaches.
TIMOTHY J. HALEY (BBA ’85) is CFO for the Ariel Group
in Arlington, Mass.
CHRISTINE D. HANLEY (MBA ’85, JD ’89), of Christine
D. Hanley & Associates, PA, in West Palm Beach, Fla.,
was recognized as a “2006 Florida Super Lawyer”
through a peer-nomination process.
LARRY W. INGRAHAM (MBA ’83) is head of administration for the Global Wealth Solutions Group at HSBC in
New York City.
DAPHNE JONGEJANS-BOUSQUET (BBA ’88) recently
moved to Atlanta with her husband and two children. She
is a conference planning manager for Aberdeen Woods
Conference Center in Peachtree City, Ga.
MARTIN KARP (BBA ’86, MSEd ’91, EdD ’95) is serving
a four-year term as an elected school board member for
the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. He lives in Miami.
MICHAEL DOUGLAS LLOPIS (BBA ’80) is an associate
with the Keyes Company Realtors in Miami. He was
recently involved in a $48 million sale of farmland in
southwest Dade County, which was the largest sale in
the history of the Keyes Company.
CARLOS A. MIER (BSSA ’87, MBA ’98) is vice president
for Commercebank, NA, in Weston, Fla.
BARRETT MINCEY (BBA ’89) recently defended his
doctoral dissertation and was awarded a doctorate from
Barry University.
L. EDGAR MOXEY (MBA ’87) is a partner with
PricewaterhouseCoopers in Nassau, Bahamas. He was
recently installed as the district grand master of the
District Grand Lodge of the Bahamas and will administer the affairs of seven Craft Lodges on the islands of
New Providence, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera.
RESHMA S. SAITH (BA ’85, MBA ’89) is contracts manager at BG International, an oil and gas company headquartered in the U.K. She lives in Reading, England.
ROSA SALWAN-BLACK (MBA ’89) is a performance
consultant and an adjunct professor of business development at St. Thomas University. She lives in Miami.
SHIRLEY YAP STOFFER (MBA ’80) recently relocated to
Orlando, Fla.
CHARLES S. STRAUZER (BBA ’89) is managing director
of CJS Securities, Inc. in White Plains, N.Y.
DAVID L. WILSON (BBA ’81) is president of Equifinancial,
LLC, a firm focusing on private placement and investment
banking. He was also recently approved by the NASD to
operate as a broker-dealer. He lives and works in Miami.
over the years has added a lot of
value to my diploma.”
—Hannele Rubin
Business Miami
3 9 Summer 2006
1990s
YVONNE ALEMÁN ARMENTEROS (BBA ’97, MST ’99,
MBA ’99) is a private banking officer at Gibraltar Private
Bank & Trust in Miami.
KONSTANTINOS BOBOTIS (BBA ’95) recently moved
from Greece to Sofia, Bulgaria, to be the deputy general
manager of EFG Leasing Bulgaria, a member of the EFG
Holding Group of Switzerland.
ALBERT BORDAS (MBA ’95, MSIE ’96) has opened a
firm in Miami handling patent, trademark and copyright
legal matters.
CHRIS COCHRAN (BBA ’94) is controller for International
Aircraft Associates, Inc. He lives in Pembroke Pines, Fla.
CHRISTOPHER M. COLEMAN (BBA ’96, MPrAcc ’97)
has joined Avaya Corp. in Basking Ridge, N.J., as manager of finance planning and analysis in the company’s corporate finance department. He lives in Morristown, N.J.
JULIE (MCDONALD) D’ADAMO (BBA ’96) and her husband, Dominic, announce the birth of their first child,
Joseph Anthony D’Adamo, on April 2, 2006.
MELIZA DIAMOND (AB ’91, MBA ’94) is a consultant in
international trade working and living in Rio de Janiero.
She helps international companies seeking to establish
themselves in Brazil.
MERCEDES C. (HERNANDEZ) FARIÑAS (MBA ’99) was
recently married and has moved to Doral, Fla. She is the
controller of the Florida region for North American Title
Company, a division of Lennar, based in Miami.
JAMES FATZINGER (BBA ’99, MBA ’01) is assistant
dean of students and director of graduate enrollment at
the University of Miami. He lives in Miami.
DANIEL T. FLEISCHER (BBA ’97, JD ’99, MBA ’01) is an
estate and trust officer at Northern Trust Bank of Florida, NA,
in Boca Raton, Fla. where he administers estates in Palm
Beach County and Martin County. He lives in Weston, Fla.
KATHRYN M. GILDEN (BBA ’99, MST ’01, MBA ’01) has
been named a principal with Lewis B. Freeman & Partners, Inc., a forensic accounting and consulting firm in Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla. She lives in Plantation, Fla.
ROBERT G. GILLAN (MBA ’97) is a consultant with Maritz,
Inc., in Southfield, Mich. He lives in Coral Springs, Fla.
PIERRE GREAUX (BBA ’92) is general manager of the John
F. Shoul Store in St. John’s, Antigua, where he also lives.
AlumniNews
COOKING UP IDEAS
Ivan Ho may be a highly successful restaurant entrepreneur — he’s launched 300 restaurants in 29
states and nine countries — but it isn’t unusual to find him washing dishes or mopping a floor in one
of his many establishments. “I don’t have any qualms about getting my hands dirty or my feet wet,”
says the hands-on executive who is as comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt working next to his cooks
and waiters as he is in a suit negotiating the fine points of franchise deals.
When Ho received his degree from the School, he already had hands-on knowledge of the restaurant business, having worked in his uncle’s Chinese restaurants on Miami Beach since he was a boy.
“I learned the business from the ground up,” he says. That practical knowledge, coupled with what
he learned in management courses at UM, gave him the foundation he needed to deal with employees, customers and business associates, as well as the problems that can arise in running his widespread network of restaurants.
With his uncle, Kelly Yeung, as his partner, Ho founded QSR (Quick Service Restaurants), whose
main business was in shopping-mall food courts. They called their restaurant Chinese Café, opening
their first one in Bayside Marketplace in downtown Miami in 1987. Since then, the restaurants have
been so successful that the systems are franchised out to such heavyweights as Host Marriott and The
Mills Corp. They have more than 10 different concepts to date, with Kelly’s Cajun Grill being the
most sought-after franchise in their food court systems.
Ho then decided to try a new cuisine concept: a steakhouse in a food court with mid-range prices,
speedy service and high-quality food, a proposition made possible by QSR’s formidable buying
power. The flagship Tango Grill opened in the Aventura Mall in Florida in 1999. Others followed in
the Dolphin, Dadeland and Sawgrass Mills malls in the Dade-Broward area, as well as in malls in
Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
Ho didn’t stop there. He
launched FSR (Full Service
Restaurants), featuring Argentine-themed steaks served with
chimichurri sauce and Provençal-style fried potatoes. He
named the restaurant Argentango Grill, launching the first
one in 2002 in Hollywood,
Fla.’s Young Circle. It opened
to the raves of local restaurant
critics, and two more have since
opened in Chicago and Coral
Gables. Another new restaurant is under construction in
Miami’s Design District.
Still, Ho is always looking
for the next restaurant concept,
and he says his next move
might take him “back to my
roots.” He’s thinking of opening a restaurant specializing in
Asian cuisine.
Business Miami
—Bella Kelly
4 0 Summer 2006
2000s
Benjamin Reynal,BBA ’98
CO-OWNER AND PARTNER, ENERGÍA DEL SUR, CHUBUT, ARGENTINA
HARNESSING HORSE POWER
After graduating in 1998, Benjamin Reynal contemplated job offers from Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. Then he did the opposite of what was expected: He turned them down, headed to Argentina, and embarked on a nine-month, 3,000-mile cross-country trip on horseback.
The Buenos Aires native grew up visiting his family’s ranch in the pampas (plains), and he knows
his way around horses. “I’d dreamed of the trip for some time,” he says. “It seemed romantic, adventurous.” He planned the tour with a friend who later backed out. Undeterred, Reynal packed some
clothes, some medications and a diary, and he turned an adventure à deux into a largely solitary journey.
“This was the most exciting, rich and tough experience of my life,” he says. Traveling light, with
no tent, he often relied on the kindness of strangers, who would house him for a night or accompany
him for a day. When one of Reynal’s horses was injured, his host gave him another — to keep.
“People who had nothing treated me like a king,” Reynal recalls. “The experience taught me to be
more human and sensitive, to be self-sufficient, to not be afraid of challenge.”
After his journey, Reynal turned from riding to ranching, managing his family’s second ranch, one
devoted to agriculture, cattle and polo horses. “It was like any other business,” says Reynal. “I had
to do budgets and manage employees and assets. But there, the assets included animals.” He also
married his longtime girlfriend, Barbara, and had children Fini and Martin.
Reynal’s family sold the ranch last year and, with his former UM roommate, Luis Gonzalez Bunster,
bought a power plant in the Patagonia region of Argentina. In an ambitious undertaking to double capacity, the Reynals, Bunster and an English partner bought a used power plant in Pennsylvania, which
they’re now dismantling for shipment to Patagonia. They’ll then convert it from gas- to steam-run, halving emissions and boosting efficiency. There’s another power project planned for upstate New York too.
MARGUERITE BEATY
PRESIDENT, IVANHO FOOD ENTERPRISES, MIAMI BEACH
MAURIZIO SFECCI (MBA ’96) is manager of Assicurazioni
Generali SpA in London, where he also lives.
SHAWN SPEARS (MBA ’95) is managing director of DLC,
Inc.,in Woodland Hills,Calif.He lives in Newport Beach,Calif.
JESSICA D. WITHER (BBA ’99) lives in Chicago.
LUBO ZIZAKOVIC (MBA ’98) is director of investment
banking for Lytton Financial, Inc., in Toronto. He lives in
Richmond Hill, Ontario.
JEFFERY SALTER
Ivan Ho,BBA ’89
KIMBERLY VON GONTEN GROOME (MPA ’99) is a
retirement administrator for the City of Coral Gables. She
recently completed the certification program of the
Florida Public Pension Trustees Association and has
achieved certification as a public pension trustee. She
lives in Cutler Bay, Fla.
KEVIN HARRIS (BBA ’99, MBA ’00) is a managed health
care professional with United Healthcare in Miami.
JEFFREY A. HOUGH (BBA ’98) is a paralegal with Bieser,
Greer & Landis, LLP, in Dayton, Ohio, where he also lives.
DANY GARCIA JOHNSON (BBA ’92) was recently
named to the UM Board of Trustees. She is the chief
executive officer of JDM Partners, LLC, a Miami-based
full-service investment firm that specializes in wealth
management. She also founded and presides over
Beacon Experience: A Foundation for Success, an organization that provides long-term guidance and support to
inner-city children who commit to educational and moral
goals. Additionally, she serves as the vice president and
founder of the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, which
provides hope and support to hospitalized children.
JASON PATRICK KAIRALLA (BBA ’98, MBA ’02, JD ’02)
has been named as a recipient of the 2006 John Edward
Smith Child Advocacy Award by Lawyers for Children
America, which helps ensure that abused and neglected
children receive quality legal representation. The award
was given to honor the donation of his time and talent
through LFCA to represent abused and neglected children. He is a litigation associate in the Miami office of
Jorden Burt, LLP.
KELLY KANDLER (BM ’98, MBA ’99) was recently promoted to nationwide promotional events coordinator for EMI
Music Publishing. She lives and works in New York City.
AJOY MALLIK (MBA ’98) is director for venture capital with
TATA Consultancy Services (TCS), Asia’s largest software
services company. His group’s charter involves high-tech
disruptive alliances, corporate spin-outs and investments.
JASON P. MAXWELL (BBA ’95) has been elected an
equity partner in the corporate and securities section of
the Dallas office of Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP. He was also
elected as the secretary of the Securities Law Section of
the Dallas Bar Association and has been appointed by
the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to a four-year term on the
District Export Council for the Texas region.
MARC D. MAZZALUPO (BBA ’96) is the director of valuations for the Branford Group, an international provider
of industrial asset appraisal and auction services in
Branford, Conn. He and his wife, who live in Old Lyme,
Conn., recently celebrated the birth of their second son.
JAMES A. MCKENZIE (MBA ’97) has been promoted to
assistant branch manager of the West Palm Beach, Fla.,
branch of Smith Barney.
BRIAN J. RESHEFSKY (MBA ’98, JD ’98) is executive vice
president of Ideal Media Group, LLC, in New York City.
ROBERT C. ROY (MBA ’96) is manager of transport operations at Marathon Petroleum Company in Findlay, Ohio.
“The first few months were tough; it was a whole new language,” says Reynal of his industry
change. But thanks to seminars, books and on-the-job experience, he’s becoming fluent. “At the
School of Business and in the U.S., I learned to open my mind, see all the alternatives, find solutions
and push forward,” he says.
—Susan Plawsky
Business Miami
4 1 Summer 2006
DERRICK L. ARTIS (MBA ’01) has been named the
Pennsylvania College of Optometry Alumnus of the Year.
DARREN P. ASTRAN (MBA ’02) is manager of operational risk management at Freddie Mac in McLean, Va.
MARTHA L. AYERDIS (MBA ’04) is human resources
director at the Miami Rescue Mission. In January, she
also opened her own company, MWL Management, Inc.,
which provides business services in Florida, Latin
America and the Caribbean. She lives in Miami.
RYAN BAEHRLE (BBA ’05) is a financial analyst for the
JPMorgan Private Bank in Palm Beach, Fla., covering the
Florida region. He lives in West Palm Beach, Fla.
DAMION R. CAMPBELL (MD ’97, MBA ’03) is an emergency room physician at Holy Cross Hospital in Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla. He lives in Doral, Fla.
LOREINE GHANI (MBA ’04) is president of the Errand
Genie, a company devoted to giving capable and efficient
personal service. She lives and works in Hollywood, Fla.
RANIERO GIMENO (BAIS ’02, MBA ’04) was named
sales support manager at ING for its U.S. Operations
Retirement Services Unit in Hartford, Conn. He also is a
member of the ING Latino Network Executive Board.
ERWIN E. GRAUTOFF (MS ’02) works at Inturia, a software company in Bogotá, Colombia.
ILI ERIC HUNG (MBA ’03) is an advanced quality engineering advisor for Dell, Inc., in Taipei, Taiwan.
DAVID LEONARD HUNTER (BBA ’02) is a mortgage broker with the American Star Financial Group in Bakersfield, Calif., where he also lives.
GABRIELA GUZMAN LAZZARO (BBA ’02) is a human
resources generalist with the D.E. Shaw securities firm in
New York City. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
LISA LOCKWOOD (BBA ’03) recently joined Citigroup’s
corporate financial planning and analysis/international
operations in New York City. She lives in West Islip, N.Y.
EVAN MCGILL (BBA ’05) has been named an account
executive by France Athlete Management Enterprises,
handling negotiations and marketing for 45 NFL players.
He lives and works in Atlanta.
JORGE C. MENDIETA (MBA ’00) is assistant vice president for HSBC Private Bank International in Miami.
JOUNICE NEALY-BROWN (MBA ’01) was promoted to
circulation retention manager for the St. Petersburg Times
in St. Petersburg, Fla.
BABAK NIKKHOO (BBA ’04) is an analyst and trader
with PCM in Miami Beach. He lives in Miami.
AlumniNews
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS 2006
Alberto Manrara,MBA ’03
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/CFO, TOTALBANK, MIAMI
A SPOKESMAN FOR SUCCESS
You’re never too old for spring break. At least that’s what Alberto Manrara and his classmates felt
when they headed to Manhattan for a tour of the New York Stock Exchange and to take part in St.
Patrick’s Day festivities during their time off.
Manrara was not your typical college student on break. That’s because he was at least 15 years older
than his classmates in the School’s Executive MBA program. But the 56-year-old says his age was
never a hindrance: “My class never made it an issue. I never felt like the old person in the group.”
Quite the contrary. Manrara was embraced and respected by his classmates, in part because he was
already a successful businessman. He has been executive vice president and chief financial officer for
TotalBank in Coral Gables for nine years. He has also worked at Deloitte & Touche, in a family business, and in his own firm doing public accounting.
Going back to school was a challenge Manrara welcomed. “I am not a person who believes I know
it all,” he says. Education is an important part of his family life: His wife is finishing her doctorate,
his son just finished a master’s degree, and his daughter is in law school. “I looked around my house,
and everyone was in school,” he jokes. He says he chose UM because of the School of Business’s
strong reputation.
His time there yielded many benefits. “There were a lot of takeaways that I have been able to
implement in my job. I am a better manager and better administrator,” he explains. “I have also hired
people from my MBA class and received referrals for business from them.”
Manrara was “impressed by the quality of the professors as a general group.” He cites Linda
Neider, chair of the Management D e p a r t m e n t , a n d
ELGIN POLO (MBA ’02) has been promoted to partner
in the accounting firm of Berenfeld, Spritzer, Schecter
and Sheer in Coral Gables.
CARLOS ANGEL REYES (BBA ’03) was recently promoted to district parts and service manager of Toyota Motor
Sales in West Caldwell, N.J. He lives in Hackettstown, N.J.
DAVID RODRIGUEZ (BBA ’04) works in the Mortgage
Middle Office of Lehman Brothers in New York City.
JENNA SANDOVAL (BBA ’05) is assistant content manager for Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Coconut Grove, Fla.,
where she works on the Volkswagen account with the
national brand team.
ERIC SCHREIBER (MBA ’04) is manager of electrical
services in the engineering group within Marine
Operations for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. He and his
wife recently celebrated the birth of their second child.
MARGARET (HEROLD) SIERDSMA (MBA ’01) is a marketing specialist at CB Richard Ellis in Santa Ana, Calif.
KANIKA TOMALIN (MBA ’01) has been promoted to director of corporate communications at Bayfront Medical
Center in St. Petersburg, Fla., where she also lives.
SHARON WEISS (MBA ’01) is manager for planning and
strategy for LNR Property in Miami Beach, Fla.
DOUGLAS J. YANNUCCI (MBA ’04) is the Wal-Mart team
leader in the sales and marketing national accounts
division of the R.G. Barry Corporation/The Dearfoams
Co. He recently moved to Columbus, Ohio.
THERESA MARIE YONG (MBA '03) is a retirement consultant with Lincoln Financial Group in Homestead, Fla.,
where she lives. She and her husband are expecting
their second daughter in September.
Paul K. Sugrue, PhD
Dean
Harold W. Berkman, PhD
Vice Dean
Graduate Business Programs
James W. Foley, PhD
Associate Dean
Undergraduate Academic Services
Mark A. Robinson
Chief Financial Officer
Faye M. Harris
Director
Alumni Relations
as examples of professors
whose superior teaching
skills and knowledge added
greatly to his educational
experience.
He especially loved the
camaraderie and diversity of
the group. A native of Cuba,
he bonded with his classmates from all over the
world, and went with 35 of
them to Las Vegas to celebrate their graduation.
That closeness is one of
the reasons Manrara is now a
walking billboard for
the program. “I would ab-
Director
Development
Linda K. Rump
Director
Sanford L. Ziff Graduate
Career Services Center
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of
the University
of Miami School
of Business
is to provide
an environment
in which the
creation and
dissemination of
business knowledge
can flourish.
OBITUARIES
ROBERT O.ADMIRE (BBA’83,JD’86) passed away on April
20, 2006. He is survived by his wife and three children,
his parents and five siblings. He lived in Pinecrest, Fla.
PHILIP B. BERMAN (BBA ’78) passed away on October
1, 2005. He is survived by his wife and two children. He
lived in New Windsor, N.Y.
RICHARD KAPLAN (BBA ’50) passed away on January
17, 2006. He lived in Randolph, Mass.
WILLIAM MERRILL (MBA ’62) passed away on April
10, 2006. He retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army after
30 years of service and lived in Springfield, Va. He was
buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
LUIS J. MONTERO (BBA ’35) passed away December 8,
2005, at the age of 90. He retired in 1989 as president
of the board of directors for La Vitalicia Insurance Co.,
and lived in Lima, Peru. He is survived by his wife, four
children and 15 grandchildren.
— Compiled by Stacey W. Betts
interesting and such a wonderful experience.”
—Jill Colford
DO YOU HAVE NEWS that you would like
to share with your friends and classmates?
E-mail us at alumni@exchange.sba.miami.edu or, if
you prefer, fax it to us at (305) 284-1569.
JEFFERY SALTER
solutely go back again,” he
says. “It was challenging and
COMMENTS ON THE MISSION
STATEMENT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO
PSUGRUE@MIAMI.EDU
Business Miami
4 2 Summer 2006
ACCOUNTING
Kay W. Tatum, Chair
Royce C. Burnett
Shirley Dennis-Escoffier
Diana Falsetta
Mark E. Friedman
Elaine Henry
Oscar J. Holzmann
Lawrence C. Phillips
Olga Quintana
Thomas R. Robinson
Avi Rushinek
Ya-Wen Yang
Connie Kazanjian
Steven Ullmann, also of the
Management Department,
FACULTY
ADMINISTRATION
BUSINESS LAW
Rene Sacasas, Chair
Patricia Abril
Anita Cava
Ann Morales Olazábal
COMPUTER
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Joel D. Stutz, Chair
Robert T. Grauer
Robert T. Plant
Peter Polak
Alexander P. Pons
Sara F. Rushinek
John F. Stewart
ECONOMICS
David L. Kelly, Chair
Serife Nuray Akin
Claustre Bajona-Xandri
Luca Bossi
Michael B. Connolly
Carlos Flores
James W. Foley
Laura Giuliano
Pedro Gomis-Porqueras
Shirley Liu
Luis Locay
Oscar Mitnik
Adrian Peralta-Alva
Tracy Regan
Philip K. Robins
Manuel Santos
FINANCE
Douglas R. Emery, Chair
Sandro Andrade
W. Brian Barrett
Gennaro Bernile
Thor W. Bruce
Timothy R. Burch
Larry A. Fauver
Andrea J. Heuson
Qiang Kang
William Landsea
Manfred H. Ledford
Xi Li
Ricardo J. Rodriguez
Tie Su
MANAGEMENT
Linda L. Neider, Chair
Harold W. Berkman
Cecily Cooper
John D. Daniels
Joseph Ganitsky
Haresh Gurnani
Vaidyanathan Jayaraman
Marc T. Junkunc
Burak Kazaz
Jeffrey L. Kerr
Duane Kujawa
Yadong Luo
Marianna Makri
John M. Mezias
Harihara Prasad Natarajan
Terri A. Scandura
Chester A. Schriesheim
Steven G. Ullmann
Ling Wang
Joshua Wu
William B. Werther Jr.
Yi Xu
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
Anuj Mehrotra, Chair
Ronny Aboudi
David Afshartous
Hernan Awad
Edward K. Baker III
Howard Seth Gitlow
Paulo Goncalves
Anito Joseph
Paul K. Sugrue
Tallys Yunes
MARKETING
Arun Sharma, Chair
Haipeng (Allen) Chen
David M. Hardesty
Joseph Johnson
Howard Marmorstein
Paulo Rocha e Oliveira
A. Parasuraman
Dan Sarel
Michael Tsiros
Joe Zhang
Shengui Zhao
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Fred M. Frohock, Chair
Benjamin G. Bishin
Merike Blofield
Louise Davidson-Schmich
June Teufel Dreyer
Jeffrey M. Drope
Elise Giuliano
George A. Gonzalez
James Kilpatrick
Casey Klofstad
Michael E. Milakovich
Donna E. Shalala
Oleg Smirnov
Charles A. Smith
Jonathan P. West

7757 Cover 1 - University of Miami School of Business

Transcription

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