CommonWealth Magazine - Summer 2004
Finance & Operations Management Class Notes
1950s - 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s
Claude B. Lavallee, Esq., ’80 lives in Groton. He is an attorney with Lavallee Law Office in Lexington, specializing in real estate, litigation, business matters, and estate planning.
Nicholas Poshkus ’80 was recently honored as Number 1 Agent for 2003 in New York State in Closed Commission with Coldwell Banker. George Slusser, President of Coldwell Banker, presented the award at the Company's annual Global Commercial Conference at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
John Elko ’82 of Lutz, FL is a pharmacist with Lesco Medisearch (temp pharmacy agency). After working for 12 years in finance, John attended Northeastern University in Boston and in 1996 earned his pharmacy degree. After graduation he moved to Kansas, where he lived and worked for almost 5 years. He has been married for 19 years to Cheryl Skribiski (UMass Amherst Engineering Class of 1985). They have two children, Catie (8) and Timothy (5).
Walter R. Josiah ’82 is president of AIG Equity Sales Corp, the institutional broker-dealer responsible for the distribution of AIG Global Investment Corp. products, including private placements, commercial paper, securities lending and a money fund. Walter, who holds an MBA degree from Fordham Univesity, has also begun working with the business development group in the launch and closing of private placement products. Working at AIG gives one an international perspective that is unmatched in all but a handful of companies, notes Walter, who has participated in projects in Japan, Taiwan, Kenya, and other countries.
Mark Kenney ’82 of Huntingdon Valley, PA is a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Trustee. He is currently working in Delaware as a bankruptcy attorney for his employer. The work is a blend of legal and corporate finance issues. Being able to analyze and understand complex finance issues, he notes, is enormously helpful in dealing with the legal issues.
Susan (Grout) Comeau ’84 of Middleton is Assistant Director, Office for Sponsored Programs at Boston College.
Robyn Huban ’84 of Dalton is a bookkeeper for many companies on location and at home. She and her husband, accounting graduate Martin Huban ’82, have two daughters and a son.
Linda O’Neal ’84 is Director, Retirement Services with MassMutual Financial Group in Springfield.
J. Scott Perkins ’84 lives in Worcester with his wife and two daughters. He is Master Console Supervisor with Allmerica Financial. He has been at Allmerica Financial since 1990, working in the telecommunications area.
Erica (Chenausky) Bodden ’85 writes, “After working for nine years as a credit manager and earning the professional designation of Certified Credit Administrator from the National Association of Credit Management, I “retired” from the work-force to be a stay-at-home mom, although I'm never home. I have served my community as president of Walter J. Paton School, a member of Paton's School Council, and as a town meeting member.”
Chris Brugo ’85 of Upper Brookville, NY is Director-Global Treasury with the Estee Lauder Companies Inc. He and his wife, Jenny Graham, have three children, Lara Leigh, age 14, Caroline, age 11, and Graham, age 8.
Scott Grady ’85 of Beverly Hills, MI is EVP of Technology Investment Partners LLC (TIP). He writes, “I moved to Michigan in 1990 to work for AT&T Capital's technology leasing division; in 1999 I left and went to a start-up (TIP), where I am today. I got married in 1993. We have three boys, ages 5, 7, and 9, who keep us busy. There are a few UMass SOM grads in Michigan—we talk about a road trip to Barsellotti’s, but never seem to get there.”
Julie Gerraughty Rubino ’85 of Andover is the owner of River Birch Development LLC. Before starting her own land development and home building business with her husband in 1998, Julie worked in sales for a sheet metal fabricator, for Wang Labs selling computers, and in real estate. “My finance degree has been a great stepping stone for my career as financial projections and estimations are such a big part of real estate development,” she writes. Julie and her husband have a daughter, Madeleine, who is less than a year old.
Stu Korn ’86 is Commercial Lines Producer with Rue Insurance. He has a daughter, Samantha, (11) and son, Max (8).
Donald Kramer ’86 of Trumbull, CT is President of Trans-Trade Inc.
Timothy P. Lyons ’86 of Milton is a surety bond manager with J. Barry Driscoll Insurance.
Lynne Maimon ’86 lives and works in Needham, where she is owner and designer of Bundles of Joy, an all-occasion gift basket business. For information about Bundles’ offerings, call 781-449-4660 or visit its website at www.ebundlesofjoy.com.
Kathy McWilliams ’86 of Newburyport is an accountant for the Newmarket School District. Kathy is mother of four children, actively involved in local politics, and a former school board member. She is currently working in a school district in NH.
Jennifer Neylon ’86 of Manhasset, NY is a vice president with Societe Generale.
Seth A. Reicher ’86 is Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer, Large Cap Equities at RCM. Seth, his wife, Susan, and daughter, Isabel, live outside of San Francisco in Kentfield, CA. Seth co-heads a team managing portfolios of large capitalization growth stocks, primarily for institutional investors.
George Duborg ’87 of West Chester, OH is FP&A Manager – Engine Services Global Operations with GE – Aircraft Engines. George has been married to Chrissy for 15 years. They have three boys, Christian (6), William (4) and Jacob (2).
Drew Hirschler ’87 is Branch Manager with Charles Schwab & Co. He lives in New City, NY, with his wife, Robin, and daughters, Nicole (11) and Carly (6). He is looking forward to his new position as branch manager of the New City office of Charles Schwab and would love to hear from old friends at drewrobnic@aol.com.
Steven Kohl ’87 of NYC is Head Trader/Analyst at Matador Capital. He recently got married and purchased a home that “keeps on giving.” Now into year 3 of remodeling, the Kohls are starting to wonder whether they are making their own version of the critically acclaimed film, Money Pit.
David Span ’87 lives with wife, Debra, and son, Alexander, in Mountain Lakes, NJ. He is SVP, Consumer services with Net2Phone. After a 12 year career with AT&T/NCR, he moved to Net2Phone in 1999, and currently manages all consumer products and marketing. After surviving the ups and downs of two difficult industries over the past 5 years (Internet and Telecom), Net2Phone is taking a leadership role in providing VoIP solutions around the world.
Robert J. Knizak ’88 of Georgetown, MA is Vice President-Investments with Wachovia Securities in Portsmouth, NH.
Joseph L. Demeo ’88 is President of Demeo & Associates, P.C. in Boston and lives in Manchester-by-the-Sea. Demeo & Associates, P.C. is a litigation law firm in downtown Boston. Founded by Joseph in 1997, the eight-attorney, highly-rated firm represents major financial institutions, public companies, medium and small businesses and some individuals in contract disputes, shareholder disputes, intellectual property, employment, bankruptcy and real estate litigation, and other areas.
Erik Katz ’88 lives in Sands Point, NY and is Senior Managing Director of The Blackstone Group in NYC.
Bob McDonald ’88 of Bloomfield Hills, MI is History Department Chair at Cranbrook Kingswood School. He writes that, “The rigorous education I received at the UMass business school has carried me far and wide in the corporate world and, for the past nine years, in the world of education. I am currently teaching economics at a college prep school and have established a non-profit company, which explores how e-learning can be used to enhance the classroom experience.” Bob and his wife, Claire ’94 Ph.D., have two children, Ming and Grace.
Steve Narey ’88 lives in Williamstown with his wife, Donna, and two sons. He is an attorney with Donovan & O'Connor, LLP, specializing in commercial and trust and estate law.
Eileen (Clinton) Schlegel ’88, of West Caldwell, NJ is Vice President, Process Management with Prudential Financial, Inc.
Karen Tibbetts (Coughlin) ’88 of Lenox is General Manager of Creative Gourmet at Tanglewood.
Christine (Withee) Denio ’89 of Evergreen, CO is Payroll Manager at ISEC, Inc.
Peter L. Eisen ’89 lives in Piscataway, NJ and is Manager of Prudential Fixed Income Compliance Department in Newark. He writes, “ I began my career at Prudential with the help of the then School of Business Co-Op Program at UMass. The summer Co-Op led to a full time position in accounting. After two years in accounting, I moved to insurance compliance and eventually into investment compliance. I have been with Prudential Financial for 15 years. I have a wonderful 7-year-old daughter, Alora.”
Todd Fruhbeis ’89 of Weston, CT is Managing Director/Equity Derivatives with Bear, Stearns & Co.
Heather Graf ’89 of Charlestown is a senior investment analyst with Fidelity Investments. “I have been married for the past 5 years to Mark Samuelson. Since graduating from UMass, I earned my MBA at Babson College and am now a CFA Charterholder.”
Keri Rogers ’89 of Natick is Director, Audit Services with Manulife Financial.
Jennifer A. (Hines) Sullivan ’89 lives in North Reading and is a senior business analyst with Fidelity Investments. She and her husband, Michael, who is VP of Finance at Segue Software, have two children, Nicole (5), and Lauren (2).
Robyn (Berger) Ulbrich ’89 is Vice President in External Reporting with Morgan Stanley. She lives in Yorktown Heights. Robyn and her husband, Jim, have a 20-month-old son, Jake, and are expecting a girl in October.
Joseph Wetzel ’89 of Tullahoma, TN is plant manager of IMCO Recycling, Inc. Joseph writes that he graduated with the second operations management class at the School and “still uses what I learned every day!”