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Profile in Philanthropy: John N. Spinney Jr. '87
July 1, 2018
When Isenberg’s Accounting Department honored John N. Spinney, Jr. ’87 with its Lifetime Service Award in April, John paid homage to several of his former accounting professors. Those mentors, h
When Isenberg’s Accounting Department honored John N. Spinney, Jr. ’87 with its Lifetime Service Award in April, John paid homage to several of his former accounting professors. Those mentors, he remarked, helped him to launch and succeed in a dynamic career in accounting and financial services. Since 2007, John has excelled as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Bracebridge Capital, a Boston-based hedge fund that manages $10+ billion in assets. John got his professional start in financial services with KPMG, where he worked for 14 years and achieved partner status. He then transitioned to Senior Vice President and CFO with Investors Financial Services Corp in Boston.
The three educators who galvanized John’s career were professors Richard Simpson, James O’Connell, and Robert Lentilhon. Not only were they inspirational; they created a positive culture of excellence for several generations of Isenberg accounting majors to follow.
With the impact of his mentors in mind, John is two-thirds of the way home in creating endowed professorships in honor of all three. The plan, he explains, is to honor them through professorships that attract and ensure that same academic excellence in today’s Isenberg educators.
John launched the project a decade ago with his own financial contribution and by encouraging fellow alumni to follow suit in creating The Richard H. Simpson Endowed Professorship. More recently, he gave $250,000 to Isenberg toward The James P. O’Connell Professorship of Accounting.
Fellow accounting alumnus Paul Kelliher ’74 ’75 MBA also supported the professorship with a $250,000 gift. John is currently in discussions to lend financial support to a third professorship, in honor of Robert Lentilhon. And he recently pledged $1.5M in his estate to create a future John N. Spinney, Jr. Endowed Professorship in Accountancy.
“John has passionately emphasized the influence of Isenberg mentors on his career,” notes Christopher Agoglia, the current Richard H. Simpson Professor of Accounting. To John’s delight, Professor Simpson himself graced the most recent Isenberg Accounting Awards Banquet, in April. A decade ago, when Isenberg honored John as its Alumnus of the Year, he remarked, “Without Dick Simpson, I wouldn’t be here.” “I was a kid from Marlboro who believed in hard work. Everything you taught me Dick, I use every day in my work.”