Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business partners with The CFO Alliance as it expands into Connecticut

Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business partners with The CFO Alliance as it expands into Connecticut

More than 40 chief financial executives of area corporations are expected to convene at Fairfield University on Wednesday, June 10 when the Charles F. Dolan School of Business hosts its first event as academic partner of The CFO Alliance, an exclusive peer group of accounting and financial leaders.

The partnership with the Dolan School comes as The CFO Alliance expands its organization into Connecticut. Launched in Philadelphia in 2007, the Alliance was founded by finance and accounting executives to provide themselves with a networking platform to discuss critical opportunities and challenges. This year, the organization will expand through the northeast, south and western parts of the country, with new chapters slated for launch in Stamford, Boston and New York City.

A breakfast roundtable, taking place from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in the Dolan School of Business Dining Room, will center on the topic, "The Role of the CFO in Creating Shareholder Value." John McDermott, Ph.D., associate professor of finance, will lead the discussion. He serves as a member of the Investment Committee of Symmetry Partners in Glastonbury, Conn., and is responsible for the management of approximately $4 billion in client assets. The roundtable will focus on the ever-increasing problems faced by CFOs to produce in these nearly unprecedented financial times, and discussion will explore how the CFO position is changing from that of transaction manager to communicator and strategist.

Norm Solomon, Ph. D., dean of the Dolan School, said, "The CFO Alliance's choice of the Dolan School of Business as an academic partner is yet another indicator of the high regard the business community has for our programs, and in particular our finance programs. The Dolan School is delighted to host such an impressive assembly of finance professionals."

The Dolan School envisions the partnership as a great opportunity to engage regional corporations on the Fairfield campus. Robert P. Cottle, director of Corporate Relations at Fairfield, said, "Involving our corporate friends and supporters is important to the vitality of our campus life. By hosting this event, Fairfield can give something back that will benefit the corporate community."

Alliance members serve either in management or executive-level positions in publicly traded or privately held companies around the globe. "The exclusivity of our forums provide an atmosphere to our members such that they can freely dissect, discuss and debate those critical issues affecting them at that very moment," according to Nick Araco, Jr., of the CFO Alliance. "Our success is measured by our members who walk out with real solutions."

The event is being co-sponsored by the Dolan School, Fairfield County Business Journal, RSM McGladrey, the Connecticut Society of CPAs, and the Association for Corporate Growth.

For more information about the Dolan School of Business, visit http://www.fairfield.edu/dsb/

Posted On: 06-02-2009 10:06 AM

Volume: 41 Number: 348