Business Advisory Board

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Advisory Board Overview

The Advisory Board of the Dolan School of Business includes approximately 25 members with demonstrated knowledge, leadership, and professional experience in a particular field.‌‌

The Dolan School focuses its mission on providing excellent undergraduate and graduate programs for students regionally and nationally. Our efforts are directed at students seeking an education in business characterized by Catholic and Jesuit values and dedicated to:

A group photo of the business advisory board in 2016.
  • Professional competence
  • Ethical practice
  • Service to the community, especially to those in need of special advocacy
  • Commitment to the common good

As the Dolan School advances to a new era in collegiate business education leadership, it seeks the full participation of the Advisory Board in addressing the following goals:

  • Serve as advisors to the dean in identifying and analyzing broad issues, which transcend departmental or school boundaries and serve the comprehensive, long-range goals of the Dolan School. Such matters might include, but are not limited to:
    • Graduate business education
    • Management trends and strategies
    • Local, regional, and global business and industry issues
    • Other concepts that might favorably influence and impact the Dolan School of Business and its academic and outreach programs
  • Assist in identifying speakers and promoting the educational programs of the Dolan School of Business to achieve increased recognition on a national and international scale.
  • Assist the School in meeting its financial development needs through direct participation in the identification and cultivation of significant forms of support from individuals and organizations within its principal constituencies.
  • Act as a confidential sounding board to the dean on issues pertaining to the advancement of the School and the achievement of its vision.

 In addition, the Dolan School Advisory Board hosts "Career Night for DSB Students" each year. The evening is an opportunity for all Dolan School students to network with successful alumni and community members. View pictures from the 2014 event.

Board Members

Louis Albanese '76

President and Managing Partner
Catamount

Lou has over 35 years of investment management experience in the securities industry. Prior to founding Catamount, Lou was Senior Vice President and Founder of Constitution Capital Corp., an investment advisory firm. Prior to founding Constitution, Lou was a Senior Vice President with Prudential Securities in its Portfolio Management Services Program and a Senior Vice President with Paine Webber. Lou has held several security licenses: Series 7, 63, 65, 24, 4 and 5. He has a BS degree from Fairfield University. He serves on the Finance Committee of the Westport Historical Society. In his spare time, Lou enjoys playing golf, tennis and most of all studying the stock market. Lou resides in Fairfield with his wife, Linda, and their two sons.

  

Kevin Cannon '80

CEO
Zweig-DiMenna Associates LLC

Kevin is Chief Executive Officer of Zweig-DiMenna Associates, a New York based hedge fund adviser, a position he has held since 2000. He started with the firm as COO in 1998, after he was asked by his classmate and friend, Joe DiMenna '80, former University Trustee, to take on this new role. Kevin began his career at Deloitte after graduating from Fairfield in 1980 with a B.S. in Accounting. He was Partner in charge of the Connecticut tax practice prior to joining Zweig-DiMenna.

Kevin has been a member of the Fairfield Awards Dinner committee and a Director for the Connecticut Grand Opera. He has also been the director of the DiMenna Foundation since 2003 which supports organizations in the arts, education and those for the development of children. Kevin and his wife, Elaine live in Easton, CT with their 15-year old son Nicholas.

 

Richard Cerrone '76

Retired Corporate Officer and Senior Vice President
Xerox Corporation

Richard has over forty years of successful experience restructuring businesses and improving the performance of core operating units across the globe. He has a proven track record of growing revenue and profit, expanding channels of distribution and forming effective executive teams.

During his 40 year tenure with Xerox, he held senior executive management positions in sales, marketing, operations and strategy. Richard led a variety of businesses in North America, Europe and developing markets. He was part of the core leadership team during Xerox’s turnaround in the early 2000s, and retired as a corporate officer and senior vice president.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Niagara University. He holds a Master’s degree in communications from Fairfield University where he currently teaches a management course as an adjunct professor in the Dolan School of Business. Richard also teaches undergraduate and graduate business courses at Mount St. Vincent College in Riverdale, New York as an adjunct professor.

Richard is chair of the board of trustees for Cheshire Academy, Cheshire, Connecticut. He is a member of the business advisory board of Gridiron Capital, LLC, a private equity firm, New Canaan, Connecticut.  Richard is also a limited partner in the Gridiron Strategic Partners Fund. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Engage2Excel Company, a Gridiron Capital Portfolio Company.

 

Frank Chechile '85

Former Chief Executive Officer
Parallel Infrastructure

Frank is a former Chief Executive and business leader who has served in a variety of roles in multiple industries around the world.  Most recently, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Parallel Infrastructure, a national leader in right-of-way real estate management and infrastructure development.  Frank joined Parallel in 2012, when it was in its infancy, and guided the firm through its transition from real estate manager to a leading mid-sized, nationwide communications tower developer and operator. 

Prior, Frank served in a number of roles in the information technology services industry, with both Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Services unit and Electronic Data Systems (EDS).   Frank’s early career experience in the telecommunications industry afforded him the opportunity to earn and manage some of the firm’s multi-billion dollar business relationships with large telecommunications operators around the world, while living and working in Europe and Australia for ten years.  Upon returning to the U.S. in 2008, he took the helm of the company’s State and Local Enterprise Services division, overseeing the integration of a significant acquisition and spearheading the unit’s substantial growth in the U.S. state and local government marketplace for information technology services.  During this time, Frank also served as a director of some of the company’s subsidiaries in multiple countries.

Frank graduated from Fairfield University in 1985 with a BS in mathematics and a concentration in computer science.  He received an M.C.I.S. degree from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and completed an executive development program at the London Business School.

 

Hugh Davis '95

Managing Partner
Critical Mix, Inc.

Hugh is a Managing Partner at Critical Mix, formerly known as reInvention – a global market research survey solutions company headquartered in Westport, CT.  Hugh co-founded reInvention in July 2011 with the goal of building a business to transform the survey solutions industry.  In January 2013, reInvention acquired Critical Mix and Authentic Response and later rebranded the combined companies as Critical Mix.

Prior to Critical Mix, Hugh was the Chief Strategy Officer at Toluna where he was also part of the executive leadership team.  Toluna acquired the ISS division of Greenfield Online from Microsoft in July of 2009.

Prior to Toluna, Hugh held numerous leadership roles at Greenfield Online/Ciao Surveys.  In 1994, working for Andy Greenfield, Hugh helped to create Greenfield Online.  From 1994 to 2010, Hugh was part of the executive leadership team.  He played a significant role in transforming the business from a two-person start-up in 1994 into a global, 600+ employee, publicly traded company (Nasdaq: SRVY) and ultimately the sale of the business to the Microsoft Corporation in the fall of 2008.

 

Sue Davis-Gillis

Senior Vice President
General Manager of Consumer Banking
Synchrony Financial 

Sue is the leader of the Consumer Banking Platform for Synchrony.   In this role she leads the overall business for our direct to consumer Retail Deposits and General Purpose Card portfolios.  In addition, Sue is the leader for the Women’s Diversity Network.  Prior to this role, Sue was the CMO for the GE Capital Retail Bank responsible for the marketing strategy and program execution.  Sue rejoined Synchrony in October 2012, after a brief stint at Capital One where she served as CEO for the Philippines Operations and as a key member of the transition team during the sale of the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) Canadian portfolio.  Prior to this limited term role, Sue has been in various senior-level positions within GE since 2003.  Most notably, she led the RF Canadian Card Business and RF’s Customer Solutions Division.  Prior to joining GE, Sue worked at Citibank, where she served as Vice President for its Federal Savings Bank (FSB), its Northern Europe division and its Credit Services group.  Before joining Citibank, Sue was a Vice President and Branch Administrator at Gateway Bank in Connecticut.

Sue earned her BA at Denison University, MBA from Fairfield University, her Graduate Banking Diploma from the National School of Banking and is also Six Sigma Green Belt Certified.  Sue, her husband Paul and their two daughters live in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

 

Thomas J. Fanning, Sr. '78 P'10, P'06

(Board Chair)
Heritage Strategies LLC
Founder and Co-Managing Partner

Tom is Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Heritage Strategies LLC and is widely recognized as a leading expert in the field of estate and business continuity planning bringing over 30 years of experience to the position. He is also Co-Managing Partner of Heritage Solutions LLC and F&F Ventures LLC. Tom, a 1978 Fairfield University graduate and certified estate planner, began his career within the I.F.D. division of CIGNA, a $60 billion financial services leader.

Recognizing that his high net worth clientele desired more sophisticated and focused estate planning, Tom partnered with two former CIGNA colleagues in 1990 and established one of the top national life insurance brokerage firms in the country representing some of America's most prominent families. In 2002, Tom’s former partnership was acquired by National Financial Partners, a NYSE listed company, where he remained as President until reacquiring his practice and establishing Heritage Strategies in 2009.

Tom lectures extensively for major corporations, insurance companies, and prominent accounting and law firms on such topics as the implementation of sophisticated estate planning structures and strategic business planning techniques.

In addition to Tom’s estate and insurance practices, he partnered with a long-time friend and banking icon, James R. Fitzgerald, to develop private equity and real estate ventures. These include, but are not limited to; acquiring, re-zoning and developing Roosevelt Raceway into an active adult community with 720 luxury units; acquiring and developing The Market at Town Creek Shopping Center located in Lenoir City, Tennessee; Founder and Board Member of Gold Coast Bank; Advisory Board Member and equity holder of ROAR Beverages LLC ; and facilitating for royalties the launch of Arizona's Golden Bear drink.

Tom is devoted to philanthropic endeavors, currently serving as Vice Chairman of the Foundation Board at St. Francis Hospital, Chairman of the Dolan School Advisory Board and on the Chairman’s committee for SCO Family of Services.

 

John J. Glassford '85

VP Finance
Corr Jensen

John is the Vice President for Finance at Corr Jensen, a rapidly growing consumer packaged goods company that designs, produces, sells, and markets nutritional products in the supplement, food, and beverage categories. Prior to joining Corr Jensen, John was Director of Finance at Elizabeth Arden from 2008 – 2014, Vice President, Financial Planning and Analyst at Atkins from 2004 – 2007, Director of Finance at Maybelline Garnier, a subsidiary of L’Oreal from 2003 – 2004, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Acirca from 2000 – 2003 and Sales Finance Manager at Danone, a French multinational food-products corporation based in Paris from 1997 – 2000. John graduated from Fairfield University in 1985 with a BS in finance and received his MBA from Fordham in 1989. His wife, Patti Glassford has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2006 and currently serves on the Strategy Marketing and Enrollment, and Finance and Audit Committees. While at Fairfield, John was awarded the Quick and Reilly Award for Excellence in Finance.

 

William F. Greenwood '81, P'11

Managing Director
Meridian Asset Management

Bill is an accomplished and well respected financial industry executive with over 25 years of experience and a successful record of business development, portfolio management & trading, global treasury management and regulatory compliance. Bill has extensive experience in global treasury management, asset/liability management, private equity, business start-ups, and system implementation. He currently serves as Chief Investment Officer at AH Salce Investments, a Naples, FL family office. Prior to that he co-managed a leveraged global macro portfolio across interest rates, equities, currencies, and commodities. Bill served as Chief Compliance Officer Reval SDR, Inc., a Dodd-Frank related derivatives reporting start-up. He also led project management teams in the implementation of a treasury and risk management system. He was recruited by The Carlyle Group in 2006 as part of a management team to provide leadership in the development and implementation of a publicly listed permanent capital vehicle. He served as a Managing Director and portfolio manager for Carlyle Capital Corporation.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Bill served as First Vice President in the Global Treasury Department of Merrill Lynch where he managed the firm’s $40 billion liquidity and collateral portfolios. He worked closely with the global funding team in managing the risk of the $100 billion debt portfolio. Bill served on Merrill’s Asset and Liability Committee (ALCO). Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 1999, Bill served as a Vice President and U.S. Government bond trader at NationsBank, predecessor to Bank of America. Bill started his career at Chemical Bank, predecessor to JPM Chase in the U.S. Government and Agency bond department as a trader. He is a graduate of Fairfield University with a BA in Economics and received an MBA from Northeastern University.

 

Neal D. E. Griffin '91

Senior Managing Director
Head of Institutional Equity Trading
Institutional Strategy and Investment Group, Inc.

Neal has been with ISI for 16 years and has been instrumental in expanding the company from 19 to 120 employees. ISI is a macro-economic based research firm and also has a separate money management group that manages over $1.5 billion for individual investors and endowments. ISI have 232 employees globally with headquarters in New York and offices located in Boston, Fairhope, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Raleigh, San Francisco, Shanghai, St. Louis and Washington DC.

 

Douglas W. Hammond '86

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
National Financial Partners

Doug joined NFP in November 1999 and has served as Chairman since July 2013, Chief Executive Officer since May 2013 and President since April 2012. Mr. Hammond served as NFP’s Chief Operating Officer from April 2008 until May 2013. In addition, Doug served as NFP's Executive Vice President and General Counsel from January 2004 to June 2008 and as NFP's Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel from December 2002 to January 2004. Prior to joining NFP, Doug was an attorney with the law firm LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae, LLP, where he represented NFP's capital sponsor prior to NFP’s formation. Earlier in his career, Doug held various legal and business positions in the financial institutions division of Gulf Insurance Group, Inc., a specialty lines insurance company. Doug serves on the Board of Directors of Institutional Life Services, LLC. He received his BA from Fairfield University and JD from St. John's University School of Law.

 

Elaine Hughes

CEO
E.A. Hughes & Co.

Elaine is the most trusted and successful professional in the consumer products executive search industry. For 25 years, the largest retailers and consumer products companies have turned to her in management crises and for her expertise in long-term management team building strategy.

Elaine's credentials include years of real experience both on the inside and on the consulting/executive search side of the industry. This combination of experience has honed Elaine's well-known ability to grasp the real needs of a business and match the executive candidate who has both the style and experience needed to create a winning fit.

After graduating from Hunter College, Elaine joined Springs Industries in 1976 as the first female account executive in the Company's apparel fabrics division. Springs realized Elaine's potential and she went on to receive her MBA degree in 1980 from Sacred Heart University. Elaine went on to marketing positions in the textile industry with Malden Mills and Blue Ridge Winkler textiles. In 1991, after a term as partner in the executive search firm of Bader Hartley, Elaine founded E.A. Hughes & Company.

Elaine was named Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year in 1996 by the Fairfield County Girl Scout Council. She is a three-term board member of Women in Management, where she initiated two programs: The WIM Scholarship Fund, which offers financial assistance to women who are attending college, working and raising families, and the WIM Mentorship Program, which assists high school teenagers with positive role models from business.

Elaine is also on the board of JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).  She is a former board member of the Baseball Express Catalog Company in San Antonio, TX. Most recently, Elaine was a featured speaker on Fashion and the Internet in Florence, Italy.

E.A. Hughes & Co. has been named to the Forbes Best Executive Recruiting Firms List for 2018 as the 11th Best Executive Recruiting firm in the US.

 

Adrienne A. Johnson '91

Managing Director & Chief Audit Executive
AXA US 

Adrienne is Managing Director and Chief Audit Executive for AXA US.  As the Chief Audit Executive, Adrienne is responsible providing independent and objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve AXA US's operations. Adrienne and the Internal Audit team bring a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluating the effectiveness of governance, risk management and internal control processes that management has enacted, as well as managing fraud investigations, including driving fraud awareness and prevention. In this role she reports directly to the Audit Committee of the AXA Equitable Board of Directors, and to AXA Group Audit, and administratively to the AXA Equitable Chief Financial Officer.

Adrienne has held several leadership positions since joining AXA  in 1999, including Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Vice President and Chief of Staff in the Office of the CEO, and Vice President, Market & Product Development.  In 2013 Adrienne received the AXA Group Chairman’s Award for outstanding individual performance and achievement.

Prior to joining AXA, Adrienne was with Enterprise IG, a part of the WPP Group where she focused on post-merger and post-divestiture integration work for financial services, insurance, manufacturing and agricultural clients. Adrienne has also held positions at AIG Trading Group, Morgan Stanley, and Shearson Lehman Brothers.

Adrienne earned a BS from Fairfield University and an MBA from The Stern School of Business at New York University and is a member of the Women’s Bond Club.

 

Kenneth M. Kleban

President
Kleban Properties

Kenneth M. Kleban is a graduate of Duke University. A former partner in J. Gerber & Co., of New York City, Mr. Kleban spent the early part of his career in international trade finance. In this capacity, he traveled extensively throughout West Africa, The Far East, and The Caribbean. In 1994, Mr. Kleban was appointed by US Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor to serve on the Industry Sector Advisory Committee on Small & Minority Business for Trade Policy Matters.

Mr. Kleban went on to become US Trade Representative for the province of Saskatchewan, a trade consultant to the East Williamsburg Valley Industrial Development Corporation, and founder of his own Export Finance Company, Connecticut Intermodal Associates, Inc.

During this time, Mr. Kleban served for many years as an Adjunct Professor at Baruch College and the Zicklin School of Business within The City University of New York.

In 2004, Mr. Kleban joined the family real estate business with his father Albert and has overseen the vast growth of that business.

Mr. Kleban is a Connecticut State Certified Firefighter and a 14 year veteran of the Weston Volunteer Fire Dept. He is very active in local civic affairs as founder and board Member of FAME, Fairfield Accelerator and Mentoring Enterprise. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport and is a member of the Advisory Board to the Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University.

 

Thomas N. Kushner '86

Managing Director, Senior Relationship Manager
Global Institutional Capital Group
Wells Fargo Securities  
Wells Fargo & Company

Tom is a managing director and senior relationship manager in the Global Institutional Capital Group covering key clients in Boston and New York.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo Securities, Tom was an MD and Senior Relationship Manager with UBS where he covered some of UBS’ top institutional clients. Tom was also Deputy Head of Foreign Exchange Distribution at UBS and a trustee of UBS’ Political Action Board. Prior to that, Tom was with AIG Financial Products as an MD in Investor Marketing and held positions at Chase Manhattan Bank and TIAA-CREF.

Tom is a member of the Board of Directors of the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation where he serves as Chair of the Development Committee. He a volunteer with American Corporate Partners, a veteran’s mentoring organization. Tom is also a former board member of Junior Achievement of Southwest Connecticut where he served 10 years as a student mentor.

Tom earned a BS from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut and an MBA. from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor where he was a Little Family Fellowship recipient. Tom holds Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses, is a FINRA Dispute Resolution Arbitrator, and is a member of the CFA Institute.

Tom is married with three children and lives in New Canaan, CT.

 

Tom Luglio ’86, P `18

Managing Director, Head of Prime Services Sales
Barclays Capital, Inc. 

Mr. Luglio is a Managing Director, and joined the firm in September 2008 from Lehman Brothers, where he was Head of Capital Markets Financing Sales within Prime Services. He was also responsible for managing sales activity for the Global Central Banks across Fixed Income Products. His previous responsibilities also included managing Short Term Credit Sales at Lehman Brothers.

Mr. Luglio joined the firm in 1987 after beginning his career at Drexel Burnham Lambert.

Mr. Luglio holds a BA from Fairfield University and sits on the board of Equilend LLC.

 

Shelagh Mahoney ’87

President
Eastern Salt Company, Inc.

Shelagh is the CEO and owner of Eastern Salt Company, Eastern Minerals Inc., and Atlantic Salt Company – all salt distribution companies on the east coast of the United States. The company is a family business which was created in 1954.

She has over 25 of experience in the salt industry and is the Director of Compania Minera Cordillera SCM (CMC), a salt mining company in the Atacama Desert in Chile; Director of Terminal Maritimo Patache SA (TMP), a port company in Northern Chile; and Director of Irish Salt Mining & Exploration Company Ltd, a salt mining and distribution company in Northern Ireland.

Shelagh is a Fairfield alumna from the class of 1987 and graduated with a BA in economics. She received her MBA in 1991 from Babson College with a concentration in international business. She is an active supporter of the Nobel Maritime Museum in Staten Island, NY; the Boys and Girls Club of Chelsea, Mass.; the Boston Harbor Association, a non-profit that promotes a clean and accessible Boston Harbor; St. Patricks’ Church Lowell Restoration project, and the Academy of Notre Dame.

A native of Lowell, Mass., Shelagh resides in Lowell with her husband Joe McNamee and their five children Molly, Sean, Michael, Leo and Kate. Molly is a member of the Class of 2018.

 

Joan Makara '74

VP Global Risk Operations – Consumer Finance
General Electric(retired)

Joan graduated Fairfield University in 1974 after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.  She began her career at GE in one of their Industrial Businesses on the Financial Management Program and has held numerous finance leadership roles in GE and GE Capital spanning corporate staff, capital markets and commercial equipment finance and consumer finance.  In 1996 she led a GECC corporate sponsored initiative to identify new internal business ventures. In 2001 she assumed a leadership role in GECC’s Global Risk Management HQ staff leading several strategic initiatives to develop and strengthen portfolio oversight and economic capital analyses. In 2009 she assumed her current role in Consumer Finance focused on managing mortgage and other consumer loans through the global financial crisis.

Today Joan continues in Consumer Finance Credit Risk Management and is responsible for consumer lending credit policy, risk appetite, and developing the infrastructure necessary in an increasing and more demanding regulatory environment.

 

Lindsay Muldoon '04

Vice President 
Corporate & Institutional Services
Business Development
Northern Trust - New York/CT 

Lindsay Muldoon is a Sales Manager in Northern Trust's Corporate & Institutional Services group responsible for new business development within our Global Fund Services (GFS) business.   Lindsay works with clients and prospects to identify fund administration, outsourcing and global custody services for investment managers, and fund sponsors.  She also participates actively in product development and innovation efforts in support of our institutional products and services.

Prior to her current role, Lindsay served as a Sales Analyst, Subject Matter Expert of NTHFS’ Passport system and Relationship Manager. As the principal point of contact for NTHFS clients, Lindsay was both advisor and advocate, working to support day to day servicing and coordinating the activity of operations and accounting teams to help customize our deliverables around client needs. Her experience as a Relationship Manager gives Lindsay a depth of understanding both into the operational aspects of hedge fund administration as well as the capabilities and controls across NTHFS’ capabilities.

Previously, Lindsay worked as a Senior Analyst, Client Service Representative in the Equities Division of Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing.

Lindsay received her BS in Finance from the Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University, where she played Field Hockey and was the team captain in 2004.

 

Stephen Pilch '83

Managing Director
Stockbridge

Stephen focuses on the management and oversight of Stockbridge’s opportunity fund investments and its operating partners as well as the day-to-day operations of Stockbridge. He has over 30 years of real estate industry experience and has worked extensively in asset management, portfolio management, capital markets, property development and acquisitions. Prior to joining Stockbridge, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Divco West Properties (Divco) where he was responsible for the oversight of all the operations at Divco and its Page Mill Properties Fund, including investment services, asset management, property management, construction management, leasing and marketing. Stephen has previous experience as a Senior Vice President at Cornerstone Properties, a national real estate investment trust, and as Managing Director in charge of West Coast Real Estate Investments at Aetna Life & Casualty. He holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University and a B.S. in Finance from Fairfield University. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and a former member of the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center at the University of California. 

Stephen serves on the Board of the San Mateo County Economic Development Association and the Leadership Council for AIM High, a San Francisco based school program for underserved middle school youth.

 

Tom Sciametta, ‘96

Partner
Ernst &Young LLP

Tom is an assurance partner with 18 years of auditing, accounting and business advisory experience. He has served high-growth public and private audit clients, primarily in the media and entertainment and professional services sectors. Tom has assisted clients in public and private stock and debt offerings and has advised clients on business, accounting and regulatory issues.  Tom has also worked with start-up and entrepreneurial companies as well as global organizers.

Over the past five years, Tom has served as one of EY/s subject matter experts in accounting for business combinations, consolidation, dispositions and intangible assets. Tom has served as coach and mentor to dozens of younger professionals at EY over the years.

Tom served as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Impairment Task Force responsible for the publication of the AICPA Accounting and Valuation Guide, Testing Goodwill for Impairment.

Tom is a Certified Public Accountant in New York and a member of the AICPA.  Tom received a Bachelor of Science degree from Fairfield University in both accounting and information systems.

 

Kevin C. Shea '87 

Managing Director
Goldman Sachs

Kevin is a salesperson in the Interest Rate Products Group. He worked for 12 years as a trader on the US Government Trading desk. In 1999, he moved to London Fixed Income Sales, focusing on the Central Bank franchise. Kevin returned to New York in 2003 to join the Interest Rate Product Sales team, covering official institutions and macro hedge funds. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1987 and was named managing director in 2010.

Kevin served for three years as a member of the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus Zoning Board of Adjustment and is serving a three-year elected term as a member of the Town Council. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University.

Kevin earned a BA in Economics and English from Fairfield University in 1987. He lives in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, with his wife and three daughters.

 

Steven Siwinski '92

Partner
High Road Capital Partners

Steve is a Partner at High Road Capital Partners, a $470 million private equity firm focused on buying and building leading middle market companies.  Steve is responsible for working with portfolio company management teams to formulate and implement financial best practices, value creation initiatives, and add-on acquisition integration plans across High Road’s portfolio companies with the goal of achieving excellence in financial operations.  Steve brings to High Road a unique combination of private equity, corporate finance, public accounting and advisory experience. 

Prior to joining High Road, he was a Finance Operating Partner at Marlin Equity Partners where he led due diligence and transition activities on new investments, provided interim financial leadership to portfolio companies, and advised portfolio company CEOs, CFOs and boards on strategic initiatives.  Prior to Marlin, Steve was the Vice President of Finance and Strategy at The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) where he was a member of the senior management team, advised the chairman and CEO on corporate-wide strategic initiatives, and served as CFO for one of Hain’s newly acquired high growth divisions.  Steve was also a Managing Director at FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) where he worked on the GM bankruptcy and led various advisory projects for private equity firms.  Steve began his career at Ernst & Young, where he rose to the level of Partner in the transaction advisory services practice and worked with private equity firms and their portfolio companies.  While at Ernst & Young, he was also a member of the risk management committee responsible for new firm guidelines and co-leader of the middle market private equity initiative in New York. 

Steve received a BS in accounting and finance from Fairfield University and an MBA. in finance and management strategy from the Stern School of Business at New York University where he was a stern scholar and graduated with honors.  He is a CPA in New York and Pennsylvania.  He has previously served on the board of the Montclair United Soccer Club and on the sponsorship board of the New York Private Equity Network.  Steve has spoken on private equity, corporate finance and M&A related topics for a variety of industry and educational organizations.

 

Christopher J. Stephens, Jr., CPA

Board Member and Retired Public Company CFO 

In 2023 Chris retired from the senior leadership position as SVP and CFO of Sealed Air (SEE). SEE generated $5.6 billion in sales in 2022, with approximately 17,300 employees who serve customers in 120 countries/territories. Chris’ leadership responsibilities included corporate finance, accounting, treasury, tax, investor relations, operations finance, business analysis and planning, and global shared services. Prior to joining SEE in 2021, he served as SVP and CFO of Barnes Group from 2009 to 2020. Prior to Barnes Group, Chris had more than 20+ years of experience with Fortune 500 companies including Honeywell, The Boeing Company, AlliedSignal, and Ingersoll-Rand.

Chris currently serves on the Board of PGT Innovations, a national leader in the premium window, door, and garage door industry. Previously, he served as Chair of the Manufacturers Alliance CFO Council, was a member of the Connecticut Business Industry Association (CBIA) Board of Directors, and was a member of Loyola Marymount University’s Business School Advisory Board based in Los Angeles, CA. A Certified Public Accountant, he also holds a master’s in business from Virginia Tech’s Pamplin School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from King’s College. Chris and his wife Sita reside in Charlotte, NC.

 

Kevin Walsh '82

Managing Director and Group Head Power & Renewable Energy
GE Energy Financial Services

Kevin leads GE Energy Financial Services' Power and Renewable Energy group, which invests in thermal and renewable energy projects and also engages in venture investing in energy. Renewable energy has been a strategic growth initiative at the GE unit since 2006. Under Kevin's leadership, GE has invested more than $7 billion globally in projects generating power from wind, sun, biomass, water, geothermal and other renewable energy sources.

Kevin's group also makes investments in thermal electricity-generating, transmission and distribution assets. The GE business unit holds investments in power projects with a capacity to produce nearly 30 gigawatts, equivalent to the installed generating capacity of Norway.

Kevin serves on the board of directors of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), is a member of the Leadership Council of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), is a member of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and is a frequent speaker at universities and energy conferences on energy project and venture investing. He is also a member of GE Chairman Jeff Immelt's ecomagination Advisory Board.

Previously, Kevin was responsible for the management of GE Energy Financial Services' $20 billion global portfolio of energy investments. Since joining GE Capital in 1990, Kevin has held leadership positions in International, Capital Markets, Industrial and Asset Management. Prior to 1990, he held positions with GE Trading, GE Aviation and GE Corporate. He is a graduate of General Electric's Financial Management Program (FMP) and, following graduation, became the Global Program Manager for FMP.

Kevin graduated cum laude in 1982 from Fairfield University, where he received a BS in Business Management and was the recipient of the Richard B. Curtis Award for outstanding achievement in Management. He is a member of the President's Circle at Fairfield University and has served on the committee for the Fairfield Awards Dinner.

Kevin is co-founder and past president of the Fairfield Wildcats Youth Football League and an active supporter of the Kennedy Center (Trumbull, CT) and the Pan-Mass Challenge cycling fundraiser for cancer research. Kevin lives in Fairfield, CT with his wife Sandy and their two boys, Kyle and Cory.

 

Joseph F. Walton '75

Senior Vice President, Global Enterprise Services Operations and Integration Management
EMC Corporation

Joseph is Senior Vice President of Global Enterprise Services (GES) Operations and Integration Management at EMC Corporation. With revenues of $23.2 billion in 2013 and 67,000 people worldwide, EMC is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping customers to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset—information—in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way.

Joseph is responsible for driving GES operations to optimize efficiency, revenue growth and profitability. He works with the rest of the GES leadership team to execute successful cross functional initiatives smoothly across business units within GES and across EMC as a whole. Under his supervision, the End to End Process teams are focused on driving increased customer value, operational efficiencies and time to value by re-architecting enterprise-wide end to end processes. Walton also guides the Office of Operational Excellence, which works with business units across EMC to identify and diagnose productivity opportunities, drive and monitor transformation projects, and identify, share, and install best practices. 

Joseph represents GES among key internal and external stakeholders, including customers and partners. Under his supervision, the National Security Team ensures that EMC’s products, business practices and service offerings are aligned with requirements of the United States Government and global critical infrastructure clients. He also manages EMC’s Integration Management Unit, responsible for the integration of acquired companies into the larger EMC organization. At EMC, he has overseen the development of EMC’s integration playbook, which has become standard procedure for more than 90 technology company acquisitions by EMC since then, helping to make EMC’s M&A track record a best practice that has won accolades from financial analysts and others in the industry.

Previously, Joseph led EMC's global Human Resources practice for Global Enterprise Services Organization, including leadership, employee development and talent acquisition to ensure the availability of world-class talent to drive EMC's success. Walton has held numerous other senior executive positions at EMC leading highly effective global teams in customer and professional services, operations, new business development and merger and acquisition integration.

Prior to joining EMC in 1999, he spent 25 years with Unisys Corporation, an important EMC partner, where he established himself as a leader in the sales and services business. He served in numerous senior positions including Vice President and General Manager for the Unisys Global Customer Services division in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He successfully established a European consultancy practice, helped launch Unisys’s managed services business, and was recognized with the Chairman’s Excellence in Management Award.  He holds a degree in modern languages from Fairfield University and completed additional coursework at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the New York School of Finance, and Babson College.

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