Alumni Notes

’60s

John “Jack” McClean ’66 was honored by Providence Volunteer Fire Company for 50 years of continuous service.

’70s

Eric Billings ’77 has retired as CEO of Arlington Asset Investment Corp. (formerly known as Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group). 

John Fitzgerald ’77 was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at LGS Innovations.

Diana Gown ’77, MBA ’79, joined Deep Water Point as a Principal Consultant.  She will lead teams in support of both civilian and defense clients.

James Holzapfel ’71, managing director and investment officer of the Holzapfel Investment Group of Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, was ranked among Barron’s Top Financial Advisors for 2014.

Edward Karl ’75 was named in the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today.

Robin Norman ’77 was named CFO of the Year by Washington Business Journal.

Michael Middleton, MBA ’78, has been re-appointed to the College of Southern Maryland Board of Trustees.

Ken Rosenberg, MBA ’79, was appointed as U.S. sales director at Brown & Haley, a candy maker and distributor, known for their signature product, Almond Roca.

’80s

Julie Boughn ’85, MBA ’89, joined Cognosante as Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer.

Cindy Davis, MBA ’87, will be retiring as president of Nike Golf.

Theresa Daytner ’89 was named one of Fortune Magazine’s Ten Most Powerful Women Business Owners.

Dan Demmer ’89 joined the board of directors at DataXu, a leading provider of programmatic marketing solutions for brands and agencies.

Michelle Gray ’83 was named a real estate leasing consultant by Rory S. Coakley Realty of Rockville.

Teresa Halleck ’85 has been named president and CEO of San Diego County Credit Union, San Diego’s largest locally owned financial institution.

Peter Hotz, MBA ’88, joined the Board of Directors of ConnectYourCare, a national leader in consumer-directed health care account solutions.

Deborah Larkin, MBA ’81, was named Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Sandra Loder ’84 was selected as the next Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel for Symphony Performance Health.

Eileen Nguyen ’82 was named Controller of the Town of Leesburg, Virginia.

David Reiner ’81 has joined Levin Management as a vice president of leasing.

Judah Seidman, MBA ’84, joined ChainIQ as an Associate of Software Sourcing.  ChainIQ is an independent procurement company headquartered in Switzerland with offices in the UK, US, and Singapore, offering comprehensive end-to-end procurement solutions.

Kevin Smith ’82 was named CFO at the United Way of the National Capital Area.

Alan Spurgin, MBA ’87, joined Bridge Bank’s Technology Banking Division as Senior Vice President and Group Manager.

Gary Swart ’83 joined Polaris Partners as a Venture Partner.

’90s

Christopher Abbate, MBA ’97, joined Riverstone Holdings LLC, a leading energy and power-focused private equity firm as Managing Director.  In this role, he will spearhead the firm’s expansion into credit and capital markets activities.

Jim Bell, MBA ’97, was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Red Lion Hotels Corporation.

Andy Breton ’95 was appointed CFO at Symmetry, a SAP Services Partner certified in Hosting, Cloud, and SAP HANA Operations Services.

Jason Cohen ’96, Co-Founder of That’s How We Roll, LLC received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 Award in the Excellence in Emerging category in the New Jersey region.

Richard Dickson ’90 was appointed Chief Brands Officer at Mattel.  In this role he will lead the new global brand team, with oversight for worldwide brand strategy across the company’s portfolio of iconic brands.

Jennifer Flickinger ’93 was named a partner at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, where she is a member of the firm’s government contractor advisory services practice.

Dean Loventhal ’98 was elected partner at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, a commercial real estate law firm.

Kathryn D. Kneessi, MBA ’95, has sold two manuscripts to an NY publisher.  She writes novels under the pen name Kathryn Knight.

Rob McKinnon, MBA ’98, was recently named a Master Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation.  This is a designation held by less than 3% of professional executive coaches in the world.

Chris Perrone, MBA ’95, is Chief Operations Officer of Starline Group, an underwriting management company underwriting on behalf of Lloyd’s of London and Nationwide.

Idan Ravin ’92 was profiled in the New York Post for his book “The Hoops Whisperer: On the Court and Inside the Head of Basketball’s Best Players”.

Steve Robertson, MS ’96, MBA ’96, was admitted as a principal in PwC’s Assurance Services Practice.

Paul Schulman ’90 was named President and Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Commercial Operations at Brookfield Office Properties.

Natalia Sokolova ’98 joined EraStar, Inc. as a Vice President of Business Development.

Michael Strauss, CPA ’98, was appointed to the finance committee of the University of Maryland Hillel, College Park campus.

’00s

Clay Cardozo, MBA ’02, joined Wilmington Trust as a regional manager for Global Capital Markets.

Jeff Clayton, MBA ’05, was named a partner at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, where he is member of the firm’s government contractor advisory services practice.

Thomas Duncan ’06 joined Blank Rome LLP as an associate in the Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources practice.

Sherika Shaw Ekpo, MBA ’09, is now Lead Talent Acquisition in the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Dave Helmreich, MBA ’01, was appointed CEO of Audience Partners, the leading political and health care media, data and analytics platform.

Zohra Hemani, MBA ’09, was awarded the Emerging Leader award at the annual conference of the Society of Women Engineers.  She received this award for her active engagement in engineering and outstanding technical accomplishments.

Noah Kaufman, MBA ’06, recently started a new job as a Systems Accountant (Project Manager) at the US Department of State.  This position is a continuation of his federal career – he previously had worked as a Systems Accountant at DHS/US Coast Guard (civilian).  In addition, Noah is an adjunct professor at University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and recently received a promotion to Adjunct Associate Professor.  Noah also is a high school and youth wrestling coach.

Kyle Kaylor, MBA ’03, joined D.A. Davidson & Co., a full-service national investment banking firm, to launch the firm’s real estate investment banking team.

Samuel Kim ’02 was named head chef at 1789 Restaurant in Georgetown, one of D.C.’s last fine dining kitchens.

Jacob Perler ’07 developed an app Snaapiq, which was profiled in Tech Cocktail DC.

Erick Peters, MBA ’05, joined Cognosante as Vice President of Solutions Engineering.  Cognosante is a leading provider of Consulting, Technology and BPO services to healthcare organizations.

Brett Rogers, MBA ’02, is a member of the Baltimore Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2014.

Jigar Shah, MBA ’01, was appointed to the board of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.  He was also appointed to the sPower (Sustainable Power Group) Board of Directors.

Michael Sullivan ’01 was recently promoted to Managing Director at Gordon Brothers Group in Boston, MA.

Sean Wilson ’01 married Lorraine Spradley on August 16, 2014.

Alan Zang ’05 has been announced as Vice President of Finance and Operations at CustomerFirst Renewables.

Charlotte Zilke ’02 was selected as director of conventions at the Helicopter Association International.

’10s

Bray Creech, MBA ’11, has joined Joel Adams-Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. as a financial advisor.

Steven Feiner ’10 published a book called The Art of Resignation: Quit Without Burning Bridges. The book is designed for would-be entrepreneurs who are contemplating quitting their corporate jobs.

Michael Hickey, MBA ’12, will lead the new Washington-based office of Philadelphia-based Glenmede Trust. Glenmede Trust manages $29 billion for various institutions, foundations and individuals.

Victor Valdez, MBA ’14, has been named Chief Operating Officer and Managing Executive of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  He will oversee project management, information technology, human capital strategy, and risk management among other functions.