September Class Notes

We welcome announcements of new jobs, promotions, board positions, marriages and family additions. Please visit our online submission form to share your news. You can also use this form to request your copy of the Whitman biannual magazine via email rather than in print. To update your address or contact details, please visit https://securealumni.syr.edu.

NEW POSITIONS AND PROMOTIONS:

Michael Margolis ’85: Partner, Dalton & Finegold, LLP

Kathleen Barnes MBA ’91: Dean, Bertolon School of Business at Salem State University

Edward Barno ’91 MBA: Board of Directors, Crouse Health System

Beth Brown ’93: Director of Supply Chain & Procurement, Reed’s Inc

Anthony Berger ’95 MBA: Treasurer, Board of Trustees of Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School

Brooke Kaplan ’98: Director of Marketing, Darn Tough Vermont

Alyssa (Colonna) Young ’03 (WHIT/NEW): Vice President and Director of Digital Marketing, KickCharge Creative

Latin Suneja ’09 MBA: Managing Director, Guggenheim Securities

Natasha (Olejar) Bailey ’14: Regional Account Manager, Community Coffee

Joseph Simek ’15: Social and Events Manager, Virgin Hyperloop One

Robert (Jay) Dietz ’16 MBA: Assistant Director of Graduate Recruitment, Syracuse University School of Information Studies

Lester Sandres Rápalo ’17 MBA: Dean, Elizabeth Campus at Union County College

Stephen Bolen ’18 MBA: Director of Digital Operations, Emerson

Eli Carter ’18: Marketing coordinator, The Chefs’ Warehouse

Kim (Ross) Jackson: Senior Director, Creative Merchandising at J. Jill

Kelli Valade: President and Chief Executive Officer, TDn2K LLC

 

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS:

Chad Bender ’05 (WHIT/NEW) and Elizabeth Vasek were married on June 2 at Red Maple Vineyard in West Park, New York.

 

 

 

Joshua Fishman ’12 and Emily (Sherrin) Fishman ’12 were married on September 2 in Philadelphia. Josh and Emily met at Whitman and served as ENACTUS project leaders together.

 

 

 

 

Robert (Jay) Dietz ’16 MBA married Margaret Lee ’13 BFA.

 

AWARDS & ACCOLADES:

The debut novel of Leah DeCesare ’12, FORKS, KNIVES, AND SPOONS, which is set in 1988 at Syracuse University, has been recognized with eight awards.
-2018 International Book Awards Winner in Fiction
-2017 IAN Book of the Year Award for Outstanding Women’s Fiction
-2017 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal for New Adult Fiction
-2017 NYC Big Book Awards Winner for Women’s Fiction
-2017 National Indie Excellence Book Awards Winner: Contemporary Fiction
-2017 National Indie Excellence Book Awards Finalist: Women’s Fiction
-2017 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorites: New Fiction
-2017 Best Book Awards Finalist: Best New Fiction

 

IN THE MEDIA:

Mike Whittier, co-founder and CEO of FloQast, was featured in the Journal of Accountancy in “Ask the expert: Month-end close.”

 

KEEPING IN TOUCH:

Neal Schack ’96 is part of the Finance and Risk Infrastructure (FRI) group at Citi Bank in Long Island City, New York, specifically on a team called Data Services where he is the Data Quality Infrastructure Transformation lead. Schack joined Citi Bank in 2013 after 15 years at Merrill Lynch where he supported Mortgage Finance Product Control and several key Finance and Accounting Projects. He will be celebrating 15 years of marriage to his wife Jennifer. Together, they have two children, Corey (12) and Leah (8).