Class Notes
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Please note: Individuals are listed in Class Notes according to the year of their most recent School of Management degree.
1960s
Paul A. Willax, MBA '67, was promoted to the rank of major general in the New York Guard.
Donald Franklin, MBA '69, retired after more than 30 years of working with federal government agencies, including the government accountability office. He and his wife have relocated to New Hampshire where they are building a house on Newfound Lake.
Gerard T. Mazurkiewicz '69 was appointed to the board of directors at Graham Corp. He is a partner at Dopkins & Company LLP.
1970s
Peter B. Babiarz '71, MBA '73, was appointed executive vice president and chief credit officer at Greater Buffalo Savings Bank.
Thomas J. Simpson '73 was appointed senior manager in theaudit department at Lumsden and McCormick.
Gary M. Bona '74 was named director of Medicare for Fidelis Care.
Joseph S. Iannello '74 was named chief financial officer at Chakra Communications in Buffalo.
Les Rainey '74 is president and CEO of RaineyDay Financial Services in Richmond, Calif.
David F. Simon '74 was elevated to the board of directors of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association for a three-year term, serving on the audit and governance committees.
John C. Wright, MBA '79, was named senior vice president of commercial banking at Waterford Village Bank.
1980s
Dennis D. Heberling '80 was named assistant medical center director of the VA Western New York Healthcare System.
David A. Schlein '80 was appointed to the board of directors for both the Financial Planning Counselors of Western New York and Gilda's Club Western New York.
Mark S. Halpern '81 was named principal to the private client tax and advisory services practice at Schonbraun McCann Group.
Daniel E. Cantara III '82, MBA '82, was promoted to executive vice president of commercial business services at First Niagara Bank.
Susan J. Grelick, MBA '82, was appointed president of Buffalo/Amherst Business and Professional Women.
Joel Goldberg '81, MBA '83, was appointed to vice president of human resources at Cortegra in Fairfield, N.J.
Scott R. Marcus '83 was appointed business development manager at the Amherst (N.Y.) Chamber of Commerce.
Cynthia M. Rich '82, MBA '83, was appointed senior vice president, community banking executive, at Evans National Bank.
Mark E. Zmijewski '76, MBA '81, PhD '83, was named the Business Information Professional of the Year from Education by Beta Alpha Psi, the national honorary organization for accounting and finance students and professionals. He is deputy dean of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business.
John R. Rodgers, MBA '84, was named 2007 Pharmacist of the Year by the Pharmacists' Association of Western New York. He is vice president of pharmacy services for Independent Health.
Garret R. Alexin, MBA '85, was appointed to principal of the accounting firm Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner LLP.
Thomas P. Dobiesz '84, MBA '85, wasappointed to principal of the accounting firm Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner LLP.
Timothy P. Lafferty '86 was named regional sales manager for MOD-PAC Corp. in Buffalo.
David F. Fraass '88 was named vice president of customer operations at Time Warner Cable in its Buffalo division.
Gary A. Kajtoch '88, MBA '89, was appointed treasurer of Evans Bancorp.
Michael G. Levine '89 was appointed chief financial officer and executive vice president at Health Systems Solutions.
Lynn A. Wilson '89 was promoted to assistant vice president for commercial real estate for KeyBank's Western New York and Rochester districts.
1990s
Craig D. Hardy '90 was appointed chief financial officer at ECO2 Plastics Inc. in San Francisco.
Joseph A. Mannarino, MBA '90, was promoted to executive vice president at LPCiminelli Inc.
Matthew A. Levene '91 was promoted to assistant vice president for credit analysis at Pacific Life Insurance Company.
Stephen L. Nasca, MBA '92, was appointed regional general manager for the Americas at WDSGlobal, a wireless technical support company based in Kirkland, Wash.
William J.Regan, MBA '92, received a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence. He is director of conferences and special events at the University at Buffalo.
Susan Marie Durfee '93 was appointed category manager at Wilson Farms Inc.
Andrea G. Harden, MBA '93,was appointed co-chair of the diversity committee of the Buffalo Niagara Human Resource Association.
Kelly A. MacDonald, MBA '93, was promoted toadministrative vice president and quality assurance and compliance manager at M&T Bank.
Richard J. McCarthy '91, MBA '93, was promoted to senior vice president at M&T Bank.
Michael D. Olfano '92, MBA '94, was appointed business systems specialist at The PCA Group.
Michael M. Reilly, MBA '94, was appointed executive vicepresident and chief operating officer at Healthtrac Medical Diagnostic Testing Services.
Michael P. Schifferle '94 was named sales director at Paragon Advertising.
Robert J. Drago, MBA '95, was appointed vice president for meal delivery at eDiets.
Michael J. Gasiewicz, MBA '95, was promoted to senior accountant at Lumsden & McCormick LLP.
Carrie A. Christy '96 was appointed associate at Phillips Lytle LLPin the firm's commercial practice.
Jonathan J. Kelly, JD/MBA '96, was appointed partner at Sidley Austin LLP in New York City.
Gerald E. Murak, CEL '91, EMBA '96, was named a smallbusiness finalist for the Buffalo Niagara Ethics Awards.
Michael J. Perlman, MBA '96, was appointed business development manager for Siemens Energy and Automation's production machines products group in Norcross, Ga.
Jeffrey J. Streb '96 was named director of human resources at Ingram Micro's Williamsville, N.Y., office.
Carlo Figliomeni '95, MBA '97, was promoted to chief operating officer at the Hospice and Palliative Care Group of Niagara.
Theodore W. Rich, EMBA '98, was promotedto president of the North American Business Group's food service division at Rich Products Corp.
Joan M.Bukowski, MBA '99, received a Woman of Influence award in the community supporter category from Business First of Buffalo.
Luis F. Cabrera '99 was named business development manager, Latin American and Caribbean, for Kraft Food International in Miami, Fla.
Li-Fang Tseng '99 was named staff accountant at Chiampou Travis Besaw and Kershner in Amherst, N.Y.
2000s
Michael R. Barone, MBA '00, was named director of public relations at SUNY Fredonia.
Jeremy M. Laubacker, MBA '00, was appointed chair of the Buffalo Junior Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
Erik R. Bossert '01 was appointed loan analyst at CapitalSource in Buffalo.
Raymond A. Murphy, MBA '01, was named an associate at Fontanese Folts Aubrecht Ernst Bammel Architects PC in East Aurora, N.Y.
Thomas P. Hitchcock '02 joined the public finance group of McGuire Woods Law in Washington, D.C.
Eric J. Pruden '03 was appointed internal auditor at Gibraltar Industries in Hamburg, N.Y. Kimberly A. Harvey '04 was appointed staff accountant at Green & Seifter CPAs PLLC in Syracuse, N.Y.
Jonathan L. Roller '03, MS '04, was promoted to senior accountant at Lumsden & McCormick LLP in Buffalo.
Alexander Bielecki '05 accepted a position as a senior internal auditor and consultant with Eastman Kodak in Rochester, N.Y.
Kristen Chapman '04, MS '05, was promoted to senior accountant at Lumsden & McCormick LLP in Buffalo.
Jamie L. Jasinki, JD/MBA '05, was appointed associate at Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP in Buffalo.
Karla L. Braun-Kolbe, JD/MBA '06, was appointed associate at Phillips Lytle LLP in Buffalo.
Vinayagam Gunasekaran '06 joined the firm of Jeffrey M. Goldfarb & Associates as an associate analyst.
Jessica L. Colby '07 was named staff accountant at ChiampouTravis Besaw and Kershner in Amherst, N.Y.
Mollie M. Godzich '07 was named staff accountant at Lumsden & McCormick LLP.
David J. Kleehamer '07 was appointed internal auditor at Gibraltar Industries in Hamburg, N.Y.
Heather L. Kowalski '07 was named staff accountant at Brock Schechter & Polakoff LLP.
Christopher R. Majewski '07 was named staff accountant at Lumsden & McCormick LLP.
David J. Marlowe, MBA '07, was named staff accountant at Lumsden & McCormick LLP.
Mark L. Umstead, MBA '07, is an aerospace engineer for Cameron Intl. in Cheektowaga, N.Y.
Alumni Spotlight - Joyce A. Markiewicz, EMBA '03
Joyce A. Markiewicz, EMBA '03, is the new president and CEO of Catholic Health System Home Care in Buffalo, after previously serving as the organization's vice president of operations.
A Buffalo-area native, Markiewicz received a bachelor's degree in nursing from D'Youville College. Eventually, she decided to move her nursing career from a hospital to a home-care setting.
"I felt that working in home care would afford me greater flexibility with my family as well as allow me to provide care in a less hectic environment than an acute facility," she says. "I quickly discovered that it was the business component of the industry that I found most interesting."
While moving quickly into such operational roles as branch director and multi-site manager, she knew that making the leap to a senior-level position would require an advanced degree.
"While filling out college applications with my son, I decided it was time to pursue an EMBA," she says. "The program took me from a daily operational mode of thinking to looking at situations with a broader perspective. The insight and skills that I gained were exactly what was missing in order to advance my career."
Business First's 40 Under Forty
Congratulations to the 11 School of Management alumni and one Executive MBA student who were honored with Business First's 40 Under Forty award, recognizing outstanding business and community leaders in Western New York under the age of 40.
- Derek Alessi, MBA '95
- President
- Alessi Fitness Inc.
- Stephanie Argentine, MBA '00
- Senior Director Human Resources - Americas
- Bureau Veritas
- Beth Ann Bivona '93
- Partner
- Damon & Morey LLP
- Kevin Cavalieri, MBA '07
- Vice President
- M&T Insurance Agency Inc.
- Tammie Lee Demler, EMBA '09
- Director of Pharmacy Services
- Buffalo Psychiatric Center
- Joseph Dommer, CEL '03
- President
- Baer & Associates LLC
- John Goller, CEL '00
- President
- Arrow Grinding Inc.
- Michael Helbringer '91, MBA '94
- President
- Bristol Home and Bristol Village
- John Herman, EMBA '06
- Chief Operating Officer
- Kenmore Mercy Hospital
- Jody Lomeo '91
- Co-owner
- Integrity Financial Group
- Rob Schofield, CEL '03
- Owner
- Mazia's Pizza
- Jeffrey Stravino, JD/MBA '97
- Partner
- Hodgson Russ LLP
