The Magazine for Alumni and Friends of the UB School of Management

Class Notes

New job? Promotion? Your classmates and colleagues want to know. Send your updates for Class Notes to mgt-editor@buffalo.edu.

Please note: Individuals are listed in Class Notes according to the year of their most recent School of Management degree.

1950s

Philip L. Wiggle is retired as the managing partner of Wiggle & Co., CPAs. He currently serves as an adjunct business professor at Medaille College.

1960s

Burton Notarius '65, MBA '67, was honored as a community contributor by the Graycliff Conservancy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and preserving the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Graycliff Estate as a publicly accessible landmark.

1970s

Jonathan A. Dandes '74 was named chair of the UNYTS Donate Life Foundation board. He is president of baseball operations at Buffalo's Coca-Cola Field.

Lemma W. Senbet, PhD '76, was co-director for the "Policy Roundtable on the Future of Financial Regulation" held prior to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. Senbet is the William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance and director of the Center for Financial Policy in the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Patricia A. McGrath '78 was promoted to principal at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

1980s

Michael R. Bonetto '83 received the Myron L. Woldman Volunteer of the Year award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He is regional president of First Niagara Risk Management.

Garret R. Alexin, MBA '85, was promoted to partner at Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner LLP.

Gregg R. Kam '85 was appointed vice president and CFO at The Newark Group, an international 100 percent recycled paper manufacturer and converter.

Andrew Romanowski '85 was installed as president of the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association. He is founder and president of Alliance Homes.

Jim Doucette '87 is a partner with Henry Rak Consulting Partners, which was recently acquired by McKinsey and Co.

Joanne Pilecki Hernandez '88, MBA '89, was named senior private client advisor for Wilmington Trust's Western New York market, and is responsible for leading the integration of the firm's family office services group and relations services for high net-worth individuals.

Douglas P. Sosnowski '89 was named principal at Brisbane Consulting Group LLC.

1990s

Michael F. Ickowski, MBA '90, was appointed to the Catholic Medical Partners board of directors.

David L. Askey '89, MBA '91, earned his CPA license in New York State. He is a senior business analyst with Delphi Thermal Systems.

Michael A. Alessandra '87, MBA '92, was promoted to assistant vice president of internal audit at Merchants Insurance Group.

Kevin M. Driscoll, BS/MBA '93, was promoted to vice president of finance at Sovran Self Storage.

James A. Dunlop, MBA '94, was appointed treasurer of the Catholic Medical Partners board of directors.

Roger D. Duryea, MBA '94, was promoted to vice president, planning and business development, at Catholic Health.

Michael D. Bishara, MBA '95, was named vice president and general manager of TV Everywhere at Synacor Inc.

Robert Drago, MBA '95, was named CEO of Costanzo's Bakery Inc. in Buffalo.

John J. Koeppel '95 was honored in the 2012 edition of Chambers Global for excellence in "Investment Funds: Private Equity: Fund Formation." He is chair of the private equity and investment funds practice at Nixon Peabody LLP.

Louis R. Russo Jr. '95 retired in 2009.

Scott P. Socha, MBA '95, was named vice president-treasurer at Delaware North Cos.

John Mineo, EMBA '96, was appointed senior vice president, general counsel, at Independent Health.

David D. Spriegel, JD/MBA '96, was promoted to administrative vice president at M&T Bank.

Richard M. Ferranti, EMBA '97, was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer at Rich Products Corp.

Thomas E. Mazurek '98 was promoted to principal at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Sharon Prise Azurin, JD/MBA '99, was promoted to partner at Phillips Lytle LLP.

David J. Tier '99 is a strategic planner at the office of the deputy chief of staff for operations and plans at Headquarters, Department of the Army, in the Pentagon.

2000s

Michael J. Condino '00 was promoted to principal at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Bradley J. Nowak '00 was named partner at Williams Mullen in Washington, D.C.

Sheri L. Sullivan, EMBA '01, was appointed vice president, sales, at Patersons Global Payroll.

Stephen J. Whitehead '77, EMBA '01, is head of the project management department at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Bruce Izard, MBA '02, is a sourcing analyst with M&T Bank at the corporate headquarters in Buffalo.

Bharat K. Jain, MBA '02, is a senior manager in the Financial Services Office of Ernst & Young LLP in New York City.

Jason J. Jankowiak, MBA '02, was appointed vice president of cardiac services for Catholic Health.

Miche C. Needham '02 was promoted to tax principal at Lumsden & McCormick LLP.

Brooke P. Arber '98, MBA 03, was appointed general manager at Mercedes-Benz of Buffalo.

Kara L. Hite '04 was promoted to senior director, advancement, for the American Red Cross, Serving Erie & Niagara Counties.

Rene D. Logie '04 is the banquet sales manager at the Pacific Islands Club in Guam.

Ranjit Singh, MBA '04, served on an expert panel at the World Health Organization conference in Geneva in February. He was one of 30 experts who discussed patient safety in primary care. Singh is co-director of UB's Patient Safety Research Center and medical director at Cleve Hill Family Medicine. He also serves as an associate professor of family medicine in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Michael P. Mazur '05 was promoted to manager at The Bonadio Group.

Danielle Robertson '05 received the Certified Financial Planner certification. She is a financial representative for Benefit Concepts Ltd.

John C. Eberl, CEL '06, is co-owner and chief executive officer of Eberl Iron Works.

Andrew T. Moon '06 was appointed manager at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Leonard J. Picone '06 qualified for the Achieving Client Excellence Silver Award with the John Hancock Financial Network. He is a certified financial planner with Empire Financial Planners.

Kevin J. Cavalieri, MBA '07, was promoted to administrative vice president at M&T Bank.

Jerilyn J. Hickey, EMBA '07, was promoted to senior director, major gifts, for the American Red Cross, Serving Erie & Niagara Counties.

Robert E. Koller '07 was named supervising senior at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Thomas Beauford, EMBA '08, was appointed president of the Western New York chapter of the National Black MBA Association. He is first vice president of HSBC Bank USA.

Andrew P. Bowen '08 was named a senior accountant at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Nicholas Capicotto, MBA '08, joined Caterpillar Inc. as a dealership operations consultant.

Todd R. Maier '08 was appointed supervisor of the adult health care group at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Kathrine A. Panzarella '08 was named senior accountant at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Wenhai Fu, PMBA '09, is the founder of Sine Software, which recently released Sine Dispatcher, a software package for courier and messaging industries.

2010s

Joel Colombo, CEL '10, received the Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Amherst Chamber of Commerce. He is president of 360 PSG, a Web design firm.

Steve Szubinski, CEL '10, EMBA '10, received a 2012 Volunteer Recognition award from the Lupus Alliance of America, Upstate New York Affiliate. He is managing partner for The PCA Group.

Michael C. Angelucci, MBA '89, CEL '11, earned the Certified Financial Planner designation.

Stephan D. Cwynar '10, MS '11, was named staff accountant in the tax department at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Eric M. Osmanski '10, MS '11, was named staff accountant in the accounting and auditing department at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Christina M. Ventresca '10, MS '11, was named staff accountant in the accounting and auditing department at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Amelia Wright '10, MS '11, was named staff accountant in the accounting and auditing department at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.

Alumni Spotlight: Andrew Rosengard '79

Andrew B. Rosengard '79 recently joined Intellivent Group, The Kitchen NYC and FoodPop as chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

Intellivent Group is a food marketing company specializing in product development, brand enhancement, loyalty and retention programs. Working with top food service organizations, consumer package goods companies, chefs and restaurants, Intellivent was responsible for the business plan for Magnolia Bakery and was the in-house marketing arm for Schwann's Home Service.

The Kitchen NYC is a premiere full-service, state-of-the-art kitchen studio, production and event space in midtown Manhattan. The studio has hosted 40 of the world's most famous chefs; food product launches including Ben & Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt, Uncle Ben's Beginners and Wolfgang Puck's Sauce Line; corporate events for Time Warner Cable and Estee Lauder; team building for Voss; high-roller events for Wynn Resorts; and photo and video shoots for AOL, Inside Edition, Food Network and The New York Times.

FoodPop is a Beta social network site for food aficionados dubbed "Facebook for Foodies" by the editor of Saveur Magazine.

Rosengard remains CEO of Rosengard & Associates Inc., a media, telecommunications and sports industry advisory and consulting company. He serves on the School of Management's Dean's Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of CPX Interactive and is on the Advisory Board of Torch Films. He previously served on the Board of Directors of NeoMagic Corp.

Alumni Spotlight: Kim Marie Krug '93

Skoog and Krug

After a career working in health care, Kim Marie Krug '93 decided to take a chance and pursue her passion. In 2009, she opened Monkey See, Monkey Do.Children's Bookstore in Clarence, New York, with her mother and business partner, Kathleen Skoog.

Krug's leap of faith has paid off, as Monkey See, Monkey Do recently won a Pannell Award from the Women's National Book Association as best children's specialty store.

Monkey See, Monkey Do was singled out for its innovative approaches to getting kids engaged with reading, such as its book clubs, craft programs, birthday parties and school break and summer camps.

"Our motto is 'Bringing Books to Life,'" Krug says. "Word of mouth is spreading about our store and we're feeling really good about where we're at."

Krug says her experience at the UB School of Management has made a huge difference in the success of her business.

"It's one thing to have a passion for what you're doing, but in order to be successful, you need a good, solid business foundation," she says. "The classes I took in the School of Management-marketing, accounting, human resources-help me every day with the nuts and bolts of running the business."