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
Duncan Tutton '50 retired to North Carolina with his wife, Grace, after serving as president of Tutton Electric in Buffalo. He enjoys golf and playing percussion in the Moore County Band.
1960s
John L. Detwiler '60 retired after a 37-year career with The Liberty Mutual Group. He is now minority owner of IMB Monster Bucks, an outfitting company providing trophy whitetail deer and turkey hunts in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and Illinois.
Gerard T. Mazurkiewicz '69 was honored by the National Federation for Just Communities for his contributions to the Western New York community. He is a partner with Dopkins & Co. LLP and serves on the boards of Women and Children's Hospital, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Kaleida Foundation, Hilbert College and the University at Buffalo Foundation.
1970s
Edward Ryczek '71 received the 2013 Volunteer Recognition Award from the University at Buffalo Alumni Association.
Robert E. Pfeil '72 is director of human resources at Niagara University and chair of the Health and Benefits Consortium of Educational Institutions.
Dorian Jung '77 is a business systems analyst for the Portland Development Commission, an economic development agency for the city of Portland, Ore.
Jeffrey M. Reed '77 was named president and CEO of the Mount Calvary Cemetery Group, and also was elected to the cemetery's board of directors.
James K. Frank '78 was appointed tax partner at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.
Gregory J. Hiczewski '79 was honored with a Health Care 50 award from Business First of Buffalo. He is chief financial officer for UBMD Internal Medicine.
1980s
Sylvia Coles, MBA '80, has written a memoir chronicling her life, including her experiences of world travel and her marriage, in the face of opposition to interracial relationships in the 1950s, to renowned architect Robert Coles, who designed UB's Alumni Arena.
Adam Wishkovsky, MBA '80, is the president of Product Edge, a sales management services company in Philadelphia.
Daniel E. Cantara III, BS/MBA '82, was named senior executive vice president and chief banking officer for First Niagara Financial Group.
Mary W. Horbachewski '82 was promoted to principal at Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner.
Donna L. DeCarolis '81, MBA '83, was appointed to the board of directors of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce.
Patricia C. Clabeaux '84 was appointed senior vice president of human resources and organizational development at Independent Health.
Tim Lafferty '86 was named to the board of the Crisis Services Foundation. He is the national sales manager for the PCA Group.
Mark F. Majewski '87 was appointed senior executive at Dwight Moldenhauer Inc., a specialized executive benefit firm.
Lisa Foti '89 was appointed chief financial officer at Summit Educational Resources.
1990s
James M. Ahrens, BS/MBA '91, was promoted to group vice president in the mortgage and consumer lending division at M&T Bank.
Edward Dong, DEMBA '91, was honored as a 2012 China Economy Top 10 Business Leader. He is the general manager of China operations for NDC Infrared Engineering Inc.
Nick Kompare, MBA '93, was promoted to vice president of strategic planning at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.
Elizabeth (Pap) Kraus '91, MBA '93, was appointed to the board of directors for the Amherst Chamber of Commerce. She is a senior vice president with KeyBank.
Kathleen Murphy, MBA '93, was appointed to the board of the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women.
Michael M. Reilly, MBA '94, was appointed president of the pharmacy benefit dimensions division at Independent Health.
Michael P. Schifferle '94 was named vice president of new business development at Quinlan, a Western New York advertising agency.
Michael E. Paust, MBA '97, was appointed director in KPMG's People and Change consulting practice.
Paul J. Pustulka, MBA '97, was named general manager of CerMedia LLC.
Kenneth F. Fick '98 was appointed managing director of C3 Compliance Consultants.
Ted Rich, EMBA '98, was appointed senior vice president of customer experience at Rich Products.
Vaseem Iqbal, EMBA '99, was honored with a Health Care 50 award from Business First of Buffalo. He is director of pediatric radiology and program director of the Pediatric Radiology Fellowship at Buffalo MRI and Women and Children's Hospital.
2000s
Krista L. Glenn '00 was named director of marketing at ABC-Amega Inc.
Thomas A. Palmer, MBA '71, CEL '00, received the 2013 Volunteer Recognition Award from the University at Buffalo Alumni Association. He is partner and vice chair of Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP.
Dan J. Avnir '01 was promoted to managing director at Bryant Park Capital.
Timothy Bubar, EMBA '01, was promoted to auditing manager at Lumsden & McCormick LLP.
Bradley J. Dossinger, MBA '01, was promoted to administrative vice president in the retail banking division at M&T Bank.
Louise Finkenbinder, MBA '01, was promoted to senior director, sales and operations planning, in ConAgra's frozen food division.
Michael J. Keane '00, MBA '01, was promoted to group vice president of the wealth and institutional services division at M&T Bank.
David J. Luzon, MBA '01, was appointed partner at Phillips Lytle.
Michael Weisman, MBA '01, received the George W. Thorn Award from the University at Buffalo Alumni Association, given to distinguished alumni under 40.
Jerry S. Bartone, EMBA '02, was elected chair of the CEO Leadership Forum for the Agency Executives Association. He is the executive director for Community Concern of Western New York Inc.
Kristy L. Berner, JD/MBA '02, was promoted to senior vice president and general counsel at First Niagara Financial Group.
Brendan P. Brady, BS/MBA '02, was promoted to senior manager at Dopkins & Co.
Eric Reich, JD/MBA '02, received the George W. Thorn Award from the University at Buffalo Alumni Association, given to distinguished alumni under 40.
Umesh Babaria, MBA '03, was promoted to administrative vice president in the finance division at M&T Bank.
Kevin Stahl '03 is vice president of product management at BNP Paribas in the corporate and investment banking global prime services division.
Felix Castro '04 is a real estate sales person at Citi Habitats in New York City.
Valerie A. Czamara '04 was promoted to senior pay-per-click strategist at Eric Mower & Associates.
Kevin Kirk, PMBA '04, received his architecture license. He works as an architect for Uniland Development.
Michael Klanac '04 is CEO and co-founder of the GripeO Website and Mobile Application, which recently partnered with Buffalo area technology incubator Z80 Labs for funding and acceleration assistance.
Sarah B. Kranzler '04 was promoted to senior staff accountant at Szymkowiak & Associates CPAs PC.
Norris Poleon, MBA '04, accepted a position as vice president at Engineered Facility Solutions in Buffalo.
Samantha L. Bonano '05 was promoted to president of Buffalo Filter.
Ricardo Neander D. Santos, MBA '05, is partner/manager of Marcos Daniel Laboratorio LTDA in Brazil. The company was recently awarded for having the best branding recall in the clinical laboratory category.
Jonathan Sepulveda '05 was promoted to senior vice president at Bank of America Corp. in Charlotte, N.C.
Rajat Singhal, MBA '06, was promoted to senior vice president at Citigroup Global Markets and was elected to the board of directors for Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled.
Thomas J. Lang, MBA '07, was named an associate at the law firm Magavern Magavern Grimm.
William J. Stamp II '07 was appointed branch manager at M&T Bank.
Jeremy D. Blecha '08 was promoted to supervising senior accountant at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.
Michael Graber '06, MBA'08, was elected to a four-year term on the USA Weightlifting national board of directors.
Dawn C. Odrzywolski, PMBA '08, was promoted to chief compliance officer at Independent Health.
Joshua D. Karaczewski, PMBA '09, was promoted to manager of distributor marketing and product launch at Columbus McKinnon Corp.
Kristin M. Kowalski '09, PHR, was promoted to human resources administrator at Niagara Cerebral Palsy.
Charles J. Marra '09 was promoted to development manager at Algonquin Studios.
Donna M. McKinney, EMBA '09, was promoted to manager of projects and operations for Women and Children's Hospital.
Adam P. Ohar '09 was promoted to senior accountant at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.
Barrett Price, CEL '09, president of Bear Metal Works, recently purchased Denler Sheet Metal to make it a division of the company under the name Denler Stainless.
2010s
Ryan Case, PMBA '10, was appointed director of sales and business development at Polymer Conversions.
John F. Colonio '11 was promoted to developer II at Algonquin Studios.
Jason Rosen '11 was promoted to assistant vice president of global finance at Citi Private Bank.
Lauren A. Fish, JD/MBA '12, was appointed associate at Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP.
Gregory C. Losi '11, MS '12, was appointed staff accountant at Chiampou Travis & Kershner LLP.
Nicholas C. Tirone '11, MS '12, was appointed staff accountant at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.
Timothy M. Vasiloff '12 was appointed director of marketing at Stovroff & Taylor Travel.
Evan W. Wopperer, MS '12, was named assistant for the commercial team at The Bonadio Group.
Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, EMBA '07
Photo: KC KrattAlumni Spotlight: Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, EMBA '07
Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, EMBA '07, took the reins as president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership in June, becoming the first woman to lead the economic development organization. In her new role, Gallagher-Cohen advocates with government leaders for policies and resources to increase private sector investment and jobs, in addition to spearheading programs and services to partnership members to increase their business success.
A native of Buffalo, Gallagher-Cohen previously served as president and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara. Under her leadership, the organization rebranded itself and shifted focus to concentrate on cultural tourism, the region's arts, architecture and industrial history and amateur sports, with outstanding results. Prior to that, she served as a senior marketing executive for The Buffalo News; executive director of the Kelly for Kids Foundation; marketing manager at Buffalo Place; and director of public relations at Erie Community College.
