Class Notes
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Individuals are listed according to the year of their most recent School of Management degree.
1980s
Mel Passarelli, MBA ’80, was appointed president and CEO at Aspera, a software asset management company. He also joined the board of directors for Launch New York.
Donna DeCarolis, BS ’81, MBA ’83, was promoted to president of National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp., the utility segment of National Fuel Gas Co.
Karen M. Camiolo, MBA ’85, was promoted to treasurer and principal financial officer at National Fuel Gas Co.
Jim McHale, MBA ’89, CPA, owner of McHale Financial, was named one of the top accountants in San Francisco by Expertise, an online guide to local experts in cities nationwide.
1990s
Joanne Bender, BS ’89, MBA ’90, CPA, was promoted to principal at Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner LLP, where she specializes in tax consulting and tax return compliance services.
Cindy Romanowski, BS ’90, MD, a leader in pre- and postoperative patient education and rehabilitation, joined General Physician PC.
David Schlant, MBA ’90, was promoted to principal at M/E Engineering PC.
Darwin Dennison, CEL ’91, is a professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and director of the Edward Jones Financial Lab in the UNC Cameron School of Business.
Daniel Laufer, BS ’91, associate professor of marketing at the Victoria Business School, shared his expertise in crisis management through a pair of workshops for mayors across New Zealand, as well as a monthly column in the New Zealand Herald, the largest newspaper in the country.
Martin A. Krebs, BS ’93, was appointed chief information officer at National Fuel Gas Co.
Judith Kindron, BS ’96, was promoted to administrator/clerk-treasurer for the Village of Williamsville.
Dale McKim III, BS ’96, executive vice president and chief risk officer at Evans Bank, was appointed to the University at Buffalo Foundation board of trustees.
Vinay Prabhu, MBA ’96, was promoted to vice president of engineering at Groupware Technology, an IT solutions provider.
Donald Boyd, MBA ’97, was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer at Kaleida Health.
Ann Forest, BS ’97, joined Rich Products as information security project manager.
Alumni Spotlight: David Gaulin, BS ’87, MBA ’88
Last spring, the School of Management named David Gaulin, BS ’87, MBA ’88, the 2019 Accountant of the Year. As he accepted the honor at the Accounting and Law Department’s annual banquet, Gaulin spoke directly to the graduating students in attendance and offered his advice as they prepared to launch their careers.
“Always do the right thing—no matter how daunting,” he told them. “Never go it alone. Work hard, maintain a positive attitude and continually challenge yourself.”
Established in 1984, the Accountant of the Year award honors an alumnus who has been successful in the profession and made significant contributions to the School of Management and its students.
Gaulin is a partner at PwC and leader of its Law Firm Services practice, which serves about 60% of the top-grossing law firms on the AmLaw 100. In this role, he consults with global, national and regional law firms on a variety of business and accounting issues, and has spoken at more than 100 law firm events throughout his career. The co-author of Law Firm Accounting and Financial Management, Gaulin is a Certified Public Accountant in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.
A dedicated School of Management alumnus, Gaulin is a member of the school’s Accounting Advisory Council and has visited campus many times as part of PwC’s recruiting team and as a guest speaker in classes. In addition, on behalf of PwC, he has hosted the school’s Network New York event at the firm’s midtown Manhattan office throughout the past decade.
Francie Marzec, BS ’92, MBA ’97, a physical therapist and owner of The Real You Physical Therapy, was named the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Women’s Business Center at Canisius College.
Naveen Arora, BS ’99, was promoted to vice president, management control at Lactalis American Group.
Gregory Duval, BS ’97, MBA ’99, was promoted to regional executive and managing director for the Great Lakes region at HSBC Bank USA.
Ridzki Kramadibrata, MBA ’99, was appointed president of Grab Indonesia, a leading mobile platform in Southeast Asia.
2000s
Christopher Udy, BS ’00, was promoted to assistant vice president of finance/IT at Ciminelli Real Estate Corp.
Raymond Murphy, MArch/MBA ’01, was promoted to principal at Fontanese Folts Aubrecht Ernst Architects, where the LEED-accredited professional specializes in building design and construction.
Brendan P. Brady, BS/MBA ’02, CPA, was promoted to director in the assurance services group at Dopkins & Co. LLP.
W. Stephen Hadala III, MBA ’02, was promoted to director at Paramax Corp.
Paul Kraut, BS ’03, CPA, joined KPMG as a managing director in its New York Financial Services Tax Real Estate practice.
Andrew Dimock, PMBA ’05, co-founded and serves as principal of Vessel Strategy, which has offices in Arlington, Va., and Rochester, N.Y.
Nick Ambrose, MBA ’06, was promoted to administrative vice president at M&T Bank, where he is a senior finance manager.
Lindsey Costello, BS ’06, was promoted to project supervisor at Praxis, a division of marketing agency Crowley Webb that focuses on patient recruitment for clinical trials.
William C. Craven, BS ’06, CPA, was promoted to supervisor in assurance services at Dopkins & Co. LLP.
Stephen Cross, PMBA ’06, was promoted to vice president and chief information officer at Merchants Insurance Group.
William Grieshober, EMBA ’06, was promoted to senior vice president and general counsel at Rich Products.
Andrew T. Moon, BS ’06, CPA, was promoted to principal in the tax department at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.
Jeremy D. Blecha, BS ’08, CPA, was promoted to principal in the accounting and auditing department at Tronconi Segarra & Associates.
Andrew Pitt, BS ’08, CPA, was promoted to partner at Szymkowiak & Associates CPAs.
Tammie Lee Demler, EMBA ’09, adjunct associate professor in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, was honored as the school’s 2018-19 Teacher of the Year.
Peter Jabrucki, MBA ’09, was promoted to chief information officer at Independent Health.
2010s
Brandon Aichinger, BS ’10, was promoted to director of operations at Great Lakes Transport Solutions.
Ingmar Haffke, MBA ’11, joined Visa as director of technology strategic initiatives (see story).
Christopher Caruana, MS ’12, CPA, was appointed cost segregation specialist at MS Consultants.
Amanda Harris, BS ’11, MBA ’13, was promoted to product marketing manager at Rich Products.
West Richter Jr., BS/MBA ’13, was promoted to vice president at M&T Bank, where he serves as manager of service asset and configuration management. Richter was also honored by Buffalo Business First on its 30 Under 30 list for 2019.
Andrew Svisco, BS ’13, founded Parkhurst Brand, a high-end, handmade footwear company.
Steven Briggs, EMBA ’14, vice president of sales at Dynabrade, was named board chair of World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara.
Ann Casey, MArch/MBA ’14, was appointed project architect at Wendel, an architecture, engineering, energy efficiency and construction management firm.
Sergio Gangarossa, BS ’13, MS ’14, CPA, tax senior, global compliance and reporting at EY, was honored by Buffalo Business First on its 30 Under 30 list for 2019.
Michelle Watorek, BS ’04, EMBA ’14, was promoted to senior director of finance at BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York.
Marina Barci, BS ’15, joined Hurwitz & Fine PC as an associate in the litigation department.
Benjamin Boron, BS ’15, was promoted to marketing manager at William S. Hein & Co.
Lucas Cellino, CEL ’15, president of Cellino Plumbing and partner at Cellino and Wangelin Construction, was honored by Buffalo Business First on its 30 Under 30 list for 2019.
Stacy Dean, EMBA ’15, a board-certified adult nurse practitioner, was appointed chief clinical officer of Neighborhood Health Center.
Jason MacLean, PMBA ’15, was promoted to senior scrum master and manager at Hearst Magazines.
Bryana DiFonzo, PMBA ’16, was named director of new economy at People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) Buffalo.
Tarik Kaddouri, BS ’16, was named product line manager at MatMarket, a global company that manufactures and supplies product and material solutions.
Christopher Keleher, BS ’15, MS ’16, was promoted to senior assurance associate at EY.
Siddharth Khandelwal, BS ’16, joined Chargebee, a subscription management platform, as a sales development representative.
Alex Killian, BS/MBA ’16, was named an investment associate at Launch New York, a nonprofit venture development organization.
Peter Fox, PMBA ’17, was named plant manager at Honeywell UOP.
Celine Keefe, MBA ’17, was named marketing director for Launch New York, and co-founded 13 Players, a Buffalo-area theater company that mounted its first production last winter.
Katherine Logan, BS ’12, PMBA ’17, was appointed senior human resources analyst at Lactalis American Group.
Lisa Wheeler, EMBA ’17, a board-certified nurse practitioner, was promoted to chief operating officer of Family Choice of New York.
Charlie Barth, BS ’11, JD/MBA ’18, was promoted to associate at Barclay Damon, where he practices corporate law.
Christopher Nicosia, BS ’06, PMBA ’18, was promoted to senior construction manager – internal administration and Rochester operations at Uniland Development Co.
Kendra Brim, PMBA ’19, project manager at BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, was honored by Buffalo Business First on its 30 Under 30 list for 2019.
Maureen Erokwu, MBA ’19, joined Apple as a worldwide supply demand planner.
Kevin Lavery, PharmD/MBA ’19, was honored with the Community Service Award from the Pharmacists Association of Western New York.