Class Notes

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Individuals are listed according to the year of their most recent School of Management degree.

1970s

Alexander DuBrow, MBA ’73, has expanded his management consulting practice to include the U.S. Department of Defense and the State of Florida.

1980s

Gary DeWaal, JD/MBA ’80, was named a Cryptocurrency, Blockchain and Fintech Trailblazer by The National Law Journal for his contribution to legal developments related to crypto assets.

Robin Hunter, BS/MBA ’82, executive vice president of corporate development for Fluent Inc., joined the UB School of Management Dean’s Advisory Council.

Peter Ciminelli, BS ’79, MBA ’83, was appointed chief financial officer at Endeavor Health Services.

Nancy Falk, MBA ’84, is a full-time associate professor in the College of St. Scholastica School of Nursing’s graduate program in Duluth, Minn.

J. Patrick Henry, MBA ’85, retired after 35 years in local government service. Now a recognized member of the Authors Guild, his writing has appeared in a dozen print and web-based anthologies, as well as The Buffalo News.

Robert Rood, MBA ’86, CPA, CMA, was appointed vice president for business affairs and treasurer at Daemen College.

Brian Borowski, BS ’88, was elected president of the New York State Bowling Proprietors Association.

Mark Brand, JD/MBA ’88, was elected president of The Summit Center board of directors and serves as president and CEO of Actuarial Consulting Services Inc.

1990s

Timothy Aman, BS ’90, MBA ’91, CPA, CA, was appointed national leader for financial services at BDO USA LLP.

Timothy Brennan, BS ’78, MBA ’91, was appointed executive director at Niagara SPCA.

Paul Quebral, MBA ’92, was appointed president of the UB School of Management Alumni Association.

Patricia Hudson, BS ’93, was promoted to senior manager, engineering and capital planning and governance, U.S./Canada at Rich Products.

Douglas Tokarczyk, MBA ’93, was named director of construction services at Greenman-Pederson Inc.

Sean Timms, MBA ’94, was promoted to group vice president at M&T Bank. As manager of loan analysis, he oversees a team of analysts who underwrite loans greater than $10 million.

Jennifer Kopf, BS ’96, was promoted to business tech executive at KeyBank.

Rebecca Raczkowski, MBA ’97, CIA, CRMA, was promoted to principal at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Jennifer Beckage, BS ’99, CIPP/US, formed a new law firm, Beckage PLLC, with offices in Buffalo and New York.

Jeremy Walczak, BS ’99, was appointed vice president of IT security and chief information security officer at Catholic Health.

Alumni Spotlight: Anushka Reuben, MS ’14

For Anushka Reuben, receiving the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award was the culmination of 14 years of time and dedication. She was presented with the award from Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, at the Gold Award Ceremony in New York City this past September.

“After working toward this for years and finally seeing it come to life feels like a dream come true,” she says.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award recognizes young adults for completing a series of self-improvement experiences that help them become committed, responsible and fulfilled citizens of the world. Doing the award is a personal challenge and not a competition against others; it pushes young people to their personal limits and recognizes their achievements. 

At the gold level, participants complete a residential project, which gave Reuben the opportunity to experience something she’s always wanted to: martial arts. She spent a week learning real-world self-defense techniques, breathing and meditation, as well as how to defend against attackers with weapons.

“Just that week alone taught me focus, mental strength and the ability to think clearly through high-adrenaline situations,” she says. “That training is the reason I have found the ability to stay calm in stressful situations at work and in my personal life.”

Reuben currently serves as procurement operations analyst at Amazon, where she manages all the indirect procurement needed to fulfill a customer order, including purchasing all the packaging as well as overseeing every supplier working with the fulfillment center.

“My search for an opportunity in this field brought me to the largest supply chain organization in the world, and I haven’t looked back since,” she says.

Within her first six months, she had developed three network projects and realized more than $100,000 in cost savings, vaulting her to her first promotion. Since then, she’s managed multiple teams across the country and recently moved to Denver to help launch one of the company’s newest fulfillment centers.

2000s

Laura Barnum, MBA ’00, was named vice president for finance and management at SUNY Buffalo State.

Bradley J. Nowak, BS ’00, was elected to the Maryland, D.C., Delaware, Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association board of directors. He is a partner with the law firm of Williams Mullen in Washington, D.C.

Brian Moran, BS ’01, was promoted to senior tax manager at Lougen, Valenti, Bookbinder & Weintraub LLP.

Sach Barot, MBA ’02, joined the UB School of Management Dean’s Advisory Council.

Karen Fenzl, CEL ’02, was appointed an insurance advisor with Lawley’s business insurance team.

Bruce Izard, BS ’94, MBA ’02, was appointed procurement compliance manager at the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

Todd Kuras, BS ’02, was promoted to manager of production and supply planning with the supply chain team at Lactalis American Group.

Brian Maze, BS ’02, CPA, was named partner at Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner LLP.

Jennifer Seth-Cimini, MBA ’02, was promoted to senior director of advancement for the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.

Kara Rankin, MBA ’03, is owner of Scout and Molly’s Boutique in Brookfield, Wis.

Jennifer Wiler, MD/MBA ’03, was appointed to the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee, which offers comments and recommendations on proposals to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Dale Payne, BS ’04, was promoted to director of business development at Life Storage Inc.

Grove Potter, PMBA ’04, was named development director at the Westminster Economic Development Initiative.

Lindsay Jones, MBA ’05, was named process improvement manager at Meloria Consulting LLC.

Meagan Fitzgerald, BS ’06, CPA, was named partner at Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner LLP.

Jeannette Marchant, BS ’06, was promoted to senior manager at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Scott Falbo, PMBA ’07, was named chief technical officer at LenderLogix.

Victor Filadora, EMBA ’07, MD, was named president of Great Lakes Cancer Care.

Jared Sedor, BS ’07, was appointed assistant vice president, commercial loan officer at Lake Shore Bancorp Inc.

Bradley Sendlak, PMBA ’07, was appointed corporate associate at Nussbaumer & Clarke Inc.

Nicholas Hirsch, BS ’08, PMP, CISA, was promoted to senior manager at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Kathleen Hurley, BS ’08, was promoted to director, strategic HR business partner at BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York.

Dawn Odrzywolski, PMBA ’08, was promoted to vice president of Medicare programs at Independent Health.

Chirico Rozsa, BS ’08, CPA, was promoted to audit senior manager at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Eric Steimer, BS ’08, was appointed portfolio manager in the income property group at KeyBank.

Timothy Kudla, BS ’09, was promoted to vice president of MJA Co.

Rebecca Lindsay, BS ’09, was appointed compliance and research coordinator for the group benefits division of Walsh Duffield.

2010s

Jeff Knapp, PMBA ’10, was appointed chief financial officer at New Directions Youth and Family Services.

Richard Sherry, MBA ’10, was promoted to senior marketing manager, in-store bakery and deli at Rich Products.

Jonathan VanNortwick, PMBA ’10, was promoted to change control manager at Rich Products.

Krista Grow, BS ’11, was promoted to senior digital project manager at Crowley Webb.

Courtney Walczak, BS ’11, was appointed media planner/buyer at Crowley Webb.

Sarah Blankenship, PMBA ’12, co-authored the book “Money Bitch: A No-BS guide for smart women who want to own their financial future.”

Mark Edinger, BS ’11, MS ’12, CPA, was promoted to accounting manager at The RMR Group in Newton, Massachusetts.

Jennifer Flagg, BS ’02, EMBA ’12, was appointed project director at the UB Center for Industrial Effectiveness.

Alan Rosenhoch, PMBA ’12, received the Emerging Young Leadership Award from the Buffalo Jewish Federation.

Lauren Suttell, JD/MBA ’12, was appointed senior associate at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP.

Joseph Elhage, BS ’12, MS ’13, CPA, was promoted to manager at Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner LLP.

Jesse Koester, BS ’14, was promoted to supervisor at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Joshua Lamendola, BS ’13, MS ’14, CPA, was promoted to supervisor at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Nicole Lauricella, BS ’13, MS ’14, CPA, was promoted to supervisor at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Richard Heaton, BS ’15, CPA, was promoted to senior associate at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Kelsey Hogan, MS ’15, CPA, was promoted to senior associate at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Benjamin Katz, BS ’14, MS ’15, CPA, was promoted to supervisor at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Alyssa Schifferle, BS ’14, MS ’15, was promoted to senior associate at Freed Maxick CPAs.

Adam Sparks, PMBA ’15, was appointed senior mechanical engineer at Jacobs Institute.

Rema Hanash, EMBA ’16, director of resource development at the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, received a community service award from the Eyes on America Foundation for enhancing the quality of life in Western New York.

Cassandra Barrett, BS ’17, was appointed special events coordinator at the Food Bank of Western New York.

Christopher Carbone, MBA ’17, was promoted to analyst at Crowley Webb.

Michael Hadley, BS ’17, is a financial consultant at AXA Advisors and is working to start his own financial advising practice.

Dominick C. Muto, BS ’13, EMBA ’17, was named director of finance at Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham LLC.

Scott Petersen, EMBA ’17, PE, was promoted to manufacturing engineering manager at Rich Products.

Charlie Barth, BS ’11, JD/MBA ’18, was appointed a law clerk at Barclay Damon.

Cheyenne Ketter-Franklin, BS ’17, MBA ’18, was appointed communications and content coordinator at the Buffalo History Museum.