STREET SMART Stevens Breaks New Ground in Finance
In this issue: Clean Water for Thailand | the Extraordinary stevens family | a run across america
milestones
Walker Gym is turning 100 in 2015! Here’s a look at some moments in this iconic building’s long history on the Stevens campus.
STAY connected We’re on Instagram! Follow us @FollowStevens and share your CONNECT WITH STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: stories using #StevensPride. Take a trip down memory lane and dig up photos from your days at Stevens or past alumni events. We’ll feature your candid moments here!
SPRING 2015, Vol. 136, No. 1 Interim Executive Director Melissa Fuest
Contributors
Art Direction/Design
Letters to the Editor
Paul Karr
www.DanFlintDesign.com
editor@alumni.stevens.edu
Additional Art Direction/Design
Class log submissions
Michael Hofmann
alumni-log@stevens.edu
Stevens Division of Communications & Marketing Robert Kulish
Spark Design
Executive Director Emeritus
Assistant Athletic Director
Published quarterly by
General SAA inquiries
Anita Lang
for Communications & Events
The Stevens Alumni Association,
Contact the Alumni Office
member of the Council for
Phone: (201) 216-5163
Young Soo Yang
Advancement and Support of Education.
Fax: (201) 216-5374
Stevens Division of
© 2015 Stevens Alumni Association
alumni@stevens.edu
Communications & Marketing
Indicator Correspondence
Editor Beth Kissinger bkissing@stevens.edu Associate Editor
The Stevens Indicator
Lisa Torbic
Joe Arney
ltorbic@stevens.edu
Stevens Alumni Association
Office of Academic
Castle Point
Communications & Marketing
Hoboken, NJ 07030 Phone: (201) 216-5161
Blythe Nobleman
Fax: (201) 216-5374
Office of Academic
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Communications & Marketing
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
SPRING 2015 1
Features WINTER 2014 — 2015
THE MAGAZINE OF THE STEVENS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
The Magazine of the Stevens Alumni Association Spring 2015
Departments 4-5..........................................Presidents’ Corner
the 10-27 Answering Bell on Wall Street Buoyed by the university’s technical prowess, Stevens’ finance programs have broken new ground as they answer the needs of Wall Street and place Stevens on the national radar. Hear faculty, administration and alumni discuss the Stevens advantage on The Street. And meet alumni who are making their mark in the field of finance.
6-7...........................................Grist from the Mill 28......................................................... Grad Log 29.......................................................SAA Page 34-35.......................... Alumni Business Directory 36................................................ Sports Update 37......................................................... Calendar 38............................................................. Clubs 40............................................................. Vitals
8-9 Speakers Inform Stevens Community
Several high-level speakers have come to campus to address the Stevens community. Read about the President’s Distinguished Lecture Series speaker, Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Prize winner and expert on cancer; and Dr. Najib Abboud, an expert in structural dynamics who discussed the World Trade Center collapse.
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30-31 Water for Thailand
The Stevens student chapter of Engineers Without Borders goes to Thailand to help bring fresh drinking water to dozens of households in a remote area.
Opposite: Stevens is leading the way in the financial world with its business school curriculum and faculty. Above, from left: The Hoboken Historical Museum is featuring an exhibit on the Stevens family, which includes some family artifacts. Dr. Harold Varmus, director of the National Cancer Institute, speaks on campus. Students from Stevens’ chapter of Engineers Without Borders have launched a project in Thailand.
32 New in HFT Research
New high-frequency trading research at Stevens showcases a bold flash-trading solution.
33 3,000 Miles to Home
Christina Lee ’14 is not your average Stevens graduate. Read about her amazing story and see what inspired her to run her way home from New York to California, a journey that took five months to complete.
On the Cover The world of finance is ever-changing and Stevens has expanded its academic programs in recent years to meet industry needs. Cover: Spark Design
39 History on Display
Inventors. Philanthropists. Engineers. These are some of the words that describe the Stevens family, founders of this great university. And now the world will get to see how this family’s contributions impact the world we live in today.
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
SPRING 2015 3
Presidents’ Corner ‘Storm the Castle Gates’ for Alumni Weekend It gives me great pride to report that the Stevens Alumni Association has been keeping very busy. One of the most significant accomplishments occurred on December 16, 2014, when the Board of Trustees unanimously approved a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Stevens Alumni Association. This document serves as a guide for how the SAA and university will work “as one” in serving alumni and advancing our alma mater. This forward-looking document is a true testament to the progress Stevens continues to make toward becoming a worldclass university. The new agreement can be found on the Stevens alumni website at stevens.edu/alumni/saainfo/mission. I also am pleased to share that the Stevens Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship continues to flourish. For nearly 30 years, the SAA has been providing awards to qualified students with legacy relations to Stevens. Last spring we welcomed eight new scholars to the more than 130 Legacy Scholar recipients. The Alumni Association wants to ensure that many more students have the opportunity to study and learn from Stevens’ esteemed faculty. To achieve this, we need the support of alumni like you to strengthen the Scholarship. I ask that you consider making a gift to the Stevens Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship to continue the tradition of support and encouragement for our most accomplished students. You may make a gift by visiting stevens.edu/makeagift. We are fast approaching one of my favorite times of the year at Stevens – Alumni Weekend. This is the one weekend when alumni are encouraged to storm the Castle gates and make the campus their own once again. Alumni from across the country and around the globe return to Hoboken to share memories with friends, commemorate the years spent at this outstanding university and be inspired by the innovative work being done here. This year’s Alumni Weekend (June 5-7) will be especially exciting, as the SAA ushers in several new activities. We, of course, have made certain that your favorite traditions – Beer Tasting with Dave Manhas ’88, Wine Tasting with Bruce Boylan ’63, the GOLD Boat Cruise, and many others – are still featured throughout the weekend. One of the best parts of Alumni Weekend is the opportunity to celebrate some of our most active alumni. This year, it is my honor
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to announce the Harold R. Fee ‘20 Alumni Achievement Award recipients: Laura Paglione ’90, Angie Hankins ’95, Marybeth Lynch ’00, Joshua Levine ’05, Natalia Bilchuck ’10, and George Blazeski ’10. The SAA is proud to recognize these alumni for their tremendous loyalty and exemplary participation in the alumni community. Let us all gather together on Saturday, June 6, and applaud these fantastic alumni. Details about the ceremony will be on the Alumni Weekend website, stevens.edu/alumniweekend. I am also pleased to announce the 2015 Stevens Alumni Award recipient – Mary Doddy ’80. Mary is a devoted member of our community, serving the SAA and Stevens for decades. She has chaired numerous committees, served on the Board of Trustees, and was SAA president from 2009-2011. Mary’s unwavering support of the Association, women’s athletics, and the university serve as a shining example to all. Join us on June 6 as we celebrate Mary’s years of dedicated service to Stevens. On another note, I regret to announce that Michael Smullen, who ably served the SAA and Stevens for the last three years, including the past two years as executive director, has stepped down to take a position at another university. We thank Michael for guiding us through a period of change, and we wish him the very best professionally and personally. A search committee has been convened to identify the next Executive Director. I hope to see you during Alumni Weekend 2015. Remember, when we all come together to show our support and pride for Stevens, great things happen. ❖
Proudly yours, Per aspera ad astra
Thomas Moschello ’63 M.S. ’65 President, Stevens Alumni Association tmoschello@aol.com
Presidents’ corner
Technology: Our Past and Our Future In January, in partnership with the Hoboken Historical Museum, Stevens launched an exhibit, the Extraordinary Stevens Family: a New Jersey Legacy 1776-1911. This fascinating exhibit, open through July 5, 2015, is a must-see for all Stevens alumni. One of the most striking aspects of this exhibit, and the companion video, produced by John Dalton ’60 and narrated by classmate Richard Reeves, was the vision and foresight of Col. John Stevens and his sons to develop new technologies that literally changed the world. From steam engine and railroad technologies, to ironclad war vessels and ballistics, the role that Col. John Stevens played in petitioning Congress for the establishment of U.S. patent law in 1790, and many more examples, the innovations and entrepreneurial vision of the Stevens family literally changed the course of history. These themes are especially relevant to the focus of this issue of The Indicator: Stevens’ growing impact in the domains of business and finance. Alumni reading this issue will undoubtedly recall classmates who have gone on to successful careers in the business and finance sectors after studying engineering at Stevens. For decades, the broadbased, heavily analytical and technology-focused curriculum prepared graduates for successful careers across a wide variety of fields, and the business and finance industries have particularly benefited from the strong technology orientation of Stevens graduates. Of course, technology has transformed the conduct of business and finance over the last decade. Automation, high frequency trading, big data and business analytics are among the changes that have contributed to this transformation, characterized in part as a transition from a “relationship-based” industry to a technology-enabled “intelligencebased” industry. Where traditional backgrounds in business and finance were once required for entry into these industries, they are no longer sufficient for success. Today, firms recruit graduates with skill sets in technology and quantitative finance. Current Stevens programs prepare graduates for success on Wall Street and throughout the business and financial sectors. Over the last decade, for example, 20 percent of Stevens graduates have accepted employment in the finance industry alone, and many have gone on to be successful entrepreneurs in this sector. Building on these foundations, Stevens’ approach to preparing the next generation of leaders in business and finance is more deliberate, more comprehensive and more strategic. Through the Howe School
of Technology Management, Stevens offers a portfolio of undergraduate majors and graduate programs encompassing all the major disciplines within business: finance, marketing, economics, management, information systems, quantitative finance, and business and technology, as well as specialized graduate programs such as telecommunications management and business intelligence and analytics. Our state-of-the-art Hanlon Financial Systems Lab is home to some of the latest financial systems research, software innovations for financial networks, and investigations into cyber-security challenges in finance. The Hanlon Lab provides undergraduates and graduate students alike with the real world experience of a live trading floor and access to Bloomberg terminals. The Hanlon Lab is one of the nation’s most advanced teaching, training and research facilities of its kind. In addition, specialized programs such as the newly established Student Managed Investment Fund provide rare opportunities for students to get real-world experience managing investments. These programs and resources, along with our integral orientation to technology, combined with our close proximity to New York City, are distinguishing features for Stevens graduates in the business and finance sectors. Continuing the legacy created by Col. John Stevens and his sons, Stevens students and alumni are harnessing the power of technology to advance business and industry and developing innovations that change the way we live and work. I hope you’ll find the time to learn more about Stevens’ past—by visiting the Extraordinary Stevens Family exhibit at the Hoboken Historical Museum—and our future—by exploring our education and research programs in business and finance. ❖ Per aspera ad astra,
Nariman Farvardin President, Stevens Institute of Technology president@stevens.edu 201-216-5213
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Grist from the Mill Farvardin Ranked Among NJ’s Top for Business
New Grads Find Much Success Six months after graduation, 95 percent of the Stevens Institute of Technology undergraduate Class of 2014 had secured their intended outcome. The average starting salary was $64,150, with top average accepted salaries for chemical engineering, computer science/ cybersecurity and quantitative finance graduates. Top employers include ExxonMobil, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, NAVSEA, Verizon as well as many others. This continues a multi-year trend of extraordinary student outcomes that has become a hallmark of the university. The Stevens advantage continues to give
graduates a remarkable return on investment, as noted by Payscale’s listing of Stevens as #3 in the nation for net ROI and The Princeton Review’s ranking of Stevens as #3 nationwide for Career Development in the 2015 edition of Colleges that Pay You Back. ❖
Stevens Ranked a “Best Value” by Kiplinger’s Kiplinger’s Personal Finance has ranked Stevens 30th on its list of 100 best values in U.S. private universities for 2015. The ranking—which saw Stevens jump from 85th last year—recognizes private universities that combine outstanding academics with affordable cost. The magazine also included a combined list of the best values in 300 private liberal arts colleges, private universities and public colleges, and Stevens placed in the top third. Kiplinger’s began with nearly 1,200 public and private four-year schools and narrowed the list to 300 based on measures of academic quality and cost, such as admission rate, percentage of students who return for sophomore year, four-year graduation rate, sticker price, financial aid and average debt at graduation. ❖ — Young Soo Yang
The Power 100, NJBIZ’s annual ranking of the most powerful people in New Jersey business, has ranked Stevens President Nariman Farvardin on its list for 2015. Farvardin was ranked #60. “You don’t need us to tell you how important STEM is to the future of the state’s economy, and we’re lucky to have Farvardin leading a school such as Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken,” according to NJBIZ. The publication also praised Stevens’ outstanding national ranking for return on investment (ROI) and noted that “no one works with business better.” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie topped the list. ❖
Napoli Rises to PSEG Long Island VP PSEG Long Island recently appointed Paul Napoli ’79 as its vice president of power markets. Napoli joins the Long Island team after 35 years with the utility’s sister company, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G). In his new role, Napoli will report to PSEG Long Island’s president and COO. Napoli joined Newark, New Jersey-based PSE&G as an engineer in 1979, handling a variety of transmission, gas, electric, wholesale and retail policy and regulatory matters. In 2007, he was named managing director of Transmission Business Services and Strategy. ❖ —Lisa Torbic
Regan is NCAA Cross Country Champ Junior Amy Regan—an engineering management major from Green Brook, New Jersey—made history this past fall when she became the Division III national champion in women’s cross country. Regan placed first in the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championship in Mason, Ohio, in November and became only the fourth national champion in Stevens athletics history. She beat a field of nearly 300 runners from 32 schools. An academic scholarship winner with a 3.8 GPA, Regan is running outdoor track and field this spring; see stevensducks.com for all Stevens spring athletics schedules. ❖ — Robert Kulish
6 The Stevens Indicator
GRIST FROM THE MILL
Student-Athletes Shine Bright Fall 2014 was the best in the history of Stevens student-athletes when it comes to the classroom. Duck teams combined for a 3.377 gradepoint average, carrying a 3.319 cumulative GPA into the Spring 2015 semester. Additionally, each Stevens team currently maintains an individual GPA above 3.0, with men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s track & field, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s tennis, women’s track & field and women’s volleyball all above 3.4. ❖ — Robert Kulish
Hazelwood Receives National Inventors Honor Stevens Professor of Biomedical Engineering Vikki Hazelwood, Ph.D. ’07, has been named fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The distinction is given to academic inventors who have demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that make a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Dr. Hazelwood’s work focuses on transforming engineering technologies into solutions for unmet clinical needs, especially in the areas of obesity prevention and pain management. At Stevens, she led the development of a venture capital backed start-up, SPOC Inc.—a clinical and technological platform for pain management—where her student founders are coinventors and full-time employees. Since arriving at Stevens in 2004, she has overseen nearly 100 invention disclosures developed in collaboration with local medical teams. Approximately two dozen have resulted in patent applications, and five patents have been issued; all these projects include her undergraduate students as inventors. ❖ — Blythe Nobleman
Innovation on Display April 29 The Stevens Innovation Expo will be held on the Stevens campus on Wednesday, April 29, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Expo is an annual, one-day, campus-wide event featuring the extensive research and innovation accomplishments of faculty and students, with the Class of 2015 Senior Projects Expo as a main attraction. The day also includes lectures and other special events, including the popular Elevator Pitch Competition. ❖ For more information, visit stevens.edu/expo.
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Experts In Healthcare, WTC Collapse Speak To Stevens Community Industry leaders in healthcare and forensic engineering have recently come to campus to speak to Stevens students, faculty, staff and alumni about pressing societal issues. Dr. Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate and director of the National Cancer Institute, gave a thought-provoking presentation on “Transitions in Cancer Research’’ as part of the President’s Distinguished Lecture Series. He delivered a highly informative overview of the current state of cancer care and where it is headed.
Najib Abboud of Weidlinger Associates Inc., right, an expert in structural dynamics and the forensic investigation of structural failures, discussed the collapse of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, at the recent Deans’ Seminar Series on campus. With him is Michael Bruno, dean of Stevens’ Schaefer School of Engineering and Science.
Dr. Harold Varmus, director of the National Cancer Institute and a Nobel Prize winner for his studies of the genetic basis of cancer, headlined the President’s Distinguished Lecture Series in February. 8 The Stevens Indicator
Dean, School of Engineering and Science at Stevens. “I know that the audience of students, faculty, staff, alumni and guests shared that view and we were all impressed by Dr. Abboud’s ability to describe highly complex dynamics and analysis techniques in a way that everyone could understand.’’ The President’s Distinguished Lecture Serieswas launched in October 2012 by President Farvardin as a forum to create dialogue on important topics in science and technology. The PDLS was made possible in part through a gift from Dr. William Destler ’68, president of Rochester Institute of Technology. The next President’s Distinguished Lecture Series will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, featuring Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, chief investment officer of the Private Wealth Management Group (PWM) at Goldman Sachs.
Industry leaders continue to come to the Stevens campus as Josh S. Weston, honorary chairman of Automatic Data Processing (ADP), will speak to the Stevens community on Wednesday, May 6, beginning at 4 p.m. Watch the Stevens website, www.stevens.edu, for more details. For more information about the President’s Distinguished Lecture Series, visit stevens.edu/lecture. ❖ — Blythe Nobleman and Young Soo Yang
Stevens’ pre-college summer programs now have even more choices to inspire.
Stevens Authors To Be Honored Along with being accomplished engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs and educators, among many other professions, a number of Stevens alumni can also add “author” to their job title.
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ow, Stevens alumni authors and their works will be honored during Alumni Weekend 2015. The Stevens Authors Showcase — an ongoing initiative to exhibit books written by Stevens alumni, faculty and staff — will open its book collection to all attendees during Alumni Weekend, June 5-7. The Showcase will be part of the permanent collection inside the President’s Conference Room, 13th floor of the Howe Center, and all alumni and guests will be invited to view the collection during the weekend. Please visit www.stevens.edu/alumniweekend for more details. Stevens President Nariman Farvardin will also host a private event for the authors on June 6 in the President’s Conference Room, followed by a reception with the Edwin A. Stevens Society inside S.C. Williams Library. Technical, management and literary books have been collected in this effort launched by the President’s Office, in coordination with the S.C. Williams Library, the Stevens Alumni Association and the Office of the Provost Books are still being accepted for the Ste-
vens Authors Showcase. For more information on the collection, contact Scott Smith, Head of Acquisitions & Collections Development at the Williams Library, at 201-216-5419 or SSmith2@stevens.edu. For information on the authors reception during Alumni Weekend, contact Casey Campbell, Office of Development, at 201- 216-3335 or Casey.Campbell@ stevens.edu. Authors who wish to donate books to the collection should mail them to: Scott Smith, The S.C. Williams Library, Stevens Institute of Technology, 1 Castle Point, Hoboken, NJ 07030. They are also welcome to drop off books at the library’s circulation desk, during library hours. Please include a note that mentions the Stevens Authors Showcase. Books can also be dropped at the Stevens Alumni Office, on the 9th floor of the Howe Center. ❖ — Beth Kissinger
For more information, call us at 201.216.3353 or visit stevens.edu/summer
SUMMER PROGRAMS INCLUDE: Creative coding, entrepreneurship, game design, science & engineering, multimedia & more
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In just 13 years, Stevens’ finance programs have broken new academic ground and put the university on the national radar. Here’s how it happened — and what’s next. By Paul Karr, Stevens Division of Communications & Marketing Hanlon Lab photography by Bob Handelman
Professors George Calhoun and Eleni Gousgounis with students inside the Hanlon Financial Systems Lab — the epicenter for Stevens’ growing finance programs.
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Edwin A. Stevens was a talented and forward-thinking businessman, but even he could not have guessed that the engineering school he founded in 1870 would one day send significant numbers of graduates into careers on Wall Street and within the financial industry each year. Yet it’s true: the Class of 2014 has entered careers in the financial industry at the same rate as they entered careers in engineering services and in technology and telecommunications; only the manufacturing and pharmaceutical industry attracted more Stevens graduates. The number joining the financial industry jumps to nearly one-half for B.S. degree recipients. While most of the jobs are on the technology side, finance has, in fact, become a high-tech industry today. Stevens is also grooming students for careers in trading and investment banking. Meanwhile, graduate business and finance offerings at the university
have grown by leaps and bounds to the point where Stevens is now ranked in the top 10 nationally for programs in analytics. And it has happened relatively quickly. Long blessed with both a historical strength in management training (see “A Foundation of Business Excellence,” page 17) and a campus located minutes from the world’s financial hub, Stevens began a determined push 13 years ago into the rapidly changing world of finance — an industry that was just beginning to transform itself from a world of paper chits and trading-floor pit runners to one of algorithms, electronic trades and stochastic modeling. That decision, to bring Stevens’ technical and engineering expertise to bear on questions of finance, placed the university on the national map for financial education — and placed dozens of subsequent graduates into high-flying careers with the biggest names on the Street. Here’s how it happened.
SPRING 2015 11
Students in Professor German Creamer’s undergraduate Quantitative Finance class at work inside the Hanlon Lab.
First in finance Stevens began offering a financial engineering (FE) graduate program in 2002, one of the nation’s first, at the urging of prospective employers and the financial industry. “Financial engineers and analysts, or ‘quants,’ were beginning to wield much more influence in finance,” says financial engineering professor Khaldoun Khashanah, who helped craft the program and has directed it since its inception. “A landscape of knowledge was being formed from the confluence of applications of financial instrumentation, mathematical finance, data science, physics, computational sciences, modeling and analytics. New thinking was needed, and that is how our program in financial engineering came to be.” Originally situated within Stevens’ department of mathematics, the FE program was later moved to the School of Systems & Enterprises 01001010010101001010010100101010010010 (SSE) when the school was created in 2007. 01010010101001010010100101010010 “More than a decade ago our faculty, led by Professor Khashanah, conceptualized the global financial system as a complex, evolving socio-technical system, and the FE graduate
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program addresses it as such,” adds SSE Dean Dinesh Verma. “Students and sponsors have embraced this perspective, and the FE graduate program is one of the fastest-growing, most vibrant graduate programs, not only at Stevens but nationally.” In 2009, Stevens expanded its finance offerings further when the Howe School launched the nation’s first undergraduate program in quantitative finance (QF). The program was created, says QF program director George Calhoun, in response to the watershed change that was continuing to reshape the financial industry into an environment where trades were being made in split-seconds, literally almost at the speed of light — often automatically and algorithmically by computer programs. “We felt that we should be proactive and design a degree tailored to this interest,” Calhoun recalls. “We responded to the interest of the financial industry when we realized this was a real opportunity for Stevens.” This new QF curriculum combined, for the first time, rigorous training in mathematical methods, computer science and business
skills such as accounting with training in key finance-industry skills such as asset pricing, stock selection, asset allocation, portfolio analysis and computerized trading, which had by then largely supplanted the traditional trading “pit.” As financial and marketing analysis softwares and methodologies rapidly multiplied, in 2012 Stevens began offering a master’s program in Business Intelligence & Analytics, or the analysis and strategic deployment of ‘big data,’ for short, a program with applications to the field of finance. (Within two years, the business analytics program would be ranked in the top 10 in the nation by The Financial Engineer, an online trade publication, as would Stevens’ master’s of science in Management degree program.) That same spring, in 2012, Stevens unveiled the Financial Systems Center (FSC), an ambitious new state-of-the-art research center, and the Hanlon Financial Systems Lab — a simulated Wall Street trading room streaming real-time and historical data, a generous gift of investment advisor Sean Hanlon ‘80 (see story, page 13). The FSC was designed, from the outset, as a collaborative effort between SSE and
MISS I ONS ACCOMP LIS HED Career Outcomes Business and finance-related majors, Class of 2014: Quantitative Finance 100 %: majors and 92 %: Business Technology majors (Outcomes are six months post-graduation and include employment, graduate school acceptance, travel or military service) Source: Stevens Office of Career Development, Class of 2014 Career Outcomes Report
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top by any day or night of the week, and the Hanlon Financial Systems Lab — on the fourth floor of the Babbio Center on lower campus — buzzes with activity, from classes and students collaborating on projects to visitors admiring the state-of-the-art facility at the heart of Stevens’ research and teaching in finance. The lab — unveiled in 2012 as the cornerstone of the Financial Systems Center (FSC), and made possible by a significant gift by trustee John J. ‘Sean’ Hanlon IV ’80 — educates close to 500 students per semester, from freshmen to Ph.D. students. Classes in quantitative finance, financial engineering, and business intelligence and analytics are held here daily, in a facility that features Bloomberg terminals, tickers and stock boards streaming real-time and historical market data. The lab is also equipped with leading-edge analysis software packages that students use to conduct trading simulations and develop financial models. “Stevens is extremely well positioned in its existing systems and engineering portfolio, and its location next to the financial capital of the world, to make the study of financial systems
at Stevens a great success,” Hanlon said when the lab opened in 2012. While Stevens isn’t the only university with a financial research lab, explains professor George Calhoun, director of Stevens’ quantitative finance program and the FSC’s acting director, very few existing labs nationwide can compare. “It says we have made a commitment to finance as an institution,” Calhoun says, pointing out that prospective students, faculty, finance professionals and others visiting the lab for the first time often remark upon its impressiveness. “We have the tools and technology students can actually learn from.” The Hanlon Lab’s databases and technology give students much-needed practice with — as well as the theory behind — the pressing problems of finance and the tools to help solve them,
says professor Ionut Florescu, the laboratory’s director. The lab has also helped to attract more high-quality students, he says — students who in the past may have chosen New York University, Rutgers or even Princeton for graduate school, but are sold on Stevens once they see the lab and its capabilities. “They go from prospective students to: ‘I’m going to come to you,’” Florescu says. Demand for the facility by professors and researchers alike has been so high, in fact, that Stevens plans to open a second lab by the fall of 2015, Calhoun says, to support the recent rapid growth of the university’s analytics programs.
This second, yet-to-be-named lab, which primarily will be concerned with “Big Data” analytics and visualization focusing on financial and other applications, is now in the design phase; it will occupy an existing classroom to be determined within the Babbio Center, and will feature additional Bloomberg terminals and software analysis packages for Big Data research, as well as full audio-visual capabilities. ❖ —Beth Kissinger and Lisa Torbic
Clockwise from bottom left, Professors Eleni Gousgounis, Khaldoun Khashanah and German Creamer inside the lab.
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Finance explodes as a career choice
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Highest average accepted salaries, Class of 2014, by major:
$72,100
Chemical Engineering, Computer Science/ Cybersecurity,
$71,150 $71,000
Quantitative Finance,
Source: Stevens Office of Career Development, Class of 2014 Career Outcomes Report
the Howe School, anchored by the financial lab. “The Hanlon Lab was the transformative event in the life of the FE program,” says FE program director Khashanah. “The lab enabled the faculty and students to experiment with real data in an environment that simulates markets. It is the catalyst to creating a community of financial learning around which students, faculty, workshops and interested learners can gather to discuss new ideas and future innovations.” And Stevens wasn’t finished innovating in finance yet. Over the next three years the university added a finance concentration for business and technology majors; the nation’s very first Ph.D. program in financial engineering; an undergraduate major in finance; and, finally an M.S. program in finance that is currently accepting applications and will begin this fall. Stevens also offers an MBA in finance. “We launched the undergraduate major in finance after noting increased interest among our undergraduates in this field and increased market demand for financial skills,” says Ann Murphy, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and director of the undergraduate finance degree program. “With the Hanlon Lab on campus, and our proximity to Wall Street, it was a natural extension of our academic programming.”
student interest in Stevens’ programs in finance is growing at light speed. Quantitative finance is an especially popular program at Stevens, with a 42 percent increase in applications from 2014 to 2015 and continued growth expected next year. “The impact of technology on finance has been very profound in a very short period of time,” notes Howe School Dean Gregory Prastacos, whose office overlooks Manhattan. “No matter how long they’ve been in the field, students coming to us from industry say they can feel the changes brought by technology. Our work in quantitative methods, analytics and behavioral finance allows us to tell these experienced professionals that not only can we explain how technol-
ogy is changing your job right now, but we can also prepare you to manage the changes technology has in store for this industry.” The university’s just-released Career Outcomes Report for the undergraduate Class of 2014 indicates 13 percent of graduates entered jobs in the financial industry — the same number who entered engineering services positions. For graduates earning bachelor of science degrees, however, the figure jumps to 46 percent of graduates who entered the financial services industry. Firms such as Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital, UBS and JPMorgan Chase are among the top employers of all Stevens graduates over the past three years, with JPMorgan Chase making that list for the past five years. “Wall Street is seeking talented young professionals who have an impressive technical aptitude and an understanding of how
The Future of Finance A Talk Dean Gregory Prastacos recently reflected on the milestones and some exciting new developments within Stevens’ business school. What are the most exciting new developments at the business school in terms of educating finance professionals? What we’re most excited about is the launch of our new master’s degree in Finance, which will welcome its first students in the fall. This program provides an understanding of how quantitative methods, analytics and financial technology are revolutionizing every aspect of this industry, from how it’s regulated to how deals get done. This program will teach managers and aspiring managers a new way of thinking that’s essential to success in this area. On the undergraduate side, we continue to have strong momentum in our Quantitative Finance program — every QF student in the Class of 2014 got at least one internship, and all have been placed in the workforce or graduate school. Furthermore, the Financial Systems Center — a collaborative effort with Stevens’ School of Systems & En-
terprises — continues to provide important research in the area of finance, as well as providing an avenue through which Stevens can link directly to industry. How has the school changed since you joined it in 2012? What would you count as some of your and the school’s successes? I’m most proud of the school’s continued evolution into a true business school that offers instruction and research into the traditional management disciplines with a strong emphasis on the technology that’s disrupting established processes and creating new opportunities. We wrote and are following a five-year strategic plan, closely aligned with Stevens’ 10-year growth plan, which was developed with extensive input from both faculty and senior leadership. Our resulting growth can be tied to the objectives we outlined in that plan: We’ve launched five new undergraduate majors
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technology supports the fast-paced demands of the financial sector,” explains Lynn Insley, director of Stevens’ Office of Career Development. “Our students’ strong technical and quantitative skills, developed through Stevens’ academic programs and interaction with industry-focused faculty, prepare our graduates to quickly provide value.” John Schwall ’95 M.S. ’98, a central figure in Michael Lewis’ best-selling 2014 book Flash Boys for his efforts to root out unfair advantages in trading and create an alternative exchange (see the Summer 2014 issue of The Indicator), credits his Stevens education with laying the groundwork for his success and innovation in finance. A previous Stevens On The Street event in New York. The group brings together alumni in the financial and business industries for networking.
with Stevens Dean Prastacos and two graduate programs; we’ve hired 17 researchactive faculty in high-demand areas like Big Data and finance; we’ve had major growth in undergraduate (up 73 percent since 2012) and graduate (up 56 percent since 2013) enrollment; and have climbed the research rankings as measured by Social Sciences Research Network. And two of our graduate programs rank among the top 10 programs of their kind in the nation.
nizational design and so much more. The Hanlon Financial Systems Lab offers students and researchers access to live market data and cutting-edge tools like Hadoop and NoSQL databases, which for technically minded professionals is a huge résumé booster. And speaking of résumés, being located just minutes from Wall Street means our students have regular access to recruiters, and researchers have direct connections to industry professionals.
What can a Stevens business school offer that a Stern, Kellogg, or even a Wharton School can’t? What’s the Stevens difference?
Today’s manager is busier than ever. How is that concern reflected in your programs?
There is truly an ecosystem around technology at Stevens, which is important to students searching for a truly relevant education. Classroom instruction and activities demonstrate the value proposition at the point where business and technology intersect, which is of critical importance in the corporate world. Our emphasis on innovation, Big Data and technology creates unique research and teaching opportunities in finance, supply chain management, marketing, orga-
Our close ties to industry allow us to recruit managers to join our boards of advisers, where they can provide input into our curricula and courses. That means our degree programs are instantly relevant in the workplace, so students know they’ll have a strong, immediate return on their investment. Stevens has a tradition in favoring a hands-on, “learning by doing” approach that gives them confidence using technology and training in a comfortable environment before applying
their skills in the workplace. We have streamlined our degree programs to provide more relevant instruction in less time, and have flexible options designed to suit the needs of busy professionals. Our online courses benefit from Stevens’ award-winning WebCampus platform, while companies like Verizon, Pfizer and Zodiac have brought our instructors to their campuses to deliver courses to professionals. ❖ — Interview: Joe Arney
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Financial firms have been among the top employers of recent Stevens graduates during the past three years: Barclays Capital Goldman Sachs JPMorgan Chase UBS Financial Source: Stevens Office of Career Development, Class of 2014 Career Outcomes Report
“A lot of what puts me in a position to do all these things — which is really just problem solving — is having been exposed to different situations,” he said, during a recent lecture on campus. “And for me, getting the degree at Stevens that I did helped me learn how to think through a problem and solve it and propose a solution. I attribute a lot of it to Stevens, I attribute a lot of it to hard work.” Mitchell Epperly ’14 M.S. ’15 is another finance success story. Epperly, who completed a bachelor’s degree in QF last year and will complete his master’s in financial engineering this May, has already accepted a role in Goldman Sachs’ New York headquarters as a senior analyst on Goldman’s
compliance team. A four-year member of the men’s swim team as well, Epperly praises both the Stevens faculty and the quality of the curriculum. “I obtained a breadth of knowledge that runs deep,” says Epperly, who was admitted as a mechanical engineering student with little prior knowledge of business. “I found myself interested in learning the technical side of things (programming, statistics, mathematics), so after my freshman year I switched from a business and technology major to the quantitative finance program. I came in with the understanding that I would most likely end up on Wall Street.” “I think that one of the biggest selling points is how close Stevens is to Wall Street,” adds Doug Stewart ’11, a business and technology alumnus who is now an associate with J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “Never underestimate proximity.” In fact, points out QF program director Calhoun, every member of the 2014 QF graduating class received either a job offer — entering firms such as Goldman Sachs or BlackRock, with average accepted starting salaries John Schwall ’95 recently spoke to students.
16 The Stevens Indicator
of $71,000 — or was accepted to a graduate program. “From the back end to front end operations, Stevens students graduate with the ability to provide value throughout the financial industry,” says Insley. The new Stevens master’s degree in finance builds on the heritage of previous tech-flavored finance programs at the university. The curriculum, says Prastacos, will infuse technology into traditional finance disciplines; teach students to think quantitatively about solving problems; and allow professionals to customize course loads in order to meet career aspirations in fields such as investment banking and valuation, financial analytics and risk, and financial services.
A faculty for finance Stevens alumni working on the Street today frequently praise not only their finance coursework but their faculty mentors, singling them out for their real-world experience in the field, research productivity and accessibility. “The faculty offered invaluable advice,” remembers Epperly, the QF and soon-to-be FE graduate who will join Goldman Sachs this summer. “Their guidance, whether profession-
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Above: Student interest in finance is growing. Far right: Professor Stefano Bonini, a new faculty member.
ally or academically, undergraduate or graduate, has proven to be pivotal.” Indeed, the majority of the university’s core cadre of finance faculty brings impressive industry credentials to the table. Faculty with real-world industry experience include: ■ Q F program director and Financial Systems Center acting director Calhoun, who previously spent 25 years in the wireless communications industry, founding or serving as chair or CEO of several public companies. In that context, he was involved in a wide range of corporate finance transactions, including six public offerings. ■ Q F professor German Creamer, who served as a program officer for the United Nations Development Programme, a consultant to the World Bank and USAID and as an economic advisor to the president of Ecuador prior to joining Stevens.
A F O U N D ATI O N O F B U SI N E SS E X C E L L E N C E A foundation of excellence in financial education was laid early in the university’s existence.
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uilding on the legacy of alumni such as Charles Stewart Mott, a co-founder of General Motors, and Frederick Winslow Taylor, the father of scientific management — as well as early trustees such as Andrew Carnegie — the university had long trained managers for manufacturing and industry. But as manufacturing began to change and companies began to globalize, technological innovation began to disrupt traditional industry. In a host of fields as diverse as aeronautics, transportation, supply chain management, marketing, data processing and information technology, fluency with technology suddenly became paramount to success. Sensing a paradigm shift, Stevens was early to adapt and acted quickly. The university began offering technology management master’s degree programs, a business and technology (B&T) undergraduate major, and an MBA in finance. These programs were popular, but now it was Wall Street’s turn to reinvent itself. Driven by the explosive growth of computing and Internet technologies, professional investment managers began wielding powerful new sets of tools to analyze financial patterns, asset prices, trades and economic conditions and execute split-second trades. Individual investors were also beginning to enter markets, trades and investments en masse, without intermediaries, for the first time. Finance had suddenly become more complex, and more of a technical and engineering problem, than it had ever been before in history, and the university made a decision to create sweeping finance programs and research facilities that have since become state-of-the-art. ❖ — Paul Karr
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The second annual Trading Day at Stevens competition, during which high school students get a taste of business coursework at Stevens, will take place April 24 on campus. The Hanlon Financial Systems Lab will become a frenzied trading floor as student teams compete for scholarships and prizes while deploying sophisticated financial software. They will also have the opportunity to meet leaders from major financial firms. ❖ To learn more, visit stevens.edu/tradingday.
■ F E professor Steve Yang, an expert in algorithmic trading behavior and financial fraud detection, who previously worked as a system architect at Northrop Grumman, a research consultant with the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) and an engineer of NASA-deployed systems at Raytheon, among other industry roles. ■ F E division deputy director Rupak Chatterjee, author of a new book on financial engineering and risk management as part of a Stevens partnership with Springer/ Apress to publish financial literature, who served as a vice president at Barclays Capital and senior vice president with Credit Suisse prior to joining the university.
■ F E program director Khashanah, who publishes widely, performing research supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation, and served as lead author of new high-frequency trading guidelines forwarded to Congress and the SEC. (See page 32.) ■ F inance professor Eleni Gousgounis, who collaborates closely with industry in a number of areas related to finance research, especially market structure and behavioral finance. She counts the Montreal Exchange, Thomson Reuters, MarketPsych and the federal government among her active research partners.
This growing nucleus of finance expertise at Stevens is proving attractive to top researchers in the field. “We’ve attracted some truly special talent to join our faculty,” notes Prastacos, “most recently Stefano Bonini, whose work has been featured in key handbooks in finance and is among some of the best-read business research.” One of the university’s newest professors, Bonini journeyed from Milan to Hoboken last fall to join their ranks. An accomplished researcher in diverse areas of finance including corporate fraud, the quality of information provided by equity and debt analysis, and the timing of information in equity and debt ratings, he previously taught at Bocconi University in Italy and New York University’s Stern School of Business and served as a visiting fellow both at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bonini has also received a dozen research grants from the European Union and the Italian Government University Research Program, and has been an invited speaker on CNBC to discuss financial crises and conflicts of interests in the investment-banking industry. “Stevens had the ideal mix of location, traditions and quality of education. And I like that there’s room for growth here with the business program. I like the challenge that creates,” he says, explaining his decision to relocate from Italy to New Jersey. “The world needs to know about Stevens and its exemplary students.”
Futures forecast: bullish on finance Financial programming will continue to remain strong going forward. The university’s 10-year Strategic Plan, The Future. Ours to Create., specifically identifies financial systems as an area of emphasis and growth, prescribing significant research and innovation in this constantly-shifting field in order “to address issues of stability, resilience and systemic risk
For more on the current state of Stevens’ finance program offerings and what’s next, see “The Future of Finance: A Talk with Stevens Dean Prastacos” on page 14. 18 The Stevens Indicator
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of the financial system with rigor and relevance.” It’s clear Stevens is positioning itself as even more of a player on both the front lines and the IT back-end of the Street for years to come. “As bright and exciting as the past has been, the future in finance looks even more so,” says SSE Dean Verma. “Financial expertise is very soughtafter in industry today,” concludes Howe School Dean Prastacos. “Our location and our resources make Stevens a natural partner for executive education, research partnerships and consulting work in finance and will continue to do so for years to come.
Professor Dragos Bozdog with a student.
“And we expect to have quite a bit more to announce in the coming months as our master’s degree in finance rolls out.” ❖ — Beth Kissinger and Lisa Torbic contributed reporting to this story.
The Stevens On The Street Alumni Club is a great way for alumni who have a common interest in the finance industry to network with each other. To learn more about this club and what it can offer you, contact stevensonthestreet@stevens.edu.
Chasing a Dream Mariah Cleveland ’15 to join JPMorgan Chase as business analyst The business curriculum at Stevens was an appealing draw for Mariah Cleveland ’15. The Los Gatos, California native grew up in the shadow of Silicon Valley, so she always appreciated the significant role that technology plays in society. “My dad has always worked for tech companies and also being where I live – the Bay area – and with technology becoming ever more a part of our daily lives, it made the most sense to go this route,” Cleveland said. “Stevens has one of the best business schools out there, and it’s so unique because they’re offering both business and technology. With the changing economy right now, it’s just so important to have that background in technology.” Time management, which she mastered while studying at Stevens and playing on the women’s soccer team, is an important skill in the business world. During her internship in the summer of 2014 as a business analyst with JPMorgan Chase in New York City, she applied the lessons of managing and prioritizing learned from the playing field. As an intern at JPMorgan Chase, Cleveland served as a project manager on a technology team. “Everything in the business world is a team – you’re working on a team, you’re managing a team,” she notes. “Everyone needs to be on the same page and striving toward the same goal, or the whole team is going to suffer. “JPMorgan Chase actually considers itself a technology company with a bank wrapped around it. And I was working in the heart of technology.” A month after her internship ended, Chase offered her a fulltime position, to begin after graduation this May. But she’s not done yet with Castle Point, as she plans to pursue a master’s degree at Stevens in project management while beginning her career in financial services. “This is another example of where effective time management comes into play, because I’ll need to balance classes, homework and career,” Cleveland points out. ❖ — Young Soo Yang
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Alumni profile
Proud ‘Quant,’ Author Has Pulse of the Energy A
s a proud “quant” — a financial mathematician — with twenty years of Wall Street experience, Davis Edwards ’95 was still surprised when
he scanned the syllabus for one of his graduate finance classes at Tulane University. One required book, Energy Trading and Investing (McGraw-Hill,
He shouldn’t have been surprised. As an author of three books focusing on finance and investment, Edwards has deep experience in the financial markets. Currently a senior manager in the Energy Derivatives Pricing Center at Deloitte & Touche, one of the largest consulting firms in the country, he helps energy companies understand and manage their risk. Prior to joining Deloitte, he worked on the trading desks of investment banks — first at JP Morgan and later at Bear Stearns. He was one of the original programmers on JP Morgan’s value at risk project in the mid-1990s. However, much of what he knows about finance and energy markets, he has taught himself. He’s had to reinvent his career multiple Three books written by Davis Edwards ’95.
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times — and often in unexpected directions. As an electrical engineer at Stevens, Edwards thought he was headed for a career programming computer games. Several career changes later, he ended up in Houston as a mathematician for the energy industry. But as new opportunities opened up, the tough engineering curriculum at Stevens — along with the humanities courses — were great preparation for making those transitions. “Learning new things in a hurry and becoming used to taking on hard tasks that no one else wanted to do were some of the most important things I learned at Stevens,” Edwards says. Now living in Houston, Edwards heads up two quantitative teams for Deloitte & Touche — one that assesses regulatory reporting models for banks and another that focuses on the valuation of energy and commodity derivatives. Providing consulting to energy companies and banks, he and his team help these companies understand and value complex energy contracts. He
Edwards photo © Gittings
2009), was written by him.
Wall Street veteran Davis Edwards ’95, a senior manager in the Energy Derivatives Pricing Center at Deloitte & Touche, is also a published author.
also advises companies on risk management and how to protect themselves against unfavorable price movements. Much of this work involves translating complex mathematical models into understandable descriptions that allow busy CEOs to understand their key risks in 30-60 seconds — an “elevator speech.” His entire career has been deeply rewarding. “Every day, I’m going to come in and see something new,” Edwards says. “When I started working in energy markets around 2001, conventional wisdom was that America had reached our peak oil production and we were going to run out in 10 years. Now, in 2015, our reality is completely different — we have more oil and gas than we know what to do with, and we are talking about exports. The world is constantly changing.” Another enjoyable aspect of Edwards’ work has been his writing career, which he started
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right after Bear Stearns collapsed. Finding himself unemployed in the midst of the financial crisis, he had enough time off to finally write the book he had always wanted to write. Energy Trading and Investing has enjoyed strong reviews, so much so that Edwards is now working on a second edition. In the following years, he wrote two more books, Energy Investing Demystified (McGraw-Hill, 2013) and Risk Management in Trading (Wiley, 2014), in the evenings after work between making dinner and putting his two young children to bed; his wife provided support and editing. While he was studying engineering at Stevens, the multi-talented Edwards, who holds an M.S. in finance from Tulane and is a thesis away from a M.S. in Applied Mathematics from NYU, also picked up a history degree. He praises his experience in the humanities as giving him a wellrounded education that has helped him launch this second career. “The reading and the writing skills I learned at Stevens served me well,” he says. “So much of my work is researching ideas, writing them up, and then presenting those ideas in front of audiences that I’d be handicapped without that humanities experience I had at Stevens.”❖ — Beth Kissinger
rowing up the son of an Army officer in India meant relocating every few years for Kush Teotia ‘05. Moving and leaving friends behind in the pre-Facebook, pre-social media world was difficult but it was a learning experience that has helped shaped much of who he is today. Stevens’ long history as an institution for learning, its focus on technology, its engineering curriculum and its proximity to New York City was what brought him to Castle Point. He quickly made friends among classmates and faculty, sharing his interests in computers and squash with his classmates and professors. He laughs when he recalls a fond memory of playing squash with Dean Larry Russ. But he didn’t have too much free time, as he was piling on the course load, earning his B.E. in computer engineering and his M.S. in telecommunications management in addition to being part of the co-operative education program, all in four years. Today, Teotia is Global COO for FX Sales, at Barclays based in New York. There, he works across regions performing a range of activities from product and business strategy, financial modeling, client management, and business development to managing global projects, internally delivering on strategic goals for the global sales desks. Six weeks into his tenure at Barclays, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Barclays announced the acquisition of Lehman’s North American business. His role was to fully integrate the sales businesses and the sales trading systems – both prerequisites for “getting back to business.” This also led to an opportunity to move to Hong Kong in 2010 and help build a top-tier Asia Equities franchise.
“As COO for Asia Equity sales at Barclays, I worked with the management team to build the equity franchise in Asia from ground up. I had to set up the systems, get clients onboard, and ensure that we were ‘live’ in all Asia markets. It was a lot of work, but in three years’ time, we went from a new entrant to #9 in Asia,’’ he said. And he’s never regretted his decision to go to Stevens, even when it meant some all-nighters. “At one point, I was taking 36 credits in a semester. Dean Russ called me into his office and asked me, ‘Are you sure about this?’”
Kush Teotia ’05
He was sure. He learned about importance of time management, balancing course after course, multi-tasking, and most importantly, how to handle competing priorities. “These are all the skills I use and most of us end up using in our daily lives,’’ says this father of a 2-year-old and a 5-month-old. And it’s a skill set that will serve him well in the next two years, as he will begin an Executive M.B.A. program at Columbia University this May. It looks like after spending his teen years as a rolling stone and not putting down any roots, he’s found a place to call home in the New York area, first at Stevens and now at Barclays.❖ — Lisa Torbic
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Alumni profile
From career to Stevens,
always where she’s needed
M
ary Doddy’80 has a habit of being where she’s needed most — from managing R&D with GE’s Digital Mam-
mography program to helping JPMorgan Chase integrate technology after its merger to ensuring that the federal oversight of AIG progresses smoothly. “There’s a theme — God puts you where you’re needed,” she says with a smile. Doddy’s 35-year career has seen her work with some of the world’s most prestigious companies: HP, GE, JPMorgan Chase. Today, she’s with AIG’s legal, compliance and regulatory department, which works with the federal government to ensure that this global company is in compliance with governance changes implemented after AIG was designated a Strategically Important Financial Institution (SIFI) pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection act in June 2013.
Despite a long, successful, often demanding career that has seen her carry her expertise in project management and business processes from computer manufacturing to agricultural chemicals, from information services to financial services, Doddy, who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Charlottesville, Virginia, has always found time for Stevens — and has also been there when her alma mater has needed her most. She has kept ties with Castle Point since graduation, as a longtime mentor who always returns for reunions; as a strong supporter of Stevens athletics, DeBaun Center for Per-
Mary Doddy ’80, second from left, has been a great supporter of Stevens for decades, including the women’s fencing team. Pictured with her are fellow alumnae fencers Meagan Ritter ’11, left, and Lexie Lyons ’11, far right, with women’s fencing coach Linda Vollkommer-Lynch.
22 The Stevens Indicator
forming Arts and the Stevens Technical Enrichment program; as a former member of the Stevens Board of Trustees and, currently, a strong leader within the Stevens Alumni Association, which she served as president from 2009 to 2011. For her decades of unwavering service and support to Stevens and its alumni, Doddy will receive the Stevens Alumni Award during Alumni Weekend 2015 in June. Why such devotion to Stevens? “It’s definitely the friendships,” says Doddy, whose brother John is with the Class of ’86. “I think it’s opportunity too. You become part of a community. You can think of it — I just went to school there — or you’ve joined a club for life.” Doddy’s talent for solving problems — and what those who know her call her empathy and strong people skills — have served her well, in a career that often found her introducing change to employees to improve products or business practices. “Some people like to be the hero and firefighter,” she says. “I like to prevent problems. I think it’s an engineer’s mindset.” With AIG — which Doddy joined in 2013 — she works with federal auditors to ensure that all proper business processes are in place, all needed materials and reports are provided, all of the government’s questions are answered. “Being supervised by the federal government was a big unknown,” she says. “My role is an enabling role. I’m enabling the business to minimize the impact on everyday business as usual but comply with the government.” With Genworth Financial, a spin-off of GE, Doddy was a senior vice president and held
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Advising Stevens on
HOW TO ADAPT TO INDUSTRY TRENDS many roles, including working with the CIO on the company’s IT strategic program to helping to develop business goals. As a managing director with JPMorgan Chase, Doddy, among many other duties, delivered global productivity and quality on the IT side, after the merger with Chase. Her problem-solving skills have transferred well throughout her career, she says, and credits what she learned at Stevens: look at the problem, articulate the problem, find a solution. “This translates to everything I’ve done,” she says. During her Stevens years, Doddy was as active as you would expect — captain of the women’s fencing team; member of the Student Government Association, The Stute staff, and Society of Women Engineers; serving as an resident assistant, among many other activities. She enjoyed it all, but fencing perhaps made the deepest impression. No matter where she’s lived — from Ohio to Massachusetts — she’s always returned for the annual alumnae matches and mentored generations of younger alumni who have become longtime friends. She attributes this to friendship and to Stevens’ longtime women’s fencing coach and close friend Linda Vollkommer. To Vollkommer, Doddy has been a faithful friend, a generous supporter of her team and a mentor to generations of her fencers, so much so that a women’s fencing award is named in her honor. “Mary is the ‘queen mother’ of Stevens women’s fencing!” Vollkommer says. “Our friendships among generations of alumnae fencers wouldn’t be thriving like they are today if it weren’t for Mary Doddy.” ❖ — Beth Kissinger
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or almost 30 years, Carmine Lizza ‘85 has held high-level positions in the
financial services industry. His career has taken him from Bankers Trust Company to Lazard, a preeminent financial advisory and asset management firm that operates in 43 cities across 27 countries. Today, he holds the title of CIO and Global Head of Technology for Lazard. But even with a busy career and family life (he’s the father of three boys, including David ’12), he still makes time to volunteer at Stevens. Two years ago, he accepted a request to join the Board of Advisors at the Howe School of Technology Management at Stevens. As a volunteer advisor, he meets several times a year with other industry leaders and with administrators to discuss how curriculum alterations at Stevens will better prepare graduates for the ever-changing world of finance. He joined the Board to give back to Stevens, but he soon realized how much he has learned from the experience. “I enjoy having the opportunity to give back. But on a personal level, I’ve gotten the chance to interact with professionals outside of my own industry,” he said. “There is real value in that. I also get to see first-hand what the Stevens students are learning and the opportunities that they will have as the next generation of engineers. I’m very impressed with the Hanlon Lab.’’ It’s hard to see where he finds the time. Lizza is based in New York, but frequently travels overseas. He’s been with Lazard for 16 years and is responsible for all aspects of information technology such as applications development, systems architecture and infrastructure across business lines.
Carmine Lizza ’85
The job at Lazard is a perfect marriage of his engineering degree and love of business, he said. “This job is terrific. It allows me the opportunity to blend my engineering background with the financial services business. I’ve always been interested in financial services. I like the real-time nature of the industry.’’ he says. Like other volunteers, he continues to donate his time and effort to Stevens because of the students. He quickly tells the story of a friend’s son who will enter Stevens this fall as a science, technology and society major in the College of Arts & Letters. “When I looked online at what he will be studying I was thoroughly impressed, ’’ Lizza said. “It’s not the curriculum of the traditional schools.’’ He’s excited to see how the Stevens curriculum is adapting to industry trends and not staying stagnant. “Technology will continue to be a part of every company’s DNA. I look forward to seeing how Stevens students will impact business and finance in the next 20 years,’’ he said. ❖ — Lisa Torbic
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Alumni profile
Building An Alumni Network At Wall Street’s Front Office Groups Ishaan Acharya ’09 and Doug Stewart ’11 have followed similar paths — from
Doug Stewart ’11 (left) and Ishaan Acharya ’09
their journey to Stevens to their friendship that has endured beyond Castle Point to their heady days on Wall Street. The former roommates both started out studying engineering at other schools but transferred to Stevens, looking to work on Wall Street. Both majored in business and technology at Stevens and, today, both work at J.P. Morgan in mid-town Manhattan — right across the street from each other. Despite their common journey, their career paths have diverged: Acharya works in investment banking and Stewart in asset management. They are part of a young and growing Stevens alumni base that can be found on Wall Street, from J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs to Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. But while many Stevens alumni work in technology or operations related jobs, these old friends are among a smaller number of alumni who have broken into the “front office” jobs of high finance. Now, they’re working to bring more Stevens alumni along with them. “We want to build that presence,” Stewart says. “The school’s proximity to New York and highly intelligent student population lends itself to success in finance and we want to help bridge that,” adds Acharya. Competition for Wall Street jobs in investment banking and asset management is famously intense. So Acharya and Stewart — determined to bolster the Stevens network — returned to Castle Point last fall to host a Q&A for top students that focused on careers in the revenue side of the big banks. They hope to do more in the future. Sheer determination, hard work, an intense desire to work in an intellectually stimulating environment — and some good luck — helped them land these prestigious jobs, they say. They also credit the coursework and insightful guidance of Stevens professors like George Calhoun and former professor Robert Stinerock. During phone conversations, both Acharya and Stewart speak quickly and are effortlessly articulate. There’s a sparkling intelligence here, and you can easily imagine them advising company CEOs and prestigious clients.
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Acharya works as an investment banking associate in J.P. Morgan’s Financial Institutions Group; his job is to advise companies on mergers and acquisitions and on raising capital in the equity and debt capital markets. His group’s clients include banks, insurance companies, asset managers, and specialty finance firms — the most senior people in these organizations. Competition for these top-flight clients, between investment banks, is fierce and the work is notoriously demanding. He works more than 120 hours a week during his busiest times; his lighter weeks, about 75 hours. The excitement of having access to company CEOs and CFOs, and the great knowledge gained from them, along with working with highly intelligent colleagues, are among the rewards for him. “The things that you advise on are the most critical things that a company does — an IPO, debt financing, acquiring a new business or deciding whether to sell itself,” he says. “You’re advising senior management - people who are very experienced. You get smarter through that.” Acharya brings a rich background of his own: an MBA from Duke University and four and a half years with Goldman Sachs, including three years in London, in Goldman’s Asset Management division within the Emerging Market Equities Group. Stewart, meanwhile, brings a lifelong passion for the markets passed down by his father and grandfather. Today, he works within the Investment Management division of J.P. Morgan Asset Management and, as a product specialist within the U.S. Equity team, focuses on growth and small capital equity. His responsibilities include reviewing market performance,
Longtime friends and J.P. Morgan colleagues Doug Stewart, center, and Ishaan Acharya, right, with Phil Jonat ’08, catch some down time in Australia.
providing market outlook, and advising on strategy to institutional and retail clients (which include private banks, government and state pension plans, and high net-worth individuals). Stewart, who has worked at J.P. Morgan since 2011, becomes immediately excited when asked about the rewards of his job. “I feel that I have so many tools at my fingertips. It’s timely and relevant,” he says. “Every day can be entirely different. You never know what you may be walking into.” Like Acharya, he finds that working with incredibly intelligent, driven, “Type A” personalities can be a reward unto itself. “When all that comes together, sparks fly,” Stewart says.❖ — Beth Kissinger
AluminI profile
Business & Technology Degree
He lps These Young A lumni Succe ed
For two alumni who were among the first group of students to ma jor in Business & Technology at Stevens, the decision to pave the trail has not been regretted.
Copyright : Sony Sivanandan
Schwinn Feng ’04 always knew she wanted an international career. With degree in hand, her first job after graduation was with Citigroup as a business integration project manager, working for several years in New York, Brussels, Madrid and Singapore. She said she loved the experience of living and working internationally. But her desire to work in a global role really ignited when she began her career with J.P. Morgan Asset Management in 2009. Today, Feng is the global head of digital sales enablement for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, based in the New York office. Just prior, she was the client portfolio manager for Asian equities at J.P. Morgan, working in London for a year. And prior to that, she was the head of market insights, Asia Pacific, working in Hong Kong. She was only in Hong Kong for a year, but it was enough time to make an impact as her program received the “Best Investor Education Program’’ Award in 2013 from AsianInvestor, a leading publication dedicated to the Asia-Pacific region’s asset management industry. In her current role, Feng drives and manages several digital products that seek to best align marketing, investment solutions, and other teams with sales execution, with examples being internal websites, apps and systems. It’s a role that requires her to work closely with partners from all over the world. She firmly believes that global experience is invaluable to anyone. “If an employer has to choose between two candidates who appear similar on paper, but one has global experience, the employer will choose the global candidate every time,’’ she said. “Living and working abroad shows an employer that you are a risk taker, have the ability to work in ambitious and new environments, and probably have better communication and influencing skills.’’ While Feng has worked abroad, Brian Lalli ’04 has built a successful career in New York and calls Hoboken home. And being a neigh-
Above, Schwinn Feng. Right, Brian Lalli.
bor of Stevens has allowed him to stay connected to his alma mater, whether returning for Alumni Weekend and Homecoming or catching a lacrosse game on the weekend. He’s glad that he can walk up the hill and reconnect with old friends and gain a chance to make new ones. “I’m a big supporter of alumni events,’’ he said, recalling that a few years ago, he worked with some lacrosse alumni friends to raise money for new equipment. “I like to give back to Stevens. I’m a big believer in ‘paying it forward.’’’ Lalli has worked in the financial services industry, as an analyst and high yield research associate with Lehman Brothers before joining Barclays Capital in 2008, when Barclays purchased the investment-banking and trading divisions of Lehman Brothers. Today, Lalli is a senior research analyst at Barclays. He’s a fixed income credit analyst currently covering the chemicals and paper/ packaging sectors across both high yield and investment grade.
He said that the Stevens advantage is simple. “The B&T program is not typical for an engineering school,’’ he said. ”The courses offered at Stevens help make the students uniquely prepared for their career. Skills like time management, hard work, prioritizing – these are all invaluable in any career.’’ “Did it prep me for my career? Absolutely. I felt that I was on par with my colleagues when I started at Lehman Brothers,’’ he said. “I wasn’t really interested in investment banking at first,’’ he said. “But I took a corporate finance course at Stevens and it really peaked my interest. Lehman Brothers was an opportunity to pursue a dynamic career in the finance industry, and I’m still learning new things every day 10 years later.” For Feng, her degree helped her blend her technical skills with her business savvy, and it’s proven to her employers how versatile she is. “For many employers, it’s a one of a kind degree as not many people can fluently speak and interpret both the language of technology and business – which has been a door opener throughout my career,’’ she said.❖ —Lisa Torbic
SPRING 2015 25
Alumni profile
World Bank Veteran Left His Mark
T
he woman lived in a remote rural village in India, where her entire livelihood depended upon one cow. When the cow became ill, she could no longer sell the milk that helped her earn a living. But, with help from the World Bank, the woman
was able to connect — via the village’s only phone and a Bank personal computer — with staff at India’s Department of Agriculture, who helped her save her cow. This is the story that World Bank former CIO Mohamed Muhsin liked to tell his employees, among them Charles Edwards ’75, as a reminder that the work done by these IT professionals matters, that it has a direct impact on people and their world. “This was this woman’s existence,” Edwards says, still marveling more than a decade after hearing the story. “Being able to save her cow made a difference to her entire life.” “You see how we’re directly affecting people’s lives.” Edwards spent close to 28 years with the World Bank, the United Nations-affiliated financial institution that partners with developing countries around the world, providing financial and technical assistance. Its official goals: reduce poverty and support development. Edwards joined the World Bank in 1983 as a consultant and later rose to Lead Information Officer who, with his team of 25 IT specialists, supported the needs of World Bank offices and affiliated organizations in more than 80 countries. His team was responsible for more than 3,000 server instances — engineering personal desktop computers, supporting Windows servers — in more than 80 countries during his long career, until his retirement in 2010. Most of his time was spent at World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., but he traveled to India, Indonesia, Libya and Mexico on IT-related projects. He also supported the bank’s work out of its D.C. headquarters; one highlight was building the team to support and
26 The Stevens Indicator
install the Bank’s standard desktop in 1992. “The standard desktop we designed was very rewarding, because it was deployed to 10,000 staff,” Edwards recalls during a recent phone interview from his home in Alexandria, Virginia. “You know you’re having a direct impact on people’s day-to-day work.” His work has empowered the World Bank with the technology it needs to do the good work that it does every day, from providing low-interest loans and grants to developing countries to fund education, public health, private sector development and infrastructure, to offering policy advice and technical assistance. Distance learning technology provided by Edwards and his team allows citizens of World Bank partner countries to go to their local secondary school and take college courses from a university many miles away. Edwards’ travels have taken him to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he set up a data communication link between the World Bank office there and the Washington, D.C. office, and later helped lead the installation of IBM PCs for the Indonesian office. He worked with the central banks in Mexico and Libya, helping to modernize their IT infrastructure, and traveled to India to meet World Bank staff he had worked with remotely from D.C. During his decades-long career, he saw the World Bank’s projects evolve, from a strong focus on construction and infrastructure to what he calls the development of “human capital” — distance learning; educational programs, especially for young women; healthcare; using IT to
Charles Edwards ’75, right, is congratulated by then World Bank President James Wolfensohn in 2003, on his 20th anniversary with the Bank. Edwards was Lead Information Officer and had a 28-year career with the organization.
assist people in their everyday lives. Knowing that he’s helped to make a difference through his work is immensely rewarding, he says. So was getting to know his World Bank colleagues. “You meet people from Africa, from Asia, from the Middle East, from South America. You get all of these different perspectives and you learn so much about how people think and live,” Edwards says. “You meet people of every race, every religion — it expands your horizons. The water cooler conversations are some of the most educational experiences I’ve ever had. I can honestly say that I left the Bank as a better man than I entered it. How many jobs can you say that about?” ❖ — Beth Kissinger
AluminI profile
Showing Students Some Perspective Into London’s Financial World
S
pencer Cunningham ’06 has been working and living in the London area for the past seven years. He
admits that the distance “over the pond’’ between London and Hoboken has kept him
Copyright : Rui Vale De Sousa
out of the loop on some things at Stevens. But recently, he had the chance to give back to his alma mater in a unique way and he didn’t hesitate to do so. Cunningham, a vice president in the finance division at Deutsche Bank (DB) in London, was in contact on social media with Shane Topping, the Stevens’ director of undergraduate admissions. Topping told Cunningham about a group of 30 students and administrators from the Howe School of Technology Management who were interested in traveling to London to gain global experience and learn how business is done in this truly international city. Cunningham quickly responded and helped arrange a mini-tour of DB for the group. He also arranged and participated in a “candid open session’’ with the students, where Cunningham held a Q&A meeting with the students, sharing his experiences at DB in London and what it’s like to live internationally. He felt the urge to give back to Stevens and its students because he, too, took courses at the Howe School and also because Topping was influential in Cunningham’s decision to attend Stevens. “Shane is the one who introduced Stevens to me when I was in high school,’’ Cunningham said, adding that he was flattered to be asked to help out. The trip, it turns out, was a success for both Cunningham and the students. “It was great to
Spencer Cunningham ’06
see students of different class years, and from varying majors,’’ he said. “I was impressed with the students. I hope the informal talk was helpful and it wasn’t ‘Death by PowerPoint,’ ‘’ he joked. Cunningham was a big influence on one student in particular. Eddy Scanlan ’17, a Business & Technology major, was on the London trip and found meeting Cunningham to be a valuable, saying that “most of us could connect with Spencer a little easier’’ because he was a recent graduate. The trip to London gave Scanlan a lot to think about. He’s interested in working in a large corporation like DB, but isn’t sure if he wants a front-or-back-office role. Seeing an operation the size of DB up close was a help to him.
“It was pretty enlightening to see how much the bank, just baseline cost, needs to run and function every day,’’ Scanlan said. Cunningham has great memories of his time at Stevens. He still recalls Howe School Professor George Calhoun’s fondness for the Wall Street Journal, mentioning that Calhoun was well-known for giving students a daily quiz on the paper’s contents. Doing well in class and impressing Calhoun were important to him. “(Calhoun) made me want to read the Wall Street Journal’’ he said. “I knew the world of business could lead to success and if I worked hard at Stevens, I could achieve that.’’ ❖ — Lisa Torbic
SPRING 2015 27
graduate log update Cheryl Teich Ph.D.’83 was recently elected president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) for 2015. A reaction engineering expertise leader in Dow Chemical’s Engineering Solutions Technology Center, she has more than 30 years of experience in process development. Teich is an AIChE fellow and a trustee of the AIChE Foundation, and has previously served on the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2009. As chair of AIChE’s Chemical Engineering Technology Operating Council, Teich shepherded the formation of AIChE’s Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development and Manufacturing Forum. AIChE is a professional society of more than 45,000 chemical engineers in 100 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society. Kathryn Johnson M.S. ’78, U.S. Navy captain, has been activated for one year as the senior physician in the Horn of Africa, in Djibouti.
1 Edward Friedman Hon. M.Eng. ’83 left, professor emeritus of technology management at Stevens, meets with Tony Wang M.M.S. ’73 in Taipei in February. Friedman was in Taiwan to give a guest lecture on “The Growing Existential Threat of Nuclear Weapons.” 2 Tibor Menyhert M.T.M. ’00
Samsung Electronics Taiwan has appointed Sheng-chi Wu M.S. ’84 as general manager of its enterprise solutions business group, leading the company’s business-to-business (B2B) operations in the country. Wu has almost 30 years of experience working in the enterprise-use software and information sector, the company said. Before joining Samsung, Wu had worked at several international IT companies. Tibor D. Menyhert M.T.M. ’00 has joined STV as vice president and chief information officer. He brings over 21 years of experience in information technology (IT) leadership and support.
28 The Stevens Indicator
Prior to joining STV, Menyhert was the vice president and chief information officer for the Power Group division of a multibilliondollar engineering, construction contracting and power equipment company. There, he was responsible for the management of the IT group, aligning its strategy to meet the firm’s worldwide business requirements. He also directed the planning, acquisition, development and operation of the firm’s computer, telecommunication and information systems. Prior to that, he was with a major insurance firm, where he managed the IT infrastructure services of its corporate headquarters and 35 national offices. Joseph W. Buda M.S. ’02 is a member of the SAGE Eldercare’s Board of Trustees Executive Committee, serving as vice president. From helping with errands, to exercise classes, community programs, and home health care, SAGE’s expertise helps older adults remain independent in their own homes. SAGE serves older adults, their families and caregivers throughout Union, Essex, Morris and Somerset counties in New Jersey. Currently, Buda is vice president at NBC Universal in New York City. Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, has gained a new assistant professor of chemistry, Bradley Rowland M.S. ’12. Rowland, a Texas native, came to Henderson from Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas. He earned his master’s degree in financial engineering at Stevens.
Have News About a Graduate School Alum? Send to alumni@stevens.edu
SAA update
quick Facts
CELEBRATE WITH US The Stevens Alumni Association is pleased to invite all alumni, whether you are celebrating a milestone reunion or not, to gather on campus June 5-7, 2015, for Alumni Weekend! You and your friends—the more the merrier—will have the campus all to yourselves. Visit www.stevens.edu/alumniweekend to register and to learn more about this exciting event.
Fee Award Winners Announced
For nearly 45 years, the Alumni Association has been providing scholarships to qualified students with legacy relations to Stevens. More than 130 alumni have benefited from the generosity of the Association and the many individual donors who have made this scholarship possible. To make a gift to this fund, visit stevens.edu/ makeagift/
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
We are pleased to recognize this year’s Harold R. Fee ’20 Alumni Achievement Award recipients. These awards are given to reunion class members from the past 25 years for their outstanding effort on behalf of the Stevens community since their graduation: Laura Paglione ’90 Joshua Levine ’05
Angie Hankins ’95 Natalia Bilchuck ’10
Marybeth Lynch ’00 George Blazeski ’10
And the Winner Is…
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
It also is our distinct honor during the weekend to celebrate the 2015 Stevens Alumni Award recipient, Mary Doddy ’80, for her many years of outstanding and dedicated service to Stevens. A profile of Mary appears on p. 22.
Get Involved
meeting calendar April 13, 2015 Executive Committee May 11, 2015 Executive Committee and Council June 26, 2015 Executive Committee & Volunteer Thank You
meeting minutes
Attend Business Meetings
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
The SAA hosts seven business meetings a year in the Howe Center on the Stevens campus. Members of the Stevens administration are invited to provide updates about Stevens’ progress. SAA committees provide status reports about programs and services throughout the year. And new strategic initiatives are announced for input and involvement. Read meeting minutes, volunteer, and participate as an alumni leader. Visit www.stevens.edu/alumni/saa-meeting to RSVP today!
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
Read minutes of the SAA meetings at stevens.edu/alumni/ meeting-minutes.
Benefits spotlight
Join Committees
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
We are always looking for volunteers. Please consider joining one of the SAA committees to provide guidance on our programs and services! Activities Benefits Regional Clubs
Affinity Networks Classes Scholarship
SAA Awards Student Engagement Graduates of the Last Decade
To see a full list of committees and descriptions, and to volunteer, visit www.stevens.edu/alumni/leadership
Being an alumnus/a of Stevens entitles you to a permanent e-mail account with the Stevens Alumni Association. To request a permanent alumni e-mail call (201) 216-5163 or contact alumni@stevens.edu.
Follow us on social media
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Visit www.stevens.edu/alumni/social to see a full list of our presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. From class reunions to regional clubs, Stevens alumni are more connected than ever before.
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Provided free of charge as a benefit to all alumni, The Stevens Indicator has been the Institute’s primary source for alumni news for more than 130 years. Submit a class log, suggest an alumni profile, or send in a letter to the editor at www.stevens.edu/alumni/ submitnews
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LinkedIn Alumni Network Join more than 30,000 Stevens alumni on LinkedIn to build your network, expand your professional knowledge and benefit from the incredible success of fellow alumni. Visit stevens.edu/alumni/linkedin to join today!
SPRING 2015 29
Providing access to clean water in
Taylor Race performs a water quality test.
30 The Stevens Indicator
If interested in contributing to the EWB-SIT Chapter’s Long Khot project, contact Robert Anderson at http://ugstudentlife.stevens.edu/org/ewb/home.
Thailand I
n Long Khot, Thailand, a rural area that is part of the Chiang Mai Province, fresh water is scarce. The area is surrounded by mountains and wilderness. This terrain, and a lack of main roads, isolates the more than 40 households in the region. But a group of students at Stevens, working with the Engineers Without Borders-USA Stevens Chapter (EWB-SIT), hopes to make a difference by replacing a broken watershed, bringing clean water to the residents. As part of a pre-assessment of the multiphase water distribution project, three Stevens students – Sara Savoia, Class of 2015, a mechanical engineering major; Jeremy Simoes, Class of 2017, a mechanical and electrical engineering double major; and Taylor Race, Class of 2016, a civil engineering major – spent one week during the holiday break in Long Khot, where they had a chance to survey the area and meet the residents they will be helping. “It was an amazing experience. We were only there for one week, but it felt like months,’’ said Race. “(By going), it became personal because we met them. I fell in love with the people there. I can’t wait to go back.’’
Savoia said the trio, along with their EWBUSA advisor, James Hankins, became totally immersed in the culture while doing their preassessment work. They stayed in a nearby hotel but they ate meals and interacted with the locals as much as possible. “It was a very communal atmosphere. They are truly appreciative of our help,’’ she said. Because of the area’s isolation and lack of fresh water nearby, residents are forced to buy bottled water for all cooking, drinking and irrigation purposes, which can be expensive. Long Khot is a farming community and residents earn their living by selling crops such as rice, potatoes and longan, a tropical fruit. Many local women weave baskets to sell. About half of the average Long Khot family’s annual income goes toward water expenses. Preliminary plans include replacing the broken watershed by using a catchment on a stream and running a pipe several kilometers to the main road, where it will connect to a community water system. Future projects include plans to develop a micro-hydro system that generates energy from the water. EWB-SIT is partnering with Warm Heart
Worldwide, a non-governmental organization based in the Phrao district in remote Northern Thailand, to complete their project. The initial project is expected to last one to two years, and the entire water project will last five years.❖ —By Lisa Torbic.
1 Long
Khot residents and their new friends, the Stevens students. 2 The students are hard at work in the field. 3 Sara Savoia and Taylor Race learn to weave baskets from local Thailand women. 4 Stevens students Sara Savoia, Jeremy Simoes and Taylor Race receive thank you gifts from some of the residents of Long Khot, Thailand, as they prepare to return to the United States. 5 Seeing the sights, a half a world away in Thailand.
SPRING 2015 31
Stevens High-Frequency Trading Research
Lays Out Bold New Flash-Trading Solution
A
uthor Michael Lewis’ 2014 book Flash Boys uncovered the lengths to which certain sophisticated traders and firms have deployed new technologies to ‘beat’ fellow investors by closing trades milliseconds ahead of competitors interested in closing those same trades. The book, along with an FBI investigation and multimillion-dollar Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fines for the New York Stock Exchange and two related exchanges, threw new scrutiny on the practice of high-frequency trading (HFT).
32 The Stevens Indicator
professors Ionut Florescu and Steve Yang. In related research, Khashanah and a second team are working to help create newly standardized Stevens professor Khaldoun Khashanah is the lead author of a report language for financial con- sent to Congress and the SEC that proposes a solution to issues of speed and fairness created by high-frequency trading. tracts, a project known as ACTUS (Algorithmic Contract Types Unified Standards). representation of contracts through contract The project, a collaboration primar- types. Once this reference database is comily funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, pleted, it will represent nearly all types of stantakes in diverse partners including Stevens, dard financial contracts as algorithms that link Brammertz Consulting, Zurich University changes in risk factors (such as market risk, of Applied Sciences and Deloitte Consulting. credit risk and behavior to the cash-flow obliACTUS, a collection of contract types and al- gations in the contracts.) gorithms associated with them, can be thought The project will be entirely open source, of as a financial contract language. It offers a Khashanah adds. data standard that provides unique interpreta“We believe that this project, combined tions of financial contractual obligations un- with the successful proof of concept and imder a given set of risk environments, explains plementation, will impact every activity reKhashanah. The project aims to develop 30 of lated to financial risk assessment,” Khashanah these financial contract types, as well as pro- says. “It will significantly improve regulation of duction-level code for contingent cash flow- individual institutions, monitoring of systemic generating algorithms related to the contracts risk and enterprise risk management. It will and a new website for researchers and practi- also make possible new avenues of research tioners to test their usability and accuracy. into systemic risk that will make financial marA financial instrument reference database kets safer and more efficient.” ❖ — Paul Karr will also be created, based on algorithmic
Copyright: bluebay
Now new research from Stevens has been forwarded to Congress and the SEC, proposing an innovative solution to key issues of speed and fairness created by HFT. The work, commissioned by the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute in New York City, proposes a new ‘information transmission zoning’ concept to regulate high-frequency trades. Traders within an ‘innermost zone’ – those who receive prices anytime (even milliseconds) prior to those in the general market – would be considered marketmakers and thus be required to obey special SEC regulations for market-makers. Other traders would function normally. That distinction, say the researchers, would create a fair playing field with respect to the dissemination of price information without decreasing liquidity and without eliminating HFT. “Our research seems to offer a pragmatic solution where investors – whether high or low frequency; whether holding for milliseconds or years – can coexist in the same market while adhering to trading rules for access, fairness, and transparency,” says Stevens financial engineering professor and division director Khaldoun Khashanah, lead author of the report, which was co-authored by Stevens
Run Across America Alumna journeys from NY to CA for Navy SEALs
W
map, Copyright: mguntow
hile most college kids would have caught a flight or jumped in the car for the long ride home after graduation, Christina Lee ’14 took a very different type of road trip. She ran home to California — all 3,128 miles from Manhattan Beach, New York, to the Golden Gate Bridge. Her five-month odyssey, from July to this past December, saw her journey through sweltering heat, flash floods, white-outs — and gain much insight about herself, she says. And she made this journey — mostly along Route 80 and its parallel roads – alone.
When she turned 21, Lee, now 23, made a bucket list, which included: run across the country and raise $1 million for charity. With her spectacular run, she can cross off one item and is determined to cross off the second someday. Through her run, Lee raised about $60,000 for the Navy SEAL Foundation, which helps SEALs and their families through a variety of financial and support programs. “I don’t think that we honor (veterans) enough as it is,” Lee says, and it’s particularly hard with the SEALs, whose work is secretive. “Instead of when they’re dying or injured, let’s do something for them and for their families back home while these heroes are alive and well.” Lee ran in honor of a former SEAL who suffered a traumatic brain injury and later took his own life. His widow has reached out to Lee, to thank her. What makes her story even more extraordinary is that Lee herself suffered a brain injury in high school while playing soccer — an injury that makes memorizing both faces and
facts difficult for her. Still, she thrived at Stevens and New York University, in a joint degree program in mechanical engineering, math and computer science. It’s not so unusual for someone to run across the country, says David Willey, editor-in-chief of Runner’s World magazine. But Lee is so inspiring that the magazine chose to feature her on its December 2014 cover, as co-winner of its cover competition. The headline: “Unstoppable.” “Her story just blew us away,” says Willey. “We just became convinced that there’s really nothing that this woman cannot do. We were just inspired by everything in her life.” Before her cross-country journey, Lee had completed five marathons and trained for several months, but by her own account is not a “particularly good” marathoner, she recalled during a recent phone interview. But during her run, the San Jose, California, resident averaged 25-30 miles a day, while pushing a running stroller filled with food, water, clothes and her laptop. (She blogged
To read Lee’s blog from her run across America and for more information, visit christinarunsamerica.com.
during the run.) She stayed in hotels – one promise that she made to her worried parents. She hit some rough weather patches — wind and cold in Wyoming, three flash floods in Nebraska, snow in the Sierra Nevadas. She suffered from tendonitis from Chicago to Utah. But then, she had these indelible moments — meeting a new running club friend along the road in Utah, who offered new shoes and friendship; people who offered her a free meal and a place to sleep. One of her favorite memories came on a crisp morning in a Nebraska cornfield. She ran as the sun was coming up, birds flying alongside her. “It was magical,” she says. During the many quiet hours of running, she had much time to think about her life and how she defines success. She says that she came home with a new perspective. She realized that she could be happy without money and that high-paying job, and now defines success as being a good person — and being resilient. “With life’s ups, there will be a down, so learn to enjoy happiness when it comes,” Lee says. “Understand that sadness will make that happiness so potent.” Now that she’s home in California, Lee has just landed a job at an early-stage tech startup in San Francisco. She still runs regularly. “Once you run all that way, it’s kind of hard to stop,” Lee says. ❖ — Beth Kissinger
SPRING 2015 33
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34 The Stevens Indicator
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SPRING 2015  35
sports update Lacrosse captain elected NCAA committee chair
W
omen’s lacrosse captain Amanda Ingersoll, Class of 2015, has been elected chair of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The mechanical engineering major’s election was announced at the annual NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C., in January. The Division III committee is comprised of 24 student-athletes from across the nation’s 540-plus Division III colleges and universities. Ingersoll, whose term runs from January 2015 to January 2016, will preside over all meetings, serve as the committee’s spokesperson to the media and will represent the committee at conventions, meetings and other NCAA-hosted events. The SAAC’s mission is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity, protecting studentathlete well-being and fostering a positive student-athlete image “The NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is comprised of student-athlete leaders from across the country who work tirelessly to represent the 183,500 young men and women playing sports in Division III,” Ingersoll said. “To be selected as chair of this committee and to help bring all of the student-athlete voices to the membership of the NCAA is such an amazing honor.” Ingersoll came to Castle Point in the fall of 2011 and immediately became a leader in the Stevens SAAC. As a sophomore, she became involved at the conference and regional levels before being selected as a national committee member, representing the Empire 8 Conference and State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). She served as the national committee’s vice chair before being elected chair. Ingersoll has helped to foster the relationship between NCAA Division III and Women’s lacrosse team captain Amanda Ingersoll, Class of 2015, has been elected chair of the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
36 The Stevens Indicator
Anniversary at the NCAAs Stevens Men’s Volleyball will mark two landmark events this April — its 25th anniversary and its first hosting of the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship. The tournament will be held on April 24-26 at Canavan Arena with Stevens as host and, at press time, a predicted participant. Men’s volleyball alumni are invited back to catch the tournament and mark the 25th anniversary, which will include a dinner on April 22. For more information, visit the Stevens Men’s Volleyball Alumni Facebook page, or contact Coach Patrick Dorywalski at 201-216-5691 or Patrick.Dorywalski@stevens.edu
the Special Olympics on a national level, while also staying heavily involved in her local community. Her hard work and dedication earned her the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Association (IWLCA) Community Awareness award last June. The Baldwinsville, New York, resident has worked with the American Red Cross on blood drives; volunteered with the Susan G. Komen Foundation fundraisers; and has done a great deal of work for the country’s armed forces and veterans outreach, fundraising and participating in the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Tower Run & Walk and making holiday cards to send to active troops, among many other community activities. Ingersoll has also served the Hoboken community—volunteering to work the call-in center in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and helping to coordinate a city-wide cleanup after the storm. On the field, Ingersoll will graduate as one of the best defenders in women’s lacrosse history. She was the 2012 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year and earned all-conference honors in each of her first three seasons and led the Ducks to postseason competition each year. Ingersoll will graduate this May, and has already accepted a full-time position with Lockheed Martin in Morristown, New Jersey. ❖ — Robert Kulish
calendar of events APRIL11
APRIL 15-17
Gear & Triangle alumni brunch stevens.edu/alumni/events
APRIL 22
Lloyd’s Resiliency Workshop
Heath Lecture Series featuring Dr. Paul Bracken, Professor at Yale University howe.school@stevens.edu
SATU R DAY
W E D N E S DAY- F R I DAY
APRIL 26
APRIL 29 APRIL 30
S U N DAY
TH U R S DAY
Stevens Colorado Alumni Chapter Baseball Game stevens.edu/alumni/events
W E D N E S DAY
Innovation Expo, Stevens campus stevens.edu/expo
MAY 6
MAY 11 MAY 15
Josh Weston, honorary chairman of ADP Inc., speaking on campus
SAA Executive Committee meeting
W E D N E S DAY
W E D N E S DAY
M O N DAY
Deans’ Seminar Series featuring Naomi Oreskes, historian of science, Harvard University stevens.edu/cal/csw
F R I DAY
Welcome Seniors event stevens.edu/alumni/events
JUNE
5-7
F R I DAY- S U N DAY
Alumni Weekend stevens.edu/alumniweekend
MAY
20
Stevens Commencement, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ stevens.edu/commencement
SPRING 2015 37
Stevens clubs stevens korean alumni holiday party
President Nariman Farvardin and his wife, Hoveida, visit Korea in December and meet with alumni. They received a warm welcome from the Stevens Korean Alumni Chapter at their annual holiday party.
Stevens Central Florida Alumni Chapter
Stevens Northern California Alumni Chapter
Stevens alumni in Central Florida reconnected at The Wine Room in Winter Park, Florida.
Stevens alumni in the Northern California area celebrate the holidays at TechShop.
Stevens Metropolitan Club Enjoying the Stevens Metropolitan Club’s holiday luncheon in December, from left, are Don Daume ‘67, Alice Biber, Linda Sausville and Hal Daume ’63. Rose and Bob Bosse ’50 hosted this annual favorite at the Knickerbocker Country Club in Tenafly, New Jersey.
38 The Stevens Indicator
Stevens FamilyOn Display at
Hoboken Museum S
tevens Institute of Technology is partnering with the Hoboken Historical Museum in the launch of a new exhibit, The Extraordinary Stevens Family: A New Jersey Legacy 1776 – 1911. Many artifacts representing the lives of the Stevens family and their historic contributions to transportation innovations and to the City of Hoboken will be on display during the exhibit, which runs now through July 5, 2015. Dozens of Stevens alumni, students and administrators attended the opening reception on Jan. 25.
In addition to the exhibit, a lecture series will also be held at the Museum now through June 14, with the lecture on April 12 featuring John Dalton ’60. A new film, “Stevens & Sons: America’s First Family of Engineers,” will be shown. Produced by Dalton, narrated by Richard Reeves ’60 and directed by Christopher Robinson (of Stevens’ Division of Communications and Marketing), this short video represents the first in a series documenting the amazing story of the Stevens family and their legacy. Leah Loscutoff, archivist and Special Collections librarian with the Williams Library, worked on the exhibition, with several alumni donors serving as the film’s executive producers. Those interested in supporting future films in the series can contact Melissa Fuest at 201216-3346 or Melissa.Fuest@stevens.edu The Museum is located at 1301 Hudson Street, Hoboken, New Jersey. Admission for the general public is $3.❖
1 Stevens students, alumni and staff enjoyed
the opening reception in January for the Hoboken Historical Museum exhibition celebrating the many contributions of the Stevens family. 2 Stevens family artwork and artifacts fill a gallery space. 3 One view of the exhibition. The museum and Stevens’ S.C. Williams Library collaborated on the project. 4 Attending the reception was John Dalton ’60, who produced the film, “Stevens & Sons: America’s First Family of Engineers.” Dalton will show the film and speak at the museum on April 12, as part of a lecture series focused on the Stevens family’s legacy.
For more information, visit hobokenmuseum.org
SPRING 2015 39
Vitals Marriages Tia Dinh to Emmanuel Marasigan ’09 on Nov. 1, 2014. Stephanie Meltzer to Ronen T. Peled ’09 on Nov. 22, 2014.
Births To Libby and Zef J. Ferreira ’00, a son, Lucas Zeferino, on Oct. 30, 2014. To Emily D. (Woo) Waters ’09 and Andrew Waters, a daughter, Lucy Alice, on Dec. 25, 2014.
Obituaries J.F. Spano ’37............................ 10/28/14 C.B. Dearborn ’39........................ 1/20/15 C.L. Scott ’41................................ 2/11/14
H.G. Kopp ’55...............................7/11/14
Graduate School
R.W. Welti ’43............................... 3/31/14
R.A. Vanderwolf ’55...................... 9/21/14
J.S. Gifford, M.S. ’54...................... 2/2/14
F.N. Wells, III ’45............................ 7/7/14
R.L. Santin ’56............................. 1/20/14
A.C. Coppola, M.S. ’62................. 12/4/14
J. Bebbington ’47......................... 4/12/14
H.L. Byron ’57.............................. 11/8/14
F.C. Chan, M.S. ’65...................... 1/21/15
R.H. Webb ’47............................ 10/10/14
M.R. Tschoke ’59........................... 9/6/14
A.S. Katz, M.S. ’14....................... 7/25/14
A.L. Anthony ’49........................... 5/13/14
J.H. Wilson ’59............................. 1/28/14
R.G. Barnes, Jr. ’50...................... 7/15/14
D.M. Romain ’61........................ 12/21/14
E.W. Dotterweich ’50.................. 12/27/14
E.L. Kallander ’63........................... 9/9/14
J.R. Stange ’51............................. 7/16/14
R.N. Carpenter ’64..................... 11/14/12
J.H. Carskadon ’52......................... 7/6/14
E.J. Atkins ’70................................ 6/9/14
J.W. Kelsall ’52............................... 7/7/14
G.J. Fitzgerald ’71.......................... 1/9/15
R. Holmes, Jr. ’54........................ 1/10/15
S. Vicente, Jr. ’72........................... 2/5/15 R.E. Jenkins ’80......................... 11/16/14
Save the Date Alumni Weekend 2015 June 5-7 stevens.edu/alumniweekend 40 The Stevens Indicator
Legacy
CREATE YOUR
“Our gift provision for Stevens is an investment in the Institute’s future. It’s a privilege to be a part of the Stevens Legacy Society. Philanthropy ensures that future generations of students will be provided an opportunity to excel, the same opportunity granted to thousands of alumni.” — Tom Moschello ‘63
Life income gifts such as a Charitable Gift Annuity at Stevens can provide donors with an income stream, significant tax savings and the satisfaction of providing vital long-term resources for the University.
HOW IT WORKS Transfer cash or securities to Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens guarantees to make lifetime payments for up to two annuitants
BENEFITS Guaranteed payments for life that are favorably taxed
ANNUITY RATES* Immediate payments (one life) AGE
RATE
65
4.7%
70
5.1%
75
5.8%
80
6.8%
85
7.8%
Immediate payments (two lives) AGE
RATE
65-70
4.4%
70-72
4.7%
75-78
5.2%
77-80
5.5%
Federal income tax deduction for a portion of your gift Gift will provide generous support for Stevens Lifetime membership in the Stevens Legacy Society
LEARN MORE Schedule a one-on-one consultation with Michael Governor, Director of Planned Giving, to learn more about Stevens Gift Annuity program:
201-216-8967or Michael.Governor@stevens.edu stevens.edu/giftplans
* Rates issued by the American Council of Gift Annuities, effective January 1, 2012. Special rates apply for deferred payment gift annuities. Charitable Gift Annuities with Stevens are not available in all states. You should seek the advice of an attorney for applicability to your own situation.
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