JOANNE (BUCCI) GRANATA of Warwick, RI, has been promoted to executive vice president for Citizens Financial Group. She will serve as chief compliance officer and the executive in charge of the organization’s compliance and ethics programs, as well as liaison for the bank’s regulatory agencies. Granata joined the company in 1997 as division executive and head of the private banking unit.
In 2009, Mead was part of a delegation of business owners who traveled to Jordan and Egypt and as a result netted a contract and partnership with a large engineering company in Jordan. In 2007, she was part of a delegation of women entrepreneurs who traveled to Holland and Belgium. Mead is the only Connecticut businessperson selected to take part in the trade mission, which consisted of meeting with companies interested in working with her and her team of experts.
1981 REGINA MEAD of Monroe, CT, traveled with other business owners as a delegate of trade to Libya and Algeria in February. Mead and her company, MEADPROB4, met with companies to build relationships and conduct business in the energy and construction markets. She plans to open an office in Libya.
1982 GERARD R. LAVOIE MBA of Rehoboth, MA, was elected chief operating officer of the Dedham Institution for Savings. Lavoie, formerly executive vice president, has been with Dedham Savings for 22 years. Prior to Dedham, he was with Citizens Bank in Providence, RI, for nine years. He serves as president of Community VNA of Attleboro, MA.
MICHAIL CASSANO of Randolph, NJ, recently accepted a position as vice president of sales at GrowthForce, a national provider of outsourced accounting, bookkeeping, and growthoriented consulting services to small businesses, headquartered in Kingwood, TX. Cassano will be responsible for charting the strategic direction of the GrowthForce sales organization, including rolling out sales offices nationwide. 1984 DONNA SPECIALE of Jericho, NY, president of investment and activation and agency operations at MediaVest USA, was recently featured in Broadcasting & Cable, an industry trade publication, for her efforts to transform how media is bought and sold.
1985 MARIA PHILLIPS MBA of Pawtucket, RI, recently earned the prestigious management accountant certification from the Institute of Management Accountants. Phillips has been employed with Autocrat, Inc., a fourth-generation family-owned business that roasts coffee and manufactures coffee extracts, for 14 years and currently holds the position of accounting manager. 1986 DAVID P. DUPRÉRÉ of Esmond, RI, has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer at Wave Federal Credit Union. Previously, Dupéré served as president and CEO of Anchor Federal Credit Union, and before that he served as president and CEO of Bayside Federal and Bostitch Federal Credit Unions.
ALUMNI SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN Numerous Bryant alumni and students are committed to serving the United States in military service around the globe. Among the most recently deployed and honored are: ARMY MAJ. GEN. RICHARD FORMICA ’77 of Burke, VA, was nominated by
President Barack Obama for his third star and for the post of commanding general of Army Space and Missile Defense/Army Forces Strategic Command. Formica is the commander of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. From 2005 to 2008, he served as director of force management in the office of the deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and policy. He deployed to Iraq in 2004, where he was commanding general of force field artillery headquarters and joint fires and effects coordinator for Multinational Corps-Iraq.
AMY NEWKIRK ’11 of West Warwick, RI,
joined the Bryant student body after completing four years of active duty in the Air Force. Newkirk’s education at Bryant is made possible through the post-9/11 G.I. Bill and The Yellow Ribbon Program. As a Yellow Ribbon participating school, Bryant partners with the Veterans Administration to fund a University education for veterans, and current service men and women, who might otherwise not be able to afford it. Newkirk is currently staff sergeant the Rhode Island Air National Guard and in Afghanistan on a short deployment, after which she will continue her studies.
Bryant Spring
2010
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