University at Buffalo School of Management

Autumn 2023 Buffalo Business 15 In reflecting on a successful four-decade-long profes- sional life, including stints as a CEO running billion-dol- lar businesses, I know that my success has UB School of Management fingerprints all over my career. Rich Severa, BS '79 Managing Partner, Accrective Partners & Strategies LLC From a financial standpoint, a state school was my only option. I subsequently went to an Ivy League school for my master's degree, and then on to law school. I can say with the greatest confidence that my bachelor's degree from Buffalo, and the learning I gained, was every bit as strong as my Ivy League advanced degree. Jeffrey Jacobson, BS '81 Executive Chairman, Electronics for Imaging My School of Management experience was transforma- tive. I was the first in my family to attend college, and my experience exposed me to a new world. My accounting degree and my MBA opened doors and enabled me to get a "seat at the table" as a young female in a tradition- ally male-dominated industry. I will be forever grateful. Sharon Randaccio, BS '76, MBA '81 President and CEO, Performance Management Partners Inc. It's been about 40 years since I graduated, and I still reflect often on the valuable lessons and experience I harvested during my undergraduate days at UB. It was a very valuable asset in building my foundation for life and profession. Barry Sloane, BS '81 President, Chairman and CEO, NewtekOne Inc. 19 20 21 22 23 2 0 2 3 | 1 0 0 Y E A R S , 1 0 0 V O I C E S Honestly, what I learned at the School of Management made Harvard Business School quite easy for me. It wasn't just the classroom education, it was the people around the education who inspired and frankly pushed me to dream bigger and do more. Robert Black, BS '82 Chairman, RTIC Outdoors My degree provided me with the direction to start my own company in 1975. Since then, A Lunt Design continues to manufacture intensive care baby products that are sold throughout the world by a major medical distributor, with all our raw materials made in the U.S. Audrey Lunt, BS '74 President/Business Owner, A Lunt Design Inc. 1 My UB education provided me with the foundation for a suc- cessful career in business that included 35 years as senior vice president, president, CCO and CEO across six firms in four different industries. Thomas Kowalski, BS '75 Senior Advisor and Director, Private Company Boards The School of Management offered a quality PhD program that allowed me to pursue a meaningful academic career for 42 years consisting of contributory research, impactful peda- gogy and administrative leadership. Donald Vredenburgh, PhD '75 Professor Emeritus, Baruch College, The City University of New York My MBA was the catalyst for my growth from an individual contributor to a general manager and leader. It was the foundation from which I developed the skills, strategic per- spective and confidence to assume increasingly significant leadership roles in the business and nonprofit sectors. I'm forever grateful. Judy Vredenburgh, MBA '75 Former CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and Former CEO, Girls Inc. The School of Management created a solid educational foundation that helped me build my businesses. As a student athlete, with failure being my greatest fear, I also developed a confidence (with help from UB) that made me realize my success can help others. Now it is my turn to give back to the UB community. Tunney S. Murchie, BS '75, MBA '76 Owner, Lackawanna Products Corp. The Murchie Family Many of us who graduated in the first class of the Health Sys- tems Management certificate program went on to regionally important positions. The school and my professors linked me into the world of regional health planning (brand new at the time) and from there I was able to get my first experience in consulting, even returning for a while to run consulting activ- ities for the school. Kenneth Rogers, MBA '76 Executive Consultant, Kenneth A. Rogers My UB experience provided me with the analytical skills and real-world exposure to become an effective executive. I firmly believe that my UB MBA helped me develop the skills necessary to be a highly effective COO. Richard Zuidema, MBA '76 Retired Executive Vice President, Enersys My business school education provided me with the ability to analyze data and work with numbers, which many attorneys lack. I developed a specialty in taxation and real estate, both of which require an understanding of the concepts stressed in business school. Jane Bacon Pedersen, MBA '79 Attorney, Jane L. Bacon Attorney at Law 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

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