Alumni Profiles
Nicole Pollaert Witt, MBA ’96: Adoption Consultancy
Helping prospective parents navigate the adoption landscape by Irene Kim Adopting a baby is typically a costly (upwards of $35,000), lengthy endeavor that can be confusing and sometimes heartbreaking. Prospective parents wonder, “What if birth mothers won’t consider me because I’m single or over the age of 35? Which attorneys and agencies can I trust? […]
Bryant Guffey, MBA ’10 (left) and George K. Lewis Jr., MS ’08, PhD ’12, co-founders, ZetrOZ
Wowing skeptics with miniature therapeutics by Irene Kim In 2009, Bryant Guffey and George K. Lewis Jr. cofounded ZetrOZ out of Lewis’s garage, based on Lewis’ inventions in ultrasonic technology. In 2011, after expanding to a 12’x12’ office room and a closet, the team launched its first product into the veterinary rehabilitation market: a pocket-sized […]
Percy Allen II, MPA ’75
Blazing a trail in healthcare When Percy Allen II joined the University Hospital of Brooklyn as CEO in 1989, the state facility was losing money and struggling with employee morale. Allen immediately set to work, buying state-of-the-art equipment, developing a strong management team, and improving customer satisfaction. He also reached out in simple ways that […]
Ann Killian, MBA ’82
The Right Person for the Right Job Ann Killian has always preferred working on the “people side” of business, which is what led her on a 30-year-career path in corporate human resources. It was her first job after college — as the development coordinator at Artpark in Lewiston, N.Y. — that impressed Killian with the […]
Cathleen Tobin, MBA ’99
Switching Gears in Women’s Products For 11 years, Cathleen Tobin marketed products for women — from Snuggle Fabric Softener to Revlon Lip Color — at multinationals, including Unilever and Johnson & Johnson. But in 2010, she decided to transfer her skills to a different product targeting women: savings accounts. When Tobin joined Women’s World Banking […]
A Savvy Samaritan
Patrick Wardell, MBA’ 79, CEO at Cambridge Health Alliance A champion of delivering quality health care to all, hospital administrator Patrick Wardell has an aptitude for assembling diverse allies and engineering financial stability. The choice was clear-cut. Patrick Wardell could head for Chicago and an administrative job at the teaching hospital for Northwestern University’s Medical […]
Saurabh Arora, MBA ’11
Taking on Bollywood Saurabh Arora had never heard of Star TV USA before a crew member from the entertainment company approached him at New York City’s South Street Seaport during an Indian festival last year and asked him to audition for a part in a soap opera. Star TV USA, a News Corp. subsidiary that […]
Andy Dijkerman, MBA ’85
Rebuilding Africa one country at a time Two days after starting her first job as an MBA graduate at Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, Andy (Margaret) Dennison Dijkerman was sent to Cameroon by the firm’s international lending unit to establish an accounting and pricing system for a seed company. Ever since then, her career has been […]
Peter Atkins, MBA ’91
Investing in the Internet and a New Book When Peter Atkins decided to leave his job as a general manager at Microsoft and launch an investment fund in the midst of the Internet bust, his local newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, speculated he was “a little crazy” and “a little nuts.” It was August 2001, and […]