Alumni Profiles

Gerardo Galvan, Executive MBA Americas ’18 Solid education, constant self-improvement, and innate marketing talent have brought Gerardo Galvan to the pinnacle of North America’s beverage industry. As president and general manager of Interex, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based commercial firm, Galvan directs sales of one of the industry’s hottest drinks, Topo Chico, a sparkling mineral water bottled […]

Alice Leung, MBA ’86, Sapientiae by Dick Anderson Alice Leung didn’t develop her new business by today’s rules. Sapientiae, a biotech management consulting firm, has no website, no app, and no real online presence. (“Most of the work I do is confidential,” she explains.) Clients find her by word of mouth, referrals, and a well-connected […]

Javed Singha, MBA ’09, Fieldwire by Dick Anderson For all the construction design tools that look like something out of “The Jetsons,” the building process itself still resembles “The Flintstones.” “There’s all this phenomenal software that’s happened in the design process, then the execution goes back to paper and pencil,” says Javed Singha. Seeing opportunity, […]

Melva Covington, MBA ’04 Melva Covington fell into health care unintentionally. After graduating with a degree in politics and economics from The Catholic University of America, Covington aspired to earn an MBA. However, with no professional work experience, her first stop was selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door in Washington, D.C. Then her undergraduate psychology professor called, […]

Robert Frisch, MBA ’13, Firelight Camps by Dick Anderson If your ideal camping companion is Gwyneth Paltrow — not Bear Grylls — then Firelight Camps may be your ecotourism destination. Located on the grounds of Ithaca’s La Tourelle Resort and Spa, the elevated campground caters to an upscale clientele who are eager to commune with […]

Understanding your customers can’t be delegated by Tom Schryver ’93, MBA ’02 A few years ago, I invested in a promising startup run by an energetic, young entrepreneur — let’s call her Ellen. Recently, she reached out to let me know that she and her cofounder realized that they were barking up the wrong tree. […]

Bringing a “Benevolent Competitiveness” to Family Business When Superstorm Sandy hit the Gellert Global Group’s Elizabeth, N.J., warehouse, offices, and shipping facility in October 2012, it left behind eight feet of standing water and over $15 million in damage. Chairman and CEO George Gellert was in Paris at a food show when the storm made […]

Rebecca Robinson ’07, MBA ’15 You want to book a romantic getaway in a five-star hotel in the Caribbean. After logging onto a hotel booking website, you enter the number of travelers, and suddenly photos of couples sipping wine at a candlelit dinner, enjoying a massage in a spa, or sunbathing on a white sand […]

Kelly Ward, MBA ’98 Kelly Ward grew up in rural Cayuga County, N.Y., yearning for the excitement of joining the Army. But after graduating from West Point and serving in Germany and in Kuwait during Desert Storm, his military career took an unexpected turn away from the battlefield. While serving as a company commander at […]