Student Profiles
Master in Risk Management participants are among the most qualified and insightful in the international business world today. They are experienced and successful executives who have excelled in their careers but thirst for more. They come from all corners of the globe and every type of business endeavor. Participants come from more than 14 countries and work at well known firms such as ABN- AMBRO, Agriculture Bank of China, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, Nasdaq, and SEB, etc. They range from seasoned managers, managing directors and corporate board members to vice presidents with risk management/oversight and responsibility. Their intent is to learn and discuss the future of risk management, to understand its function from a strategic perspective and to apply their knowledge in a practical business-perspective way.
Lizhe (Lee) Sun, MSRM Class of 2012
When the arc of history bends and touches an individual’s life, the effects are rarely ambiguous or short-lived. In Lizhe “Lee” Sun’s case, being caught up as a young teenager in the angry heart of China’s anti-intellectual Cultural Revolution seems to have propelled him to learn and achieve throughout his life.
Nearing age 60, Lee continues to pursue those opportunities. The Master of Science in Risk Management Program he will earn this year from NYU Stern makes five degrees he has collected since the master’s in surgery he was awarded in 1982 from Beijing’s Capital University of Medical Sciences. In between, he rolled up an MBA in international business from a China University of Economics and Business-University of Maryland program; an MS in a joint Harvard Medical School-MIT program; an MBA from MIT Sloan; and an LLM from the University of Chicago Law School. And that’s not counting the executive business programs he’s attended, at Wharton, INSEAD, Kellogg, and Harvard.
Today, Lee is a Beijing-based director of the board of Bank of Jilin, a Chinese commercial bank, as well as a member of its risk management committee and chairman of its strategy committee. His primary work involves designing, communicating, and monitoring the implementation of the bank’s preferred risk spectrum and product development programs. He also serves as an independent board member of a major Chinese pharmaceutical company, a technology company, and chairman of a publishing group.
As for his continuing education, Lee chose to pursue the NYU Stern Master of Science in Risk Management Program, he says, because it is a “rigorous and challenging program custom-designed for professionals and mid-level leaders who come with problems accumulated from their work lives. It lays out critical academic foundations in a systematic way and equips students with the necessary tools and best practices to address real-world tasks.” The lessons can be applied right away to his job. “The various takeaways such as risk assessment methodologies, the best practice examples, and management tools prove to be valuable in discussing practical problems in my bank.”
The most valuable part of the program? “The professors and guest speakers are of such a high quality that they each carry heavy weight. Most are top names, including Nobel Prize winners and book authors who are authorities in their respective fields.”
Stern’s alumni network is another plus, Lee points out. Further, he says, “It has been my experience that affiliation with a brand-name educational institution carries a lot of weight in expediting business conversations with implied goodwill and trust.”
Bringing Risk Management to the Renewable Energy Sector
Luis Adao Da Fonseca, MSRM Class of 2011
Luis Adao Da Fonseca, Chief Business Development Officer and member of the Management Team of EDP Renewables (EDPR), the third largest renewable energy company in the world, says that the NYU Stern Master of Science in Risk Management, has helped him gain a better understanding of risk management within his organization.
“Now, more than ever, risk management is top-of-mind among business executives,” explains Luis, who is ultimately responsible for EDPR’s brand new risk management department. “As compared to other industries, the energy sector has a lot of catching up to do in the area of risk management. So I hope to take a lot of what I learn in the program back to my day-to-day job.”“As EDP has expanded globally, risk management has become a core issue,” stresses Luis. Leveraging his coursework, Luis is leading the charge in EDP’s development and implementation of new procedures and guidelines for risk management across the company.After looking at several programs, Luis is pleased that he chose the Executive Masters in Risk Management program: “NYU Stern is a pioneer in the area of risk management. And I know that learning about this field from the experts will be invaluable in my job.”
Managing Risk…and a Full Course Load
Oene de Hek, MSRM Class of 2011
As head of risk management at the Bank of Scotland Netherlands, Executive Master of Science in Risk Management student Oene de Hek sought to build on his existing skills and experience. “I considered pursuing an executive MBA, but realized I wanted to gain more specialized expertise in my field,” he explains. His field had undergone a substantial shift since the financial crisis: “The recession really changed things. In my first years at the bank, you had to fight to get the right amount of stage time at executive meetings. Since the crisis, any question asked about strategy or initiatives is directed first to risk management. It’s a fundamental, dramatic change.”
Oene decided to enroll in the NYU Stern Master of Risk Management for Executives program. By Spring of 2010, he was juggling classes with his ongoing responsibilities as risk manager for an €8.5-billion mortgage portfolio. In October, he was assigned to a project in Tokyo for three months.
In the midst of his hectic schedule, Oene has found the program continually compelling: “The professors are worth listening to for hours and days,” he says. He has also been surprised by how much he has learned from his fellow classmates. In his four-person study group, one classmate is a New Zealander working in hospital operational risk management in Abu Dhabi; another is an Argentine evaluating investments in the developing world for the World Bank in Washington, DC; and a third is a New York energy consultant. “There is, of course, added value in the international setting and the diversity of the other students,” Oene says. “But I hadn’t expected how much it broadens your mindset to discuss cases with people who have such different experience.” Between his classmates and professors, Oene says, “at the end of a day, it is nine hours of inspiration.”
New Masters Program Develops Next Generation of Risk Management Leaders
Natalia Migal, MSRM Class of 2011
When Natalia Migal was seeking to expand her knowledge in risk management, she found a unique program – the NYU Stern Master of Science in Risk Management.
This new program, launched in 2009, is a specialized one-year risk management program. Two out of five class modules are offered at NYU Stern, with the remaining three taught in Amsterdam.
Until recently, Natalia has held a leadership position in the equipment and logistics division at GE capital. But this September, she moves to an operational risk management role in the company’s Global Banking division. “I was able to make this career switch, in part, because of what I learned in the NYU Stern-AIF program. It definitely helped seal the deal.”
This will be Natalia’s third master’s degree; she previously earned an MS in Sociology from the University of Chicago and an MS in Statistics from DePaul University. She believes that the Executive MS in Risk Management program will be key in her transition to a risk management role at GE that focuses on the financial services industry.
Natalia says that the program’s curriculum impressed her interviewers: “Despite my lack of experience in this realm, my new managers were confident that I could take on the position based on my extensive study and coursework in the area.” She adds, “Without a doubt, this program provides students with the proper tools to be successful.”
