The Stern Executive Board

Andre J.L. Koo (MBA '94), Chair

Andre Koo is chairman of Chailease Group, comprised of Chailease Holding and Yellowstone Holding. Founded in 1977, Chailease Holding's operation spans 10 countries. It is the market leader in leasing and installment sales in Taiwan and the largest foreign-owned independent leasing company in China. Yellowstone Holding is engaged in investment, trading, real estate, and hospitality. Koo is an NYU Board of Trustees member, Stern’s Executive Board chair, and president of NYU’s Pan-Asia Association.

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William R. Berkley (BS '66), Chair Emeritus

William R. Berkley is the founder of W. R. Berkley Corporation, a property-casualty insurance holding company. He has been a member of the NYU Board of Trustees since 1995 and was elected chair in 2015. He serves on the NYU Langone Health Board of Trustees, NYU Stern Executive Board, and NYU President’s Global Council. He also served on the board at Georgetown University, where he established the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.

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Dr. Tania Ahuja (PhD '01)

Dr. Tania Ahuja is founder and CEO of Nobias, a data-driven solution to the challenges of internet misinformation. She is a former director of Citigroup and sits on the board of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center of Advanced Study of India (CASI) and the Salome Chamber Orchestra. Tania holds a PhD in Finance from NYU Stern. She has a BS in Statistics and an MS in Operations Research.

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Antonio C. Alvarez, II (MBA '76)

Tony Alvarez II co-founded Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), the leading independent global professional services firm with over 4,000 professionals worldwide specializing in corporate restructuring, performance improvement, and business advisory services. Prior to A&M, Tony spent 12 years at Coopers & Lybrand, where he was a Partner. Tony is a board member of the Cancer Research Institute. Tony earned his BS in business at De La Salle University in the Philippines and his MBA at NYU Stern.

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Edward E. Barr (BS '57)

Edward Barr is chairman of cPacket Networks, a leader in computer network monitoring. He had a long and successful career at Sun Chemical, where he served as president for 17 years. Edward earned his BS at NYU Stern and MS in Economics at the University of Michigan, participated in NYU’s PhD program in Economics, and completed the Senior Executive Program at MIT. He has been a director of Wachovia, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, and New Jersey Board of Higher Education, among many others.

Dietrich Becker, Esq. (MBA '91)

Dietrich Becker is partner and co-president of Perella Weinberg Partners. He earned a law degree from Cologne University and an MBA from NYU Stern. Dietrich is an M&A specialist with an almost 30-year focus on complex European and cross-border public market M&A transactions, raid and activist defense and strategic transformation of manufacturing companies. Prior to co-founding Perella Weinberg Partners in 2006, Dietrich co-headed Global Industrial investment banking at Morgan Stanley.

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Thor Björgólfsson (BS '91)

Thor Björgólfsson is chairman of Novator Partners, LLP, a London-based private equity fund, and a self-styled “adventure capitalist.” He was Iceland’s first billionaire, having made his first fortune with Bravo Brewery in St. Petersburg, and he earned his finance degree at NYU Stern. Thor continues to be an active investor in emerging economies and in cutting-edge sustainability initiatives. His book, "Billions to Bust and Back", was published in 2014.

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Ronald E. Blaylock (MBA '89)

Ronald Blaylock is founder and managing partner of GenNx360 Capital Partners. Prior to launching GenNx360, Ronald founded Blaylock & Co., a top investment banking firm. Ronald has been named one of the Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street by Black Enterprise Magazine and Man of the Year by the Covenant House. He is a member of the Carnegie Hall Board of Trustees and a director of W.R. Berkley, CarMax, Pfizer and The Mebane Foundation of North Carolina.

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Elliott Bross (MBA '95)

Elliott Bross is the CEO and a member of the board of Planigrupo LATAM. He joined Planigrupo in 1998 and took the company public in 2016. Previously, he was a manager at NM Rothschild’s and Sons (Mexico). He also participated in the restructuring and sale of Mexican banks. Elliott has a BA from Tufts University and an MBA from the NYU Stern. He taught International Finance at ITAM, served on Stern’s Real Estate Advisory Board, and is a member of the Advisory Board of JES holdings.

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Daniel Budiman (Parent '24)

Daniel is the co-founder and managing partner of Mahanusa Capital. Previously, he was an investment banker for Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan. Daniel is a board member of Blue Bird Tbk and the Board of Advisors of Gobi Ventures, Antler and Systemiq. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization and the Harvard Business School Global Advisory Council. He holds a BBA from University of Iowa and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Daniel and his wife Tiara are proud NYU Stern parents.

Charles Chen (MBA '91)

Charles Chen is chairman at Eyon Holding Group. He earned his Bachelor of Economics at Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taiwan and his MBA at NYU Stern. Charles has held leadership roles and directorships at a number of global and non-profit organizations, including Taiwan Air Cargo Terminal, Taian Insurance Co., China Airlines, UTAC Group, and Epistar Corp, as well as the Chen Yung Foundation and the New York Philharmonic.

Jerry L. Cohen (BS '53, MBA '59)

Jerry Cohen is a senior advisor with Tishman Speyer Properties, a longstanding real estate development firm in the U.S. Jerry has received several distinguished awards in the real estate industry and has held leadership and board roles at the New York Yankees Global Enterprises, the New Jersey Nets, the Circle Repertory Theatre, and the Manhattan Theatre Club. Prior to completing his undergraduate and MBA degrees at NYU Stern, Jerry served in the armed forces with the U.S. Infantry in Iceland.

Pam Craig (MBA '84)

Pamela Craig is the chair of the Audit Committee of Merck’s board of directors and a member of the board of directors at Progressive Insurance, 3M, and Corning. She chairs the Technology Committee at Progressive and serves on the Audit Committee and the Science, Technology & Sustainability Committee at 3M. She worked 34 years at Accenture, spending the last seven years as CFO. Pamela has served on numerous boards and has global experience in the information technology and services industry.

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Elizabeth Elting (MBA '92)

Elizabeth Elting, founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation, is an entrepreneur, business leader, linguaphile, philanthropist, feminist, and mother. She started TransPerfect out of an NYU dorm room and, as co-CEO, grew the business into the world’s largest language solutions company. Elizabeth has been recognized as a NOW “Woman of Power & Influence,” American Express’ and Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Woman of the Year,” and one of Forbes’ “Richest Self-Made Women.”

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Nomi Ghez (GSAS '76, ADCRT '81)

Dr. Nomi Ghez is co-founding partner of Circle Financial Group, an integrated wealth management company. Nomi is a retired Goldman Sachs partner, who served most recently as a senior banker in the consumer sector of the Mergers and Strategic Advisory Division of the bank. Before that, Nomi was a top-rated Institutional Investor research analyst at Goldman. Nomi has served on numerous boards and consults on challenges related to consumer product companies as well as investment management.

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Robert Greifeld (MBA '87)

Bob Greifeld is co-founder of Cornerstone Investment Capital. He earned his BA in English at Iona College and his MBA at NYU Stern. Prior to co-founding Cornerstone, he co-founded North Island Ventures, served as chairman of Virtu Financial, and chairman of the board of directors of Nasdaq, among other leadership and founding roles. At Nasdaq, Bob led a series of complex acquisitions that extended Nasdaq to a global exchange and technology solutions provider.

David Handler (BS '87, MBA '90)

David is a partner at Centerview, a leading mergers and acquisitions advisory firm, where he runs Centerview’s technology practice and is a general partner of the Centerview Capital Technology Fund. David is also chairman of Penn National Gaming and serves as a trustee of the Phillips Brooks School in Menlo Park, CA. Previous non-profit experience includes serving on the boards of the New Group and Playwrights Horizons, the Metropolitan Council, and the Four Freedoms Conservancy.

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Susan L. Jurevics (MBA '96)

Susan Jurevics is a media and consumer brand executive with over 25 years of experience with companies such as Audible, J. K. Rowling’s Pottermore, Sony, bareMinerals and Nickelodeon. She earned an MBA from NYU Stern and the Australian Graduate School of Management, and a BA from the College of the Holy Cross and University of London. She serves on the NYU Alumni Association Board, the Stern Alumni Council and BRIC Arts & Media, and is a creative judge for the FWA, a daily digital awards site.

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Jack Kassin

Jack A. Kassin is chairman of Best Brands Consumer Products, Inc., a global manufacturing firm which he founded with his father and two uncles. Over the past 30 years, Jack also invested in real estate, which paved the way for his son Steven’s establishment of Infinity Real Estate, a full-service developer, owner, operator, and manager of commercial and residential properties. A community leader and philanthropist, Jack lives in New York and New Jersey with his wife, Joyce.

Henry Kaufman (ARTS '48, PhD '58)

Henry Kaufman is president of Henry Kaufman & Company, Inc., an investment management and economic and financial consulting firm. For 26 years, he worked for Wall Street investment bank Salomon Brothers, where he was managing director, a member of the executive committee and ran the firm’s research departments. Prior, he was an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Dr. Kaufman received a BA from NYU, an MS from Columbia University, and a PhD in banking and finance from NYU Stern.

David Ko (BS '93)

David Ko is the co-founder and CEO of Ripple Health Group, an early stage healthtech startup. Prior to RHG, David held various senior executive positions at Rally Health; Zynga, which he helped take public in 2011; and Yahoo! David serves on a variety of boards at his alma mater, NYU Stern, including the Stern Executive Board and Tech MBA Advisory Board. He established the NYU Stern Venture Fellows program for aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Kenneth G. Langone (MBA '60)

Kenneth G. Langone is founder and CEO of Invemed Associates LLC, a New York Stock Exchange member firm, and is a co-founder of Home Depot. He is chair of the NYU Langone Health Board of Trustees and serves on the boards of Center for Strategic and International Studies, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Horatio Alger Society Foundation, and the Harlem Children’s Zone and its charter school, Promise Academy. Ken earned a BA at Bucknell University and an MBA from NYU Stern.

Judy Lee (BS '88)

Judy Lee is co-founder of Dragonfly LLC, which provides strategy consulting, risk management development and investment advice for leaders across the U.S. and Asia. Judy earned her BS in finance and international business at NYU Stern and her MBA at Wharton. She was a pioneer in risk management in the late 1980s at Bankers Trust New York, and went on to consult, teach, and co-author on risk and strategic risk management. She splits her time between New York, Tokyo, and Singapore.

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Alison Mass (BS '80, MBA '81)

Alison is chairman of the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs (GS), advising corporate and private equity clients globally. Previously she was global head of the Financial & Strategic Investors Group, responsible for relationships with private equity and multi-national clients. Alison is a member of the Board of Advisors of Launch With GS, GS’ $500mm commitment to invest in companies and investment managers with diverse leadership. She joined GS as a partner in 2001.

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Richmond Mayo-Smith (MBA '86)

Richmond Mayo-Smith is an impact investor who has started several fund management companies. He is a founding partner of Climate Finance Partners that recently listed the first ETF on the NYSE that puts a global price on carbon emissions (ticker: KRBN). He co-founded Indochina Capital, which raised over $2B for investments in Vietnam. As founding chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, he was active in promoting the normalization of US-Vietnam relations.

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Howard M. Meyers (BS '64)

Founder of Quexco Inc., a diversified Metals company with operations in the US, Europe and Africa. He is chairman of Burger Boat Corp. and a member of the NYU Board of Trustees; its Executive, Finance and Investment Committees; the Stern Executive Board, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing Dean’s Council, Horatio Alger Association Board of Directors, University of Texas MD Anderson Board of Visitors, UT Southwestern President’s Advisory Board and Southwestern Medical Foundation Board of Trustees.

Philip L. Milstein (MBA '74)

Philip L. Milstein is a principal at Ogden CAP Properties, LLC,. He serves on the Executive Committee and Board of the Lincoln Center, the Board of NY Presbyterian Hospital, vice-chairman of the Columbia University Medical Center Board of Advisors and the Board of the Marcus Corporation. He received a John Jay Award for distinguished professional achievement from the College, the University’s Alumni Federation Medal, the Alexander Hamilton Medal, and Stern’s Charles Waldo Haskins Award.

Timothy H. Moe (WSC '79, MBA '84)

Timothy is the co-head of Macro Research in Asia and is the chief Asia Pacific regional equity strategist. He is responsible for views on Asia Pacific Ex-Japan regional equity. His team has been consistently rated among the top regional equity strategy groups. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2002 and was named partner in 2006. He began his career in Hong Kong as the head of Asia Ex-Japan Regional Research and regional strategist.

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Ignacio Pakciarz (MBA '96)

Ignacio Pakciarz is founding partner of Bigsur Partners, a wealth management boutique firm. Before founding BigSur Partners, he was a managing director at Guggenheim Partners, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan. Ignacio served as a board member of Reaching U, a foundation dedicated to helping underprivileged youth in Uruguay and taught Investment Management at Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey. He holds an economics degree from the University of Uruguay and an MBA in finance from NYU Stern.

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John Paulson (BS '78)

John Paulson is the president and portfolio manager of Paulson & Co. Inc., an investment management company specializing in global merger, event, and credit strategies. He is involved in many philanthropic activities through the Paulson Family Foundation and serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York, the Partnership for New York City, and the Dean's Advisory Board of the Harvard Business School. He is also a member of the NYU Board of Trustees.

Ellen J. Schapps Richman (MBA '79)

Ellen J. Schapps Richman is an adjunct professor of Marketing at Columbia University. She was the first female vice president of marketing at American Home Products, now Pfizer. She served as finance co-chair in CT for two presidential campaigns, was on the National Advisory Board of the DNC and the Women’s Leadership Forum, was a member of President Obama’s National Finance Committee, and was also appointed by him to the President's Advisory Committee for the Arts for the Kennedy Center.

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James "Great Neck" Richman

James “Great Neck” Richman is president and CEO of Richloom Fabrics Group, a textile convertor, designer and distributor of home furnishing fabrics. Great Neck is on the Case Western Reserve University Visiting Advisory Committee, the board of directors of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA, and the Board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, and he is a member of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.

Brett B. Rochkind (BS '98)

Brett B. Rochkind is managing partner at BRK Capital, a global technology investing platform. Prior to founding BRK, Brett was a managing director at General Atlantic (GA), where he led the Silicon Valley office and was global co-head of the technology sector. He graduated with honors and as a University Scholar from NYU Stern and earned his MBA from Columbia University.

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Franck Ruimy (MBA '02)

Franck is a managing member of Silver Creek Development, an international real estate development and investment firm. He is the former CEO of Aerium Group, where he served as director of several company subsidiaries since 1992 and led the 2003 launch of the pan-European investment platform. Franck received a BA from the ISG Business School, an MSc from the Université de Paris X, and an MBA from NYU Stern. Franck is a member of the international board of the Cleveland Clinic.

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Alok Singh (MBA '75)

Alok Singh is co-founder and CEO of Bridge Growth Partners. He earned his BA in economics and history at NYU and his MBA in finance and international business at NYU Stern. Alok serves on numerous leadership boards, and prior to founding BGP, he held senior positions across the industry.

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Leonard N. Stern (BS '57, MBA '59)

Leonard Stern is chairman and CEO of The Hartz Group, currently one of America’s largest private owners of commercial real estate. Leonard has a strong commitment to educational philanthropy. His landmark $30 million naming gift enabled NYU to consolidate its graduate and undergraduate business education facilities at Washington Square. Leonard also founded Homes for the Homeless, the largest non-profit provider of residential, education and employment training centers in the country.

Chandrika Tandon

Chandrika Tandon is a humanitarian, global business leader, and Grammy-nominated musician. She successfully transformed financial institutions through her firm, Tandon Capital Associates, and is the founder of the Krishnamurthy Tandon Foundation. She is vice chairman of the NYU Board of Trustees, a member of NYU Stern’s Executive Board, chairman of the NYU President’s Global Council, chairman of the board of NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, and a trustee of the NYU Langone Medical System.

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Richard Tsai (MBA '81)

Richard Tsai is chairman and CEO of Fubon Financial Holding Co. His extensive experience spans from banking and telecommunication services to land development, construction management, and the building leasing business. Richard earned a law degree from National Taiwan University and an MBA at NYU Stern. He holds leadership roles in numerous organizations across Asia.

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Frank Yao (MBA '98)

Frank Yao is managing partner and senior portfolio manager at Green Court Capital Management. Prior to founding the firm, he was vice chairman of Asia and managing director at Neuberger Berman and senior portfolio manager for the NB Greater China Investment Team. Frank earned his MBA from NYU Stern, where he was honored as a Stern Scholar. He conducted PhD studies in engineering at Columbia University. He earned an MS from Georgia Institute of Technology and a BS from Fudan University.

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Steven M. Zelin (MBA '91)

Steve Zelin is head of the Restructuring and Special Situations Group at PJT Partners. Prior to joining PJT Partners, he worked at Blackstone for 17 years, serving as a senior managing director. Steve earned his BS in accounting at the University at Albany and his MBA in finance at NYU Stern. He is a frequent lecturer on restructuring topics at NYU.

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