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Advisory Board
Shaping Our Success: Our Advisory Board
Our advisory board is comprised of distinguished alumni and accomplished faculty from the Massry School of Business. This strategic alliance uniquely combines academic rigor with practical industry knowledge. Their collective expertise informs our investment strategies and contributes to the overall trajectory of our group.
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Richard Bleser, BS ’04
Richard R. Bleser is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager at St. Germain Investment Management. With a strong foundation in both fixed income and equity markets, Rick brings extensive experience in portfolio management and fund analysis to the firm. His previous roles at Berkshire Bank Wealth Management and Meridian Capital Partners have equipped him with a deep understanding of macroeconomic trends and investment strategies. Rick holds BS degrees in Economics and Business Administration from the State University of New York at Albany.
Michael Borys, BS '78, MBA '79
Michael recently concluded a distinguished career spanning over 40 years in investment banking and municipal finance, predominantly at Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC in New York City. As a quantitative and tax specialist, he was pivotal in structuring a wide array of debt financings and refinancings.In addition to his professional achievements, Michael serves on the board of the Albany Foundation and is an advisory board member for the Center for Institutional Investment Management and the Dean's Advisory Board for the School of Business.
DeForest Hinman, BS ’05, MBA ’16
DeForest Hinman is the Portfolio Manager and Director of Research at Bumbershoot Holdings. He previously co-founded Walthausen & Co. in 2007, where he also served as Portfolio Manager and Director of Research. With a strong background in small-cap and mid-cap equity value investing, his research emphasizes change factors. DeForest graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Massry School of Business at the University at Albany, where he was an early participant in the Financial Analyst Program.
Dan Hurley, BS ’12
Dan Hurley has been a proprietary trader at Apex Capital since 2012, specializing in equities and derivatives with a focus on the social media sector and event driven trading. He helps lead Apex Capital's training program, introducing recent graduates to the world of professional trading. Dan was the co-President of the UASBIG class of 2011-2012 alongside Ian Ellis-Jones and considers the investment group a formative experience in preparing him for a career in the financial markets.
Joe Esposito, BS ’13
During his time at UAlbany Joe majored in Business Administration and was in the Financial Analysis Honors Program. He minored in Psychology & his senior thesis was centered around behavior finance, focusing on the differences of mutual fund flows between retail & institutional investors. He was a member of the UASBIG, focusing on the restaurant industry, & served as the Chief Risk Officer in 2012-2013. Post grad, Joe joined Morgan Stanley in the Wealth Management division in NYC. Working with two senior advisors & CFPs, his responsibilities included portfolio management, investment research, financial planning, trade execution, insurance planning, new client outreach & client service. After a short stint with a fintech startup, Joe joined Northwestern Mutual’s technology division as a Technical Product Manager, working on building out the firm’s proprietary financial planning technology. In his current role as a Director of Product Management, Joe manages a team of digital product managers, focusing on making it easier for NM advisors to generate financial plans for their clients.
Evan Coffey, BS, ’15, CFA
Evan Coffey is a Credit Analyst for Man Group's US CLO platform where he covers Telecom, Media and Technology companies in the levered loan market. Prior to his current role, he worked as a High Yield Desk Analyst at R.W. Pressprich & Co. from 2015-2020, where he supported the Sales & Trading desk with trade ideas across various industries . Evan graduated from the University at Albany's Financial Analyst Honors Program in 2015. During his time there Evan actively participated on campus as a founding father of the Kappa Sigma Chapter at the University and then in the University at Albany Student Investment Group (UASBIG), first serving as the Financial Sector Head and then as the Chief Risk Officer. Evan is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
George Philip, BA ’69, MA ’73
George Philip served as the 18th President of the University at Albany from 2007 to 2013. He currently serves on the UASBIG Advisory Board as a representative of the UAlbany Foundation Board. George was also chair of the University at Albany council from 1992 to 2007. His continued support of our student-managed investment fund is a testament to his enduring commitment to the University. Before leading UAlbany, George held a distinguished career in public service. He served as Executive Director of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System from 1995 to 2007 and its Chief Investment Officer from 1992 to 2007. George holds advanced degrees from the University at Albany and a Juris Doctor from Western New England College School of Law
Ryan Kennedy, BS ’13, MBA
Ryan is a Principal on the private equity investment team at Rothschild & Co. in London. Prior to joining Rothschild, he gained experience in long/short equity and investment banking at Point72 and Goldman Sachs. Ryan holds an MFin from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelor of Science from the University at Albany with triple majors in Business Administration, Mathematics, and Economics. He was actively involved in campus life, serving as co-president of UASBIG
Michael Marciante, BS, '21
Michael is a research analyst at Douglass Winthrop Advisors, LLC, in the New York office, where he focuses primarily on the DWA Sustainable Equity Strategy. Prior to joining DWA, Michael was a research analyst at UBS Asset Management, where he worked as an infrastructure private equity investor, generalist long-only public equity investor, and generalist long/short public equity investor.
Michael graduated summa cum laude from the University at Albany as a double major in the Financial Analyst Honors Program and Accounting. Michael was the CFO of UASBIG from 2020 to 2021
Brianna Diaz, BS, '21
Brianna is an Equity Research Associate with a focus on the Internet sector at Citizens JMP Securities, in New York City. Prior to this, she was an investment banking analyst at Citigroup. Brianna graduated with a double major in the Financial Analyst Honors Program and Accounting. As a student, Brianna was the co-president of UASBIG from 2020 to 2021
Hany A. Shawky, Ph.D.
Hany A. Shawky is Professor of Finance and Economics at the School of Business at UAlbany. He received his Ph.D. degree in finance from the Ohio State University in 1980. Dr. Shawky is the founder of the Center for Institutional Investment Management and has served as its director from 2002-2007. He served as associate dean and dean of the School of Business at the UAlbany from (2014-2019) where he was responsible for the management and operations of the school and has established a strategic vision to elevate the school’s national rankings through increased emphasis on excellence in teaching, experiential learning and new innovative programs. Dr. Shawky specializes in investment management and portfolio performance evaluation and is widely published in academic and applied journals on issues dealing with asset pricing, stock market behavior, international financial markets and electricity markets. He has published over 60 refereed scholarly articles and was listed among the “Most Prolific Authors in the Finance Literature: 1959-2008” with a percentile ranking in the top 2% of finance faculty worldwide (Heck and Cooley, 2009)
Mary Wladkowski, Ph.D., CFA, FRM, CAIA
Dr. Wladkowski worked in the fields of investments and banking beginning in the early 1980s. She managed fixed-income mutual funds in Boston before moving to Alaska where she managed the investment department of National Bank of Alaska, overseeing both the bank’s portfolio and portfolios for the bank’s trust clients, private and institutional. After a merger with Wells Fargo, she served as regional investment manager in the Private Asset Management area of Private Client Services division for the Alaska region. She transitioned to academia in 2003, teaching finance for Alaska Pacific University. She earned a late-in-life Ph.D., defending her thesis in 2012, and also holds several industry credentials, including the Chartered Financial Analyst charter. Dr. Wladkowski came to the University at Albany to be nearer elderly family members, and recently retired from full-time teaching. She currently serves as an economic and strategic consultant for a registered investment advisory firm out of Seattle and continues to teach most of the online offerings in finance for UAlbany. She has served on the Advisory Board of UASBIG since 2013.
Etton Soriano, BS, ’14
Ryan Ranado, BS ’13, CFA
Kyle Diehl, BS, '20
David M. Smith, Ph.D., CFA, CMA
Jon Nardi, BS ’10, MBA, CFA
Matt Reiner, MBA ’93, CFA
Xiao Li, Ph.D.