Catherine Avgiris (’80), executive VP and CFO of Comcast Cable, was honored with a Distinguished Alumna Award at the 26th annual Bernard Baruch Dinner on Apr. 22, 2015. The benefit is held in support of The Baruch College Fund.
Last fall founder and managing director of American Development Group, LLC, Perry M. Finkelman (’80) participated in the College-hosted panel discussion “Real Estate and the Arts,” which focused on mural projects in new buildings in Manhattan.
This spring Anthony Sutera (’80) joined Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as a financial advisor. Sutera has more than 35 years in the industry. He currently lives in Wilmington, N.C., with his wife and two sons.
Diana Clemente (’81), president and principal of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based limousine operator Big Apple Car, is helping to improve the lot of neighborhood cats. Clemente provides space to local cat-control group Ferals in Peril for spay/neuter and vetting of feral cats and for temporary housing of adoptable animals rescued from feral colonies.
Robert Ganim (’83), chief information security officer at Neuberger Berman, was the subject of a cover profile in the November issue of Waters magazine, a publication of the online financial technology news portal WatersTechnology.
The American Marketing Association’s New York (NYAMA) chapter inducted Trevor Edwards (’84, MBA ’90), president of Nike, into its 2015 Hall of Fame in May. Edwards was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (LHD) at Baruch’s Commencement ceremony in June 2014.
Motivated by personal experience in the foster care system, Stephen O’Donnell (’84) is co-founder of the THRU Project, which links adult mentors with transitioning youth who have aged out of the system. Professionally, he is a partner in Hill Country Bakery, an approximately 400-employee operation in San Antonio, Tx.
Frank Antonucci (’85), director of campus operations and administration at Baruch College, has returned to DJing at WBMB, Baruch’s radio station (he DJ’d as an undergrad). His show, Rockin’ at the Sock Hop (airing Fridays from 1 to 2 pm live at wbmbbiz.com), features doo-wop and on-air interviews with stars of the fifties and early sixties.
Ralph J. DiRuggiero (MPA ’85) received the President’s Medal from his undergraduate alma mater, University of Scranton, at the university’s 2014 President’s Business Council Award Dinner. He is senior VP for property management at Paramount Group Inc.
Last February Lisa Davis (’86) joined Wilson Legal Solutions, an international provider of software and services to enhance law firm profitability and productivity, as a senior consultant. Previously Davis was the manager of Shearman & Sterling, LLP’s global technology portfolio planning and oversight.
In November, Salvatore Cordaro (’87) was installed as the new pastor at St. Joseph Church in New Paltz, N.Y. He entered the Capuchin order of Franciscans in 2005 and was ordained a priest in 2012.
A graduate of the National Urban Fellows Program, James E. Smith (MPA ’87) is city manager for Banning, Calif. He is also an adjunct professor of political science at San Bernardino Valley College. Previously he was budget director for the city of Oakland and general manager for utilities and the park and recreation departments for the city of Riverside. He and his wife of 25 years, Carol, live in Riverside.
Comedian Leighann Lord (’89) recently published Leighann Lord’s Dict Jokes: Alternate Definitions for Words You’ve Probably Never Heard of But Will Definitely Never Forget. Lord has appeared on Comedy Central, Lifetime, ABC, and HBO.
Brian Sheets (’89) hosts cable TV show Give It to Me Straight, Doc, which began airing on Cablevision Channel 88 in Connecticut in February. Sheets, who established a private practice in 1997, previously hosted his own weekly radio show tackling topics in health, wellness, and prevention.