Read recent news about Broad Graduates who are making their mark in a wide range of industries. You can help us keep our global “address book” current by entering your news at Tell Us Your News.
Dave Blaszkiewicz (MBA ’98) was named president and CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership. He is also president of Invest Detroit.
Mark Blaufuss (BA Accounting ’90) is now chief financial officer of Metaldyne. In this position he is responsible for the financial management of Metaldyne. He oversees the Corporate Finance Group, which includes bank reporting and regulatory compliance, shareholder reporting, global information technologies strategy and intrastructure, benefits administration and financial oversight.
Blaufuss previously served as CFO at UCI International, Inc. He served as CFO of Stonebridge Industries, Inc., and then AxleTech International, Inc. He was also a director at Alix Partners, LLC.
Richard Bundy (MBA ’99) was promoted to vice president for Development and Alumni Relations at the University of Vermont.
Brian Calley (BA ’98) was inaugurated as lieutenant governor on January 1, 2011. Prior to being elected as lieutenant governor, Calley served two terms in the Michigan Legislature as a state representative.
Kevin Cramton (BA Financial Administration ’81, MBA Finance ’83) has been named CEO of Revstone Industries LLC, of Southfield, Mich. Previously he was managing director at RHJ International SA. He also has 20 years experience with Ford Motor Company.
Olga Dazzo (BA Accounting ’80, MBA Finance ’82) has been named among the 2011 Crain’s Detroit Business Women to Watch. Dazzo, who was appointed director of the Michigan Department of Community Health by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2011, is leading early development of a statewide health insurance exchange for individuals and businesses to comply with major health care reforms that take effect in 2014. She also identified wellness and improving the overall health of Michigan residents, particularly reduction in obesity and infant mortality, as two key areas of focus.
David P. Dutch (MBA Finance ’77) is now chief executive officer of PayLease LLC, an electronics payment platform and service provider for property management companies and homeowners associations. Dutch will manage all aspects of business operations for the company.
Prior to joining PayLease, he was executive vice president at CDS Global, international provider of transaction management services.
Jeremy R. Cnudde (BA Accounting ’99) has joined the Butzel Long law firm in Detroit, Mich. A senior attorney, his practice is concentrated on corporate transactions and federal and state tax planning and tax appeal litigation. Prior to joining Butzel Long, Cnudde worked for the Revenue Division of the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and represented the State of Michigan in state tax litigation.
Paul Caragher (BA Accounting ’93 ) is now chief executive officer of Radiant ZEMAX, a company formed in the the merger of Redmond, Wash.-based Radiant Imaging, Inc. (“Radiant”) and Bellevue, Wash.-based Zemax Development Corporation (“Zemax”).
Caragher recently served as president of Fluke Networks and Tektronix Service Solutions, both owned by Danaher Corporation. Caragher’s prior experience includes Hach-Lange, a manufacturer of water testing instruments and systems, and international experience working for General Motors Corporation’s Latin America, Africa, and Middle East Operations.
Jeff (Xiaojin) Ge (MBA Supply Chain Management ’99) has been promoted to vice president of Asia Pacific Operations at Steelcase, responsible for building and extending the company’s supply chain capability in the region. Ge had served as director of Asia Pacific Operations for the company since March 2008 after helping to establish the company’s first Chinese manufacturing plant in Shenzhen, China.
He is serving his second three-year term as a member of the Eli Broad College of Business Alumni Relations Board of Directors.
Kala Gibson (Weekend MBA ’02) has been named among the 2011 40 Under Forty by Crain’s Detroit Business. Gibson is senior vice president and leader of the business banking division for the eastern Michigan region at Fifth Third Bank.
He leads Fifth Third’s 29-member business banking team, which focuses on commercial lending for companies with revenue between $2 million and $20 million.
Ben Greenberg (BA Accounting ’96), chief executive officer of Mile Rail, environmental rail services, has received the 2011 “Brick by Brick” award from the Kansas City Industrial Council (KCIC), recognizing Mile Rail’s strong growth and reinvestment in Kansas City’s industrial core. Mile Rail combines broad rail capabilities with strong environmental experience to deliver a broad range of railcar repair and cleaning services as well as waste management services to clients throughout North America.
Christine (Chrissy) Greenough (BA Marketing ’09) has been named programming chair for the Mid Michigan Creative Alliance, an organization established to educate and promote camaraderie among members of the Mid-Michigan creative community. Greenough is currently employed as a designer at Pace and Partners, a Lansing area marketing firm.
Timothy Grifffith (BA Economics ’91) has been named vice president of Finance and treasurer for Marathon Petroleum Corp., Findlay, Ohio. Before joining Marathon, he worked at Smurfit-Stone in St. Louis, Mo. He has held financial executive positions at Cooper-Standard Automotive, Lear Corp., Comerica, and Citicorp Securities. He is a Life member of the MSU Alumni Association.
Sue Hansen (BA Financial Administration ’88), and 18-year veteran in health care, has been named vice president in the Healthcare and Professional Services Group of Fifth Third Bank in East Lansing. She is the chair of the MSU National Alumni Board and also the chair of the Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation Board. In 2000, she started the MSU Alumni Club of Mid-Michigan’s Steve Smith Charity Challenge. She is a member of the MSU Beaumont Tower Donor Society and a Life Member of the MSU Alumni Association.
Steven Heacock (BA Accounting ’78) was honored with the MSU Alumni Association’s 2011 Alumni Service Award. He is the senior vice president for Community Relatons at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. He was also the recipient of the West Michigan MSU Alumni Club’s 2011 Business Person of the Year Award.
Ziyad Hermiz (BA Finance ’04), attorney at Butzel Long in Detroit, has been elected vice president of the Chaldean American Bar Association (CABA). He previously served on the CABA’s board of directors. Prior to joining Butzel Long, Hermiz interned for the Hon. Judge Avern Cohn, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
He is a member of both the State Bar Association of Michigan and the American Bar Association and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Maureen Huber (MBA ’10) is an announced winner in the Crain’s Detroit Business CFO Awards 2011. Huber who is chief financial officer of Trubiquity, Inc., in Troy, Mich., received the award in the category: Corporation, under $50 million revenue. Honorees are selected in ten categories ranging from corporations to education, government, real estate, foundations and non-profit services.
Catherine A. Jacobs (BA Acccounting ’78) of the law firm Loomis, Ewert, Parsley, Davis & Gotting, PC has been included in the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers in America, a peer review publication.
Stephen I. Jurmu (BA Economics ’73), David M. Lick (BA Accounting ’67 ), Scott L. Mandel (BA Business Administration ’78), Thomas R. Meagher (BA General Business Pre-Law ’78), and Douglas A. Mielock (BA General Business Pre-Law ’84), of the law firm Foster Swift, Collins & Smith PC, have been named in Michigan Super Lawyers, a publication of Thomsen Reuters, among the top lawyers in Michigan for 2011.
Super Lawyers rates outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.
Jeff Kapuscinski (BA Marketing ’83) has joined Crain’s Detroit Businessas its new director of marketing. He is charged with helping to grow the audience and revenue streams for the publication. He most recently worked as director of Marketing and Communications at Crittenton Hospital Medical Center. Prior to that, he was a vice president for strategic planning for the Detroit Media Partnership.
Thomas L. Keon (PhD Management ’79), former dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Central Florida, was named chancellor of Purdue University-Calumet.
Jennifer Kluge (BA Human Resource Management ’93) has been named president and CEO of the Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) and the Michigan Food and Beverage Association (MFBA) , both headquartered in Warren, Mich. Previously she served as COO for the two trade associations. The associations serve more than 20,000 members that employ more than 160,000 people in the state.
Rich Kolpasky (Executive MBA ’00) has joined Boyden Chicago as managing director. His center of operations is in the Detroit metropolitan area where he serves an automotive and industrial client base.
Before joining Boyden, he worked with two of the largest and most successful Tier I suppliers in the world, including service as president of North American Seating for Faurecia with revenues in excess of $1.2B. He also held positions of increasing responsibility at TI Automotive, where he was appointed president of the Global Fluid Carrying business, with 90 manufacturing plants and revenues in excess of $1.5B.
In addition to his automotive background, Kolpasky has significant experience in the defense sector as both a U.S. Army officer and a civilian consultant. As a consultant with Booz-Allen & Hamilton as well as with his own firm, he specialized in Department of Defense R&D contracts. A former commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Field Artillery, he is a current member of the Association of the U.S. Army and the National Defense Industrial Association.
Margaret Lamb (MBA Finance ’91) has been named vice president and controller at the Bank of Ann Arbor. Before joining the Bank of Ann Arbor, she was the CFO at the Marine Credit Union in LaCrosse, Wisc.. For five years she has been a member of the CUNA CFO Council of Executives and served as the secretry and treasurer for two years.
Jason Levin (BA Financial Administration ’92), president and “chief gringo” of Dos Gringos, Vista, Calif., the largest distributor of ornamental sunflowers in the United States, received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011, SanDiego Award, in the Earth Sciences category. His company supplies bouquets to supermarkets throughout the United States and Canada.
Anthony Lovell (MBA ’03), vice president of Global Sales and Marketing at Grede Holdings LLC, has received the 2011 Marketing and Sales Executives of Detroit Platinum Award. He won in the “Individual” category which recognizes a person who has been instrumental in successfully marketing and selling a new product or service, or an existing product or service to a new market.
Peter M. Lynagh (PhD Transportation-Distribution ’70) passed away Oct. 9, 2011, in Newtown, Penn., following a brief illness. Dr. Lynagh had taught marketing in the Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore since 1982. He was the recipient of the Frank Baker Teaching Professorship from 2006 to 2009. He was awarded the Dean James Chair for Distinguished Teaching and the University of Baltimore Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2010.
Mitzi Montoya (PhD Marketing ’95) was promoted to vice provost and dean of Arizona State University Polytechnic’s College of Technology and Innovation.
Rajan Natarajan (Weekend MBA ’00) has recently been appointed deputy secretary of state for Policy and External Affairs for the state of Maryland. Nataranjan is the first and highest ranking Indian-born American appointed in Governor Martin O’Malley’s administration.
Natarajan will provide advice on external affairs, foster and promote international diplomatic relationships, build public-private and industry partnerships, oversee and advance international sister-state programs, coordinate legislative and executive affairs and oversee Maryland’s International Consortium.
Previously he was vice president of Government Initiatives at GANTECH, a fast-growing technology company in Maryland. He is a member of the Governor’s International Advisory Council, and recently served as the president of the Maryland India Business Roundtable, and is a member of the board of directors of the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce.
John Quakenbush (MBA Finance ’91) was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to chair the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC), effective Oct. 17, 2011. He was formerly managing director and senior investment analyst in the UBS Chicago office, where he was responsible for equity research of the transportation , utilities and coal industries in the U.S. and Canada, including 80 companies in Michigan. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Jim Rice (BA Finance ’98) appeared in the 23rd season of the successful CBS South Pacific Survivor reality show. Rice, a businessman from Denver, Colo,, was one of 18 contestants
Kevin J. Roragen (BA Economics ’88), of the law firm Loomis, Ewert, Parsley, Davis & Gotting, PC has been included in the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers in America, a peer review publication.
Kim Schatzel (PhD Marketing ’99) becomes the new provost and vice president at Eastern Michigan University effective Jan. 3, 2012. She will lead the Division of Academic Affairs and its more than 200 degree programs in five colleges.
Prior to her appointment at EMU, she was dean of the College of Business at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, a position she held since 2008. She joined the University of Michigan faculty in 2000 as an assistant professor of marketing and subsequently held several leadership positions before being named dean.
Louis Schimmel (BA Finance ’60) was appointed emergency manager for Pontiac, Mich., in September 2011. Schimmel was city executive administrator for Warren, Mich.
Eric J. Schmidt (MBA Supply Chain ’09) has joined the Procurement Department of Amway Corporation,which is headquartered in Ada, Michigan.
John Walsh (BA General Business ’65), a Chicago area businessman, has been inducted into the Brother Rice High School Circle of Champions Athletic Hall of Fame. A 1961 graduate of the school, he earned league, regional and statewide recognition for his accomplishments as a high school athlete. Walsh played football at Michigan State University and earned varsity letters under Coach Duffy Daugherty.
He has been chief executive for manufacturing firms in the Chicago area and has served as an adjunct faculty at DeVry University (Keller GSM) and Moraine Valley Community College.
