Class Notes: Summer 2015

1960s

William A. “Bill” Goldring (BBA ’64) received the Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s 2014 Opus Award at its annual O What a Night! Gala in October. The highest honor bestowed by the museum, the award pays tribute to Goldring for his lifetime of philanthropic generosity and many contributions to the cultural landscape of the South.

1970s

Ashton Ryan (MBA ’71) received a 2014 Weiss Award from the New Orleans Council for Community and Justice in recognition of his exceptional civic and humanitarian contributions. Ryan is president and CEO of First NBC Bank and serves on the boards of the UNO Foundation, East Jefferson General Hospital, Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, Junior Achievement, Delgado Community College Foundation, Greater New Orleans Inc., and Louisiana Cancer Consortium.

 

Ralph Brennan (A&S ’73, MBA ’75), president of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, made news with his role in the revitalization of two historic French Quarter establishments. In November 2014, he hosted the grand reopening of Brennan’s restaurant. Brennan purchased the iconic Royal Street restaurant at a sheriff ’s auction in 2013 and spent more than $10 million on its renovation. More recently, in March 2015, Brennan purchased the Napoleon House, one of the oldest and most beloved bars in New Orleans. Brennan is president of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, which owns and operates restaurants including Ralph’s on the Park, Redfish Grill, Café B and Heritage Grill.

Larry Rivarde (MBA ’77) has been appointed senior vice president of zoological operations and business development at Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. Rivarde will be responsible for leading animal husbandry, including marine mammals, birds, fish and invertebrates, in direct support of the
mission programs at Mystic Aquarium. Life support systems, veterinary services, and animal rescue and rehabilitation will also be under his stewardship. Rivarde previously served as vice president of Audubon Nature Institute and managing director of the Audubon Zoo since 2001. Rivarde also previously served as CFO of New Orleans City Park.

1980s

Jack Caldwell (MBA ’81) is the author of Bourbon Street Nights, the first of a trilogy of novels recounting events in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast leading up to, during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A native of Thibodaux, Louisiana, Caldwell now resides in Venice, Florida.

Howell Crosby (BSM ’81, MBA/JD ’84) has been appointed to the board of directors and named general counsel for Crosby Land and Resources, the largest non-industrial, private timberland company in Louisiana and one of the largest in the South. Crosby is a partner at Chaffe McCall law firm in New Orleans.

J Pegues (MBA ’85) has been appointed Vice Chancellor — Chief Operating and Administrative Officer for the LSU Health Sciences Center, which encompasses the LSU Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Public Health, Allied Health Professions, and Graduate Studies. The LSU Health Sciences Center encompasses over 3 million square feet and has over 3,000 students and 3,000 employees.

Liz Martin Brister (BSM ’87) and Patty Riddlebarger (MBA ’06) received the Best Economic Empowerment Award presented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation at the organization’s 2014 Corporate Citizens Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C. The event honors businesses for their significant positive impacts in communities around the world. Brister, manager of low income customer assistance initiatives at Entergy Corp., and Riddlebarger, Entergy’s director of corporate social responsibility, were honored for the company’s Super Tax Day Initiative signature program, which has helped put approximately 58,000 low income individuals on the path to economic self-sufficiency by helping them file for and receive $100 million in earned income tax credits since 2009.

Scott Niemeyer (BSM ’87) is an executive with Gold Circle Films, producer of motion pictures including My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Pitch Perfect. Niemeyer’s latest film, Pitch Perfect 2, premiered in May.

Bob Wieczorek (BSM ’89) has joined Training the Street (TTS), a leading corporate training provider for Wall Street firms and top business schools, as head of its asset management and capital markets practice. In that role, Wieczorek will be tasked with expanding TTS’s training of professionals working on sales and trading desks and in investment management. He will also be responsible for designing, developing and delivering TTS’s financial training products to clients in both the asset management and capital markets sectors, as well as hiring additional faculty. Prior to joining TTS, Wieczorek served as managing director and head of the Americas region practice group at Fitch Learning. He also served as managing partner at STORM Capital Partners and as managing director of North American corporate finance at Credit Lyonnais Securities.

1990s

Carlos Hernandez (BSM ’91) was recently promoted to AVP, Strategic Planning and Market Development for Baptist Health South Florida.

Kernan Hand Jr. (BSM ’92) was appointed to the Board of Tax Appeals by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. The board makes decisions on tax and local tax liability cases involving both individuals and businesses. Hand is an attorney in the New Orleans office of Coats Rose, where he concentrates in the areas of real estate and taxation.

Peggy Scott (MBA ’92) served as keynote speaker for the spring diploma ceremony of LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business. Scott is executive vice president, chief operating officer, chief financial officer and treasurer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana.

Matt Ogens (BSM ’95) premiered his latest feature documentary, Meet the Hitlers, at the New Orleans Film Festival in October 2014. The film explores the connection between name and identity through interviews with a motley assortment of individuals connected only by their possession of the infamous name.

Erin DiManno (MBA ’98) began her new role as senior human resource partner with IBM in May 2015. In addition, she recently received the President’s Volunteer Service Award – Bronze for her dedication to community service in 2014. DiManno lives in Ashburn, Virginia.

Maria Rickert Hong (MBA ’98) presented and exhibited her book Almost Autism: Recovering Children from Sensory Processing Disorder, A Reference for Parents and Practitioners at the AutismOne/Focus for Health 2015 Conference in Chicago. Hong is a certified holistic health counselor in Westport, Connecticut.

James M. “Mike” Sellers (MBA ’98), formerly of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP in Houston, has become counsel at Saudi Aramco. Sellers and his wife have also relocated to Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Sellers is an attorney who practices intellectual property.

2000s

Anthony Iarocci (BSM ’00) and Celine Forrester were married at the Boulders Resort in Carefree, Arizona, in November 2013. Iarocci is CEO of Key Real Estate Co. in New Orleans.

Nancy Pitts (N ’95, MBA ’01) recently completed the 2014 CoreAlign Generative Fellowship at the University of California-San Francisco, which supports innovation and movement-level thinking in the reproductive health, rights and justice movement. She is currently director of development and communications at Preterm in Cleveland, one of the largest abortion clinics in the country. Previously, she led Ohio’s statewide abortion fund, Women Have Options, transforming an organization on the verge of closing into a dynamic, thriving group at the center of Ohio’s pro-choice movement, with a nationally recognized advocacy program. She also serves on the boards of the National Network of Abortion Funds, and URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity (formerly Choice USA).

Mark Dinerstein (BSM ’02) has been named president of Knitting Factory Presents, the concert and events unit of Knitting Factory Entertainment. In his new role, Dinerstein will lead the company’s talent-buying team and oversee venue operations for all of KFE’s facility management agreements. Dinerstein joined KFE in 2006 as Los Angeles talent buyer and interim buyer for Knitting Factory New York. In
2007, he was promoted to regional talent buyer of Knitting Factory Presents, and in 2010 he was promoted to senior talent buyer. He most recently served as senior vice president of business development for the company.

Alex Hernandez (TC ’98, MBA ’03), managing partner of the New Orleans Redevelopment Fund, recently announced the launch of a second fund to redevelop properties in the Mid-City area of New Orleans. The fund hopes to invest up to $10 million to acquire, redevelop and lease residential properties as well as acquire lots and build new single and multi-family residential units and commercial properties. Since its launch in May 2013, the company, which also includes managing partner Mike Niemtzow (BSM ’98) and project manager Cullan Maumus (MBA ’13), has purchased 18 properties and made 42 rentable units available for housing.

Jordan Merritt (BSM ’03) was recognized as a nominee for San Diego Business Journal’s CFO of the Year Award. Merritt was nominated for his role in helping to drive significant financial achievements for Merritt Bookkeeping during fiscal year 2014, during which the company increased revenues by 50 percent and nearly doubled its net income.

Kevin Murray (MBA ’05) has been appointed director of financial planning and analysis at Community Coffee Co. Prior to joining Community, Murray was vice president of functional management for CB&I’s Environmental and Infrastructure group.

Alexander Somers (BSM ’05) is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Kinetics Energy Services, which recently closed an equity financing deal with Natural Gas Partners. Kinetics is focused on acquiring, integrating and growing North American energy services and equipment companies providing well completions and production enhancement. Somers was previously an investment banker with Simmons & Co., where he completed more than 30 merger, acquisition and capital market transactions
with an aggregate transaction value of more than $15 billion.

Will Donaldson (MBA ’09) is partner and co-developer of St. Roch Market. Located in the city-owned St. Roch public market building, the market, which opened in April 2015, features a dozen vendors serving local produce, sundries and prepared foods.

2010s

Wes Gautreaux (MBA ’10) is vice president – sales at Frac-Chem. Gautreaux is based in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Derrick Rogers (MBA ’10) recently became senior sales manager at Hotel Intercontinental New York Times Square.

Rachel Ferebee (MBA ’11) has been named talent acquisition specialist at Arrow Exterminators. Ferebee will be responsible for delivering all facets of recruiting and employer branding company wide. Prior to joining Arrow, Ferebee was employed by Agco Corp., where she managed the regional talent acquisition process.

Luc Soleau (MBA ’11) is legal and marketing manager with Tuleu Consulting Co., distributor of John Deere agricultural machinery products in West and Central Africa and the French West Indies. The Louisiana-based company was recently awarded the President’s “E” Certificate for Exports by the U.S. Department of Commerce in recognition of its significant contributions to the expansion of U.S. exports.

Joshua Chefec (BSM ’12) has been appointed new business development director for ExpoCredit, an international specialty finance firm headquartered in Miami. Chefec, who will be based at the company’s Manhattan office, is responsible for driving new business development for the Northeast region. Prior to joining ExpoCredit, Chefec served as assistant vice president at FGI, a New York-based
financial firm. He also worked with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in New Orleans and as an analyst for J.P. Morgan Securities in New York.

Seth Hamstead (MBA ’12) is a partner in Continental Provisions, a new retailer in the New Orleans French Market selling artisanal cheeses, cured meats and fresh breads as well as a selection of sandwiches.

Taylor H. Gilbert (MBA ’12) has been promoted to assistant vice president of the merger and acquisition advisory group at Chaffe & Associates. Gilbert joined the firm in 2012 and advises on merger and acquisition transactions and fairness options for middle market companies across a variety of industries, including due diligence, valuation and execution of transactions.

Douglas Stokes (MBA ’14) and Sarah Lapeyre were married in New Orleans in March 2015. Stokes is a financial adviser at Stokes & Hubbell Capital Management.