1970s
Beth A. Houghton (NC ’77, MBA ’77) has been named the new CEO of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, Florida. Previously, Houghton spent eight years with the St. Petersburg Free Clinic, including serving as CEO and executive director.
1990s
Maria Shirey (MBA ’91) was recently named the inaugural Jane Brock-Florence Nightingale Endowed Professor of Nursing at the University of Alabama
Birmingham School of Nursing. Shirey serves as a professor and associate dean of Clinical and Global Partnerships at the School of Nursing.
Brian Weiss (BSM ’93) has been appointed chief strategy officer of the Risk Management Association. In the newly created role, Weiss will help guide product development and the association’s overall vision as it addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by a shifting financial services and risk management landscape. Weiss was most recently vice president, practitioner career development, at the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading not-for-profit professional membership association for the project, program and portfolio management profession. Prior to that, Weiss served as director of marketing at Aramark and director of global products and services at the Hay Group, now Korn Ferry.
Tim Rod (A&S ’93, MBA ’94) has been named chief technology officer for Red River, a technology transformation company headquartered in New Hampshire. Rod comes to Red River from Cisco, where he was responsible for identifying and executing go-to-market strategies for its $13 billion Customer Experience (CX) division. Prior to Cisco, Rod worked in technology leadership roles with organizations including Hyatt, Fontainebleau Resorts and Global Technology Resources Inc. (GTRI).
Maria Gaztambide (BSM ’95) was appointed inaugural director and chief curator of public art of the University of Houston System in 2018. In 2019, she
published two books: El Techo de la Ballena: Retro-Modernity in Venezuela (University of Florida Press) and On Site: 50 Years of Public Art of the University of Houston System (Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers). She also contributed an essay to Contesting Modernity: Informalism in Venezuela, 1955- 1975 (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston).
David Rabin (BSM ’96) was recently interviewed by Authority Magazine as part of its series on how to become a thought leader in your industry. Rabin is vice president of commercial business in Lenovo’s PC and Smart Devices group, which includes the ThinkPad laptop and other Think products. Rabin resides in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.
Ross Schulman (BSM ’98) recently joined the law firm of Woodward, Pires & Lombardo in Naples, Florida, where he resides with his wife, Heather Aron Schulman (NC ’98), and their four children.
2000s
Gary Chisholm (MBA ’00) is co-founder and chief development officer of Stormbreaker Studios, a fast-growing mobile-application development agency that specializes in creating apps for midsize to large businesses. The company is based in Orlando, Florida.
Eleni Roumel (MBA/JD ’00) was nominated by President Trump for a seat on the Court of Federal Claims, a specialty court that hears claims against the federal government. Roumel currently serves in the White House as deputy counsel to Vice President Mike Pence. Prior to that, she served as assistant general counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives. Before entering public service, she was a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, where her practice focused on class action and shareholder derivative litigation. Roumel also served as an adjunct professor at Charleston School of Law, where she taught courses on intellectual property.
Linda Baynham (MBA ’02) has been named director of sustainability and corporate social responsibility for the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. In that role, Baynham will focus on establishing company-wide sustainability and corporate social responsibility goals through initiatives on new construction projects, existing assets and sustainability programs.
Rachel Weinthal (BSM ’02) and her husband, Robert, recently welcomed their second child, Emerson Raya Frank, on Oct. 1, 2019. She joins big brother Hudson Levi. The family resides in Manhattan, where Weinthal serves as director of forensic accounting and investigations at BDO USA.
Jason Cherubini (BSM ’03), co-foundeand CFO/COO of Dawn’s Light Movies, was recently featured in Forbes for his upcoming project Payline with action star Wesley Snipes. The film aims to be the first carbon neutral Hollywood film. Dawn’s Light has previously produced action movies such as Blackwater and Altitude as well as over a dozen made-for-TV thrillers.
Conrado Briceño Lagos (MBA ’04) has been named CEO of GenesisCare Spain, a leading international cancer treatment company. Prior to joining GenesisCare, he spent 16 years with Laureate International Universities, including serving as CEO of Laureate Spain, CFO of Europe Region and COO of Andrean Region.
Richard Allen (BSM ’06, MFIN ’07) is the new director of strategic initiatives at Stonehenge Capital. Allen will be based in the New Orleans office and will be responsible for growing the firm’s capacity and product offerings. Previously, he was a vice president at HRI Properties. Allen is also an adjunct lecturer at Tulane University, where he teaches real estate finance in the Master of Sustainable Real Estate Development program.
Katherine McCoy Rivera (BSM ’07), marketing and communications manager at Adams and Reese in New Orleans, has been named the Legal Marketing Association Southwest Region Member of the Year. The award recognizes regional member who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the growth and success of the region by furthering the goals of the Legal Marketing Association. Rivera has more than 12 years of experience in legal marketing. For the past five years, she has served on the LMA New Orleans/Baton Rouge Local Steering Committee, operating as chair in 2017. She currently serves on the LMA Southwest Communications Committee and was a part of the regional board nominating committee in 2017.
2010s
Amina Harvey Dearmon (MBA ’10) recently left the retail and luxury brand management field to open Perspectives Travel, a full-service travel consultancy that works with clients in the corporate, group and luxury leisure travel segments. Located in New Orleans, the firm is affiliated with two of the top travel management companies in the world, Montrose Travel and Virtuoso, and provides complete travel planning and concierge services for domestic and international travel.
John Suarez (BSM ’04, MBA ’10) is founder and president of Peristyle Private Wealth, a boutique financial consulting firm serving entrepreneurs, growing families, institutions and endowments. Suarez also co-founded River Basin Distillery, the first New Orleans company since prohibition to bring a rye whiskey to market that has been aged, proofed and bottled in New Orleans.
Kaitlin Kubisch Payne (BSM ’12) has joined marketing and communications firm the Spears Group as media manager. Prior to joining the Spears Group, Payne worked for Peter Mayer Advertising and NOLA Media Group.
Elliott Edwards (MBA ’15) recently founded Kitty Kutz, a mobile-based, at-home feline-centric pet salon. Utilizing a distributed workforce of “prowlers,” Kitty Kutz responds to house calls for cats in need of grooming. Featuring best-in-class feline relationship methods, cats and kittens of all sizes are pampered and styled holistically, fostering much-needed positive grooming associations for cats. The app is currently available on Windows mobile and will be launching on Android in 2020.
Jennifer Grau (MBA ’17) was recently promoted to director of Diverse Learners (K-3) at Moving Everest Charter School in Chicago. In this role, Grau will be responsible for budgeting, compliance and management of staff and contractor resources in support of the Special Education function.
Aaron Rabinovich (BSM ’19) has joined Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher in New York as an account executive.
