Industry Series

The Alumni Association is proud to present the Industry Tower Series. This series of events is geared towards specific industries, including Finance, Law, Medicine and more. Events are typically hosted in a private residence, provide light food and drinks, and are centered around a speaker panel with a social networking component built in as well.

Special thanks to Hal Diamond ’78 for moving this initiative forward.

We are actively seeking Industry Tower Leaders from other industries to create and drive additional events of interest to our alumni. We are also looking for new venues to hold our events, which typically host between 20-50 people. If you have interest in either driving a sector, gathering sector speakers, sponsoring an event or helping us with a venue, we would love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]; please include “Industry Panel” in your subject line.

See below for some of our featured speakers.

Check out recaps of our latest events.

Steven J. Daniels ’84 (Keynote Speaker) is a Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He has a broad-ranging corporate practice, focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions and securities law matters. Mr. Daniels also advises clients on issues of Delaware law, including fiduciary duty and corporate governance matters. Mr. Daniels has represented numerous public and private companies and investment funds in connection with negotiated acquisitions and dispositions in both distressed and traditional settings, including mergers, tender offers, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, going-private transactions, and the purchase and sale of securities, assets and business units.
Elina Tetelbaum ’03 (Moderator) is an associate in the Corporate Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where she focuses on mergers and acquisitions and corporate and securities laws matters. She has advised public and private companies, as well as private equity funds, in connection with mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, cross-border deals, shareholder activism, takeover defenses and corporate governance matters. She is the secretary of the NYC Bar Association’s corporation law committee. Elina has a JD from Yale Law School, where she was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow and served as editor-in-chief of the Yale Journal on Regulation and editor of the Yale Law Journal. After law school, Ms. Tetelbaum served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a graduate of Harvard College, class of 2007.
Jason Katz ’02 (Host and Panelist) is a corporate and securities attorney at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. He represents private and publicly traded entities in debt and equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, and SEC compliance matters. He also has experience representing public companies, investors, and underwriters in PIPEs (Private Investments in Public Equity) and initial and secondary public offerings of securities. Jason is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University Law School.
Serena G. (Scholz) Granger ’03 (Panelist) joined Ropes & Gray in 2015 as an associate in the finance group. Serena represents borrowers (including private equity sponsors) and lenders in a variety of financing transactions. She advises clients in connection with syndicated financings, high yield offerings, club deals and bilateral facilities, including in connection with leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations. Prior to joining Ropes & Gray, Serena practiced as an associate in the finance groups of two other law firms in New York. Her experience includes first and second lien financings, mezzanine financings, bridge loans, term loans, asset-based revolvers, refinancings, structured financings, term and warehouse securitizations, debtor-in-possession financings and workouts and restructurings across many industries. Serena is a graduate of Princeton University’s Class of 2007 and has a JD from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
Lenny Traps ’05 (Panelist) is an associate in the Litigation Department at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. His practice focuses on securities litigation for large financial institution defendants. In 2013-2014, Lenny clerked for the Hon. Dennis Jacobs on the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Lenny graduated from NYU in 2009 and Columbia Law School in 2012.

MEDICINE: March 22, 2017

Dr. Gary Butts ’72
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Mount Sinai Health System and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy and Community Affairs for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Former Deputy Commissioner for the New York City Department of Health
BA, Columbia University
MD, Cornell University Medical College
Residency in pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital

Dr. Mimi Lee ’87
Associate Medical Director in Medical Affairs, Biomarin
Chemistry and East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University
MD-PhD in Neuroscience from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Resident in Neurological Surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine Completed residency in Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care at the University of California, San Francisco

LAW: February 28, 2017

Stephanie Bazell ’06
Assistant Counselor to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo
New York University School of Law
BA Psychology, Duke University
Igor Kirman ’89
Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Columbia Law School
BA Ethics, Politics & Economics, Yale University
Jeffrey P. Laner ’89
Lawyer, Law Firm of Jeffrey P. Laner
Chair, New York State Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Section
Fordham Law School
BA, Double major in Politics & History, New York University
Eli J. Mark ’98
Assistant United States Attorney, Criminal Division, Southern District of New York
University of California, Hastings College of Law
BA History, University of Pennsylvania

FINANCE: January 17, 2017

Steven Levitt ’86, Managing Director, Co-Founder Park Sutton Advisors LLC
Investment bank boutique serving the financial services industry. Specializes in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic advisor. Assist organizations on valuations, succession planning, equity transition, and other strategic consulting projects. Client base consists of traditional and alternative asset managers, wealth managers, broker-dealers, fund administrators, and other related financial services businesses.
MBA Finance, University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School
BA Economics, Stanford University
Vikal Kapoor ’96, Managing Partner, Head of Venture Development, Proton Enterprises
Serial entrepreneur highly proficient in capital raising, global sales, strategy and investments. Proton Enterprises is a business incubator and non-traditional venture capital firm focusing on disruptive technologies to empower entrepreneurship. Verticals include technology, financial technology, online retailing, online marketing, business management, and logistics.
MBA International Marketing & Business Strategy, ESADE Business School, Spain
Masters Finance, Baruch College
Dual Bachelors, Management Information Systems & Finance, University of Maryland
Jennifer Schlesinger ’08, Producer, CNBC Business News
Producer and writer for CNBC special programming, including stories for the network’s Business Day and Primetime programming, as well as CNBC.com focusing on investigative, cyber security and feature stories. Schlesinger produced “Collision Course,” an investigative series on the trucking industry. In her free time, she writes Through the Sole, a blog on shoes.
B.S. Communication and Business, Cornell University, Summa Cum Laude

FINANCE: December 6, 2016

Subash Chandra ’88, Managing Director, Guggenheim Partners
Senior Equity Analyst covering the energy exploration and production (E & P) sector
Robert Heller ’72, President & CEO, Spectrum Gaming
Financial and development advisory services for gaming and resort companies
Former Managing Director, Head of Americas Gaming & Leisure, UBS Investment Bank
Steven Levitt ’86, Managing Director, Co-Founder Park Sutton Advisors LLC
Investment bank specializing in M & A and strategic advisory for asset and wealth management firms
Jeffery Sassoon ’85, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, QTrade Holdings LP
Former CFO, Equinox Partners
Former Associate Director, Investments, Rockefeller Foundation

FINANCE: November 9, 2016