Castleton ExperienceI attended Castleton in 1994 with a vision to become a business educator. My first walk of the campus with faculty and students convinced me that choosing CSC was the right move for my career. After a few discussions with my counselor, I learned that becoming a secondary business education major required a triple major.

Although the thought of a triple major was not most appealing, I accepted the challenge as I trusted the required curriculum would best prepare me to achieve my vision. Faculty such as Radha Bhatkal, William Kuehn and Ernest Bourgeois all had great impact and influence on my CSC experience as well as choices made later in life. Although each of these individuals taught different disciplines, each gave me important tools that have helped me in life and business situations. Ultimately, Castleton led me to the 4+1 MBA program at Clarkson University.

Post Castleton

During the MBA program at Clarkson University I became determined to complete a Ph.D. program and become a business professor. I applied to several programs, but soon learned that high GPA and solid GRE scores were not enough to compete with the other applicants. For example, upon follow-up with the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, I discovered that only 10 or so were accepted out of more than 100 who applied and several of those chosen already held their first Ph.D. in statistics or other business disciplines. At that point, although my vision did not change, my tactics to achieve it turned to another path.

I decided that I needed a solid business career as a CPA, experience with a ‘Big Five’ accounting firm and several years of private industry experience to gain the business and management expertise necessary to “teach.” This, I became convinced, would eventually lead me down the path to becoming a business educator.

Current Career

Currently I am a NYS licensed CPA and private equity manager for The Ayco Company, L.P., a Goldman Sachs Company. I gained my public accounting experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC. Since joining The Ayco Co., L.P. in 2002, I can truly say that I am motivated and excited about each day at the office. The private equity industry is awesome and our niche business is growing like crazy. In my mind, our people and clients clearly stand out as the best, and Ayco has proven to me over and over that it is the finest company out there. I am truly privileged to have the opportunity to develop my career at Ayco.

Lifestyle

JoAnne and I were married in 1999 and have two children, Brayton and Caroline, 4- and 2-years old respectively. We decided to build in Hartford, N.Y. last year and make this small country town our home due to its proximity to family and friends. Our outdoor hobbies include horseback riding, four-wheeling, motocross, hiking, golf and many other activities. Most importantly, we enjoy spending as much time with our children as possible.