Steven E. Kozlowski ’17 Ph.D. has successfully defended his dissertation titled, “Three Essays on Financial Distress and Valuation.” Dr. Kozlowski has accepted an assistant professor, tenure-track position at Fairfield University, Dolan School of Business.

Kevin R. Vander Wiede ’12 started working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as the Veteran Service Representative in May 2016. Mr. Vander Wiede is a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserves, serving as the Accident Investigation Chief since 2013.

Chongyu Wang ’17 Ph.D. has successfully defended his dissertation titled, “Three Essays on the Geography of Finance.” This marks the 200th defense of the School of Business, Ph.D. Program. Dr. Wang has accepted a Post-Doctoral Associate position at the Department of Finance, Insurance & Real Estate, Warring College of Business Administration, at the University of Florida.

Dhrumil A. Shah ’04, ’11 MBA has been named group controller for High Concrete. High Concrete provides financial, marketing, human resource and information services to High Industries and High Real Estate Group. He previously held positions as accounting and finance manager at Hershey Co. Mr. Shah has both a bachelor’s and MBA degrees from the University of Connecticut.

Scott E. Newland ’11 MBA has been promoted within the Officer Group at Burns & McDonnell. Mr. Newland is senior vice president and general manager in Chicago, Illinois where he leads a regional staff of more than 250 employees. He joined Burns & McDonnell in 1999 as a structural engineer and was previously the general manager of the firm’s New England Office.

Yihong Xiao ’10, ’17 PhD has successfully defended her dissertation titled, “Three Essays on Gender Diversity” receiving her PhD in Finance. Her dissertation focuses on the impact of gender diversity in the corporate boardroom, and shows that it is beneficial for firm profitability, corporate decisions and stock price to have more female directors.

Jeff S. Jorczak ’14 MBA has joined Renown Health as their Chief Technology Officer. Renown Health is a hospital system based in Reno, Nevada. Mr. Jorczak leads the assessment and strategy for technology adoption while also finding solutions to enterprise needs. He has worked in various areas both as a contributor and manager of information technology teams in various industries including Healthcare, Manufacturing and Gaming. He is also a self-published fiction author, and his debut novel, Spheria, is available now.