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.

James G. Coogan ’02, ’04 MSA has been promoted to Vice President of Investor Relations at Kaman Corporation. Since joining Kaman in 2008, Mr. Coogan has been responsible for external reporting and SEC compliance and was most recently promoted to Assistant Vice President of SEC Compliance and External Reporting back in 2013. He is a graduate of the Kaman Leadership Development Program.

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.

Robert J. Sawicki ’95 MBA has joined Global Atlantic Financial Group as Senior Vice President, Head of Talent. Mr. Sawicki will be responsible for launching and integrating all talent processes including Talent Acquisition, Executive Recruiting, Talent/Leadership Development, Succession Planning, Goal Setting and Performance and Engagement. He joins Global Atlantic from Magellan Health, where he was SVP, Talent Management.

Kristen M. Manginelli ’03, ’04 MSA has been promoted to senior vice president of Marketing at Webster Bank. Ms. Manginelli joined Webster in 2009 as part of the Financial Reporting and Accounting Policy team, and moved to Marketing in 2014 as Vice President, Manager, Segment Strategy. Prior to joining Webster, she worked for Deloitte LLP. She is also a certified public accountant.

Christopher J. Boynton ’88 was recently promoted to vice president, East Territory for the American Diabetes Association. In this position, Mr. Boynton is responsible for all field operations including development, programs, services and advocacy from Maine to Florida. He has served with the American Diabetes Association for 11 years and previously held the role of Executive Director, New England. Before working with ADA, Boynton worked with the American Cancer Society and The Greater Hartford Association of Realtors.

Jasmine Alcantara ’95 BS, ’99 MBA owner of JLA Group, will be awarded the 2017 U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce Innovation & Performance Award at the National Small Business Federal Contracting Summit in Washington, DC on March 30, 2017. She has also been selected to present at the Southern New England Conference-Project Management Institute 12th Annual Conference at the Connecticut Convention Center on April 24, 2017. JLA Group provides a wide range of consulting and advisory services to Government clients and commercial industries such as strategic planning and communications, project management, change and performance measurement, acquisition strategy and execution, and proposal and grant development.

Stephen B. Burke ’98 has been named senior vice president of commercial banking at Webster Bank. He recently joined Webster, bringing with him more than 10 years of banking experience. Prior to Webster, he worked for Antares Capital and GE Capital.

Lauralee E. Martin ’79 MBA has joined QuadReal Property Group’s Board of Directors. Ms. Martin has served as CEO of HCP, a Fortune 500 REIT. She was also both COO and CFO with Jones Lang LaSalle, where she led the global financial strategy for the firm. She holds an MBA from the University of Connecticut, and was inducted into the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame in 2011.

Brenda Lewis ’81 MBA has launched TechXel Stamford LLC, the first & only enterprise accelerator in Fairfield County. TechExel Stamford will prepare early stage (pre-revenue) enterprise ventures to better compete for a national seed funding pool shrunk to 2002 levels. The accelerator will focus on ventures with scalable IP. A backbone of the program is TechXel’s Venture Expert Series presented every Wednesday at 6:30pm at Workpoint Stamford.