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Alumni Profiles


Beth Jarosz has followed the well beaten path westward since her graduation in 2000 and has landed in San Diego, and she says she thinks she is staying because its hard to give up "360 days of 70 degree weather and sunshine." It does sound good, as does her current work, but first a little on how she got there.  Immediately after graduating from the Applied Economics program at URI, Beth started an internship with the RI Economic Policy Council. There she worked for several months to update and improve the publication "Charting Rhode Island's Course to the Next Economy." This job was a direct result of the work that she had done while at URI. 

After her work with Policy Council Beth moved on to Phoenix where she worked for a time with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, an Economic Development agency.  While there Beth published several articles and developed a website of key regional and national economic indicators.  Beth claims that it was those courses in macroeconomics that provided her with the foundation on which to build this website.  But the job lacked what Beth was really interested in, research, so she gave up her view of the mountains surrounding Phoenix and headed west again, this time landing in San Diego where she began working for SANDAG. At SANDAG Beth is responsible for overseeing the current estimates program (developing subregional estimates of demographic and economic characteristics). In addition, she is heavily involved in preparing long
range regional and subregional forecasts. She also routinely publishes informational bulletins on topics involving the San Diego region, but her favorite project to date is an in-depth survey of regional economic and quality of life issues that compares several metropolitan regions around the nation. The strong applied nature of the Economics program at URI, most importantly the computer applications (e.g. Excel and EViews), has been quite an asset in her day-to-day work. And now maybe she will pass some of that along to her students.  Beth is currently teaching Intro to Macroeconomics at San Diego State University where she is also working toward a Master's degree in Applied Economics.

Eric Lind joined a number of our graduates in the finance industry once he graduated, and by all accounts he has been keeping busy.  As he describes it, he is involved in an array of projects at Citizens, although you will find him immersed in
products as well as for bank selection plus many of the key market positioning metrics for the company. More recently he has jumped on the GIS bandwagon and become involved in developing an enterprise wide GIS application to facilitate analysis of business at a micro level using spatial variables in addition to standard metrics. 

Looking back over his years at URI, Eric feels "his time in the department helped prepare him for the rigors of corporate life ... [and] that being in financial services provides him with a great opportunity to apply many of the core principles that [he] learned in classes.

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Joe Rebello, who graduated in 2002, found it so difficult to envision leaving academia and heading out into the "real world" that he decided to stay and enrolled in the PhD program at the University of Massachusetts.  For those who knew Joe, the choice of the UMass is likely to be a good match given his interests while at URI.  As he works through his first-year courses, Joe is planning to focus his energies in the areas of Political Economy and Macroeconomic Theory.  His first research project during this past year has been on the philosophical work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari and its political economic implications. The more complete plan is for Joe to  take his comprehensive exams next year and then begin work on his dissertation.  

Along the way Joe is getting an opportunity to see life from the other side of the desk. He is currently a TA for both introduction to microeconomics and macroeconomics courses and seems to be having a good time.  As Joe notes, " I have found that undergraduate students like you much more as a "slightly hip" teaching assistant than a "barely hip" classmate." To fill out his week, Joe has also served as one of the economics department's union stewards in the UMass graduate students union and has worked on the organization of a Rethinking Marxism conference entitled "Subjects of  Economy." 

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Bryan & Colleen Stadelmann, Colleen, class of 2002, was the deserving recipient of the Department's 2001-2002 University Excellence Award for the outstanding Economics major.  In addition to the Department award, Colleen was also a member of the Golden Key Honor Society, Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics Honor Society), Pi Delta Phi (French Honor Society), Phi Beta Kappa, and acted as the Department's representative on the College Dean's Advisory Council.  While at URI Colleen was a double major in Economics and French with a minor in Philosophy.  To "practice" her Economics Colleen spent the summer of 2001 in New York City where she worked as an intern for Salomon Smith Barney, while she "practiced" her French when she spent a year in France where she tells us she worked very hard.  Word on the street is that Colleen was able to find some time Colleen spent the Fall semester at Universite de Grenoble in Grenoble and in the Spring semester at the Sorbonne in Paris, and I know from my travels that Grenoble is very close to the Alps where this avid skier may have been found a few times during the year.  And when she is not traveling or studying, Colleen can most likely be found practicing the trumpet, or performing with the URI Jazz Band. 

And all of this was just practice for the "Real World" that she entered upon graduation in 2002.  Colleen was accepted into the Financial Management Program with GE, a two-year program consisting of 4 six-month rotations, each one in a different finance role. Currently she is located in Fort Wayne, IN where she is working in financial planning and analysis for Motors and Controls and recently has been assigned to head a special project.  After the two years tour of duty, Colleen's plan is to go on the Corporate Audit Staff where she expects to do a good deal of international travel. 

Bryan, meanwhile, working hard to keep up with his globe trotting sister, has found it hard to return from China. He is currently working in on logistics Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan and he expects to be there for another year or two.  Bryan feels quite fortunate to be in China as it continues its fantastic growth, and he hopes to eventually get back into school.  At this time he is thinking about an MBA program in China, possibly enrolling in CEIBS (China European International Business School). We have included a few of the pictures he has sent back. 

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Nick Ucci, Class of 2000, began his career at URI in the Political Science department, but he soon realized " a true understanding of that field would be incomplete without recognizing the intrinsic economic forces driving many key policy issues."  As a result, Nick joined the Economics program and embarked on a double-major in Economics and Political Science.  Along the way  Nick helped many students learn some of the finer points of these disciplines while working as an undergraduate teaching assistant in Economics as well as serving as a research and writing assistant within both major fields. In recognition of his excellence, Nick was awarded numerous honors and scholarships including the David Warren Scholar Award in Political Science, the Sherrer Awards for Academic Achievement in the Honors Program, and the President's Award for Student Excellence in Economics, an award given to the top Economics graduate as elected by the Department faculty.  In addition to his work at URI, Nick also spent a good amount of time in internships.  His internships with US Senator Jack Reed represented a perfect opportunity for Nick to combine his interests in economics and political science, while his summer internship with UBS Warburg in Stamford, CT gave him an opportunity to learn more about the world of finance. 

Once it was time to leave, Nick decided to take a job in  a Boston financial firm where a " middle-class guy from Rhode Island found himself making a very good salary." But this wasn't Nick who believes his "true calling is that of a public servant." And when the opportunity arose to follow this calling, Nick accepted a job with the State of Rhode Island's Department of Labor and Training where he is in the Labor Market Information unit. Nick has just gotten a promotion to Principal Research Technician at Rhode Island's Department of Labor and Training where the publication he produced, State of the State - Statistical Profiles of Rhode Island's Cities and Towns 
was the proud runner-up of the 2003 NASWA Labor Market Information Communication/Publication Awards: Localized Information for Workforce Development Award.  Nick's work in economics upstate has brought him back to his political science roots. Recently Nick was accepted into URI's  Master's degree in Political Science where he will be concentrating on public policy and labor relations.

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Frank Roche is another of our graduates who was attracted by the bright lights of New York City and who has managed to turn those years of manipulating supply and demand curves into a rewarding career.  As Frank sees it, his " degree has been invaluable in helping me build a successful career.  I use my economics knowledge every single day of the week.  I am the go to guy for anything economic, be it monetary, fiscal, domestic, or international.  Most people in the market know the headlines, and can talk the talk in bars and restaurants, but scratch the surface and there is nothing more there."  When you scratch Frank's surface, however, you do find something - a true conservative who has thrived in a rather liberal university setting and liberal town.  Frank will long be remembered for the heated discussions on the 8th floor of Chafee, and he appears ready to take his message to a wider audience.  He currently has a web page where he intends to present position papers expressing  the conservative perspective on important public policy issues.  At the present time his focus is on immigration policy, but he assures us he is ready to take on university education - payback for all those good years in Kingston.  As Frank sees it, the time is here to examine closely what he sees as the dramatically left leaning college and university system in America.  Frank sees himself slowly but surely getting involved in other public policy areas and dipping his toe in the political arena as a fund raiser and contributor.  In the future he may even think about public office, but that is a few years in the future.  

If you are looking for Frank now, however, he can be found in midtown Manhattan, where he is Vice President of Foreign Exchange Trading with SG Bank (Societe Generale outside America).  For those who remember those supply and demand graphs of the foreign exchange markets with the fondest of memories, you will be happy to know that this is Frank's life. Frank is currently in his 10th year working in the financial markets, and 7th working as a Foreign Currency Trader.  He trades currencies, and currently he is trading the euro, dollar, and yen, so we'll think of Frank when we see the latest moves in the US $?   In addition to trading Frank has also evolved into the on desk economics commentator when economic data is released.  Frank is a natural for this job since he is remembered by many for his real love of current events and policy decisions.  While at URI Frank always enjoyed educating the faculty, and now he is educating his fellow traders on the implications of the economic news.

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Nancy McKinstry may have graduated from URI back in 1980, but she continues to leave her mark on the University.   Nancy, like Nick Ucci a few decades later, came to URI  to pursue a degree in Political Science, in this case a degree that would lead her into a career in the foreign service.  But Nancy "got hooked on Economics immediately" and eventually ended up with two majors.  Her love for economics was evident to all who saw her in the halls of Chafee - and she was always there.  Most of the time it seemed she was helping keep order in Professor Joel Dirlam's work, which undoubtedly contributed to his productivity during these years. Nancy's successes after leaving URI have been well documented in a profile that appeared in Quad Angles and a press release upon her being named to the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer. After leaving URI Nancy went to Columbia University where she earned an M.B.A. in marketing and finance, and from there went to the management and technology consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton. Nancy eventually found her way to CCH LIS, a leading provider of agent representation and filing services to the legal and corporate markets, where she was executive vice president of marketing and product management and then president and CEO.  She then took a break and moved to SCP, New York City, a medical publishing and services company specializing in clinical research, journals, medical education and communications where she was CEO and a director, before assuming the title of CEO of Wolters Kluwer North America in October of 2002.  In 2004 and 2005 Nancy appeared in Fortune magazine's list of 50 most powerful women in international business, and in 2005 the University awarded Nancy an Honorary Degree.

As Nancy continued her climb up the corporate ladder, she never forgot her roots at URI.  Nancy has been an active member of the College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council and in 2002-2003, thanks to Nancy's gift to the Department, we were able to award the first Nancy McKinstry scholarship to Christina DeCiutiis.  In recognition of her business success and contributions to the University, Nancy was recently awarded the Alumni Association Award for Achievement in Business.

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Joseph Diamond received an M.A. in economics from URI in 1970 after completing his course work from 1965 - 1967 and spending several years in the U.S. Peace Corps. During his time at URI, Joseph was a teaching assistant and completed his Masters' Thesis under Joel Dirlam. In 1977 he received a Ph.D. in Resource Development from Michigan State University.

Joseph has 30 years of work experience and over 60 publications in economic policy. During his career he has held numerous positions such as Assistant Professor of Community Development  and  Extension Community Development Specialist. He is currently a Planner with the California Energy Commission where his assignments have included assessing the socioeconomic impacts of power plants as part of California's licensing process, and analyzing the economic impacts of electric power mergers and acquisitions.

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Lacey Gardiner graduated from URI in 2001 with a major in Economics and a minor in Accounting. After graduation, Lacey won a State Department internship at the American Embassy in London. She describes the internship as a "fantastic experience." Following the internship, Lacey undertook graduate studies in URI's Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. There she has coauthored an article that has been submitted to a scholarly journal.

Now, in June 2006, she is finishing the requirements for a Masters degree and preparing to attend a professional conference where her research findings are to be presented.