Full-time MBA |

When Natalia Migal was seeking to expand her knowledge in risk management, she found a new and unique program—the NYU Stern Master of Science in Risk Management.

The new program, launched in 2009, was a specialized one-year risk management program. At that time, two out of five class modules were offered at NYU Stern, with the remaining three taught in Amsterdam.

Justin Lerner has been professionally involved with risk management in a variety of roles since 1998. Currently charged with risk and policy at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which he joined in 2011, Justin previously spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs in risk roles ranging from managing derivatives risk on the NYMEX and AMEX exchange floors to dealing with Hedge Funds in prime brokerage and clearing.

Rose is an accomplished banking professional with a blue-chip background. She is currently Chief Risk Officer of KCB Bank in Nairobi, Kenya, having joined the organization in 2004 as Divisional Director, Risk Management. Previously, she worked for the First National Bank of Chicago in Nairobi; New York Life Insurance Company in New York; and Barclays Bank in Nairobi. She holds a B.A. in Economics and French from the University of Nairobi and an M.B.A. from Adelphi University in New York.

For Angelica Athie, who was born and raised in Mexico but moved to New York after high school, attending NYU was a longstanding dream. After studying actuarial science at a city university and several years working as an actuary, she explored Stern’s graduate degree offerings and found the master’s of science program in risk management. “As soon as I saw it, it seemed like the right thing to do,” she says.

When history touches an individual’s life, the effects are rarely short-lived. In Lizhe “Lee” Sun’s case, being caught up in China’s anti-intellectual Cultural Revolution as a teenager propelled him to learn and achieve throughout his life.

Luis Adao Da Fonseca, Chief Business Development Officer and member of the Management Team of EDP Renewables (EDPR)—the third largest renewable energy company in the world—says that the NYU Stern Master of Science in Risk Management helped him gain a better understanding of risk management within his organization.

As head of risk management at the Bank of Scotland Netherlands, Oene de Hek sought to build on his existing skills and experience. “I considered pursuing an executive MBA, but realized I wanted to gain more specialized expertise in my field,” he explains. His field had undergone a substantial shift since the financial crisis: “The recession really changed things. In my first years at the bank, you had to fight to get the right amount of stage time at executive meetings. Since the crisis, any question asked about strategy or initiatives is directed first to risk management.

A person of many interests and accomplishments, Kathryn Kerner attributes her passion for economics to a lifelong affinity for math, combined with an interest in community service and societal structures that was encouraged by her parents.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Stern’s Undergraduate College in 2007, Eesha Sharma put her skills to work as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs for a year before deciding to return to Stern to pursue her doctorate in the Marketing program.