Full-time MBA |

Wilfrid Xoual, MSRM '13

Wilfrid Xoual, the Paris-based Head of Moody’s Analytics business development team, hadn’t even received his degree from the NYU Stern Master’s in Risk Management program when he was able to utilize the Stern network in a professional capacity. “We recently organized a visit in an African country where we sponsored an event on the new Basel regulation,” he recalls. “We needed to contact several banks and consulting firms in the country to understand what angle could be more relevant for participants.

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.

As a mother of two, Shelle knew it wouldn’t be easy to fit getting a PhD into her already very busy life. However, after working in marketing in the financial services industry for many years, she decided to make the transition to academia. “Getting a PhD was something that I always considered, but the time never seemed right. Finally I just decided that if I really wanted to do this, there was no more time to waste!”

While serving as a surgeon in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, Rusty Segan sustained an injury that effectively ended his surgical career. Upon returning to the U.S., Rusty decided to transition his career and gain some formal business training by enrolling in NYU Stern’s Executive MBA Program. Now at Stern, Rusty is still striving to improve the lives of patients.