University at Albany School of Business

Leading the Way

More than 400 School of Business alumni have the title of president, chief executive officer, or chief financial office, and more than 200 are partners at law firms. In addition, over 100 are partners at Big 4 accounting firms, and many are partners at dozens of regional firms.

They work in New York City, Boston, the Capital Region and beyond -- for Alliance Capital, Bank of NY, Bear Stearns, Berdon, LLP, Bloomberg, Citigroup, Computer Associates, Deloitte, Eisner, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Intel, IRS, JP Morgan Chase, KPMG, Lehman Brothers, Merill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, PWC, State Farm, and Time, Inc., and many, many other companies.

Our alumni know that their UAlbany education brings a terrific return on their investment. Their generosity is unmatched, whether they donate their time through hands-on involvement in the education of our students through mentoring, internships, placement, or provide funds the school needs to thrive and grow. Six classrooms, four computer labs, and three conference rooms have been renovated by gifts from alumni and friends. The next challenge: a state-of-the-art School of Business building on Collins Circle adjacent to the newly constructed University Hall.

Alumni Profile

Steve Zelin,B.S.’84 Like Father, Like Son

Steve Zelin’s father, a C.P.A. who became a chief financial officer and then a chief executive officer, told him, “You start in accounting and get good training, and from there, you will have many career options. ”Zelin took his father’s advice and carried his accounting education into the world of investment banking.

As a freshman, Zelin walked into his first accounting class and found “Hal Cannon, the most influential accounting professor

of his time,” at the podium. “Consistent with his reputation, his approach and style made his class a great learning experience.

He was a down-to-earth, gritty professor who made accounting interesting. I will never forget him.”

Zelin started his career as an auditor at a Big Eight accounting firm.(Since then, mergers have whittled the Big Eight to the Big Four.) Ernst & Whinney (E&W),Ernst & Young’s predecessor, was just the beginning for him, but “continuing as an auditor was not my long-term career goal. ”So in September 1987,he began attending business school at night at New York University.

The following month, Black Friday hit. Zelin transferred from E&W’s Audit Department to its Restructuring & Reorganization Advisory Group, established by partner Art Newman a few years earlier. The group worked with companies and creditors in distressed situations on strategies to recapitalize firms in Chapter 11transactions.The business grew as leveraged buyout transactions began to experience significant stress, in part due to the contraction of the capital markets beginning in October 1987.

As the need for restructuring skills intensified, investment banks recognized the service opportunity and began expanding into the business. In January 1998,Zelin left Ernst & Young as a partner and joined The Blackstone Group, a global investment and advisory firm, where a few years earlier Newman had moved to start are structuring advisory business. Today, Zelin is senior managing director in Blackstone’s Restructuring & Reorganization Advisory Group.

Though Zelin no longer works directly in the discipline, he notes:

“Accounting is still a good profession. My UAlbany education provided me a job opportunity in what was then the Big Eight. The school is recognized and has a reputation for delivering quality accounting students.

Raised in Brooklyn, Zelin lives in Larchmont, N.Y., with his wife,

Joy, and children, Jordan, 14, and Danielle,11. A member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of the School of Business and the Executive Board of New York University, he frequently lectures on restructuring issues.