Inspiring the Next: Steve Zelin ’84 Shares Path from UAlbany to Global Finance at Annual Massry Lecture
ALBANY, N.Y. (April 7, 2025) — At the 2025 Massry Lecture, speaker Steve Zelin ’84 reflected on the experiences that shaped his rise in global finance as the University launched "Inspire the Next," a $30 million fundraising campaign for the Massry School of Business. Zelin, now partner and global head of the Restructuring and Special Situations Group at PJT Partners, calls his UAlbany education one of the best investments he’s ever made.
Forty-one years ago, Zelin was earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University at Albany, a decision he called a “better return on investment” than he could have possibly imagined.
Zelin recalled the steps that led him from growing up in Brooklyn to coming Albany, moving on to NYU’s Stern School of Business to earn an MBA and then rising through the ranks of the accounting and banking industries over the course of his 40-year career at the 8th annual Massry Lecture on Friday, April 4.
“My journey was a pretty straightforward one. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, one of three. I have an older brother, and if you’ve ever seen the movie Twins, he was Arnold Schwarzenegger version — he was tall, he went to MIT, and my parents put all their chips on him,” Zelin humorously recalled.
Zelin’s decision to come to Albany was in part to step out of his brother’s shadow, but also because the accounting program “still is and always was a top program … In hindsight, it turned out to be one of the greatest decisions.”
Zelin spoke with UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez about making new friends and challenging himself academically. Zelin was also able to witness some history during his Albany years, watching a relatively unknown band by the name of U2 perform on campus in 1983. But it wasn’t just seeing a now legendary band, but the friendships that were formed during his time on campus that continue to this day.
“This school gave me not only the ability to mature as an adult, but also to come back and stay close to the very people that I bonded with over U2,” said Zelin.
After UAlbany, Zelin earned his MBA from Stern in 1988 before starting his corporate career. He was a partner at EY (formerly Ernst & Young) in the firm’s restructuring group, before working at Blackstone for 17 years. Zelin has gone on to advise in all aspects of domestic and international formal and informal restructuring transactions across multiple industries.
He’s also a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, an honorary association of bankruptcy judges, lawyers and restructuring specialists whose members are admitted based upon achievements in the profession. Zelin also serves as a frequent lecturer on restructuring related topics at NYU and serves on its Board of Overseers. He also serves on the boards of Her Justice as well as for the Massry School of Business.
During the lecture, President Rodríguez joined with Massry School of Business Dean Paquita Davis-Friday in launching the has launched the "Inspire the Next" campaign, a $30 million fundraising initiative to strengthen student scholarships, invest in faculty excellence and fuel the next generation of business leaders. Gifts to the campaign already total more than $21 million.
The campaign was launched one year after UAlbany announced the naming of the Massry School of Business in recognition of the Massry family’s decades of philanthropic support.