News, Notes, and Nods: Graduates

August 4, 2026

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Summer 2026

News, Notes, and Nods: Graduates

1985

Enrique R. Turegano ’83, MBA’85 is opening an art gallery in Barcelona featuring prominent Latin American artists such as Fernando Botero, Enrique Grau, Luis Alberto Acuña, Gonzalo Ariza, and Pierre Daguet, among others. “I am looking into the Generalitat de Catalunya to get an Art Gallery License so they can be viewed by those following Latin American art,” Turegano wrote. “I have quite a few unique pieces, all originals!”

1987

Walter Dillingham MBA’87 wrote an article published in the March edition of The Chronicle of Philanthropy detailing how philanthropies can best plan for an unexpected windfall. The article comes amid a flurry of donations from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, who gave $26.3 million in unrestricted grants to 2,700 nonprofits as of the end of 2025. “No leader wants to be caught off guard and forced to scramble to ensure a large gift is spent wisely,” Dillingham wrote.

1989

Scott Gordon MBA’89: See Undergraduate, 2016

1992

Feyzi Çelik MBA’92, president and CEO of Boston-based technology company OnePIN Inc., has written a techno-thriller series based on his work and many travels. Çelik first released Guardian: Mission Northern Atlantic, followed by Guardian: Mission Genesis and Guardian: Mission Earth. The Guardian Missions series follows a technologist drawn into a hidden global conflict shaped by rapidly evolving technologies; artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, genetic engineering, and humanity’s expansion beyond Earth. Çelik wrote the series “as if it were a film,” unlike most novels, because his “broader mission is to bring the Guardian Missions series to life on screen.”

1993

Chris Cardinal MBA’93 was hired in May as partner at the Paris-based operational consulting firm EFESO Management Consultants. Cardinal has 37 years of experience in chemical and material consulting. EFESO focuses on strategic and operational excellence across the manufacturing, energy, and life science industries.

1994

Caren Deardorf MBA’94 was appointed chief business and strategy officer at Neutrolis Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Deardorf will lead corporate and pipeline strategy, business development, and early commercial strategy as the company advances its clinical pipeline.

Neal Faulkner MBA’94 was elected secretary of the National DCP’s board of directors in April. The National DCP is the $3 billion supply chain management company serving Dunkin’ franchisees. The board members are elected by their peers. Faulkner, a founding board member of the National DCP, has been a Dunkin’ franchisee since 2000 and operates 28 stores throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Richard Howell MBA’94 recently earned the designation of Five Star Wealth Manager in Boston Magazine’s March 2026 issue, the fourth year he has been named. Howell, formerly vice president of Staples’ e-commerce, analytics, and site operations, joined The Bulfinch Group in 2016.

1996

Carmen Alonso MBA’96 has been appointed global CEO of Santander Asset Management, the asset management division of Banco Santander, effective in July. She previously served as head of clients for Europe and the Middle East at Patria Investments. Banco Santander is one of the world’s largest financial institutions and a leading retail and commercial bank in Europe, with operations across Europe and the Americas and a broad range of services including asset management, investment banking, and wealth management.

2001

Neil Geary MBA’01, a partner at SeatonHill who advises mid-sized and private equity-backed companies on financial strategy and growth, wrote an article that was published in the March 2026 edition of GGI INSIDER. The article details the ways mid-sized companies can navigate today’s challenging financial environment by building profitability into their business models from the outset, while maintaining disciplined operations and financial transparency. The article appeared in GGI INSIDER, a digital publication sharing news and insights from GGI Global Alliance’s international network of accounting, legal, and advisory firms.

Yama Habibzai MBA’01 was named chief marketing officer at Aptean, a software company that helps manufacturers and distributors grow their business, in June. Habibzai joins Aptean as the company deepens its vertical AI capabilities across its industry-specific portfolio and scales its global presence in manufacturing and distribution markets.

2004

Justin Johnson MBA’04 has been named CEO of Arevon Energy, formalizing a role he had held on an interim basis. Johnson previously served as the company’s COO and has more than two decades of experience in energy infrastructure, including work at Horizon Wind Energy, where he helped scale the organization into a major global operator. Earlier in his career, he spent seven years as a U.S. Air Force officer in flight test engineering. Arevon owns and operates more than 6 gigawatts of utility-scale solar and energy storage projects across 18 states. “Electricity demand is increasing nationwide, and reliable infrastructure has never been more important,” Johnson said.

2005

Jeni Wheeler MBA’05, co-founder of the Family Table Collaborative (FTC), recently received a donation of $90,000 worth of food from Dole & Bailey, a Woburn, Massachusetts-based premium meat and seafood company. The donation, which included 11 pallets of food, helped the nonprofit organization continue to provide meals across Cape Cod. The donation came after FTC was part of Barnstable County’s emergency response during the blizzard of 2026. FTC prepared and distributed 15,000 meals across Cape Cod between Sunday and Friday during the storm response in February.

2011

Jen Wirt MBA’11 recently closed a $13 million Series A round for Coral Care, a tech-enabled marketplace connecting families with pediatric therapy providers and supporting independent clinicians across multiple states. Wirt founded the business after experiencing frustrations during her daughter’s early developmental journey.

2016

Anthony Valentino MBA’16 recently started working on the CoreAI Microsoft Foundry team at Microsoft. Valentino, who founded the electric vehicle business VOLT+STEEL in 2023, is focused on building and scaling foundational AI platforms at Microsoft. Meanwhile, VOLT+STEEL, which builds high-end, bespoke classic electric vehicles, won two prizes at the 2026 Grand National Roadster Show. A 1958 Electric Corvette by the company won best engineering and took first place in its class.

2017

John Kluge Jr. MBA’17 recently co-wrote a book with his wife, Christine Mahoney, about investing in refugee entrepreneurs. Banking on Belonging: Why Investing in Refugee Entrepreneurs Benefits Everyone was set to be published in July by Columbia University Press. The duo spoke with refugees on every continent over the past decade, and the book tells dozens of stories of transformative and scalable solutions built by refugees.

2020

Sarah Lerner-Mantel ’18, MBA’20, as the managing partner of Roll Tack Ventures, received a $10 million boost via Indiana’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund for the venture capital investment firm. The $10 million grant, which is meant to expand growing technology companies throughout Indiana, was announced by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun in April. “By supporting Indiana-based funds like Roll Tack, we are strengthening our innovation ecosystem and connecting new knowledge, expertise and technology with Hoosier businesses,” Braun said. Lerner-Mantel has been with Roll Tack Ventures since it was founded in 2024.

Jay McHarg MBA’20, CEO of AeroSafe Global, was named as the 2026 recipient of the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award by Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology in June. The award, established in 1984, is presented annually to a Rochester, New York-area entrepreneur who has enhanced the regional economy through innovative business leadership. McHarg, who has more than 30 years of leadership experience in operations and innovation, leads the Rochester-based AeroSafe Global, which ensures the safe delivery of temperature-sensitive therapies to patients and providers worldwide.

2024

Sasha Gambhir MSEL’24 and Rahul Sandeep Vasani MSEL’24 got engaged April 1 in Tokyo, Japan. The couple met while pursuing their graduate degrees at Babson. Vasani flew to Japan in April to surprise Gambhir on her trip with the proposal.

MORE NEWS, NOTES, AND NODS FROM THE SUMMER 2026 ISSUE:
Undergraduates » In Memoriam »