Kearns Global Business Lecture Series

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., March 12, 2013 — With four decades of experience in global markets, international businessman Dick Kearns understands that today’s students must develop technical business knowledge along with cultural awareness and a global mindset in order to succeed and lead in the world marketplace.

To help students prepare to work in a global business environment, Kearns and his wife, Maureen, are funding and leading the strategy for the Kearns Global Business Lecture Series at St. Bonaventure University. The annual event will bring industry leaders to campus and will highlight diverse perspectives on global business matters.

This year’s presentation will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 21, in the Reilly Center Arena. Kearns, a 1972 graduate of St. Bonaventure and senior advisor for Zurich Insurance Group, will moderate a panel discussion with other prominent alumni of St. Bonaventure’s School of Business: Eugene McQuade, ’71, CEO, Citibank; Samuel Molinaro Jr., ’80, Head of the Non-core and Legacy Portfolio, UBS Investment Bank; and Colette Dow, ’88, former COO, PrinceRidge Holdings LP.

“This series offers our students the unique and powerful opportunity to ask questions of top people in their field,” said Pierre Balthazard, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business. “Dick Kearns is a distinguished alumnus who spent 10 years of his career living and working in Europe. He and his panelists will provide vital insight into working across countries and cultures.” 

The panel discussion, titled “Continued Challenges in Global Finance: A Look into the Post-Inauguration Crystal Ball,” will be streamed live at www.sbu.edu/Business.

Kearns began his career at Price Waterhouse in 1972 and was admitted to the partnership in 1984. He was appointed leader of Global Partner Affairs following the merger that created PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998. In September 2002, Kearns joined Zurich’s senior management team in Switzerland and continues to act as a senior advisor as well as a director of its U.S. companies. He served as a University Trustee from 2000 to 2009.  

McQuade is a veteran banker who before leading Citibank held executive positions at Merrill Lynch, Bank of America Corporation and FleetBoston. McQuade served as a member of the university’s Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2007. In 2011, the McQuade family made a major gift to establish the McQuade Center for Accounting Excellence endowment within the School of Business.

Molinaro became Head of Non-Core and Legacy Portfolio at UBS Investment Bank in February after serving as COO since March of 2012. Prior to joining UBS, he was managing director of Braver Stern and the CEO of Braver, Stern & Co., Inc. He spent 22 years at Bear Stearns, where he was executive vice president, COO and CFO of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. and its subsidiary Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Molinaro served as a University trustee from 2001 to 2010.

Dow, founding partner and former COO of PrinceRidge Holdings LP, has held various global management positions. Following nine years as senior audit manager in the Financial Services Practice of KPMG, Dow joined UBS Investment Bank where she ultimately served as managing director and COO of the Global Fixed Income, Rates & Currencies Division. She later served as managing director and COO for Dillon Read Capital Management. A member of the university’s Board of Trustees since 2007, Dow is co-chair of the Finance Committee, a member of the School of Business Steering Committee and co-chair of her Reunion Class for the 2013 Reunion Class Challenge.

“Local business leaders will find the program relevant and are encouraged to join us for the event,” said Balthazard.

Questions for the panel discussion may be submitted in advance or during the program via Twitter at @SBUBullishOnBiz by using the hashtag #Kearns.

The lecture and the reception that follows are free and open to the public.