“I love opera. Now, I’m not a connoisseur; I don’t know much about it, but when I used to have the time and ability, I had a single-season ticket, and I would enjoy going to the opera by myself and take in the performances.
“I grew up in East Greenbush, NY, which is a relatively small town east of Albany. I went to local public schools there until my sophomore year of high school, at which point I went to Milton Academy, a boarding school outside of Boston. From there, I went on to Amherst College, graduated there with a bachelor’s degree in economics and American literature. Then, I started working on Wall Street. I was the first hired at a hedge fund. My main job was assistant coffee-getter when I started out. Over the course of 17 years at the fund, I ultimately became a Senior Portfolio Manager, member of the Investment Committee, and a partner in the fund itself. I left that business in 2013. I’ve been doing more entrepreneurial stuff, working in several different areas.
“I think my greatest career accomplishment was in recognizing the seeds for the financial crisis and being able to take advantage of what I saw coming and assisting my colleagues in avoiding catastrophic losses that inflicted others in their position.
“My favorite food is eggplant parmesan, or something in that neighborhood. I love fly fishing. It’s one of my primary hobbies. When I have free time, I tend to tie flies. I’ve got a little kit down here [under his desk] in case I happen to be monitoring a test or something so I can take a little time to work on it. I used to golf a lot, although I haven’t done that in a while. Finally, I like to be outdoors: hiking, biking, camping, all the things we get to do around here.
“After spending time with students here last year in the investing club, and after observing from a distance my son’s very positive experience here, I decided that it was time for a career change. I wanted to be a part of this community—I loved what I saw here.
“Honestly, I am most excited to have a new challenge, to be trying to do something completely new and different for me. Nothing I’ve done up until this point had prepared me for this in any way. I’ve had a very long career, and by the end of that career I was very good at what I did, and I’m still always learning. For me, it’s the challenge of being new and bad at something, and it’s been a while since I’ve been new and bad at something. And I’m embracing that.”
As told to Hung Nguyen ’25. Photo Mr. Michael Aldridge.
