Alumni Success Stories
Leading Across the Business Sectors
Gabelli School Full-time MBA graduates enjoy highly successful careers around the world. They excel across a wide range of business functions and sectors from fashion and finance to nonprofit management and accounting. Each brings unique insights and talents to their work, as well as the ability to lead ethically and make a difference.
Jason Gurtata (GABELLI '22)
Vice President, Global Finance, BNY
While Jason Gurtata was on a path towards attending medical school, a family crisis necessitated he step in and lead his family’s retail business—an experience that ultimately inspired him to pursue a career as a business leader. During his initiation into the business world, he developed foundational business skills but was aware that he needed to expand his knowledge to fulfill his career goals and objectives. He enrolled in the Gabelli School Full-time MBA program and took every opportunity to learn as much as he could while also making an impact as a student. He served as president of the Graduate Student Advisory Council and took on numerous other roles that enhanced his leadership skills. “The Gabelli School helped me to develop the business acumen needed to succeed while building my platform and finding my voice as a leader,” he noted. His desire to have an impact in business has shaped his outlook for the future and has influenced his work at BNY. “I think it’s important to leave the world in a better place than we found it,” he asserted, “as well as for all individuals to have a fair opportunity to be successful.”
Sylvester McClearn (GABELLI '86, '88)
Director, New York State Common Retirement Fund
Sylvester McClearn is the director of the $11 billion Emerging Manager Program for the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF), one of the largest public pension plans in the United States. In this role, he executes the Program’s strategic initiatives across the fund’s public and private asset classes and develops the next generation of investment managers. “I’ve always been in the financial service industry, primarily in roles in sell-side sales, trading, management, capital markets, and currently as an asset allocator,” McClearn said. He spent most of his career at Citigroup in the United States and Europe, where he helped build the organization’s execution platform for equity capital markets. “The Gabelli School thoroughly prepared me for these roles,” McClearn noted, adding that its rigorous curriculum, Jesuit traditions, and location in New York City gave him a competitive advantage.
His lifelong connection to Fordham began when he earned a BS in Business and Information Science, which was followed by him completing an MBA at Fordham as well. A scholar-athlete, he was captain, and later, assistant coach of Fordham’s football team. He met his wife, Kathleen McClearn, (FCLC ’87), at Fordham, and their two children were christened by the late Joseph O’Hare, S.J., who at the time was president of the University. A member of Fordham’s Board of Trustees for 16 years, McClearn is now a Trustee Fellow. He has led business students on tours of the Financial District and the New York Stock Exchange, and recently joined the faculty as an adjunct professor teaching The Ground Floor course. “I’ve come full circle,” McClearn said. “I’m instilling in students the importance of being prepared while also being strategic about how they plan their careers. We, at The Ground Floor, are preparing students early on in their college years so when an opportunity arises, they can go for it with confidence.”
Catherine Borja (GABELLI '20)
Associate Director, Market Risk
RBC Capital Markets
Catherine Borja joined RBC Capital Markets, part of the Royal Bank of Canada, as a senior associate in market risk shortly after earning her MBA. In her promoted role as associate director, she oversees local market risk desk coverage for global markets spread and macro businesses in New York, and provides regulatory risk oversight of the combined U.S. operations of RBC. Borja earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2018. Borja’s past professional roles included serving as an equity research associate with the TCW Group, a portfolio risk data analyst with MSCI, and a fund accountant at JPMorgan Asset Management. She has experience with the sell and buy sides and is motivated by a passion to build data-driven solutions in global financial markets. “I believe that through the Gabelli School MBA experience, the constant guidance from the Career Development Center, the large network of alumni, and the New York campus energy helped me to achieve my goals and get to where I am now.”