Alumni Success

2023-2024:

• Reilly Berk: Forbes 30 Local Leaders List
• Cameron Tolbert: Forbes 30 Local Leaders List

2021-2022-2023 Alumni Success Stories

• Gina Zak: From Undergraduate to MBA to CEO
• DBA Alumni and Faculty: Spring 2023
• James Kandrac: Rotary Leadership Award
• Nahla Youssef: Women in Cybersecurity
• Prerna Narayanan: Women in Cybersecurity
• Angela Salviejo & Alexis Lee: Women in IT and Mentorship
• Andrew Bailey: CSU Athletics Hall of Fame
• Brian Lewis and Delante Spencer Thomas: Crain's 40 Under 40 2021
• Michael K. Hudson, Brian Lewis and Gusty Molnar: Social Mortgage Co-founders
• Alysha Ellis: Co-founder of Freshly Rooted and MBA Graduate December 2019, named to Board of Entrepreneurship Education Consortium
• Mike Maczuzak: CEO of SmartShape, Homecoming 2018 Panelist, named to Board of Entrepreneurship Education Consortium
• Jessica Yox: Featured on News Channel 5 and commended for teaching during the pandemic

2018-2019-2020 Alumni Success Stories

Service to the University:

• John Dedinsky: Scholarship in partnership with Dr. Oya Tukel
• Todd Canter: Gift to support research and the Paul J. Everson Real Estate Center
• Drew Anderson: Forbes 30 Under 30, CEO and Co-Founder of Cleveland Kraut, Homecoming 2018 Panelist
• Radhika Reddy: Co-founder, Ariel Ventures LLC, former CSU Board of Trustees, CSU Fascinating Alumni (2018), Homecoming 2018 Panelist

Career Success:

• Tyler Musser, MBA Alum speaks with Association for Information Systems students
• Dennis Shulman: In His Own Words - The IS Co-op Program
• Samantha Mansour: In Her Own Words - The IS Co-op Program
• Todd Polikoff, Executive MBA Alum and CEO, Jewish Community Board of Akron
• Craig Chaikin, Promoted to Executive Vice President at Texas Bank and Trust Co.
• Bianca Butts: Manager of Climate Resiliency and Sustainability at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
• Dorcia Bolton: Recent Doctoral student, now Assistant Professor at Auburn University

Fall 2018 Distinguished Alumni: 

• Randy Kelly
• John Hubbard

2017-2018 Alumni Success Stories

Giving Back:

• Terry Fergus: Establishes Fergus Family Endowed Chair in Accounting
• Jeff Pecon: Establishes Scholarship Fund
• Gerald (Jerry) Jarzabek: Quoted by CNBC for financial advice, giving of time and talents to CSU
• Anthony Gasparro: 2015 Startup Vikes Winner and 2017-2018 Mentor

Fall 2017 Distinguished Alumni: Janet Kramer

Accounting Alumna of the Year: Kelli Bernstein, CPA

Career News:

• Matthew Lisak, Spring/May 2015 Graduate: Promoted several times at Parker Hannifin
• Sharon Dumas: Named Interim Chief of Staff, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's Office
• Michael J. Berthelot: EMBA Distinguished Speaker
• Michele Heath: DBA Alumna now Visiting Professor at Cleveland State University, Dissertation Research Award
• Vivien Jancenelle: DBA Alumnus now Assistant Professor at Texas A&M
• Alina Marculetiu: DBA Alumna now Visiting Professor at John Carroll

Young Alumni:

• Matthew Kretschmer: Takes over family business, credits classroom learning, CSU SBDC and other resources at CSU.
• Claude Zoghzogi: Wall Street Intern with passion for startups speaks at StartupScaleup 2017 and SMIF class.

2016-2017 Alumni Success Stories

Giving Back:

• Anthony Bakale, Endowed Scholarship for Accounting Students

Fall 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient: Dave Fornari

Career Success:

• Dean Benedetto, Dean's Diversity Council 2016-2017
• Lou Tisler, Joins National Community Reinvestment Coalition
• Paul Weisinger, Named to Board of Cleveland Arts Prize
• Richard Klingshirn, Crain's Cleveland Business CFO of the Year
• Edward Crouse and Dalithia Smith, Two MBA Alumni Promoted at Lincoln Electric
• Nancy Tinsely, Health Care MBA Alumnus Named President of Rochester General Hospital
• Kirk Jones, MBA Alumnus Promoted to Chief Finanical Officer of Benchmark Hospitality International
• James Firestone, BBA Finance Alumnus Promoted to Strategic Accounts Vice President and Branch Manager of the Los Angeles office of Robert Half

2015-2016 Alumni Success Stories

Giving Back:

• Walthall CPAs Alumni
• Ronald V. Johnson
• Walter F. Senney
• Steve Kimmelman
• GE Scholars Program: Maryrose Sylvester, Russell Stokes and Lloyd Trotter

Public Honors:

• Fascinating Alumni from the Cleveland State University Alumni Association
• 2016 Crain's Cleveland Business Women of Note Honorees Elizabeth Evans, Robyn N. Gordon, Lisa Rose and Nancy Tinsley
• 2016 YWCA Women of Achievement Maryrose Sylvester and Nancy Tinsley
• Kailey Klein, BBA Finance and CSU Basketball Jersey Number Retired
• Rachel Talton, Speaker at the 2016 Women's Leadership Symposium
• Joseph Levanduski, Accounting Alumnus of the Year

Fall 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients:

• Daria Roebuck for the College of Business
• Bruno Biasiotta for Athletics (BBA 1985)

Young Alumni:

• Rebecca Norton, December 2015 Graduate, Ernst and Young, Pursuing CPA
• Elias Chbeir, December 2015 Graduate, College Valedictorian, IS Co-op
• Jeremiah O'Callahan, December 2015 Graduate

Career Success:

• Douglas J. Smorag, Recipient of the University Hospitals Distinguished Advisor Award
• Nancy Wiegan Lyons, Named Director of Finance and Administration
• Ava Carter, MBA Alumna, Deploys to Kuwait with American Red Cross
• Cynthia Moore-Hardy, MBA, president and CEO Of Lake Health
• Cortney C. Kilbury Crockett, EMBA Alumna and Crain's 40 Under 40 Class of 2015
• Jeremy Shorr, EMBA Alumna and Crain's 40 Under 40 Class of 2015
• Marty Guastella, HR Awards Winner 2015 and two-time Cleveland State alumnus
• Lisa Rose named President of Dix & Eaton
• Ashley Durand Tople
• Paul Weisinger
• Ann Caresani, Robert Hanna and Glenn Morrical, Alumni named "Best Lawyers in America 2016"

2014-2015 Alumni Success Stories

Giving Back:

• Lee and Larry Glasscock
• Raymond Turk and the Turk Family

Career Success:

• Neal F. Burk - Elijah Watts Sellers
• Aaron Reitz
• Glenn Morrical
• Anthony Hairston, Youngest Cuyahoga Council Member
• Five (5) Alumni Featured in Top 25 under 35 Movers and Shakers
  • Olga Nagadaseva

Fall 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients:

• Andrew Jackson
• Anthony S. Bakale

Business Hall of Fame:

• Saji Daniel
• Larry Enterline
• Mitchell Saltz
• Thomas Swidarski
• Ronald Unkefer

Profiles - pre 2014:

• Joseph Pease
• Walter Smiechewicz
• Steven R. Springfield
• Kenneth Wilkes