Bentley University Alumni

Wishing all of our Falcons a safe and happy July 4th! 🇺🇸

Bentley University alumni gathered lakeside in Geneva, Switzerland, with a beautiful sunset to end the evening! 🌅

FOLD (Falcons of the Last Decade) alumni in Boston and New York kicked off the summer by welcoming the Class of 2024 as the newest members of this special group.

Loved seeing West Coast Falcons! 💙

Comment your class year and your go-to songs from your Bentley years to help build your class reunion playlist! If your class year ends in 4 or 9, mark your calendar for Reunion, September 27 to 29.

Melissa Hector ’11 received the 2024 Harry C. Bentley Alumni Achievement Award. The Director of Equitable and Strategic Initiatives at the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) says, “My goal is to lead and live a life of service. Connecting communities to a nexus of resources can create transformation.” Thanks for all you do!

Meet the Global Alumni Board 2024 Award Honorees Meet the Global Alumni Board 2024 Award Honorees

“My dad Richard Baltz graduated from Bentley in 1932 — a tumultuous time, but his Bentley degree helped him find work. He would turn to that credential over and over in his life,” says Mary Baltz Curran, reflecting on her dad’s legacy. “Dad’s time at Bentley also helped him find his true passion — understanding and investing in company stocks. As someone with so many interests and talents, I know he would have loved being a student at Bentley today. This Father’s Day, I am so proud to give back to the place that helped make my father who he was.”

Eval ’99 and LaTisha (Stewart) ’99 Silvera launched their brewery Brockton Beer Company three years ago with a diverse group of friends, and on any given day, their brewpub might be playing R&B, ’80s pop or Cape Verdean music. “Our founding team is Jamaican, Irish, Trinidadian, Mexican, Filipino,” says LaTisha. “We want anyone when they enter our taproom to breathe, relax and feel included, regardless of their professional and cultural backgrounds.”

The craft brewing industry embraced them from the beginning, they said; those who were established in the field were excited to help get a more diverse operation off the ground in an industry that is overwhelmingly white. Among those offering assistance was Trillium Brewing Company owner Esther (Rothstein) Tetreault ’99, MBA ’03, who shared startup stories and lessons learned and helped them procure brewing equipment.

Furthering the sense of community, the brewery has spearheaded the Culture on Tap festival, bringing visiting breweries from all over Massachusetts together with diverse assortments of local restaurants and musicians. “For those from outside who might not know Brockton, we want to show you what it’s all about,” Eval says. “And that we’re proud of it.”

Promoting mental health and well-being isn’t just the right thing to do. It helps your company’s bottom line. So as a manager or executive, how can you help make your team happier (and more productive, too)? For Bentley Magazine, Susan Vroman, senior lecturer in Management, offers five tips.

1. Get to know your employees as humans.
In nearly every job, we interact and work with other people, so why don’t we remember we’re all, well, human? We all have some need for belonging. When managers make an effort to learn about their employees — what excites or interests them and even what they don’t like — it shows they are valued. When employees feel respected and validated, they do better work. It’s that simple.

2. Promote friendships.
What keeps people in their jobs? Research shows that workplace friendships not only encourage trust among employees, they enhance creativity. However you do it — staff meetings, training seminars, holiday parties — bringing people together strengthens relationships among workers. That makes them happier, more creative and more productive.

3. Empower your staff.
To do your best work, you can’t be afraid to fail. Anyone who knows the story of Thomas Edison understands the value of trying unsuccessfully (many times) before you succeed. So why is it so hard for many managers to let their workers try? For workers to feel empowered, they must be given permission to take risks and — if they fail — to learn from their mistakes in a safe environment. Leaders should delegate both tasks and authority to their employees. And don’t forget to provide training opportunities so that when you delegate a project, they’re ready.

4. Give context for the work.
Being asked to complete a task, role or job is one thing. Understanding the impact it will have is quite another. Be transparent with your staff and explain why you are asking them to take on a project — how it matters in the “big picture.” Providing this full context for the work that employees do gives them both a reason to do it and a motivation to do it well.

5. In the office or remote? Choose which makes sense for your team.
It’s hard to know how and where people work best. While some companies mandate a return to the office, others say remote or hybrid work is here to stay. When possible, leaders should assess which parts of work must be done in an office — and why — before mandating changes based on what other organizations are doing. Look at each role and team on a case-by-case basis to determine if flex space and/or flex time is appropriate.

Five Things Five Things

Busy, motivated professional with at least 5 years work experience. Sound like you? Bentley’s Professional MBA is a two-year, flexible program designed for mid-career professionals. Hear from program director Dr. Iris Berdrow about tailored focus areas and the networking benefits of the cohort model in a fireside chat on June 11, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
https://applygrad.bentley.edu/register/?id=631704c5-485d-4386-a2c8-56c3df1b1475&appealcode=&srce=fb&utm_source=fb&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=24-marcom-promba-info-session-alum-register

Joanne Borzakian Ouellette ’85, P ’20 ’23 attended her first Boston Celtics game as a baby. She's been a lifelong fan ever since, and built a career marketing the NBA — first with Reebok and later at her own sports and entertainment marketing and events firm, JBO Marketing.

“I was blessed with the career of my dreams,” she says, “and I’m so thankful to have been able to touch so many lives doing that work.”

Runyuan (Mike) Wang ’23, MBA ’25, MSBA ’25 is the founder of Tier 1 Animation, which sells animated explainer videos to companies worldwide.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝?
➡️ Be persistent — keep going despite things are very difficult.
➡️ Be great at what you do for clients. If not, keep getting better.
➡️ Keep creating sales conversations with new prospects. Someone will soon buy even if you are very bad at selling.
➡️ Follow your intuition.

𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞?
There was always a little voice telling me, “If I don’t give up, what would my future be like then? If I give up now, the future I dream about will all be nothing.” Every time when I’m razor-thin from giving up, this little voice always pulls me back to the right track.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠?
I’ve been talking to PhDs, entrepreneurs and professionals in this industry. Also reading books and making new contacts in biotech. I’m a firm believer that all obstacles dissolve in the face of human will. Although breaking into such a different industry is certainly not easy, I’ll keeping knocking on new doors until my goals become a reality.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞?
Taking long walks in downtown Boston and Cambridge, looking over the skyscrapers, streets, world-class institutions, and company HQs — this gives me a lot of inspiration, and it’s my entertainment.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲?
There are so many! One of my favorites is being around many professors who truly support me and wish me success. The power underlying their good wish is absolutely potent.

𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐧𝐢.
The Bentley community has a lot of entrepreneurs. Whenever I’m near a true entrepreneur with measurable outcomes in this community, I am humbled every time and feel so inspired by them!

📣Upcoming alumni events 📣
May 28 Cape Cod Community Gathering
June 8 Boston Pride for the People Meet-Up
June 13 Gearing Up Conference
June 18 The Power of the Bentley Network in LA
June 20 The Power of the Bentley Network in San Francisco
June 26 Bentley Reception in Geneva
July 20 A Day at Saratoga Race Course

Some of Sean Rotermund's best Bentley memories are of building a powerhouse men's lacrosse program — its first year as a varsity program was his first year at Bentley. The prospect of the team getting closer to that dominance in recent years — making the NCAA tournament in the 2023 and 2024 seasons — is a big part of why Rotermund '96 gives back.

Cradling the Community Sean Rotermund ’96 scores big with a gift to the Bentley lacrosse team.

Congratulations to the Bentley University Class of 2024 and the Class of 1974! 🎓🎉

Kappa Pi Alpha Fraternity held its annual golf outing at Sterling National Country Club in Sterling, Mass., on August 4, 2023. They played in memory of their recently departed brother, Andy York ’73.

From left: Mike Swiech ’80, Chuck Doolittle ’80, MSFP ’13, Scott Williams ’79, Mike Duffy ’79, Dave Riesmeyer ’79, Bob Tobias ’78, MBA ’92, Bob Rice ’77, MST ’87, Rob Warwick ’80, Paul Parshley ’78, Tom Vassallo ’78, Steve Donnelly ’75, John Taylor ’77, Rich Fink ’77, Hank Bornstein ’77, Bill O’Neil ’77, Mike Zack ’77, MST ’85 and Joe Farragher ’79 (not pictured).