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Personal Biographies

Paul Toronidis

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
YOUNG & RUBICAM, INC. (A WPP CO.) NY, NY 1990 to Present
Manager of Financial Systems 1996 to Present
Led project to migrate history from mainframe to a server environment and in the process realized annual savings of about $300K
Played a key role in decentralizing the Hyperion management system functionality
by business and location that eliminated multiple user conflicts.
Responsible for migrating and implementing mainframe accounting systems
to PC based GEAC Smart Stream and Donovan A/P environments.
Ensure the accurate interfacing of all company and client data, define user needs
and create conversion programs & reports for daily use.
Provide training and procedures to in-house staff on all systems to ensure smooth daily operations.
Initiated process to establish Business Continuity Plan for Financial Applications.
Work closely with team members, Controller, Director of IT, CFO and others to define needs, resolve problems and institute new resolutions and/or systems.

Assistant Manager of Accounting & Financial Applications 1990 to 1995
Responsible for all day-to-day and long-term financial operations including:
general ledger; accounts payable; financial statements; system interfaces; monthly
reporting; reconciliation review; variance analysis; resolving user problems.
Hired, trained, supervised and evaluated staff of 8 supervisors & accountants.
Transitioned functions from a manual system to utilizing PC based applications,
which resulted in significant decreases in overtime and 50% reduction in staff.

DELOITTE HASKINS & SELLS, NY, NY 1987 to 1989
Financial Applications Supervisor
Participated in the implementation of the MSA general ledger system, requiring the development of new procedures and controls for general accounting functions.
Automated accounting functions, which reduced the need for temporary help.
Trained staff on new accounting system and resolved any associated user problems.

THE CIT GROUP/FACTORING NY, NY 1981 to 1987
Accounting Officer 1986 to 1987
Worked closely with staff and senior management in preparing operational budgets, financial statements, general ledger and client revenue projections.
Successfully reduced overtime costs by automating various accounting functions.
Manager of General Ledger 1981 to 1985
Assisted in implementing a general ledger and factoring/client system as well as preparing various revenue and expense reports for management.

EDUCATION:
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY NY, NY 2003
Master in Management Information Systems
Major: Advanced Information Technologies

PACE UNIVERSITY, NY, NY 1988
Master of Business Administration [MBA]
Major: Financial Management

BARUCH COLLEGE (CUNY), NY, NY 1981
Bachelor of Business Administration [BBA]
Major: Public Accounting

SYSTEMS & COMPUTER SKILLS:
Management systems - HYPERION ENTERPRISE
Accounting systems - GEAC [D&B/MSA], DONOVAN
PC applications - MS Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Visio Professional, Lotus Notes and conversant in the Web.

I was raised in a small village in Northern Greece [pop. approx 250] and came to the US when I was 16. Finished high school here [2 years] and here I am almost 30 years later, trying to figure out what Knowledge Management is and I hope to be a smarter person at the end of this program. See attached document for detailed Info on my professional life.

Bruce Semer

I graduated from this program with an MS in Management and Systems in January of 2001. Since I went through the program I understand many of the problems you may encounter.

I also have a certificate in Information Technology from NYU as well.

I have BA degree from the New School for Social Research.

I currently work for a small financial aid consulting firm.

I have worked for various companies in NYC.

I was a school teacher for the Board of Education in NYC, but now my only teaching is done here.

Andrea Lattanzi

I'm currently living in New York, but am originally from Rome, Italy. I am based for work in Manhattan NY. I'm currently a Project Manager for a government agency that relates to US-Italian import-export firms for the last year and a half. I relate more to the budget and project development aspect of the job than to the accounts database creation. This is my last class in the MS program and hopefully will graduate in May 03! Hope to have a great learning experience since everyone is spread out in different locations and that's the fun part!

Michael Anderson

I work primarily as a Lotus Notes Engineer for a consulting company called Charles River Computers, and I currently work at their client site at the Bank of New York where I am one of the senior Lotus Notes engineers and email architects for over 20,000 users.

I've worked in the IT field for about seven years, and as a contractor and I've worked at such companies as LaRoche Pharmaceuticals, Verizon, and IBM Global Services. In the IT field, I've worked primary in a technical capacity, but I have also done some project management.

I've worked as a technical lead at IBM Global Services where I provided support for over 700 IBM International Business Partners, and I coordinated the deployment of their LAN-based PartnerInfo applications and ran the staging environment for the ParnerInfo applications.

I've also been a Y2K project manager at Verizon (when they were still called Bell Atlantic) where I created a Y2K contingency plan and documented all network hardware and software for the Telecom Industry Services division in NY, and documented all Verizon Y2K contingency plans for all major cities on the East Coast.

Before my contract at Verizon, I was a contractor at a consulting company called Entex, and I worked at their client, LaRoche Pharmaceuticals in Nutley NJ as a network administrator.

I'm also a Medical Services Officer in the Army Reserves. I'm currently in a Military Police unit where my job is to provide soldiers with necessary first-aid training, and to help provide them with medical services. If deployed, part of my job would be to help build and maintain EPW (Enemy Prisoner of War) sites.

My two big interests in life are the technical and medical fields. I have several certifications in Microsoft and Lotus Notes technologies and I have a BS in Psychology and an MA degree in Community Health, both from Brooklyn College.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, and I recently moved to Pennsylvania, and of course I'm now taking the Management and Systems MS program at NYU.

Roberta Hergert

Professional Experience

Elite Information Systems, Inc. January, 2001 -- Present
Los Angeles, CA

APPLICATIONS CONSULTANT: Trained clients on Elite software - time and billing software with accounts payable and general ledger applications designed for professional service firms (mostly within the legal industry). Software also included a web-based time entry and research application. In addition to training, worked with clients to facilitate setups and customization of the software, especially including the balancing of their month-end accounting data.

ZymoGenetics, Inc. March, 1998 - January, 2001
Seattle, WA

ACCOUNTANT: Prepared the month-end close, including financial statement preparation and analysis, and adjustments for US GAAP versus Danish GAAP. Worked with the Danish corporate office on transmission of monthly financial information and reconciliation of intercompany accounts. Reconciled balance sheet accounts (using Excel spreadsheets), including bank statement reconciliation. Maintained fixed asset database and prepared the personal property tax affidavit. Performed other analyses and generated reports as needed.

RD Merrill Company April, 1997 - March, 1998
Seattle, WA

ACCOUNTING MANAGER: Prepared financial statements, as well as all general ledger entries and supporting documents, for several companies on both an individual and consolidated basis, including intercompany eliminations. Reconciled marketable securities, intercompany and external loans and interest, and job cost. Maintained daily accounting of accounts payable, bank deposits, wire transfers, and current cash flow. Assisted with other accounting issues such as federal tax returns and implementation of new financial accounting standards. Set up an organizational system for tracking and referencing journal entries and monthly accounting records.

Education

New York University September, 2000 -- Present
New York, New York

Master of Science in Management & Systems; 3.0 overall gpa.

University of Washington September, 1994 - August, 1996
Seattle, WA

Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration, Accounting concentration;
3.0 overall gpa with a 3.1 accounting gpa.

North Seattle Community College April, 1990 - June, 1994
Seattle, WA

Graduated with an Associates of Arts degree; 3.8 gpa. Member Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and listed on President's and Vice-President's Honor Rolls.

Although my name is listed as Roberta, please call me Robin. This is going to be a busy semester for me as I put off a few too many classes before graduation!
I am currently employed at Elite Information Systems in LA, although I live in Seattle, and my job is 95% travel within North America. You never know where you'll find me next! I go to our clients' sites and help them set up the software we sell, then train them how to use it (time and billing with additional accounting components, mostly for law firms but we're branching out). Prior to this position, my background consists of 20 years of accounting work in a variety of industries.
I am highly envious of Professor Sdano for living in Paris as it is my favorite city in the world and I promise I'll live there one day! I just got back from two weeks in one of my other favorite cities, San Francisco. It is all business, though, and not much time for fun.

Those of you who actually live in NYC (and other large places) should be amused that I grew up in a small town of 500 people, and my graduating class from high school was all of 22 students.

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