Two alumni featured in RBS Distinguished Speaker Series

Two Rutgers Business School alumni returned to campus to talk about their careers and life experiences as part of the fall semester Distinguished Speaker Series.

In a question-and-answer-styled talk, Tom Beversluis, a partner at EY in the firm’s National Professional Practice Group, spoke with Mason Ameri, a management professor and executive director of Student Experience and Learning Assurance, about the changing role of technology in business and the future of business education.

Beversluis, an alumnus of the Rutgers Business School-New Brunswick undergraduate program, also shared details of his professional journey from student to partner at a Big 4 accounting firm.

The RBS Distinguished Speaker Series features influential industry leaders who share insights, expertise and advice with our students and help shape their academic experience. Many of the invited speakers are Rutgers Business School alumni.

At Rutgers Business School-Newark, best-selling author and Rutgers MBA alumna Naseem Rochette spoke with Lisa Kaplowitz, finance professor and executive director of the Center for Women in Business.

Rochette wrote “The Unexpected Benefits of Being Run Over” and was most recently a strategic deals coach at Google. In her talk, she described being struck by a car – multiple times – and shared powerful messages about psychological wellbeing, inner-strength, and compassion.

In both sessions, students had the opportunity to ask their own questions and attend a post-talk networking reception. In addition to the discussions, the speakers also stopped by classes to speak with students in visits hosted by professors Mukesh Patel, Pallavi Shukla, and Luke Greeley.

“We appreciate the time of our alumni to speak and share their personal journeys with our students,” Ameri said. 

Ameri also acknowledged the role Assistant Dean Hannah Salto and Program Coordinator Matt Peyrek from the Office of SEAL had in the event. “They really did an incredible job making this event happen,” he said. “Thanks to them, it was a great success.”

The Distinguished Speaker Series engages hundreds of RBS students every year and provides the opportunity to hear from influential leaders shaping their industry and the future of business. The series is designed to inspire undergraduate students and help them make better major, internship, career, and life decisions.