Letter from the Director
Hello Nicholas Center community and friends,
As the fall semester comes to a close, I am filled with a sense of optimism and excitement for the opportunities that lie ahead for our community at the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance & Investment Banking. We remain focused on building deeper industry connections, advancing student preparedness, and equipping the next generation of leaders with the tools and skills they need to thrive in an increasingly complex business landscape.
Whether you are a current student, an alumnus, a board member, or a valued employer partner, we hope this newsletter serves as a source of connection, insight, and inspiration. Inside, you’ll find highlights from the fall semester programming, resume books and student spotlights, and a look at what’s ahead as we continue to build on our reputation for excellence in business education.
Thank you for your ongoing support and for being an integral part of the Nicholas Center family.
Happy Holidays and On, Wisconsin!
Barb
Fall Semester 2024
Class of 2025 & 2026 – Resume Books
This year, we have a combined cohort of 22 students, which is the largest since 2018! We welcomed ten Class of 2026 students and twelve Class of 2025 students who are seeking internships and full-time roles in the areas of corporate finance, investment banking, entrepreneurial finance, and consulting. We’re closing out the semester with several students accepting offers, prior to the holidays. We encourage you to click on the resume books below to review the student profiles that are available for internships or full-time roles. We are thankful for our board members and alumni who have continued to send us job leads within their company! We welcome anyone from our community to send us opportunities that would be well suited for our Finance MBA’s. You can email us and we will share with students!
Career Trek to Chicago
Our Nicholas Center staff and CFIB MBA students ventured to Chicago on October 3-4th, 2024 to learn from industry finance leaders in the field. We’re thankful to our company hosts United Airlines, Prudential Private Capital, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Capital One for an engaging and valuable learning experience! Special thanks to our Alumni and friends of the Nicholas Center Sean Gilmore, Daniel Mellen, Anuj Dhingra, Tosan Olley, Jessica Witt, and Tom Molzahn for their time coordinating and leading the tours, panels, and sessions! You can view our career trek video highlight for an overview of our trip!
We have started planning for our upcoming New York City career trek scheduled for April, and we are in the process of planning an International trip to either Tokyo, Japan or London/Germany for January 2026. We are eager to have conversations with our Alumni, Board members and friends of the Nicholas Center to facilitate visits in NYC or abroad. If you are interested in discussing and willing to help us make a connection, we welcome you to reach out!
Mock Interviews
We hosted mock interviews in-person and virtually on Thursday, October 17th. This event is a great opportunity for our alumni to help our students prepare for the interview season. Thank you to those Alumni who stepped in to interview our students and we look forward to this event next year!
- Fred Wang (’21), Senior Finance Manager – Fiserv
- Michael Haberle (’15), Director of Finance – Pacific Cycle
- Robert Brothers (’15), Vice President – BMO Commercial Bank
- Ken Woodell (’12), Director of Finance – Emergency Medicine Specialists
- Aisha Hurston (’22), Formerly Sr. Strategy Manager, DOW
- Rishi Shah (’17), Director – Miller Buckfire
- Ebrahem Wahba (’23), Associate – Baird
- Sachin Tulyani (’00), Partner – Private Capital Investments & Advisory
Veteran Student Spotlights
In honor of Veteran’s Day last month, we proudly celebrate the incredible contributions of three of our current CFIB veteran students who enrich our business school community. Our veteran students bring a unique perspective to the classroom, drawing from their leadership experiences, resilience, and teamwork in the military. View the profile’s of Ethan Cutberth, Ryan Baxter and Scott Nalevac to see their diverse experiences and we encourage you to reach out if your organization could benefit from hiring our veteran talent!
Class of 2026 Student Spotlights
Andrew Sternaman is a first-year CFIB MBA student who will join Baird this summer as an Investment Banking Associate. Andrew brings over five years of diverse experience within startups, software, and digital transformation. Prior to joining the program, Andrew founded his own firm focused on helping small-to-medium sized businesses automate their financial and operational processes. Upon graduating, Andrew will become a double badger, as he holds a B.S. degree in Personal Finance from UW-Madison. Read Andrew’s student spotlight to learn more about his background!
Clare Sullivan is a first-year CFIB MBA student who will join Baird this summer as an Investment Banking Associate. Clare received her B.S.M. degree in Marketing and Management from Tulane University in Louisiana, where she was Captain and Treasurer of the Women’s Rugby team. Prior to joining the MBA program, Clare worked in Taxable Fixed Income sales at Cabrera Capital Markets in Chicago, IL. Clare is also a member of the Forte Foundation which supports the next generation of women business leaders. Read Clare’s student spotlight to learn more about her background!
Don Condon Speaker Series
This semester, our Don Condon Speaker Series became part of a one-credit class titled, Current Topics & Applied Learning in Finance. Through this course, students are exposed to applied learning experiences and case studies, industry speakers representing our finance pathways, and career treks and workshops. We’ve had a terrific lineup of fall speakers and we are now booking Spring. If interested in joining our speaker series, reach out to Andrea or Barb to discuss! Thank you to our Fall 2024 speakers who are listed below!
- Tom Tefft, Retired, Senior Vice President & President, Medtronic, Finance Careers in Multi-National Corporations
- Matt Nehls, Senior Manager – Target Corporation, FP&A Roles & Careers
- Rob Kaderavek, Managing Director, Jen Roeper, Director, and Dan Hyszczak, Associate, Baird, M&A Markets
- Akhil Remesan, Partner – Madison Lake Capital, Careers in Private Equity & Entrepreneurship
- Chris Richard, Vice President – FP&A – Briggs & Stratton, Private Equity & Corporate Turnarounds
- Patrick Hammes, Managing Principal – Hammes Partners, Private Equity & Real Estate Portfolio Management
- Adam Trigg, Managing Director – RBC Capital Markets, Case Study: Methanex Corporation & OCI Acquisition
- Tim Yarbrough, CFO – ZipRecruiter, ZipRecruiter’s Path Going Public
Advisory Board News
Fall Advisory Board & Alumni Meeting Recap
We hosted our Fall Advisory Board & Alumni dinner and meeting on October 24th and 25th which was a great time to celebrate homecoming and gather together as a Center. During our meeting we shared an overview of past year accomplishments and reviewed our current priorities.
We hosted a Board member AI panel led by Jenny Kray, David Hanley, and Adam Trigg and we gathered strong interest to facilitate a finance-focused Spring AI event. We invited Bennett Cole, Executive Director of Industry Relations to discuss our school wide initiative to grow corporate partners. Dean Samba spoke with our group to discuss his priorities for the next five years of his new appointment.
We had three student consulting project presentations for Naturipe, State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) and Amerilux International. We also held productive meetings with the board and organized an Alumni panel, featuring Matt Nehls, Mary Roberts, and Michael Haberle to share networking and recruiting advice to students.
Welcome New Board Member – David Hanley
We’re pleased to welcome David Hanley to the Nicholas Center Advisory Board. David is a 2015 CFIB Alumnus of the program and is Associate Partner at Innosight, which is the strategy and innovation consulting business of Huron. David has been an active member of our community who regularly serves on industry panels and mentors students. We look forward to having David’s background and experience on the board and are excited about his passion for helping students!
We honor Dennis Duerst, whose service to the Board goes back nearly 20 years. During that time, he mentored many students, sponsored meaningful consulting projects and attended nearly every board meeting in-person, while providing strategic advice for the advancement of the Nicholas Center. Thank you Dennis for your unwavering commitment to our students and Center during your time serving on our Advisory Board!
WSB News
Finance Department Welcomes Jason Allen
Jason Allen, Associate Professor of Finance, Investment and Banking
Six new faculty members across four departments joined the Wisconsin School of Business this fall, bringing more expertise and teaching excellence in several areas. In the finance department, we welcomed Jason Allen, Associate Professor of Finance, Investment, and Banking who joins WSB from Ontario where he was a Senior Research Officer at the Bank of Canada. He received his PhD from Queen’s University and holds experience as a financial economist where he developed critical national policy in areas such as mortgage finance, housing affordability, bank resolution, and debt management. He is teaching an Advanced Topics in Finance seminar with PhD students this fall and will teach Financial Markets, Institutions, and Economic Activity this spring.
WSB Launches AI Hub
The Wisconsin School of Business is launching a hub for AI Research to serve as a focal point for all AI related activities. The AI Hub will serve four primary functions that relate to AI: support research, nurture industry connections, host industry and academic events for students and support AI related communications at WSB. Stay up to date on our AI activities at WSB by reading the latest AI news articles and by staying connected with our AI Hub!
Class of 2024 Employment Outcomes
The MBA Program office finalized our Class of 2024 Full-time and Class of 2025 Internship outcomes. Across all full-time MBA programs, our Class of 2024 base salary average was $119,794 with an average signing bonus of $24,467. Class of 2025 Internship monthly salary average was $6,577 and 94% of students received and accepted internship offers.
We’re pleased to share that our CFIB Class of 2024 had 100% job placement, which we measure by how many students accept offers within three months of graduation. CFIB Class of 2024 had an annual base salary average of $113,333. Our CFIB Class of 2025 had a monthly internship base salary average of $6,611.
Our CFIB salaries saw year-over-year decreases (-5.5% for full-time salary and -20% internship salary). We account these decreases in part due to class size fluctuations and geographic locations. Other factors are type of industry/role.
Nicholas Center Admissions
Class of 2027 Recruitment
We have begun our Class of 2027 recruitment and ask for your support in referring potential students to us! Interested students can email us directly or connect with our Admission team. We encourage those interested to schedule a campus visit this Spring where candidates have the opportunity to meet current students and staff. Travel stipends are available for prospective students who live more than 200 miles away from campus.
Application Review Deadlines:
Cycle 1: September 26th
Cycle 2: October 31st
Cycle 3: January 9th (Merit priority deadline)
Cycle 4: February 27th
Cycle 5: April 10th (International deadline) Cycle 6: June 3rd
Other Ways to Support the Nicholas Center
Sponsor a Consulting Project
Each fall semester, CFIB MBA students work with a Corporate Sponsor who provides a project that has a finance and strategic element and high degree of complexity. Projects could also have operational, regulatory, governance and other elements. Students work on teams of 4-5 and typically begin their work in September and conclude in early December, depending on the complexity of the project, and their work is culminated with a professional presentation with the sponsor. Sponsors are also present on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to answer questions. There is no required fee to participate – contact Barb Bolens to discuss.
Join our Speaker Series
Our Speaker Series is now part of a new course: Current Topics & Applied Learning in Finance. We’re looking forward to bringing in additional finance speakers this Spring to connect classroom learnings to real world application. Contact Andrea Sorenson to discuss booking a Spring session!
Mentor a Student
Each year, we pair our incoming CFIB students with an Alumni and Advisory Board member who mentor who provides advice and support as the student begins the program and recruiting journey. Students are expected to initiate connections and conversations with their mentor. If interested in serving in this capacity, please contact Barb Bolens to further discuss.
Give to the Nicholas Center
Making a financial contribution is one way to make an impact and help further the Nicholas Center’s mission. We welcome donations to the Don M. Condon and Linda M. Condon Graduate Fellowship Fund. Donations to this fund are used to provide financial support to students who exemplify Don’s spirit, commitment, and leadership in the field of corporate finance.
Engage on Social Media
The Nicholas Center is increasing its social media presence, and we’d love for you to connect with and follow our accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook to stay up on our news and other events. Click on the icon links below to connect.
Nicholas Center Contact Information
Barb Bolens, Director, email: barb.bolens@wisc.edu, ph. 414.530.0714
Andrea Sorenson, Assistant Director, email: andrea.sorenson@wisc.edu, ph. 608.262.1553
General Nicholas Center email: nicholascenter@wsb.wisc.edu
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