Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Stern Spotlight”

The Graduate: Ilana Fischer

The Oppy is commemorating some prominent NYU Stern alumni with our ‘Graduate’ series. Each month, we’ll interview notable alum that have made an impact on their community and industry.

As the nation waited in limbo for election results last Friday, I had the refreshing distraction of sitting down, virtually, with Ilana Fischer, CEO of Whisps and Stern MBA (2011). Ilana spoke about leadership lessons she’s learned during her career and how her life-long passion for cheese ultimately led to her dream job.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Let’s start off with an ice-breaker question. Describe your go-to-cheese board?

Stern Somebody Presents: Megan Fairchild, MBAllerina

Megan Fairchild: part time MBA, full time mom and ballerina. Megan was promoted to Principal Dancer of the New York City Ballet at the young age of 20, and has been masterfully juggling academics, dance, and her personal life since grade school. The Utah native has been quarantining in France for the past couple of months, but will be returning to NYC to vote in the next few weeks. Her unparalleled work ethic has led her to be successful both on the stage and in the classroom, and I had the chance to sit down with Megan (virtually) and chat with her about her experiences as a dancer and her future career goals and aspirations post-MBA.…

Stern Singles Presents: Dylan Lyons

Welcome back to another addition of Stern Singles. I’m so excited to introduce you all to Stern’s most eligible bachelor, our Mr. October, Dylan Lyons

Sternie Testimonials:

Dylan works at language start up, Babbel – you better believe he knows the language of love.

Love a man who knows his lengua. High praise Dylan

I looked up satisfaction in the dictionary, and it read Dylan Lyons

I like this somewhat dirty flirty wordy vibe you’ve got going Dylan.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dylan in person (*gasp*) at a central park picnic a few weeks ago.…

OppyArts Spotlight: Gary Granata

By: Gary Granata and Conor Clark

CC: I quarantined in Tuscaloosa, Alabama volunteering at Granata Woods, a permaculture food forest created during the pandemic by Dr. Gary Granata. Gary is a farmer, community organizer, and food & good times historian. He taught me how growing and smoking your own paprika makes “the store bought stuff taste like red saw dust you put on deviled eggs.” 

I spent the day helping him place large logs on contour to create growing space on the land. The day was hot, the work was hard, the stories flowed and I sometimes had difficulty keeping pace with 60-year old Dr G.…

In the Fight: Community-Led Change in North Brooklyn

In the Fight North Brooklyn is a community activism group that began in 2019. Tobi and Chelsea, two of its founding members, joined the Oppy for a conversation on effective political engagement, protests in NYC, difficult conversations, and more. To learn more about In the Fight, check them out at https://linktr.ee/inthefightnbk or on social media @inthefightNBK.

Listen to the interview in its entirety below.


Mattia: Tell me about yourself!

Chelsea: Definitely, I can start. My name is Chelsea, obviously. I’ve been in New York City for about three years, currently located in Bushwick. I am originally from Cleveland, Ohio. I’ve been involved in politics in different ways for a while.…

OppyArts Spotlight: Suhayb Zarroug

This article was written using excerpts from a recorded interview. To hear the interview in its entirety, please listen to the audio below.

Suhayb Zarroug is the modern embodiment of a Renaissance man. He coupled his experiences in art dealing, events, design, and creative consulting with strong marketing fundamentals and relationships. His latest venture is Novo Press, a publishing company that engages readers and supporters throughout the drafting process in an effort to connect networks of disparate freelance artists in the current landscape. 

This concept of purpose-driven publishing will be exhibited in Novo’s upcoming first edition featuring photography, poetry, and mixed media content focusing on personal encounters with climate change and “beautiful trash.”…

Introducing Novo Press & OppyArts Spotlight

This is an interesting year to be a grad student. We’re reworking how we study, network, and collaborate. A sense of purpose is hard to come by- many feel they’re just going through the motions until they either get their degree, or this nonsense finally ends. Personally, I refuse to let my MBA experience be anything less than a biopic-worthy epic, which is why I was so excited to speak with Suhayb Zarroug about Novo Press and to introduce the Oppy’s new series aimed to connect Sternies with writers and artists to help create art and explore meaning and purpose. …

Stern Somebody Presents: Matthew C. Meade

The Oppy staff is proud to continue a new feature for the paper called “Stern Somebody”, telling the stories of remarkable classmates and how they became the exceptional people they are today.

Many people have stories to share of how they overcame life obstacles and achieved success, but they don’t all publish books with steps on how to get there. Then again, Matthew C. Meade is not the average MBA student. During the week, Meade is a VP at JP Morgan Chase & Company, where he leads a team that covers multiple trading desks across various industries. On the weekends, he is getting his Executive MBA here at Stern.…

Stern Singles Presents: Sarah Rothstein

Welcome back from summer break! The world is still a mess, but I’m here to bring some sunshine to your life and introduce you to September’s most eligible bachelorette, Sarah Rothstein.

Sternie Testimonials:

Her eyes shimmer like tequila sodas on a warm summer evening. If you want to impress her, simply say ‘Davai poydom na uzhen!’”

Wow, multicultural AND delicious. 

“Sarah’s got it all: she’s smart, she’s beautiful, and she somehow is able to make a gourmet meal on nothing but a hot plate.” 

My love language is hot plate mac & cheese.

The world looked a little different when Sarah joined Stern.…

Stern Singles Presents: David Leffler

Welcome to this semester’s first edition of Stern Singles! It is my pleasure to introduce you to this month’s eligible bachelor, Dave Leffler.

Sternie Testimonials

Worldly, disciplined, and eloquent. Not much else needs to be said about Dave, except that he’s the sort of guy you’d want as your phone screen background. It’s not often that you meet someone that’s worthy of a right swipe on both TInder AND LinkedIn.

Something tells me this man is not going to be on the market long.

Dave and I met a little over a year ago and he’s been an amazing friend, colleague, and mentor.

Mission News Theme by Compete Themes.