Pulteney Street Survey

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PULTENEY STREET SURVEY - FALL 2018

Parallels

Peter McKenna

PETER J. MCKENNA ’91

  • CEO of Ryan Specialty Group Europe, based in London
  • Major: Economics
  • Student Trustee
  • Hometown: West Hartford, Conn.

1. Best career advice you ever received: You have to be passionate about what you do, excited to do it every day, and work diligently to make things happen.

2. Go-to coffee order: Straight black.

3. What makes a great leader? Someone who listens, analyzes the situation and then is decisive.

4. City you weren’t born in that you call home? London, the home base for my wife Kristen Mezzalingua McKenna ’92, myself and our children since 2012.

5. “I ran for Student Trustee because…” It was something I always wanted to do and sharing the student perspective was so important to me. It was by far the best experience I had at Hobart and William Smith.

6. Most important quality in a friend: Loyalty

7. Cryptocurrency— fad or future? Fad; I’m skeptic on the longterm viability. I’m not a fan.

8. Favorite campus study spot: The second level of the Blackwell Room in Demarest Hall. The wooden study carrels with the stained glass windows…it’s perfect.

9. Forbes or Fortune? Forbes.

10. Travel light or prepare for anything? You’ve got to prepare for anything.

11. Most important app on your phone: Google


Gavin Gross

GAVIN R. GROSS ’19

  • Analysis intern at Citi Private Bank; recipient of the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship from the Taiwan Ministry of Education for study in Mandarin
  • Major: Economics
  • Student Trustee
  • Hometown: Pipersville, Pa.

1. Best career advice you ever received: Making informed decisions only happens with research and data, as per Charles Wheelan in Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science

2. Go-to coffee order: Just black.

3. What makes a great leader? Empathy- no one is willing to follow and listen to someone who cannot relate and understand them.

4. City you weren’t born in that you call home? Nanjing, China, where I studied abroad and now have a whole cohort of friends who feel like family.

5. “I ran for Student Trustee because…” I felt I could truly represent the whole student body well, since I found I was interacting with a diverse and wide range of students every day.

6. Most important quality in a friend: Humor

7. Cryptocurrency— fad or future? Future. I believe the transformation of a cashless society is inevitable.

8. Favorite campus study spot: The Quad, if it’s sunny enough.

9. Forbes or Fortune? Wall Street Journal.

10. Travel light or prepare for anything? You can travel light and still prepare for anything.

11. Most important app on your phone: Pleco, a Mandarin Chinese learning app