The Willumstad School’s Executive in Residence program enables our students and faculty to connect on campus with business leaders. The program helps create a bridge between the academic world and the business community.
Executives in residence undertake a variety of activities, including but not limited to:
Alumnus Bharat Bhisé, MBA ’78, CEO and founder of Bravia Capital, has generously agreed to share his time and talent as this year’s Robert B. Willumstad School of Business executive in residence. Bringing his real-world business expertise to the classroom, Bhisé gave guest lectures in a finance course last fall and will do so again in the spring semester. He also participated in the Willumstad School’s Insights From Experts lecture series last fall with his October 11 lecture, “Pillars for a Successful Global Business” and he will lecture again this year. He will mentor one or more students as well during his year in this role.
When Bharat Bhisé, MBA ’78, CEO and founder of Bravia Capital, established a distinctive new program for the Levermore Global Scholars program at Adelphi University, he said one of his objectives was to help students learn to be critical thinkers.
A business is five very distinct things: equity of the owners or the shareholders; your management; your customers; your vendors; and the community you live in. When at least three of these five separate stakeholders are not aligned, the business will probably fail. There were other businesses that may not have been as likely to succeed but did because all five were completely aligned in their goals.
Bharat Bhisé, MBA ’78
CEO and founder of Bravia Capital, summarizing his “Five Pillars for a Successful Global Business”
A first-generation American, Bharat Bhisé established the Bhisé Global Learning Experience Fund as a distinctive new program for Adelphi’s Levermore Global Scholars—sending a group of eight students to India in January 2023 for a 10-day, intensive, all-expenses-paid study tour.
Stephen Davy, MBA ’88, principal, SP Davy LLC, consultant to Société Générale for corporate and investment banking and Robert B. Willumstad School of Business adjunct faculty member, was our Spring 2021–Spring 2022 executive in residence.
He is also a member of the Elizabeth and Allen Don Center for Technology and Decision Sciences Advisory Board as well as our Dean’s Advisory Board. As executive-in-residence, Davy served as a mentor to students participating in the Business Plan Competition. He also provided career advice to students working with the School’s career services staff to find internships and full-time job opportunities. In addition, Davy played a pivotal role in all the Don Center events that took place during that time. He found speakers and sponsors for the sessions and also served as a moderator for those sessions.
Previously, Davy was managing director and chief technology officer at Société Générale–Newedge, where he led the IT merger activities that initially formed Newedge in 2009. He initiated a technology transformation agenda that significantly impacted how the company operated and generated revenue. He led the merger of Newedge and Société Générale in the Americas.
Prior to Société Générale, Davy was vice president, corporate chief information officer and group chief technology officer at Altria Group Inc. He was also the IT leader for merger and acquisition transactions and led the divestiture of the operating companies in 2008. Earlier, Davy held senior positions in the investment banking technology group at Barclays Capital, where he introduced the first digital market data platform. Early in his career, he worked at JPMorgan Chase
The Executive in Residence program can provide many benefits to the Adelphi community. Opportunities exist to mentor, educate on trending business topics and introduce connections to the business community, to name a few. During my tenure, I believe the education for students, faculty and alumni on emerging technology and innovation practices across many different industries was a real success. This was mainly accomplished through first-class panel discussion events hosted through the Willumstad School’s Don Center. I think each executive in residence will bring different opportunities to Adelphi based on their career background and experiences
Stephen Davy, MBA ’88
Principal, SP Davy LLC
If you would like to take part in this program or sponsor the upcoming year’s lecture series in whole or in part, please contact us.