Executives-in-Residence of the Leon Hess Business School

Deb Clay recently retired from New York Life as an executive officer and vice president of technology business operations. Her areas of oversight included strategy and planning, investment governance, resource management, project management, risk, controls and assurance, and strategic partnerships. Additionally, she launched a modernized technology employee learning and development program and strategic young talent recruiting strategy including oversight of the summer intern programs. Prior to joining New York Life, Clay was head of Global Program and Project Management at Hess Corporation, a leader in the oil and gas industry. She worked under the leadership of John Hess, CEO and son of founder Leon Hess, for whom the Monmouth University Business School is named. Earlier, she held marketing and management positions at Amazon Web Services and served in technology and business operational leadership positions in two start-up luxury retail companies. Currently, Clay serves as an independent trustee for Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates, a global natural resources mutual fund, and on the Board of Trustees for Cedar Lawn Historic Cemetery in Paterson, N.J. She is also a strategic advisor and investor in Contacts 411, a data management start-up. 

Pozycki Hall, 101

Sheldon Horowitz is an experienced entrepreneur with an extensive background in small business management, mergers and acquisitions, and real estate. His career spans various sectors, where he has encountered and navigated the triumphs and challenges of business leadership. Known for his candid reflections on successes and learning experiences, Horowitz offers a relatable and engaging perspective on business complexities. His practical insights can help students and emerging professionals develop a realistic approach to building and sustaining successful enterprises.

Pozycki Hall, 101

Peter J. Samaras, Jr., is an entrepreneur and consultant following a distinguished 30-year career in sales and trading within the fixed income markets on Wall Street. As a former managing director of credit sales at Cantor Fitzgerald, he brings a wealth of industry knowledge to his roles as an executive-in-residence at the Leon Hess Business School and a member of the Wayne D. Mc Murray School of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council. Samaras’s career began at Merrill Lynch and progressed through influential roles, including vice president of fixed income sales at Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette, and principal and New York sales manager in capital markets at Bank of America Securities. He holds a B.A. in sociology and an M.A. in anthropology from Monmouth University, both of which he credits as foundational to his success in finance. Today, Samaras also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of History and Anthropology and a guest lecturer for the Leon Hess Business School, providing advisory and consulting expertise in credit markets.

Pozycki Hall, 101

Jeff Weinstein is the co-founder and president/CEO of TranscendAP, an innovative accounts payable SaaS platform that leverages Al and machine learning to drive automation across enterprises. TranscendAP primarily serves mid-to-large-scale businesses in the manufacturing, higher education and healthcare verticals. He brings significant experience and success in building enterprise SaaS companies having previously held executive roles as CEO and president of RightAnswers, president of Calamu, chief growth officer at Traliant, and senior VP at Epresence. As a serial entrepreneur his firms have been involved in a number of successful acquisitions and raised over $30 million in venture funding. Weinstein is very active in the New Jersey start up community where he is on the NJEDA advisory council, limited partner in N.J. based Tech Council Ventures, and invests privately in startups. Locally, he is a councilman for Ocean Township. 

Pozycki Hall, 101

Ken Young is a board advisor and partner at NextWave Consulting, a UK-based technology consulting company. His career spans 30 years as a practitioner and practice manager at several global management consulting firms. After graduating from Columbia University School of Engineering in 1986, Young began his professional consulting career at Accenture as a programmer/analyst, building technology solutions for large money center banks. Upon leaving Accenture in 1990, he spent the rest of his career working for smaller niche consultancies focused on the capital markets technology industry.

Most recently, Young was senior VP for Capital Markets Consulting at First Derivatives, a leading provider of products and consulting services to the financial services industry. Based in New York City, his role was to build out the North American business from the ground up as the first employee in the region. Over the next seven years, he built the business to over 200 consultants, located in five offices in North America, generating over $30 million in revenue per year.

Pozycki Hall, 101