The Drexel 100

Michael J. Barrist, CPA
BS, LeBow College of Business, Accounting, 1984 Show details

Mr. Barrist is chairman of NCO Group. Based in Horsham, Pa., NCO is known as the largest provider of accounts receivable collection in the world. Mr. Barrist has held a variety of leadership roles at NCO Group since purchasing the company in 1986. In 2007, NCO was recognized as one of the world’s leading outsourcing partners by being included in the prestigious Global Services 100, an annual ranking published by Global Services magazine. Mr. Barrist was named “Greater Philadelphia Entrepreneur of the Year” in the services division in a competition sponsored by Ernst &Young LLP and Philadelphia Enterpriser magazine in 1998.

Mr. Benson is a two-time Grammy-nominated music producer who holds development deals with major labels such as Warner Brothers and Interscope. Mr. Benson also has his own record imprint, Sparky Dark. Mr. Benson was previously a senior vice president in the Artists and Repertoire (A&R) division at Elektra. Prior to working at Elektra, Mr. Benson served as senior vice president in the A&R division at Giant Records and before that as a vice president in the A&R division at Enclave/EMI records. In 2009, Mr. Benson was named to the National Commission for Cooperative Education Hall of Fame.

Dr. Cantor is founder and president of CJ Resources, Inc., an executive search firm specializing in retained and exclusive assignments for the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to founding CJ Resources in 1996, Dr. Cantor had a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry with organizations such as the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology; Berlex Laboratories, Inc.; and Ruderfer & Company. Dr. Cantor has received numerous awards from Drexel College of Medicine including the Special Distinction Award and the Service to the Alumni Association Award. Dr. Cantor is an emeritus past president of the College of Medicine Alumni Association.

Mrs. Dornsife received her undergraduate degree in business from Drexel University, her interior design certification from JFK University, and her lighting design certification through the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. In 1991, she co-founded Axiom Design, Inc., a lighting design and architectural electronics consulting firm. In 2003, Mrs. Dornsife’s focus turned to cancer as she watched a family member succumb to pancreatic cancer at age 42. In 2006, she founded Lazarex Cancer Foundation and currently serves as its president. Lazarex is a non-profit dedicated to helping end-stage cancer patients navigate their FDA clinical trial options and providing financial assistance to them as needed to participate in potentially lifesaving clinical trials. Mrs. Dornsife serves on several boards: Epeius Biotechnologies, developing genetic medicines for the treatment of cancer; Global Healing, an organization dedicated to providing modern healthcare in developing countries; and the USC Huntington Institute for Advanced Studies. She and her husband, Dave Dornsife, a USC Trustee, are active at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC; support a literacy project in Mauritania, West Africa; and through World Vision, an international humanitarian agency, do water-well drilling in Ghana, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, and Zambia. They are council members of the Yosemite Conservancy and support groundbreaking research in imaging and Cerebral Spinal Fluid Analysis for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

Mr. Dranoff is president and CEO of Dranoff Properties, Inc., a private, Philadelphia-based multi-housing developer and property management company that he founded in 1997. An engineer by training, Mr. Dranoff pioneered the conversion of vacant and abandoned warehouses into apartments. Mr. Dranoff served as a trustee at Drexel from 1988 to 1998. In 2009, Mr. Dranoff was listed as a member of “The Power Fifty” in Philadelphia Magazine. In 2008, he was named “Developer of the Year” by the Pennsylvania Builders Association and “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young.

Mr. Garrett is a recognized innovator in solar and renewable energy. He has been nicknamed the “Godfather of Solar Energy” since he began working in the field in 1975. Mr. Garrett is chairman and CEO of both ETA Engineering and Dependable Solar Products in Mesa, Ariz. Mr. Garret is also president of the Council on Sustainable Systems Development, a non-profit think tank for solutions to renewable energy and sustainability problems around the world. In addition, he has been active on the boards of the Arizona Solar Center, the Arizona Solar Energy Association, and the Arizona Solar Energy Industry Association, among others.

Mr. Geltzer is the retired president of the specialty clothing stores Aéropostale and Chelsea Campbell and the founder and director of the Geltzer Family Foundation, established in 2005. He had an extensive business career at Macy’s New York and helped Macy’s develop and start the Charter Club and Aéropostale Specialty Store chains. In 1998, as a principal owner, Mr. Geltzer was instrumental in taking the Macy’s Specialty Store Division business private and then helped the company prepare to go public in 2002. Mr. Geltzer has served as a trustee of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and as a consultant to the Rescue Mission of Trenton.

Ms. Imbesi is the president of the investment company Patriarch Management. She was previously a partner at Harron Communications, a company that was a pioneer in the cable industry. Ms. Imbesi serves on the Board of the Philadelphia Orchestra and as a trustee at St. Augustine Preparatory School and Villanova University, where she also serves as chairwoman of the Parents Committee. In 2008, she was one of the winners of Pennsylvania’s 2008 Best Women in the Business awards announced by Governor Ed Rendell. Ms. Imbesi has been a Drexel University trustee since 1995.

Dr. Loring founded the Cardiometrix Corporation, today known as Network Medical Services. The company quickly became a multi-million dollar national provider of a broad range of health care services rendered through a national network of more than 21,000 health care providers. In 1999, Dr. Loring returned to Drexel University and joined the faculty of several colleges, including the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems (BIOMED). He wrote a complete curriculum in entrepreneurial studies and became the senior entrepreneur in residence in BIOMED. More than 1,500 Drexel students have successfully completed his coursework. In 2006, he received the Alumni Entrepreneur Award from the Drexel University Alumni Association.

Ms. Dawson McConnon is associate executive director, CFO, and a trustee of Project H.O.M.E., a non-profi t organization whose mission is to empower adults, children, and families to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. She co-founded Project H.O.M.E. with Sister Mary Scullion, RSM, in 1989. To date, Project H.O.M.E. has leveraged more than $50,000,000 in equity toward housing and economic development. In 2007, Ms. Dawson McConnon was listed in the Philadelphia Daily News as one of “Seventy-Five Greatest Living Philadelphians.” In addition, she has received the Leadership for Change Award, the Spirit of Philadelphia Award, and the Catherine McAuley Spirit of Mercy Award. In 2008, Drexel honored Ms. Dawson Mc-Connon with the Service to Community Award.

Mr. McCool is senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Systems’ Data Center, Switching and Services Group. Cisco is one of the country’s leading providers of computer networking equipment. In his role at Cisco, Mr. McCool is responsible for the strategy, engineering, and marketing direction of Cisco’s comprehensive family of enterprise Ethernet switching products, application networking, and system solutions. He holds at least three patents related to networking technologies. In 2009, Mr. McCool was inducted into Drexel’s College of Engineering Alumni Circle of Distinction.

A private investor who has been involved in various philanthropic activities throughout the world since the 1970s, Dr. Pearce is chairman, CEO, and director of The Dr. M. Lee Pearce Foundation, Inc. One of only a few physician-attorney hospital consultants in the United States, Dr. Pearce has been dedicated to quality medical and hospital care for more than 50 years. His other activities in the health care field have included serving as chairman of Le@p Technology, a holding company focused on organizations providing services in health care and life sciences. He serves as a senior member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Miami and sits on the Board of Fellows at Harvard Medical School.

Mr. Rose had a distinguished playing career in the National Basketball Association for 14 years, winning NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 and 2003. He also played for the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks, and ended his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2010. Considered a leader among professional basketball players, Mr. Rose served as vice president of the NBA Players’ Association. Currently, Mr. Rose serves as an NBA Studio Analyst for Fox Sports Oklahoma. He graduated from Drexel with All-American honors after leading the Dragons to their lone NCAA Tournament victory in 1996. He was named one of San Antonio’s “40 Under 40” by the San Antonio Business Journal, and he received the NBA Community Assist Award in January 2003.

After retiring from practicing medical oncology in 1990, Dr. Bulkin-Siegel combined her love of watercolor painting with medicine. She has become an award-winning artist recognized nationally for her series of portraits of people living with AIDS: “Survivors of AIDS,” “The Changing Faces of AIDS,” “Breast Cancer Survivors,” “The Homeless,” and “The Elderly.” Dr. Bulkin-Siegel has been active in bringing art into the medical field as an educational tool and a forum for healing. In the early 1980s, Dr. Bulkin-Siegel worked at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx with some of the first patients ever diagnosed with AIDS, and it was here that she established one of the first AIDS hospices. She has received numerous awards including the Janice Palmer Award in 2009 for Outstanding Leadership from the Society of the Arts in Healthcare.

Dr. Sordoni fulfilled her dream of attending medical school when she enrolled at the Medical College of Pennsylvania at age 45. Dr. Sordoni now maintains a private practice and serves as a Medical Director for a home hospice center. She is the chair of the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The clinic, which Dr. Sordoni helped to establish, uses volunteer physicians to provide free health care services to working families who do not have, or cannot afford, health insurance. At Misericordia University, Dr. Sordoni founded Circle of Friends, a program designed to help mentally challenged women transition from high school to the workplace in a college setting. Recognition for her volunteerism has included a volunteer appreciation award from former First Lady Barbara Bush and the Distinguished Service Award from the Anti-Defamation League.