SvF Leadership
Gautam Kaul, Managing Director
Gautam Kaul is the John C. and Sally S. Morley Professor of Finance at the Ross School of Business (RSB). Gautam has published extensively on the behavior of asset prices. Gautam was awarded the Senior Faculty Research Award in 2003 for sustained, exceptional, and continuing contributions to scholarly research in the field of business, and noteworthy contributions to building and maintaining a strong research environment at RSB. Gautam has taught at the undergraduate, MBA, Ph.D., and Executive levels and in courses ranging from Corporate Finance, Investment and Financial Institutions, to advanced courses on Empirical Methods in Finance and, more recently, Sustainability. His class on Finance and the Sustainable Business has drawn special recognition from students. Gautam has been nominated for the MBA Teaching Excellence Award several times, and was the winner of the award in 1996, 2006, and 2009. He also won the Global MBA Teaching Excellence Award in 2003. Gautam was recently awarded the 2009 Victor L. Bernard Leadership in Teaching Award by the RSB faculty.
JP Asta (MBA ’13) Co-Director of Operations
J.P. is a second-year MBA student focusing on strategy and finance. Prior to Ross, J.P. worked as a consultant for the firm Analysis Group, where he specialized in quantitative analysis and financial and economic modeling. Outside of work, he was the Boston Chapter Lead for Pivot Nonprofit Consulting, a group of young professionals who provide pro bono strategic advice to nonprofit organizations. In this role, he realized the value in leveraging for-profit thinking to alleviate societal issues. Applying that belief, he went to work for the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative in Africa. He specialized in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of global health financing, and his work brought him to Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. J.P. holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Minnesota.
Martha Campbell (MBA/MS ’13) Head of Urban Revitalization Circle
Martha is a third year dual degree student at the Erb Institute, pursuing a Master’s in Environmental Science and an MBA. Martha is especially interested in business models that drive ecological restoration and conservation. Martha is originally from El Paso, Texas, with professional experiences as varied as working as a green construction intern for Mike Reynolds to working as a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs. Prior to Ross Martha was a field organizer for the Alliance for Climate Protection in Taos, NM. This summer Martha joined Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Copper as a Sustainable Development Intern. Martha holds a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University.
Karen Chern (MBA ’13) Co-Director of Operations
Karen is a second-year MBA student focusing on Social Entrepreneurship and finance. Prior to Ross, Karen worked for Enrich Consulting in San Jose, CA, a small consulting company focusing on strategic R&D portfolio management. She served on the board of directors for Loaves and Fishes, a soup kitchen, and served as a mentor for Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Karen developed her interest in social enterprise by joining a venture philanthropy partnership called Silicon Valley Social Venture, where she was involved in grant-making decisions and helping grantees develop organizational capacity. This summer, she interned at REDF and is particularly interested in the role social enterprises can play in job creation and workforce development. Karen holds a B.S. in Economics from Duke University.
Steve Davidson (MBA/MS ’14) Head of Food Systems & Environment Circle
Steve is a second-year MBA/MS student who is passionate about corporate sustainability strategy and the potential of entrepreneurship to produce solutions to society’s most difficult social and environmental challenges. While at Michigan, Steve has advised on technology and operations strategy during internships with Deloitte Consulting and American Express, as well as on market entry strategy for electric vehicle-related services with Ford Motor Company. Prior to Michigan, he managed the implementation and launch of the first free Wi-Fi network in Times Square while working at the nonprofit Times Square Alliance. He began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he developed custom software and helped lead the Corporate Tax Department’s transition to a more sustainable paperless workplace. Steve graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Philosophy.
Robin Gilliland (MBA ’13) Director of Portfolio Management
Robin is a second-year MBA student focused on Finance and Entrepreneurial Studies. Prior to starting at Ross, Robin served as a full-time Director for Keller Enterprises, his family’s business based in Louisiana. In this role, Robin led the search for and development of the firm’s inaugural strategic philanthropic project: a $1 million grant to the Food Bank of Central Louisiana to develop a community garden and education center, sourced and oversaw the firm’s first strategic mission investment in a wholesale food distributor based in New Orleans that will help connect local farmers to institutional buyers, and helped transition a conventional farm to the largest organic farm in Louisiana. Prior to dedicating himself to Keller Enterprises, Robin spent eight years in New York working in financial communications, primarily for the Brunswick Group, where he specialized in M&A and crisis communications.
Berry Kennedy (MBA / MS 2014) Co-Director of Fund Development Berry is a second-year dual MBA-MS Natural Resources student interested in impact investing, ecosystem services and other market-based mechanisms that promote environmental and social good. Prior to coming to Michigan, Berry lived in Mexico, where she worked for the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature, Latin America’s largest environmental fund. She started that organization’s Development Office, working closely with the executive director to design new fundraising and communications campaigns and to develop innovative strategic projects. This summer, she interned at the Sustainability Department at Walmart. Berry holds a B.A. from Yale University.
Ed Lee (MBA ’13) Education Circle Lead
Ed is a second-year MBA student focusing on Strategy and General Management. This summer he interned at the Huron Consulting Group in the Higher Education practice. Prior to Ross, he had a nine year career in teaching and school leadership, playing critical roles in the creation of two public high schools in New York City. At the Brooklyn Latin School, he launched the science department, taught the wonders of chemistry to 10th graders, and supported teaching staff as elected school union representative. At Millennium High School, the first school to open in lower Manhattan after 9/11, he developed and taught an integrated two year biology-chemistry course to 9th graders. Before moving to New York, he taught Tourism English at Sorabol College in Gyeongju, South Korea. Ed is passionate about K-12 education reform and is interested in the interface between innovation and public school districts. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in chemistry from Duke University and a Master’s Degree in Science Education from the City College of New York.
Samir Malviya (MBA ’13) Co-Director of Fund Development
Samir is a second-year MBA student focusing on Finance and Social Entrepreneurship. After his first year, Samir was a summer associate at Unitus Impact, a Bay Area based impact investing fund focused on livelihoods enterprises in the developing world. At UI, Samir performed deal screening and due diligence on businesses in Asia and Africa. Prior to coming to business school, Samir completed a summer position with Developing World Markets, a social venture capital fund based in New York. At DWM, Samir originated debt and equity transactions for microfinance institutions based in SE Asia and Latin America. Prior to that, Samir completed a fellowship with Lok Capital, a social venture capital fund based in New Delhi, India. Through the fellowship, he worked in the finance department of Ujjivan Financial Services, a Bangalore based microfinance institution. Samir was responsible for all budgeting and business planning as well as the leader of the funding team tasked with raising capital for the company. Before moving to India, Samir worked as a financial analyst in the Private Wealth Management group at Goldman Sachs in Chicago. At Goldman, Samir worked on a team of four advisors to service a $3 billion book of business. Samir seeks to leverage his MBA and secure a position with an international social venture fund. Samir holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.
Dave Yeh (MBA/MPH ’13) Director of Circles, Health Circle Lead Dave is a third-year MBA/MPH candidate pursuing concentrations in strategy and entrepreneurship. Prior to Michigan, Dave worked as a consultant with the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC, and Sg2 in Chicago, IL. As a consultant, Dave helped hospital executives design care programs and facilities that would continually meet the demands of their service areas over a 10-year time horizon. Since coming to Ross, Dave has expanded his scope of experience, working with global health organizations such as GE’s Rural Health Initiative, PATH, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Dave is certain that health solutions tailored to emerging markets can offer tremendous learning opportunities for those working to solve domestic health problems in the US. Dave holds degrees from Northwestern University in Psychology and Music. In addition, he is an avid cyclist and aspiring chef.
