Alumni Advisory Board

Neil Benedict is a commercial loan officer at Standard Bank & Trust Co. He earned his BBA in accounting in 2012 and his MBA in project management in 2013 at Saint Xavier University. Benedict was awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Business Student from Chicago's Crain while at Saint Xavier. He serves as a mentor for the BEST Mentoring Program.

Ketlen Bystrom earned her MBA in health administration in 2012 at Saint Xavier University. She now works at Midwestern University, College of Dental Medicine in Downers Grove. She is currently the manager of Patient Services. Earlier in her career, Bystrom has worked in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the health care area. She can speak Portuguese and some conversational Spanish. Bystrom serves as a mentor in GSM's BEST Mentoring Program.

Stephanie Bilotto received her bachelor's degree in business administration with a double major in management and marketing from Saint Xavier University. She currently works for the Walgreens company as a space management analyst. Bilotto is very active in her community and is excited to bring her ideas to marketing and alumni social events.

Dennis Foley received his B.A. degree in philosophy from Loyola University in Chicago and completed his MBA in financial planning here at Saint Xavier University. Foley works for Merrill Lynch as vice president, wealth management advisor. Foley is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® (CRPC) and Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist® (CRPS).

Gregg Fuesel received his B.S. in finance from Northern Illinois University and then completed the MBA program in finance here at Saint Xavier University in 1990. Currently, Fuesel works as the director of Regulatory Reporting for TD Ameritrade. Fuesel has completed the Series 27-Financial Operations Principal, Series 4- Registered Options Principal, Series 7-General Securities Representative and Series 63-Uniform Securities Agent State Laws.

José Garcia joined Northwest Community Credit Union as president and CEO in December 2012. Garcia has over 29 years of financial experience; 18 of which have been in the credit union industry. Born in Brownsville, Texas and raised in Chicago, Garcia attended Saint Xavier University and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting. He is committed to building upon the continued success of Northwest Community Credit Union by implementing innovative technology, convenient financial solutions and consistent reliable service. Garcia resides in the South Loop/Pilsen neighborhood and is an avid golfer.

Alma Garza is a strategic bank executive responsible for the full scope of finance, accounting, operations and processes. She has over 25 years of banking experience, which includes the development and implementation of policies and procedures, forecasting and budget planning, asset-liability reporting, risk and operations management in a variety of community banks with total assets ranging from $40 million to $2 billion, including start-ups. Garza has also worked in the audit sector of the financial services industry for one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States.

Jim Hedderman received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Saint Xavier University. He is a managing director in True Partners Consulting's Chicago office. He has over 14 years of federal taxation experience both in the public and corporate arena. Hedderman has given back to Saint Xavier greatly: He serves on the GSM Business Advisory Council and is also one of 26 business executives that serves as a mentor in the GSM BEST Mentoring Program.

Sean Hickey is a certified public accountant at McGladrey in Chicago. Hickey earned his B.A. in 1993 in Art and Philosophy at Saint Xavier University. He has served on the Saint Xavier Alumni Association and gives back greatly to the University. He does a great job working with our current accounting students in the recruiting, internships and mentoring area.

Jack Love received his B.A. from Saint Xavier University, his MBA from Devry University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of Illinois. Love is currently the chief financial officer at Feralloy Corporation. He is specially proud that his company provides an internship opportunity each year for Saint Xavier accounting students.

Dean Malone is the vice president of Finance at Midwestern University. He earned his BBA from Saint Xavier and his MBA from Loyola University. Malone serves as a mentor in GSM's BEST Mentoring Program.

Bob Millerick is a risk management specialist, Supervision and Regulation, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He earned both his BBA (Accounting) and MBA (Financial Fraud) at Saint Xavier. Millerick is serving as chair of the Finance and Scholarship Sub-committee.

Sabina Modla is a finance representative/insurance agent at Country Financial. She earned her BBA in 2008. Modla has been in the banking and financial services industry for a number of years.

Gregory Parr Jr. currently runs day-to-day operations as administrative director at Frontier Construction. He attended Saint Xavier University from 2004-2008 as a full time, commuting student while working at Frontier Construction assisting in project management. Currently, he heads up administration, HR, IT and marketing. Parr's creative abilities and enthusiasm make him a valuable asset to the Alumni Board. He wants to make other alumni excited to come back to SXU and promote a sense of community within the Saint Xavier University alumni network.

Paul Rachanski is a manager at McGladrey in Chicago. Rachanski earned his BBA in finance at Saint Xavier University in 2010. Expertise includes due diligence, financial modeling and analysis, portfolio management, ARGUS, lease audit, lease abstraction and lease administration.

Brian Radakovitz is the regional director, Support Services, at Presence Health in Mokena. Radakovitz earned his B.A. in 2009 at Saint Xavier and also his MBA in 2011. He is currently an adjunct faculty member of the Graham School and teaches in the management area. Radakovitz is also a mentor in GSM's BEST Mentoring Program.

Sarah Ritschard earned her MBA in finance at Saint Xavier University. She currently works at Deloitte as a lead learning and development specialist. Hasan is an experienced professional, respected for her leadership, integrity and strong interpersonal/team building skills. She has a proven track record of fostering strong client relationships, working well under pressure and being a strategic thinker experienced in problem solving, decision making, upward movement and increasing responsibility. She serves on GSM's Marketing Sub-Committee.

Jim Rybarczyk is Berger/Allied's director of Corporate Business Development. In his current role, Rybarczyk is responsible for leading Berger's Business Development Team. He was responsible for centralizing Berger's Corporate Account Customer Service Team. Rybarczyk is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 2009, he earned his Master of Business Administration from Saint Xavier University. He is chair of the Graham School of Management Business Advisory Council. Outside of work, Rybarczyk and his wife Maria enjoy their two children, Kristina and Jimmy.

Dr. Laura Shallow is a three-time SXU alumna, receiving three different degrees from GSM at different times: Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in marketing in May 1978, MBA with a concentration in management in May 1986 and M.S. in Finance in 2003.

Professionally, Dr. Shallow has been in the banking industry since 1974. She was the vice president of Marketing, Business Development, Retail, and Professional Banking at Standard Bank and Trust Company in Evergreen Park/Hickory Hills from May 1974 to September 1993. Following her time there, she went onto become vice president of Municipal and Small Business Banking at Marquette Bank Chicago. She also served as senior vice president of Sales, Retail Banking and Branches; senior vice president and all-bank sales manager at Bank Financial in Burr Ridge.

From May 2003 to May 2013, Dr. Shallow was the vice president and senior relationship manager for Government and Institutional Banking Group, Commercial Banking, at Fifth Third Bank, Chicago. And since 2013, she has been the group senior vice president for Government and Institutional Banking, Investments, at Standard Bank and Trust Company in Hickory Hills.

Dr. Shallow has been active in University and GSM events, including Saint Xavier's annual golf outing, homecoming activities, the President's Scholarship Ball, as well as GSM's retreat, Career Pathfinder Webinar and the school's Marketing Council. She has been the inaugural president of the GSM Alumni Advisory Board since its creation in fall 2014 and has helped with mobilizing alums to establish the group with assistance from several committees. One of these committees has been charged to help GSM with its Business Executive for Student Transformation (BEST) Mentoring Program, where GSM graduates mentor current students in in support of their education and career. Dr. Shallow has contributed significantly in implementing this initiative, including hosting a meeting for the program at her bank.

She is the recipient of the inaugural GSM Alumna of the Year Award, Distinguished Alumni Award and inaugural GSM Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) Alumna Recognition Award, an international honors society for business programs accredited by AACSB International, encouraging and honoring the academic achievements and personal excellence in the study and practice of business.

Dr. Shallow has also been an adjunct instructor for GSM since 1986 and has served on the Saint Xavier University Alumni Association, Golf Committee, President's Advisory Board Sisters of Mercy and the Mercy associate, among others.

Outside of SXU, she also serves on numerous community and charity organizations, including the Beacon Therapeutic, Brother Rice High School, Evergreen Park Chamber of Commerce, Evergreen Park Public Library Foundation, Mother McAuley High School, Environmental Commission for the Village of Evergreen Park and is a Eucharistic minister, reader and active member of Saint John Fisher parish.

She received her Doctor of Business Administration from Argosy University in November 2014.

John Simmons is a senior investment strategist at William Blair & Company. He earned his B.A. in English and Literature and also his MBA in finance at Saint Xavier University. Simmons is very active at Saint Xavier. He serves on the Board of Trustees and also the GSM Finance Board. Simmons is a mentor in the BEST Mentoring Program.

Abdullah Y. Tadros is vice president and commercial underwriting manager at First Midwest Bank. In his current role, Tadros is responsible for leading First Midwest Bank's business banking underwriting team, ensuring thorough risk assessment of commercial clients, portfolio performance and monitoring while collaborating effectively with his internal business partners to meet client's needs. Prior to his current role, Tadros was a commercial banker responsible for developing and managing relationships with privately held mid-sized companies throughout the greater Chicagoland area. Tadros is a graduate of DePaul University with a Bachelor of Science in finance and Saint Xavier University's Graham School of Management where he earned an MBA with a concentration in financial analysis.

Tadros is currently chairman of the board at St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church of Palos Heights. He participated in Saint Xavier's BEST Mentoring Program and regularly volunteers at Feed My Starving Children.