Iona College Welcomes Top Finance and Investment Entrepreneurs to Board of Trustees
Karen Seitz ’84 and Michael G. Doheny bring over six decades of cumulative finance and leadership experience to Iona College
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — The strength of Iona College’s Board of Trustees continues to grow as two new members with extensive finance, investment and management experience have joined the Catholic, liberal arts institution just outside of New York City. Karen Seitz ’84, founder and managing director of Fusion Partners Global, LLC, and Michael G. Doheny, president and managing member of Freshford Capital Management, LLC, were appointed effective as of Dec. 9, 2020.
Cumulatively, they bring over six decades of management experience from top institutions including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, General Electric Company and Deloitte & Touche, before each launching their own successful investment firms.
The trustees’ high caliber of expertise and impressive range of both personal and professional leadership will be of tremendous value as Iona elevates the College experience and encourages students to “Learn Outside the Lines,” said Iona President Seamus Carey, Ph.D. It is also confirmation that Iona is on the right path and is moving forward with the best possible guidance for long-term success, he added.
“Iona is determined to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis a stronger and more dynamic institution, driven by our commitment to sound fiscal management, innovative academic programs, and a nurturing environment for all,” Carey said. “In welcoming Karen and Michael to the Board, Iona is poised to navigate these uncertain times with the best possible partners. I thank them for their dedication to Iona, and I look forward to all that is to come for the College, our students and the communities we serve.”
KAREN SEITZ ’84
Seitz, who earned a Bachelor of Science in General Business Administration from Iona and an MBA from the University of Chicago, founded Fusion Partners in January 2010. Fusion Partners is a global advisory and private placement firm, primarily raising capital for alternative investment opportunities from institutional investors.
From 1997 through 2009, she headed the pensions, endowments and foundations group at Goldman Sachs for North America. Seitz became a Goldman Sachs managing director in 1999 and a partner in 2004.
Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Seitz was a vice president of strategic marketing and business development at Morgan Stanley from 1995 to 1997. Before Wall Street, she spent nearly 10 years with the General Electric Company and GE Capital.
“With President Carey’s strong leadership, I am delighted and honored to join the Board and to work with the Iona team in increasing Iona’s educational capacity with broader global reach,” Seitz said. “Higher educational institutions like Iona are the essential ingredient in strengthening American democracy and creating opportunity for all.”
In May 2019, Seitz joined the board of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She serves on the boards of The Museum of American Finance (since 2015); buildOn (since 2012); and The Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation (since 2005). Previous boards included The Forum for Youth Investment (2005-2016); The Asia Group (2013-2015); The League Treatment Center (1998-2012); The New School University (2003-2009); and Mannes College of Music (2003-2006).
MICHAEL G. DOHENY
Doheny founded Freshford Capital Management, LLC in October 2008 and currently serves as president and managing member. Headquartered in Rye Brook, the firm primarily focuses on long/short value investments in the U.S. public equity markets.
Prior to Freshford Capital Management, Doheny served from 2000 to 2007 with Kensico Capital Management, where he was the original chief financial officer working closely with the founders on all investment and business related matters.
Doheny also served as fund controller for Long Term Capital Management (1995-2000), and specialized in hedge fund audits at Deloitte & Touche (1991-1995), where he served on several forensic accounting projects.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Economics from Boston College, graduating cum laude in 1991. He attended Regis High School in Manhattan.
“I am delighted to be a member of the Iona University Board of Trustees,” Doheny said. “I look forward to working with President Carey to further Iona’s mission to ‘fight the good fight’ and manifest opportunity, justice, and the power of education for its students.”
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2024 national list of “The Best 389 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.