Dean's Advisory Council

Danielle Bechta is the Senior Manager of Philanthropy at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. She previously served as Associate Director of Advancement at the Foundation. Prior to that, Ms. Bechta was the founder and first Executive Director of the RUDM Alumni group. She was the first RAA President to have graduated from SAS and elected into a two-year term. During her undergrad, Ms. Bechta was also an active member of the SAS Educational Opportunity Fund and Sigma Kappa Sorority. After receiving her Rutgers degree, Ms. Bechta served as a national volunteer for Sigma Kappa, and is currently a Trustee for the Sigma Kappa Foundation. Ms. Bechta graduated from the School of Arts and Sciences in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and holds a master’s degree from Saint Joseph’s University in Organizational Development and Leadership. Ms. Bechta has served on the Dean’s advisory council since 2021.

Tahlia Bliss is a trustee at the Brandeis School of San Francisco, where she has chaired the development department for the last four years and will soon transition to co-chair a capital campaign set to launch in the fall of 2025. She is a 2000 graduate of Douglas College, Rutgers University with a Jewish Studies major, one of the first to graduate with the Alan and Joan Bildner Center for Study of Jewish Life. Ms. Bliss is also a 2006 graduate of the dual degree program at Columbia University School of Social Work and the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she was a Haas Fellowship recipient and a UJA-Federation of New York Weiner Center Scholarship recipient. She is also a 2008 graduate of the Muhelstein Institute for Jewish Professional Leadership at Columbia University School of Public Affairs. She has worked at UJA-Federation in the Network Commission, managing the Federation/Community Council partnership and the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, researching the special needs community. Ms. Bliss joined the Dean’s Advisory Council in 2024.

Rodolphe N. Brioché serves as Vice President for Global Public Policy and Policy Counsel for Comcast Corporation, where he focuses on the development of the company’s public policy positions and legislative analysis. Prior to joining Comcast, Mr. Brioché served as Legal Advisor to Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein at the Federal Communications Commission and Legislative Counsel to U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ, focused on media and broadband policy. Earlier in his career, he practiced law as a commercial litigator in New York City and Baltimore and served as Counsel to the Washington Bureau of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He also clerked for Judge André Davis on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and Chief Judge Robert Bell on the Maryland Court of Appeals. Mr. Brioché graduated from Rutgers College in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in History and received a J.D. from the University of Maryland, and an M.A. in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. He has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council since 2020.

Robert Coppola serves as Chief Technology Officer at Sanctuary Wealth. He previously served as the Chief Technology Officer for Envestnet, Inc., where he was instrumental in the development of fintech that transformed the wealth management industry to enable once captive, W-2 employees to establish independent firms and unlock the value of their businesses. Prior to joining Envestnet, he was the Chief Information Officer at Cision, where he helped transform the company into a technology-driven solutions provider that empowers PR and marketing pros to target, reach and engage their audiences. Before joining Cision, Mr. Coppola spent 24 years in the financial services and media industry in various technology and business leadership roles for companies including Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, and S&P Global. He graduated from Rutgers College in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in Economics. Mr. Coppola joined the Dean’s Advisory Council in 2022.

Dr. Paul Dicker is the founder of The Center for Women’s Health, a private practice Ob/Gyn group in northern Bergen County, and is a partner in Lifeline Medical Associates, an organization comprised of over 200 women’s health practitioners throughout New Jersey. Dr. Dicker serves as a Board Member in Lifeline, playing a vital role in guiding this innovative, forward-looking company on its mission to provide the highest quality, most cost-effective healthcare to women across the state. Dr. Dicker is also actively involved in the United States Women’s Health Alliance, a nationwide organization of over 3,000 women’s health providers that is recognized as the leader in developing and implementing value-based healthcare for millions of women across the country. He graduated from Rutgers College in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in biological sciences and received his medical degree from New York University. Dr. Dicker has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council since 2017.

Dagon L. Garris, Jr – CLTC, FSCP, LUTCF, MBA is currently a financial planner and investment advisor at Eagle Strategies LLC. Prior to starting his practice, Mr. Garris held sales executive positions with Pitney Bowes, IBM Corporation and GTE Corporation. He has received special professional recognitions including IBM’s Southwestern Region Rookie of the Year, Insurance Industry Regional Manager of the Year and New York Life’s Chairman’s Council. He also served on the board of directors for the Santa Maria Hostel, an addiction and recovery center for women, the Windrose Homeowners Association and the Houston Society of Financial Services Professionals. Mr. Garris received his B.A. from Upsala College in 1972 and his MBA from Rutgers Graduate School Business of Administration in 1976. He has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council since 2021.

Dr. Allen M. Khademi serves as Vice President of Medical Affairs for Christian Health, a health care organization in Bergen and Passaic counties offering a continuum of high-quality senior living, short-term rehabilitation and mental-health services. Prior to joining Christian Health, Dr. Khademi served as the Medical Director of Rehabilitative Services, Post-acute Care Services, and Care Transitions for Summit Medical Group. Previous leadership positions also included Vice President of Medical Affairs for the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, and Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Division/Medical Director of Stroke Rehabilitative Services at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Pennsylvania. Dr. Khademi graduated from Rutgers College in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology. He subsequently received his M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1992. He joined the Dean’s Advisory Council in 2022.

John Mathai is a Vice Chairman and Senior Investor at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in New York. He is responsible for advising real estate principals, corporate executives, hedge funds principals, private equity principals, high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs and families on their wealth. Mr. Mathai has dedicated his entire 30-year career to the J.P. Morgan Private Bank advising clients on asset allocation and tactical investment ideas across broad asset classes around the world. Prior to that, Mr. Mathai was the head of the investment desk working closely with a team of ten investment professionals, managing assets in excess of $10 billion. He received a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a minor in Finance from Livingston College in 1988. Mr. Mathai joined the Dean’s Advisory Council in 2021.

Theresa Ragozine retired from Johnson & Johnson in 2017, after having been with the company for 35 years. She most recently served as the vice president of procurement citizenship at Johnson & Johnson. Prior to that, she served as the vice president for procurement business services and vice president, enterprise standards & productivity, Early career days covered a wide variety of roles within Global Strategic Sourcing and end-to-end global logistics for the International Export Division. Theresa also served as Johnson & Johnson’s National Program Director for what is recognized as the most successful volunteer blood drive campaign in industry. She graduated from Rutgers College in 1980 with a degree in English. She also holds an M.B.A. in international business from Fairleigh Dickinson University and completed the Smith College Leadership Consortium for executive leadership training in 2008. Ms. Ragozine has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council since 2015.

Dr. Steven Stylianos serves as system director for Pediatric Surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Bristol Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at RWJUH and professor of surgery and chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery at RWJMS. He previously served at Columbia University as the Rudolph N. Schullinger Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery. He also served as the Surgeon-in-Chief of the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital/New York Presbyterian. He has organized and directed the multi-disciplinary teams of physicians and nurses who have separated five sets of conjoined twins. Dr. Stylianos served as Chairman of the Trauma Committee for the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) from 1997–2002. Dr. Stylianos currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery Case Reports, Associate Editor of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery and served on the Executive Board as a founding member of the Pediatric Trauma Society. He graduated from Rutgers College in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and received his MD from NYU School of Medicine. He joined the Dean’s Advisory Council in 2022.

Brian N. Tobin is the Executive Director of Keep Middlesex Moving Inc. (KMM). With a strong background encompassing business development, public education initiatives, grant writing, and management, his strategic focus will be strengthening relationships with local, county, and regional stakeholders, fostering new business partnerships, and identifying opportunities to enhance safe and accessible transportation options for Middlesex County's residents, businesses, and commuters. Prior to joining KMM, Mr. Tobin was a manager at the nationally recognized Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) and served as executive director for the New Jersey Asphalt Pavement Association (NJAPA) and the Associated General Contractors of New Jersey (AGC of NJ). He has worked in the transportation industry for close to a quarter century and serves as a trustee for many professional organizations such as the Intelligent Transportation Society of New Jersey and the New Jersey Society of Asphalt Technologists (NJSAT). Mr. Tobin graduated from Rutgers College in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and received a Master’s in History from the Graduate School of Newark in 2017. Mr. Tobin joined the Dean’s Advisory Council in 2024.

Donna Simpson Usiskin is the EVP Strategy, Sales and Success, US Operations Notiv. She has more than 20 years of sales, marketing, and strategy experience with information technology companies and over 10 years of venture capital experience. She previously served as VP of Marketing at AppBus. Prior to AppBus, she served as VP of Corporate Development for MMIT and previously held executive roles to accelerate growth for several early/growth stage companies. She held senior marketing and sales roles at Connextive and Princeton Softech. Mrs. Usiskin has served as BOD, Advisory Board member and Mentor with numerous start-ups, organizations, and incubators in the region. She graduated from Rutgers College in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Mrs. Usiskin has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council since 2020.

Gary Way is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of NYU School of Law and the Board of Advisors at the National Sports Law Institute. Mr. Way practiced law for thirty-six years. He was the Vice President and Global Counsel of the Nike, Inc. worldwide sports marketing organization for the last twenty- four years as well as the General Counsel of the Jordan Brand-a $5 billion division. Mr. Way began his legal career on Wall Street as a litigation associate at Haight, Gardner, Poor and Havens moving onto working as a league lawyer at the National Basketball Association. Mr. Way received a bachelor’s degree in English from Rutgers College in 1980 together with a ROTC commission in the U.S. Army with distinction as a Distinguished Military Graduate. Following graduation, he earned his law degree from New York University. Mr. Way joined the Dean’s Advisory Council in 2021.

Alan Wink is Director – Capital Markets at EisnerAmper LLP, one of the largest accounting firms in the U.S. Mr. Wink assists clients with capital budgeting, capital structuring and capital sourcing. He has 20 years of financial and consulting experience, having served as Director of the Interfunctional Management Consulting Program at Rutgers Graduate School of Management, a program he helped build into one of the largest business school-based management consulting practices in the country. He started his career in accounting, spending six years on the audit staff of a Big 4 accounting firm and a Fortune 500 Company. He left the accounting field to expand his horizons in the area of Corporate Finance. Mr. Wink spent several years as Director of Financial Analysis for AmBase Corporation (NYSE). He graduated from Rutgers College in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and he received his MBA in 1987 from Rutgers Business School – Newark. Mr. Wink has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council since 2018.