Cass graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1995 with a B.S. in Exercise Science. While at UMASS, she was captain of the volleyball and basketball teams. After graduating from UMASS, Cass moved to Boston to work for the Wellbridge Athletic Club. She had many different roles within the company ranging from Personal Trainer to Athletic Director. As Athletic Director, her responsibilities included managing 85 employees in seven departments, building and managing budgets, growing profit center revenue, and creating programs. In her free time, Cass enjoys coaching kids in basketball, volleyball, and soccer. She has also volunteered for the New England Women’s Fund, helping the organization bring opportunities to girls through sports. Upon graduating from the W.P. Carey MBA Sports Business Program, Cass would like to pursue a career in either collegiate athletics or the women’s professional sports industry.

Brian graduated with a BS in Accounting from Winthrop University in 2001. As an undergraduate, Brian held positions as an Accountant in both the public and private accounting sectors where he maintained financial records for high net worth clients, prepared financial documentation for SEC registrants, and participated on non-profit audit teams. In addition, Brian captained Winthrop’s NCAA Division I Men’s soccer team in both his Junior and Senior years and was recognized two times as an Academic All-American for the South Region. Subsequent to graduation, Brian filled the role of a power plant Controller for El Paso Merchant Energy in Houston, TX. As Controller, his duties included budget preparation, financial reporting, and audit administration. More recently, Brian served as a Business System’s Analyst and Financial Analyst for El Paso Natural Gas in Colorado Springs, CO. His responsibilities included leading teams responsible for accounting and reporting system re-writes, developing interactive internal and external customer applications, and preparing Sarbanes Oxley compliant documentation for reporting on pipeline assets. Brian is also the sole proprietor of Tour De Parts, an online bicycle parts retailer. Since inception, Tour de Parts has negotiated agreements with multiple suppliers and has grown to service bicycle enthusiasts, clubs, and teams worldwide. Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit, financial acumen, and passion for the outdoors and athletics have prompted him to pursue an MBA in Sports Business from the W. P. Carey School of Business. Brian has his sites set on securing a key role as a business developer or strategic planner for a leader in the outdoor adventure or extreme sport’s industry.

Carrie graduated with honors in Corporate Communications and Journalism from Northern Illinois University in 2002. As an Outstanding Senior Female Athlete nominee and three-year captain of NIU’s Division I volleyball team, she led her team to two conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances. During the past 6 years Carrie has worked as a coach at numerous elite summer volleyball camps, including Northern Illinois University and the Nike camp at Florida State University. As a camp coach, she assisted the head coaching staff with camp operations along with teaching high school girls volleyball fundamentals and game strategies. After graduating, Carrie joined the Allstate National Catastrophe Team based in South Barrington, IL as one of 30 property claims adjusters in the special divisions office for handling claims nationwide. At Allstate, she personally assisted over 2500 customers whose property had been damaged or destroyed due to catastrophic events. Community work has also been important to Carrie as she was in charge of developing and finding funds to support a building project at Safe Passage Domestic Violence Shelter in DeKalb, IL. She has also volunteered for Junior Achievement, where she worked with elementary students to teach them the importance of family, community, and businesses. Most recently, Carrie has served as a team representative, organizing, recruiting, and financing a USAV Women’s AA Volleyball Team. These experiences, combined with a desire to pursue a successful career in collegiate athletic administration, have led her to the W. P. Carey MBA Sports Business Program.

JD graduated from Duke in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. Upon graduation, JD spent four years with a technology consulting firm designing and implementing Customer Relationship Management systems for Fortune 500 companies. After that, JD spent four years working in technical sales for Akamai Technologies, an Internet service firm specializing in distributed computing solutions. JD's technology and sales background combined with his passion for sports brought him to the W. P. Carey MBA Sports Business Program. He intends to use the education gained in the Sports Business Program to attain an upper level sales and technology management position in a professional sports franchise.

Justin received a Bachelors of Science in Earth Systems from Stanford University in 1998. After graduating, he began a five year minor league baseball career. During his five seasons, he pitched in five different leagues for three different organizations: The Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, and Los Angeles Dodgers. In the spring of 2003 he began working for MKA Capital Group, Inc., a small real estate investment and finance firm in Southern California. Justin enters the W. P. Carey MBA Sports Business program with the hope of returning to baseball in a front office capacity.

Joel graduated from The Johns Hopkins University in 2000 with a B.S. in Mathematical Sciences, coupled with a Minor in Business. Throughout college, he spent every summer as an Accounting/Financial intern at High Industries, Inc., a privately held company based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania that offers a broad range of manufacturing, real estate, construction and business services. After earning his degree however, Joel moved to Los Angeles to work as an Information Technology Consultant with Kurt Salmon Associates, a global management consulting firm specializing in the retail and consumer products industries. After a little over a year in consulting, Joel returned to Pennsylvania and ultimately took a full time position at High Industries as an Accountant. Joel’s desire to make a transition into the sports industry compelled him to choose the W. P. Carey MBA Sports Business program for his graduate studies. His current aspirations are to work in a management position with either an NBA or NFL franchise.

Vipin graduated with Honors from the University of Maryland College Park in 2000 where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Neurobiology/Physiology and a concentration in Information Systems. Vipin leveraged his passion for Information Systems by working for Raytheon Systems as a software engineer. At Raytheon Systems, Vipin worked with customers to develop, deploy and maintain a web based logistics system aimed to streamline order and delivery processes. Vipin soon transitioned into team lead roles with Accenture where he worked on several projects geared towards implementing CRM (customer relationship management) methodologies in the Federal sector. Vipin plans to position himself on the forefront of the sports industry’s transition towards CRM by marrying his past work experience with an academic and practical understanding of business in the sports industry.

Ryan graduated from Waldorf College in 2000 with a BA in Business Mgmt. After graduation he worked at the Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, IA in the 401k Compliance area for two years before moving to a regional financial auditing role with Servcom Associates administering financial audits for small to medium sized businesses in the states of Iowa and Nebraska. Ryan served as a Little League baseball coach for three years. He came to the W. P. Carey MBA Sports Business program because of his interest in sports sales and marketing. Ryan has interest in golf and collegiate sports and hopes to use his MBA accordingly.

Prior to graduating from Arizona State University with Bachelor’s degrees in Marketing and Finance, Kurt spent over a year in his home country of Sweden completing his military service in the Elite Amphibious Assault Unit, The Coastal Rangers. During his senior year at ASU, Kurt worked as a marketing assistant in the ASU Athletics Marketing office where he was a member of the season ticket sales staff and football marketing operations. Specific game-day duties included sponsorship relations, on-field marketing operations, and coordination of pre-game event activities. Kurt went on to work for the Celebrity Fight Night Foundation, a Phoenix based charity which raises funds for Parkinson’s disease research. The event, which annually features Muhammad Ali and his celebrity friends, raised over $5 Million dollars in one evening. Kurt also held an internship with The National Sports Forum, the largest cross-team sports marketing conference in North America where he cultivated the ADchievement Award, an advertising award given to the best team sports advertising in the industry. Kurt’s desire to further enhance his skills in the sports sponsorship arena led him to the W. P. Carey MBA Sports Business Program. During his time in school Kurt will hold a Graduate Assistantship with VIACOM Sports Marketing, specifically responsible for maintaining VIACOM/ASU’s sponsorship relationship with Coca Cola.

Dave comes to the W. P. Carey MBA program with eight years of professional sports experience, primarily in the soccer industry. Most recently, Dave was with SportsNet, LLC, a boutique sports agency that specializes in professional athlete representation and soccer consulting. At SportsNet, Dave was heavily involved in client recruitment, endorsement development and contract negotiations. Prior to joining SportsNet, Dave served as Player Relations Consultant during the Inaugural Season of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA). After spending 1998-99 in national ticket sales and ticket operations with the FIFA Women’s World Cup Organizing Committee, Dave moved to Broadband Sports/AthletesDirect.com where he managed the official web sites for more than 25 professional athletes. A four-year varsity soccer player at The College of William & Mary, Dave graduated in 1996 with a B.A. in Economics. Immediately after William & Mary, Dave also spent one season playing professional minor-league soccer for the Hampton Roads (VA) Mariners. After supplementing his existing work experience with a W.P. Carey MBA education, Dave plans to return to professional sports marketing and management.

Greg was born and raised in Seattle, WA and attended The University of Washington where he majored in International Studies. Greg spent the summer of his junior year studying abroad in France, and honing his French skills. During his senior year at UW he worked as an intern at the Seattle Times sports department where he worked with the local high school sports reporters. After he graduated from Washington in 2001, he got a job as an Account Executive doing advertising sales at the Seattle Times in the Real Estate Department, which he’s done for the past three years.

Curtis graduated in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Production and Operations Management from Bowling Green State University. He played four years on Bowling Green’s hockey team, serving as an assistant captain his senior year. He was also a 1997 draft pick of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks. After graduating, Curtis spent two seasons playing minor league professional hockey in the East Coast Hockey League. He moved to Arizona in the fall of 2003 with the intent of joining the W. P. Carey MBA Sports Business Program. He has spent the past year working in the Membership Accounting department of the Pacificare Insurance Company. With his unique background and his W. P. Carey MBA, Curtis plans on pursuing a career in professional hockey or collegiate athletics.