The O’Shea Center for Credit Analysis and Investment was created thanks to two generous contributions totaling $2 million from Robert O’Shea, BS ’87, and Michele O’Shea, FCRH ’88, as well as Michael Gatto, an adjunct professor at the Gabelli School.
With their gift, the O’Sheas have directed $1 million toward the center. They also donated an additional $250,000 to be split evenly between the Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund and the Gabelli School of Business Centennial Fund, which supports faculty and student research as well as curriculum development.
O’Shea—a co-founder of the Connecticut-based hedge fund Silverpoint Capital and a former partner at Goldman Sachs—has deep Fordham roots. He and his wife, Michele, are alumni, as are their three sons, Robert, FCRH ’13, Conor, BS ’17, and Parker, BS ’19.
He said he hoped the new project would become a “center of excellence.”
“It’s about creating areas where we can bring in professors and leaders who will dedicate tremendous time, commitment, and effort to help bridge the gap between academia and the financial markets,” he said.
The launch of the O’Shea Center was announced at an Oct. 27 event featuring Gatto, who will be the center’s director. Also a partner at Silverpoint, Gatto has been teaching the Credit Analysis class to undergraduates at the Gabelli School for six years.
“It was a natural fit as Michael was the director of Citibank’s Credit Training Program early in his career,” O’Shea said. “He later started his own company, designing and teaching credit training programs for Citibank and other global banks around the world. The center will provide an education in finance that you will not find at an undergraduate level anywhere else in the country.”
Gatto, who also contributed $1 million to the center, said the venue will focus on teaching, networking, and research. On the curriculum level, he said the establishment of a secondary concentration in credit analysis will make the Gabelli School stand out in an area that is underserved.
“It gives Fordham a real opportunity to develop a curriculum and train students, and those students are going to be better prepared to get the jobs and succeed at those jobs,” he said.