Seton Hall’s Stillman School of Business first opened its doors in 1950, drawing its namesake from W. Paul Stillman, a successful banker and former chairman and CEO of First National State Bank, which was succeeded by First Fidelity Bancorporation. Today, the Stillman School of Business is home to roughly 1,050 undergraduate and graduate students studying toward Bachelor and Master’s degrees in accounting, economics, finance, management information systems, marketing, and other concentrations. The Stillman School of Business frequently ranks among top U.S. business schools and in Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s top 100 Business Schools in America. It rated eighth among private universities for return on investment and 56th in a list of the top 100 business schools in the nation.

Stillman students have access to a wide range of resources, including academic centers and institutes like the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies; the Institute for International Business; and the Center for Securities Trading and Analysis, known more commonly as The Trading Room. Stillman School of Business students have the option of participating in eight different honor societies, such as the Finance Honor Society, the New Jersey Collegiate Business Administration Association Honor Society, and the Alpha Chi Lambda Sport Management Honor Society.

Seton Hall’s official business publication, The Stillman Exchange, is largely produced by undergraduate business students and distributed biweekly. Founded in 2006, The Stillman Exchange, which has a circulation of approximately 5,000, focuses on investment, sports, business, domestic and international news, and other subjects.

I began my time at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1997 as a Junior Portfolio Manger and Trader in Asset Management before earning a promotion to Vice President of U.S. Fixed Income. When Chase Manhattan acquired J.P. Morgan & Co., I continued with the newly merged banks as a trader and Vice President of U.S. Fixed Income in the Asset Management department until 2004. The history of Chase can be traced all the way back to Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States, who founded The Manhattan Company on Wall Street in 1799. Burr’s Bank of the Manhattan Company was formed in direction competition with Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of New York, a conflict that led to the infamous duel between the two men in which Hamilton lost his life. John Thompson formed Chase National Bank in 1877 and named it after Chief Justice and United States Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase. Alongside the Bank of the Manhattan Company, Chase National Bank continued to grow, acquiring a number of smaller banks during the 1920s. At the time, however, Chase National Bank was a wholesale bank, meaning that it dealt primarily with other prominent financial institutions and powerful corporate clients, such as General Electric. In 1955, Chase National Bank and The Manhattan Company merged to form Chase Manhattan Bank. Almost 15 years later under the leadership of David Rockefeller, the bank became the Chase Manhattan Corporation, a bank holding company. Shortly before I joined Chase Manhattan Bank, it was purchased by Chemical Bank of New York, though it retained its name. Four years later, in 2000, Chase Manhattan acquired J.P. Morgan & Co., marking one of the largest banking mergers in history. The company renamed itself J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Since I left the corporation, it has continued to acquire a number of important financial companies, including Bank One, Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., and Washington Mutual. I found it rewarding to be a crucial contributor to such a rapidly growing company.