Orrery Society Leadership

Sandra Choi Brigode began her career in financial securities. In New York, she was a Vice President in the Securitized Products Group of Morgan Stanley and specialized in the auto finance, student loan, and utility industries. Ms. Brigode also worked in the Debt Capital Markets group of Goldman Sachs, primarily with the firm's energy and power clients. Ms. Brigode, a mother of two young children, has recently relocated from Honolulu back to New York. In Honolulu, she held leadership roles with a number of prominent local non-profit organizations. She was the Vice Chair of the St. Clement’s School Board, where she led the investment committee and financial aid committees. She worked to inaugurate an annual benefit dinner, and chaired the event twice. She has served on the board of the Honolulu Zoo Society and has been active in fundraising there. Ms. Brigode also served on the benefit committees for prominent Honolulu organizations including the Kapiolani Center for Women and Children and the Honolulu Museum of Art. Ms. Brigode received an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in Economics from Northwestern University.

Endowed collection: The Brigode Family Endowment for the Study of Education Policy and Reform

Ms. Kislak joined Rialto in 2024 and serves as a Managing Director in the Investment Management group.

Prior to joining Rialto, Ms. Kislak was a Managing Director at Blackstone in the Real Estate Debt Strategies group where she led the Capital Markets team, responsible for capital markets activity across vehicles in the US, Europe, and Australia. Prior to Blackstone, Ms. Kislak was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs focusing primarily on the pricing, structuring, and distribution of commercial real estate loans and securities.

Ms. Kislak graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Huntsman Program with a BS in Economics from the Wharton School and a BA in International Studies from the College of Arts and Sciences. Ms. Kislak sits on the CREFC Board of Governors as well as City Harvest’s Generation Harvest Board.

Tracey Appelbaum is founder and Managing Partner of BedRock Real Estate Partners, LLC.  She is responsible for the firm’s investment activities, which includes building and maintaining business relationships with investors and development partners as well as sourcing, negotiating, and closing investments in real estate development, redevelopment, and repositioning projects in the northeastern United States.  She co-founded BedRock in 2013 which to date has made investments in 17 projects totaling over $1.3 billion in assets.    She graduated cum laude with a BS in Economics in 1988 and an MBA, with honors, in 1994 from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania. She formerly served on the Advisory Board of The Wharton Real Estate Center from 1999 through 2001.   From 1994-2000 she organized the annual Marshall Bennett Honorary Real Estate Conference for young real estate professionals.  Ms. Appelbaum currently serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the JCC in Manhattan.  In that capacity she also heads the JCC's Real Estate Committee.    

Endowed collection: The Tracey & Andy Appelbaum Family Endowment for the Study of City and Regional Planning

Jim is a Partner in the New York office of Baker & McKenzie LLP, where he focuses his practice on patient litigation and leads the office’s intellectual property litigation practice.  Jim graduated from Penn in 1988 with a BA in Political Science.  He earned a J.D. from New York Law School, where he graduated cum laude and served as an Editor of the Law Review.  Jim serves on the Orrery Society Regional Advisory Council of New York, the volunteer leadership group dedicated to raising awareness of, and funds to support the digital and print collections at Penn Libraries.  Jim resides in Manhattan with his two daughters, Lucy and Isabelle.    

Endowed collection: James Samuel Blank Endowment Fund for Culinary History

Jason is the founder of Azul Partners, a B2B research and digital media firm, which he started in 2004. He is regarded as one of the leading global experts when it comes to the scintillating world of procurement and finance technologies. Prior to Azul Partners, Jason got his on-the-job education in procurement solutions working at FreeMarkets in corporate development, strategic sourcing, marketing and other areas. Before that, he started his career in consulting and merchant banking. Jason holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in English Literature and History.  

Endowed collection: The Isaac, Simon Louis, and Tobin Busch Endowed Judaica Fund

Scott Glosserman founded Gathr Films, pioneers of Theatrical on Demand®, which distributes independent films and documentaries using technology to accommodate audience demand by leveraging unused cinema capacity. He also founded the Gathr Foundation, a grant-giving organization, and Docutegrity, which tracks accuracy in documentaries and historical fiction for TV and feature films. He has directed, written and produced films and documentaries under his banner, Glen Echo Entertainment. Glosserman is a member of the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. He earned a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania, has guest lectured in the Film Studies Department at Yale University, and is on the Board of Trustees at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA.    

Endowed collection: The Rosebud Fund for Cinema Studies

Melissa London Hilfers is a screenwriter who lives in New York City. Her current projects include the thriller UNDONE, (Parkes/MacDonald and Black Bear Pictures), IMMORTAL (M.Y.R.A. Entertainment, with Ellen Kuras attached to direct); an adaptation of the bestseller Behind Closed Doors (Stone Village Productions, Wild Bunch Germany); Unfit (Amazon Studios, Dakota Johnson attached to star); as well as the Forgetting Time, an event series at Fox, with Octavia Spencer attached to star; and The Boy Who Played with Fusion (20th Century Fox, Chernin) with Jeff Nichols directing. Ms. Hilfers’ directorial debut, short film Blasphemy, is currently in post-production for a 2018 release. Ms. Hilfers is  a mother of three children and a rambunctious miniature schnauzer. She has served on the boards of the Child Center of New York and the Speyer Legacy School.    

Endowed collection: The London Hilfers Family Endowment for the Study of Women in Cinema and Media Arts

Jon received a B.S. in Economics, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. He is a Principal and co-head of credit investing at Taconic Capital Advisors LP, where he has worked since 2001. Jon also serves on the Orrery Society Regional Advisory Council of New York, the volunteer leadership group dedicated to raising awareness of, and funds to support the digital and print collections at Penn Libraries.  He currently lives in Rye with his wife Arielle Jachman, C’97, sons Matthew and Blake, and daughter Hannah.    

Endowed collection: Howard R. Jachman Memorial Fund for Positive Psychology  

Michael A. (Mickey) Kaufman joined the U.S. Air Force directly after his undergraduate studies at Penn. He subsequently earned an M.B.A. from New York University and a J.D. from Rutgers University, where he met his future wife, Sherryl Ann Widowsky. Kaufman began his legal career working for a major law firm in New York City before being recruited as an in-house attorney for Johnson & Johnson, where he spent a long and rewarding career in both business and law. Since retirement, Kaufman has written a series of children’s books under the "Fox & Camel" banner. He also published a memoir including vignettes about his earlier life … and corporate interactions. Kaufman has had a long history with Penn post-graduation, having served as president of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Alumni Society. He is a longtime member of the Orrery Society, as well as a member of his Class of 1970 reunion committee. The Kaufmans endowed a scholarship in the Moore School of Electrical Engineering in 2005. In 2012 with his sister, Kathy Kaufman, they established the Mary M. Kaufman Memorial Fund for Neuroscience & Biomedical Engineering Source Materials at the Penn Libraries. The Kaufmans have three children, son Alex, C’03, and daughters Mandy and Andrea; and five grandchildren. They make their home in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and Aspen, Colorado.

Endowed collection: The Kowell Family Art History Fund

Endowed collection: The Kowell Family Art History Fund

Rebecca Sumner Lien graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 with concentrations in finance and accounting. She began her career in mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley in New York City.  After attending Harvard Business School, she returned to the Morgan Stanley M&A department in New York and eventually moved to the Bay Area with her husband, Chris. While raising her two boys, Danny and Henry, she served on numerous non-profit boards. Rebecca was President of the SF/Marin board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Development Chair of the board of Marin Horizon School and Treasurer of the board at Congregation Rodef Sholom. Most recently, she has been the Development Director for Rodef Sholom during their capital campaign. She has stayed involved with Penn through the alumni interview program where she loves meeting the next generation of scholars. Rebecca endowed a collection in entrepreneurship because she started a business while at Penn and because of her family’s involvement with startups in the Bay Area.

Endowed collection: Rebecca (Sumner) Lien and Christopher Lien Endowed Collection Fund in Honor of Carol and Charles Sumner

Matt has served as an Analyst at Ridgeback Capital Management, LP, located in New York since its founding in 2006 where he helps make investment decisions in the biopharmaceutical sector. He received his BS in Economics with a concentration in Finance, minoring in Hispanic Studies, from Penn in 2003.  While at Penn, Matt assisted Professors Scott Rosner and Kenneth Shropshire with the first edition of The Business of Sports.  He was also a mentor with the Teak Fellowship and a Member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.  Matt and his wife, Beth, have one two-year-old daughter.    

Endowed collection: The Beth and Matthew Mezvinsky Collection Fund for Modern Philosophy

Katherine is a Director of Investments at family office, Bayberry Financial Services.  Katherine graduated from Wharton undergraduate in 1989 with a B.S.E and a dual concentration in Finance and International Business which lead to her overseas career in Tokyo and London with Salomon Brothers.  Subsequently, Katherine earned her M.B.A from Columbia University where she embarked upon her NYC based investment banking career in M&A at Salomon Brothers, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and Credit Suisse. Katherine resides in Manhattan with her two sons, Paul and Reece.  

Endowed collection: The Feng & Mitsuko Lee, Paul Montrone, and J. Reece Montrone Global Communications Collection Fund 

Jay lives in Boulder, CO. He graduated Penn with a degree from Wharton while also concentrating in psychology and group dynamics. He later earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Colorado, receiving the Student Excellence award for the class of 2009. Technology moved from Jay's hobby to a career focus, and he has led IT projects in healthcare, marketing analytics, telecom, finance, retail and hospitality for clients in North America, Europe, and Africa. Along the way, he co-authored TargetSmart!, a database marketing primer for small businesses, and co-executive produced Without Getting Killed or Caught, a biopic of Guy Clark that features Sissy Spacek. He served on the Board of Directors of KUVO, a Denver-based public radio station, and gave public presentations with ambassador animals on behalf of the W.O.L.F. non-profit. He continues to mentor undergrad and MBA students at the University of Colorado and tries to make time to restore a 1951 Chevy truck.   

Endowed collection: Jay Newberg Endowment for Mindfulness

Fanny graduated from Penn in 2007 with a major in English. She went to work in the entertainment industry, first as a production assistant for New Line Cinema in London, then in New York for Scott Rudin, an Academy Award and Tony-winning film and theater producer, and finally in Los Angeles for Peter Chernin's television production company. Fanny has worked on a number of film and television productions, including Doubt, Julie & Julia, It’s Complicated, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Social Network, and New Girl. After spending a number of years engaging with outsized Hollywood personalities behind the camera, Fanny decided she wanted to get closer to the individual stories that inspire cinematic versions of the human drama. She earned her Masters in Social Work at New York University and then completed a four-year post-graduate training in psychoanalysis at the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy. Fanny is now in private practice where she works with adults and couples. She and her husband, Michael Pertnoy (C'06), live in Manhattan with their son, Leo.

Endowed collection: Fanny and Michael Pertnoy Endowed Fund for Psychoanalytic Studies

Ian Seltzer is currently the lead for Business Development at Pierce Yates Ventures, where he has developed eSports, media, entertainment, sports betting and AI verticals for early-stage investment. Previously, he led Content & Business Development for Rogue Sports, one of the top-ranked eSports teams in the world. He has worked at Hulu, Vuguru (Michael Eisner’s digital studio), and Paramount Digital Entertainment covering content creation, licensing, distribution and digital marketing. While there he developed, licensed and launched 30 original titles for TV, film and the web in over 110 countries worldwide. Ian graduated with a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently earned an MS with Merit in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics with a research focus on monetizing streaming media content in the U.S. Ian is an active Penn alumnus as a member of the University Library’s Digital Media Awards Committee, The Annenberg School of Communications Performing Arts Council, The Penn Museum Young Alumni Council and The Class of 2009 10th Reunion Gift Committee.

Endowed collection: The Seltzer Family Fund for Huntsman Program Information Resources

Stepanie Simon graduated Penn with dual degrees from Wharton and the College of Arts & Sciences, majoring in Information Management and Japanese.  After 20 years of working in various finance and operations roles in publishing & media, including 10+ years at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she started on new paths and is teaching yoga and launching a new business focused on bespoke guided tours in and around New York City. 

Endowed collection: David F. and Stephanie B. Simon Collection Endowment

Mimi Slater is a Marketing & Business Development Consultant, working with new and established brands in the retail, fashion, and beauty industries. Her past experience includes head of marketing at Crow Holdings, a national real estate investment and development company; head of marketing at Cos Bar, an omnichannel beauty retailer; senior manager of global beauty and regional U.S. fashion communications at NET-A-PORTER, the premier global luxury ecommerce retailer; and marketing at batallure beauty and Bond No. 9. Mimi received her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from Columbia University. After a decade in New York, Mimi now resides in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children.

Endowed collection: The James B. Hoesley Collection Fund  

Endowed collection: Jeffrey S. Weiss Endowment for Real Estate Entrepreneurship

Richard is a Facial Plastic Surgeon and Otolaryngologist in New York City. After graduating the University of Pennsylvania in 1995 Magna Cum Laude with a BA in the Biological Basis of Behavior, Neuroscience concentration, he attended New York University, where he received his MD with honors in Cell Biology in 1999. He then did both Otolaryngology residency and a Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship at the Mount Sinai Hospital. Starting in 2005, he was in academic clinical practice at SUNY downstate and is still currently an assistant Professor for the department of Otolaryngology. He has since moved to private practice in Manhattan and has appointments at Lenox Hill Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital. He is the past president of the New York Facial Plastic Surgery Society and has been nominated as a top doctor in New York Magazine and Castle Connely, among other professional accolades. He is an active participant in research and medical publications and lectures at national meetings for Facial Plastic Surgery. He joined the Orerry Society in 2014 and lives in New York City with his wife, Stacy, and 2 children, Austin and Ava.

Endowed collection: The Westreich Collection Fund for Art and Art History of Latin America

Stacy graduated the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 with a BA in the Biological Basis of Behavior. Afterwards, she attended the New York University and received her M.D. in 2001. After a year of clinical research with Dr. Michael Mackarey at NYU, she went to Montifiore medical center for Radiology residency and then returned to NYU for a fellowship in Body and Abdominal imaging. Since completing her training, she has worked in private practice at Lenox Hill Radiology. Stacy joined the Orerry society in 2014 and lives in New York City with her husband, Richard, and 2 children, Austin and Ava.    

Endowed collection: The Westreich Collection Fund for Art and Art History of Latin America