NYIT Appoints Two New Trustees

Philip Fasano (B.S. ’80), executive vice president and chief information officer at American International Group (AIG), and Itzhak Fisher (B.S. ’82), founder and general partner of Pereg Ventures, a Nielsen Company anchored private equity fund, are the newest additions to the board of trustees at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT).    

“Philip’s and Itzhak’s professional experience in the broad areas of strategic management and business development, entrepreneurship, and technology innovation will be valuable complements to our board expertise, and is synergistic with the values and attributes for which NYIT stands as a global university,” said Edward Guiliano, Ph.D., president of NYIT. “We take great pride in their professional success as NYIT alumni and know they will provide strategic guidance for our university as well as serve as exceptional role models for our current and future students.”  

These new trustees begin their tenure at a time of strength for the university. Enrollment is growing, particularly at the graduate level, and is projected to continue into the next academic year and beyond. Funding for research is at an all-time high, and NYIT’s School of Management recently earned initial accreditation by AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). This accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education and has been earned by less than five percent of the world’s business programs.   

Philip Fasano

Philip Fasano has extensive experience leading information technology programs at complex global companies. A proven leader in the information technology field, he has served as chief information officer at several high-profile financial services firms during the course of his career.

In October 2014, he became executive vice president and chief information officer at AIG, a leading international insurance organization serving customers in more than 130 countries. Previously, he spent several years at Kaiser Permanente, one of America’s leading healthcare providers and not-for-profit health plans, where he was executive vice president and chief information officer since 2007.

Prior to Kaiser Permanente, he held key management positions at leading organizations including founder and president, Capital Sourcing Group; business information officer at Capital One Financial Group; and senior vice president and chief information officer within an operating division of JP Morgan Chase. He also held positions at American Financial Group, Deutsche Financial Services in St. Louis, Bankers Trust Co., and Kidder Peabody and Co.

“I'm thrilled to be joining such a distinguished group of leaders as the board of trustees of NYIT. I view this as my opportunity to give back to my undergraduate institution where the value I gained from my degree has been a true gift," Fasano noted. "I'm proud to join at this time in the university's history, where technology and engineering are having such an impact on the lives of everyone across the globe.”

Itzhak Fisher

Pereg Ventures, of which Itzhak Fisher is founder and general partner, is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on identifying entrepreneurs with ambitious ideas that solve real-world marketing and advertising problems, including market intelligence technologies, spend management tools, advertising solutions, and online and mobile enablers.

Fisher served as executive vice president at the Nielsen Company, responsible for strategic business development initiatives and Mergers & Acquisitions, after originally leading the development and delivery of all Nielsen product solutions to the marketplace. Previously, he managed the Nielsen sports practice.

Throughout his career, he has led ventures through mergers, acquisitions, and initial public offerings. Most notably as co-founder and chairman of the Israeli-based Trendum, a leader in internet search and linguistic analysis technologies, which was subsequently acquired by the Nielsen Company, and the successful IPO of RSL Communications (NASDAQ: RSLC), a telco with over $1.5 billion in revenues and operations in 22 countries across four continents.

“It is such an honor to have been asked to be a part of the future of NYIT, when it was such an important building block of my past,” Fisher said. “I look forward to the privilege of helping this fine institution continue to deliver the stellar education of which I was a fortunate recipient.”