Marketers, lawyers, “transformation” experts, oh my! The new faculty members teaching in the NYU M.S. in Publishing: Digital & Print Media program this fall are an eclectic and highly experienced group joining our full roster of 70 top media executives. To tell you more about them, we decided to give you not only the official bios of our latest faculty members, but some insights into their passions outside the classroom:
Jeff Barish (Magazine Advertising: Print and Online) is Senior Executive Director of Digital Sales at Condé Nast, where he is responsible for web, mobile and tablet advertising sales across all Condé Nast brands. Previously, he was Associate Publisher and VP of Advertising at Newsweek/The Daily Beast and before that, Advertising Director of Condé Nast Portfolio. He has also held senior management positions at Tribune Media Net, Thomson Financial Media, Fresh Baked Studios, and Metal Bulletin. Jeff received his degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Green-blooded Jeff Barish lives and breathes for the New York Jets.
Kyran Cassidy (Publishing and Internet Law) is Vice President & Associate Counsel of HarperCollins Publishers where, in addition to pre-publication review of books for libel and intellectual property issues, he is the principal attorney in charge of the distribution of digital products, digital piracy, information technology, internet marketing and regulatory compliance, among other responsibilities. Prior to joining HarperCollins in 1999, he spent eight years as a litigation associate at Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz, P.C., and also held senior legal positions at Graham & James and the New York Department of Parks & Recreation. Kyran earned his JD from New York University School of Law.
Barbecue aficionado Kyran Cassidy is adept at serving up Irish comfort food from the grill.
Bryan Christian (Introduction to Marketing and Branding) is Senior Marketing Manager at Hyperion Books where he manages both digital and traditional consumer marketing and advertising. Previously he was Marketing Director at Amistad Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Prior to that, he was Senior Marketing Manager at Simon & Schuster working with all imprints within the Adult Publishing Group. He began his career in books at the retail level working at Borders Group, Inc. in Ann Arbor as a Marketing Specialist working on in-store advertising and promotion. He earned his degree from Oberlin College.
Recently, Bryan Christian became a certified Spinning instructor.
Allison Falkenberry (Public Relations and Corporate Communications) is Vice President of Brand and Corporate Communications for Rodale, Inc., where she oversee all media relations, internal communications, brand building and speaking opportunities for the company’s book and magazine divisions. Previously, she was Executive Director of Communications for Men’s Health, Director of Public Relations for Women’s Health and Associate Director of Public Relations for Organic Style Magazine. Prior to joining Rodale, Allison held positions at GOLF magazine, SKI and Skiing magazines, Sports Illustrated, and at 20th Century Fox Films. She received her degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Allison Falkenberry is a big fan of Motown music.
Jennifer Graham (Introduction to Multimedia Financial Analysis) is Senior Vice President of Finance at Condé Nast. Before coming to Condé Nast, Jennifer was Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis for John Wiley & Sons, and had previously held senior financial planning positions at TV Guide Publishing Group, Columbia House, Freedom Technology Media Group, and Random House. She earned her MBA from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Jennifer Graham loves to go to concerts with her teenaged daughter—and crowd-surfed the Bamboozle Festival.
Alison M. Lazarus (Book Distribution, Merchandising, and Sales) is President of Sales for Macmillan, where she is responsible for sales of adult and children’s books, audio books and e-books to all customers, both domestically and internationally. She is also the President of Macmillan Audio. Alison and her staff have worked on many notable titles such as Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly, P.C. Cast’s House of Night series for teens, as well as novels by Janet Evanovich and Emily Giffin. Prior to joining Macmillan in 1997, Alison was VP, Director of Sales for Random House trade division, and before that for the Random House/Crown Group and the Knopf/Vintage Group. Alison has also worked at Bantam Books as a sales person, and for Dell/Delacorte as a Marketing Manager. She is a graduate of SUNY Binghamton.
A devoted gardener, Alison Lazarus spends weekends tending her organic vegetables.
Carolyn Pittis (Introduction to Interactive Media) is Senior Vice President of Publishing Transformation for HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide. In this role, she is responsible for leading an internal effort working with publishing teams to develop new capabilities that drive editorial and marketing excellence. In her 21 years at HarperCollins, Pittis has played a wide variety of key roles, including positions in marketing, web development, consumer sales forecasting, sales administration, digital asset management, business development, managing editorial, and change management. Prior to her current position, she led the company’s Author Services group. Pittis holds a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a 2004 graduate of the Executive Information Technology Management program at Columbia University.
Carolyn Pittis describes herself as a gardener, bicyclist, historian, instructor, amplifier, and wannabe quant.
Barbara Richard (Editorial Fundamentals) is Associate Managing Editor at Vintage Books & Anchor Books, imprints of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House, Inc., where she directs editorial production for more than one hundred books annually. In her additional role as Associate Director of Backlist Publishing for Vintage & Anchor, she helps to coordinate and produce promotional campaigns that highlight books in the imprints’ 5,000-title backlist. Her twenty years in publishing include positions at AltaMira Press and freelancing for publications such as Glamour. Barbara holds a degree in journalism from Indiana University.
Mets fan Barbara Richard keeps her cool mid-season through the practice of yoga.
Jack Rohan (Introduction to Multimedia Financial Analysis) is Senior Vice President, Finance at Hearst Magazines, having previously been Assistant Corporate Controller for the full company, and Vice President and Group Controller for the magazine division. He also was a Budget and Financial Analyst at NY Twist Drill Corporation prior to joining Hearst in 1980. He received his MBA from Long Island University-Post, and is also a CPA.
A dedicated hiker, Jack Rohan spends his spare time climbing the Empire State’s highest peaks.
Steve Sandonato (Capstone) is Vice President of Strategy & Business Development for Time Home Entertainment and Oxmoor House at Time Inc., where he develops overall digital book strategy , licensing and strategic planning for all Time Inc. book products. Previously, he was General Manager for Time Inc.’s book divisions, and before that worked for Hachette Filipacchi Magazines as Associate Business Manager. Steve received his MBA from the School of Business at Fordham University.
Steve Sandonato has a passion for fantasy football.
Steven Weissman (Contract Negotiation) is Deputy General Counsel at Time Inc., where he is of counsel to TIME (and Business 2.0, Money, and Sports Illustrated) and The LIFE Picture Collection for all editorial and business matters, as well as being principal lawyer for Time Inc.’s digital, e-content management and other non-print businesses. Previously, he was the Executive Director, Legal & Business Affairs, for iPublish.com at Time Warner Book Group and Assistant General Counsel & Assistant Secretary at Random House. He received his JD from New York Law School and his LL.M from New York University School of Law.
Music lover Steve Weissman has an extensive vinyl record collection.
A warm welcome to our new faculty members… and welcome back to our ongoing faculty. We look forward to seeing you soon in the classroom!
The Center for Publishing Staff