ALUMNI

AWARDS
FRIDAY, OCT. 21, 2022
6 to 10 p.m.
The Renaissance Schaumburg

Alumni Awards Program 1

DESCRIPTION OF AWARDS
Distinguished Alumni Award — Given to College of Business
(COB) alumni who have achieved outstanding success. Recipients of this
award are individuals who have achieved national, regional or statewide
prominence either in their professional field or through their involvement in
civic, cultural or charitable activities.

Honorary Alumni Award — This award is given to an individual

who is not alumni, but has demonstrated outstanding commitment through
service to advance the best interests of NIU COB. This service may be in
the classroom, at the college or in the wider community.

Young Alumni Award — This award is given to alumni who

received their degree from COB within the past 10 years and have shown
outstanding promise and success in their professional career.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award — This award

is given to an individual who has demonstrated success as an innovator.
Individuals receiving this award typically are entrepreneurs, but this award is
not restrictive in its scope. Business leaders who have demonstrated success
in nurturing impactful ideas within a firm are also excellent candidates for
this award. This award may be given to non-alumni of NIU.

Social Impact Award — This award is given to an individual who

has made a significant, positive change that addresses a pressing social
challenge to make the world a better place. This award can be given to
non-alumni of NIU.

Student Engagement Award — This award is given to an

individual who has dedicated time to help students learn and progress along
their journey to be business professionals and global citizens. Engagement
may take various forms including mentoring, assisting with career internship
and job placement, financial support for students and actively supporting
faculty. This award may be given to non-alumni of NIU.

Global Alumni Award — This award is given to an individual who

personifies a global view, crossing boundaries and transforming lives for
worldwide impact. This award can be given to non-alumni of NIU.

Alumni Awards Program 3

Alumni Awards Program
WELCOME

SCOTT GLUCK
Senior Director of Advancement, College of Business

BALAJI RAJAGOPALAN, PH.D.

Dean, College of Business

DR. LISA FREEMAN

President, NIU

PRESENTATION OF ALUMNI AWARDS

2022 Distinguished Alumna

SEEMA PAJULA
1995 B.S. Accountancy

2022 Honorary Alumnus

JASON BARSEMA
2007 B.A. Economics 

2022 Young Alumnus

OLEG GRACHEV
2017 B.S. Economics 
2017 B.S. Finance 

2022 Innovation and Entrepreneurship

JEFF HARVEY
1988 B.S. Operations Management

2022 Social Impact

ELOIS JOSEPH
2015 M.B.A.

2022 Student Engagement

TERRY HORAN
1986 B.S. Marketing

2022 Global Alumna

NORIPAH KAMSO
1980 B.S. Management

DEAN’S CLOSING REMARKS

Alumni Awards Program 5

 2022 Distinguished
Alumna  
SEEMA PAJULA 

6 Northern Illinois University College of Business

Seema Pajula is the Clients,
Industries and Insights leader,
and Vice Chairman for the
Deloitte U.S. firm. In this
capacity, she is responsible
for key components of the
firm’s go-to-market approach
around driving growth,
innovation and client impact.
She focuses on building and
driving client programming
for the firm’s largest accounts,
industry differentiation and
impact, and insights and
perspectives including all
of Deloitte’s research and
eminence. Through her
leadership and the integration
of these capabilities, Deloitte is
able to help shape and inform
the dialogue executives have
about the pressing challenges
and opportunities they face
today and into the future.
Pajula also sits on the firm’s
U.S. Management Committee
and the Global Clients and
Industries executive committee,
bringing her expertise to
Deloitte’s approach to serving
global clients.
In addition to her leadership
of these operations and
programs, Pajula has served
and continues to serve many
of the firm’s largest clients
providing accounting, due
diligence, tax, information
technology, internal control and
other specialized consulting
services. She brought her
in-depth knowledge of the
consumer industry, including
manufacturing and supply
chains, to bear as the U.S.
Consumer Industry Leader from
2016-2020.
Pajula also sits on several non-
for-profit boards. These positions
allow her to champion things
she is passionate about —
how to attract and retain the
talent the industry needs to
succeed, as well as bringing
focus to local issues that can
be solved by the partnership of
business, government and the
community leaders.
Pajula holds a B.S. in
accountancy from Northern
Illinois University and is a
member of both The American
Institute of Certified Public
Accountants and the Illinois
CPA Society.
Alumni Awards Program 7
 2022 Honorary Alumnus   
JASON BARSEMA

8 Northern Illinois University College of Business

Jason Barsema is the President
and Co-Founder of Halo
Investing where he leads the
team and product vision. With
over a decade of experience
managing structured notes,
he built the Halo platform
to provide all investors
access to this incredible
investment product. Barsema
was previously a Partner on
a large private banking team
at Credit Suisse where he
managed portfolios for ultra-
high-net-worth individuals and
institutions. Barsema received
his B.A. in economics
from Northern Illinois
University and his M.B.A.
from Northwestern University’s
Kellogg School of Management.

Alumni Awards Program 9

 2022 Young Alumnus     
OLEG GRACHEV

10 Northern Illinois University College of Business

Oleg Grachev is a Senior Private
Equity Associate at GTCR, a
Chicago-based private equity
firm. He focuses on investments
in the Financial Services and
Technology space, and is a
board observer for Allspring,
CAPTRUST and Ultimus Fund
Solutions. Prior to joining GTCR
in 2020, Grachev spent several
years at J.P. Morgan in New York
City as an Investment Banking
Analyst in the Diversified
Industries group executing
on M&A, IPO and other
transactions for companies in
business services, aerospace
and defense, multi-industrial
and automotive sectors.
Grachev graduated in 2017
with University Honors and
Summa Cum Laude with a B.S.
in finance, B.S. in economics,
minor in applied probability
and statistics, and was a
College of Business student
marshall. Throughout his time
at NIU, Grachev was widely
involved in the College of
Business community working
as a Finance Core tutor, being
a Student Managed Portfolio
Senior Analyst, and serving as
President of the NIU Investment
Association. He also worked for
the NIU Division of International
Affairs in various capacities
and led the establishment of a
university-wide, cross-cultural
mentorship program.
He continues to be involved with
the educational missions of the
NIU finance department and
serves on the advisory board to
chair of the finance department,
Gina Nicolosi. In addition,
Grachev serves on the junior
board of InReach, a tech-enabled
nonprofit providing access to
resources for LGBTQ+ youth,
refugees and asylum seekers.
Alumni Awards Program 11
 2022 Innovation and
Entrepreneurship     
JEFF HARVEY

12 Northern Illinois University College of Business

As Chief Revenue Officer for
Industry Cloud, Jeff Harvey
engages with customers globally
to help them realize business
outcomes and accelerate
innovation from SAP’s portfolio of
Industry Cloud solutions. Harvey
and team act as advocates for
SAP’s customers, advising them
on how technology can help
drive innovation, value creation
and even accelerate their
business strategies. This includes
engaging with customers and
partners to co-innovate new
solutions to help extend and
evolve their enterprise business
processes to help maximize
efficiency and value creation.
As a former management
consultant and CIO himself,
Harvey understands what it takes
to deliver digital transformations
and enjoys helping customers
drive sustainable improvements
in business processes and
performance, enabling them to
better serve their customers and
stakeholders in doing so.
Harvey has over 34 years of
progressive experience in the
technology industry. He was
also the recipient of SAP’s
Distinguished Leader Award
in 2009.
Prior to joining SAP, Harvey
served as General Manager of
the national consulting practice
for Systems and Computer
Technology Corporation (later
acquired by SunGard and Infor).
He has also served in leadership
positions with Andersen
Consulting (Accenture) and
was Chief Information Officer
for Sandberg & Sikorski
Corporation in New York City.
Harvey holds a bachelor’s
degree in operations
management and information
systems from Northern Illinois
University. Harvey served
eight years on the board of
TechBridge, an Atlanta-based
nonprofit that helps other
nonprofits leverage technology
to better serve the community,
and currently serves as the
National Chair for Els for Autism
at SAP. He is based in Atlanta.
Alumni Awards Program 13
 2022 Social Impact     
ELOIS JOSEPH

14 Northern Illinois University College of Business

Prior to joining the Greenwood,
Elois Joseph worked on the
trading floor of the Chicago
Board Options Exchange
(CBOE). Her career spans
more than 20 years as an
accomplished financial service
professional with an extensive
background in brokerage
operations, regulatory
compliance and exchange
registration services. As a
financial professional, she
attained several licenses and
worked in the compliance
examination division for an
industry regulator. Joseph
grew up on the west side of
Chicago, earned an M.B.A. from
Northern Illinois University,
and a B.A. in journalism from
Columbia College Chicago. She
has worked as an Instructional
Practitioner with the College
of Business. She is proud to be
the first in her family to create
generational wealth and to have
the opportunity to teach this
process to others through the
Greenwood Project.

Alumni Awards Program 15

 2022 Student Engagement     
TERRY HORAN

16 Northern Illinois University College of Business

As President and CEO
of STIHL Incorporated,
Terrence “Terry” Horan is
responsible for leading overall
management of the U.S.
operations for STIHL Group’s
largest market and brand
subsidiary, headquartered in
Virginia Beach, Virginia. An
integral part of STIHL Group’s
manufacturing and sales
network, STIHL Inc. supplies
components and products
for more than 100 markets
worldwide.
Horan has demonstrated
proven leadership of major
companies and global brands,
with an emphasis on creating
winning cultures focused on
innovation and leveraging a
deep understanding of the
end-customer.
An internationally successful
leader with 35 years of
experience in the power tools,
DIY and consumer goods
industry, Horan joins STIHL Inc.
after a successful career as RPM
Consumer Group president at
RPM International Inc.
Before that, Horan held various
senior leadership roles including
president and CEO of DAP
Products Inc., president of
The Master Lock Company,
president and CEO of the
Robert Bosch Tool Corporation
North America and president of
Dremel Power Tools.
A native of the Chicago
area, Horan received a
master’s degree in business
administration from the
University of Notre Dame, and a
bachelor’s degree in marketing
at Northern Illinois University. In
addition, he currently volunteers
as a Start-Up Advisor at the
IDEA Center at the University of
Notre Dame.
Alumni Awards Program 17
 2022 Global Alumna    
NORIPAH KAMSO

18 Northern Illinois University College of Business

Datuk Noripah is Chairman
(Designate) of Arabesque
Malaysia. Arabesque Holding
PLC is a London-based
sustainability FinTech company.
She was a banker for 30 years.
She previously served as
chairman of Bank Kerjasama
Rakyat Malaysia, advisor to CIMB
Islamic Wholesale Banking,
and CEO of CIMB Futures.
She was the founding CEO of
CIMB Principal Islamic Asset
Management and pioneered
the listing of the world’s first
regional ASEAN ETF.
was also a visiting Fellow in
Islamic Finance at Oxford Center
for Islamic Studies (OCIS),
University of Oxford (U.K.) from
2016-2017.
Datuk Noripah wrote the
globally acclaimed book
“Investing in Islamic Funds.
A Practitioner’s Perspective”;
and was recognised as the
most influential woman in
Islamic Business and Finance
by Cambridge International
Financial Advisory in 2019.

The common good and shared

values in finance that apply to
the principles of Islam, ethics,
responsibility and sustainability
are universal values close to
Datuk Noripah’s heart. It is
with this passion that Datuk
Noripah and her husband co-
taught Islamic finance at Drake
University (U.S.A.), and they
currently lecture at Saint Joseph
University (Beirut, Lebanon).
Alongside her position as Global
Advisory Board Member of IFN
(Islamic Finance News), she

Alumni Awards Program 19

 To view past award recipients,
go.niu.edu/COBAlumniRecipients.

Northern Illinois University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution. Printed by authority of the state of Illinois. niu.edu 54896 10/22
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