Management Team
First Marblehead's executive management team brings decades of student loan origination and portfolio management experience to the firm's leadership.
- Daniel Meyers President and Chief Executive Officer
- Peter B. Tarr Chairman of the Board of Directors
- William P. Baumer Managing Director, Chief Risk Officer
- Kenneth Klipper Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer
- Stein I. Skaane Managing Director, Co-Head of Capital Markets
- Gary F. Santo, Jr. Managing Director, Co-Head of Capital Markets
- Seth Gelber Managing Director, Corporate Development
- Michael Plunkett Managing Director, Loan Operations and Information Technology
- Gregory M. Woods Managing Director, General Counsel and Secretary
- Jo-Ann Burnham Managing Director, Human Resources
- Deirdre Bertrand Managing Director, Product Strategy
- Evan Kantor Managing Director, Portfolio Management
Daniel Meyers
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Meyers is a co-founder of First Marblehead and has served as our Chief Executive Officer and President and as a director since September 1, 2008. Mr. Meyers served as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors from our incorporation in 1994 until September 2005 and as our President from November 2004 to September 2005. From 1980 to 1991, Mr. Meyers was involved in arbitrage and derivatives trading at EF Hutton, Prudential Bache Securities, LF Rothschild Unterberg Towbin and Commodities Corporation. He currently serves as the Chair of the Board of the Curry School of Education Foundation at the University of Virginia. He is also currently a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and serves on the Board of the Forum for the Future of Higher Education. Mr. Meyers received an A.B. from Brandeis University and completed the Owner President Management Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
Peter B. Tarr
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Mr. Tarr has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors since October 2005. He served as our General Counsel from July 2005 to August 2008, and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors from August 2005 until his election as Chairman. From 1986 to June 2005, Mr. Tarr was a Senior Partner in the corporate law department at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where he also served as a member of the Executive Committee. Mr. Tarr's practice focused on advising boards of directors on corporate governance, strategic transactions and public offerings of securities. Mr. Tarr received a B.A. from Yale College, an M.A.R. from Yale Divinity School and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
William P. Baumer
Managing Director, Chief Risk Officer
Mr. Baumer joined First Marblehead as Senior Vice President, Compliance in July 2004 from Bank of America, where he was the Compliance Manager for their nationwide mortgage operations. Prior to its acquisition by Bank of America, Mr. Baumer was the Compliance Director- Core Banking for Fleet Boston Financial Corporation and was responsible for regulatory compliance programs in Fleet's consumer, commercial, and administrative staff units. He joined Fleet in 1984 and held various leadership positions in Compliance, Audit, Credit, and Retail Banking business units. Mr. Baumer earned his B.S. from Franklin Pierce College. He is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager, Certified Internal Auditor, and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist.
Kenneth Klipper
Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer
Mr. Klipper was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation in September of 2008. He had been the Treasurer and Chief Accounting Officer of the Corporation since November 2006 and prior to that he served as Senior Vice President, Finance beginning in March 2005. From January 2003 to March 2005, Mr. Klipper served as the Chief Executive Officer of BrownCo., an online brokerage firm at the time owned by JPMorgan. From May 2002 to January 2003, Mr. Klipper served as the Chief Financial Officer of Park Street Capital, a private equity firm. From January 2000 to April 2002, Mr. Klipper served as the Chief Financial Officer of Tucker Anthony Sutro, Inc., a publicly traded securities brokerage firm. Prior to joining Tucker Anthony, Mr. Klipper served for five years as both the Chief Financial Officer and Controller for the securities brokerage unit of Fidelity Investments, and he held positions with KPMG LLP, a registered public accounting firm, for eleven years. Mr. Klipper received a B.S. degree from the University of Richmond and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Stein I. Skaane
Managing Director, Co-Head of Capital Markets
Mr. Skaane joined First Marblehead as Senior Vice President, Capital Markets in 2001. During his tenure with First Marblehead, Mr. Skaane has played key roles in the product development, capital markets and finance groups. Prior to joining First Marblehead, he was with State Street Bank in the Asset Finance Division covering specialty finance including student loans. While at State Street, he acted in various capacities for First Marblehead, including as an underwriter on numerous securitizations and advisor on acquisitions. A native of Norway, Mr. Skaane is a graduate of the University of Wyoming and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. In Norway he was a member of the Norwegian National Alpine Ski Team and served in the Army's Special Forces Mountain Division.
Gary F. Santo, Jr.
Managing Director, Co-Head of Capital Markets
Mr. Santo rejoined First Marblehead on September 29, 2008 after spending 14 months at Fitch Ratings in the capacity of Managing Director in their Structured Finance Group. During that time Mr. Santo managed the Consumer ABS Group, which was responsible for the credit rating analysis of privately and publicly placed asset-backed securities, including those backed by student loans, credit card receivables and tobacco settlements. Prior to joining Fitch, Mr. Santo served 11 years as a Vice President for First Marblehead, having played an integral role in the growth and development of its capital markets and investor relations programs. He began his career in the student loan industry as a Financial Aid Officer at Boston University and Mount Ida College. In his current capacity, Mr. Santo co-heads the Capital Markets Group which is responsible for the financing, risk and quantitative analysis of FMD portfolios as well as data analytics and product development, bringing over 16 years of industry experience to this position. Mr. Santo graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in Political Science.
Seth Gelber
Managing Director, Corporate Development
Mr. Gelber returned to First Marblehead in September 2008 as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. From 2001 to 2006, Mr. Gelber played key roles in the business development, capital markets, and product strategy groups at First Marblehead as the company experienced a period of significant growth. Prior to joining First Marblehead, he spent six years working on Capitol Hill primarily focused on education, telecommunication, and banking legislation. Mr. Gelber has a B.A. from The George Washington University.
Michael Plunkett
Managing Director, Loan Operations and Information Technology
Mr. Plunkett joined First Marblehead as a Vice President in May 2003 after serving over 24 years in the U.S. Navy and retiring with the rank of Captain. He served in a variety of ashore and afloat positions including tours of duty in Washington, DC and several overseas deployments. During his time at First Marblehead, Mr. Plunkett has served in multiple positions in Operations, Information Technology, Corporate Program Management, and Business Process Redesign, where he was responsible for defining and implementing system and process improvements. Prior to joining First Marblehead, he served as the primary assistant to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Readiness and Logistics. He also served as the Supply Officer, USS John C. Stennis, a 5,000 person nuclear aircraft carrier and as the Logistics Officer, Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet. Mr. Plunkett earned a B.S. from Saint John Fisher College, an M.S. from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an M.A. from the Naval War College.
Gregory M. Woods
Managing Director, General Counsel and Secretary
Mr. Woods joined First Marblehead in April 2006 as Senior Vice President, Corporate Law from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where he had been a Junior Partner. Mr. Woods practiced general corporate and securities law at WilmerHale, with an emphasis on public equity offerings, SEC compliance and corporate governance matters. He began representing First Marblehead in 2003 in connection with its initial public offering. Mr. Woods received his A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University and received his J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University.
Jo-Ann Burnham
Managing Director, Human Resources
Ms. Burnham has been with First Marblehead for over 10 years and has played an integral role in the growth of the Company. Ms. Burnham was appointed as Managing Director of Human Resources in 2008. Prior to that, Ms. Burnham served as Vice President of Corporate Strategic Relationships where she managed the Company’s critical business alliances with guarantors and servicers. She earned a degree in Business from Marian Court College and has completed the Simmons College Executive Leadership Management Program. She is an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management.
Deirdre Bertrand
Managing Director, Product Strategy
Mrs. Bertrand joined First Marblehead in September 2003. From 2003 to present, Mrs. Bertrand has played key roles in the Business Development and Product Strategy groups. Prior to joining First Marblehead, Mrs. Bertrand worked in the Investment Banking divisions of Robertson Stephens and Jefferies & Co., where she helped companies in the Specialty Finance sector raise capital in public and private capital markets. She graduated from Middlebury College with a B.A. in International Politics and Economics.
Evan Kantor
Managing Director, Portfolio Management
Mr. Kantor joined First Marblehead in October 2009 after 26 years in consumer banking. Most recently, Mr. Kantor served at Citizens Bank from 2000 to 2009, initially as the CFO for the Consumer Finance Division from 2000 to 2006. While at Citizens, Mr. Kantor also served in various leadership roles responsible for Education Finance, Loan Accounting, Indirect Marine & RV Lending, Strategic Planning, and Auto Finance. From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Kantor served as CFO for Auto Finance and the Home Equity Bank for First Union Bancorp in Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior to joining First Union, Mr. Kantor served as the Controller for the Consumer Lending Division of First Fidelity Bank in Newark, New Jersey from 1993 to 1996. Mr. Kantor received a B.A. in Economics and English from Rutgers College and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Rutgers Graduate School of Management.