Newswise — Doug Kass, a popular columnist and commentator on money matters, will return to his alma mater Alfred University to deliver this year’s commencement address at his alma mater.
The University will confer an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Kass during the ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, at McLane Center.
A 1971 alumnus of Alfred University, Kass will speak on his journey from Alfred; his assessment of what went wrong in the financial markets, and his expectations about the economy going forward.
“With the uncertainty about the future that our graduates will face in today’s economy, we thought Doug Kass would make an ideal speaker,” said President Charles M. Edmondson. “Mr. Kass’s path – from a philosophy and religion major at Alfred University, to a Wharton School graduate and a career as a investment manager with national recognition as a writer and commentator on financial matters– demonstrates that with a flexible, creative mind and an Alfred University education, it is possible to be a success in unanticipated fields.”
Student speakers will be Thomas Fleming of Penn Yan, NY, and Emily Tobin of Penfield, recipients of this year’s Marlin Miller Outstanding Senior Awards. The University will confer five doctoral degrees, 160 master’s degrees and 315 baccalaureate degrees on students who complete their degree requirements in May. Others, who completed work in August or December 2009 may also choose to participate in the ceremony.
Kass is the founder and president of Seabreeze Partners Management, Inc., which manages two hedge funds located in Palm Beach, FL.
But it is as a frequent contributor to Barrons, as well the subject of several cover stories in the publication, and as a guest host on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that Kass is best known.
Kass has also frequently appeared on other CNBC shows, including “The Kudlow Report,” “Street Signs” and “FastMoney.” He has also been seen on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “The Today Show,” and been quoted in the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers around the world, offering his advice on money matters.
Kass and “Mad Money’s” Jim Cramer are the principal writers on TheStreet.com’s Real Money blog. He has co-authored “Citibank: The Ralph Nader Report,” with consumer crusader Ralph Nader and the Center for the Study of Responsive Law. He has lectured on short selling, financial analysis and on the stock market at Harvard Business School, Yale University’s Graduate School of Management and at Seton Hall University.
Kass began his investment career as a housing analyst at Kidder, Peabody in 1972 after completing a Master in Business Administration degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Kass had majored in philosophy and religion at Alfred.
He served as vice president – analyst and economist – of Putnam Management from 1974-78, before becoming a general partner of Glickenhaus & Co. in 1978.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Kass worked on Wall Street at such firms as Omega Advisors, First Albany and JW Charles, where he served as a portfolio manager and as a director of research, respectively, before forming his own investment firm in 2001.
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