Stern Sweethearts

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, the Office of Alumni Relations & Development is pleased to present the fourth annual installment of "Stern Sweethearts"- a profile of couples who met during their time here at Stern. As these stories demonstrate, you never know when or where Cupid's arrow will strike! You may be in homeroom, at a beer blast, orientation or spring break, and low and behold- your Stern Sweetheart may be sitting right next to you.

Juliana de Faria (MBA '02) and Peter Gallagher (MBA '03)

As told by Juliana: Peter and I met at an NYU Stern Beer Blast in late September 2001. It was a sad time in the City and on campus. Morale was understandably struggling, so that Beer Blast was sparsely attended. A few friends and I had decided to "fight back" by building friendships and camaraderie among the students. In New York City form, we decided to throw a ''Sex and the City'' party after the Beer Blast. While I was spreading the word about the party, Pete crossed the room with a big smile and introduced himself. We started to chat and, after a few minutes, I gave him one of my (what-to-do-with-these-hundreds-of) Stern business cards, with the party address written on the back.

I didn´t really expect him to show up at the party, but there he was. It turns out that he and his old Navy friend, Won, had actually debated at the door of the taxi whether to come! Something Pete said ultimately convinced the two of them to get in the cab. The following day we met again by chance during Pete's class event at Lincoln Center. A few days later we had our first date in the back garden of a cozy Italian restaurant on 1st Avenue (Brunetta's, which we returned to every year until it closed). Later that year I earned my merit badge when we hiked the Inca Trail with Stern friends during Spring Break - Pete was a big hiker, but that was my first time in a tent!

In 2005 we invited our family and several Stern friends to our wedding in my hometown, Rio de Janeiro. Our shared love of things Brazilian continued in 2009, when both of our companies invited us to transfer to São Paulo. We laugh a lot about that first night we met in the Sosnoff Lounge, and think about what would have happened if Pete and Won hadn't jumped in the cab. But as Pete remembers from a Pre-Term lecture, it was just a matter of statistics that two of us would find our ''special someone'' before we graduated from Stern! Thanks for all of the happy memories.

Barry Meinerth (MBA '70) and Marcia Mulzac Meinerth (MBA '70)

As told by Marcia: GBA, an international marketing class, a Massachusetts accent, a portable typewriter, the "Pineapple Princess" prediction, go-go boots, and a hamburger at George's.

 GBA, that's what we called the Stern School of Business in 1969. We were fortunate enough to be full- time students at a time when everyone carried box-like briefcases, portable typewriters, and loose change to make phone calls from public phone booths (the same place where Superman could always slip into a change of clothing)!

Two of the classes we had in common were led by Professors Kavesh and Kapor and often full of international students. As an undergraduate Spanish major, I was always intrigued by the accents of fellow classmates. But then there was Barry's accent. Upon inquiring as to what country he was from, he proudly replied "the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!" Barry admits to being smitten with the young lady from New York and invited me to George's (we called it a restaurant then) for a wonderfully grilled greasy hamburger. On top of that he was always willing to help carry my portable typewriter to the car where my sister, the "Pineapple Princess" would be waiting to drive me home. Amazed at how many young men would exit the building, she could not understand why I did not have a boyfriend. I told her I was at school for a MBA not a MRS. "That may be so," she said, "but that guy (the one carrying the typewriter) really likes you." I did not even know his last name, and upon hearing it I wrote it down as Miner.

The Pineapple Princess, however, loved fantasy (having fashioned herself after the princess in the Dole commercial some 50 years ago) and was right in her prediction.

Two years after graduation, Massachusetts aligned with New York and we were married in October 1972, with Deans Dill and Taggart plus several of our professors in attendance! No doubt you are wondering about the go-go boots...well, Barry says I wore them, and I am not so sure I really want to admit to that. But that's love for you...a lot of fantasy and a little bit of reality.

Laura Kuperman (MBA '02) and Eric Brenden (MBA '02)

As told by Laura: Eric and I met in our "homeroom," Block 5, at the very beginning of our years at Stern: August 2000. His quick smile caught my eye and he liked how I tied my hair up with a pencil during accounting! As that year progressed he and I hung out more, but I had a boyfriend back in Washington where I lived before attending Stern. Eric had been helping me with my accounting (guess I hadn't paid THAT much attention) and planned on taking the EMA trip to Argentina and Brazil that I was organizing with some classmates.

We got to know each other even better on the trip, and I guess I thought he was the one, even before I realized it myself, as I introduced him to some of my Argentine relatives down there. We danced the night away in Rio and were pretty inseparable from that night on! Needless to say, the Washington guy was out of the picture when we got back to New York and we got engaged the December after we graduated in 2002.

We were married in Cape May, NJ, on the beach in May 2004, and lived in Manhattan until last summer when we bought our house in Maplewood and returned to the Garden State. Our daughter, Eliana Grace, was born September 25, 2005, and our son, Zachary Curtis, was born just 2 years later on October 29, 2007. I have sung and danced, Eric has learned guitar and stand-up, and I'm now working part-time as a music teacher and home with our kids, while he is a reporting and analysis VP/guru at Goldman Sachs. Whirlwind and wonderful, we are still enjoying being Stern Sweethearts.