Kevin Sweeney

Kevin Sweeney's areas of academic interest are strategy, corporate finance, global management, international corporate transactions and corporate entrepreneurship. His international business background has influenced his cross-functional focus on global business operations, and his academic experience has drawn on influences from a variety of disciplines, including finance, management, strategy, economics, political science, and law. Sweeney’s teaching emphasizes practical, applied strategy and finance to create value for key organizational stakeholders.

In addition to his teaching with Columbia University, Sweeney will join the full-time faculty of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute School of Business in the 2012-2013 academic year as a Professor of Practice in Finance. He has previously been a member of the adjunct faculty in the WPI M.B.A. programs.

Sweeney is also currently the interim president and chief executive officer of DevelopSpringfield, a private 501 (c)(3) corporation formed to advance development and redevelopment projects, to stimulate and support economic growth, and to expedite the revitalization process within the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. He is also a member of the board of directors of Common Capital, a capital fund dedicated to small business and other investment in Western Massachusetts.

Sweeney was previously a managing director of MassMutual Capital Partners LLC, where he was responsible for strategic mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, and other transactions for the MassMutual Financial Group and its affiliated companies worldwide. He also served in various other executive roles at MassMutual, including senior vice president (chief operating officer and regional executive for Europe and Latin America) of MassMutual International, vice president of human resources of MassMutual and second vice president and associate general counsel of MassMutual.

He has also been an adjunct senior lecturer with the Western New England University College of Business, where he has taught business strategy and corporate entrepreneurship. Sweeney has also been an adjunct professor of law at the Western New England University School of Law, where he taught mergers and acquisitions. In addition, he has served as the chairman of the executive advisory council of the M.B.A. program at Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where he also teaches global political economy. Finally, he is a member of the board of directors and is treasurer of the Springfield Technical Community College Foundation in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Sweeney received his M.B.A. jointly from New York University Stern School of Business, the London School of Economics & Political Science, and the HEC School of Management in Paris as a graduate of TRIUM. He received his Doctor of Law from the University of Wisconsin Law School and his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. Sweeney also attended the AACSB Bridge Program at the University of California – Merage School of Business in Irvine, California. The Bridge Program certifies senior-level executives to serve as "professionally qualified" business school faculty consistent with AACSB accreditation standards.