January 22, 2013
Although Ralph Mastrangelo ’69CBA readily admits to being a
snowbird, he is quick to point out that he is very different from
those who spend the fall and winter down South while maintaining
their primary home up North for the rest of the year.
“My
wife Elizabeth and I are not the classic snowbirds who go away for
a few months at a time every year and then come back,” he said. “We
go back and forth all the time between our homes in New Jersey and
South Carolina, and it’s really only a quick plane ride or a one
day drive to make the trip either way. We also like that there are
definitely distinct seasons where we live in both homes, and we try
to take advantage of what the different seasons have to
offer.”
After earning his B.S. in Economics from St. John’s University’s
College of Business Administration in 1969, Mastrangelo did a stint
in the National Guard before embarking on what would become a
lengthy and successful Wall Street career. He was accepted into the
Bank Operations Training Program at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company
(now JP Morgan Chase) and for the next quarter-century served in a
variety of senior management positions at the bank, including
Assistant Secretary, Senior Vice President and Chief Information
Officer.
He later joined the Bank of New York as Executive Vice President,
retiring in 2004 as President of BNY Securities Group, Inc.
“I had a wonderful 35 year career overall,” he acknowledged. “It
was a time on Wall Street when firms were looking to improve their
securities operations from a technological point of view. Back
then, if you were ambitious and had some energy and some brains,
you could be really successful downtown. My St. John’s education
prepared me very well, and if it weren’t for St. John’s, God knows
where I’d be today.”
Mastrangelo has long recognized the value of a Catholic education,
and as a second generation Italian-American alumnus, he is
particularly appreciative of St. John’s mission of providing
opportunities for students who, like him, may be the first in their
family to attend college.
“The fact that I was able to go to St. John’s will always be very
important to me,” he said, “and it’s great to see that the
University is continuing its mission, especially with those who
might otherwise be unable to enjoy such a remarkable college
experience. I’m happy that St. John’s continues to focus on the
immigrant community, those from the first or second generation.
These young people need a quality Catholic education and St. John’s
is there for them, just like it was there for me.”
This dedicated alumnus continues to embrace the values of service
that have been a part of his life since his first days at St.
John’s. He concedes that in addition to “playing golf whenever I
want”, one of the things he enjoys most about being retired is the
opportunity to use his newly acquired free time to make a
difference for others.
“I’m Vice Chairman of the Board at New York Downtown Hospital in
lower Manhattan,” he said. “The hospital is really a small
community hospital that serves Wall Street and the Chinese
immigrant community, so I really feel good about doing what I can
to help those people. I’m also Vice Chair of the Board of Governors
of the Ramapo College Foundation. Ramapo College is a small Liberal
Arts college near our home in New Jersey, and the foundation seeks
to help them secure grants and other resources they need to provide
their students with a first rate education. And of course I also
help out St. John’s whenever I can, particularly as a member of The
Loughlin Society.”
When Mastrangelo visited the Queens campus a few years ago, it was
the first time that he had been back in more than 25 years. He was
impressed by the changes that had taken place, not only within the
physical layout but also with the number and types of students he
encountered simply by walking from one building to another.
“I was on campus maybe three or four years ago, and it was
absolutely amazing,” he recalled. “I was blown away by the
footprint of all the buildings that have gone up since I was there.
St. Thomas More Church is magnificent, and the Residence Village is
absolutely wonderful. But what impressed me the most were the
students whom I saw going to and from their classes. There were so
many of them, and so many different nationalities, that I just knew
right away that St. John’s was still committed to its Vincentian
mission. I was a part of that mission many years ago, and that’s
why the University will always be special to me.”