Michael Heaney ’86 and Leo Helmers ’87 Begin Terms on Board of Trustees

Two alumni were elected to the Board of Trustees May 18 and began five-year terms July 1. They are Michael C. Heaney ’86, a managing director at Morgan Stanley and global head of credit sales and trading, municipals, and emerging markets credit, and Leo A. Helmers ’87, a managing director of the Carlyle Group and head of Carlyle Mezzanine Partners in New York City.

Richard A. Grossman ’64, president of Interstate Building Corporation, Tarrytown, N.Y.; Jefferson W. Kirby ’84, managing member of Broadfield Capital Management LLC, Morristown, N.J., and chairman of the board of Alleghany Corporation, New York City; and Walter Oechsle ’57, founder of Oechsle International Advisors and former president and chief investment officer of Putnam International Advisors, have been elected to emeritus status.

Also leaving the board are Martha A. Heinze ’86, executive director of treasury and securities services at JPMorgan Chase in New York City, who is concluding a five-year term as alumni trustee, and Pamela Gaary Holran ’88, a former associate in the communications and engineering law firm Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, Washington, D.C., who is concluding a two-year term as a board associate.

Michael Heaney '86

Heaney joined Morgan Stanley in 1986 as an associate in fixed income within the credit research team and moved to corporate bond trading in 1990. He was promoted to vice president in 1992, became a principal in 1995, and was elected a managing director in 2000. In 2002, he relocated to London as co-head of global debt syndication, where he was responsible for the origination and pricing of European corporate debt instruments, and as head of U.S. credit trading. Heaney also has overseen a 300-person team covering Morgan Stanley’s European and Asia debt markets. Heaney returned to New York in 2005 to run investment grade cash and CDS trading. He is presently a member of Morgan Stanley’s 35-member executive council.

For Lafayette, Heaney has served as a board associate since 2009 and is chair of Lafayette Leadership Council. He has served as a Gateway mentor for Career Services and hosted Lafayette students for internships. He received his A.B. with a major in economics from Lafayette in 1986 and an executive MBA in finance from New York University Stern School of Business in 1990.

He resides in Allendale, N.J. with his wife, Patricia, and their four children, including Kristin ’14, an international affairs major.

Leo Helmers '87

At Carlyle, one of the world’s largest private investment firms, Helmers and his team invest in debt and equity securities of leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, and growth financings. With over 17 years of experience in the private debt and equity markets, Helmers joined Carlyle in 2003. Prior to Carlyle, Helmers was a senior vice president with TCW/Crescent Mezzanine Partners and Trust Company of the West, where he was responsible for investing and managing a portfolio of mezzanine capital across three private limited partnerships. Before that, Helmers was a managing director of Hamilton Lane Advisors, Inc.

He is currently a member of the board of directors of Shari’s Management Corporation, Targus Group International, Inc. (chair), and Taylor-Wharton International, Inc. and a board observer of Hawkeye Concrete Products Company.  He also is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Shipley School.

For Lafayette, Helmers has served on the Trustee Committee on Financial Policy since 2009 and was a member of Lafayette Leadership Council from 2008-09. He received his B.S. in civil engineering from Lafayette in 1987 and an MBA from Temple University in 1993.  He is a CFA charter holder.

Helmers resides in Gladwyne, Pa., with his wife, international affairs graduate Stacey Guckes Helmers ’87, and their three daughters.