As an undergraduate in the Smeal College of Business, Mike Long, a 2012 graduate in finance, spent many hours working, studying, and talking finance issues with his classmates in the Rogers Family Trading Room. Today he is putting that experience to work as an investment banking analyst in Mergers & Acquisitions at Citigroup in New York City. According to Long, the Rogers Family Trading Room brought together students who shared a passion for finance and helped him start his career.
“The culture of the trading room is a huge factor,” Long said. “You have a large group of people in there every night bouncing ideas off of each other. It is a great way to learn outside the classroom because you are spending time with other students who are passionate about the subject.”
This is exactly the type of outcome David and Patricia Rogers were hoping for when they agreed to provide the funding to establish this facility in 2001 with a $1 million gift. In the 12 years since their original commitment, thousands of students have taken classes, researched market sectors, conducted valuation analyses and bonded with their classmates in the Rogers Family Trading Room. Like Mike Long, many have gone on to careers on Wall Street where Smeal graduates are represented at nearly every major bank and investment company.