Vice President of Finance and Administration, Immaculata University
University of Pennsylvania, Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics ’17
Drexel University, MBA, Finance ’99, Bachelor of Science in Accounting & Finance ‘90
“As a finance professional with executive positions, I wanted to become a coach and help other professionals who may be dealing with adversity. I found that opportunity here at Penn,” shares Bruce Friedman the Executive Director of Fiscal Operations for Penn’s Business Services. He also served as a board member for Dyskeratosis Congenita Outreach (DC Outreach), Inc., a rare disease advocacy organization and Bournelyf Special Camp, a camp for children with special needs.
After spending nearly two decades working for big business (Bell Atlantic/Verizon, PECO/Exelon), Bruce transitioned into the non-profit and education world to spend more time with his family and help his son who had a rare disease. “A big part of what drew me to work for Penn was the Organizational Dynamics program. I wanted to blend my personal and professional goals more.”
“Last summer I did my coaching and consulting fieldwork with DC Outreach. A classmate from my cohort and I created a strategic plan for the organization,” he continues, “We built a very robust process, and I am now implementing that very same plan with the organization’s new president for my capstone.”
With Bruce’s strong technical expertise, the Organizational Dynamics program opened him up to the people-facing side of his career. “I’ve always been analytical. Even before the program, I realized that I needed to better understand the operations and the people to move up in my role. It’s always been there for me—and Organizational Dynamics takes it to another level.”
As a Penn employee and student, Bruce finds his experiences at the school to be very symbiotic, “The courses help me to stay current in my career, and I bring my background and experiences to the classroom.”
Along with being a dedicated student, manager, father and husband, Bruce is an avid cyclist who bikes for a cause. Over the last two years, Bruce and his team raised more than $50,000 to go towards DC research for the Million Dollar Bike Ride—an event hosted by the Penn Medicine’s Orphan Disease Center.
According to Bruce, “Being a part of the Penn community is about as good as it gets.”
