Wall Street Pioneer Praises Wright State Students, Receives Honorary Doctorate

“I meet finance students from all over country when they visit the trading floor. Without a doubt, Wright State students ask the most insightful questions, are the best prepared, and clearly understand the equity markets.”  – Doreen Mogavero, President & Chief Executive Officer, Mogavero Lee and Co.

You could see the genuine appreciation on the students’ faces as they graciously thanked Doreen Mogavero at an informal after-graduation gathering at Rike Hall in June. Mogavero had just been named an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Wright State University’s 73rd Commencement. But her friendship with the Raj Soin College of Business, the Finance Club, and Department of Finance and Financial Services has been strong for years.

Each year Mogavero takes the time out of her busy schedule to meet with students from Wright State’s Finance Club during their annual trip to New York City and escort them to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, giving them a rare inside look at the operations of the age-old institution.

“I meet finance students from all over country when they visit the trading floor. Without a doubt, Wright State students ask the most insightful questions, are the best prepared, and clearly understand the equity markets.”

“It would be impossible for our students to even see the inside of the NYSE if it weren’t for Doreen’s willingness to so graciously host us, especially post 9/11,” said Marlena Akhbari, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Finance and Financial Services.

In 1980, at age 25, Mogavero became a member of the New York Stock Exchange. At the time she was the youngest member on the floor.

“When I walked through the doors of 11 Wall Street for the first time as a member and saw all those men, all older and certainly more seasoned than I was,” said Mogavero, “I had to make a choice. Do what I came there to do. Or leave and relinquish my dream. I chose to walk in the door, and I have never looked back.”

In 1989, she founded Mogavero, Lee & Co., Inc., the first and only floor-based direct access firm to be wholly owned and operated by women. Mogavero bought her NYSE seat in 1994 and was the only woman working on the floor to own her seat when the NYSE Group went public.