Dana West ’98 uses his history degree every day.
But when he chats with Binghamton University students and recent graduates, they’re often surprised that he didn’t come through the School of Management or the MBA program. After all, the White Plains-based financial planner has worked for Prudential Advisors for the past 10 years, the latest outpost in a business career that included time at Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services.
Versatility is one of the strengths of a liberal arts education, West points out: No matter where you land, you can draw on the knowledge and skills you honed in the classroom.
“Liberal arts, whether it’s English or history or something art-based — as long as you apply what you learned, that’s really your ticket to greatness,” he said.
West chose Binghamton for its top-notch education — and the ability to graduate without debt, a true gift. As a Harpur College student, he didn’t have any specific aspirations; he enjoyed philosophy and music, and found museum curation an interesting career prospect. But history — particularly modern history — drew his attention and held it; he found courses on the Holocaust and the Vietnam War era thought-provoking.
Ideas for a career path still hadn’t formed by the time graduation rolled around, but he was both content and curious to see where life would take him.
He headed to a job fair at the Westchester County Center to check out the possibilities. Long lines of would-be applicants waited for a chance to speak with representatives of large corporations, such as IBM, Pepsi or Ricoh.
“I’m a bit of a contrarian. I didn’t want to wait; that’s what everyone else was doing,” he remembered. “I thought, ‘Let me see what else is out there.’”
He came across a table of stockbrokers, who gave him an opportunity to learn about the market. He decided to give it a chance.
During his first few years in the finance sector, he worked at several mid-sized companies while earning his certification and learning the business. He ultimately became a Certified Financial Planner™ at the age of 46, after taking a challenging exam.
Financial planning involves looking both forward and backward, keeping in mind a client’s goals, current circumstances and the realities of the market, including its performance in the past.
“A lot of that is history. How do you forecast where things are going from here if you don’t know how we got here, in terms of taxation, market trends and movements?” he said.
Staying connected
As an alum, West continues to be involved in Binghamton, serving on the Alumni Association Board of Directors and previously on its Lifelong Learning Committee. Just as with his career, his alumni involvement also involved chance and opening himself up to unexpected opportunities.
Around eight years ago, West checked out the New York City chapter of the Alumni Association while in town for business. That chapter is highly active and allowed him to connect with other Binghamton alumni.
At one point, West decided to attend a real estate networking event for no discernible reason; while there, fellow Binghamtonians asked about the alumni scene in Westchester. West then realized that it was his calling to create it, and went on to found and lead the Westchester Chapter of the Alumni Association. Today, the chapter draws a robust bunch of attendees and is looking to expand.
“You really don’t know why you go to certain things; you show up at the County Center right out of college and decide to sit down at the stockbroker table,” he mused. “Or go to a networking event for real estate, and that’s why we now have a Westchester chapter.”
He’s grateful for the unexpected opportunities that Binghamton has given him, and all the twists and turns of his path. His daughter is continuing the tradition: she’s a junior, majoring in both history and philosophy, politics and law.
Where will the next generation of history majors end up? The horizons are open — and that’s part of the gift.
“If you’re going to be a history major, understand that your chosen career may not have history in the title,” West said. “History can take you a lot of places.”