Three New Members Join Dean's Council

By Dirk Hoffman

The Dean’s Council, launched in 2024, is made up of a distinguished group of alumni and community leaders who help guide and support the school. Members of the council serve the school in the core areas of advocacy and community engagement.

The council meets several times each year to advise Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School, and the school’s leadership team. Council members serve three-year terms. 

The new members are Jessica Cox, president of Highmark Western and Northeastern New York; Russell J. D’Alba, founder, president and managing director of Paramax Corporation, investment bankers; and Christopher T. Greene, JD ’74, MBA ’75, a partner in the Barclay Damon LLP law firm.

As president of Highmark Western and Northeastern New York, Cox is responsible for leading the overall strategy, performance, and growth of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield in the Western New York market and Highmark Blue Shield in the Northeastern New York market.

A seasoned health care executive with over two decades of experience in the New York market, Cox was appointed to her current role in August 2024.

Her extensive experience, deep understanding of the New York health care landscape, and commitment to driving positive change and fostering strong partnerships positions her to lead Highmark New York into a successful future.

Cox brings 23 years’ experience from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, where she held various leadership roles across commercial sales, provider relations, and corporate development.

Most recently, she served as senior vice president for corporate development and strategy and chief risk officer and previously served as regional president for the Southern Tier Region for the company. She began her career as a medical technologist.

Cox serves on the Board of Directors for several organizations including the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Invest Buffalo Niagara, the Business Council of New York State, the New York Health Plan Association, The Life and Health Insurance Company Guaranty Corporation of New York and New View Alliance. 

She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Upstate Medical University, an Associate of Science degree from Alfred State College, and completed an executive education program from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Executive Education.

D’Alba has advised on several hundred corporate divestiture transactions, including representing publicly traded and large privately held corporations. 

Prior to establishing Paramax, he was the founder of a leading regional CPA firm now known as Tronconi Segarra & Associates. 

He has extensive experience in fiduciary governance, strategic growth, and financial stewardship. D’Alba brings disciplined oversight of complex, regulated organizations and a proven ability to guide mission-driven institutions through major strategic and capital decisions.

He offers a valuable perspective on risk management, institutional partnerships, leadership succession and long-term sustainability.

D’Alba’s volunteer work consists of various community leadership positions to include acting as an adviser to a prestigious cancer institute.

He previously served as president and board member of Globalscope Partners, an international partnership based in London, UK, consisting of 55 M&A firms.

D’Alba has a degree in accounting from the UB School of Management and completed the Mutual-Gains Negotiations Program at Harvard University. In addition, he is a CPA (NY), FINRA-licensed, and SEC-registered with supervisory authority. 

He is a classically trained jazz saxophonist who has performed with numerous philharmonic orchestras.

Greene is Barclay Damon’s Health Care Practice Group leader and former Corporate Practice Area co-chair. He previously served as chair of Damon Morey and served on its Management, Finance, Personnel, and Client Development committees.

He primarily works with closely held businesses and not-for-profit corporations, routinely assisting with health care corporate and regulatory matters.

Greene has extensive experience with corporate and partnership formations; reorganizations; business start-ups; debt and equity financing; business-succession planning; dispute resolution; governance; compliance; contract review; and shareholder and operating agreements.

He also represents numerous entities in mergers and acquisitions in industries such as health care, construction, manufacturing, and retail.

Greene additionally represents physician groups and individual physicians in a wide variety of transactional matters, including the sale of physician practices, and represents family-owned companies involved in governance issues and shareholders disputes.

He is a member of the American Bar Association, Bar Association of Erie County, and the New York State Bar Association.

He is a founding member and former board member of the Kaleida Health Board of Directors; an emeritus member of the University at Buffalo School of Law Dean’s Advisory Council; an emeritus board member, board chair, and interim CEO of the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute; and a former chairperson and emeritus board member of the National Federation for Just Communities of Western New York.

Greene earned his Juris Doctor degree from the UB School of Law in 1974 and his Master of Business Administration degree from the UB School of Management in 1975. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College, where he graduated magna cum laude.