Board of Advisors

Established in 2018, the UCSB Department of Economics Board of Advisors is a group of dedicated alumni and long-term supporters who care deeply about the future trajectory of the Department. The Board of Advisors provides counsel and advice on strategic planning and issues that impact the vitality and success of the Department.

Marc A. Ackerman ‘94

Mr. Ackerman graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1994 with a BA in Communication Studies. He is founding partner and Managing Director- Investments of IFC Private Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors.   Marc has advised company founders, entrepreneurs, executives, corporations, foundations, and ultra-high net worth families for over 20 years. He helps families integrate their unique values into their wealth plans and focuses on philanthropic planning and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing .   

Marc was named to Forbes' Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and serves on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the Gospel Music Association Foundation and of Hope Heals.  

Blake Bridges, '05

Mr. Bridges graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2005 and holds a BA in Business Economics with an emphasis in Accounting. He is currently an Assurance Partner in Ernst & Young’s Silicon Valley practice. Throughout his career, Mr. Bridges worked with a variety of the world’s largest technology companies based out of the Bay Area. From 2018 to 2022 he did a rotation abroad with the EY Singapore practice where he supported our South East Asia practice on global accounts, in addition to local Singaporean companies listed on the US stock exchange. Mr. Bridges currently lives in San Jose with his wife and 3 children.

He enjoys golfing, snowboarding, and attending 49er games with friends and family.

Mike Byron, ‘87

Mike Byron graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in business economics and was licensed as a certified public accountant in 1990. He currently serves as vice president of finance operations and systems at NVIDIA, a company he has helped build since 2002. From 2002 to 2019, Mr. Byron served in various finance roles at NVIDIA, including as vice president and chief accounting officer from 2011 to 2019. Prior to NVIDIA, Mr. Byron worked in finance and accounting roles for two public technology companies and served for eight years as an auditor with Deloitte in its Oakland, Silicon Valley and Barcelona offices.

Mr. Byron and his wife, Catherine, met in high school in the Bay Area. The Byrons have established the Michael J. Byron and Catherine V. Duterte Byron Fund for Student Excellence in the Department of Economics. Mr. Byron was elected as a trustee of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation in 2021 and also serves as an advisor to the Dean’s Investment Group.

Kerri Chiu, '14

Kerri Chiu is a Senior Vice President at Sun Capital Partners. Prior to joining Sun Capital, Kerri was a Vice President at Platinum Equity.

Kerri is an experienced private equity portfolio operations executive with a track record of driving strong returns for sponsors. During her decade in various private equity, portfolio company leadership, and consulting roles, Kerri has led value creation across numerous private equity-backed companies.

Kerri serves on the board of the University of California, Santa Barbara Department of Economics. Kerri holds a BA with high honors in Economics and English from UC Santa Barbara, where she was a College of Letters & Science Honors Scholar.

Peter Corsa, '91

In November 2022, Mr. Corsa was named Chief Executive Officer of the newly created Home Furnishing Division at Franchise Group which includes American Freight, Badcock Furniture, and Buddy’s Home Furnishings. Prior to Franchise Group, Mr. Corsa was President and COO for At Home Group, growing the company from $330 Million to over $2 Billion in sales resulting in a successful IPO in 2016. Previously, Mr. Corsa served as Vice President of KSL Resorts from 2011 to 2013, which operates luxury resorts throughout the United States. Before this, he served as Executive Vice President of Retail for Stuart Weitzman from 2006 – 2011. In addition, he served as Senior Director of Store Operations of GAP from 2004 to 2006, Senior Director of Loss Prevention for Old Navy from 2002 to 2003 and Director of Store Operations for Old Navy from 1999 to 2002.  Mr. Corsa received his MBA from St. Mary’s College of California and Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Rafael R. Costas, Jr. ‘86

Mr. Costas graduated UC Santa Barbara in 1986 and holds a BA in Economics and an MA in Economics from Golden Gate University. Currently, Mr. Costas is a Senior Vice President of Franklin Templeton Investments and Co-Director of Franklin Templeton's Municipal Bond Department. He has been with Franklin Templeton in various roles his entire career, and also holds membership in the National Federation of Municipal Analysts and the Society of Municipal Analysts. 

In his free time, Mr. Costas is also an amateur musician in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lisa Hartung, ‘98

Ms. Hartung is a Financial Services professional who has been in the industry for over 26 years. Lisa is currently a Senior Vice President/Investments at Stifel in Newport Beach, California. Before working at Stifel, Lisa had roles as a Wealth Management Advisor, Producing Sales Manager, and First Vice President at Merrill Lynch from 1998 until 2016. Lisa is on the Forbes’ Best-In-State Women Wealth Advisors list for 2023 & 2024 and holds a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara in Business and Economics.

Ms. Hartung is lives in Orange County, California and is Committee Member of the Orange County Campaign for UC Santa Barbara.

Jody Dolan Holehouse '81

Ms. Holehouse graduated UC Santa Barbara with high honors in 1981 and holds a BA in Economics with an Accounting emphasis. Currently, she is a CPA, a CMA, and partner in the firm of Nasic, Hicks, Harris & Co., LLP. She serves individual and business clients in tax planning and preparation, accounting and business analysis. In the past, she has served as President of the California State Society of Certified Public Accountants Channel Counties Chapter and the Institute of Management Accountants Santa Barbara Chapter. She is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Management Accountants and the Western Pension Benefits Conference.

Keith Lupton ‘90

Mr. Lupton graduated UC Santa Barbara in 1990 and holds a BA in Business Economics. He is currently an Assurance Practice Partner of Ernst & Young LLP. For over 20 years, he has provided auditing, accounting and other business advisory services to companies operating in financial services, real estate and cleantech industries. In addition to client-based responsibilities, Keith has served as part of the firm's Professional Practice Group as an area resource on technical accounting and auditing matters. Prior to joining EY, he served as Senior Manager with Arthur Andersen for over ten years. Keith and his family live in Manhattan Beach, California.

Michael P. Stewart ‘91

Mr. Stewart is a 1991 graduate of UC Santa Barbara, holding a BA in both Business Economics and English. He is currently a Managing Director at Credit Suisse in New York, where he is responsible for Global Equities and sits on the Global Markets Management team. Previously, Mr. Stewart was a group managing director at UBS in Zurich, Switzerland where he ran Global Investment Products and Services and sat on the wealth management executive committee. From 2011-2014, Mr. Stewart was global head of Equities for the UBS Investment Bank, based in New York.

Mr. Stewart has served on a variety of boards in the securities exchange and financial technology spaces. He also serves on the advisory board of UCSB’s Center for Research in Financial Mathematics and Statistics. In 2014, Mr. Stewart was elected a trustee of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation.

Michael J. Trovato ‘95

Mr. Trovato graduated UC Santa Barbara in 1995 and holds a BA in Business Economics and an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at USC. He is currently the Director of the Western Region at Wellington Management, a Boston-based global investment management firm. Mr. Trovato leads Wellington’s San Francisco office and manages their institutional client relationships on the West Coast. Prior to joining Wellington, Mr. Trovato spent 15 years with PIMCO, an investment management firm, where he was an executive vice president and worked in the company’s London and Newport Beach offices.

While in London, Mr. Trovato was able to remain connected to the UCSB community as a co-founder of the UC Santa Barbara UK EAP Fund. The fund provided support to UCSB students through scholarship opportunities for study abroad in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Trovato is a native Californian, a devout SF Giants and 49ers fan, and is an avid golfer.

Michael G. Turner '91

Mr. Turner graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1991 and holds a BA (cum laude) in Business Economics. Mr. Turner retired from Ernst & Young in 2024 as an Assurance Partner in EY’s technology industry practice, with over 30 years of experience. He began his career in 1991 in EY's Silicon Valley practice, where he assisted technology clients through numerous IPOs. Mr. Turner served as EY's Global Coordinating Partner for several technology companies listed in the S&P 500, as well as select venture capital- backed “Unicorns”. He was also a leader in the EY's National Quality Network and led EY quality review engagement teams in South America and Israel in improving the quality of EY's client work.

Mr. Turner currently lives in Santa Cruz with his wife and has 2 adult children. He enjoys surfing, golfing, and snowboarding.

Sue Wilcox, ‘70, ‘72, ‘75

Dr. Wilcox graduated UC Santa Barbara in 1970 and holds a BA in Mathematics. She continued on at UCSB to earn her MA in Economics in 1972 and a PhD in Economics in 1975. Dr. Wilcox is active in investing and has assisted in several start-up biotechnology companies. She plays a leadership role in various charity and volunteer organizations, while maintaining a single digit golf handicap. She previously served as an adjunct Professor of Economics at Pepperdine University and worked for Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) from 1974 to 1983.

Dr. Wilcox serves on the UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association Board, working to create a new venture incubator in the Mosher Alumni House.