Daniel Decker, MBA

Current Position: Assistant Vice President - Market Fiduciary at Guy Carpenter

Story Last Updated: Summer 2024

Why I Chose GMercyU

Coming out of high school, I knew that I wanted to play lacrosse in college. I visited a few different colleges around the Philadelphia area but GMercyU stood out to me the most. The beautiful campus, smaller classrooms, good academics, and location of the University were all major aspects that helped me decide to come. The business program had everything I was looking for and the professors were very welcoming.

Coach Lindstrom and the lacrosse team also had a big impact on my final decision. From my first visit, I could see how strong the team culture was and I immediately knew that I wanted to a part of it.

GMercyU stands out from other colleges and universities because of its friendly community, strong academics, and the endless resources they offer to help you succeed in your future career.

Academic Experience

GMercyU’s School of Business has many exceptional professors that had an impact on me. It was a pleasure to take classes with Dr. Harper, Professor Mumford, Professor Bruce, Professor Hoffman, and Professor Silvesti. Each professor has their own experience to offer and it was very beneficial to learn from them.

One professor that stood out in particular to me was Professor Mumford. Professor Mumford was my academic advisor during my time at GMercyU as a finance major. He always made sure that I was staying on track with my grades and he also introduced me to GMercyU’s 4+1 MBA program. This program allows you to receive an MBA in under 5 years by taking four graduate-level courses during your senior year. I can proudly say that I finished the program this past May and I now have my MBA in Strategic Management.

I had one internship, which actually took place on GMercyU’s campus during the first semester of my senior year. I applied for the position of Finance and Accounting Intern and was fortunate enough to get it after interviewing. I worked for the Controller of the University, Jennifer Ginnetti, and helped with various tasks through the duration of the internship. I completed account reconciliations, assisted with financial statement tie-downs, and co-taught excel training to faculty for basic and advanced use.

This internship gave me great insight and experience of what working in finance would be like. I’m very thankful for the excel skills and functions that I learned during the internship as I now found myself using those same skills every day in my current position.

Campus Involvement

Outside of lacrosse, I was a member of both the Investment Club and Intramurals during my time at GMercyU. I was the Vice President of the Investment Club during my senior year. The Investment Club was a great experience especially for a Finance major looking to learn more about investing and the stock market.

Working in Intramurals for Maddie Herman, the intramural director, will always be one of my favorite memories of my time at GMercyU. The Intramural team was a close group and we had a great time helping students play sports in a fun but competitive way. Intramurals started during my sophomore year and by the time I was a senior the amount of students participating grew substantially.

Life as a Student-Athlete

Being an alumnus of GMercyU's Men’s Lacrosse team will forever be one of my proudest accomplishments.

The grind that we went through every day of going to morning lifts, class, then practice gave each of us great time management and discipline skills. It brought us together in a brotherly bond as we knew that we were all working together to achieve the same goals.

Every year we set goals as a team and we worked relentlessly to fulfill every single one of them. One goal that seemed to reappear every year was to win highest GPA in our conference which encouraged us to work extra hard in the classroom.

Coach Lindstrom has established an incredibly strong culture in the lacrosse program that brings the team together in so many ways. Every guy on the team was held to the same standard and followed the same values.

We held each other accountable and were always helping each other whether it was with homework, lacrosse, or life problems.

In my first recruiting trip with Coach Lindstrom, I remember that he was putting more importance on my education first and lacrosse second. This mindset went on during my entire time at GMercyU. Coach Lindstrom was an incredible lacrosse coach but cared even more about seeing his players walk across that stage on graduation day.

Throughout my four years on the team, we made it to three conference championships, I learned countless life lessons, and made friendships that will last for the rest of my life.

Post-Graduation

I graduated in May 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Finance, but still had one year left of courses to receive my MBA. Immediately after graduation, I went on many interviews looking to start my career. I came into contact with a recruiter from The Judge Group who introduced me to a position with Guy Carpenter, a global reinsurance company.

I began my career about one month after graduation with Guy Carpenter as an IBA (Insurance Brokerage Account) Specialist. Since then, I’ve been moved into the position of an Account Handler on the IBA team. My daily tasks consist of connecting with clients, collecting and issuing payments, assigning/allocating cash, and completing payment verifications.

Every day I’m using skills that I learned from my classes at GMercyU and the internship that I completed. The experience and knowledge that I gained from Gwynedd Mercy University prepared me for the real world in a way that I’ll forever be thankful for.