Warrington young alumni recognized with UF honor

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Warrington College of Business Administration graduates Steven DeRose, Kim Kaupe and Bridget Stomberg were recipients of the University of Florida’s Outstanding Young Alumni Awards on Saturday at Emerson Alumni Hall.

The Outstanding Young Alumni Award, established by UF’s Alumni Association, recognizes alumni ages 35 or younger who have distinguished themselves in their profession and community.

Steven DeRose, Hough Graduate School of Business

Steven (BA ’03, BSBA ’03, MSF ’04) is a Vice President at Starwood Mortgage Capital (SMC), which is one of the most active Commercial Mortgage-Backed Security platforms in the country. He is responsible for originating, structuring and closing loans on all commercial property types.

Prior to joining SMC, Steven was a Director at Tannery Brook Partners, a boutique real estate investment bank providing advisory services to clients on commercial real estate matters, which included mergers and acquisitions, property-level recapitalizations and debt restructurings. Prior to his time at Tannery Brook Partners, he served as a Director in Wells Fargo Securities’ Special Situations Group, where he was responsible for the workout and restructuring of principal investments in structured commercial real estate debt throughout the country.

Steven serves as guest lecturer and mentor to students in the University of Florida’s MBA, Master of Science in Finance and Master of Science in Real Estate programs.

Kim Kaupe, Heavener School of Business

Kim (BSBA ’08) is the co-founder of ZinePak, a custom publication company that creates engaging fan packages for entertainers, brands and celebrities. ZinePak, which Kim co-founded with Brittany Hodak in January 2011, has grown into a 10-person team churning out packages for A-list entertainers such as Katy Perry, KISS, Taylor Swift, Duck Dynasty and The Beach Boys. To date, consumers have spent more than $25 million on ZinePak products in 16 countries.

Kim has been named to Advertising Age’s 40 Under 40 and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Music list. ZinePak was hailed as a Top 30 Startup to Watch by Entrepreneur, and dubbed an “overnight success” by Inc. Magazine. Kim’s articles have also appeared in numerous media outlets including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes Woman.

Bridget Stomberg, Fisher School of Accounting

Bridget (BSAc ’00, MAcc ’02) is an Assistant Professor in the J.M. Tull School of Accounting in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. In 2009, she was one of the first 30 recipients of an Accounting Doctoral Scholarship, awarded by the AICPA Foundation, to encourage experienced professionals to pursue a career in academia. Bridget earned her Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Texas in 2013.

Prior to her appointment at Georgia, Bridget was a Tax Manager for PwC’s Phoenix office, and also worked as Director of Tax for PF Chang’s China Bistro and Insight Enterprises, both Fortune 1000 companies.

During her time at Fisher, Bridget was recognized as an Outstanding Teaching Assistant, selected as the recipient of a Fisher Full Fellowship and was voted Most Outstanding Graduate Student by the Fisher School faculty.