Times may be rough on Wall Street, but Cornell alumni in the financial industry have a new resource for networking, professional development and camaraderie -- and for staying connected with their alma mater.

The Cornell Wall Street (CWS) program, which builds on a network created in 2001 for Cornell alumni at Lehman Brothers, held its first official event May 7 at the Cornell Club. About 90 former Lehman employees gathered for a reunion and a talk by hedge fund manager-turned-author Andy Kessler '80.

The gathering was organized by Tom Marino '78, managing director at Barclays, and Jarett Wait '80, managing director at Fortress Investment Group. The former Lehman Brothers colleagues built a network of about 300 Cornell alumni at the now-bankrupt investment firm between 2001 and 2008, and now are applying their experience and ideas to the new, broader network.

The idea for CWS, modeled on the Lehman network and also the established Cornell Silicon Valley program and the Cornell Entrepreneur Network, has been in the works for several years, said John Zelenka '03, CWS associate director.

"So many Cornell graduates wind up doing some kind of financial work," Zelenka said. The official launch may come at a less-than-auspicious point for the industry, he added, but the Cornell Silicon Valley network was launched in corresponding times -- at the height of the dotcom bust -- and that program thrived.

"We connected people to school, to resources, to each other ... it's all about the network," Zelenka said. "[Cornell Silicon Valley] was a very successful model, despite all the turmoil."

Zelenka will launch the program throughout the summer and into the fall with upcoming events, an official Web site and an electronic contact list.

The partnership between Cornell's alumni at Lehman and the university was a case study in how both sides of the network can benefit, said Marino.

The Lehman network was actively involved on campus year-round, working with Greek organizations on community service projects, bringing financial industry executives to campus for guest lectures and hosting workshops for students at the company's New York offices, Marino said.

The network also had a major philanthropy function. "Young people [in the financial industry] are looking for ways to get involved in philanthropy, and the network provided a framework for that," he said.

Meanwhile, the group also worked with the Cornell fundraising campaign to increase giving to the university.

"We wanted everyone to participate in the capital campaign in some form or another," said Wait; the network's members came through with their support.

The new program will take the lessons (and the database) of the Lehman Brothers alumni network to create an even stronger organization, Wait added. "[The Lehman network] was something that was incredibly unique and mutually beneficial, and certainly something that can be replicated in a number of ways."

Scottie McQuilkin '07, a former analyst at Lehman Brothers who now works at Fortress, said the Lehman alumni network's involvement on campus -- a multidimensional effort -- made a strong impression on her as a student.

"They did this phenomenal job of reaching across divisions, across colleges, across graduation years ... it was extremely comforting to come in [to Lehman Brothers] and have this established network, where I knew there were senior people who had experience who were going to invest time in building relationships," she said. "It wasn't always branded as a recruiting effort. They were coming just for the sake of giving back to the Cornell community. That was hugely appreciated."

For more information about CWS, contact Zelenka at jfz4@cornell.edu.