UMD Smith Appoints Former BECU CRO John Stewart to Lead the Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Aug. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business has named John Stewart as Director and Executive-in-Residence for the Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium (SERC), the school's applied risk‑management hub connecting academic expertise with industry practice.

Stewart, who succeeds Clifford Rossi, recently retired as Chief Risk Officer of BECU (Boeing Employees' Credit Union) and is one of SERC's original Advisory Council members. He brings nearly three decades of financial services experience, including more than two decades in executive leadership, as well as enterprise risk management expertise and cross-industry regulatory insight, to the role.

A key contributor to SERC's growth since its 2023 inception, Stewart helped establish the foundation for its industry‑facing mission. He served as one of the first Risk Leader Circle members, participated in the CRO Risk Summit and sent BECU risk professionals to the SERC Risk Academy. He also hired Smith Master of Quantitative Finance graduate Krisha Chheda into BECU's risk organization. Chheda presented a Google-sponsored credit risk project at Google's Higher Ed Leader Series.

Taken together, Stewart's early involvement shows how SERC's applied analytics, practitioner‑focused training and student talent pipelines strengthen risk governance across sectors. "John has helped shape SERC from the beginning," says Smith School Dean Prabhudev Konana. "He understands the Consortium's mission at a deep level—advancing applied risk management, elevating industry collaboration, and preparing the next generation of risk leaders. His leadership will accelerate our momentum at a critical moment of expansion."

Stewart's background spans enterprise risk management, credit and operational risk, market risk and interest-rate risk modeling, economic capital, and Basel III frameworks, along with corporate strategy and leadership. His experience as both a consultant and a corporate executive gives him a broad perspective on financial-services risk and regulatory regimes, and his Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering pairs technical modeling expertise with executive judgment — a combination that aligns with SERC's emphasis on data-driven tools, cross-industry insight, and practical solutions for practitioners.

"I believe in empowering teams to do the right thing, and in building transparent, disciplined frameworks for balancing risk and return," says Stewart. "SERC brings practitioners, faculty and students together around real problems, and that's what makes it distinctive. I'm looking forward to growing that community and the next generation of risk leaders coming out of it."

In three years, SERC has become a national leader in applied risk management. In addition to the SERC Risk Academy, its programs include executive education certificates in emerging areas such as AI governance, a gathering of senior risk executives at the CRO Risk Summit, and cross‑industry forums addressing climate risk, supply chain resilience, natural hazards, and geopolitical threats. SERC's network includes senior risk executives from JPMorgan Chase, Nasdaq, Freddie Mac, AWS, Moody's Analytics, and other major institutions.

As director, Stewart will guide strategic initiatives, expand SERC's community of industry experts, strengthen corporate partnerships, and support the Consortium's continued development of applied analytics and practitioner‑focused training.

"I've worked with John Stewart for nearly 30 years," says SERC Risk Fellow and Smith Executive-in-Residence William Longbrake. "His depth in risk management, technical rigor, and broad academic and industry experience make him exceptionally well suited to lead SERC and serve as a Smith executive in residence."

For more information, go to the Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium homepage.

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master's, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

Contact: Greg Muraski, [email protected] 

SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business