The Paul McGhee Division

John Burnett

B.S. in Leadership and Management Studies

John Burnett has worked for more than 18 years in the financial services industry, at companies including Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.  Currently, he is a director in the compliance department of a major investment bank.

As a young adult, Burnett had done coursework at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and earned certificates in such areas as financial management and organizational studies.  Several years later, he went back to school at NYU-SCPS's Paul McGhee Division, graduated with a B.S. in Leadership and Management Studies (cum laude), and received a Founder’s Day Scholar award.  Burnett is now enrolled in the executive MBA program at Cornell.

In addition to a full work and academic schedule, Burnett is heavily involved with several community-based organizations and with helping small business entrepreneurs. For instance, through a corporate partnership with the nonprofit organization P.E.N.C.I.L. (Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning), he mentors high school students. He is also a founding board member of Summit Academy, a charter college preparatory school in Brooklyn’s Red Hook section.

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