Excellence Awards Honor Business Alumni with Heart

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 5, 2024) — The two University at Albany business alumni who won Alumni Associate Excellence Awards stand out not just for their powerful careers, but for their service to others.  

Lucas Detor ’94, the 2024 Excellence in Business recipient, is managing principal at AB CarVal, a global alternative investment manager with $17 billion in assets. Along the way, he has also created a nonprofit that has raised millions of dollars for veterans and their families and several UAlbany scholarships. 

Nicholas Fio ’14, who received the Irvis Outstanding Young Alumni award, left the corporate world to give blankets to the homeless – and launched a national nonprofit organization and a novel approach to interacting with the homeless individuals in our towns and cities.     

 “There is no question that Lucas and Nicholas have used their accounting degrees to excel in the business world,” said Lee Serravillo Jr., executive director of alumni relations, “But their educational background has also enabled them to serve their communities by establishing successful nonprofit organizations that make a strong impact on people in need. This is a core priority for the University at Albany.”  

Since 1969, Excellence Awards have recognized alumni and other UAlbany supporters for their achievements and civic engagement. This year’s recipients span academic disciplines and fields. They were honored April 20 at a gala at Wolfert’s Roost Country Club in Albany.  

Dedication and service 

Detor was still a business student when he started showing his dedication to his country. As a sophomore, he joined the U.S. Army Reserves, then the New York National Guard.  

After graduating he joined Pricewaterhouse, rising to senior accountant. In 1997, he became a U.S. Secret Service special agent. In 1999 he joined Morgan Stanley, rising to managing director, and co-head of the global distressed and U.S leveraged loan unit. Detor also earned his MBA at New York University’s Stern School of Business.   

Now, as managing principal at AB CarVal, based at the company’s Minneapolis headquarters, he is a member of the Investment Committee, and oversees global corporate credit, transportation and real estate investment. He co-led AB CarVal’s ownership changes in 2019 and 2022.  

Detor has had just as strong a record of service. In 2005, he founded ReserveAid, which has raised more than $10 million to help military reservists and their families meet unexpected expenses. In 2017, he used a $500,000 ReserveAid gift to establish the Polly Weidenkopf ReserveAid Scholarship at UAlbany, which has assisted more than 30 veterans, reservists and guardsmen transitioning from deployments.  

Detor also established a scholarship at the Massry School of Business that every year supports a student in extreme financial need. He is involved with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Minneapolis and supports the AB CarVal Foundation, and leads an initiative to fund scholarships and aid for families of U.S. Secret Service agents in need. 

From corporate to compassion 

Nick Fio, who earned his UAlbany accounting degree 20 years after Detor, learned quickly that the corporate life wasn’t for him. He and his brother Mike left their jobs in Manhattan to become entrepreneurs. 
 
Initially, they experienced failure and a depleted bank account. But that changed when they launched a GoFundMe campaign to purchase blankets for people living on New York City streets. 

In one weekend, the Fio brothers handed out 100 blankets with handwritten letters of encouragement. They shared a video about the experience on Facebook, which caught the eye of California venture capitalist Todd Chaffee and his NobleLight Foundation. After hearing the Fio’s pitch for a nonprofit educational organization,  Brooklyn-based Blankets of Hope was born. 
 
The organization offers workshops in schools where students write messages that are attached to the blankets distributed in local homeless shelters. To date, more than 150,000 K-12 students in 45 states and three countries have taken part. The organization also gives businesses an opportunity to do their part by writing notes and distributing blankets to homeless shelters.  

Their work has been covered by major television stations. The Fios have given a TedX talk, addressed President Clinton’s School of Public Service, and are starting a book group and a podcast devoted to the concept of kindness.  

But Nick Fio also remains close with UAlbany, providing service opportunities for students in the University’s Leadership Certificate programs, Great Dane Day of Community Service and Student Affairs Professional Development Day. Thanks to these efforts, more than 2,000 blankets have been donated to five shelters in the Capital Region.