"I came into high school extremely passionate about playing baseball in college, but to this day, I still thank Coach Lawrence for giving me the opportunity to play at RCDS, guiding me throughout the entire college process and really growing me into the player I became."

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Zack currently works as a Capital Markets Associate at Bridge Investment Group. Bridge is a $16 billion real estate private equity fund that invests across the U.S. through six platforms: multi-family housing, senior housing, workforce housing, office, debt, and opportunity zones.

Zack began his career at Deutsche Bank in their equity capital markets division, working on public equity offerings for issuers in the energy and chemicals sectors. Zack transitioned to the Wealth Management division of Deutsche Bank in 2016, joining the Institutional Wealth Partners Team that offered direct private investments to family offices and ultra-high net worth individuals.

Zack graduated from Columbia University in 2014 with a B.A. in Political Science and was a pitcher for the Division I Lions. He is currently pursuing his M.B.A at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Zack lives in New York City with his wife Hannah (RCDS Class of 2010) and their dog Hudson.

What was your most memorable class at Rye Country Day?
Ninth grade English with Cary Fuller. Transitioning from White Plains Middle School to RCDS was academically challenging for me. Quite frankly, I struggled through the first year. This was particularly true in English. Mr. Fuller went out of his way to get me up the learning curve and even demanded I come in for extra work early on the in year. He was patient, kind, and one of the best educators I’ve ever had.

Runners up:

Ms. Khan (I was fortunate to take classes with her all four years of high school : Algebra I, Algebra II & Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus. She is such a phenomenal teacher. She even helped me with my calculus class at Columbia.

American History with Dr. Strean. This was one of, if not, the most academically challenging classes I have ever taken, including Columbia coursework. We had five-page essays due every two weeks, and I personally found the subject matter fascinating.
What motivates you to be a part of the RCDS Alumni Executive Board?
The opportunity to give back to a school that gave me so much.

You just married your high school  sweetheart, Hannah Loewentheil ’10. Are you still close to the friends you made while at Rye Country Day? Was it an RCDS wedding party?
Yes! Meeting Hannah is one of the things for which I am most thankful to Rye Country Day. There was a large RCDS presence at the wedding party. Most of Hannah’s best friends to this day are from RCDS. They lovingly still call themselves “the crew.”
  
As a former Division 1 college athlete at Columbia University, do you have a coach or fellow athlete who inspired you to pursue baseball?
I honestly had no idea what RCDS or any other FAA or NYSAIS school was until I met Coach Lawrence at a baseball clinic. I came into high school extremely passionate about playing baseball in college, but to this day, I still thank Coach Lawrence for giving me the opportunity to play at RCDS, guiding me throughout the entire college process and really growing me into the player I became. He and his family treat me like a fourth son, and they have taught me so much about growing and being the best I can be on and off the field. One summer when I was playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League for the Danbury Westerners, I did actually become a Lawrence for the summer, as they graciously offered to be my host family!
In terms of peers, I had a PHENOMENAL class of teammates two years ahead of me (Class of ’08). They were at a different level of baseball than I was when I came in as a first-year. The team took me under its wing, treated me like a peer, and showed me what it takes to play at the next level. Brandon Nieuw ‘08 (Colby Baseball), Evan Oleson ‘08 (Williams Baseball), Will Baine ‘08 (Middlebury Baseball), and Matt Duarte ‘08 all were instrumental in pushing me to grow as a player. I can’t think of many other teams in the FAA that had that many soon-to-be college baseball players on the same team.

What advice do you have for our student-athletes as they begin to think about playing collegiate sports?
As crude as it sounds, the “break your leg” rule is important to consider. The rule is simple: When making your college decision, you ask yourself if you broke your leg on the first day on campus and would never be able to play your sport again, is this a college where you’d be happy? Is this a campus you could see yourself on regardless of what happens with your sport?

The only other bit of advice is: There are something like 715 college coaches. Don’t let the opinion of one deter you from pursuing a sport you are passionate about.