During his first week working at Merrill Lynch, Sid Choraria, SEAS MS ’03, looked up fellow company employees in GW’s alumni database and found Jimmy Quigley, ESIA BA ’82, chairman of Merrill Lynch International. Not long after meeting him, Choraria was on a plane to Asia – taking some career advice Quigley had given him.

It was two years ago, and Choraria was moving to Hong Kong to join the Merrill Lynch team in Asia. Soon after moving, he got involved with the Hong Kong chapter of GW’s Alumni Association.

“The most enjoyable part is staying connected to GW,” said Choraria, who serves as the chapter leader of the Hong Kong Alumni Association, one of the most active international chapters. “I feel in a small way that I am able to make a difference and contribute back to my alma mater through the chapter.”

In his two years working with the alumni chapter, Choraria has played a large role in planning the activities of the Hong Kong group. One of the most notable recent activities was hosting President Steven Knapp's visit to meet with alumni in Asia earlier this year.

“We had a very lively and diverse group of alumni get together at the China Club for a reception,” Choraria said. “President Knapp addressed the audience outlining some of the key initiatives at the school; we had faculty, alumni and even some students on exchange in Asia attend the event. There were some very memorable stories and experiences shared at the event.”

Choraria said Asia is a critical area of the world for the university and would like the Hong Kong alumni chapter to be one of GW’s largest international alumni networks.

“Asia is a very important region for GW and the goals for the chapter are not what we can do in the next month or six months, but how we would like GW to be positioned in Asia in the long run.”

Some of the more specific plans for the chapter include hosting speaker lunches, community service activities, happy hour events, as well as recruiting for the university. Choraria said he would also like to collaborate with other chapters in Asia for more regional programming.   

Choraria said his “terrific” experiences at GW as a student have motivated him to stay active with the university community.  

“I combined my interests in Finance and Computer Science at GW and met amazing people and made friends for life. GW defines a lot of who I am today, and how my career has shaped. I'm very fortunate to be part of the GW experience, and will always remember my days back in Foggy Bottom with a lot of fond memories.”