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“Coming out of Adelphi I had book knowledge which was definitely important,” Noonan said about how Adelphi prepared him for his career. “The most important thing I left with though, was the ability to work with a team. At Adelphi, I learned how to effectively communicate.”

Member of Adelphi University’s Profiles in Success program.

Founder of CDNoonan Consulting

Favorite Professors:  Prof. Goldstone

Favorite Classes: Accounting and Advanced Accounting

Greatest personal/professional accomplishment: “My two kids are my greatest personal accomplishment. As for my greatest professional accomplishment, I think it was helping to turn Dale Carnegie Training into a growing and profitable company again.”

Advice for current students, or new graduates: “Communication is critical. Your resume will get you the interview but what you do on the interview gets you the job.”

Chris Noonan ’85 graduated from high school with his sights set on pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering. While he was deciding what college to attend, Noonan took a tour of Adelphi’s campus. Although he originally decided to enroll at another university, the tour left a lasting impression on him. “I never forgot that tour and how much I liked Adelphi’s campus,” said Noonan.

Noonan soon discovered that engineering and the university he was attending were both not for him. He fondly recalled an introduction to accounting class that he took in high school and made the decision to change his major and his school.

He enrolled at Adelphi in the winter of 1982 and majored in accounting. “Adelphi was much different than where I had been before,” he said. “It was much more intimate. It wasn’t a huge factory with classes that had 100 people. The accounting department also had a great reputation.”

As a student at Adelphi, Noonan was a member of the Accounting Society. He also worked full-time in the accounting department at Harris Corp., a defense company that had an office in Jericho.

Noonan spent his free time in between classes and work in Adelphi’s cafeteria. “So many friendships were made in the cafeteria over a cup of coffee,” he said. “I’m still friends with many of the people I met there.”   

His favorite professor at Adelphi was Joyce Goldstone. “We were able to talk not only about accounting in her classes, but we were also encouraged to talk about life after college,” said Noonan.

While at Adelphi, Noonan transitioned from his role at Harris Corp. to an internship that he had secured through the University’s Career Center at Deloitte, the largest professional services network in the world. The internship, after Noonan graduated in 1985, morphed into a 10 year career at Deloitte that culminated in the role of senior manager. “I enjoyed my time at Deloitte,” he said. “My favorite client while I was there was Genovese drug store.”

As fate would have it, Noonan was offered a job at Genovese in 1995. That same year, he attended his first Dale Carnegie Training course. Dale Carnegie Training is a performance-based training company with offices worldwide that focuses on giving people in business the opportunity to sharpen their skills and improve their performance.

Noonan joined Genovese as the senior vice president and chief financial officer. “The industry at that time was starting to change,” he said. “If your company wasn’t really big, you couldn’t compete.” In 1998, J.C. Penny acquired Genovese. He stayed with them for the following two years as the company’s stores gradually changed hands.   

Fate intervened again in February 2000 when Noonan received a phone call from Dale Carnegie Training. “Of course I was very familiar with the company. I had taken their classes,” he said. “They offered me a job very close to my house in Garden City. It was perfect.” At the time, Dale Carnegie Training was struggling. When Noonan stepped in as the senior vice president and CFO, he was presented with the difficult task of turning the company around. Over the next 16 years, Noonan worked tirelessly to help Dale Carnegie Training fulfill its potential and achieve enormous success. “I’m extremely proud of what we accomplished there,” he said.

In 2016, Noonan left his role as senior vice president and CFO at Dale Carnegie Training. He remained with the company in a consulting capacity and opened his own agency CDNoonan Consulting. His clients not only include Dale Carnegie Training but also several small businesses. “I worked for three companies that I am very proud to have been associated with,” he said. “Now I can pick the companies I want to work with.”

“Coming out of Adelphi I had book knowledge which was definitely important,” Noonan said about how Adelphi prepared him for his career. “The most important thing I left with though, was the ability to work with a team. At Adelphi, I learned how to effectively communicate.”  

Published October 2016


For further information, please contact:

Todd Wilson
Strategic Communications Director 
p – 516.237.8634
e – twilson@adelphi.edu

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