Ron Silverman ’84

Ron Silverman ’84, president of Client Experience at Vista Global Holding Limited, earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Montclair State University in 1984. Prior to working for Vista Global Holding, parent company of VistaJet, XO Jet, Tech X and Vista Leasing, Silverman held several other positions in the field of corporate aviation, including president of VistaJet US and senior VP of Executive Jet Management.

As president of Client Experience at Vista Global Holding, a world leader in business flight solutions, Silverman is responsible of ensuring that each flight is conducted safely and in compliance with all the rules and regulations of flight as well as international law. “I am always proactively seeking solutions and alternatives to have available should the need arise as each client has a different profile and requires each trip to be tailored to their specific needs, expectations and missions,” he says.

For Silverman, there are no typical days – a fact which he very much enjoys. “My role is a 24/7 responsibility, owing to my company to have an aircraft take off or land every 30 minutes somewhere in the world,” he says. When he is not in his office in Manhattan, he is on a plane headed to meet with a client or to attend an event or meeting around the world.

As an undergraduate at Montclair State, Silverman never would have imagined working in his current field as he was not aware of the private aviation industry until junior year. It wasn’t until that year, that his interest of aviation as a career began to grow. Luckily for him, his roommate’s father was familiar with the aviation industry.

“I became good friends with my roommate junior and senior year. His father was a corporate pilot, and would alert us to ‘look up’ when he was close to landing at Teterboro Airport,” he says. As both Silverman and his roommate would look up to the sky from their dorm room, they could vividly see him fly right over campus.

“Montclair State University helped me develop the strategies and business acumen to deal with the challenges of running a business, whether a small department or multinational organization,” says Silverman. He credits his education and experience at Montclair State as the launching point for a successful career in the aviation industry.

Like many other students, Silverman did research and inquired information on internships, job openings and employers. It was through the Center for Career Services, where he was able to secure a job with People Express Airlines, a start-up airline – his first job in aviation!

Silverman recalls one specific professor that left a mark on his academic career. “I will never forget Professor Pearl, who taught my senior year marketing class,” he says. “The principles and strategies he taught, such as what makes a business profitable and what to consider when opening a new business, remain with me to this day.”

To current students, Silverman advices the following. “Be persistent! When I did not get the first job which I interviewed for, I remember opening the phone book and sending out my resume to dozens of organizations, one of which did say ‘Can you come in at 3 p.m. today?’ and hired me!”