Catching up with Dan Bikoff
When Dan Bikoff stood to address fellow members of the Huntington High School Class of 2000 on a warm June day more than eight years ago, he did it as valedictorian. It was an honor he richly deserved after a distinguished academic career that had put him atop a group of very accomplished seniors. Today, he’s not far from his alma mater, as he lives and works in Manhattan.
“As I was trying to remember what I did in high school, I realized that my Class of 2000 10-year reunion is only a year and half away,” he recalled with some amazement. “I just can’t get a handle on the fact that I’ve been out of high school for eight years.”
In addition to earning outstanding grades, Mr. Bikoff engaged in a full range of extra-curricular activities, participating in chamber orchestra, Key club, Playfest and pit orchestra, among others. He played on the tennis team for two seasons and, at the suggestion of then Huntington science teacher Richard Kurtz, worked at the prestigious Cold Spring Harbor Lab during his junior year on a research project that resulted in being named a semifinalist in the highly regarded Intel Science Talent Search.
“Researching in a lab was a great experience at the time, but more importantly, it helped me realize I didn’t want to follow the biology path like my brother and sister,” recalled Mr. Bikoff. “However, that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the quirkiness of the Huntington High School science teachers.”
Mr. Bikoff provided several examples of what he meant by “quirkiness.” He remembers that in his senior year, his AP Physics teacher, Roberta Amian displayed a “fascination with IHOP blintzes. Also, during my sophomore year in AP Biology with Richard Kurtz we would always look forward to ‘Disco Fridays,’ where Mr. Kurtz would hang a 3-inch disco ball from an overhead project or microscope on his desk. High school in my memory is a series of disjointed events like the ones I just described. I guess that happens with time, but you tend to remember the big events and the hilarious situations.”
As a Huntington senior, Mr. Bikoff earned the Bausch & Lomb Award, Mathematics Department Five-Year Award, Robert K. Toaz Memorial Prize, Sara Murphy English Prize and Tri-M Music Leadership Award.
Following his graduation from high school, Mr. Bikoff headed off to Washington Univ. in St. Louis. “After two years of indecisiveness, I finally buckled down and majored in economics and Spanish,” he said. “One of the most valuable internships I did over the summer was traveling around as a sales rep for Glaceau Vitaminwater. It was the summer of 2002, when the trendy liquid was either going to flop or take off, and they sent me all over New York City and Long Island pushing the product like Willy Loman. I even traveled to LA twice that summer on the company tab. Not too shabby for a 19-year old lowly intern. Unfortunately, I couldn’t return to Glaceau the next summer, but I wasn’t too upset. Instead, I was backpacking across Europe after my semester abroad in Madrid, Spain.”
At Huntington, Mr. Bikoff was a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society and Tri-M Music Honor Society. Classmate David Peskin introduced him to the graduation day crowd for his valedictory address on Sunday afternoon, June 25, 2000. Mr. Bikoff’s brother, Jay (1995) and sister Rachel (1998) were also Huntington High School valedictorians.
Reflecting on his own life, Mr. Bikoff has a recommendation for all current college students. “Studying abroad was one the best experiences of my life, and if I ever talk to someone in college I tell them that if it’s feasible, they should do whatever it takes to participate in a study abroad program,” he said. “It immerses you in a world of cultural, social and academic unknowns that constantly challenge and entice you. I know this may sound cliché, but it also improves your problem solving tremendously and enhances your maturity level. We all know that when you travel things never go as planned and you have to adapt. Aside from the learning experience, it’s just simply amazing to travel for six months. It’s a constant feast for all five senses.”
It was during his senior year of college, between classes and events of the Sigma Nu fraternity to which he belonged, that Mr. Bikoff began work on an economic honors thesis. “I focused on salary and performance in Major League Baseball as a proxy for other industries where worker performance is difficult to measure,” he recalled. “Baseball is a treasure trove of publicly available statistics so oftentimes economists will test their theories and then extrapolate into other areas where stats are not as forthcoming.”
After Mr. Bikoff earned his undergraduate degree he moved on to the corporate world as a business analyst for Capital IQ, a financial software company. “I decided that I wanted to live in New York City for a few years before deciding whether or not to pursue academic economics,” he said. “I moved into a Times Square two-bedroom shoebox with a friend from high school. Eventually the tourists drove me out and now I’m living in a much quieter pad near Columbia University and working my second business analyst job.”
Today, Mr. Bikoff works for Building Service 32BJ Benefit Funds, which provides benefits to New York City’s largest union: SEIU Local 32B-32J. “It was a shock to go from a company with cutting edge technology to a legacy system built in a programming language from the sixties,” he said. “However, I’ve settled in at the Benefit Funds and it’s a very exciting time to be working there as we look for a replacement system. I get to play the role of both consultant and fire fighter, so all of those years in high school and college analyzing tough problems prepared me well.”
What’s in Mr. Bikoff’s future is still a mystery, he said, but business school could be “in the cards.” But, right now he plans to “continue enjoying the fast paced and stimulating life of the city. I will occasionally depart the hustle and bustle to travel of course. I think South America is calling my name next.”
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