Michael entered executive search in the 1980s, after a number of years in marketing with Pepsi Cola at the company’s headquarters in New York. In 1989 he founded Curran Partners, a retained executive search firm, in the New York Metro area. The firm was the U.S. partner of a global network of similar firms, the ECI Group. In 2017, Michael led the integration of the firm’s operations and staff into Ward Howell International. His experience in executive search includes a broad range of sectors and management disciplines. While he continues to serve clients in several industries and functions, he has become particularly specialized in life sciences. Typically, his clients are development-stage pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies gearing up to advance through R&D, clinical development, regulatory approval and commercial stages of growth. He contributes the key executives who not only bring the needed experience but also match the clients’ organizational culture. Several of these earlier-stage companies have become well-known biotech successes. Michael takes pleasure in continuing to cultivate professional relationships with these executives as their careers advance, and in networking with them in the recruitment of exceptional talent. Prior to his experience with Pepsi, Michael was a consultant in commercial and international trade development with the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards in Dublin. He was born in Ireland, came to the U.S. as a teenager, and served in the U.S. Army, stationed in the U.S. and Germany. He earned both B.S. and M.B.A. degrees at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. In his spare time – when not making music for his clients as a search professional – Michael sings tenor with the Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut.