A Hat Trick for Bentley

If there’s a Bruins game on, the Giannettos are likely gathered in their living room, glued to the television screen. Three of the five family members now have something else in common.

Michael ’85 studied accounting and, at graduation, took a corporate finance job at Data General, a pioneer in the microcomputer space. That’s where he met Terry (Mahoney), MBA ’92. She took advantage of the company’s tuition assistance program and came to Bentley for a graduate degree. This fall, their youngest, Dominic, heads to Waltham as a member of the Class of 2023.

Michael gravitated toward tech companies from the start. His résumé includes CFO posts at Vistaprint and, most recently, Sonos. 

“I’m sure some of that direction came from my experience working with computers and software applications at Bentley,” he says. “We had an Apple II lab!” 

As his career evolved over three decades, so did technology. 

“The 13-column green sheets of paper feel like ancient history,” he says. “Our daily lives are dominated by tech now. That certainly wasn’t the case when I was starting out.”

The business environment that Dominic will enter differs markedly from the one his parents joined early in their careers. Since he was a high school sophomore, Dominic has been active in DECA, a global organization that prepares students for business leadership and entrepreneurship in the 21st century — and careers that didn’t exist in the eighties and nineties. 

“DECA has been a major influence in deciding what I want for a career,” he says, adding that Bentley was always at the forefront of his mind — not because of his parents, but for its location: within New England, near a major city with jobs. 

Dominic applied to and visited several colleges, then returned to Bentley in April for Accepted Students Day. 

“It gave him a really cool glimpse of campus. It was like, ‘That could be you,’ ” says Terry. “The weather was beautiful, and that didn’t hurt.”

His parents are happy with the decision, and glad he’s staying on campus. As a commuter, Michael regrets not getting the “full college experience,” so he always hoped that his children would choose dorm life. That said, “I’m going to miss watching the Bruins with Dominic.”  

The couple has a game plan, though: Bentley’s DI hockey team provides a perfect excuse to visit their son — and their old stomping grounds.