The Team

Luke Skurman CEO

Luke is an intensely driven dude from San Francisco. When he's not working, he enjoys budget vacations in exotic locations, cheap fine dining, classic rock, playing bogey golf, inspiring people, brutal honesty, and living the dream. Luke has been a volunteer Big Brother for nearly five years, he is the youngest trustee in the history of Carnegie Mellon University (his alma mater) and has tendinitis in both knees from dancing too excessively.

Omid Gohari Chief Operations Officer

Omid has been a part of the College Prowler family since forever and we all know how long that is. He loves the company and does everything he can to make it the best place to be. Omid takes care of all day to day activities and most of all operational aspects as the Chief Operations Officer. He enjoys reading wrestling autobiographies and loves living the free lifestyle.

Mark Benvenuto Vice President of Finance

As VP of Finance, Mark is involved in much of the financial, operational and legal hoopla at College Prowler. He has a background as a corporate suit so Mark enjoys the more relaxed work environment and varying responsibilities here at CP. A trip to his office will display the fine artistic works of his two daughters, Mollie and Meghan. These works are not for sale. Though he loves his life in Pittsburgh suburbia with his family, he has lived in many places and remembers with fondness days spent sittin' on the porch, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi.

Mark Tressler Manager of Business Development

Mark had an incredible college experience and wants to do anything he can to help students get the most out of theirs. A native of the glorious city of Pittsburgh, Mark studied business and entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon where he ran on the cross-country team. When he's not working at College Prowler, he's out on his bike "pushing it to the limit." Mark considers himself a cheap beer connoisseur and enjoys checking out new music, thrifting, and making t-shirts. He eats cereal for lunch every day and is famous for successfully completing the gallon of milk challenge.

Janelle Bremer Business Analyst

If it has to do with business, Janelle is busy analyzing it! She's from western New York and graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH (could be why she considers winter in Pittsburgh to be springtime). When not playing with Excel and Google Analytics at CP, she is probably out running, at home cooking, or out running and thinking about what to cook when she gets home.

Amy Campbell Managing Editor

As the Managing Editor, Amy oversees content-related operations and manages the College Prowler editing team. She attributes her obsession with grammar to her mother, with whom she always enjoys sharing a good laugh at others' grammatical expense. When she's not battling stray commas and roping in dangling participles, Amy likes complaining about people who can't use commas or participles properly. She also enjoys traveling, concerts and festivals, camping, home improvements, and surreal walrus wrangling. Amy aspires to someday be a crazy cat lady (and may be well on her way).

Matt Hamman Editor and Creative Director

Matt serves dual roles at College Prowler as an editor and creative director. That means he gets his grubby little mitts all over every part of the production process, from the covers to the guts. He graduated from Pitt in 2004, and he's lived in the Pittsburgh area his whole life. He enjoys crossword puzzles, kung-fu movies, burritos, and the Oxford comma. He hates word searches, horror movies, fashion mullets, and misused apostrophes.

Bridget Daley Editor and Hiring Coordinator

As part of the editorial team, Bridget enjoys editing the Did You Know section of each school most and sharing her business cards with others. It's possible that at any given restaurant in Pittsburgh, you may find her bright orange cards in fishbowls vying for a free lunch. After graduating with a degree in journalism from Duquesne University and spending a year working abroad, Bridget is happy to be back in Pittsburgh with a new appreciation for traveling, food and photography. Aside from writing, her loves include Italian food, Spanish wine, German beer, Irish dancing and American trivia.

Jen Vella Editor

Jen Vella is an editor, which means she loves writing with a red pen and can't be friends with anyone who doesn't know the difference between its and it's. Since joining College Prowler in late 2007, she can now tell you fun facts about different schools (Did you know that LSU has a live tiger on its campus?). Even though she's been told she has a North Dakota accent, Jen's really from upstate New York and graduated from Siena College with an English degree. In her free time, she enjoys reading the AP Styleguide and cheering on the underdog in sporting events.

Megan McLachlan Associate Editor

At one point, Megan thought she was going to be a professional intern, having worked at several internships in the course of her young career (including College Prowler!). As an Associate Editor, Megan enjoys reading about the many perspectives college life has to offer, as well as the similarities (no one likes the snow). Aside from writing and editing, Megan enjoys reading the "On Language" column in New York Times Magazine, drinking coffee, and schooling people on mindless pop culture nonsense ("Kevin" was the name of Screech's robot-friend on "Saved by the Bell").

Jerry Bachmann Director of Web Development

Jerry is the reason why you are even able to find this page on the Web site. The man behind the beard is highly skilled in the fine art of information technology and sound effects. When restarting your computer just doesn't cut it, he is the person to turn to for help. Some of his favorite things in this world include duping, Rubik's Cubes, baking delicious cookies, and referencing movies that only techies would understand.

David Rush Web Producer/Front-End Developer

David thinks his job title is convoluted and thus prefers to think of himself as the "Web Designer" for College Prowler. He adds a flavor of innocence to the CP team by never swearing and being overly trusting despite high levels of office sarcasm. You may have seen his sexy mug around Carnegie Mellon campus (his alma mater) on a giant life-sized poster, which he sadly still receives phone calls about several times a year (by sadly he means happily because he loves the attention). As for what he actually does at College Prowler, no one is really sure yet, though he definitely updates the team page regularly.

Raúl Alejandro Véjar Llugany Senior Web Developer

As the newest addition to the College Prowler team, and the second furry animal we've hired, Raúl has already made enemies because he apparently doesn't like writing bios about himself. Raúl is originally from Chile, but decided that the majestic beauty of such a country was too much to handle. Worry not though, the homey community spirit of Pittsburgh has suited him well while attaining his Masters of Software Engineering at CMU, enough to keep him around for a while at least. In his free time, Raúl enjoys video games – made apparent by his portrait – and laughing, though at work, he brings out his serious side. And if you are wondering, yes, he starred in "G-Force", the major motion picture.

Aliya Mussina Web Developer

Aliya Mussina joined the College Prowler staff in September 2009 as a Web Developer. She traveled all the way from Kazakhstan just to work on our Web site! Well, not exactly, but she loves working here anyway! Aliya has an MS in IT-Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Computer Science from Suleyman Demirel University, one of the best universities in Kazakhstan, according to Aliya – as you know, the students' opinions are the most trustworthy! In her free time, Aliya likes to travel, take lots of photos, play dombra (a traditional two-string Kazakh instrument), and dance at CMU's UC ballroom. She is also fluent in Russian, Kazakh, and English and is dangerously close to picking up her fourth language: Bangla.