From FDNY to Vice President at Morgan Stanley: A Conversation with Nicholas Gaudiosi on Career Resilience
Join us for an inspiring conversation on what it takes to not just survive — but thrive — through a long and demanding career. Our featured speaker, Nicholas Gaudiosi, Former Vice President of Fire & Life Safety at Morgan Stanley and a 24-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department, will share insights from a lifetime spent managing crises and leading teams under pressure. The conversation will explore how resilience and purpose shape a fulfilling career. The session will be moderated by Jurij Paraszczak, Executive-in-Residence at the Center for Urban Science + Progress at NYU Tandon.
About the Speaker
Nick Gaudiosi served as Vice President for Fire & Life Safety, Morgan Stanley, Americas (2014–2022); Corporate Real Estate Risk Manager, Barclays, Americas (2008–2014); and Director of Life Safety, Lehman Brothers, Americas (2006–2008). He led fire safety, emergency response, code compliance, and disaster planning, and implemented an ISO 14001/OHSAS 18001–certified environmental and safety management system for Barclays (2010).
Retired NYFD Captain of Ladder Company 7 (1997–2003) with 24 years’ service, Mr. Gaudiosi led a search‑and‑rescue team during the 9/11 World Trade Center recovery. On September 11, 2001, after seeing the second plane strike from his car, he returned to the firehouse, commandeered a city bus with about a dozen firefighters to reach Ground Zero, and spent the day climbing over twisted steel in falling ash searching for survivors and recovering victims; he continued daily recovery operations for three weeks while also overseeing Fire Academy construction.
As a consultant he developed emergency‑management training, Train‑the‑Trainer ICS and EOC programs (including for the Arab Academy of Science & Technology), evaluated municipal high‑rise firefighting procedures, designed evacuation training and Emergency Action Plans for NYC high‑rises, and served as First Responder SME for an Integrated Emergency Management Systems project in the Czech Republic. He was project manager for the NYC Fire Academy construction, Assistant Project Manager for Y2K citywide contingency planning at OEM, revised the Probationary Firefighter’s Training Manual, and taught as an adjunct professor at John Jay College (1993–2003) and Adelphi University (2005–2011). He lives in Long Beach, NY, with his wife Mary. He is the author of the book "A Fireman's Life for Me: My Time in the F.D.N.Y., 1979-2003"
Visitor Information
This event will be held in the Learning Commons, located on the 13th Floor of 370 Jay St. Please visit this NYU Tandon webpage for directions and a campus map. Advance registration through Luma is required for campus access at NYU for external guests.
