Robert J. Gutowski ’99

As an undergraduate at Georgetown University, Robert Gutowski majored in English and excelled in writing, reading and oral communication. After serving for three years as a high school teacher in Belize with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, he returned to the United States and worked at Volunteers of America, coordinating volunteers. Among them were lawyers providing help to people with AIDS. Inspired by them, and motivated to work in the public interest, Gutowski anticipated a career in international public interest law. UB School of Law seemed like the perfect fit.

Despite the large class size, he enjoyed UB Law, which he found friendly and not cutthroat. The professors were helpful and accessible. As a IL, his favorite class was Constitutional Law, taught by Professor George Kannar. He took all Kannar’s classes, including a First Amendment seminar and a telecommunications seminar. Both would prove helpful in his later career.

Another favorite law teacher and mentor was Professor Makau Mutua, a new young professor of human rights. Gutowski took Mutua’s classes and socialized with Mutua. He became Gutowski’s academic adviser for Law Review. Mutua gave him great advice and helped him make connections in his corporate job search. The friendship lasted beyond law school into his professional years, including years later when Gutowski was chair of the New York City chapter of the UB Law Alumni Association.

As a summer associate in New York City, Gutowski worked on transactional matters at a corporate firm. He was exposed to a new and growing area of the law that was at the intersection of technology, investment and “this new thing called the Internet.” He enjoyed it and knew then what his career path would be.

He has served since 2020 as general counsel for MSCI Inc., a global financial services firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange and headquartered in New York City. He is responsible for the legal, compliance, regulatory affairs and internal audit functions at MSCI worldwide.

Previously, Gutowski was MSCI’s deputy general counsel and head of compliance from 2010 to 2019, and head of internal audit from 2012 to 2019. Before joining MSCI, Gutowski was an executive director in the legal division of Morgan Stanley and practiced corporate law in the New York City offices of Rogers & Wells LLP and Clifford Chance LLP.

He stresses the importance of luck, being in the right place at the right time. “Be prepared. Take risks. Get a reward,” he says.

Gutowski values mentoring, which is teaching. He enjoys teaching in the New York City Program in Finance and Law, as well as helping individuals find their path. “Teaching energizes me,” he said.