Advice From the Road: From English Major to Global Finance
Photo by Dan Loh.
Cogan Fellow delivers ‘Wall Street picaresque’
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
From executing game plans on the football field to navigating the shifting landscapes of global investment, Michael Meagher ’00 embraces the opportunity to find clarity amid uncertainty and carve a new path. Recently, Meagher came back to Dickinson to share how his academic journey gave him a competitive edge in a career shaped by successful, unexpected turns.
Meagher visited campus through Dickinson’s Cogan Alumni Fellowship program, which brings noted English department alumni to campus each spring to interact with students and deliver a public talk. Named in honor of a late-life Dickinson student, the program encourages an adventurous spirit and lifelong curiosity and showcases the wide array of opportunities unlocked by English department alumni.
Cogan Fellows deliver a public talk and meet informally with small groups of English department faculty and students. For students, it’s an opportunity to hear directly from esteemed professionals who once stood in their shoes and learn about the varied ways in which former Dickinson English majors are making their marks.
Over their four years on campus, students have an opportunity to learn about alumni in varied careers Cogan Fellows have pursued. Last year's honoree, Alejandro Heredia ’16, is a novelist and recipient of fellowships from LAMBDA Literary and the Dominican Studies Institute. Christopher Eiswerth ’08, a Harvard Law grad and attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, shared the 2024 Cogan Fellowship with Katie Jarman ’16, a research associate at Higher Ed Insight. Sarah Blumenstock ’12, senior editor at Berkley (an imprint of Penguin Random House), served as the Cogan Fellow in 2023.
From football to finance
In his talk, "Anything Can Happen Now That We've Slid Over This Bridge: A Wall Street Piscaresque,” Meagher discussed his work as financial services managing director and partner as well as the decision points and skills that led him there.
Meagher was an English major and NCAA student-athlete at Dickinson who enjoyed creative writing and was a member of Belles Lettres and Sigma Chi. He also studied abroad in Màlaga, Spain. After graduating cum laude with departmental honors, Meagher coached high school and college football and also worked in commercial real estate development. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he volunteered in New Orleans to help with the rebuilding effort.
Pivoting into finance, Meagher worked first as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank, then accepted a managing director position at Golub Capital, organizing, structuring and monitoring portfolio investments. Today, Meagher is a partner and the head of direct and global lending at the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm headquartered in New York City. He gives back to his alma mater as a member of the college’s John Dickinson and Mermaid Societies. He also continues to write creatively, and his work was recently included in an alumni edition of The Dickinson Review.
Prepared for the ride
Discussing the decision points that shaped his trajectory, Meagher described a series of pivots and risks. What drove his success, he noted, were the analysis and communication skills he sharpened as a Dickinson English major. He noted that in today’s fast-evolving professional landscape, there is no better time to reap the benefits of a Dickinson liberal-arts degree.
That message rang out loud and clear to Indigo Cadogan ’26, an English major with a minor in creative writing who served as this year’s Cogan Fellowship student coordinator. She enjoyed taking part in Meagher’s small-group dinner with English majors and faculty members and chatting about the ripples AI technologies are sending through the academic and professional communities. Cadogan especially appreciated Meagher’s candid recollections about the uncertainty he felt as shifted gears into new career directions.
“My biggest takeaway from this experience is that an English degree does not limit you. It prepares you,” Cadogan says, citing the foundational critical thinking, communication, interpretation and storytelling skills that Meagher says are key. It’s an inspiring message for humanities students as they think about what awaits them after graduation. And, together with the advice she’s gathered from other recent Cogan Fellows, it paints a portrait of the many possibilities that await.
“Many of quietly wonder what our futures might look like. Seeing alumni who’ve built dynamic and sometimes unexpected careers expands our sense of possibility, because it reminds us that there isn’t just one version of success,” Cadogan adds. “The Cogan Fellowship reflects the adventurous spirit of the woman it was named for, and I think that’s powerful for students at this stage of life.”
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Published March 4, 2026