Since he was in high school, Peter Stypa figured a career in law would be a meaningful way to help people.
He’s well on his way, following his June graduation from Elmhurst College’s dual-degree program with The John Marshall Law School.
One of the first students to graduate from the dual-degree program, Stypa earned an MBA at Elmhurst while pursuing his JD at John Marshall.
Now Stypa is taking his studies in business and law to the next level—he recently started classes at Georgetown University Law Center’s LL.M. degree program in international business and economic law, in Washington, D.C. The program is designed for students interested in international law and trade, as well as global securities market regulation. While taking classes at Georgetown, he also is starting a job as a senior regulatory analyst at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in Rockville, Maryland. The authority regulates investment firms and broker dealers. Stypa analyzes complex private placement securities to ensure that they comply with FINRA regulations and federal securities law.
He finds himself drawn to work for regulators such as FINRA, which offers protections for investors. “I like using the law to help people and to benefit society,” Stypa said. “Markets can fall apart and people can be hurt whether they are over-regulated or under-regulated. I want to be able to recognize the equilibrium.”
Stypa was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, raised in Cambridge, Ontario, and earned his honors undergraduate degree at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario. He moved to Chicago to attend John Marshall, where he learned about the opportunity to pursue an Elmhurst MBA.
“[Business professor] Kelly Cunningham helped me develop a focus on finance,” said Stypa, adding that his time at Elmhurst—and his relationship with faculty members like Cunningham—were instrumental to his acceptance to the Georgetown program.
“This is a wild dream come true for me, and I know I would not be here if not for the opportunity to attend Elmhurst College,” he said.