Oswego Fall 2017

OSWEGO ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT OSWEGO n VOL. 43, NO. 3 n FALL 2017

Laker Career Connections The alumni network augments career services resources

Homecoming 2017 Celebration n Inaugural Marano Scholars Named

n

OsweGoConnect Online Community • alumni.oswego.edu

Homecoming • alumni.oswego.edu/homecoming

Alumni-In-Residence Visits

Local Lakers Regional Events

• alumni.oswego.edu/air

Alumni Sharing Knowledge

• alumni.oswego.edu/locallakers

• alumni.oswego.edu/ask

Reunion • alumni.oswego.edu/reunion

Let us help you connect to the things that matter the most!

Facebook • facebook.com/oswegoalumni

Instagram • instagram.com/oswegoalumni

LinkedIn • linkedin.com/groups/48717

Twitter • twitter.com/oswegoalumni

alumni.oswego.edu alumni@oswego.edu 315-312-2258 King Alumni Hall Oswego, NY 13126

FALL 2017

OSWEGO

Alumni Association of the State University of New York at Oswego Vol. 43, No. 3

Students Pitch New Business Ideas at Launch It! Competition 6 Students present their ideas to a panel of judges in SUNY Oswego’s first-ever business idea competition.

Global Business Leader Talks Trends, Talents of Tomorrow 14

6

Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Bob Moritz ’85 shared stories and offered his vision on the skills students would need to be successful in their future.

62 Students Named Inaugural Marano Scholars 16 Thanks to a $7.5 million estate gift from Oswego County resident Lorraine Marano, a total of 62 first-generation college students with financial need will receive $5,000 annually as inaugural recipients of the Nunzio “Nick” C. and Lorraine E. Marano Scholarship.

14 16

College Community Celebrates Homecoming 2017 20 Hundreds of students and alumni came together in October for tailgating, memory-making and sharing their school spirit.

Leveraging the Laker Connection 24 Throughout their lives, alumni and students benefit from a range of professional development tools, including the most important— each other.

20

PLUS

Campus Currents Athletics Class Notes Weddings Alumni Bookshelf In Memoriam

24

ON THE COVER:

31

3 17 35 43 44 45

Jeff Knauss ’07, co-founder of the Digital Hyve marketing firm, settles into the company’s new space overlooking Clinton Square in Syracuse, N.Y. Knauss and copartner, Jake Tanner ’12, know firsthand the power of the Oswego alumni network and count four other Lakers among their 23 full-time employees.

Photo by Robert Mescavage

F R O M

OSWEGO Alumni Magazine

T H E

President’s Desk H

ome. It’s a word that means many things to people.

It’s the place where you connect with family and friends. It’s the place where you can unwind and be yourself. It’s a place where memories President are made and life’s Deborah F. Stanley most important moments are shared.

I hope you consider SUNY Oswego your home—the place where you have made lifelong friends, where you could not only be yourself but maybe discovered who you are; a place that is so full of memories you feel compelled to return and in doing so, you create more cherished moments.

We hope you experience the life and vitality of this campus, realizing your own potential and how your presence and success nurtures others.

In this issue, we talk about the ties that alumni have to each other and to the students who are studying on our campus, and how those connections create a strong network of support to assist Oswego family members as they develop professionally.

We highlight the career resources that are available throughout the lives of all members of the Oswego family, through the college’s Career Services office and the Oswego Alumni Association. To access them, all you need to do is visit the college—virtually or in person. Our doors (and resources) are open to you. See related stories on pages 24-34.

Like a home, the college welcomes all of its members to return whenever they can.

We were fortunate this fall to welcome home Bob Moritz ’85, the chair of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, to meet and share advice with our students,

faculty and administrators. As the head of one of the “Big Four” global professional services firms, he meets with princes and presidents in dozens of countries every year, and yet, he made time for a trip to visit his Oswego family. He reminded students that he once was in their shoes— trying to balance studies with social life, career options with life goals, ambition with humility and humanity. Read more about his visit on page 14.

Throughout the year, the college provides many opportunities to you to come home to visit. Each fall, we are building the Homecoming tradition to unite alumni and students, and encouraging them to share their Oswego pride. See coverage of our third annual celebration on pages 20-21. In June, we host the largest on-campus celebration for alumni during Reunion Weekend. Our next one is June 7-10, 2018, so mark your calendars. We also host more than 150 alumni each year through the Alumni-In-Residence program, which brings alumni back to campus to share their knowledge with students through in-class presentations and informal gatherings. The Oswego Alumni Association plans gatherings across the state and country to bring together alumni who may not be able to return to campus.

So as we wind down another calendar year, I hope you will make a goal for the new year to come visit all of us, your college family, at your SUNY Oswego home!

Happy holidays!

s 2017 comes to a close, be sure to send in your end of the year gift to The Fund for Oswego. Help create opportunities for our current and future students. Please use the envelope included in this issue of OSWEGO Alumni Magazine, or you can make your gift online at alumni.oswego.edu/givenow.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

Wayne Westervelt Contributing Writers Reid Adler ’16 M’18 Lorenzo Ciniglio Photography Sheila Cooley ’03 M’11 Dori Gronich ’17 Mackenzie Hungerford ’18 Nicole Lightfoot ’18 David Macri Kaitlin Marcy ’11 Michael Mercier/UAH Robert Mescavage Marissa Specioso ’16 Chris Tanouye Wayne Westervelt Contributing Photographers Kaitlin Popow ’19 Lauren Sandford ’18 Kevin Sun ’18 Interns

Oswego Alumni Association Inc. Board of Directors

Lisa Marceau Schnorr ’87 President Amy Vanderlyke Dygert ’01 First Vice President Kathleen Smits Evans ’84 Second Vice President Keith Chamberlain ’87 Past President Elizabeth Locke Oberst Executive Director Edgar Ames ’68 *Tim Barnhart ’02 Marc Beck ’93 Paul Brennan ’93 Kevin Bryans ’89 *Michael Byrne ’79 Mike Caldwell ’70 M’88 **Mary Gibbons Canale ’81 Karen Colucci Coia ’89 Raelynn Cooter ’77 Jerry Esposito ’70 Thaina Gonzalez ’92

Phillip Grome ’89 Lisa Sferrazza Hutchison ’77 Jennifer Warner Janes ’91 La-Dana Renee Jenkins ’94 *Maureen Flynn Kratz ’04 *Don Levine ’78 Molly Matott ’15 *Steve Messina ’91 Dana Segall Murphy ’99 Cathleen Richards ’09 Mark Salmon ’93 Dan Scaia ’68 Stefen Short ’10 Christie Torruella Smith ’08 Jeffrey Sorensen ’92 Yvonne Spicer ’84 M’85 **Deborah F. Stanley Kevin Sutherland ’05 Rick Yacobush ’77 Thomas Yates ’89 * At large ** Ex officio

Oswego College Foundation Inc. Board of Directors Mary Gibbons Canale ’81 President Michael Durney ’83 Chair Rose Cardamone Crane ’81 Vice Chair Nicholas Lyons Treasurer Doreen Mochrie ’85 Secretary Mark Baum ’81 Louis A. Borrelli Jr. ’77 Bill Burns ’83 Dianora De Marco ’14 M’15 Steve Doran ’82

Bob Garrett ’83 Kendis Gibson ’94 Jack James ’62 Matt Jenal ’78 Gordon Lenz ’58 Peter McCarthy ’82 Robert Moritz ’85 Colleen Murphy ’77 Suzanne Castrigno Sack ’84 Jennifer Shropshire ’86 William Spinelli ’84 Deborah F. Stanley Mark Tryniski ’85 Joe Yacura ’74

State University of New York at Oswego Deborah F. Stanley President Scott R. Furlong Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Nicholas Lyons Vice President for Administration and Finance

Deborah F. Stanley President

Mary Gibbons Canale ’81 Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Jerald Woolfolk Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management

Office of Alumni and Parent Relations

There’s Still Time…

A

Elizabeth Locke Oberst Publisher Margaret D. Spillett Editor Eileen Crandall Associate Editor Jennifer Broderick Graphic Design Matt Cummins Online Coordinator Jim Russell ’83 Staff Photographer Lisa Potter In Memoriam Michael Bielak Tim Nekritz M’05 Jeff Rea ’71 Ron Throop ’90

3 10 17 24 31

DECEMBER 2017 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 29 30

2

King Alumni Hall, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126 Phone: 315-312-2258 Fax: 315-312-4004 Email: alumni@oswego.edu f facebook.com/oswegoalumni Website: alumni.oswego.edu t @oswegoalumni

OSWEGO is published three times a year by the Oswego Alumni Association Inc., King Alumni Hall, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126. It is distributed free of charge to alumni, friends, faculty, staff and families of current students, with support from The Fund for Oswego. Printed December 2017.

OSWEGO Alumni Magazine is printed on recycled paper with inks that are non-toxic, contain no heavy metals, and are composed of bio-derived renewable resources ranging from 25-40% (as a percentage of total ink weight).

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

Alumni Share Career Path Stories, Advice at CNY Career Connections Event the SUNY Oswego in Syracuse branch campus. Modeled after the Oswego Alumni Association’s popular annual New York City Career Connections, the event featured Couch’s keynote address, an alumni panel Q&A session and the opportunity for junior and senior students to speak informally with alumni from a variety of CNY employers about careers, the job search process and tips for living in the region.

“I’ve found my passion,” said Couch, who now calls Colorado home. And while it may not be in the financial sector of Manhattan, his degree from SUNY Oswego has played a vital role in his nonprofit skill set, he said. “Your degree is not limiting. Every skill you have is relatable.”

Following the keynote, Couch was joined by members of the Graduates Of the Last Decade Leadership Council Anja Godlewski-Dykes ’15, an account manager for the Digital Hyve, and Adam King ’11, legal administrative assistant for litigation with Bousquet Holstein and a law student at Syracuse University, for a panel moderated by student Lucas Ellison ’18, who shared questions prepared by fellow student members of the Oswego Future Alumni Network.

College Welcomes Most Culturally Diverse Class, Campus Ever 273

TOTAL FIRST-YEAR

international students

Student Enrollment

un

tri

es

1,480

11,727 Applications (10-year high)

AVG. GPA: 89.5 AVG. SAT: 1155 Acceptance Rate: 54%

34

38 f ro m

%

511 Culturally diverse* first-year students

co

28%

of TOTAL student enrollment is culturally diverse

2,265 students >8,000 Total Students

* students who self-identify as African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Multi-Racial, Native American or Pacific Islander

3

The panelists offered insight into what life is like right after graduation, how to approach job interviews and how important it is to network.

Networking is “authentic relationship building,” Godlewski-Dykes told students.

“It’s not something you do with just alumni and other people in the work world, but with your peers, too.” l —Eileen Crandall JENNIFER BRODERICK

JIM RUSSELL ’83

n his third day on the job at a highpowered financial firm in New York City, business administration major Elliott Couch ’11 quit.

“My boss called me into his office and asked me to close my eyes and imagine myself three years from that moment,” Couch said. Couch was asked, while his eyes were closed, to project where he was living and what kind of car he was driving.

“It was the beginning of the realization I wasn’t where I belonged,” he said.

Instead, Couch became certified to teach English to speakers of other languages and headed to Thailand. Ultimately, he completed the coursework required to become a special education teacher, and in 2015, he founded Kids Lacrosse the World, a non-profit organization dedicated to leadership, education and empowerment through the Native American game of lacrosse in places like Africa and Malaysia.

Couch was the keynote speaker for the second annual Central New York (CNY) Career Connections Sept. 28 at

EILEEN CRANDALL

O

New Students Celebrate Welcoming Torchlight On Aug. 25, student speaker Olivia Dunn ’17 joined SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley, student emcee Madelyn Muckey ’17, Student Association President Dalton Bisson ’19, and dozens of faculty and staff, in greeting the new first-year and transfer students in the 28th Annual Welcoming Torchlight Ceremony in the Marano Campus Center. “[Being a Laker] is about stepping out of your comfort zone,” Dunn said. “It’s about meeting new people whose stories and backgrounds are different from yours. It’s about joining the clubs you never thought you would, and saying yes to every opportunity thrown your way.” l

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

New Scholarship Supports LGBTQ Students with Financial Need, Commitment to Social Justice PROVIDED

Harry B. Bronson ’82 speaks during a New York State Assembly debate on marriage equality.

L

ife is about the possibilities and not the obstacles, according to Harry B. Bronson ’82.

“I have learned the future is ours to create and that an education is key to that future,” Bronson said. “A college education equips students with the tools to grow, learn and succeed in our evolving economy.”

With that in mind, he has established the Harry B. Bronson ’82 Endowed Social Justice Scholarship to “help students seize upon the opportunity to obtain a quality higher education from SUNY Oswego.”

The scholarship was established to support Oswego students who are committed to social justice, have financial need, demonstrate academic achievement and self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ)—a component that reflects Bronson’s life’s work: “The simple principle that all human beings have dignity; and that no matter who you are, what you look like, who you love or where you come from, we all deserve full equality and the chance to succeed.”

Bronson’s passion for social justice, equality and fairness has defined his public service, his career and his personal life.

Bronson was the 11th of 12 children born into a household that struggled financially: “We did not have indoor plumbing in our home until I was 8 years old.” But, he said, it was also a home in which his parents taught that integrity, hard work, tenacity and education lead to a better life. Bronson was the first in his family to attend college. He went on to law school at SUNY Buffalo and became a lawyer, a businessman and an elected official, most recently as a member of New York State Assembly District 138, a post that he has held since 2011. He is recog-

nized as an authority in, and has lectured throughout the state, on employment law and public justice issues, and he has taught employment law at Cornell University.

Bronson has played crucial roles in equality legislation, including his work with public unions for the expansion of domestic partnership benefits to state employees. He has served as a board member and in leadership roles for several non-profit organizations and foundations.

In 2013, Bronson was a nominee for the prestigious White House Harvey Milk Champions of Change Award.

The new scholarship, he said, provides a method to help current and future activists in the struggle for equality.

“I want someone from my LGBTQ community to take the greatest advantage of what SUNY Oswego has to offer, so they, too, may go forward and work for equality for all,” Bronson said.

“In the current climate in our country where there is a movement to pit one against another and to perceive people who are different as something ‘other,’ not worthy and a threat, we need more than ever before people willing to fight for social justice and equality for all.” l —Eileen Crandall

Find the Founder!

In the summer 2017 issue, the Sheldon statue can be found in the lower left corner of the Man in the Moon Candies photo on page 6.

Grand prize winner of a College Store gift certificate and a Sheldon Hall print is Pete Morsdorf ’96. Winning Sheldon Hall prints are George Dummitt ’69, Heidi Fearn ’76, Paul Rowland ’83, Cindy Wicklein Robillard ’88 and Alecia Johnson Derhammer ’06. A tiny replica of the Sheldon statue, pictured here, is hidden somewhere in this issue. Find the Founder and send us a letter or email with the location and page number, your name, class year and address. We will draw one entry at random from all the correct answers and the winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the College Store and a print of Sheldon Hall. The next five entries drawn will receive Sheldon Hall prints. Send your entry to Find the Founder, King Alumni Hall, 300 Washington Blvd., Oswego, N.Y., 13126, or email to findthefounder@oswego.edu. Entries must be postmarked or emailed by Feb. 1. l OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

4

Video: Oz Chicken Patty Day: hot commodity, cool tradition Watch the video: alumni.oswego.edu/ chickenpatty

C A M P U S MATT CUMMINS

C URR EN T S

Community Bank Makes $25,000 Gift to CARE Program MATT CUMMINS JIM RUSSELL ’83

Alumna Donates Antique Desk in Honor of Her Mentors, Friends Mark Tryniski ’85 (above) is president and CEO for Community Bank System Inc. and member of the Oswego College Foundation Inc.’s Board of Directors. Community Bank supported the SUNY Oswego School of Business and its Center for Accounting Research and Education with a $25,000 gift.

Community Bank has made a $25,000 gift to support SUNY Oswego’s Center for Accounting Research and Education (CARE) in the School of Business.

The gift will support faculty research, diversity initiatives, continuing professional education, student education and community outreach as well as social responsibility and ethical training in accounting, said Thomas Tribunella, CARE director.

“This support gives SUNY students the foundation to become leaders in public, corporate, not-for-profit and governmental accounting,” Tribunella said. The center provides resources and support for a wide range of accounting-related programs, including Accounting Club, Beta Alpha Psi and the completion of over 400 tax returns by students for the community, he said.

The center guides the scholarly and educational activities of the Accounting,

Professor Thomas Tribunella (above), CARE director, said the center plays a critical role in enhancing classroom learning.

Finance and Law departments in the School of Business. Financing innovative research projects and cutting-edge educational endeavors are the center’s primary strategic objectives.

According to Mark Tryniski ’85, president and CEO for Community Bank System Inc. and member of the Oswego College Foundation Inc.’s board of directors, Community Bank is pleased to support the SUNY Oswego School of Business and its Center for Accounting Research and Education.

“As an alumnus of SUNY Oswego and a banker, I understand the return on investment this support will provide toward educating and developing today’s accounting and finance students, who will become tomorrow’s business leaders,” Tryniski said.

Community Bank serves customers in New York and Pennsylvania. l —Eileen Crandall

5

Betsy Oberst, associate vice president of alumni relations and stewardship at SUNY Oswego (left), accepted the donation of an Oswego Normal School desk from the Rev. Dr. Rebecca ColeTurner M’76 CAS ’76. Cole-Turner donated the desk, which is now housed in King Alumni Hall, in honor of her lifelong mentor and friend, the late Dr. Barbara Gerber, a Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of Counseling and Psychological Services and co-founder of the women’s studies program at Oswego who died in March, and her spouse, the late Nancy Seale Osborne ’70, Librarian Emerita, who died in 2011.

Cole-Turner worked with the couple’s daughters to compile an archive of Gerber’s collection of National Women’s Studies Association newsletters and papers, which are housed in the desk, along with two books published by Osborne. “I hope that this desk will help people remember them and encourage them to look through the archival papers and books and to learn something about these two wonderful women who just really inspired and loved me,” ColeTurner said. l

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

O

n Sept. 15, enthusiastic business students gathered in front of alumni judges, professors and peers to present their unique start-up business plans for the conclusion of the weeklong Launch It! competition, the first-ever student business competition at SUNY Oswego.

Each team of entrepreneurs had four minutes to present their formulated ideas to a panel of established business people and SUNY Oswego alumni judges: Paloma Sarkar M’11 and Dennis Shuler ’78. Sarkar, originally from India, earned an MBA in Management from SUNY Oswego before interning at Pathfinder Bank in Oswego, where she currently works as the assistant vice president of credit risk. Shuler has an extensive background in organizational design and talent development, and works as a consultant at Bain Capital Ventures. During the introductions of the event, Shuler commended students for taking the first step into the world of business. “This is where business starts,” he said. “This is the incubator.”

Graphic arts majors Samantha Boyle ’17 and Madison St. Gelais ’17 (holding check, left and right) won the finals of the inaugural Launch It! competition, showcasing student entrepreneurs Sept. 15 in the Marano Campus Center auditorium. Led by past president Jordan Shutts ’16 M’17 (in back, second from left) and current president Eli VanOrman ’18 (right), the college’s chapter of Enactus shared Launch It! sponsorship with the School of Business and the Office of Business and Community Relations. Also shown are judges Dennis Shuler ’78 (far left), consultant at Bain Capital Ventures; and Austin Wheelock (starting fifth from left), deputy director at Operation Oswego County; Chena Tucker, director of OBCR; and Paloma Sarkar M’11, assistant vice president of credit risk at Pathfinder Bank.

JIM RUSSELL ’83

Kevin Stickles ’90, senior vice president of human resources at Wegmans, spoke Sept.

12 in an Enactus mentoring session in Rich Hall prior to the next day’s final round of the inaugural Launch It!, a startup business competition. Other alumni mentors included Kayla Doan ’11, innovation program manager for Constant Contact, and Sarah Miller ’15, innovation associate for AARP.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

Chena Tucker, the director of the Office of Business and Community Relations, and Austin Wheelock, the deputy director of Operation Oswego County, were also on the judging panel.

Throughout the week leading up to the grand finale of Launch It!, the teams of students had opportunities to gather advice and crystallize their business plans through Launch It!’s Team Mentoring.

Teams met in person, or through virtual sessions, with business professionals to adjust and develop their ideas and create their businesses. Mentors included Kevin Stickles ’90, senior vice president of human resources, and Duane Hutt, human resource manager, both of Wegmans Food Markets; Robert Colangelo, president at Colangelo Innovation Group; Kayla Doan ’11, innovation program manager for Constant Contact; and Sarah Miller ’15, innovation associate for AARP. Participants also attended an opening keynote address the previous Friday, Sept.

8, delivered by Jeff Knauss ’07.

6

“I never wanted to be an entrepreneur,” Knauss told attendees during the Launch It! opening ceremony. Knauss spent eight years in broadcast television before he met business partner, Jake Tanner ’12, and together they established the Digital Hyve, a full-service digital marketing agency with offices in Syracuse and Rochester. (See related story on page 24.)

Take big risks in the business industry, because there are great potential rewards, Knauss said.

In the final competition, sitting in the audience felt like attending a live viewing of the popular reality TV series Shark Tank. The panel of judges faced the stage while the teams confidently presented their pitches, all of them utilizing PowerPoint to lay the groundwork for their business models. Many teams had developed catchy slogans and professional catchphrases when they delivered their presentations. A few had also designed and produced apps and prototypes that added to the sense of professionalism within the

WAYNE WESTERVELT

With the Help of Alumni, Students Pitch Business Ideas for Prize Money

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

Isiah Brown Named Inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Fellow President Deborah F. Stanley named Dr. Isiah Brown, visiting assistant professor of management in the School of Business, as SUNY Oswego’s inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Fellow. Along with President Stanley, Brown will work closely with Dr. Jerald Woolfolk, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management and interim chief diversity and inclusion officer, and Howard Gordon ’74 M’78, executive assistant to the president, as SUNY Oswego continues the implementation of its Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Plan. Brown will have the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of the complexity and multiple dimensions of diversity, inclusion and equity, including, but not limited to age, class, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, religion, sexual identity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status.

“This is an exciting opportunity, and I am honored and humbled that President Stanley has selected me to serve as SUNY Oswego’s inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Fellow,” Brown said. “I look forward to working with faculty, staff and students and learning more about diversity and inclusion efforts on our campus and throughout the SUNY system.”

Brown earned BA and MPA degrees from Savannah State University. He earned a Ph.D. in educational administration with a concentration in leadership from Florida A&M University. Brown began working at SUNY Oswego in August 2016 as a visiting professor of management. He teaches courses in business organization, organization behavior and international business management.

His research interests include corporate diversity practices and the effects on developing a pipeline to increase women and minorities in leadership roles. Other interests include service learning, ethics, corporate and social responsibility. Prior to SUNY Oswego, Brown served in various positions at the University of Houston-Downtown, Texas Southern University and Florida A&M University. l JIM RUSSELL ’83

competition. The students put a lot of time and effort into their projects, including extensive research of competing businesses, and the development of their financial plans.

A total of 15 teams participated in Launch It!, and the top three ideas earned cash prizes and free web hosting for a year, courtesy of Scott Gardner ’03, owner of Agile Marketing Services. The $250 thirdplace prize was awarded to Gimme, an app that enabled students to buy and sell items like textbooks, furniture and laptops with other students. The $500 second-place winner was Auditory Vision, a group of students who developed a prototype that would “revolutionize the lives of the blind community.”

And the grand prize winner of $1,000 that earned the opportunity to compete in the County of Oswego’s Business Plan Competition with the chance to win a $50,000 prize, was Bunk, an app designed for students looking for safe off-campus housing and to connect with potential roommates and verified landlords. The business enables the user, through the Bunk app, to search houses and apartments in their areas based on their own preferences, read reviews written by previous renters and take virtual tours of housing complexes on their mobile devices. l —Lauren Sandford ’18

JIM RUSSELL ’83

Coville’s Book to Become Film with William Shatner Famed author of books for children and young adults Bruce Coville ’73 will see his book, Aliens Ate My Homework, made into a film starring William Shatner in 2018. The book is the first in a series of four by Coville, a writer of fantasy and science fiction of more than 100 books in 17 languages for children and young adults. Coville has been a loyal supporter of his alma mater and has returned to campus several times, including to deliver a 2011 Commencement address. In 2014, he received the Friends of the Central Library’s Muriel Koretz Award, given to people who have had an impact on children’s literacy in Central New York. In 2009, Coville’s hometown of Phoenix, N.Y., declared May 18 “Bruce Coville Day” to recognize his significant contributions to instilling a “zest and passion for the joy of learning” in his readers.

He received an honorary degree from the State University of New York in 2003. l

7

Coville is pictured here delivering the keynote address at the Quest Symposium in the Marano Campus Center auditorium in April 2014.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

Rankings Round-Up: SUNY Oswego Earns Top National Rankings “Best Northeastern Colleges” distinction every year since the educational services company started regional listings in 2003.

Based on the results of surveys of more than 137,000 students at colleges and universities nationwide, The Princeton Review compiled a wide variety of “Best Colleges” data from student responses about their schools’ academics/administration, life at their college, their fellow students and themselves.

U.S. News Rankings SUNY Oswego has once again earned a top 50 ranking in the 2018 “Top Regional Universities in the North” from U.S. News & World Report.

Oswego tied for 13th among public universities in the North Region, 48th overall, among institutions in the U.S. News & World Report ratings, based on rankings released Sept. 12. The college also kept its place on the A+ for B Students list.

U.S. News’ staff compiles data from hundreds of schools around the country, striving to offer prospective college students and their parents the best analysis available for comparing academic excellence. U.S. News & World Report defines regional universities as institutions that “provide a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s programs” but “few, if any, doctoral programs.”

U.S. News also includes Oswego in its Best Online Graduate Business Programs: MBA, top 5 nationally for Women Enrolled in MBA Programs, and Green Colleges guide.

NATIONALLY RANKED

Washington Monthly Washington Monthly, which looks at colleges through metrics on their contribution to the good of society, named SUNY Oswego #86 in the nation among master’s-level universities. Those rankings are based on three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship) and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country), according to its website.

College Magazine Hands-on opportunities and academic strengths contributed to SUNY Oswego being ranked fourth in College Magazine’s “Top 10 Colleges for Broadcast Journalism.”

Oswego’s facilities include “three fully equipped state-of-the-art digital TV studios plus audio/radio production labs and recording studios,” the magazine said.

“Students work hands-on in class and student-run groups,” including WTOP-10 TV, WNYO radio and the Oswegonian, the article noted. l

Princeton Review The Princeton Review rated SUNY Oswego one of the top 229 colleges in the 11-state region as part of its “2018 Best Colleges: Region by Region.” Oswego has earned the

National Awards Recognize International Education, Sustainability Programs WAYNE WESTERVELT

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

8

S

UNY Oswego received two awards during the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) annual meeting in La Jolla, Calif., in October. The college received the 2017 Excellence and Innovation Award in International Education, a national honor that cites the college for its efforts to embed study abroad in the curriculum and to make study-travel opportunities more accessible to underrepresented students. It also earned recognition for its BikeShare and BusShare programs, earning an Innovative Project Award in the Sustainability and Sustainable Development category. l

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S JIM RUSSELL ’83

WAYNE WESTERVELT

English Faculty Member’s Sci-Fi Novel Becomes Amazon Bestseller

B

University Police Earn StormReady Designation

I

n preparation for the sometimes-volatile Upstate New York climate, SUNY Oswego’s University Police recently earned a StormReady designation from the National Weather Service. To earn this designation, the department had to demonstrate to the National Weather Service that it met all of the agency’s criteria, including emergency communications, weather monitoring equipment, National Weather Service reception equipment and local warning dissemination, in addition to providing educational information through training programs, the department’s website, Facebook and informational programming, according to Kevin Velzy ’83 M’14, assistant chief of University Police. For more information about the designation, visit weather.gov/stormready. l

PROVIDED

P

am Caraccioli, deputy to the SUNY Oswego president for external partnerships and economic development, recently earned two honors: a regional award for accomplished and community-minded women and a statewide board membership.

State Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, named Caraccioli a 2017 Woman of Distinction, an honor that the senator bestows “recognizing outstanding leaders who are achieving success in their careers, devoting time to volunteer causes in their communities and more.”

Chuck Gijanto nominated Caraccioli for her assistance with Oswego Health, where Gijanto recently stepped down as president and CEO. In a separate distinction for Caraccioli, the New York State Economic Development Council (NYSEDC) elected her a

New Artswego Director Named

I

PROVIDED

Pam Caraccioli Honored as Woman of Distinction, Joins Statewide Development Board

enjamin Allocco ’09 of the English and creative writing faculty earned bestseller status in a very modern format— the Amazon Kindle charts—with his futuristic novel, Deathform. The adjunct professor’s sci-fi thriller, featuring a crew of interplanetary smugglers trying to survive an alien monster loose on their spacecraft, already had captured an audience, but when Amazon made it a 99-cent Kindle download as a promotion, the book rocketed to the top of horror, science fiction and other genre charts. l

State Senator Patty Ritchie (left) and Pam Caraccioli

director-at-large. NYSEDC has represented local and regional economic development professionals, as well as colleges, universities and private sector enterprises, for more than 40 years.

Caraccioli, a native of Scriba, N.Y., has a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and a bachelor’s degree in law and society from University of California Santa Barbara. l 9

n August, Miranda Traudt became the new director of Artswego, a collaboration of students, faculty and administration, whose goal is to support the presentation of cultural programs for the campus and community. She took on the role after former director John Shaffer retired.

Traudt holds a BFA degree in art history from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., and two MA degrees in museum studies and art history from Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y. Her professional background includes management positions in museums and galleries, with a specialty in contemporary art. She has served as program director at the Schweinfurth Art Center, a multi-arts facility located in Auburn, N.Y., as well as managing director of Point of Contact, a contemporary art gallery at Syracuse University. l OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

New Gift Brings Cutler Fund to $1 Million, Expands Opportunities for Public Justice Students

A

nna Jimenez ’16 transferred to SUNY Oswego to study public justice after watching crime shows and her father, a police officer with the Syracuse Police Department for 28 years, work a crime scene. But, she said, it was an opportunity afforded her by the Cutler Public Justice Excellence Fund that helped her identify her career goals.

“Attending CJEANYS [Criminal Justice Educators Association of New York State] changed my life,” said Jimenez, a paralegal at Cummings & Lewis LLC in Spartanburg, S.C. Her heart is now set on becoming a criminal law paralegal in a defense attorney’s office and then eventually a victim’s advocate for children who have been abused.

“Prior to this conference, I had no idea what type of law I wanted to be involved in,” she said. “There was one guest speaker in particular who opened my eyes to what I really wanted to do— become a victim’s advocate. If it weren’t for the Cutler Fund, I would not have been able to take part in the conference and would have missed out on the amazing experience and discovering my true passion.”

David Cutler ’74, the founder and executive director of the Arapahoe Community Treatment Center, a residential community corrections facility in Englewood, Colo., established the excellence fund for public justice in 2004 to help educate the next generation of leaders in corrections and law enforcement. Since then, he has infused the fund with additional gifts, most recently adding $500,000 to bring the endowed fund to $1 million.

According to Assistant Professor of Public Justice Jaclyn Schildkraut, the Cutler Fund currently supports several key projects each year: • Student travel and fees to attend the CJEANYS conference • A day trip for students to visit two correctional facilities in Central New York • Presentation of outstanding freshman and senior awards at the annual Alpha Delta Omega honor society induction ceremony • Popular lecture series that brings to campus high-profile speakers “With one of the largest donor funds on campus, I believe that the Cutler Fund helps to distinguish us from our peers simply in how much we are able to do, virtually without restriction, for our students,” Schildkraut said. “Any idea that we have that can be used to improve the quality of education and experience for our students typically is covered.”

Collin Carr ’17 can attest to that. A public justice and political science double major, he was the first Oswego public justice student to attend and present his research at a national conference l

Fa l l 2017

Evelyn Sokolowski ’19

Ryan McHale ’19

of the American Society of Criminology. Today, he is enrolled in Syracuse University’s College of Law. This year, Ryan McHale ’19 hopes to follow in Carr’s footsteps and present his own research findings at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in New Orleans, again supported by the Cutler Fund.

Evelyn Sokolowski ’19 will begin her research assistantship in Spring 2018, after having traveled to Boston last spring with 10 other public justice majors to study the historical development of the criminal justice system.

“My experience here at SUNY Oswego has exceeded my expectations,” McHale said. “I have had great opportunities that I would not have expected from a school of our size. The programs and events supported by the Cutler Fund have really helped expand my horizons and have given me a greater understanding of our system.” l —Margaret Spillett

WAYNE WESTERVELT

OSWEGO

Collin Carr ’17

Frank DeAngelis, retired principal of Columbine (Colo.) High School, SUNY Oswego Public Justice Assistant Professor Jaclyn Schildkraut and Kristina Anderson, who survived the Virginia Tech shooting and then created the Koshka Foundation for Safe Schools, connected following DeAngelis and Anderson’s March 1 presentation, Lessons from Tragedy: A Conversation on School Safety Preparedness, which was sponsored by the Cutler Public Justice Excellence Fund. The standingroom only crowd at the presentation included students, faculty, staff, law enforcement and community members.

10

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

S

Events

Visit alumni.oswego.edu for complete listing.

JIM RUSSELL ’83

College’s Office of Business and Community Relations Moves Downtown

Jan. 6

2018 Reunion Engagement and Planning Committee Meeting*

JIM RUSSELL ’83

UNY Oswego partnered with Feb. 3 2018 Reunion Engagement and Planning Pathfinder Bank to create a Committee Meeting* new Business Resource Center in Feb. 16-17 Men’s Basketball Alumni Reunion* downtown Oswego to bring Feb. 23-25 Black Student Union 50th Anniversary resources and services closer to Celebration* the businesses that need them.

March 3 Oswego Alumni Board of Directors Meeting* The new facility at 121 E. First April 14 2018 Reunion Engagement and Planning St. opened in the fall and houses Committee Meeting* the Small Business Development May 3 Washington, D.C., Alumni and Friends Event Center, the Workforce Developwith Alice McDermott ’75* ment Board of Oswego County, and the offices of the director May 11 Commencement Eve Torchlight Ceremony* Leading a partnership to synergize the strengths and resources of government, higher education and business and several other key staff of May 18 Oswego College Foundation Board of are (from left) Oswego Mayor William J. Barlow Jr., SUNY SUNY Oswego’s Office of BusiDirectors Meeting** Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley and Pathfinder Bank ness and Community Relations June TBD Boston Alumni and Friends Event* President Thomas W. Schneider, in front of the college’s new (OBCR). The Greater OswegoBusiness Resource Center near the east side’s main intersecJune 7-10 Reunion Weekend 2018* Fulton Chamber of Commerce tion—about two blocks south of the busy Port of Oswego.

June 9 Oswego Alumni Board of Directors Meeting* expects to maintain a presence at the location as well.

Mark Your Calendars Now: Pathfinder also provided a renovated June 6-9 Reunion Weekend 2019* space at 34 E. Bridge St., in the Pathfinder * Alumni and Parent Relations, 315-312-2258 Bank Building for OBCR’s Leadership ** University Development, 315-312-3003 Oswego County program and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program. Some alumni.oswego.edu/events administrative staff of the Oswego Bookmobile also work at the Bridge Street location.

With adjacent offices and a shared drive to boost local businesses and create private-public synergies, Katie Toomey (left), executive director of the Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of OBCR’s move was prompted by the Commerce, and Chena Tucker, director of the SUNY Oswego Office of Business and Community desire to create a stronger connection Relations, confer in Toomey’s office in the new Business Resource Center. between the college and the community as outlined in the college’s strategic plan, Tomorrow, and the need for more space in Rich Hall for the School of Business. l

First Class of SRC Inc. Employees Graduate with MBAs

JIM RUSSELL ’83

SUNY Oswego designed a master’s in business administration program exclusively for the Syracuse-based SRC Inc. employees who, after three years of study, earned their MBA degrees from the college. The first graduation for these master’s students took place June 22, 2017, in a special ceremony in Sheldon Hall ballroom. l

11

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

The New York State Education Department recently awarded a five-year, $1.63 million grant to SUNY Oswego’s School of Education to scale up and enhance its Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC) program, which seeks to attract and retain teacher candidates from underrepresented groups— particularly young men—in high-need schools.

The $325,000 a year in funding through the state’s My Brother’s Keeper program will more than double the capacity of Oswego’s nine-year-old Teacher Opportunity Corps to serve 50 students, from freshmen through graduate school, and to support graduates in their early years of teaching.

Enthusiastic about the competitive award, Dr. Pamela Michel, dean of the School of Education, said the grant would provide important financial, social and

JIM RUSSELL ’83

Fa l l 2017

Madison Shaw ’17, a member of SUNY Oswego’s Teacher Opportunity Corps, worked last spring with English language learners at Grant Middle School in Syracuse. Oswego’s TOC program, which seeks to attract and retain students of color to teaching careers, recently was awarded a five-year, $1.63 million grant through the New York State Education Department’s My Brother’s Keeper program.

has worked for years on projects related to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases exhibiting progressive dementia.

Kim, whose research interests span and make use of such disciplines as bioinformatics, bioinstrumentation, neuroscience and genetics, joins Indiana University colleague Kwangsik Nho and Geisinger Health System faculty member Dokyoon Kim as principal investigators on the project.

The importance of his work, Kim said, is in combining layers of massive datasets from disparate sources, then testing and validating it, to analyze genes, biomarkers and patient data for better predicting the onset of neurodegenerative diseases and paving the way for earlier treatment and the development of more effective drugs.

The results would contribute to software that would be made available to other researchers in the field. l

12

JIM RUSSELL ’83

l

professional support to encourage more students of color to become teachers. She emphasized that the School of Education has long nurtured underrepresented teacher candidates and developed programs that do so with consistency, caring and rigor.

The new grant will support freshmen through juniors—among other new and ongoing initiatives—with experiences in schools in partner school districts, setting the stage for the program’s clinically rich senior year, when teacher candidates do a yearlong residency immersing them in high-need school communities.

For more information, contact educational specialist Nichole Brown at nichole. brown@oswego.edu or 315-312-3098. l

Grant to Support Big-Data Alzheimer’s Research

Dr. Sungeun Kim, an electrical and computer engineering faculty member, received a grant of nearly $119,000 to use big-data techniques in support of earlier and more accurate diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The grant, from the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health, will assist a project—“Integrating Neuroimaging, Multi-omics, and Clinical Data in Complex Disease”—that Kim has underway in collaboration with two other researchers.

An assistant professor at SUNY Oswego since 2016, Kim also is an adjunct assistant research professor at Indiana University School of Medicine, where he OSWEGO

JEFF REA ’71

Grant Boosts Teacher Candidates from Underrepresented Groups

Maria Murray Receives Zirkel Education Faculty Award

S

chool of Education Dean Pam Michel (left) congratulated curriculum and instruction faculty member Maria Murray on receiving the Perry A. Zirkel ’66 Education Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Teaching in Education. Zirkel, an expert on education law, established the award to recognize faculty accomplishment and as an enduring way to acknowledge Oswego’s institutional value. l

C A M P U S JIM RUSSELL ’83

C URR EN T S

Alumni Panel Integral Part of 31st Annual ALANA Conference

U

nited We Shine” set the theme and the multicultural tone for the 31st annual ALANA Student Leadership Conference Sept. 13 to 19 at SUNY Oswego.

The ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Native American) Student Leadership Conference included a peace walk, motivational keynote address by founder of Vanity Unedited Yoga & Meditation in New York City Tiraya Conyers ’15, community service project, fashion show and a performance by Grammynominated Tiempo Libre.

Another key Tiraya element was the panel Conyers ’15 discussion, featuring Damaris Dunn ’12, a history major with a master’s from Columbia University, educator, historian and youth development specialist at Global Kids Inc.; Luis Escoboza ’15, a political science major and student at Syracuse’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public affairs pursuing a master’s in public administration and policy analysis; and Lissy Alcantara ’16 M’18, a human development and graphic design major with a minor in expressive

JIM RUSSELL ’83

“

Casey Raymond Earns Top Teaching Award

C

JIM RUSSELL ’83

arts therapy, currently obtaining a master’s in mental health at SUNY Oswego. The panelists answered a variety of questions, ranging from topics about student life and involvement, to discussions of race and the workplace.

The event was hosted by Black Student Union leader Keonna Wren ’19, and moderated by ALANA student leaders Pharaoh Scott ’18 and Xavier Gillard ’20.

The ALANA Student Leadership Conference promotes a multicultural environment at the college, allowing all members of the campus community, as well as those from other colleges and universities, to interact positively in an atmosphere of mutual consideration and understanding. l JIM RUSSELL ’83

asey Raymond, a chemistry faculty member, recently earned the SUNY Oswego President’s Award for Teaching Excellence, an honor reserved for exceptional learner-centered skills and efforts. More than a dozen of his former students and current faculty colleagues supported Raymond for the award.

As chair of the college’s Sciences Planning Committee, Raymond was instrumental in helping guide the planning, design, construction and equipping of the $118 million Richard S. Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation, which opened in fall 2013.

An associate professor specializing in inorganic and materials chemistry, X-ray crystallography, and fermentation and food science, Raymond, usually with his wife, Melissa Hellman, attends virtually every SUNY Oswego men’s and women’s ice hockey game, and he is a faculty mentor to the women’s team; the couple sometimes has students over for hands-on lessons in cooking chemistry; and Raymond also conducts studytravel programs to Belgium, Scotland or Italy to encourage students to learn firsthand about fermentation chemistry, and its end products—beer, wine and cheese. l

ALANA student organizations led the 7th Annual Unity Peace Walk as they made their way along Bridge Street en route from City Hall to campus on Sept. 17. Designed to bring together students from all walks of life and to demonstrate diversity within the Oswego community, the walk included students as well as college President Deborah F. Stanley and members of the President’s Council, deans, faculty and staff.

13

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S JIM RUSSELL ’83

Global Business Leader Talks Trends, Shares Stories to Enable Growth

R

obert Moritz ’85, chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) International Limited, began his Oct. 12 presentation “Global Trends and Building Skills for the Future” at SUNY Oswego with a story about John Major—no, not the former British Prime Minister.

It’s a story about John Major, the doorman at PwC headquarters in London.

Major greeted a prospective client who had arrived at the global professional services company early after a long journey.

The client wondered if he might be able to shower and recharge a bit before his meeting. Major escorted the client to the company’s locker room, providing towels. Major even had some breakfast waiting for him.

The prospective client was so impressed with the welcome he received at the company that without hearing the team’s pitch, said he saw what kind of company PwC was and he wanted to work with them. The client ended up bringing millions of dollars of business to the company, thanks to the humility and humanity of John Major, Moritz said.

Grounded in the golden rule of “do unto others,” Moritz turned his presentation to a discussion of five “megatrends,” which he and his company have been tracking for years: • Shift in global economic power • Rapid urbanization • Demographic and social change • Resource scarcity and climate change • Technological breakthroughs He outlined these same five areas during a 2014 presentation on campus, but he said the changes are occurring faster than he predicted. He discussed how five other factors were amplifying the impact of the megatrends: • Asymmetry—disparity between the haves and have-nots (Eight people hold more wealth than 3.5 billion people, he said.)

• Disruption—business models changing and the blurring of industries (For example, cars that can not only drive themselves, but also tell us we are having a medical emergency based on biosensors.)

• Age—demographic pressures on business and social institutions (The average age in Japan and Germany is around 46 years old, and in Africa, it is 18 years old.)

• Populism—breakdown of global consensus and an increase in nationalism (Countries that are used to being in power are trying to protect their interests and long for the world they used to have.)

• Trust—declining trust in institutions and technology (People need time to assimilate to technological changes; life is moving too fast.)

“Megatrends are real and they are impactful,” Moritz said.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

Robert Moritz ’85 (front, center), chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd., posed for a selfie with PwC’s Market Sourcing Leader Mark Bruno (holding camera) and PwC interns and new hires following his Oct. 12 campus presentation in the Marano Campus Center auditorium.

He explained each area with examples and showed how they relate to each other. He said that eight out of 10 job losses are due to technology, not to trade agreements. But he also pointed out that as new technological capabilities replace the need for humans in one area of work, the advances also create new opportunities for those displaced workers—who will need to be retrained. Education is a lifelong process.

He shared a list of the most important skills to have for the future workplace, and the list included a lot of “soft skills” such as adaptability, problem-solving, collaboration, emotional intelligence, creativity and leadership.

Moritz encouraged students to become storytellers who can explain how their experience and skills from one career relate and can be applied to a different position.

“The world of possibilities before you is great,” he said. “Don’t plot out your life too far, too fast.”

Following his remarks, he fielded questions from audience members as well as viewers who were watching the live webstream.

Tying back to the theme of his opening story, he asked each questioner to say who they are, where they are from and their favorite vacation.

Moritz shared personal stories of how he almost decided to skip college to continue earning money working in the stockroom of a women’s clothing store, how he developed communication and interpersonal skills as a residence assistant in Cayuga and Scales halls, how his favorite vacation pulled together 25 friends for a secret weekend getaway, and how he has enjoyed being an “enabler” and investing his time in relationship-building.

“You’ve got to have some fun in this world,” he said. “Your friends and family … make sure you say thank you to them. Take care of them and make sure you invest in relationships … Work is worthwhile because it has enabled me to live; but work is not life.”

Although some of the trends he presented were unsettling, Moritz ended his presentation with an inspirational charge to students.

“You will make that world friendlier,” he told students. “You will make that world successful. It’s full of potential. It’s full of opportunity, but it’s on your shoulders as you walk out these doors today.” l —Margaret Spillett 14

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

Three Named to Oswego Alumni Association Board 2018, she will be sworn in as the firstever mayor of the newly established city of Framingham, Mass., and the first popularly-elected female AfricanAmerican mayor in the state’s history.

She has been a regular attendee at Reunion, has participated in the AIR program and has served as the keynote speaker at the 75th anniversary of the Fall Technology Conference, the featured speaker at the 2015 School of Education Commencement Ceremony and the 2012 Torchlight Mistress of Ceremonies.

The following board members were re-elected for another three-year term: Edgar Ames ’68 of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dr. Raelynn Cooter ’77 of Media, Pa., Amy Vanderlyke Dygert ’01 of Cicero, N.Y., La-Dana Renee Jenkins ’94 of Staten Island, N.Y., and Dana Segall Murphy ’99 of Brookfield, Conn. l JENNIFER BRODERICK

The Oswego Alumni Association Board of Directors welcomed three new members in 2017. Each will serve a three-year term, effective July 1 and ending in 2020.

Kevin Bryans ’89 of Syracuse, N.Y., is executive vice president/chief financial officer of LPA Software Solutions in Syracuse, N.Y. A graduate of Oswego’s accounting program, Bryans serves on the School of Business Advisory Board and has participated in the Alumni-InResidence (AIR) program. He estabLisa Sferrazza Hutchison ’77, Dr. Yvonne Spicer ’84 lished the Bryans Family Endowed M’85 and Kevin Bryans ’89 Scholarship to support accounting Engagement and Planning Committee. students in the School of Business.

Dr. Yvonne Spicer ’84 M’85 of Lisa Sferrazza Hutchison ’77 of Framingham, Mass., is vice president of Wyckoff, N.J., is an active volunteer with advocacy and educational partnerships several organizations and has extensive at the Museum of Science in Boston. A fundraising experience. A graduate of the technology education major, she is nationbiology program, she is a regular attendee ally known in STEM education. In January at Reunion and served on the Reunion 2017

JIM RUSSELL ’83

Exploring Culture within Ethical Context James Rogers ’76, senior contracts manager/consultant for engineering company WorleyParsons, spoke Sept. 12 about “Ethics, Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Meanings and Dimensions of Culture” to an International Business Management class in Rich Hall, as part of the Oswego Alumni Association’s Alumni-In-Residence program, with support from The Fund for Oswego. l

JIM RUSSELL ’83

Near-Fatal Crash Informs Work of Visiting Artist

C

hinese watercolorist Zhinan Jiang, a visiting professor of art at SUNY Oswego, gained powerful new insights influencing his art following a near-fatal car accident in 1999 and the birth of a daughter the following year. SUNY Oswego’s Tyler Art Gallery displayed his work in “Zhinan Jiang: Visitors” from Aug. 29 to Sept. 17. l

15

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

More than 60 Students Receive Support as Inaugural Marano Scholars MATT CUMMINS

$5,000 each. The scholarships are awarded to first-generation students with financial need and are renewable as long as the student maintains a 3.0 GPA. “Lorraine would be very proud of these students,” said Lorraine’s close friend, Theresa Scanlon, who met some of the scholarship recipients during a Scholars Breakfast in the Sheldon Hall Ballroom during Homecoming 2017. “She believed in the value of higher education and its role as the foundation for future success. She would be happy to know that these students are furthering their education so that they can have a productive future.”

Scanlon said that Lorraine wanted to ease the students’ financial worries so that they could focus more on their studies and excel.

PROVIDED

Several of the 62 students selected to be inaugural recipients of the Nunzio “Nick” and Lorraine Marano Scholarship gathered Oct. 14 on the steps of Sheldon Hall with Theresa and Shawn Scanlon (back row left), who were good friends with the late Lorraine Marano. A $7.5 million estate gift from Lorraine Marano established an endowment that is funding annually 62 scholarships of $5,000 each for first-generation students with financial need.

When Rwanda Douglas ’19 transferred to SUNY Oswego as a sophomore from Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y., she said she felt a little bit of culture shock. As a first-generation college student, she said she didn’t know about all the resources on the campus, and unlike other situations in her life, her parents weren’t able to offer her much help.

“At times, I felt like I was just this one, small student on a big campus,” Douglas said. “I just tried to work hard and do my best.”

So when she heard that she had been selected to receive the Nunzio “Nick” C. and Lorraine E. Marano Scholarship, she said she was thrilled.

“To be noticed for my hard work really makes me feel good and motivates me,” she said, adding that the $5,000 scholarship will go a long way in lightening the financial OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

burden for her and her parents.

Douglas is one of 62 students who have been selected to be the inaugural Marano Scholars, named in honor of the late Nick and Lorraine Marano, Oswego County residents. The couple operated a prosperous agricultural business on a muck farm in Scriba, N.Y., and both were active in Sacred Heart Church in Scriba. Nick owned Marano Vacuum Cooling and Sales Inc. and held a seat on the New York Mercantile Exchange until his death in 2002.

Lorraine Marano, who passed away on Oct. 1, 2013, designated $7.5 million from her estate to benefit SUNY Oswego. In recognition of her generous gift and community spirit, the State University of New York approved naming SUNY Oswego’s campus center facility, the Marano Campus Center.

The gift established an endowment that is funding annually 62 scholarships of 16

Lorraine and Nunzio (Nick) Marano

Lorraine Marano graduated from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J.) with a bachelor’s degree, Drexel University with a master’s degree and the accelerated paralegal program at Syracuse University. She worked for many years as a librarian at Cherry Hill High School East in New Jersey, and then worked for Resorts International and Tropicana Casinos in Atlantic City.

“She would have been so very honored to meet these students and happy that she had the opportunity to help them,” Scanlon said.

For more information on the Marano Scholars, visit alumni.oswego.edu/ scholarships. l — Margaret Spillett

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

ATHLETICS Seven Inducted into SUNY Oswego Athletic Hall of Fame

N

JIM RUSSELL ’83

ewly inducted members of the SUNY Oswego Athletic Hall of Fame are pictured following the Oct. 14 ceremony in Oswego, N.Y. In front (from left) are Tom Lynch ’73, for golf; Tracey Donovan Fanning ’92 M’94, for cross country; Brian DeFeo ’98, for ice hockey; and Dave Benwell, who accepted the award for his brother, the late Ron Benwell ’61, for soccer and baseball. In the back row (from left) are Steve Serling ’77, for golf; Dennis Luzon ’74, for wrestling; and Edward E. Nicholson ’59, for wrestling. Standing at right is Jeannine Muoio Salamone ’92, a former inductee for cross country who served as the emcee of the event. l

29 goals and 32 assists.

Aramburu becomes part of the CWHL’s seven-team association, Alexa Aramburu ’17 which includes the Furies, Boston Blades, Calgary Inferno, Kunlun Red Star, Les Canadiennes de Montreal, Markham Thunder and Vanke Rays. Founded in 2007, the CWHL states it “was created with two goals in mind—to create a place for the highest-level women’s hockey players to continue to compete and hone their skills, and to create a future for the sport of women’s hockey.” l

17

PROVIDED

Alexa Aramburu ’17 was one of just 105 players to be selected in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) Draft in August. Aramburu was picked 30th overall in the fifth of 23 rounds by the Toronto Furies.

The Glen Rock, N.J., native joins the Furies after a stellar four-year career with the Lakers. In her senior season, Aramburu appeared in every game for Oswego, finishing second on the squad in goals (13), assists (18) and points (31). Three of her scores were of the game-winning variety and five came on power plays while racking up a plus-8 rating.

Overall, the forward donned the green and gold in 105 games during her collegiate career, showing a balanced attack with

CHRIS TANOUYE

Alumna Drafted By Canadian Women’s Hockey League

Swimming and Diving Treads for a Good Cause The Oswego State swimming and diving teams hosted a tread-a-thon on Sept. 27 to raise awareness about the worldwide issue of drowning. The teams raised over $1,800 for the International Water Safety Foundation. The non-profit organization uses the donations to fund drowning prevention intervention projects. l OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

ATHLETICS New Women’s Basketball Coach Hired

S

ean Pinkerton joined the Oswego State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics as head coach of the women’s basketball program.

Over the past five seasons, Pinkerton has been the head coach of St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minn. The Ogdensburg, N.Y., native took over a one-win team in 2012-13 and rebuilt the program into a winning- and postseason-bound squad. St. Catherine posted back-toback winning seasons in the two most recent campaigns, the first time that had happened in the college’s past 37 years. Last year, the Wildcats went 15-11,

signifying the most wins in program history, and clinched its highest conference finish in school history as well.

Prior to St. Catherine, Pinkerton was at the helm of SUNY Morrisville State College’s women’s basketball program.

Each year the Mustangs bettered their overall and conference records under Pinkerton, setting then-records for highest conference finish and most wins since the school began competition as an NCAA-member institution.

Pinkerton’s coaching career began in high school as the head coach of the girls varsity team at St. Lawrence

Central in Brasher Falls, N.Y., before spending one year as a college assistant at both Heidelberg University (Ohio) and SUNY Canton.

Pinkerton earned Sean Pinkerton a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in economics from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. He will reside locally with his wife, Carolyn, and their two children. l

PROVIDED

Rodriguez with Top DIII Open Water Finish

Oswego State swimmer Daniel Rodriguez ’20 had the top finish of all Division III athletes competing in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America Open Water Championship on Sept. 18 at Lone Star Lake in Daniel Rodriguez ’20 Lawrence, Kan. Rodriguez placed 20th out of 96 at the competition, while the next best DIII finish was 33rd. He finished the 5,000-meter race with a time of 1:05:53.74.

Rodriguez had an impressive first year with the Lakers. As a freshman, he set a school record with a time of 16:03.15 in the 1,650-yard freestyle event, claimed a conference title and earned a spot on the SUNYAC All-Conference First Team. l

O

n Saturday, Sept. 30, the Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse teams welcomed home their alumni. Both teams held a number of events throughout the weekend, including a golf tournament, luncheon and annual Alumni Classic lacrosse games at the Laker Turf Stadium. Pictured above is the Men’s Lacrosse team who played in the 41st Annual Ron Humphreys ’77 Memorial Alumni Classic at Laker Turf Stadium on Sept. 30. l

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

ATHLETICS

Lacrosse Alumni Celebrate Mini-Reunion Weekend

18

C A M P U S

C URR EN T S

PROVIDED

New Assistant Athletic Trainer Named

D

Alumnae Return to Campus for Volleyball Reunion Volleyball alumnae met up with Coach J.J. O’Connell at Laker Hall for a friendly match on Aug. 26. l

an Collins of Oneida, N.Y., joined SUNY Oswego as an assistant athletic trainer in the sports medicine office. Collins assists head athletic trainer Mike Frawley and fellow assistant Elise Fitzsimmons in the care of nearly 450 student-athletes across the college’s 24 NCAA Division III programs.

Most recently, Collins had been a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. While with the Dolphins, Collins coordinated all aspects of medical care for the men’s basketball, women’s basketball and softball teams. He oversaw student athletic trainers, gaining clinical experience, and supervised work-study personnel.

Prior to his two-year span at Le Moyne, Collins spent six months as an assistant at SUNY Canton, working with women’s ice hockey, women’s lacrosse and base-

ball. As a student at SUNY Cortland, he spent two years working as a student trainer in the athletic department.

Collins holds an Associate of Dan Collins Science degree in exercise science and kinesiology from Onondaga Community College (Syracuse, N.Y.), a Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training with a minor in exercise science from SUNY Cortland and a Master of Science degree in education from Le Moyne. He has several certifications, licensures and memberships from a myriad of organizations. l

Green and Gold #OswegoPride The college community celebrated Green and Gold Day on Friday, Oct. 13, to kick off Homecoming 2017, inviting students, employees and alumni to show their school pride by dressing in school colors, being part of the campus-wide photo and sharing photos of themselves on social media. l JENNIFER BRODERICK

19

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

Homecoming Events Bring Together Alumni, Students T

During a break in the action at the Homecoming soccer game, inductees of the Class of 2017 SUNY Oswego Athletic Hall of Fame were honored at mid-field; they were again honored later in the day at an induction ceremony and dinner in Sheldon Hall. See related story on Page 17.

Earlier in the day, more than 200 scholarship donors and recipients met for the Scholars Breakfast in the Sheldon Hall Ballroom, where Yherelly Almanzar ’18 received a standing ovation for her remarks on behalf of all of the students who benefit from privately funded scholarships at the college.

Almanzar is the recipient of the Jeffrey ’92 and Ginger Bray Sorensen ’93 Scholarship.

“I cannot express to you how overwhelmed and grateful I was when I heard the news that I had received this scholarship,” said Almanzar, who moved to New York City from the Dominican Republic as a teen who spoke only Spanish; she went on to be valedictorian of her high school. Almanzar, a human development major who began college at only 16 years old, thanked her mother and the Sorensens, who, she said, “have encouraged me, through cards and emails, and I consider them part of my family.”

Jeff Sorensen, who spoke on behalf of SUNY Oswego’s scholarship benefactors, thanked his fellow alumni donors and encouraged them to share their stories of helping current students.

“Students, the alumni are really rooting for you,” said Sorensen, who is a member of the Oswego Alumni Association Board of Directors. “Seize the opportunity.”

The breakfast was attended by alumni spanning as far back as the 1940s, who celebrated the $34.7 million college endowment, and the 350-plus, donor-supported scholarships totaling more than $1.5 million available to students at SUNY Oswego annually. Mark Baum ’81, an Oswego College Foundation board member and a scholarship donor, served as the event’s emcee.

Homecoming Day events fell on the heels of student spirit week events, including Green and Gold Day and the second annual Class Cab, a popular event in which the Future Alumni Network (FANs) members take students around campus in a golf cart while asking a series of Oswego-related trivia questions for prizes. l —Eileen Crandall

ailgaters took the party to the parking lot for Homecoming 2017 on Oct. 14.

Frisbees and footballs were flying, hula hoops were spinning and food truck vendors were passing out barbeque chicken and tacos as an autumn chill gave way to a warm sun in the parking lot alongside the SUNY Oswego Athletic fields near Romney Field House. Student clubs provided entertainment—including the SUNY Oswego Image Step Team dancers and the Vocal Effect singers—and a live student band, oGogle, and a DJ kept the party going.

“The weather is perfect,” said Rachel Cronin ’19, a human resource major, as she helped prepare a grill for hotdogs on behalf of Campus Recreation prior to the men’s Homecoming soccer game against Geneseo. Temperatures reached the 70s as more than 500 gathered and celebrated on tailgate “plots”—often marked by canopy tents decorated with balloons and streamers. Chalk drawings and non-stop corn hole games were spread about the parking lot, as partygoers danced, took photos and shared their Oswego pride.

“It’s a great event to bring the whole community together,” said Abby Shaw ’19, who joined the tailgate with about 30 of her sorority sisters at the plot designated for Delta Phi Epsilon; they were among more than a dozen Greek organizations that participated.

Alumni took to the pavement as well; Graduates Of the Last Decade (GOLD) Leadership Council President Austin Byrd ’10 and Vice President Steve DiMarzo ’11 M’15 were among the alumni at the tailgate, firing up the grill.

“I love coming back to campus,” Byrd said.

The tailgate ran throughout the day as a sort of base camp for Homecoming sporting events and other activities: Oswego men’s soccer tallied a nailbiter loss by one goal late in the game against Geneseo; club baseball, club rugby and others played at fields around campus as part of the Homecoming games; and The Great Pumpkin Run and Walk for both students and alumni to race—or meander—around campus benefitted the Blessings in a Backpack program, which provides food on the weekends for elementary school children in the Oswego area who might otherwise go hungry. There was also a reception for President’s Circle, Sheldon Legacy Society and 25-year or more Loyal Lakers Society donors, and a happy hour for Graduates Of the Last Decade.

More photos online at oswego.edu/magazine.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

20

MATT CUMMINS

HOMECOMING

JENNIFER BRODERICK

MATT CUMMINS

MATT CUMMINS

MATT CUMMINS

MATT CUMMINS

JENNIFER BRODERICK

NICOLE LIGHTFOOT ’18

MATT CUMMINS

JENNIFER BRODERICK

Fa l l 2017

l

OSWEGO

JENNIFER BRODERICK

21

New Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs Builds on Campus Partnerships JIM RUSSELL ’83

By Eileen Crandall

A

campus, which has an enrollment of around 6,800. There, Dr. Furlong, who earned master’s and doctoral degrees from American University, oversaw 30 academic programs, six research centers, more than 110 faculty and staff members, and a budget of more than $8 million.

His return to New York state to take the post at SUNY Oswego has allowed him to continue his passion for public higher education.

Dr. Furlong said he had “watched from afar” over the decades as the SUNY system evolved and gained strength to become a national powerhouse of public education.

“I’m a bit of a higher ed geek,” he said. “I enjoy higher ed readings and learning what other places are doing, and so when I think about what drew me to Oswego, it was how it has impressed me, both alone and as part of the SUNY system.”

Only a few months into his new role, Dr. Furlong has been immersing himself in the campus community—this fall attending the School of Business’s Launch It! entrepreneurial program and ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Native American) Student Leadership Conference events—as well as developing strategies that reflect the opportunities he sees at Oswego. (See related stories on pages 6 and 13, respectively.)

s the college’s new chief academic officer, Dr. Scott Furlong sees vitality on the SUNY Oswego campus.

“It’s clear that there is a strong academic tradition here,” he said in an interview just a few months into his new role. “People make a campus, and it’s evident that this campus offers the strong student-faculty interactions that make it an engaging environment where students are well supported.”

Appointed to the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs in July, Dr. Furlong has roots in many corners of New York. He was born in Ogdensburg, lived in Canton and on Long Island, earned an undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University in Canton, and made summer visits to the Thousand Islands. Today, in Oswego, his window from Culkin Hall’s seventh floor gives him a view of his new campus home and a new angle on the Great Lakes System: Prior to joining SUNY Oswego, he was with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, with its views of Lake Michigan, for 24 years.

“There’s not a lot of college campuses in the country that can claim Great Lake waterfront property, but I’ve now been a part of two of them,” Dr. Furlong joked.

Most recently, Dr. Furlong was the dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences for the UW-Green Bay

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

22

JIM RUSSELL ’83

“We have such a responsibility in public higher ed to provide high-quality education for a large group of

Dr. Scott Furlong speaks with a college community member during the ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Native American) Student Leadership Conference in September 2017.

“Oswego does so many things well, but we can always strive to do better,” Dr. Furlong said. “That is so crucial in higher education.”

So far, he’s been working with the deans of the college’s four schools and graduate studies to increase collaboration, particularly between academic and student affairs. He’s looking, he said, at how to best leverage the good things that are going on around campus to make the best experience possible for its students.

“I am a collaborator by nature,” Dr. Furlong said. “I’m always looking for partners to create intentionality with what we’re doing.”

He’s also looking at first-year programs on campus, he said.

“One of my passions [at Green Bay] was the development of a first-year seminar program,” he said. The goal: connecting freshmen in the campus environment and engaging them in activities that result in learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Engaged and supported students lead to better retention and lifelong strong campus connections, he said.

Dr. Furlong also places a lot of stock in engagement between the college and community.

“It’s really important that the community sees the college as its college,” he said. Beyond the educational opportunities, from a cultural and entertainment perspective, the college should be seen as a resource to help solve problems.

“We also play a role in developing a sense of civic responsibility in our students,” he said.

“We play a very unique role in public higher ed in developing good citizens,” Dr. Furlong said. “We have such a responsibility in public higher ed to provide high-quality education for a large group of students. Access is clearly a big part of what we do, but the quality is important as well. It doesn’t do a student any good if we provide access and then we’re not supporting them. It’s not just getting them in; it’s providing a quality education that promotes critical and creative thinking and supporting students all the way through.”

Dr. Furlong said he and his wife, Debbie, who have two adult children, are settling into the Oswego way of life—kayaking, applepicking, walking, anticipating hockey season—but not fearing the upcoming chilly changes in the weather.

“That part?” he said, with a smile. “That part is not too different from Green Bay.” l

23

students. Access is clearly a big part of what we do, but the quality is important as well. It doesn’t do a student any good if we provide access and then we’re not supporting them. It’s not just getting them in; it’s providing a quality education that promotes critical and creative thinking and supporting students all the way through.”

—Dr. Scott Furlong

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

ROBERT MESCAVAGE

Leveraging the Laker Connection: Throughout their lives, alumni and students benefit from a range of professional development tools, including the most important—each other.

—Margaret Spillett

J

eff Knauss ’07 (above left) was a brand new father and the sole breadwinner for his family when he was offered a promotion to vice president of a broadcasting company in Syracuse, N.Y., in 2014. But instead of accepting the position, he gave his notice and left behind a steady salary with health insurance and other benefits to launch his own company.

Why? “Because of Jake,” Knauss said.

Knauss said he had struck up a friendship with Jake Tanner ’12 (above right) after the latter had presented on digital marketing at the Tech Garden in Syracuse a few years before. The pair quickly noticed how their skills complemented each other: Tanner had the technical skills to understand search engine optimization and the role technology plays in marketing—the “backend stuff,” and Knauss had the interpersonal skills and

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

marketing sales experience to be the “frontend guy.”

“The fact that we both attended SUNY Oswego definitely helped us bond over our experiences from college,” Knauss said. “It helped us create a friendship, which evolved into a great business partnership.”

Less than three years later, the duo has developed the Digital Hyve into one of the fastest-growing private companies in America.

Named the CenterState CEO’s 2017 Business of the Year and earning the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2017 Excellence in Small Business Award, the company expects to bring in $5.5 million in revenue this year and just moved into a 7,500-square foot space overlooking Clinton Square in Syracuse, to accommodate its 23 full-time employees.

Of those employees, six—or one-quarter— attended SUNY Oswego.

24

“I’ve found that people who went to SUNY Oswego tend to be hard workers, and it is incredibly rewarding to see the talent coming from my alma mater,” said Knauss, who has hired Oswego alumni to fill diverse roles within his company, including in human resources, web development, graphic design and account management.

“The SUNY Oswego alumni network is very strong in Upstate New York,” he said.

“The network is also far-reaching, as I have made many friends through the alumni network who live all over the country. I think people are really surprised how many doors can be opened with a degree from SUNY Oswego.”

Knauss has returned to campus often to speak with students and share his experience. Most recently, he delivered the keynote address for the inaugural Launch It! competi-

MATT CUMMINS

JIM RUSSELL ’83

tion, during which student entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges. (See related story on page 6.)

He also connects frequently with Career Services to make them aware of career and internship opportunities available at his company. He makes time to mentor and advise students, such as Will Walsh ’21, who visited Knauss at the Digital Hyve on a Friday afternoon in October to seek guidance on his own business venture.

Knauss and so many other alumni leverage their SUNY Oswego connections to strengthen their professional networks and create career opportunities for themselves and others. Sometimes these connections happen organically, as it did for Knauss and Tanner. Many times, these relationships begin at events or through programs sponsored by the Oswego Alumni Association (OAA), with support from The Fund for Oswego, that deliberately bring together Oswego students and alumni for networking (see list of such programs on right).

ASK-ing Alumni for Help

Andy M i

For example, Andy Miller ’92 volunteered to mentor SUNY Oswego students through the Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) program and was paired with then business administration student Kayla Doan ’11 (pictured above right). That connection led to Miller hiring Doan to work with him at Constant Contact in Boston. Doan then began to mentor business administration and public relations double major Sarah Miller ’15 (no relation to Andy, pictured above left) who they brought on as an intern at the company.

Two years later, Andy Miller hired Sarah Miller to work for him at AARP, where he currently is senior vice president of innovation and product development and she is an innovation associate. Both remain in regular communication with Doan, who is now innovation program manager at Constant Contact.

“Both Kayla and Andy have been paramount in my career journey,” Sarah Miller said. “I can always turn to Kayla when I have questions about my career, finances or just life in general. She’s taught me so much about how to be successful and go after what I want … The whole trajectory of my life changed just from one simple email from Kayla.

You never know who you are going to meet and how they will impact your life.”

The two women have a made a point of returning to campus whenever they can through the Alumni-In-Residence (AIR) program to meet with current students, share 2 advice and be a first link in the students’ professional network. r ’9 lle “Our story is a unique representation of how to create a string of alum all working together Kayla D harnessing the power of the Oswego o network,” Andy Miller said. “My network of Oswego friends is the strongest part of my overall professional network. I remain good friends with a large group ller ’15 of people from Oswego who are now i M all over the country in many different industries.” continued on page 26 Sar ah

’11 an

25

Programs for the Practicing Professional The Oswego Alumni Association (OAA) sponsors numerous events and programs throughout the year to bring together alumni and students for networking and professional development.

Alumni-In-Residence (AIR)—Alumni return to campus to speak with students in classes, on panels or in more informal settings about careers in different fields, including programs such as Pizza with Professionals, Backpack to Briefcase, the Business Symposium and the Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit.

Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK)—A mentoring program that pairs a student/ Graduate Of the Last Decade with an alum mentor who assists with career exploration, job search strategies, relocation information and networking contacts.

CNY Career Connections—Alumni from the Central New York area, representing a wide range of careers, share their personal experiences and expertise with Oswego juniors and seniors.

Local Lakers—The OAA regional events program, which consists of five established regional volunteer groups in Albany, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse and Washington, D.C., as well as volunteers in other areas of the country.

Lunch and Learn—Oswego alumni present free online professional development webinars, hosted by the OAA. NYC Career Connections—Alumni from the NYC Metropolitan area, representing a wide range of careers, share their personal experiences and expertise with Oswego juniors and seniors.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

’82

Emily Ke lly

Jeff St

’05 M’06 ch or

Steve Do ra

n

M’15 ’14

Knowing your Network

Volunteering through the ASK program, Jeff Storch ’05 M’06, a senior tax manager with Deloitte Tax LLP in San Diego, said he can maintain his connections to Oswego. He said he will always feel grateful for the professional assistance he received from Steve Doran ’82, a member of the Oswego College Foundation Board of Directors and a managing director at Fidelity Information Services, who helped him land his first accounting internship in New York City. They met during the OAA’s annual New York City Career Connections student networking event.

Storch returned the favor by assisting Emily Kelly ’14 M’15 through the ASK program, which gave her an edge as she applied for jobs. He checks in with her periodically to congratulate her on career successes, such as a recent promotion to senior audit associate at her employer, Fust Charles Chambers LLP in Baldwinsville, N.Y. “I have helped many accounting students make connections, review resumes

“During my 22 years in the advertising industry I have been very proud to open doors for many fellow Oswego alumni.”

—Paul Brennan ’93

OSWEGO

and prepare for interviews and other related activities,” Storch said. “I’m happy to see that ASK and other alumni programs that existed when I was at Oswego still exist today, and I look forward to seeing these program last for decades to come.”

l

Fa l l 2017

Paul Brennan ’93, senior vice president of ad sales at Sony Pictures Television in New York City, estimates that he has mentored or assisted more than 50 Oswego alumni whom he met through the ASK program and through the New York City Career Connections event, held in January every year.

“During my 22 years in the advertising industry, I have been very proud to open doors for many fellow Oswego alumni,” said Brennan, who also serves on the Oswego Alumni Association Board of Directors. “I have worked to place people at different media companies and also hired Oswego alumni here at Sony and in previous places of employment.

“SUNY Oswego produces a certain type of person,” he said. “I can see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices. They are hungrier than most, and it gives me great pleasure to help anyone from SUNY Oswego because I know that they will not let us down. They will work harder, push farther and have zero sense of entitlement.”

50+

Tim Barnhart ’02 said his employer, Northwestern Mutual Life, has had similar success with SUNY Oswego alumni.

“The company knows what they’re going to get with an Oswego alum,” said Barnhart, managing director of Northwestern Mutual’s Syracuse office. “A career with us allows people to build whatever future they want, so there’s unlimited income potential, unlimited flexibility. You can have as much impact as you want to create. Oswego students seem to gravitate more toward those kinds of opportunities.”

Barnhart also said the college has been a great partner in promoting internship opportunities to students, coordinating on-campus interviews with the company, inviting the company to attend career fairs and assisting the company in other on-campus activities.

“We have had an incredibly strong internship program with Oswego,” said Barnhart, who is the national chair for The Fund for Oswego and also serves as a member at-large on the OAA Board of Directors. For example, Barnhart said he and the two other students who interned with Northwestern as Oswego students are still with the company—Cody Dolly ’04, who is a managing director in Westchester, N.Y., and Steve Abbass ’03, who became the company’s youngest managing partner in 2014.

And the hiring of Oswego interns continues, Barnhart said. Former intern Justin Doty ’17 is joining the company full-time after graduating in December, and he was recruited by the company’s college unit director Jonah Coburn ’10 who, in turn, was recruited by Barnhart, who was mentored by Bob Brutsch ’71.

“Our success with the internship program has always driven great candidates to us on the full-time side,” Barnhart said.

“Northwestern has had such a great relationship with Oswego, and that makes such a big difference.”

Paul Brennan ’93 Michela Mickaluck ’17 (left), who interned at Kellen Communications in New York City, is pictured with mentor Joan Reinhardt Cear ’80, senior vice president at Kellen, at a New York City Welcome Reception for first-year students.

Oswego alumni Brennan has mentored

26

PROVIDED

“ The company knows what they’re going to get with an Oswego alum…

We have had an incredibly strong internship program with Oswego.”

—Tim Barnhart ’02

SUNY Oswego has provided a lot of talent to Northwestern Mutual, including (from left) Jonah Coburn ’10, college unit director; Jimmy Dexter ’10, director of training and development; Rachael Manning ’07, client relations center director; and Tim Barnhart ’02, managing director.

Tapping into Talent

JIM RUSSELL ’83

Once the Oswego lines have been established, the talent can flood into a company.

Joan Reinhardt Cear ’80, senior vice president at Kellen, a full service public relations, public affairs and digital agency headquartered in New York City, has opened opportunities for Oswego students and alumni for more than a decade at Kellen.

“I have nurtured a network that I think has helped several graduates start or map their careers—some of whom we’ve hired, and others with whom I met, offered a little advice or maybe helped them make a connection,” said Cear, who has been active as an AIR visitor and a keynote speaker and attendee at New York City Career Connections.

Cear said the Oswego network—particularly her peers who serve with her on the School of Communication, Media and the Arts Advisory Board—continues to help her own career.

“Recently, when I had a client interested in making a documentary, Barry Gliner [’84], who heads post production at Discovery Communications, met with me to explain how documentaries make their way to television,” Cear said. “Another alumnus, Kevin Kennison [’82], prepared a proposal for one of my clients to use costumed actors in New York City subways to promote e-book reading. These resources would not have been available to me unless I had become active in the alumni network.”

LORENZO CINIGLIO PHOTOGRAPHY

Maurice “Mo” Lepine ’84 M’89 said he considers the Oswego network to be among the most influential reasons for his success as a teacher.

From initially being recruited to attend SUNY Oswego by his sister, Denise Lepine Krohn ’83, and his high school industrial arts teacher, Donald Cliffe ’59, to landing his first teaching position in the Baldwinsville (N.Y.) Central School District, to taking on leadership roles within state teaching associations, Lepine said Oswego alumni have been instrumental to his career.

Likewise, Lepine has hosted more than 30 student-teachers in his technology education classroom at D.S. Ray Middle Baldwinsville Middle School Technology School in Baldwinsville.

Education teacher Maurice “Mo” Lepine “I am proud to say that ’84 M’89 (above left) discussed growing many of my former student lettuce hydroponically with technology education senior Erika Wallace ’18, who teachers are active, productive is the daughter of another Baldwinsville and accomplished educators,” Technology Education teacher Annette he said. “I have many teaching Whitmer Wallace ’90 M’98, during the aids designed and created by annual Technology Conference at SUNY my student teachers that I use Oswego in October. with my students.”

He keeps his professional network strong and skills up-to-date by attending the Technology Conference hosted annually by SUNY Oswego. He shares the advice he received from his Oswego alumni mentors with his student-teachers and new teachers.

“Join the local and state level associations, as you cannot survive by yourself and you need to network with other teachers across the state,” he said. “They also encouraged me to take leadership roles within the organization and to attend conferences. That advice really did provide me with the strong network that has helped my teaching tremendously.” continued on page 28

27

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

JENNIFER BRODERICK

Cydni Williams ’13 (left), channel marketing manager for Facebook, and Sonny Goldbaum ’16, account manager for Advance Media New York, spoke with students during an Oct. 12 networking opportunity at the American Marketing Association Conference in Sheldon Hall ballroom.

Providing Professional Perspective

Lori New m

Gary Morris ’88, director of SUNY Oswego’s Career Services, also considers alumni one of the most important resources available to students as they develop their careers.

Alumni speakers often give students a firsthand look at life in a given industry or position, which can help students identify or refine their career plans.

Working in conjunction with the alumni office, Career Services invites alumni back to conduct mock interviews, review student resumes or participate in such activities as “speed networking,” etiquette dinners, and networking/wine-tasting events.

“These events just wouldn’t have the same impact without our alumni providing the real-world perspective,” Morris said.

n Cohe ’79 an

OSWEGO

Wang M’15 ei W

l

Fa l l 2017

Wei Wang M’15 said a presentation by AIR visitor Lori Newman Cohen ’79 in a software design class changed the course of her life. Wang, who came to Oswego from her home in China, was so interested in Cohen’s discussion of data warehousing at New York Life Insurance Company that she emailed Cohen to keep the conversation going.

When a position opened, Cohen reached out to Wang and ended up hiring her. Today, Wang is a data analyst at New York Life, and although Cohen no longer works there, the pair have stayed in contact.

“I am grateful for the good job opportunity, but more important than that, I feel lucky to have met someone like Lori, who not only gave me the opportunity but also encouraged me to grow stronger,” said Wang, who graduated with a master’s in human computer interaction. “She is one of my most important sources of inspiration.

She said that she sees herself in me when she was early in her career, and she said she wants me to help more young students, as she has helped me. I definitely will!”

Like Wang, biology major Bianca Fernandez ’19 sought out assistance from her alumni network before graduating.

Fernandez connected with Betsy Oberst, associate vice president of alumni relations

28

and stewardship, during a summer “sendoff” event in New York City for incoming freshmen and their families in August.

Oberst linked Fernandez, who wanted to pursue optemetry, with Dr. David Troilo ’80, who is the current vice president and dean for academic affairs at SUNY State College of Optometry.

Troilo met with Fernandez in New York City and gave her a tour of the school, talked with her about the program and introduced her to other faculty members.

“This networking opportunity gave me more insight about the career path that I am leaning towards and connected me with several members working at that institution,” said Fernandez, who is currently vice president of SUNY Oswego’s Pre-Optometry Club. “I am extremely grateful.”

Lifelong Career Services Access In addition to a loyal and dedicated alumni network to assist with professional development and opportunities, all SUNY Oswego students and alumni have access to an award-winning Career Services office. (See related story on page 32.)

“Everything we do, we do for alumni, for free, for life,” Morris said. (See related information on page 33.) “We bring a lot of very high-quality online resources and tools to bear for our students and alums that they can access from anywhere in the world. Our alumni are welcome to attend any event or program we run—on either side of the table.

“We love to have our alumni show up at a healthcare conference or career fair and talk to our students,” Morris said. “But if that alum is experiencing some kind of career transition, she can come spend some time on the other side of the table and interact with the 85 to 90 organizations in the Marano Campus Center during the Career Fair in October or March, and see what the possibilities are for the future.”

While Career Services staff members’ first priority is supporting the 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the staff will accommodate one-on-one meetings with alumni, as their time allows.

And Diamond Walters ’15 said she couldn’t be more thankful for that.

D

’04

29

M

SHEILA COOLEY ’03 M’11

SUNY Oswego biochemistry and chemistry students Jasmine Gomez ’18, Tienna Deroy ’18, Jon’Renee Jones ’21, Veronika Malinowski ’19 and Kimberlynn Sprague ’19 toured Bausch & Lomb in Rochester, N.Y. During the Sept. 21 visit, analytical chemists Andrew Hoteling ’91 and Steve Maier ’84 M’88, and quality engineer Tracie Martineau ’03 M’05 spoke about the history of the company and led a tour of the company’s operations. The trip was sponsored by the Center for Experiential Learning, Career Services and the Chemistry Department.

Jackie Camp

allace ’0 ll W 2 be

really appreciate and am grateful to her for all of her help.”

Thanks to the assistance she received from her alma mater, Walters said she expects to pursue an advanced degree in international political economy and development at Fordham University in fall 2018.

“Without my Oswego degree, I could not have joined the Peace Corps, and without my Peace Corps service, I would not have gained all the amazing experiences and opportunities that I have now,” Walters said. “This experience makes me truly value the work I am doing in Ghana. My service is a very personal and rewarding journey for me.”

And at the end of the day, that is the goal, Morris said.

“Ultimately, we want the same thing for all of our students and alumni—that we help them discover the life they are meant to live and that we prepare them to compete for the amazing life that they’ve identified,” Morris said. “Our default is not to think about what students can do with a certain major. Our

’15

As a student, Walters met with Career Services staff member Jackie Campbell Wallace ’02 M’04 who encouraged Walters to attend the Fall Career Fair during her junior year. She did and met a representative from the Peace Corps.

After graduating in 2015 with her degree in human development, Walters went to Ghana, West Africa, where she is now a health educator. As she finishes up her Peace Corps assignment, she began to think about her next steps and decided to reconnect with Career Services.

She traveled an hour to the closest city with an Internet connection so she could email Wallace. They set up a time to Skype and talk through Walters’ plans to apply to graduate school.

“I was juggling educating junior high school students on HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention, working on a community household latrine project and applying to graduate schools in the U.S. with limited access to Internet,” Walters said. “Jackie worked with me every step of the way. I

ond Walter s iam

default is to help them explore what they want to do with their lives. Ideally, you can’t go wrong with that approach because you’re always focused on the life goal instead of today’s goal.”

And that’s a message that also resonates with Knauss and his team at the Digital Hyve.

The company is cultivating a workplace that assists others in achieving their commercial and marketing goals while also supporting all facets of its own employees’ lives.

From the lactation and family playroom to the staff kitchen and dining area to flexible work hours and strong benefits package, the 2017 Business Journal News Network’s Central New York Best Places to Work award-winner strives to uphold the company motto, which is painted on the wall, thanks to the talents of BFA alumnus and graphic designer Connor DeHaan ’16: “Better every day,” it reads. l

Top five career planning tips • C omplete some self-assessment inventories to get a better sense of your interests, strengths, values, etc.

• Get experience in those areas that most interest you; volunteering counts!

• Join related professional associations, network with alumni and ask lots of questions.

• Conduct informational interviews to get a sense of a variety of career paths.

• Research careers through a variety of online resources.

More tips online at oswego.edu/magazine.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

Lessons from Lakers Paul Brennan ’93

Emily Kelly ’14 M’15

Communication Studies/Public Relations, Psychology Minor Senior Vice President of Ad Sales, Sony Pictures Television New York City

Accounting, Economics Minor, MBA Senior Audit Associate, Fust Charles Chambers Baldwinsville, N.Y.

Best career advice: “‘Plan your work, and work your plan.’ I keep a ‘to do’ list on my desk at all times (and one at home) and anything that needs to get done hits that list. I love nothing more than crossing tasks off of that list and moving through my day.”

Best career advice: “Never stop asking questions. The only way you can truly grow in your career is to ask questions and, in turn, never stop learning.”

If only I had known: “The importance of taking the time to network in college and grow your connections.”

If only I had known: “What a huge game changer the digital world would be in the areas of entertainment and media.”

Diamond Walters ’15

Tim Barnhart ’02

Human Development Volunteer/Health Educator Peace Corps Ghana, West Africa

Communication Studies/ Business Administration Managing Director, Northwestern Mutual Life Baldwinsville, N.Y.

Best career advice: “‘If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.’-Marc Anthony. I apply this quote in my daily life.”

Best career advice: “Have the opportunity to decline the opportunity. If you’re not prepared for an opportunity and an opportunity arises, then it’s too late. Said differently, always be in the position to succeed, and be able to say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’”

If only I had known: “I could accomplish anything if I put my mind, heart and soul into it.”

If only I had known: “Know what you want your life to look like and then make decisions in alignment with that vision. And don’t give up until you get it.”

Katrina VanIngen Vant ’00

Sheneya Wilson ’15 M’16

Technology Education Teacher and Department Coordinator, Central Square Central School District Central Square, N.Y.

Accounting, MBA Assurance Associate, PriceWaterhouseCoopers New York City

Best career advice: “Always put twice the amount of effort into a lesson than you expect to get out of your students during it. Students see that you care about the material and tend to care back.”

Best career advice: “Always do more than your current position.”

If only I had known: “How important it is choose a career that is going to lead you into being able to do what you love for the rest of your life.”

If only I had known: “Every career has a learning curve; you are not meant to be perfect at first. The first few years are supposed to be hard and exhausting, but it gets better over time.”

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

30

Andy Miller ’92

Cydni Williams ’13

Economics Senior Vice President of Innovation and Product Development, AARP Boston/Washington, D.C.

Art, Graphic Design Concentration; Marketing Channel Marketing Manager, Facebook Newark, Calif.

Best career advice: “Never stop challenging the status quo … always be curious.”

Best career advice: “‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’ is a quote by Tim Notke that motivates me.

It is a great reminder that working hard and constantly learning can level the playing field so success should be attainable through hard work and grit.”

If only I had known: “Every ‘no’ you hear means you are that much closer to ‘yes.’”

If only I had known: “I wish I’d more solidly identified ‘what I do well’ earlier so I could have strengthened it.”

Wei Wang M’15

Jacob Tanner ’12

Human Computer Interaction Data Analyst, New York Life Insurance Company Union City, N.J.

Business Administration Co-Founder, Digital Hyve Syracuse, N.Y.

Best career advice: “‘Be both resilient and flexible at work.’ –Lori Newman Cohen ’79 Things don’t always go in the direction you wish. One has to be flexible enough to adapt to changes. It’s important to have your own vision and be resilient when facing challenges.”

Best career advice: “I would say that many times I was told to go with my gut instinct, and, so far, that has rarely failed me.”

If only I had known: “I wish I had known more about being a better leader … I learned about great leaders and noticed I was hindering the growth of the company by not empowering and challenging others more.”

If only I had known: “It is very important to go out and meet people who you can relate to. There are many people out there willing to help you. But opportunities will not come until you open yourself to others. Don’t be shy!”

Jason Guild ’03 M’08

Amy Hueber ’77 Biology Scientist, Environmental Hazard Assessment, SRC Inc. Camillus, N.Y.

Secondary Education Earth Science, Master’s in Education Science Teacher, Oswego High School Oswego, N.Y.

Best career advice: “Work hard and try to impress when you student teach. That eventually helped me land my current job.”

Best career advice: “If you see something that needs to be done, then do it. The unspoken advice we got was to aspire to be a person who makes a difference.”

If only I had known: “Having a relationship with the students was often more important than the lesson itself. If you show students respect, they generally give you more respect in return and that leads to a better classroom environment.”

If only I had known: “I probably should have taken more organic chemistry as an undergraduate.”

More tips from alumni online at oswego.edu/magazine.

31

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

JIM RUSSELL ’83

2016-17 Career Services Highlights • 233 programs engaging 6,297 students, 373 alumni and 712 employers • I nitiated contact with 393 new employers • C onducted 1,796 professional 1:1 career coaching appointments • C onducted 261 presentations, including 163 collaborative class presentations with faculty

Career Services’ IndustryCentric Model Earns High Praise L

with employers in the related industries who often host interns in experiential learning opportunities at their businesses.

For example, Career Services staff traveled to Syracuse to meet with Brown & Brown of New York Inc., which employs nine SUNY Oswego alumni among its 95 employees and is currently hosting three student interns. The Career Services staff members received a tour of the office and an overview of the company as well as had the opportunity for more informal conversation over lunch.

These trips and interactions with professionals give the staff members more insight into specific industries and the employers who are interested in SUNY Oswego graduates.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

JIM RUSSELL ’83

ong gone are the days of a career services office that simply helps a student format and proofread her resume and sends her on her way. There’s technology that can do that.

Today, when a student walks into SUNY Oswego Career Services with a draft resume in hand, he is invited to set the resume aside and talk through his goals with a career coach—and not only a career coach, but a coach who specializes in the student’s area of interest.

“We have adopted an industry-centric model of advising and that has encouraged us to approach our interactions with students differently,” said Gary Morris ’88, director of Career Services (pictured above).

“Where we bring value is articulating your past and present within the context of what your future will demand.

“I often tell students it’s very difficult to hit a target that you can’t see,” Morris said. “And part of our job is to help our students develop, identify and define a target that they can swing at. Then we help them swing for all they’re worth.”

To help in this process, the office is set up around four Business and industry areas: Business and Communication Communication; Health Care/ Science, Technology, Engineering Health Care/ and Mathematics (STEM); Science, Technology, Performing Arts, Media and Engineering and Entertainment; and Education Mathematics (STEM) and Public and Human Services.

Another staff member is dedicatPerforming ed to helping undecided students Arts, Media and explore a variety of majors and Entertainment career possibilities.

Staff members have develEducation and Public oped expertise in their assigned and Human Services areas and have built relationships

SUNY Oswego Career Services staff earned three of five statewide awards, as well as a special commendation, at the recent SUNY Career Development Conference. From left are career coaches Christy Harrison Huynh ’98 M’08 CAS’08, Jenny Roxas, Jackie Campbell Wallace ’02 M’04 and Mallory Bower.

32

Career Services Available to Alumni Below are details for some of the best online tools and resources—provided by Career Services and free for alumni to use! Career Services has purchased access to programs like: “So now we have staff members who might work with a student who wants to be a software engineer, and they can look at the student’s resume and design that document with the end in mind, reviewing the set up, the headings and vocabulary to make sure that it matches the vocabulary and design of that particular industry.”

So far, the new approach—which is only three years old—has received rave reviews from students. For example, in 2016-17, the office conducted 1,796 professional one-on-one career coaching appointments.

Of those, 95 percent said through an anonymous survey that Career Services was “very helpful” and the remaining 5 percent said the coaching was “somewhat helpful.”

Feedback from anonymous surveys of more than 4,000 students over the past five years showed that 78 percent of students found Career Services “incredibly helpful” and another 19 percent said “generally helpful.”

In addition to the career coaching by specific industries, the office also provides some more unique services like the LinkedIn photo booth, where students can schedule an appointment or drop in during set hours to have a portrait taken to use in their professional online profiles. They can also meet with a Digital Dirt Squad member, who will critically assess students’ online presence and enhance their online reputation.

“I don’t know of an employer who doesn’t use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn to assess a potential employee,” Morris said. “Our Digital Dirt Squad will talk to students about how to leverage the power of social media to project a professional image related to the future they want; it’s not just about getting rid of the red solo cup. It’s about using social media channels to intentionally design an online presence that your future will find appealing and interesting.”

ptimal Resume: job search documents, practice O interviews, portfolios and more;

•

areerShift: many job opportunities, networking conC tacts and company research in one interface;

•

andidCareer: over 4,000 informational interviews C on hundreds of careers and jobs;

•

OCUS II: a comprehensive self-assessment program F (skills, abilities, values, etc.).

Additionally, alumni are welcome to attend campus programs and events, including: career fairs, etiquette dining events, workshops and conferences.

Information on all of these tools and an events calendar can be found at oswego.edu/career-services In addition to receiving positive feedback from SUNY Oswego students, Career Services has also garnered statewide attention, winning three of five awards, as well as a special commendation, at the 2017 SUNY Career Development Conference.

Jenny Roxas earned the Individual/Rising Professional Award, given to a professional with less than five years in the field demonstrating innovation and effectiveness in Career Services, and an Excellence in Student Engagement through Implementation of Career Development Programs Award, for her efforts around her particular industry of “Fine and Performing Arts, Media and Entertainment.”

Roxas and Mallory Bower earned the Excellence in Inclusivity Programming or Initiatives Award for new programs or initiatives toward building diversity and inclusion to one or more student/alumni demographics, recognizing the series of diversity programs they planned and implemented throughout the year.

In addition, Christy Harrison Huynh ’98 M’08 CAS’08 and Jackie Campbell Wallace ’02 M’04 earned Presidential Awards for Excellence for providing complete leadership for the conference, which ran June 14 to 16 in Syracuse.

In 2016, Oswego’s Career Services also earned the organization’s statewide capstone award for the new model, as the best initiative of any SUNY school’s career services operation across any category of awards. l —Margaret Spillett

Top five resume tips: • Connect your past and present to the future skills and experiences required.

• Say what you need to say, and stop writing. It is not an essay.

• Don’t list what you did. List what you achieved.

• Use the vocabulary of the industry you want to enter on your resume.

• Be honest.

•

More tips online at oswego.edu/magazine.

MATT CUMMINS

33

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

Boniface Career Planning Fund Provides Professional Development Opportunities for Students JIM RUSSELL ’83

The Boniface Unendowed Career Planning Student Fund, created by Thomas Jr. ’92 and Maria Parengkuan Boniface ’92, supports a range of events, opportunities and equipment purchases (pictured above) to enhance professional development for students.

H

undreds of SUNY Oswego students have explored a variety of career fields, networked with professionals, toured facilities and developed new connections with each other, faculty, employers and alumni, thanks to the Boniface Unendowed Career Planning Student Fund.

The fund, established by Thomas Jr. ’92 and Maria Parengkuan Boniface ’92, has enabled Career Services to host a wide variety of industry-specific events and opportunities.

For example, the fund enabled a group of business students to travel to Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y., to meet with high-level staff from the accounting and finance fields and get a

Make a stellar LinkedIn profile: • Make it multimedia; photos and videos tell a more vivid story of your experience.

• Add details that don’t fit on a resume.

• Write a tantalizing summary; make it personal and impactful.

• Be brave; connect with others!

• Join groups and network.

• Ask for recommendations and keep them updated.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

JIM RUSSELL ’83

LinkedIn Tips from Career Services

firsthand look at the business behind the slot machines, poker tables, and spa and hospitality services. The students learned about the Oneida Nation of New York, including how their unique finances, taxes, revenues and expenses are managed.

“I was lucky enough to speak with our host during lunch, and he really talked to me about analytics in regards to finance, which is something I could see myself doing one day,” said finance major Caleb Gould ’18. “I think down the road I’m going to try out a financial analytics class. The trip was a real eye-opener.”

Students interested in art, history and museum studies headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to learn more about some of the famous works of art and how one of the most famous museums in the world functions.

Last year, health promotion and wellness students participated in a “Speed Networking” reception that featured several alumni and other professionals from a variety of careers related to the health and wellness industry. Small groups of students had an opportunity to sit down and chat briefly with the professionals about what their careers are like, what training and certifications are needed, and what they can do to help them enter the field.

“We are so grateful to Tom and Maria for their generous gift,” said Gary Morris ’88, director of SUNY Oswego Career Services. “The Career Planning Fund they created has had an amazing impact on our students. It has provided us the resources we need to help students explore a variety of career options.” l —Margaret Spillett

Students and alumni are invited to use Career Services mobile photo studio (pictured above) to get a professional portrait taken for their LinkedIn profile. You can drop by during regularly scheduled hours or make an appointment online at oswego.edu/career-services/linkedin.

34

Class Notes Note: Class notes included in the magazine come from a variety of information sources, such as alumni submissions, news releases, social media posts and news media reports. To submit your class note, email alumni@ oswego.edu, call 315-312-2258, fax 315-312-4004 or submit online at alumni.oswego.edu.

1940s Murray Wilkow ’48 and Rita Miller Wilkow ’50 recently resettled in a condo in East Meadow, N.Y., after 50 years in Old Bethpage, N.Y. Rita retired as a first grade teacher for Half Hollow Hills School District. Murray started as an industrial arts teacher in Island Trees Union Free School District in Hempstead, N.Y., and after earning master’s and doctorate degrees in counseling from Columbia University, served as a counselor there and in the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District. He was also chairman for Roslyn High School in Roslyn Heights, N.Y., and an adjunct professor for Hofstra University’s Counseling Department, a position from which he retired in 2012.

Murray is currently a volunteer for Hospice of New York, where he facilitates bereavement groups.

1950s Dr. Jerry J. Rosenberg ’55 retired from a 40-year career as a practicing licensed psychoanalyst.

He also retired eight years ago as professor emeritus from Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., where he taught special education and counseling. His daughter and son are both teachers and his younger son is a veterinarian at the University of Florida. Jerry and Jay Pulis ’55 are planning to

CLA SS

NOTES

Call us at: 315-312-2258 Email us at: alumni@oswego.edu Fax us at: 315-312-4004 Visit our website at: alumni.oswego.edu

Alumna Returns to Campus 67 Years After Graduation In one of the same classrooms in which she studied to become a teacher in the late 1940s, Beverly Shuler Fish ’50 sat with four of her grandchildren in August.

The oldest grandchild, Liam Stiefel, had just completed his first year of college in North Carolina; his three siblings—Maggie, Jack and Marie—are all high school students in Georgia, preparing for their college years.

“Things were very different then,” Fish laughed with her family, which also included her daughter Marilyn of Atlanta, Ga. This was Fish’s first visit since she graduated in 1950—when the primary academic buildings on campus were Park and Sheldon halls, and the Lonis-Moreland-Mackin Complex (the first permanent dormitory on campus) was still a year from completion.

Fish and her family toured Sheldon Hall and made a stop in the historic Sheldon classroom, as she shared with them the stories of her own college years at SUNY Oswego.

Fish enrolled at SUNY Oswego when she was only 16. She shared stories of how all the freshmen wore beanies and how the women tried to adhere to strict curfews, even in off-campus housing. Because of curfews, she said, housemates sometimes tied strings around their ankles when they went to bed.

The string was left dangling out of a second floor window so that any woman caught out past curfew could pull the string, notifying her housemate to go down to the first floor and let her in.

Students (including Fish) lived off campus due to the lack of residence halls, or in Splinter Village—the name given to temporary barracks along the lake, although the name Splinter Village wasn’t used until much later. Fish remembered sorority activities with Alpha Delta Eta. She told her granddaughters that women students—almost all who were there to become teachers—wore skirts to class every day, and it wasn’t odd, it was “just the way things were.”

35

Beverly Shuler Fish ’50 with four of her grandchildren

Fish went on to become a teacher for districts in central and western New York. She earned a master’s in education from SUNY Buffalo, concluding her career as an educator working in literacy and reading programs.

In 1953, she married Dr. David W. Fish, who died in 2016. They are the parents of three daughters; she has two more grandsons who couldn’t make the trip to Oswego with her. During this most recent visit to Central New York, she also visited her brother and sister-in-law, Frederick and Barbara Budd Shuler ’61, in nearby Baldwinsville, N.Y. Despite the years that have passed since studying at SUNY Oswego, she maintains a friendship with two of her college roommates, JoAn Burns MacDonald ’50 and Jean Church Goodwin ’50.

“Over the years, it has made me so happy to see my classmates achieve their dreams and find their soul mates,” she said.

Fish, who now lives in Akron, N.Y., continues to achieve her dreams, too, including travel to all seven continents, a journey that began with a 55-mile bus trip from her hometown of Canastota, N.Y., to Oswego in 1946, she said.

After taking a family photo with the iconic Sheldon statue and visiting the classroom, Fish’s grandchildren studied the black-andwhite photographs along the walls of Sheldon Hall, asking their grandmother questions about her years as a student.

“It really was a wonderful time,” she said, noting that she was looking forward to telling JoAn and Jean about her campus visit, 67 years after their graduation day.

—Eileen Crandall OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

CLAS S

N O T E S

attend the SUNY Oswego reunion in 2020, their 65th, “God willing,” he says.

1 953: 65th Reunion – June 7-10, 2018 1 958: 60th Reunion – June 7-10, 2018

1960s Barbara Minsky Herzog ’60 and classmates Barbara Reisler Woodworth ’60 and Judy Himmelstein Rozner ’60 shared a very close relationship with Judy Poons Cohn ’60, who passed away earlier this year. They are grateful for their friendship that has spanned nearly seven decades, and said they will keep “Poons” and each other in their hearts forever.

1963: 55th Reunion – June 7-10, 2018 1968: 50th Reunion – June 7-10, 2018 Pastor Lugo-Velez ’68 of Wake Forest, N.C., retired from his position as senior budget officer for the U.S. Department of Defense. He and Margaret Murray Lugo M’68 have two children and three grandchildren.

1970s Cathryn Funk Addy M’71 of Bristol, Conn., retired June 30, 2017, from her position as Tunxis Community College president, a role she held for 24 years in Farmington, Conn.

1973: 45th Reunion – June 7-10, 2018 Timothy O’Shaughnessy ’73 retired as legal counsel for Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia in October 2016. He is now living in Kihei, Hawaii.

Richard Zinter ’74 of Greenacres, Fla., is procurement manager for Jedson Engineering.

Mark Metcalfe ’76 of Mount Sidney, Va., retired July 1, 2017, from the Augusta (Va.) County Public Schools. Metcalfe taught a OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

2018, which is the 40th Reunion for the Class of 1978.

Peter Williamsen ’78 of Middle Village, N.Y., is chief of the Division of Laboratory Services for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection in Corona, N.Y. Roy J. (RJ) Dausman ’79 of Baldwinsville, N.Y., is the director of sales and building services for Wilo USA LLC, a provider of pumps and pump solutions.

total of 40 years, with the last 30 years teaching chemistry at Fort Defiance High School in Fort Defiance, Va. He and his wife have three sons and six grandchildren.

Deborah Wright Belvedere ’77 and husband, Joseph ’76, returned to campus in August 2017 for a visit for the first time in 40 years, as part of Deb’s birthday celebrations. The couple attended SUNY Oswego together; Deb is a NASA water and energy focus area liaison, and Joe taught, pursued a culinary career and has served as a manager. They live in Hanover, Md. George “Jethro” Tully ’77 of Stuart, Fla., is retired and keeps busy as a basketball and soccer referee.

1980s Sandy Rosenberger Kalbach ’80 of Camillus, N.Y., joined Solvay Bank as vice president and trust manager. She is past president and current board member of the Estate Planning Council of Central New York.

Bob Verhayden ’80 of Schenectady, N.Y., retired in August 2017 from 37 years as an auditor for the state of New York, and has taken a full-time position as the men’s and women’s volleyball coach for the Sage Colleges in Albany, N.Y. Previously, he was varsity girls’ volleyball coach at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons (Schenectady) High School and the head men’s volleyball coach at the Sage Colleges.

Thomas Brown ’81 of Syracuse, N.Y., is director of circulation operations for Advance Central Services Syracuse.

Linda Cohn ’81, E S P N sportscaster, was inducted into the National Sports Media Association’s Hall of Fame during the 58-year-old organization’s awards ceremony in Winston-Salem, N.C., in June 2017.

Everett Mayhew ’81 of Nassau, N.Y., is a retired attorney.

A graduate of Albany Law, he served as Rensselaer County (N.Y.) assistant district attorney from 1986 to 1989, state Crime Victims Board senior attorney from 1989 to 1996, state Crime Victims Board general counsel from 1996 to 2006 and state Department of Motor Vehicles assistant counsel from 2007 to 2016.

1978: 40th Reunion – June 7-10, 2018 Russell “Jim” Harding ’78 of Camp Hill, Pa., is a project manager for DXC Technology.

Kevin Nowak ’78 of Tulsa, Okla., is chief executive officer for the Oklahoma Heart Institute Hospital.

Steve Sheffield ’78 of Crofton, Md., is a professor of biology in the University of Maryland system and holds research associate positions at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and he is curator of Mammals at the Natural History Society of Maryland Museum. His research focuses on ecology, mammalian and avian biology, conservation biology and ecotoxicology. He has published a number of book chapters and journal articles, and is currently working on three books. Recently, he has traveled to Argentina, Cuba and Costa Rica, and this fall, he traveled to the University of Evora in Portugal to present two papers at the World Owl Conference.

Peter VanWart ’78 of Modena, N.Y., is a driver for Manheim New York and hopes to see friends next June at Reunion

36

Martha Swan ’81 of Westport, N.Y., is a co-founder of Friends in the Adirondacks, a program offering hospitality to families who have traveled to visit inmates in North Country prisons; the founder and executive director of John Brown Lives!, a not-for-profit organization in the Adirondacks that supports human rights and social justice issues in the memory of abolitionist John Brown; and a Spanish teacher for Newcomb, N.Y., schools.

Brian Fogarty ’82 of East Northport, N.Y., is regional vice president for Allied Universal in New York City.

Ron Kurtz ’82 lives in Boston and works as a corporate financial controller. An Oneida Hall resident assistant from 1979 to 1982, Kurtz invites Oneida Hall alumni to get in touch with him via LinkedIn. Paul Mosley ’83 joined the executive team of Global Imaging Systems (GIS) for the Conway Group in July 2017. In addition to serving as president for the Conway Group, he will also begin working with additional GIS companies.

Pat Spadafore ’83 of Liverpool, N.Y., joined CXtec as a content marketing specialist in the marketing department. Spadafore also works part time as a high school sports producer at Syracuse.com. Previously, he worked as a senior content manager at Eric Mower + Associates.

Sean Shevlin ’84 of Rockaway Park, N.Y., is application lead manager for the Bank of New York Mellon in Jersey City, N.J. John Carns ’85 of Louisville, Ky., is attorney/associate athletic director for the University of Louisville Department of Athletics.

Susan Appelbaum Larkin ’85 of Lake Mary, Fla., joined Entercom as a regional vice president. Most recently, Larkin served as regional vice president at Cox Media Group, overseeing the Orlando and Jacksonville cluster of radio stations. Larkin has served as chapter president for American

CLA SS Women in Radio and Television in Minneapolis, Columbus and Tampa. Additionally, Larkin served on the Board of Directors for the Ronald McDonald House of Central Florida and the Orlando Chamber of Commerce.

She is currently on the executive board for the Radio Advertising Bureau and is the radio vice chair for the Florida Association of Broadcasters.

Felice Pilchik ’86 of Brooklyn, N.Y., is rights and billing manager for Macmillan Learning in New York City.

Stephanie Forman ’87 of New York City is chief operating officer for EDsnaps.org, a nonprofit organization working with

underserved teenage girls through STEM education.

Stephanie Pianka ’87 was named senior vice president for finance and budget and chief financial officer for New York University. Since 2012 she has served as NYU’s vice president for financial operations and university treasurer. She earned an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Curt Schultzberg ’87 of Somers, N.Y., is asset management advisor/regional director east for Gerstein Fisher in New York City.

Dresden Engle ’88 is managing editor for RocParent and SheRocs magazines, serving the greater Rochester, N.Y., region.

Julia Rozines DeVillers ’89 is the author of several children’s books. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Gary Paricio ’89 of Columbus, Texas, is IT manager and project manager assistant for the Theut Company.

1990s Michael Cotton ’90 of Ocala, Fla., is a high school teacher at Marion Technical Institute in Marion County, Fla. He also instructs GED classes, OSHA classes and law enforcement classes at Marion Technical College and Central Florida State College. He recently retired from coaching

NOTES

the varsity wrestling team at West Port High School. Prior to his teaching career, he worked in the nuclear power industry, served as an investigator for unemployment compensation and was a probation/release officer for the Florida Department of Corrections.

Mario DeRiggi ’90 is senior vice president of Sales at Windstream Holdings Inc. Christene Barberich ’91 is the co-founder and global editor-inchief of Refinery29, Inc., an awardwinning media lifestyle company.

Previously, she held positions at The Daily, Gourmet Magazine and The New Yorker. She was also the founding editor of the fashion and design magazine, CITY.

Riding a Wave of Positivity

PHOTO COURTESY DAVID MACRI

Angel Llano ’81

ance manager of the dental program. Under his leadership, he was able to get the prison’s dental program out of receivership (federal courts) within five years by developing a system that streamlined processes and created efficiencies.

“My philosophy is that government should provide services that people demand but are unwilling to pay for,” he said. “A government official’s job is to make that demand equal to the value of what they are willing to pay, so you make it profitable and then you can send it off to the private sector to reduce the size of government.

“I enjoyed what I did,” he said. “I loved crunching numbers, designing databases, and working with analysts, nurses and doctors.”

An avid surfer, he retired in 2014 and bought a home in Florida, where he is able to bike, run and catch a few waves. He splits his time between Aspen, Colo., and Florida.

“When I’m out in the water, it’s my time to meditate,” he said.

“I try not to think, and I know all things will work out.”

—Margaret Spillett

37

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

PROVIDED

Those who know Angel Llano ’81 cannot escape his optimism and his smile. He shares them freely.

In fact, every morning, he emails inspirational quotes to a list of friends and former staff members, seeking to remind them of such maxims as: “No amount of money can replace the limited amount of time I have on the planet.”

He contends that he is an “average guy who has lived an average life,” but some might argue that his ability to balance work and play, his resiliency and his positivity are anything but average.

Despite moving through five foster homes as a child on Long Island and trying to develop his identity as a young man of Puerto Rican descent living with Italian and Irish foster families, he was able to graduate early from high school and carve out his own life path.

“I don’t spend time or energy looking back,” he said. “Life is too short to harbor ill will or negativity.”

He served in the U.S. Air Force, and came to SUNY Oswego as a 22-year-old ready to study psychology. He said he grew under the guidance of professors such as Mark Morey, Dorothy Rogers and John Fisher, and got involved with the International Student Association and the Latino Student Union.

“I loved my time at Oswego, and I go back every five years for my reunions,” he said. He has maintained many of the friendships that he first forged at Oswego in the late 1970s.

After earning a master’s in public administration in government administration from California State University at Sonoma, he dedicated his career to public service—initially working for the Employment Development Department of California and then moving into the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

He moved up the ranks to become chief of compliance and ancillary clinical services for San Quentin State Prison. One of his many accomplishments occurred as the data program and compli-

CLAS S

N O T E S

Joanne Shelmidine ’91 M’97 CAS’00 was appointed to the position of district superintendent by the New York Mills (N.Y.) Union Free School board. She was previously the director of pupil personnel/curriculum K-12 in the Westmoreland (N.Y.) Central School District since 2012. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the Sage Colleges of Albany.

Jeffrey Yonkers ’92 of Sayville N.Y., is chief financial officer at

Best Market in Bethpage, N.Y. In 2017, Yonkers was selected as the Milton Zipper Financial Executive of the Year by the Long Island Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants.

1993: 25th Reunion – June 7-10, 2018 Karen Genier Rappleye ’93 of Spencerport, N.Y., is a teacher for the Gates Chili Central School District in Rochester, N.Y. This

fall, her daughter Sarah joined the SUNY Oswego Class of 2020.

Rev. James C. Tschudy CAS’93 retired June 30, 2017, from a 30-year career as the pastor of the Pulaski Congregational Church, and with over 50 years as an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Rev. Tschudy lives in Oswego, with his wife, Juanita. He will continue as the chaplain at Bishop’s Commons, St. Frances Commons and St. Luke’s Residential Health Care, where he

conducts services on Sunday afternoons. He will also remain as an adjunct professor in the School of Education at SUNY Oswego.

Sonya Buecken Lorrain ’94 of Smithtown, N.Y., is an administrator and adjunct instructor for Stony Brook University and Suffolk County Community College.

Joseph Montemaro ’95 M’97 of Webster, N.Y., is director of educational technology and infor-

Empowering Others through Education

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

building a wooden playground and volunteering for the Special Olympics.

After graduation, he was ready to leave Oswego and decided to drive across country to California. Initially, he worked as a teacher assistant while living the “beach life” and surfing the waves along San Diego’s shoreline daily.

But when he was asked to fill in for a teacher who Dr. Victor Martin ’93 had called in sick, he saw the difference he could make by the Alexandria City Public Schools. The lighting the spark for learning in others. school educates youths ages 13-18 who Administrators praised him for talent in are being held for the juvenile courts of working with the more challenging stuNorthern Virginia. Many students come dents, and his path became clear. from broken homes, are homeless or have After serving as a classroom teacher drug and alcohol addiction problems. The at a school designated for students with average length of stay can range from 22 emotional disabilities in San Diego, he days to 67 days. moved to Milpitas, Calif., where he taught He sees education as a tool to grades K-6. Then he moved to Northern help break the cycles of poverty, drug Virginia, where he taught fifth and sixth addiction, racism, crime and other social grade, before becoming an administrator problems. as well as serving as a summer school “This is the right work,” he said. administrator and the lead in the Office of “In order for a democracy to flourish, Multicultural Education. you’ve got to have its members be able Along the way he earned a master’s to participate in society. I can’t imagine degree from George Mason University in another place where I’d rather be. We education leadership and a doctorate in have a responsibility to educate all of our education leadership from the University students. And I’d rather be a part of that of Pennsylvania, and served as a fellow at education than just watching it.

Harvard University’s National Institute for “Education offers hope and opportuniUrban School Leaders. ty,” he said. “I hope to give that opportuToday, he said he has his “dream nity, not only to the students and families, job” as the principal of the Northern but to my professional peers as well.”

Virginia Juvenile Detention Center for —Margaret Spillett

38

PROVIDED

“Education will not change the world; it will change the people who are going to change the world.”

Dr. Victor Martin ’93 includes that quote by Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire under his email signature—a fitting location, as education has played a foundational role in Martin’s life.

Martin said his mother, Cathy Santos ’87 M’99, instilled in his sisters and him a love of learning early on.

In fact, many of his memories of his childhood in Oswego involve learning, like reading books (including encyclopedias), listening to National Public Radio (his home didn’t have a working television set until 10th grade) and awakening to the transformative power of education—quite literally.

“I remember with my sixth grade teacher—[the late] Mrs. Nancy [Triolo] Egan [’67]—we collected caterpillars in cans and I still remember the day when we came into our classroom and there were monarch butterflies all throughout our room.”

Martin also recalled his high school math teacher—Mike Caldwell [’70 M’88 and current Oswego Alumni Association board member]—who would sometimes employ peer-to-peer teaching where students taught each other the lessons.

“I just really connected with his teaching, and at that point, I thought, ‘Hmm, I kind of like this teaching thing,’” Martin said.

He ended up majoring in English at SUNY Oswego and got involved in Sigma Phi Epsilon, working on such projects as

CLA SS mation for the Webster Central Schools.

Paul Becht ’96 of Glen Cove, N.Y., is the vice president of the board of directors for the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is a CPA and partner at New York-based firm, Margolin, Winer & Evens LLP. Becht is currently on the society’s executive committee and is co-chair of the society’s Suffolk Chapter accounting and auditing committee. He is a previous member of the nominating committee and selections subcommittee and served as a past Suffolk Chapter president, president-elect, vice president, treasurer, secretary and executive board member. He also served as past chair of the Suffolk Chapter’s nominating and sponsorship committees.

Lisa A. Parsons CAS’96 is the assistant high school principal of South Jefferson Central School in Adams Center, N.Y. Parsons, who had served as the Immaculate Heart Central (Watertown, N.Y.) principal since 2010, had previously served as principal of the Copenhagen (N.Y.) Central School before becoming its superintendent in 2004.

Kim Malone Shortslef ’96 M’01, an employee at the Baldwinsville, N.Y.-based AnheuserBusch brewery and lifelong resident of Hannibal, N.Y., was sworn in as a Hannibal Central School District Board of Education member in July 2017. She and her husband have two children.

Patricia Wilson-Dwyer ’96 M’02 CAS’07 is the principal of Dryden (N.Y.) Elementary School.

She made the long-distance move to Dryden from Kodiak, Alaska, where she was principal of one of 12 elementary schools in the island’s school district.

1997: 20th Reunion with 1998 and 1999 – June 7-10, 2018 Tom Cozzocrea ’97 was named by the Mahopac (N.Y.) Board of Education to the position of principal of the middle school.

she was principal for the Franklin Elementary School in the same district.

Lisa Cappetta Carter ’01 M’01 CAS’09 of Clay, N.Y., is the director of special education for the Oswego City School District.

Tom Downes M’01 of Oneida, N.Y., is assistant director of online programs at University College of Syracuse University. Previously, he was an instructional technologist for Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science and an online learning analyst with the university’s IT Online Learning Services.

Christopher T. Leece ’01 M’04 CAS’12 was named principal for Fulton (N.Y.) Junior High School, effective July 1, 2017.

Previously, he served as a district junior high science teacher, coordinator of alternative education, high school science teacher and science department chair.

Amiris Caesar ’02 of Bronx, N.Y., is deputy director of labor relations for the City of New York Fire Department. She has a daughter, Bria Nicole Smith.

Kristen Denick ’02 o f Camillus, N.Y., is senior manager of retention for the Syracuse Crunch ice hockey team in Syracuse, N.Y. Chester Lastowski ’02 of Ticonderoga, N.Y., is conference services and sales manager for Silver Bay YMCA in Silver Bay, N.Y. Shannon T. Jaskot Forkin ’04 of Altamont, N.Y., is a tax partner for Dannible & McKee, LLP, a certified public accounting and consulting firm.

Catherine DeClemente ’05 of Elmhurst, N.Y., is a Forex trader.

Heather Gorman Griffin ’06 of East Rutherford, N.J., is marketing and e-commerce director for Duggal Visual Solutions in New York City and cofounder of YourArtGallery. com. She and husband, Andrew, have one child.

Michael Kelly ’06 of Palatine Bridge, N.Y., is a global studies teacher for the Little Falls (N.Y.) City School District.

1998: 20th Reunion with 1997 and 1999 – June 7-10, 2018 Pamela Odom M’98 was appointed executive director of secondary schools for the Syracuse City School District. Previously, she was principal for Grant Middle School in the district.

1999: 20th Reunion with 1997 and 1998 – June 7-10, 2018 Rebecca Groat ’99 is principal of the “Character Opportunity Responsibility Empowerment” K-8 program at the Shea School in the Syracuse City School District.

Brian Kavanagh M’99 CAS’01 is principal at Henninger High School in the Syracuse City School District. Previously, he served as executive director of education and personnel for the Oswego City School District.

Robert Rogalski ’99 ’06 is an independent contractor in Syracuse, N.Y.

2000s Scott Deyett ’00 M’03 is owner of iHG (inHouse Graphics), a design firm in Baldwinsville, N.Y. He also freelances social media campaigns for Yamaha Music USA. Raina Reynolds Hinman ’00 of Mexico, N.Y., is dean of students at Syracuse Academy of Science Middle School. Previously, she was an educator and coach in the Phoenix (N.Y.) Central School District for 16 years. She and her husband have a 13-year-old daughter, Abby.

Edward Przywara ’00 of Liverpool, N.Y., is an accountant with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Eric Vaughn ’00 is the life sciences career coach at the University of Rochester Medical Center in the School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, N.Y. Katrina Allen ’01 CAS’11 of Syracuse, N.Y., became principal at Danforth Magnet Middle School in the Syracuse City School District in fall 2017. Previously, 39

NOTES

Kristin Ellis Asselta ’07 of Rochester, N.Y., is community business development manager for Barnes & Noble in Pittsford, N.Y. Jennifer Check CAS’07 was promoted July 1, 2017, to principal for Victor (N.Y.) Primary School.

Prior to becoming assistant principal seven years ago, Check was a kindergarten and first-grade teacher for the Bloomfield (N.Y.) Central School District. She also served as director of technology for the Bloomfield and Honeoye (N.Y.) central school districts.

Rebecca Oliver ’07 of Baldwinsville, N.Y., is senior editor of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals for Seeking Alpha in New York City.

Joseph T. Olsen M’07 is Altmar-Parish-Williamstown (N.Y.) Junior/Senior High School principal.

Blair Pecka ’08 of New York City is vice president of product at 33Across, headquartered in New York City.

David Proffitt ’08 is an actor who has been on many television shows, including New Girl, CSI, Criminal Minds, Bones, Agents of S.H.I.E.LD and HBO’s hit show Westworld. Proffitt has also worked on movies like Ted 2 and Terminator Genisys. Following college, he worked at Seaworld training dogs and cats for a show called Pets Rule and transitioned to being a dolphin trainer for the Blue Horizons show for four years and a sea lion trainer for the Navy Marine Mammal Program for one year. Prior to attending college, Proffitt was in the Navy and was a member of the United Nations Command Honor Guard.

Derek Dunning ’09 of Northfield, Vt., is director of athletic communications for Norwich University.

Jessica LaFave ’09 graduated in 2015 from the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., with a master’s degree in clinical social work. She is a social worker at Perry Point (Md.) Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a parttime behavior consultant for the OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

CLAS S

N O T E S

University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, Md. Chelsey MacDougall ’09 of Syracuse, N.Y., transferred from English as a new language teacher at the Frazer School to administrative intern at Franklin Elementary School within the Syracuse City School District.

2010s Chrissy Ballesteros Kreber ’10 of Bloomfield, N.J., is perishable area manager for Wegmans.

Jacqueline Michalski ’10 is entering her fourth year as the men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach for Eastern OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

It took several months to perform the analysis, checks and rechecks of the results, he said. “Then we were finally able to announce what we had learned, and the world’s champagne reserves took a hit.”

Dr. Littenberg, who at the time of the discovery was a research scientist for the University of Alabama in Huntsville Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, helped the LIGO Observatories team develop sophisticated computer algorithms that combed through the data and extracted information about the detection. Dr. Littenberg has been involved in LIGO-related research since 2007. Today, he is with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, collaborating with astrophysicists to find gammaray counterparts to gravitational wave sources, and working with colleagues in the U.S. and Europe to plan a space-based gravitational wave detector.

“I have been doing research in this field since a few years after graduating from Oswego and there was never any doubt that we would eventually start observing gravitational waves, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon,” he said during an interview from Scotland, where he was attending an international meeting about the wave detector—shortly before the Nobel Prize announcement.

Illinois University. For two of the three completed seasons, Michalski led the the team to earn academic achievement awards and the breaking of more than 15 school records. Both the men’s and women’s swimming teams were named to the 2016 College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Fall Scholar All-American Team. Prior to taking over the EIU program, she worked for two years (201214) at Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania, helping the program capture the Northeast Conference title in 2013 while posting the third highest NCAA Division I grade point average in the country.

Dr. Tyson Littenberg ’03

Dr. Littenberg’s career path, however, does not reflect the shortest distance between two points; he began at SUNY Oswego as an education major, who credits science major upperclassmen friends, former swimming and diving coach Kami Mathews Gardner and, eventually, an experimental physics class with the late Professor Emeritus Dr. Dale Zych for shaping his career.

“I still get chills thinking about it,” Dr. Littenberg said of an experiment he replicated that explored the photoelectric effect—which is what earned Einstein the Nobel Prize—in Dr. Zych’s classroom.

“There was no turning back after that semester in the basement of Snygg Hall.”

At the conclusion of his current trip to Scotland, Dr. Littenberg will return to NASA to continue culling data to “find out what other surprises the universe has in store.”

“It’s a pretty amazing day job,” he said.

Linda Neely Paris ’10 M’11 is planning coordinator for facilities services at SUNY Oswego.

Bruno Primerano CAS’10 of Syracuse, N.Y., is principal for Grant Middle School in the Syracuse City School District. Previously, he served as Frazer School vice principal in the same district.

Benjamin Sumner ’10 of Cazenovia, N.Y., is senior audit manager for Dannible & McKee, LLP, a certified public accounting and consulting firm. He joined the firm’s audit department in 2010. Sumner is a certified public accountant and a member of the New York State Society Certified Public Accountants and the 40

PROVIDED

Dr. Tyson Littenberg ’03 dedicated months to trying to prove Einstein wrong—and it was that effort that contributed to the discoveries honored by the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics.

On October 3, the Nobel Prize was awarded to Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) pioneers and physicists Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Barry Barishon. But it all started on Sept. 14, 2015, when Dr. Littenberg was part of a LIGO team that made a scientific discovery that confirms a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity: There are observable ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves.

Until that moment, gravitational waves were the last missing piece of confirmation of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. On that September day, they were detected by twin LIGO detectors located in Livingston, La., and Hanford, Wash.

“It took several hours to sink in,” Dr. Littenberg said of the 2015 data. The aftermath was a flurry of work. “We were potentially sitting on the discovery of a lifetime and had a long road ahead to make absolutely sure it was the real thing, and get every drop of science out of the discovery that we could.”

MICHAEL MERCIER/UAH

Alumnus, NASA Astrophysicist, Contributes to 2017 Nobel Prize Winning Discoveries

—Eileen Crandall

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Dominic Tricase ’10 of Fort Myers, Fla., joined Pearl Brands as account services manager. Previously, he worked in broadcast television sales and marketing at NBC, CBS, ABC and CW. Carly Perham ’11 of Camden, N.Y., is branch manager of Community Bank’s Westmoreland, N.Y., location.

Martin Seitz ’11 is a David L. Boren Fellow (South Korea 20152016) with a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He is currently an emergency management specialist at the Federal Emergency Manage-

CLA SS ment Agency within the Department of Homeland Security. His article “North Korea’s Impending Perfect Storm” was published in The Diplomat in August 2017.

Brittany DeJohn ’12 was promoted to editor at Virtucom Group in Syracuse, N.Y. Most recently, she held the position of assistant editor.

Taylor Jentsch ’12 of Cheektowaga, N.Y., is a store manager for Aerie by American Eagle.

Amy LaLonde ’12 finished a doctorate in statistics at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. She relocated to Indianapolis to work for Eli Lilly as a research scientist in the company’s diabetes and diabetes complications unit.

Megan Pecora ’12 owns and operates Port City Copy Center in Midtown Plaza, 18 E. Cayuga St., Oswego.

Erica Lemke Siler ’12 and her husband, Joe, are the new owners of Creekside Convenience, formerly EJ’s Country Store, on Route 78 in Hermitage, N.Y. Lisa Thibault ’12 studied conservation and education in Thailand in summer 2017 as part of Miami University’s Global Field Program. Thibault is an on-site programs specialist at the Buffalo Zoo in Buffalo, N.Y. Bradley Frate ’13 of Rochester, N.Y., is a third-year medical student at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, with an interest in underserved populations. He is the president of the Dermatology Interest Group, an AMA/Medical Society of the State of New York member, and community outreach participant at the Matt Urban Hope Center, which educates underserved populations about healthy relationships, sexual health, personal safety, drugs and growing older.

He’s a participant in “Camp Cardiac,” a program that focuses on teaching minority and underserved area high school students about the medical field with an emphasis on cardiology, and a volunteer provider for a drop-in clinic for free, routine health care

for Astound Illustration Agency in New York City.

Kristen Burke ’15 of Tarrytown, N.Y., is an account executive at Legend Public Relations in New York City.

Ryan Domer M’15 of Syracuse, N.Y., completed the certification process to earn his designation as a certified public accountant.

Alicia Koster CAS’15 is interim superintendent for the Oriskany (N.Y.) Central School District.

Molly Matott ’15 received the A. Brohmann Roth Newcomer Award from the Syracuse Press Club at its 39th Annual Professional Recognition Awards Contest in May 2017. Matott is a meteorologist for CNYCentral.

Nick Montesano ’15 is a graphic web designer for CXtec in Syracuse, N.Y. Previously, he worked as a graphic designer for Assante Design.

Emily Palermo ’15 is a research analyst for Drive Research in Baldwinsville, N.Y. Previously, she worked at Research & Marketing (RMS) as research panel coordinator, and research and social media associate.

Tucker Sholtes ’ 15 o f Columbia, S.C., is project management strategy associate for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Matthew Stone ’15 of Mohegan Lake, N.Y., was part of the team at ABC’s Good Morning America television show that received a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Morning Show in April 2017.

Rebekah Tanner M’15 of Syracuse, N.Y., is an artist whose work was featured in the Syracuse Downtown Committee’s Art in the Windows program at 215 West Fayette St. Reid Adler ’16 M’18 is clerical support for the SUNY Oswego Division of Graduate Studies and an assistant hall director for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Stacey Baran ’16 earned a government teaching appointment in France through the international Teaching Assistant

and preventive services to underserved and uninsured patients of Buffalo.

Angela Janack ’13 M’14 is an audit senior for Dannible & McKee, LLP, a certified public accounting and consulting firm.

She is a member of the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Prior to joining the firm, Janack worked as a bookkeeper and office manager for Kraftees Collegetown, LLC. Tyler Kelly ’13 of Endwell, N.Y., graduated from West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in May 2017 as a Doctor of Osteopathy.

Bryan Schumacker ’13, of Syracuse, N.Y., is a motion graphics designer for Pinckney Hugo Group, a marketing communications firm. Schumacker previously worked as a producer at WCNY. Katherine Bott ’14 M’15 of Camillus, N.Y., completed the certification process to earn her designation as a certified public accountant. Bott is an audit associate at Fust Charles Chambers LLP, and joined the firm in October 2015.

Sarah Cerroni ’14 of Corning, N.Y., is a technology teacher for Horseheads (N.Y.) Middle School.

Jesse Corfield ’14 earned a U.S. Fulbright Student Program grant. His nine-month assignment in Brazil is scheduled to begin in February 2018, during which he’ll teach university students who plan to become English teachers.

John Enkosky ’14 of Syracuse, N.Y., is an audit senior for Dannible & McKee, LLP, a certified public accounting and consulting firm. He is a certified public accountant and a member of NYSSCPA and AICPA. Kathleen Jackson M’14 completed the certification process to earn her designation as a certified public accountant. Jackson is an audit associate at Fust Charles Chambers LLP, and joined the firm in October 2015.

Alison Berson ’15 of Farmingdale, N.Y., is an art agent 41

NOTES

Program. Baran will teach in the Lyon region for one year.

Zoe Behncke ’16 earned a government teaching appointment in France through the international Teaching Assistant Program. Behncke will teach in the Versailles region for one year.

Matthew Bente ’16 is a commercial lines underwriting assistant for Mid-Hudson Co-Operative Insurance in Montgomery, N.Y. Anna Jimenez ’16 of Spartanburg, S.C., is a paralegal for attorneys Cummings & Lewis, LLC. Phoebe Molano ’16 of Buffalo, N.Y., is a copywriter for LocalEdge in Tonawanda, N.Y. Lindsey Moses ’16 of East Brunswick, N.J., is pursuing a Master of Information degree at Rutgers University.

Lucy Bergemann ’17 of Colorado Springs, Colo., is an on-air meteorologist for KKTV-TV of Colorado Springs.

Jacqueline Decker ’17 of Liverpool, N.Y., is an account executive for the Syracuse Crunch ice hockey team.

Emma Moriarty ’17 is a marketing specialist for JUMO in Syracuse, N.Y. Serena Schaeber ’17 earned a government teaching appointment in France through the international Teaching Assistant Program. She will teach in the Rennes region for one year.

Julia Thomas ’17 of Syracuse, N.Y., is an assistant account manager for Pinckney Hugo Group, a marketing communications firm.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

CLAS S

N O T E S MARISSA SPECIOSO ’16/KAITLIN MARCY ’11

An Artist Kicks Off His Career PROVIDED

Growing up an only child in Webster, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, Troy Antinora ’16 said he always remembered loving drawing and art, as well as sports. His parents nurtured his love with recreational sports leagues and additional art classes—picking him up from football camp to head to a painting class in the summers. He was recruited to play football at Alfred University, but soon realized that his true passion lay in studying the graphic arts and transferred to SUNY Oswego for its arts programs. He graduated with a BFA in graphic design with a minor in illustration. Today, he works as a video editor in advertising and promotions at Fox News in New York City.

How did you come to work as a video editor at Fox News in New York City?

I was incredibly eager to find a job. I applied to over 100 different companies, all mainly in NYC. Finally, I landed an interview at Fox for a video editor position. A month passed and I was persistent in contacting Fox to find out my status. I received a call back and I got the job. I believe I showed my interest, my persistency and also my skills.

I design and edit commercials that air on both Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. Some of the commercials can also be seen on the internet and other channels such as FS1 or other Fox affiliates. I usually design 10-second commercials that promote the shows individually, such as “Tucker Carlson Tonight” or “Fox & Friends.” But we also create 15- and 30-second spots and “in-show” advertisements that play while the show is live. It is incredibly exciting. Something different is happening every day.

Advertising and news are a neverending combo of fast pace and constant change, which is exactly what I was looking for.

I always thought about being an architect as a child. However, once I found out you needed to make calculations and it involved more than just drawing houses, I changed my mind real quick.

After transferring to Oswego, what did you get involved in?

What were some of the highlights of your time here?

Being involved with the rugby team at Oswego was one of the best decisions I made during college. Not only did I make some incredible friends with whom I still am very close to this day, but I was able to learn more about teamwork, hard work and trust—lessons I will never forget.

Some highlights of my Oswego experience include: • winning two Division II state titles with my rugby team, • the all-inclusive dining hall pass while on campus (I may have eaten too much), • my senior BFA exhibition which allowed me to speak with many of my professors from a professional position as opposed to a student, • winning a few juried art exhibitions at Tyler Art Gallery—which was very rewarding and proved to me that the hard work does actually pay off, and • enjoying the flat rocks on the lake.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

REID ADLER ’16 M’18

l

Fa l l 2017

Troy Antinora ’16

It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that my Advanced Placement art teacher told me about graphic design. He explained to me how it integrated the fine arts with the commercial aspect of art, and also stressed that it is a growing field. Without his guidance, I would not have even realized I could have a career in graphic design or even the arts.

What did you want to become when you were a child?

OSWEGO

You said you always had an interest in art, but with so many forms of art, how did you come to choose to study graphic design?

I hope to still be in NYC enjoying the neverending possibilities this city has to offer. I am very happy at Fox, but I am always looking forward, so who knows what is to come.

What is something that no one knows about you?

If I told you something no one knows, then someone would know…

—Margaret Spillett

42

W

E

Album D

D

I

N

G

Newlyweds: Send us your Oswego wedding photo and caption! Email to alumni@oswego.edu.

4AMATO-SIMMONS—Christopher Amato ’09 and Chelsea Simmons ’10 were married in Great River, N.Y., on July 9, 2016.

Back row from left: Dan Oliver ’08, Daniel Miller ’07, Peter Shayer ’10, Joseph Brennan ’07, Michael Walters ’08, Daniel Gotay ’08, Keith Powell ’10, Kevin Morgan ’08, Kevin Ermann ’08, Lauren Jahoda ’10, Tyler Dlugolecki ’10, Leslie Look ’13, Robert Nielsen ’10. Middle row from left: Christopher Thatcher ’08, Joanna Anderson ’08, Nicole Hellmers ’10, Kate Bromwell ’09, Alana Corry ’10, Lauren Falcone ’10.

Front row: Christopher Amato ’09, Chelsea Simmons ’10

ALHEIM-JONES—Kara Alheim ’13 and Daniel

Jones ’13 were married on April 29, 2017, at the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel in Clayton, N.Y. The two met on their first day of college at SUNY Oswego, in their first class.

Top row, from left: Brian Sharkey, Tim Carr ’13, Jesse McConney ’13, Michael Gilchrist ’13 M’14, Ian O’Brien ’14, Chris Carr ’15, Lauren Poggiali ’13, Bobby Gertsakis ’15, Kelsey Harvey ’13, Laura Scaffidi ’13, Brianna Nichols ’14, Shane LaChance ’13, Erica Wright ’13, Denton King ’15, Kyle Badham ’14, Tyler Leimbrock ’13, Melissa Seamont ‘14, Chris Brown ‘13, Jon Whitelaw ‘13 M’18. Middle row, from left: Brittany Carbacio ’12 M’13, Tess Bierl ’13, Dony Kuriakose ’13, Taylor Farris ’13, Amy Langdon Leimbrock ’10 M’11, Brittany Jones ’13. Kneeling, from left: Ali Davis, Lauren MacHose ’14, Kara Alheim ’13, Daniel Jones ’13, David Titanic ’14, Britton Leone ’12, Chris Muise, Paul Rodrigues ’13.

5 GREHLINGER-PILO—Christina Grehlinger ’14 and Matt Pilo ’14 were married on August 12, 2017, in Syracuse, N.Y. The couple is pictured with Talia Harrison ’14, Olivia Basile ’14, Ross Bentley ’14, Jenna Arcese ’14, Katie Flood ’14, Lindsey Adrian Minnick ’14, Andrew Minnick ’14, Ben Palais ’14, Quentin Mariano ’15, Laurie Jackson ’14, Tom Schmid ’14, Scott Bullard ’15, Anne Sarkissian DeRue ’04 M’06, Ashley Rode ’14, Matt Pamlanye ’14, Kasey Simmons ’14 M’16, James Stivers ’86, Diana Galiatsatos ’17, Jimmy Pope ’15, Taylor DeSantis ’14 and Rachel Persoff DeSantis ’13.

5ORR-CASPARI— Sara Orr ’13 and Pete Caspari were married at the Genesee Grande Hotel in Syracuse, N.Y., on Dec. 10, 2016. From left: Pete Caspari, Sarah Wescott ’02, Sara Orr Caspari ’13, Amber Rahrle ’97, Sarah Cerroni ’14, Tyler Edic ’13, Sarah Boutwell Roder ’12, James Denig ’13, Christopher Horvatits ’13 and Sarah Colletta ’13 M’16.

43

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

Alumni Bookshelf Stan Levenson ’54 Juan and Gwen’s Big Fundraising Surprise STANLEY LEVENSON, 2017.

Juan and Gwen see the disrepair their school has fallen into, and embark on a fundraising campaign to fix it up. After asking for community support, Juan and Gwen’s efforts result in a big surprise.

Rick Mitchell ’70 M’77

its headache stone, overgrown chapel and a tiny walled-off room about which his neighbors seem strangely sensitive.

are influenced by a simplistic anti-government ideology that is itself driven by a desire to roll back the more democratically responsive aspects of public policy. But government has improved the lives of Americans in numerous ways, from providing income, food, education, housing and healthcare support, to ensuring cleaner air, water and food, to providing a vast infrastructure upon which economic growth depends.

Susan Derych Rubin ’74 M’81 Theodore TAILS AND TALES, 2015.

Puppies dream of what they want to be when they grow up, and Theodore wants to deliver the mail.

Dr. Joseph F. Coughlin ’82 The Longevity Economy PUBLICAFFAIRS, 2017.

KELSAY BOOKS, 2017.

Lois Fanning Hamill ’79

Mitchell’s third book of poetry touches on the times in life when we revisit where we have been, what we have left behind, what we have failed to consider and what we have thought to be real. Mitchell is a professor of English and the humanities at SUNY Alfred.

Archival Arrangement and Description: Analog to Digital

The Devil’s Room CREATESPACE, 2017.

An American professor of geology has a knack for writing best-selling caveman thrillers and has a gorgeous wife with expensive tastes, but he doesn’t like giving Uncle Sam his due. So he moves to an emerald land that allows him to keep all of his green. True, his new country manse needs a lot of work and is a bit odd, with OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

illustrations. Told through the voice of a woman with over three decades of breeding and mushing experience, the highly personable and relatable stories within will draw you into the everyday lives of dogs and their owners.

Jim Davies ’93 and Dr. Anthony Francis (contributors) Star Trek Psychology: The Mental Frontier STERLING, 2017.

Calling Me Back Again

Jeff Durstewitz ’73 (writing as Joe Fegan)

We celebrate and share the success of Oswego alumni authors, illustrators and recording artists, who may ask their publisher/ distributor to send a copy of the work to the Oswego alumni office to be considered for this column and our website, where cover photos of all works in this column will be displayed.

Over the past two decades, Coughlin has been busting myths about aging with groundbreaking multidisciplinary research into what older people actually want—not what conventional wisdom suggests they need. In this book, Coughlin provides the framing and insight business leaders need to serve the growing older market: a vast, diverse group of consumers representing every possible level of health and wealth, worth about $8 trillion in the United States alone and climbing.

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, 2017.

An essential text for new and veteran archivists about keeping up with new technology and processes for archiving both analog and digital materials.

Up to date with current methodologies pertaining to digital archives, this book provides basic and advanced information on recording data to cater to all levels of archivists.

Stan Luger ’78 and Brian Waddell ’83

Jo Lynn Stresing ’91 Under a Kindred Moon

What American Government Does

CREATESPACE, 2017.

The Siberian husky, one of man’s best friends, is examined in close, personal and intimate detail in this collection of short stories and beautiful

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2017.

It has become all too easy to disparage the role of the U.S. government today.

Many Americans 44

Explore the deep, expansive space that is the Star Trek universe and the myriad of theories behind character creation in this comprehensive text. Engage in current, scholarly rhetoric concerning the psyches of the entire cast, as well as the complex implications behind the portrayal of artificial intelligence in the franchise.

Jim Arnold ’06 (Illustrator), Connie Evans and Marjorie Wentworth June Bug’s Journey TAILS AND TALES, 2016.

J une Bug the dog teaches young readers to see everyone as they truly are.

I N

M E M O R I A M

Submitting an Obituary We will share the news of a SUNY Oswego college community member’s death when we receive the information from a family member, friend or another source in the form of a previously published notice, typically from a newspaper or funeral home. Please send such notices to the Office of Alumni Relations, c/o In Memoriam, SUNY Oswego, Oswego NY 13126; or email alumni@oswego.edu.

Dorothy Cummings Hiler ’33 of Phoenix, N.Y., died July 21, 2017, at the age of 108. She taught in the Phoenix Central School District, retiring in 1972. Dorothy is survived by her sons, William and his wife, Carolyn Guyle Hiler ’60, and Lawrence; and her granddaughter, Kathryn Hiler.

Genevieve Walker Henry ’42 of Liverpool, N.Y., died Aug. 10, 2017. She taught in the Ithaca City School District for 23 years.

Gen was predeceased by her husband, Donald Henry ’43. She is survived by five children, 16 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

Francis Campbell ’45 of Tucson, Ariz., died June 28, 2017. He served as a pilot during World War II. Frank taught industrial arts in Lowville, N.Y., for 15 years and was an industrial designer for General Electric in Syracuse, N.Y., and Chesapeake, Va., for 27 years. Surviving are his wife, Fern Clement Campbell ’43; sons, Tom and Doug; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Oscar Edgar Babenzien ’47 of Newark Valley, N.Y., died Oct. 24, 2013. Ed served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He taught industrial arts for 30 years at Newark Valley Central School. He was mayor and civil defense coordinator for the Village of Newark Valley. Ed was predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth Bowlby Babenzien ’44. He is survived by his children, Sherry Babenzien Asfoury ’67, Susan Symula and Mark; seven grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

John Canale ’47 M’50 of Oswego died July 18, 2017. He served with the U.S. Army during World War II. He taught at Kingsford Park School in the Oswego City School District for 18 years before taking an administrative position. John was a substitute teacher in Oswego until June 2017, sharing songs and stories of his service in World War II

Oswego Matters

By Executive Director Betsy Oberst

T

his magazine’s main feature is about one of my all-time favorite passions— and something I, along with the Oswego Alumni Association Board of Directors, have as a primary objective of our alumni engagement efforts—the value of networking and alumni connections. I am proud of the many networking programs we have launched and grown over the years to assist both students and alumni on their career paths. (See page 25.) net•work [net-wurk] verb (used without object)—to cultivate people who can be helpful to one professionally, especially in finding employment or moving to a higher position.

We invite you to be a part of Oswego’s “Get Work Network!” With our ever-growing database of close to 84,000 alumni, your Oswego alumni network is one of the most powerful tools for expanding your cache of career contacts. Register in our exclusive alumni community, OsweGoConnect, and you can search for specific alumni, connect with fellow alumni for job openings, career advice, mentoring and more. So I encourage you to log in and register today if you haven’t already! See the inside front cover of this magazine to learn about the multitude of ways you can connect with fellow Oswego alumni!

Our Oswego alumni LinkedIn group (linkedin.com/groups/48717) and our alumni Facebook page (facebook.com/ oswegoalumni) provide daily networking opportunities for Oswego grads. We invite you to take part in the frequent and lively discussions that take place.

Volunteer to mentor a current student (or a recent grad) through our ASK (Alumni Sharing Knowledge) program; you can critique resumes, offer career advice, provide job shadow experiences, and connect them to internships or co-ops in your company.

The extent of your involvement is totally up to you … but the benefit to our students and recent grads … priceless! Assisting our current students or helping our new grads launch their careers is one of the most valuable ways you can reach back and give a hand up.

45

Even though you can stay connected to Oswego through our many social and career networks and on the web, we love to meet our Oswego alumni the old-fashioned way— in person! We hope that you come back and see us soon in person to check out all of the amazing improvements to campus. Attend a Local Lakers regional event … or offer to plan and host one in your community!

King Alumni Hall, your alumni “home” when you return to campus, is a welcoming place to stop by, peruse yearbooks and alumni memorabilia and share your favorite Oswego memories; we enjoy hearing them all!

So return for Reunion Weekend (June 7-10, 2018), come back next fall for our new Homecoming tradition (see story about this year’s on page 20) or to cheer on a Lakers team, take in a theatre production or Artswego performance. We look forward to seeing you soon. And don’t forget to join our many alumni social media networks today!

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

I N

M E M O R I A M

with hundreds of Oswego High School and Oswego Middle School students. His service in the Oswego City School District spanned 66 years. John was inducted into the SUNY Oswego Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. He is survived by his wife, Angeline; a son, Gregory; three grandsons; and his sister, Mary Canale Ghent ’60.

Frank Burke ’50 of Naples, Fla., died May 26, 2017. He served with the U.S. Army.

Frank earned a master’s degree from Hofstra University and a doctorate from New York University and Nova Florida. He was a teacher and administrator in Hicksville (N.Y.) Public Schools. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, and three children.

Janet Hackel Goldman ’50 of West Hempstead, N.Y., died July 15, 2017. She earned a master’s degree at Hofstra University.

Surviving are her husband, Henry, two daughters and two grandsons.

Constance Holmes Bond ’51 M’54 of Oswego died Aug. 4, 2017. She completed courses for her doctorate at Columbia University. Connie taught at Hannibal Central School, Geneseo Campus School and Oswego Campus School. In 1961, she became an assistant professor of education at Oswego, and retired as an associate professor of education in 1991. Connie is survived by her sister, Barbara Boyce, and her close friend, F. Elizabeth “Betty” Moody, Emerita Dean of Professional Studies and Professor of Education. Gifts in Connie’s memory can be made to the Constance J. Bond Fund, c/o the Oswego College Foundation Inc., 215 Sheldon Hall, Oswego, N.Y. 13126.

Robert Washer ’51 of Mexico, N.Y., died March 6, 2017. He served with the U.S. Air Force in World War II. Bob taught industrial arts at Mexico High School for most of his more than 30 years as an educator, and was a cooperating teacher to many SUNY Oswego student teachers. He is survived by his wife, Greta; seven children, including Walter ’70 and his wife, Patricia Jordan Washer ’71, Cheryl Washer Curry ’82 and Annette Washer Richardson ’84; 21 grandchildren, including Jennifer Curry ’10; 25 great-grandchildren and several great-great grandchildren.

Mary Economos Klotsas ’53 of Highland Beach, N.Y., died Dec. 10, 2016. She taught in Brooklyn at the Eastplain School and in Plainedge Union Free School District #18 in

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

North Massapequa, N.Y. Mary is survived by her husband, Eracles.

Audrey “Joyce” Hopkin Miles ’53 of Sandy Creek, N.Y., died June 13, 2017. Joyce taught in the Sandy Creek Central School District for 34 years. Along with her husband, Denver ’50, who predeceased her in 2007, Joyce turned an old church at the corner of routes 3 and 15 into a well-known and loved country store, The Church Mouse. She is survived by her children, James, Denise Yerdon, Randy ’79 and daughter-in-law, Donna Leno Miles ’80, and Martha Lawrence; 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Floraine Unger Rosenberg ’53 of Miami, Fla., died Aug. 8, 2017. Floraine taught in Miami for many years. She was predeceased by her husband, William Rosenberg ’51.

Floraine is survived by two children and five grandchildren.

Nancy Brown DeLorenzo ’54 of Syracuse, N.Y., died July 20, 2017. She taught in Syracuse area schools. She is survived by her husband, Richard; four children and five grandchildren.

Richard Little ’54 of Stamford, N.Y., died June 9, 2017. He earned master’s and administrative degrees from SUNY New Paltz. Dick began his career as a teacher and administrator in the Ossining (N.Y.) Union Free School District. In 1971, he became assistant principal in the Stamford Central School District, then served as superintendent of schools from 1972 until his retirement in 1987. In retirement he was the interim superintendent in a number of school districts and was an adjunct professor at Hartwick College. Dick is survived by his wife, Priscilla, three children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Marion Johnson Doherty ’55 of Richmond, Va., died Aug. 20, 2017. She taught in Huntington, N.Y., and Kensington, Md., and was employed at the Salisbury Country Club from 1967 to 1998. Surviving are her husband, John ’55; son, John; and three grandchildren.

Lois Stolp M’55, Emerita Librarian, died Aug. 21, 2017. She earned a bachelor’s degree at SUNY Geneseo. Lois was an associate librarian in Penfield Library’s Special Collections. She was predeceased by her husband, Richard, who was a maintenance supervisor at SUNY. Lois is survived by her daughter, Lori Stolp Costo ’94, and grandsons, Nicholas and Joshua Costo ’17.

46

Jasper Watts ’55 of Rockland, Md., died June 17, 2017. He served as an aviator with the U.S. Navy for 21 years, retiring as a lieutenant commander. He later became superintendent of buildings and grounds for the Hingham Public School District in Massachusetts. Jasper is survived by his wife, Marie Leubner Watts M’52; his sons, David, Alan and Daryl; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Donald Friedman ’58 of Smithtown, N.Y., died June 22, 2017. Prior to his retirement, he was the director of pupil personnel services for the Hauppauge (N.Y.) Union Free School District. Donald is survived by his wife, Mary, three daughters and 11 grandchildren.

Raymond Page ’58 of Parkville, Md., died Aug. 3, 2017. He joined the U.S. Army in 1953. Raymond earned a master’s degree from SUNY Oneonta. He began his career with SUNY Oneonta, overseeing the student teacher program in Norwich. In 1967, he accepted a teaching position in the Greece (N.Y.) Central School District, and eventually was named the superintendent of schools. He retired after 30 years of service. Raymond is survived by his wife, Susan, three children and nine grandchildren.

Carolyn Zammiello Spanfelner ’58 of Utica, N.Y., died May 20, 2017. She began her teaching career at Frankfort (N.Y.) Elementary School. She later taught in the Utica City School District for many years, retiring in 1994. Surviving are her daughter, Julie; sons, Christopher and Joseph ’85; and three grandchildren.

Maurice Barkan ’59 of Hauppauge, N.Y., died Sept. 16, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Myra Rosenberg Barkan ’59.

Judith Poons Cohn ’60 of Pebble Beach, Calif., died June 14, 2017. Judy is survived by her husband, Larry; her children, Debi and Jason; and two grandchildren.

Elizabeth Higham Sauerzopf ’60 of Horseheads, N.Y., died June 6, 2017. Betty taught in the Auburn (N.Y.) City School District for two years before moving to the Horseheads Central School District, where she taught for three years. While raising her family, she founded and operated her own nursery school. She later taught childcare with SCT BOCES. She is survived by her husband, Robert ’60; sons, John and Richard; daughter, Katherine Sauerzopf; and three grandchildren.

I N

M E M O R I A M

Stuart Messur ’62 of Geneva, N.Y., died July 25, 2017. He served in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1951 to 1954, and was on active duty from 1954 to 1956. He began his teaching career in Whitney Point, N.Y., and taught industrial arts technology at Geneva High School for 35 years. Stuart is survived by his wife, Barbara, three children and seven grandchildren.

Fred Boettger ’67 of Troy, N.Y., died July 28, 2017. He served with the Aviation Engineers during World War II. Fred had been employed with General Electric and Adirondack Foundries Inc., and later as a teacher and director of vocational education for the Troy City School District, retiring in 1983. He is survived by several nieces and nephews.

Robert Costa ’68 of Syracuse, N.Y., died June 7, 2016. He taught in a number of schools in the Central New York area and later worked for the Onondaga County Department of Social Services. He is survived by his sister, Jeanne Makarainen.

James Goodall ’69 M’86 of Oswego died Aug. 8, 2017. He was a teacher in the Fulton (N.Y.) City School District for more than 33 years. “Batman” is survived by his wife, Constance; a daughter, Robin Monsour; and two grandchildren.

Kenneth Lawton Jr. ’70 of Mohawk, N.Y., died May 25, 2017. He taught earth science and physical science in the Richfield Springs (N.Y.) Central School District, retiring in 2003. Ken is survived by his wife, Barbara, three children, six grandchildren and his siblings, including his sister, Kathryn Lawton ’94.

Frances Morgenstern ’72 of Ira, N.Y., died May 21, 2017. She was an associate professor at SUNY Upstate Medical Center for 22 years, retiring in 1994. Frances is survived by six children, 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Marsha Schoff ’72 of Rome, N.Y., died June 28, 2017. She taught in the West Genesee (N.Y.) School District until her retirement in 2012. She was predeceased by her sister, Brenda Schoff ’80, on Feb. 19, 2017. Marsha is survived by her brother, Charles, and two nieces.

Patricia Guenther ’73 of North Syracuse, N.Y., died May 30, 2017. She was a graduate of Onondaga Community College.

Patty had been employed by General Electric and Xerox. She is survived by her brother,

Wayne; nephew, Aaron Guenther ’97; niece, Emily Giuliano; and several great nieces and nephews.

Charles Mihalyi ’74 of Glenfield, N.Y., died Jan. 30, 2014. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Rochester. He taught classes at Jefferson Community College, Fort Drum and Dry Hill Prison in Watertown, N.Y., for a number of years. Surviving are his mother, Bernice; four siblings; and nieces and nephews.

Antoine Delity ’75 of Bowie, Md., died Jan. 13, 2017. After college, Tony served with the Peace Corps in Swaziland, Africa, before beginning a 37-year career with Prince George’s County Public Schools. He is survived by his wife, Lisa; two brothers; and nieces and nephews.

Bruce Zukowski ’77 of Valrico, Fla., died Feb. 18, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn, three children, two grandchildren and his mother, Gertrude.

Michael Fultz ’83 of Oswego died Aug. 20, 2017. He was employed with Bomac Inc. Surviving are his brothers William ’77 and Timothy; his sister, Mary Fultz; and several nieces and nephews.

Jean Clancy Strobel ’84 of Trumbull, Conn., died June 2, 2017. She was a paraprofessional at Middlebrook School. Jean is survived by her husband, Barry; two children; her mother, Arlene Clancy; and her siblings.

Laura Sieckmann Reed ’90 of Orchard Park, N.Y., died May 20, 2017. She is survived by her husband, Jeff; two children, Catherine and Connell; her father, Edwin Sieckmann; and her siblings, including Susan Sieckmann LoVullo ’85.

Ruth Ann Boardman Baumbach ’93 of Baldwinsville, N.Y., died July 16, 2017. She began her education at Cabrini University, but put her education on hold to raise her family. She returned to college at Oswego after her children were in school. Ruth Ann also earned a master’s degree from Empire State College. She taught at St. Mary’s Academy for 19 years, retiring in 2013. She is survived by her husband, Gregory, six children and 14 grandchildren.

William Bordner ’95 of Seneca Falls, N.Y., died June 4, 2017. He served with the U.S. Air Force from 1956 to 1960. He previously worked at Evans Chemetics and retired as manager from International Paper. Billy is survived by two sons, William and Gerald.

47

Debra Blauvelt M’08 of Phoenix, N.Y., died July 26, 2017. She earned a bachelor’s degree at West Virginia University. Debra was employed at Home Depot. She is survived by her parents, Donald ’62 and Linda Mykland Blauvelt ’62, and her sister, Kristen.

Jamie Vescio Sosenko ’14 of Oswego died June 18, 2017. She worked as a nurse in the Fulton Hospital for many years. She is survived by her son, John; her father, Angelo Vescio; and siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

Ralph Spencer, Provost and Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, of Watertown, N.Y., died July 14, 2017. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 19451946. Ralph graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in 1951 and a master’s degree in 1953. He earned a doctorate in education from Cornell University in 1964.

Ralph came to Oswego as the dean of professional studies and professor of education in 1970. In 1977, he was appointed vice president for academic affairs and provost, and served as acting president when the president was on leave. He also taught management courses in the business department until 1990. Ralph was instrumental in developing the SUNY North Country Fort Drum Consortium for Higher Education. He was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Administrative Services in 1977. He is survived by his wife, Marion, two children and four grandchildren.

Gifts in Ralph’s memory may be made to the Dr. Ralph Spencer Memorial Scholarship, c/o Oswego College Foundation Inc., 215 Sheldon Hall, Oswego, NY 13126 or online at alumni. oswego.edu/givenow.

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

T H E

L A S T

PROVIDED

The Accidental Painter— History Alumnus Turned Artist

By Ron Throop ’90

I

wish I could say otherwise, but my path to Oswego State came comically by chance. I remember back in high school sitting in a circle of prospective students while an Oswego Admissions rep asked each of us our intended major of study. Practically everyone picked Business Administration. When my turn came, not to be a downer, I picked the same. We were allowed to room with a classmate also planning to attend Oswego.

Larry Cardarelli ’89, barely an acquaintance at the time, turned to me right away and asked if he could bunk with me.

Sure, why not?

And that was that. I was going to SUNY Oswego. 926 Funnelle.

Warming up the vacuum tube stereo console. Being very cool on the weekends and mildly productive during the week. Incredible

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

lasting memories, and then whoops! I did not want to pursue a degree in business. I couldn’t even balance my checkbook!

In my spring sophomore semester, I took an elective on the Enlightenment. I made it to my 20th year of life having read only three creative works by individual authors. One, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, certainly not assigned to me in Principles of Accounting II, was my gateway book to the artistic life. The Enlightenment class made 18th century philosophical books assigned reading.

Candide by Voltaire, for instance.

By the end of my first upper level history course, I was smitten with the love of learning. It cleared my path to the life abundant.

During my early postgraduate years, I reached out in many directions, moving from history to literature, philosophy, psychology, creative writing and, finally, to painting, where I could manifest the expression of my humanness in full color. It helped that I was an enthusiastic young father, actively raising my firstborn daughter Rhiannon ’12, a summa cum laude graduate of SUNY Oswego; and also a hopeful romantic, courting and marrying

Ron Throop ’90

my best friend, Oswego BFA graduate Rose Gosselin Throop ’95. In 2001, our daughter Sophia was born, and I continued to homeschool both my girls to high school and middle school respectively, using Penfield Library as a most valuable tool, and the setting of beautiful Lake Ontario for an artist to seek satori in paradise.

Today, I live in a cedar shake cottage, a stone’s throw from Sheldon Hall. Most graduates see college as a stepping stone to another life in another place.

Oswego has remained my home, and the college a major piece of it.

I paint nearly every day, exhibit my paintings, and write and publish autobiographical works examining life’s puzzles and my place in them. I ascribe to the art movement called Stuckism. According to its cofounder, Charles Thomson of London, England, I am a leading figure promoting the movement in the United States. If you seek my work and help raise its value to astronomical, I promise to donate large sums to the college fund.

48

This past October, I exhibited and curated the work of 34 internationally recognized Stuckist painters at Quintus Gallery in Watkins Glen. Currently, I am showing the brilliant work of Spanish painter Lupo Sol at The Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton, N.Y. I update my website (ronthroop.com) and blog regularly at stuckismwatkinsglen.blog, and post upcoming exhibitions. I suggest getting out to art openings whenever possible. Free food and beverages, and usually good conversation too, especially when the music is set to groovy, and no authority figure is watching the punch bowl.

Ron Throop ’90, who graduated with a history degree, is a professional painter/writer living in Oswego, N.Y. He has self-published 14 books on a wide range of subjects—art, essay, philosophy, sociology and psychology, and is a prolific acrylic painter whose works have been exhibited locally, statewide, nationally and internationally.

T H E

Forever young!

L A S T

Your estate gift will live in perpetuity nurturing the minds of future generations.

PROVIDED

The Accidental Painter— History Alumnus Turned Artist

JIM RUSSELL ’83

By Ron Throop ’90

I

wish I could say otherwise, but my path to Oswego State came comically by chance. I remember back in high school sitting in a circle of prospective students while an Oswego Admissions rep asked each of us our intended major of study. Practically everyone picked Business Administration. When my turn came, not to be a downer, I picked the same. We were allowed to room with a classmate also planning to attend Oswego.

Larry Cardarelli ’89, barely an acquaintance at the time, turned to me right away and asked if he could bunk with me.

Sure, why not?

And that was that. I was going to SUNY Oswego. 926 Funnelle.

Warming up the vacuum tube stereo console. Being very cool on the weekends and mildly productive during the week. Incredible

OSWEGO

l

Fa l l 2017

lasting memories, and then whoops! I did not want to pursue a degree in business. I couldn’t even balance my checkbook!

In my spring sophomore semester I took an elective on the Enlightenment. I made it to my 20th year of life having read only three creative works by individual authors. One, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, certainly not assigned to me in Principles of Accounting II, was my gateway book to the artistic life. The Enlightenment class made 18th century philosophical books assigned reading.

Candide by Voltaire, for instance.

By the end of my first upper level history course I was smitten with the love of learning. It cleared my path to the life abundant.

During my early postgraduate years, I reached out in many directions, moving from history to literature, philosophy, psychology, creative writing and, finally, to painting, where I could manifest the expression of my humanness in full color. It helped that I was an enthusiastic young father, actively raising my firstborn daughter Rhiannon ’12, a summa cum laude graduate of SUNY Oswego; and also a hopeful romantic, courting and marrying

Ron Throop ’90

my best friend, Oswego BFA graduate Rose Gosselin Throop ’95. In 2001, our daughter Sophia was born, and I continued to homeschool both my girls to high school and middle school respectively, using Penfield Library as a most valuable tool, and the setting of beautiful Lake Ontario for an artist to seek satori in paradise.

Today, I live in a cedar shake cottage, a stone’s throw from Sheldon Hall. Most graduates see college as a stepping stone to another life in another place.

Oswego has remained my home, and the college a major piece of it.

I paint nearly every day, exhibit my paintings, and write and publish autobiographical works examining life’s puzzles and my place in them. I ascribe to the art movement called Stuckism. According to its cofounder, Charles Thomson of London England, I am a leading figure promoting the movement in the United States. If you seek my work and help raise its value to astronomical, I promise to donate large sums to the college fund.

48

This past October, I exhibited and curated the work of 34 internationally recognized Stuckist painters at Quintus Gallery in Watkins Glen. Currently, I am showing the brilliant work of Spanish painter Lupo Sol at The Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton, N.Y. I update my website (ronthroop.com) and blog regularly at stuckismwatkinsglen.blog, and post upcoming exhibitions. I suggest getting out to art openings whenever possible. Free food and beverages, and usually good conversation too, especially when the music is set to groovy, and no authority figure is watching the punch bowl.

Ron Throop ’90, who graduated with a history degree, is a professional painter/writer living in Oswego, N.Y. He has self-published 14 books on a wide range of subjects—art, essay, philosophy, sociology and psychology, and is a prolific acrylic painter whose works have been exhibited locally, statewide, nationally and internationally.

Your planned gift

can play an important role in shaping the lives of future SUNY Oswego students and ensuring transformational educational opportunities exist for the generations that follow.

Isla Class of 2037 ~ Daughter of Stephanie Lamb ’07, Associate Alumni Director

Individuals who include SUNY Oswego in their wills or estate plans are invited to be members of the Sheldon Legacy Society, named after college founder, Edward Austin Sheldon. Gifts that earn membership in the Sheldon Legacy Society include bequest intentions; beneficiary designations; trusts, gift annuities and other life income arrangements; and gifts of insurance.

It’s easy to designate SUNY Oswego as a recipient of your planned gift. Simply call us at 315-312-3003, email sheldonlegacy@oswego.edu or visit online at alumni.oswego.edu/plannedgiving.

Nonprofit US Postage PAID Oswego Alumni Association

KING ALUMNI HALL OSWEGO, NY 13126 If OSWEGO is addressed to a son or daughter who has graduated and no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please clip the address label and return it with the correct address to the Oswego Alumni Associa­tion, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126, or email the updated address to alumni@oswego.edu

Please recycle this magazine.

Dr. Bruce E. Altschuler n initial failed attempt at college as an engineering student and a tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Vietnam helped Dr. Bruce Altschuler identify his true passions and build a fourdecade career as an educator and expert on politics and the American presidency.

“When I came back from Vietnam, I decided to study political science at the City College of New York and got straight As,” he said. “Based on my experience in Vietnam and how we were destroying that country, I came back strongly opposed to the war.”

This was the same time as the Kent State shootings and the City University of New York temporarily being shut down in May 1970 due to student protests, he said.

“At that time, it was hard to not be involved in some kind of activism,” he said.

He traces his passion for politics and the presidency back to his days as a non-traditional undergraduate. After earning a bachelor’s in political science, he went on to earn a master’s and Ph.D. in political science at CUNY. In 1976, before completing his dissertation, Altschuler was offered a temporary position that evolved into a full-time position at SUNY Oswego, and he ended up spending his entire career here, staying true to his activist roots through his involvement with the United University Professions, the union that represents SUNY faculty and professional staff.

“I felt like I had a home in Oswego,” he said. “The college gave me the freedom to teach whatever I wanted.”

For example, he developed unique course offerings that combined his teaching and research interests, including Women and Politics and Films About Presidents. He said students’ questions and comments often helped him direct his research to explore new areas within a particular subject.

Among his many publications are seven books, including Seeing through the Screen: Interpreting American Film (Lexington Books, 2017). He was a political analyst for WRVOFM, the on-campus National Public Radio station, and has been interviewed numerous times by national and international media outlets about American politics and the presidency.

Among his many recognitions, he cherishes a SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research, SUNY Research Foundation Award, SUNY Oswego President’s Award for Creative and Scholarly Activity or Research and a NYS Associated Press Award for his “Election Project” documentary in 1996. His alma mater has recognized him with its Ph.D. Alumni Association Achievement Award and Graduate Center Political Science Department’s Outstanding Alumni Award.

JIM RUSSELL ’83

A

Dr. Bruce E. Altschuler

He said he takes great pride in some of the outstanding faculty he was able to recruit during his 12-year tenure as the chair of the political science department and in following the professional accomplishments of his many former students, with whom he remains in contact.

Today, he is a board member of Brooklyn For Peace, and he recently established an endowed scholarship at SUNY Oswego through a bequest that will be awarded to deserving students with financial need and a commitment to positive change in society. He serves on the Sheldon Legacy Society Steering Committee and as the moderator for the Oswego Alumni Association’s election events in New York City and Washington, D.C. “I have a lot of friends from Oswego, and the college has provided me with lifelong connections to colleagues and former students,” he said. “I am happy to stay involved with the campus and with the people.” l —Margaret Spillett