Presidents Society Program, 2022

583 Park New York, New York Tuesday, April 26, 2022

There is no group of people who have led the growth and development of Skidmore College more than the alumni, parents, friends, and families who participate in the Presidents Society.

Last year, Presidents Society donors contributed 88% of gifts to the Skidmore Fund and 95% of all gifts to the College. The difference you have made can be felt throughout campus. You have given the College the resources it needs to fund its most critical priorities. On behalf of the Skidmore community – students, faculty, and staff – we thank you.

Your support has made the College stronger in many ways. Presidents Society gifts have allowed us to create new initiatives, support ongoing programs, and provide a dedicated space to foster a more diverse and inclusive community. Together, we have constructed a state-of-the-art Center for Integrated Sciences, supported trailblazing exhibits at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, helped our student-athletes compete at the highest level of Division III sports, and provided research opportunities and internships for students to apply their knowledge in the work place.

Most critically, your impact on student financial aid has allowed the College to meet 100% of demonstrated need for all students.

Presidents Society donors have led the way in each of these achievements. Your philanthropic leadership and your pride in the College set the highest standard for future alumni and parents.

Thank you for believing that Creative Thought Matters. Thank you for investing in Skidmore College. Together, we will continue to make a difference.

Jane Feinberg Karlin ’72, P’03 Chair, Presidents Society

Evening Program WELCOME

Jane Feinberg Karlin ’72, P’03, Chair, Presidents Society Geraldine Santoso ’22, President, Student Government Association REMARKS

Ava Wood ’24 VIDEO

The Essence of the Presidents Society Introduced by Nancy Hamilton ’77, Chair, Skidmore Board of Trustees RECOGNITION OF THE 2022 PARNASSUS SOCIETY INDUCTEES

Introduced by Nancy Hamilton ’77 INDUCTEES

Molly Brister Haley ’64 and Edward G. Freitag Susan Hinko ’69 The Pohlad Family (Kiki Pohlad McMillan ’13) Ann Schapps Schaffer ’62 and Melvyn S. Schaffer Joan Laskey Sussman ’65 Teagle Foundation James D. Zankel ’92 and Pia Scala-Zankel ’92 REMARKS

Marc C. Conner, President Introduced by Austin Rook ’22 ALMA MATER Words and music, inside back cover

Performed by the Bandersnatchers: Alex Ciardullo, Will Davis-Kay, Nicholas Flecha, John Harrington, Carter Jones, Jimmy Katzmann, Patrick McDevitt, Nico Riley, Andy Weinberg, Leonard Xu —1—

Marc C. and Barbara Reyes-Conner

—2—

MARC C. CONNER

Marc arrived at Skidmore on July 1, 2020, as the College’s eighth president.

In addition to steering the College through the many challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, he has prioritized Skidmore’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, particularly through the introduction of its Racial Justice Initiative, and launched a comprehensive Campus Master Planning process that will help guide the future of the campus in alignment with Skidmore’s strategic priorities.

An innovative leader of interdisciplinary academic programs, a longtime advocate of diversity and inclusion, and a widely published professor of English, Marc joined Skidmore College following over 24 years at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where he had most recently served as provost and chief academic officer from 2016 to 2020.

Marc has published extensively on modern American, African American, and Irish literature. His dozens of essays and eight books on literature include The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison, which The New York Times Book Review named a notable book of 2020.

He has also produced three lecture series for The Great Courses on Shakespeare and on Irish Literature. His fondest teaching experience has been taking students to Ireland for an intensive study abroad program many times.

BARBARA REYES-CONNER

Barbara Reyes-Conner has had a long career and commitment to supporting people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. She has worked in multiple public schools and community organizations in this field. She is also an avid supporter of fitness and athletics, having played college softball and taught mixed martial arts fitness classes for the YMCA. Barb has recently joined the board of directors for the Saratoga Regional YMCA and AIM Services Inc., a local agency dedicated to supporting individuals with diverse abilities. Barb is eager to support and foster community engagement opportunities between Skidmore students and Saratoga Springs.

—3—

Presidents of Skidmore College

Charles Henry Keyes 1912 — 1925

Henry T. Moore 1925 — 1957

Val H. Wilson 1957 — 1964

Joseph C. Palamountain, Jr. 1965 — 1987

David H. Porter 1987 — 1998

Jamienne S. Studley 1999 — 2003

Philip A. Glotzbach 2003 — 2020

Marc C. Conner 2020 — present

—4—

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Nancy W. Hamilton ’77 Chair

Robert F. Resnick President

Jonathan P. Achenbaum ’77 Daniel M. Allen ’90 Susan Gottlieb Beckerman ’67 Jonathan R. Brestoff Parker ’08 William S. Caleo ’99 Graeme Campbell ’98 Marc C. Conner Kalyan Das P’18 Alan E. Gilbert P’14 Katherine Gross P’16 Andrew Hughes ’92 Maxine Isaacs ’69 Linda Jackson-Chalmers ’73 William L. Ladd ’83 Maria P. Markowitz P’13 Jeffrey Maron ’84 Scott M. Martin ’79 Kiki Pohlad McMillan ’13 John Melligon ’81, P’18 Barbara Kahn Moller ’78, P’11, P’13 Amy O’Leary ’92 Diana V. Perry ’89 Robert Resnick ’88 Kim Roy Tofalli ’80, P’10, P’13 Ann Schapps Schaffer ’62 Nigel Smith ’19 Millie Tan ’77 Julianne Cartwright Traylor ’68 Margaret Valentine P’09 Kim Wachenheim Wagman ’88 P’15 Tom Wilmot ’99 Jimmy Zankel ’92

Angela Botiba ’15 Graeme Campbell ’98 Michael DeCarlen-Bumiller ’23 Angela R. Foss ’82 Jennifer Hart ’82 Harold K. Herz ’89 Jennifer Cummings Hillery ’00 Katherine Horoschak ’84 Colleen Barber Hursh ’04 Jane Feinberg Karlin ’72 P’03 Romy H. Kushnick ’13 Melvis N. Langyintuo ’12 Neil I. McKinnon ’97 Dana Metes ’90 Justin Model ’91 Amy M. Munichiello ’94 Amy O’Leary ’92 Olivia Rosenblum ’22 Millie Tan ’77 Anne Wargo ’89

—5—

To the ancient Greeks, the high, rugged peak of Mount Parnassus signified accomplishments of the highest order. For the highest achievement in giving, Skidmore College proudly recognizes those who have contributed one million dollars or more with membership in the Parnassus Society.

Anonymous (3) Daniel M. ’90 and Stacie Allen *Ernest and *Elizabeth Plank Althouse ’24 Harry L. ’73 and Katherine Groves Alverson ’74 *Florence Andresen ’57 *Jean-Ellen Burns Ash ’37 *Varian Ayers ’65 *David and Barbara McIlveen Baldwin ’61 Susan Gottlieb Beckerman ’67 Charles and Charlotte Buchanan Jean Bernhard Buttner *Myles A. Cane *Jerry E. Chiles and Emily Pavlovic Chiles ’74 *Charlotte Lamson Clarke ’53 and Thomas K. Clarke *Frank and Barbara Underhill Collyer ’52 Herbert J. and Jeanine Coyne, P’88, ’76 *Dennis and Marsha Dammerman Kalyan and Piali Das P’18 The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Shelby M. C. and Gale L. Davis The Dayton Family *Margaret Milow DeWitt ’36 *Horace and *Margery Gehman Dodge ’44

*Ann Moses Douglas ’56 Judith Pick Eissner ’64 and Bruce A. Eissner The Fred L. Emerson Foundation *Leslie Snow Feron ’48 and *Louis Feron *Marlene Oberkotter Fowler ’61 Kenneth A. Freirich ’90 Alan E. and Marlene C. Gilbert, P’14 Jane Greenberg ’81 Felix and Beverly Beatson Grossman ’58 Molly Brister Haley ’64 and Edward G. Freitag Nancy Wells Hamilton ’77 and Charles Lynde “Chip” Babcock IV The Harder Family Irving and Selma Harris, P’79, ’76 *Gladys Haupt ’31 Susan Hinko ’69 Burton and Carol Wattenberg Hoffman ’50 Maxine Isaacs ’69 Paul and Barbara McGrew Jenkel ’62 The Jonsson Family *Jacqueline M. Jung ’61 Lilli Brunner Kalmenson ’54 Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust *Virginia W. Kettering, P’59 —6—

Stewart’s/The Dake Family Joan Laskey Sussman ’65 S. Donald Sussman, P’04 The Tang Family Teagle Foundation Charles and Suzanne Corbet Thomas ’62 Andrew and Ann Tisch Laurie Tisch, P’04 Wilma “Billie” Stein Tisch ’48 Harriet Johnson Toadvine ’56 and *Stephen Purnell Toadvine III Linda and Michael Toohey *Ruth Forster Traxel ’36 *Ella VanDyke Tuthill ’32 Margaret and Michael Valentine, P’09 Lance R. Wachenheim ’85 The Wachenheim Family Kim Wachenheim Wagman ’88 and David Wagman, P’15 *Louise Benton Wagner ’59 Kenneth and Carol Little Weg ’64 Stephen and Janet Lucas Whitman ’59 *Kathryn Wiecking ’53 *Susan Kettering Williamson ’59 The Winter/Miller Families *Marjorie Saisselin Woodbury ’35 *Harry and *Anita Pohndorff Yates Jean Eichorn Youngquist ’66 and Robert P. Youngquist The Estate of Arthur Zankel, P’92, ’82 James D. Zankel ’92 and Pia Scala-Zankel ’92

Mark and Polly Skogsberg Kisiel ’62 The Kresge Foundation The Ladd and Filene Families *Dorothy Lutjen Liebig ’34 Linda Friedman Lippman ’82 and James Lippman *Tillie Lubin, P’62 The Henry Luce Foundation *Louise G. Lueder ’35 *Susan Rabinowitz Malloy ’45 Maria and Jerome Markowitz, P’13 *Ruth Wildman Maynard ’67 *Elizabeth Weatherby McCormick ’31 W. Scott and Catherine D. McGraw, P’12 The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation *Bettina Towne and *John B. Moore Elisabeth Luce Moore Charitable Trust Peter Norton Gayle Nosal ’79 *Anne T. Palamountain H ’97 David B. and Beverly Sanders Payne ’59 Katherine Pohlad McMillan ‘13 and the Pohlad Family *Virginia Gooch Puzak ’44 *Harry V. and *Betty Quadracci, P’91 Joel ’91 and Caran Quadracci *Clifford M. Roberts, Jr., P’83, ’79, ’69, Grandparent ’00 *Richard and Hadley Sillick Robertson ’60 Michael and Margaret Roohan, P’13 Courtney Sale Ross ’70 Ann Schapps Schaffer ’62 and Melvyn S. Schaffer Sara Lee Lubin Schupf ’62, P’83 Marilyn Goldstein Schwartz ’64 and Joseph B. Schwartz Elizabeth Howe Shannon ’53 Jack Shear

Bold = new members 2022 * deceased —7—

Molly Brister Haley ’64 P’93 D’35 and Ed Freitag After graduating with an art degree from Skidmore College in 1964, Molly Brister Haley started her career as an art teacher in Marblehead, Massachusetts, public schools. Five years later, she was asked to teach a course on silk-screening at the local art association — an opportunity that changed the course of her career.

Molly and a student soon started designing and printing on fabric and in 1970 launched Marblehead Handprints Inc., a textile design business. They developed expertise in all aspects of design, printing, product development, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail. They quickly became known throughout the nation.

In 1999, Marblehead Handprints closed and Molly became director of counseling and special programs at the American Women’s Economic Development Corporation in Washington, D.C. Drawing on her experience operating a successful business, she helped develop training courses in entrepreneurship for women.

Molly realized that this training would also work well for Skidmore studio art students who want to start a business doing what they love. She soon developed a program and proposal that became Skidmore’s Entrepreneurial Artist Initiative, which was launched in 2013 as an introductory workshop.

The program became part of the new Arts Administration Program, chaired

by Arthur Zankel Executive Director of Arts Administration David Howson.

Molly and husband Ed Freitag decided to help fund the program, which grew to include courses in business for the arts, workshops for students, an off-campus apprenticeship, networking opportunities, and additional learning experiences. They recently created an endowment for the Entrepreneurial Artist Initiative to assure that the program would remain an ongoing part of Skidmore.

—8—

A loyal alumna, Molly was awarded the College’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2004 and Outstanding Service Award in 2019. She is a longtime supporter of the Francis Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery and has been a member of its National Advisory Council for more than 20 years.

She has also supported Skidmore scholarships, and an award is named in honor of her mother, Margaret Palmer Brister ’35. Continuing the Skidmore tradition is Molly’s daughter, Maggie Haley Glidden ’93.

Ed Freitag is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School.

His career as a corporate attorney included serving as vice president and chief corporate counsel for MCI Communications Corporation and as general counsel and a senior advisor for NeuStar Inc. He has served as president of the Annapolis Yacht Club Foundation and is co-chair of the Board of Trustees of Herring Gut Learning Center in Port Clyde, Maine.

He is also an aspiring woodworker. He and Molly have successfully raced sailboats together throughout their marriage, and cruised Maine for a number of years. Ed has been an active supporter of the Entrepreneurial Artist Initiative at Skidmore.

“Shortly after launching my business in textile design I realized that I was drawing on my Skidmore experiences in my design courses. I will forever be indebted to Alice Mosier, chair of the art department, who taught me silk-screening. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, these courses became the base of my design business. I have been involved with giving back to Skidmore ever since.”

– Molly Brister Haley ’64 P’93 D’35

—9—

Susan Hinko ’69 Susan Hinko ’69 credits Skidmore’s all-female environment with providing her a formative college experience and inspiring her to plan a bequest in memory of her parents that will assist future generations of Skidmore students. Susan recalls how Skidmore fostered the development of women as well as their ability to lead, take charge, and fulfill their intellectual and creative promise.

Although she made a career in the business world, she considers her liberal arts education to be the foundation on which she has built her continuing commitment to service. She emphasizes the creative and critical thinking skills she gained at Skidmore, as well as the courses in history, literature, theology, philosophy, music, and foreign languages that made her a wellrounded person.

— 10 —

After graduating with a B.A. in government, Susan lived in Taiwan and continued her Chinese studies, which she had begun at Skidmore. When she returned to the United States, she earned an M.A. in Chinese literature from the University of Michigan in 1977 and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in 1979. She then pursued a lengthy finance career on Wall Street before retiring in 2018.

Her years at Skidmore also nurtured a commitment to using her skills and resources to support efforts to improve the cultural, social, educational, and economic conditions of society. Susan is a trustee of the Bronx Museum, a court-appointed special advocate (CASA), and a member of the Citizens Union State Affairs Committee.

Her decision to support Skidmore through her will was inspired by a classmate who used her giving to honor her parents’ name. A Skidmore Reunion also sparked her interest in establishing a scholarship for women students studying the humanities. At Reunion, her husband, Carl Batlin, had remarked how her classmates were all such incredible, accomplished women.

“At Skidmore, the core of who we are was formed. As a woman in the humanities, I want to encourage students to broaden their perspectives.

It makes you a better person, fosters creativity and critical thinking, and enhances your appreciation of the world.”

– Susan Hinko ’69

— 11 —

Katherine “Kiki” McMillan ’13 Katherine “Kiki” McMillan found her passion for helping others while at Skidmore College. An art history major and studio art minor, her studies of colonialism and appropriation sparked a drive to find meaningful ways of creating greater opportunity and equality for historically underprivileged individuals and communities. She is passionate about developing and finding resources to help victims of sexual violence and racial discrimination, and addressing issues of systemic inequality in the criminal justice and housing systems. She recognizes the importance of education and the arts and lends her support to those issues in Minnesota, California, and New York.

Jewelry design and ceramics were Kiki’s focus as a studio art minor. After graduation, she attended the Gemological Institute of America for jewelry design and the New York Botanical Garden for floral design. She is currently CEO of The Loupe, a luxury jewelry boutique in Minneapolis.

Kiki serves on the board of the Pohlad Family Foundation, where her father, Jim Pohlad, is director/vice president. Kiki and the foundation support the Pohlad Family Endowed Scholarship, the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, The Center, and the Skidmore Fund. She joined Skidmore’s Board of Trustees as a young alumna trustee in 2019. Kiki is married to Zach McMillan, a documentary filmmaker and music producer.

“My Skidmore education helped foster my drive to find meaningful ways toward creating greater opportunity and equality within communities, which I believe starts from within. I hope that my support for Skidmore will allow access to all students to discover their own passions and inspire them to affect meaningful change in their future.”

— Katherine “Kiki” McMillan ’13

— 12 —

Joan Laskey Sussman ’65 As a history major at Skidmore, Joan Laskey Sussman learned the importance of critical thinking, research and literacy. She also had the opportunity to indulge in her passion for horses as a member of the equestrian team, an interest she continues to this day.

Joan followed her time at Skidmore with a career in advertising and marketing for various symphony orchestras and ballet companies throughout the U.S. including as vice president of marketing at the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in Charlotte, North Carolina. Along the way she earned two advanced degrees, an M.S. from Hunter College in 1969 and an M.B.A. from the University of New Haven in 1989. She continues to work part time in retirement as executive director of La Musica, an international chamber music festival held in Sarasota, Florida, every April.

Joan was married to Sidney L. Sussman until his death in 2016 at the age of 98. Although based in Florida, Joan spends summers in Saratoga Springs working at Saratoga Performing Arts Center as volunteer coordinator and house manager for the Little Theater. She has served her class as a Reunion volunteer and class agent. Joan is a loyal supporter of the Skidmore Fund and, with her bequest, is a member of the Legacy Society.

“I am proud of how Skidmore has developed in the more than 60 years since I was a student there. The mind/body relationship is particularly appealing. Indeed, “creative thought matters.” Today, supporting Skidmore helps to ensure that scholarship, wellbeing and creativity will provide opportunities for young people in the years to come.”

– Joan Laskey Sussman ’65

— 13 —

Ann Schapps Schaffer ’62 and Melvyn S. Schaffer Ann Schapps Schaffer likes to tease her husband, Melvyn “Mel” Schaffer, by saying that Skidmore College and camp (the former Camp Severance in the Adirondacks) were the best days of her life. Whether or not that is true, Ann, who graduated from Skidmore in 1962 with a B.A. in Romance languages, is an ardent supporter of Skidmore, the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, and all things art. She played tennis with President Val Wilson and had professional and personal relationships with her professors (including advisor Sonia Karsen) that enriched her education. Ann was president of the National Student Association and editor of the Skidmore Scope. Both her parents adored Skidmore, and she fondly remembers times with her father at Happy Pappy weekends.

Upon graduation, she worked at the United Nations, utilizing the language skills she perfected at Skidmore. She went on to tutor students in Spanish, French, and Italian.

Although she frequented museums while growing up, Ann’s interest in art, especially contemporary art, developed after college. Now she is an art

— 14 —

collector and is highly regarded in the art world, serving on boards or leadership committees for distinguished institutions that have included The Museum of Modern Art, Montclair Art Museum, The Jewish Museum, United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, The Guggenheim Museum, and Independent Curators International. She is also a respected advisor and teacher to young art collectors, and she and Mel open their home collection to museum and charity groups on a regular basis.

Mel, a graduate of Cornell University, is chairman and CEO of Trademark Plastics Corp., a plastics raw material distribution company he founded in 1977. The couple’s shared passion for contemporary art has resulted in the Ann and Mel Schaffer Family Collection, which has become an extensive assemblage of 20th- and 21st-century art. They have donated many paintings, prints, and photographs to the Tang.

In addition to gifts of art, they have supported the Jack Shear Endowed Fund at the Tang, Glotzbach Scholars, Friends of the Tang, Skidmore Fund, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Ann joined the Skidmore College Board of Trustees in 2019. An ardent and enthusiastic supporter of the Tang, she has been a member of the Tang’s National Advisory Council since its opening in 2000 and currently serves as co-chair. In 2021, Ann and Mel’s dedication and support of the Tang were recognized with the naming of the lobby in their honor.

The couple have two sons and daughters-in-law, five grandchildren, and are residents of South Orange, New Jersey; New York City; and Palm Beach, Florida.

“My parents taught me the necessity of giving to charity. I also learned about the importance of treasuring every moment from my mother, who passed away last year at the age of 106. On weekends when my friends would be sleeping late, my mother would come into my room, snap open the shades, and tell me ‘The day is too precious to waste!’ I never forgot her enthusiastic ritual, and I always try to make every day count.”

– Ann Schapps Schaffer ’62

— 15 —

The Teagle Foundation was established in 1944 by Walter C. Teagle (18781962), longtime president and later chairman of the board of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), now Exxon Mobil Corporation. Mr. Teagle gave the Foundation a broad mandate, “to advance the well-being and general good of mankind throughout the world,” mentioning many areas of concern and possible recipients of its support.

Over the intervening decades the foundation has pursued many of these avenues, always, however, including among its grants the aid Mr. Teagle envisioned for “institutions of higher learning and research,” and assistance to family members of employees of his corporation who needed resources and were “desirous of obtaining some form of educational advantage.”

Walter Teagle graduated from Cornell University in 1899 and maintained close ties with that university throughout his lifetime. Reflecting Mr. Teagle’s wish, the Foundation includes among its directors a person nominated by the president of Cornell and another nominated by the chair of ExxonMobil.

The Teagle Foundation’s assets derive from gifts and bequests from Walter C. Teagle, his wife Rowena Lee Teagle, and their son Walter C. Teagle Jr. In the foundation’s earliest days, the predominant grants program was Needy Cases, which was dedicated to helping employees, retirees and surviving spouses of Mr. Teagle’s corporation who had fallen upon hard times, usually through no fault of their own. In 1945, the Scholarship Program began, providing funds for employees or members of their families to attend a number of institutions. Funding was also committed to nursing education, seminaries, and medical research. Walter C. Teagle passed away in 1962, and the foundation endowed a chair in neurology in Mr. Teagle’s name at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University.

The range of institutions receiving scholarship funds grew rapidly. From 1978-1988, 97 institutions received 566 grants. A large number of grants were directed toward small liberal arts colleges, pursuant to the board’s commitment to support historically Black and Appalachian institutions.

— 16 —

As the field of philanthropy became more professionalized, the grantmaking began to focus more on institutional capacity building and less on supporting individuals. By 1990, the Small College Grant program began, an initiative directed at small colleges that were known to enroll a high proportion of economically disadvantaged students. In 1991, the Foundation formalized what long had been the practice of making grants to New York City agencies serving youth. In 1995, the Teagle Collaborative Ventures program launched, which brought institutions together in ways that helped them share resources, coordinate purchasing and develop joint programs.

After a one-year moratorium on grantmaking in 2003-2004 to determine the Foundation’s future focus within higher education, the Teagle Foundation began its work to encourage fresh thinking about the goals and systematic assessment of outcomes in liberal education — always in collaborative and faculty-led ways. Believing in “knowledge-based philanthropy,” the foundation committed to widely disseminating the results of its work throughout the higher education community. Also in 2005, the College-Community Connections program was established, linking community-based organizations with colleges and universities in the New York City metropolitan area to introduce high school students from underserved communities to liberal arts education.

Today, under President Andrew Delbanco, the Teagle Foundation works to support and strengthen liberal education, which it sees as fundamental to meaningful work, effective citizenship, and a fulfilling life. Its aim is to serve as a catalyst for the improvement of teaching and learning in the arts and sciences while addressing issues of financial sustainability and accountability in higher education. Now that robust assessment of student learning has increasingly become a norm in higher education, it is embedded in all of the foundation’s grant making rather than treated as an independent initiative.

The Teagle Foundation is committed to the principle that liberal education entails open-minded engagement with the most challenging ideas of past and present, and that the opportunity for such an education must not be restricted to the privileged few. Its board and officers believe that few challenges are more important than providing a mind-enlarging liberal education for young people as they try to shape lives of meaning, purpose, and informed engagement with the choices facing our society. They believe that by working with devoted leaders who bring fresh ideas to their work with students of all backgrounds, the foundation can help make a difference not only in their home institutions but more broadly in higher education.

— 17 —

James “Jimmy” Zankel ’92 and Pia Scala-Zankel ’92

Jimmy Zankel’s late father and former Skidmore College Trustee Arthur Zankel often said that the twin pillars of a Skidmore liberal arts education were strong writing and critical decision-making skills. Both sets of expertise have informed Jimmy’s entire — and decidedly non-linear — career, and he is forever indebted to Associate Professor of English Philip Boshoff, who once memorably commented in the margins of his paper: “Too many words, Zankel! Put your writing on a diet!”

Jimmy’s most formative experiences at Skidmore include teaching conversational English to French high school students during a semester abroad in Paris his junior year and his appointment as chair of the Student Speakers Bureau his senior year. In between, he interned at Cultural Survival in Cambridge, a not-for-profit human rights organization protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples — a natural fit thanks to his anthropology major.

He began his career in Boston at a public relations agency specializing in cause-related marketing, a position he gained through a Skidmore Career Development Services alumna contact. He went on to a successful television production career at VH1 and Food Network, with academic pit stops at the Institute of Culinary Education and NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized — 18 —

Study master’s degree program. Jimmy was previously co-president of The Zankel Fund and served as the secretary of the board of Big Apple Circus for a decade. He is also chairman emeritus of Carnegie Hall Notables.

In 2020, he co-founded The Zankel Scala Family Foundation with his wife, Pia, where he functions as executive director. A member of Skidmore’s Board of Trustees, Jimmy chairs the Communications and Marketing Committee.

Pia Scala-Zankel majored in theater at Skidmore, where she graced the stage of — and labored behind the scenes at — Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater at every opportunity. A former child actress, voiceover artist, and NYC Ballet dancer, Pia leaned into her Skidmore education by sharpening her artistry and fine-tuning her interests. Following a foray into psychological counseling at Teachers College, Pia returned to her first love by founding Vertigo Theater Company, where she also served as artistic director. An acclaimed playwright whose portfolio includes the play Street Children, a New York Times Critics Pick, Pia’s works have been staged at such venues as BAM, New Ohio Theater, The Wild Project NYC, and even the world-famous Gleason’s Gym. She is an alumna of Labyrinth Theater Ensemble Workshop and the artistic residency program at SPACE on Ryder Farm. Currently, Pia is writing for episodic television with two projects in development. Still, she would be quick to proclaim that her and Jimmy’s single greatest achievement is their children, Luca and Annabella.

Pia and Jimmy are exceedingly proud to support the Zankel Experience Network (ZEN), which they established in 2020 to expand Skidmore’s commitment to experiential learning, including the Summer Experience Fund, Faculty Student Summer Research, and the College’s new Mentoring Program. In addition to ZEN, they have also supported Skidmore Fund, the Zankel Endowed Scholarship, Zankel Endowed Residency, and Zankel Music Center programming through The Zankel Scala Family Foundation.

Our relationship with and to Skidmore has provided immeasurably rewarding engagement and continuity, a warm and robust community, and the deep heartfelt conviction that creative thought does indeed matter!”

— Jimmy and Pia Zankel — 19 —

— 20 —

ALMA MATER Words and Music by Henry T. Moore President, Skidmore College 1925–57

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Copyright MCMXLIV by Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Creative Thought Matters