HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES 300 Pulteney Street Geneva, New York 14456 The inside text pages of this publication were printed using recycled paper which enables the environmental savings equivalent to the following: • 254 trees preserved for the future • 25,045 lbs waterborne waste not created • 244,808 gallons wastewater flow saved • 25,045 lbs solid waste not generated • 1,388 lbs net greenhouse gases prevented • 211,000,000 BTUs energy not consumed
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Emily Surprenant ’15
• Returned Peace Corps Volunteer in Saint Lucia • Majored in political science at HWS and earned a master’s of social work from Columbia University • Manager of Community Outreach at KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to ensuring that all kids get a childhood filled with play.
• Peace Corps Volunteer in Kosovo • Majored in International Relations and participated in the Teacher Education Program • HWS leadership roles in Relay for Life, Colleges Against Cancer and the Debate Team; Writing Fellow and member of String Ensemble.
1. What’s your proudest achievement? Serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
1. What’s your proudest achievement? Being accepted to serve in the Peace Corps.
2. What motivates you to give back? I have found my calling in servant leadership. I am motivated by this reciprocity and knowing that through the simplest actions, I could be making someone’s life, and they could be making mine, infinitely better.
3. Where do you turn for inspiration? Young people, creative solutions and my mentors’ determination to never accept “no” as the final answer.
3. Where do you turn for inspiration? My father. He uses his wisdom, humor and passion to educate and inspire individuals on how to change the world through service and leadership.
4. What advice would you give your 13 year old self? Imperfection and failure are essential ingredients to living a happier adult life. 5. If you could travel in time, where would you go? Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
7. What is your personal mission statement? Stand for what you believe in. 8. What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume? I’m a drummer in an all-women’s afro-Brazilian samba reggae band that promotes women’s empowerment and the rich culture found in the Bahia region of Brazil. 9. What quality do you value most in your friends? Unconditional love.
HWS Pride
And How 29 Alums Show It
4. What advice would you give your 13 year old self? Own your decisions; the only person you are responsible for pleasing is yourself. 5. If you could travel in time, where would you go? The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. 6. What is the most pressing issue facing today’s college graduates? Finding a profession that balances passion, mission and vocation, and justifying that over a career that may offer financial security. 7. What is your personal mission statement? We all possess the tools and share the responsibility to shape a changing world. 8. What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume? I am in every way Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation. 9. What quality do you value most in your friends? Authenticity
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6. What is the most pressing issue facing today’s college graduates? Making the world just for all, not the select few or the lucky.
PARALLELS PARALLELS
2. What motivates you to give back? Working with people from all walks of life and being inspired by their commitment and daily heroism. I like the idea that people can connect when they’re in the trenches working toward a common good.
The Stakeholders
Jennifer O. Leshnower ’00
PLUS: Ali Marpet ’15 Takes on the NFL
The HWS sailing team practices on Seneca Lake. PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
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JOIN US! Founded 1989
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1) Bill Whitaker ’73, L.H.D. ’97; Correspondent for CBS’ “60 Minutes” 2) Beth Newell; Professor of Biology, 2014 Middle States Reaccreditation Steering Committee member 3) Charlie Boswell II ’50; Registrar Emeritus (1955-1987) 4) Dr. Sandra Rivera ’85; Assistant Director, Office of Economics, USITC 5) Skylar Beaver ’08; Director of Annual Giving at Washington and Lee University 6) Walt ’62 and Joan Gage P’91; Attorney at Law, Lecturer
You need neither great wealth nor gray hair to make a planned gift. You just need a desire to support the mission of Hobart and William Smith in preparing students to lead lives of consequence. To learn more about making a planned gift and joining The Wheeler Society, contact Leila Rice, associate vice president for Advancement, at (315) 781-3545 or rice@hws.edu. www.hws.edu/legacy HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015 Catherine Williams EDITOR, VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS
Contents
Peggy Kowalik ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER
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Jessica Evangelista Balduzzi ’05 ASSISTANT EDITOR Jessica Evangelista Balduzzi ’05, Steven Bodnar, Kristyna Bronner ’14, Josh Brown, Ken DeBolt, Jonathan Everitt, Lori Ferguson, Morgan Gilbard ’15, Mary K. LeClair, Allison Kuklinski ’16, Jessie Meyers Moore ’10, Paige Mullin, Margaret Popper, Brenda Pittman, Chris Quirk, Avery Share ’15, Andrew Wickenden ’09 and Catherine Williams CONTRIBUTING WRITERS/EDITORS
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Steve Barrett, Kathy Collins ’09, Kevin Colton, Amy Dreher ’93, ESPN Images, Steve Maller, Andrew Markham ’10, MTV Images, Paige Mullin, Orange Photography, Michael Paras, Gregory Searles ’13, Jared Weeden ’91, David Yellen CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS/ ILLUSTRATORS
Mark D. Gearan PRESIDENT Maureen Collins Zupan ’72, P’09 CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Andrew G. McMaster Jr. ’74, P’09 VICE CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Robert B. O’Connor VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT Kathy Killius Regan ’82, P’13 ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, ALUMNAE RELATIONS AND NATIONAL REGIONAL NETWORK Jared Weeden ’91 ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, ALUMNI RELATIONS William Smith Alumnae Association Officers: Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk ’98, President; Jane Erickson ’07, Vice President; Chris Bennett-West ’94, Immediate Past President; Kate Strouse Canada ’98, Historian Hobart Alumni Association Officers: Dr. Jeremy Cushman ’96, President; Frank Aloise ’87, Vice President; James B. Robinson ’96, Immediate Past President; Rafael A. Rodriguez ’07, Historian VOLUME XLII, NUMBER THREE THE PULTENEY STREET SURVEY is published by the Office of Communications, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 300 Pulteney Street, Geneva, New York 14456-3397, (315) 781-3700. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Pulteney Street Survey, c/o Alumni House Records, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 300 Pulteney St., Geneva, New York 14456-3397. Opinions expressed in The Pulteney Street Survey are those of the individuals expressing them, not of Hobart and William Smith Colleges or any other individual or group. The Colleges do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, age, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or any other protected status. Inside text pages printed on 100% postconsumer fiber paper. Gas resulting from the decomposition of landfill waste used in place of fossil fuels to produce inside text paper.
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6 Outstanding Outcomes 8 Faculty Accomplishments 16 Yellen Honored with Blackwell Aw ard 19 New Entrepreneurial Studies Minor 20 The Scandling Trust 30 Feature: The Stakeholders 74 Classnotes 118 Alumni & Alumnae News 124 Bookshelf
For questions and comments about the magazine or to submit a story idea, please e-mail Catherine Williams at cwilliams@hws.edu.
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Jessica Evangelista Balduzzi ’05, Rebecca Frank, Mary K. LeClair, Betty Merkle, Kathy Killius Regan ’82, P’13, Jared Weeden ’91, Chrissy Bennett West ’94 CLASSNOTES EDITORS
ON THE COVER: Hobart and William Smith flags fly alongside the American flag at an HWS event on the Jersey Shore. Photo by Jared Weeden ’91.
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Dear Friends,
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his issue of The Pulteney Street Survey features profiles of alumni and alumnae who, despite busy careers and family obligations, have meaningfully kept Hobart and William Smith in their lives. Whether offering career advice, mentoring students, serving as admissions volunteers, or supporting important initiatives like The Scandling Trust, these are proud members of the HWS family who demonstrate just some of the unique ways alums can stay engaged. I think you will enjoy this issue since it also provides a snapshot of the great variety of careers our graduates go on to master, from an education entrepreneur in Silicon Valley to the photographer at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. I am pleased to report that we have seen increased volunteerism with more alums agreeing to host students for internships and record high attendance at regional and campus events. And we are very grateful that annual giving to the Colleges has increased substantially with 500 more donors this fiscal year than last, the largest number of donors in nine years. Since my last report in the Survey, I am gratified that the Colleges have continued work to make our campus an even more welcoming place through the Culture of Respect Initiative and the ongoing work related to Title IX and sexual assault issues, and the engagement of alums and parents. As the father of two daughters, no other issue is more important to me than the safety Mark D. Gearan, President and well-being of our students. That sentiment is also held by my leadership team, our staff and our faculty, all of whom have worked tremendously hard over the past year to ensure that we have the policies and training needed to support students and that we have the options for services if and when they are needed. During the past year I have benefited from the informal conversations I have held with student groups and frequent evening meetings in student residences across campus. Listening directly to our students has been invaluable to me as we collectively work to foster and enhance a greater culture of respect on campus. We have made meaningful progress, much of it documented on our website at www.hws.edu/about/respect. Some highlights from the past year: 1. Expanded the Office for Title IX Programs & Compliance to include the Title IX coordinator, two psychologists and an experienced Title IX legal adviser. Following a national search, in May I announced the appointment of Susan Lee as our Title IX Coordinator. Lee had served as Director of Affirmative Action and Campus Diversity at Indiana University, and Chair of the University’s Title IX Committee. With more than two decades of experience in social justice issues, Lee holds a law degree and is a former registered nurse. She is expertly suited to assume her position at Hobart and William Smith, and she will report directly to me. 2. Conducted a review and revision of the sexual misconduct policy through the efforts of six working groups of faculty, staff and students. 3. Significantly increased awareness and training for students, faculty and staff, including Bystander Training for all first-year students and many others through affiliations with athletic teams and student groups. A new cohort of faculty and staff members has received instruction to expand student-training in the upcoming academic year. 4. Formed the Sexual Violence Response and Evaluation Team which meets monthly and includes staff, faculty and students as well as representatives from the Geneva Police Department, the Ontario County District Attorney’s Office, Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes, and FF Thompson Memorial Hospital. The newly created group ensures that the student voice is central to our efforts by streamlining communication and information sharing between first responders, students, and faculty and staff in a forum designed to foster insight and feedback. 5. Created the Culture of Respect Initiative and a corresponding committee of faculty, staff, students and trustees whose mission is to examine, research and offer recommendations designed to elicit important positive change at HWS. Already we have implemented recommendations across the spectrum of student life, campus facilities and education with more to be accomplished in the upcoming months. Certainly there is a great deal of work ahead of us but I remain inspired by the lives of consequence our alumni and alumnae have created, by the confidence of parents who send their children to the Colleges, and by the transformative education our students receive at Hobart and William Smith. With every best wish, I am Sincerely,
Mark D. Gearan President 2 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
Reunion | ca.1964
WAVELENGTHS
Tradition A long-standing tradition at the Colleges, Reunions serve as a true homecoming for alumni and alumnae. Here, members of the Classes of 1945 celebrate their Reunion.
Outstanding Outcomes
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Gug genheim Fellow
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FLI’s 10th Anniversar y
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TOP Daily Update Stories
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STRAUB AWARDED NSF GRANT
Over the next three years, a National Science Foundation grant totaling $339K will fund Assistant Professor of Biology Shannon Straub’s research, as well as the summer research of six HWS students, to study the evolution of milkweed plants. The goal is to develop new methods to collect and analyze genomescale data to understand evolutionary relationships when many species have been formed in rapid succession.
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100 BEST COLLEGE VALUES
The Colleges have been named to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of 100 Best College Values for 2015. The ranking cites the combination of outstanding academics with affordable cost. Quality is assessed according to admission rate, percentage of students who return for sophomore year, student-to-faculty ratio and four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include overall price, financial aid and average debt at graduation.
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HWS GENERATES $244M ECONOMIC IMPACT
A recent economic analysis conducted by the Center for Governmental Research has concluded that the Colleges’ impact on the local economy surpassed $244 million in 2013. The analysis includes spending on costs such as labor and construction, spending by students and visitors of the Colleges, institutional spending, and workforce impact.
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HIGHEST U.S. HONOR FOR SERVICE
The Colleges have been recognized nationally as one of only four institutions named for the President’s Award for Education Community Service in a recent Honor Roll of nearly 800 colleges and universities. For the fifth consecutive year, HWS was also named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Kiplinger 100 Best Values
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PIERCE ’17 WINS 2015 PITCH CONTEST
As winner of the 2015 Stu Lieblein ’90 Pitch Contest, Paige Pierce ’17 has received $10,000 to develop her company, Orchard Outfitters, a mobile storefront that connects students and fashion by traveling to colleges in the Northeast and selling high-end clothing brands.
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UNITED NATIONS GOALS
This spring, students and faculty collaborated with counterparts in South Africa in a unique independent study program, “Beyond Borders.” During the semester-long academic partnership with the Stellenbosch University, students examined issues related to the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations both in the U.S. and South Africa. The project was developed by Solomé Rose, the Global and Community Leadership Fellow at the Centennial Center for Leadership.
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CIRCLE OF 6 APP
HWS joins UCLA and Williams College as the first three higher education institutions to partner with Circle of 6, a smartphone application designed to help prevent sexual violence by quickly connecting users in potentially dangerous situations to friends and safety resources. The HWS app was coordinated by students with leadership from Sarah Feldman ’15. Circle of 6 is the recipient of the White House/Health and Human Services Apps Against Abuse Technology Challenge.
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ALPHA PHI ALPHA CHAPTER FORMED
This spring, the Colleges established the Upsilon Pi chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, whose motto is “First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All.” “I sought to form Alpha Phi Alpha as a means to foster an environment in which men of color would have a bastion for leadership and civic responsibility that is unique to their background,” explains Michael Ortiz ’16.
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NATIONAL RECOGNITION KICKS OFF EARTH WEEK
The Colleges have been included among the select institutions featured in the 2015 edition of The Princeton Review’s “Guide to 353 Green Colleges.” In addition, the Colleges have been named a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Leadership Club. Both honors arrived as the Colleges kicked off their annual celebration of Earth Week.
Overheard
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David Gergen L.H.D. ’15 during his HWS Commencement Speech. Gergen is Harvard Professor of Public Service, best-selling author and CNN senior political analyst who served as an adviser to four U.S. presidents.
“The fact that we have gathered every year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a community to reflect on our common values and commitments means that when terrible things happen and we want to witness together, we are not strangers. It means that we have already affirmed that when one can’t breathe, none of us can breathe; and so it is time to march again.” HWS Chaplain Lesley Adams D.D. ’15, addressing students and community members during the Geneva Martin Luther King Jr. March and Memorial.
“‘When athletic ability meets your academic agility you self-actualize’ Dean Baer of Hobart College #bestinterviewever #AliMarpet #Hobart #OntheClock #NFLNetwork” NFL Network’s Jonathan Glancy’s Instagram post, quoting an interview with Dean Eugen Baer P’95, P’97, after his film crew followed Ali Marpet ’15 on campus for a day.
“As much as we educate our brain to become smart to enhance the material development, it is equally or even more important to educate our heart to develop inner values such as loving kindness, self-discipline and patience to produce a good, happy humanity.” The Venerable Tenzin Yignyen, instructor of Asian languages and cultures, speaking to students during the sand mandala ceremony which concludes his “Tibetan Mandala Painting” course.
WAVELENGTHS
“As depressing as it is to talk about violence against women, I find it ultimately encouraging to conceptualize it and to bear witness to it as culturally induced genderbased violence, since doing so enables us to envision and work toward eliminating it.” President’s Forum Speaker and Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dartmouth College Dr. Susan Brison, during her President’s Forum Series address on campus.
“Look to your right and to your left, and remember that these buildings around us were built by those who came before us. As you prepare to go on to lead a life of consequence, remember to pay it forward.” Trustee Christopher ’84 and Rene Whitney ’83 Welles P’12, P’15, addressing the Classes of 2015 during Commencement Rehearsal on the Quad.
“Hobart and William Smith are the only private institution in the state that has taken this step, and it’s really quite remarkable.” Chancellor of the State University of New York Nancy L. Zimpher, reflecting on the Geneva 2020 initiative during her President’s Forum Series talk, “Early Lessons in Achieving Collective Impact in Education.” Geneva 2020 is a collective impact project that harnesses the efforts of the entire Geneva community to improve the literacy, lives and outcomes of Geneva’s children.
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Christopher Troy ’15 has been selected for the prestigious 2015-16 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to support an English Teaching Assistantship to Argentina. Troy is one of six seniors – a record number for a single-year at the Colleges – to earn a 2015-16 Fulbright.
PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
For the 2015-2016 school year, Chavon Thomas ’15 (left), Devon O’Brien ’15 (center) and Natalie Singer ’15 (right) will serve with City Year. Thomas is placed in Jacksonville, Fla.; while Singer and O’Brien will serve in Boston, Mass. The students begin their commitments in August.
PHOTO BY GREG SEARLES ’13
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WAVELENGTHS
Outstanding Outcomes by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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f the 590 high-achieving and academically talented students who graduated in May, six have earned prestigious Fulbright awards, further evidencing the Colleges’ reputation as a top producer of Fulbright students, as noted by the U.S. Department of State in 2013. Another 17 recent graduates will carry forward the values of service and social justice as they join the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and City Year. Some will continue their academic careers in respected graduate and professional school programs at institutions such as Yale University, the University of California at Berkeley, Northwestern University and Syracuse University. Many others have been hired in the nonprofit and private sectors in jobs around the world at organizations like JP Morgan, Comedy Central, Project Puffin, Deutsche Bank, U.S. Marine Corps, Deloitte, and Bank of America, among others.
From among nearly 45,000 student applicants to the 2015 Teach For America program, Aminata Dansoko ’15, Patricia Franklin ’15, Clover Quigley ’15, Sara Winant ’15 and Tatiana Soto ’15 have accepted positions with the nationwide nonprofit, which recruits high-performing college graduates to teach in high-need urban and rural schools.
FULBRIGHT
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From the highly competitive field of applicants, six HWS students—a record number for a single year at the Colleges— have earned a 2015-16 Fulbright U.S. Student Award that will take them around the world. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, operates in more than 140 countries worldwide. They are:
Liam Allman ’15, Lauren Darcy ’15, Jordan Mueller ’15, Rachel Newcomb ’15 and Andrea Tran ’15 will join the ranks of AmeriCorps, which engages more than 75,000 Americans in intensive service each year at nonprofits, schools, public agencies, and community and faith-based groups across the country. Joining FoodCorps are: Mollie Kenerson ’15 (Springdale, Ark), Stacey Davis ‘15 (Westport, Ct.) and Abbe Lentz ‘15 (Harlem, N.Y.).
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Cydney Chibnall ’15 (France)
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Katherine Cornell ’15 (India)
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Jeanine Cryan ’15 (Greece)
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Georgia Decker ’15 (Malaysia)
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Jordyn Dezago ’15 (Ecuador)
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Christopher Troy ’15 (Argentina)
PEACE CORPS Following a highly competitive admissions process, Amanda Reusch ’15, Emily Surprenant ’15, Anna Dorman ’14 and Nicolas Walker ’13 will soon kick off their tenures of service with the Peace Corps, continuing a fruitful connection between the Colleges and the renowned international service organization. Reusch will teach secondary English in Tanzania during her two-year tour. Surprenant will teach secondary English to
primary school students in Kosovo. Dorman and Walker will represent HWS in the Peace Corps with their assignments in Rwanda.
PRINCETON IN ASIA In August, Dominque Miller ’15 begins her tenure teaching English in Vietnam, through the Princeton in Asia Program which, since 1898, has fostered mutual appreciation and cultural understanding by connecting graduates and partner organizations in Asia.
TEACH FOR AMERICA
CITY YEAR In August, seven graduates of the Classes of 2015 will begin their commitments with City Year, a program of AmeriCorps that strives to improve classroom environments and encourage the educational advancement of youth by providing community-based projects. After a one-month training session prior to the start of the academic year, Mary Doran ’15 and Katharine McCall ’15 will be in San Antonio, Texas; Devon O’Brien ’15, Natalie Singer ’15, Jacob Price ’15 and Peter Weeks ’15 in Boston, Mass.; and Chavon Thomas ’15 in Jacksonville, Fla. ●
Ufomata Awarded Fulbright to France by Steven Bodnar Provost and Dean of Faculty Titilayo Ufomata has received the prestigious Fulbright International Education Administrator (IEA) Seminar Award in France. The two-week program will give her the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the French and European higher education environment and to expand the study abroad opportunities available to HWS students in France. “I am very grateful and excited to be a Fulbright awardee,” says Ufomata, who will take part in the IEA Fulbright program in cooperation with the Franco-American Commission for Education Exchange later this year. “It is a great honor and the realization of one of my professional dreams.” Ufomata says that participating in the IEA Seminar will enable her to make connections and identify potential institutional exchange partners to open up more opportunities for the 60 percent of HWS students who choose to participate in off-campus study. “Hobart and William Smith are known as a great institution for study abroad and international exchange,” she says. “This is one of the many ways to enhance our globalization and participation on the international stage,” says Ufomata, who will travel through Paris, Rennes, and Strasbourg during the program. As chief academic officer at the Colleges, Ufomata is responsible for all academic functions and the faculty. Prior to joining the Colleges, Ufomata was Associate Provost and Distinguished Professor at Kentucky State University. Ufomata received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English (Ibadan, Nigeria) and attended the University College London where she earned a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in phonetics. She is an alumna of Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management, the HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) program designed to advance women leaders in higher education administration.
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Faculty Accomplishments by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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n the recommendation of their departments and the offices of the President and Provost, the Board of Trustees have conferred tenure and the ranks of associate and full professor to 10 faculty members. Four retiring faculty members were also granted emeritus status. “Together, these faculty members exemplify what we value as a community,” says Provost and Dean of Faculty Titilayo Ufomata. “We congratulate them on their outstanding teaching, research and creativity, and thank them for their exemplary commitment to our students, to the liberal arts, and to Hobart and William Smith.” FULL PROFESSOR: 1| Nan Crystal Arens (geoscience) earned her B.S. and M.S. from Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University. Her research focuses on the evolution of terrestrial environments and phenomena connecting atmospheric-, climateand vegetation-related evolution. She is widely published and has been awarded numerous grants which have funded research around the world. She is chair of the HWS Committee on Faculty.
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2| Mark Deutschlander (biology) earned his B.S. in biology from the State University of New York at Geneseo and a Ph.D. in zoology from Indiana University. His research focuses on migration and navigation, particularly the use of the earth’s magnetic field and visual cues in animal orientation. He previously served as chair of the HWS Biology Department and of the Health Professions Program. During the next two years, he will chair the Committee on Academic Affairs. 3|Neil Laird (geoscience) earned his B.S. in meteorology at the State University of New York at Oswego and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois. His teaching and scholarly interests span numerous areas in the atmospheric sciences with a focus on the climatology and meteorology of severe winter weather. Laird has provided mentorship and support of undergraduate researchers during the HWS Summer Research Program.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR: 4| Jamie Bodenlos (psychology) earned her B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh, M.A. from Western Carolina University, and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Louisiana State University. A licensed psychologist, Bodenlos’ research has focused on obesity and obesity-related behaviors and diseases. She has received grants and awards from a variety of sources for her research. 5| James Capreedy (classics) earned his B.A. from Hamilton College, M.A. from Tufts University, and Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. His teaching interests span from Greek history and language, to Latin and the fall of the Roman Empire, to ancient comedies. He is a co-designer of the webbased mapping application The Nearchus Project (www. nearchus.org). He is the recipient of a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in collaboration with the Office of the Provost and the Digital Learning Team. 6| Anthony Cerulli (religious studies) earned his B.A. from Loyola University Chicago, M.A. from Yale University and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His courses concern Buddhism and Hinduism, post-colonialism and anthropology of South
Asian religions, and the history of medicine in India. Cerulli has earned fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies, among other organizations. 7| Christine Chin (art and architecture) earned her B.A. from Princeton University, M.A. from Purdue University, and M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico. She has shown her work in galleries and museums across the country, including solo exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad. Chin has been a Fisher Center Research Fellow and was awarded a Digital Pedagogies Grant and a Faculty Innovation Teaching Grant from the HWS Center for Teaching and Learning. 8| Karen Frost-Arnold (philosophy) earned her B.A. from Wellesley College and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Her courses focus on ethics, trust, knowledge, power and privilege. Her research on trust and its implications regarding the Internet and scientific collaboration recently appeared in two scholarly journals. FrostArnold was a Fisher Center Research Fellow for the 2014-15 year.
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9| Elizabeth Ramey (economics) earned her B.A. from George Washington University, M.A. from the University of Denver, and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts. She has given presentations across the U.S. and U.K. on topics such as farm subsidies, family farm feudalism and global commodities. She has worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a data consultant and economic information specialist. 10| Lisa Yoshikawa (history) earned her B.A. from Wellesley College and M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University. Her teaching interests span from the medieval Mongols to contemporary Asia-Pacific relations and from national histories to transnational memory wars. Yoshikawa has received numerous grants to further her scholarship. Her current book projects include a cultural history of the Japanese giant salamander, and a look at repatriate scholars in postwar Japan. EMERITUS STATUS: 11| Susan Henking (religious studies), now President of Shimer College in Chicago, Ill., taught in the HWS Religious Studies department for more than 25 years, twice serving as chair. She also co-chaired the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Studies program, served as acting provost and interim dean of faculty, and in many faculty governance roles. Her scholarly work focuses on the relationship between religion and the social sciences. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in religion and psychological studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and also holds a B.A. in religion and sociology from Duke University.
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12| Mark Jones ’72, P’14 (art and architecture), a painter and photographer, has exhibited his work in museums and galleries around the world. He earned his B.A. in studio art from Hobart College and his M.F.A. in painting and photography from Brooklyn College, and has studied at various institutes around the world. In the past, he has served as assistant dean for program development, as well as on numerous committees and in advisory roles on campus. 13| Richard Mason (anthropology and sociology) earned his B.A. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, his M.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his Ph.D. from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. His teaching and scholarly interests in anthropology and sociology extend far beyond the discipline, to education, environmental studies, agriculture, urban studies and women’s studies. Mason served in the Army National Guard from 1956 to 1964. 14| Jo Beth Mertens (economics) is an expert in public finance and public policy, a returned Peace Corps volunteer and a Fulbright Scholar. She worked across the globe as a consultant for the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the U.S. Treasury, and USAID. At the Colleges, Mertens served as chair of the Economics Department, director of the Public Policy Program, and chair of the Committee on the Faculty, among other roles. She earned a B.S. from the University of Arkansas, M.A. from Duke University and Ph.D. from Emory University. ●
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Cerulli Named 2015 Guggenheim Fellow by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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ssociate Professor of Religious Studies Anthony Cerulli is the recipient of a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship, earning the sole award in the area of South Asian Studies this year. Since its establishment in 1925, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has granted more than $325 million in fellowships to the most promising minds in the U.S. and Canada, among whom are scores of Nobel laureates and poets laureate, as well as winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Fields Medal and other important, internationally recognized honors. “I am absolutely thrilled about receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship. It’s a tremendous honor,” says Cerulli. “The application process was extremely rigorous, entailing multiple stages of review, and it’s very gratifying to know that my past research portfolio and current research project were evaluated so highly by the leading scholars in my fields of study.” Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the 175 scholars, artists and scientists were chosen from this year’s group of more Associate Professor of Religious Studies than 3,100 applicants. “These Anthony Cerulli artists and writers, scholars and scientists, represent the best of the best,” says Edward Hirsch, president of the Guggenheim Foundation. The project for which Cerulli has been named a Fellow — “Sanskrit Medical Classics in Crisis: Language Politics and the Reinvention of a Medical Tradition in India” — involves “a combination of archival and ethnographic research on one of India’s indigenous medical systems, Ayurveda,” Cerulli says. “Eventually becoming my second book, this project probes and explains the impact of European colonial medicine on the transmission of knowledge in Ayurveda’s two institutions of learning: the Ayurvedic College and the gurukula, a Sanskrit word meaning ’family of the teacher,’” explains Cerulli. “The support afforded by the Guggenheim Fellowship will enable me to carry out much of the research necessary to write the book and will take me to archives in the United States, Europe and India. I’ll also be able to commit myself to sustained stretches of fieldwork in the south Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.” ● PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
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HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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Commencement 2015 by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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hrough our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing.” It was with these words, first spoken more than 130 years ago by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., that HWS Commencement Speaker David Gergen L.H.D. ’15 - Harvard Professor of Public Service, best-selling author, CNN senior political analyst and trusted adviser to four U.S. Presidents - called upon the Classes of 2015 to reflect on the lessons of service learned during their four years as undergraduates. Gergen advised the graduating seniors that, “…we have a powerful drive to protect and help others. Unleashing that inner drive will carry you to places you’ve never thought of before.” Today, he said, “the most important question before you now is not how to make a living but how to make a life. One day, a friend or grandchild will ask you to look back at your long life and reflect on what was meaningful. I hope you have found your greatest joy in
family and service to others, that your hearts have been touched with fire, that you have lived lives of consequence.” During his valedictory address, HWS President Mark D. Gearan reflected on the contemporary nature of identity and service. “You will live and work in an exciting and dynamic century — filled with opportunities and promise, as well as challenges and conflict,” Gearan said. “It is a time marked by fast paced change and innovation. You have already seen it since you arrived in Geneva four years ago. Our hope is that this new part of your identity as an HWS alum will provide you with the skills to navigate these changes, to analyze issues with care and empathy, to think critically about the challenges ahead, and to actively engage in solutions.” Commencement 2015 marked the 190th graduation for Hobart and the 104th for William Smith. This year, 590 undergraduates earned bachelor’s degrees and four graduate students received their Master of Arts in Teaching. ●
Senior Speakers Loren Hiser ’15 and Nick Donovan ’15 delivered the student addresses to the Classes of 2015. “We can assume leadership positions in the arts sector, the non-profit sector, and the entertainment sector. We can be politicians, global ambassadors, and molders of young minds. We can conquer New York; conquer L.A., conquer D.C., London, and Peru,” Hiser said. “We have the potential for our reach to expand far beyond any conceivable notion we hold now, and we can do it with compassion, grace and intelligence.” —Loren Hiser ’15 “Everybody sitting in this crowd right now is chasing something,” Donovan said. “All of us are chasing someone, some career, or some dream. But what our time here at Hobart and William Smith has done is made sure that we are prepared to take on the next part of our chase.” —Nick Donovan ’15
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During Commencement, Chair of the Board of Trustees Maureen Collins Zupan ’72, P’09, presented the “Touching the Future” Awards, which celebrate and honor educators from elementary, middle or high schools who have had an impact on current HWS graduates. The 2015 honorees are Matthew Bindig ’98, an English teacher at Orchard Park High School who was nominated by Amanda Reush ’15 (right) and Arlene Eddington, a third grade teacher at North Street Elementary School in Geneva who was nominated by Ryan Sollenne ’15 (left center). This year marked the first time a Hobart alumnus and a Geneva City School teacher were recognized with this award.
WAVELENGTHS
Chaplain Lesley Adams D.D. ’15, who retired at the end of the academic year, received a standing ovation after being awarded a Doctorate of Divinity honorary degree from HWS. During Commencement, the Colleges conferred honorary degrees on David Gergen, Harvard Professor of Public Policy; The Rev. Lesley Adams, HWS chaplain; Alan Khazei, co-founder of City Year; The Hon. Louise Slaughter, congresswoman (D-NY); and Lucile Mallard, president of the Geneva, N.Y. chapter of the NAACP.
Graduating cum laude in English and economics, Dominic Carazza ’15 receives a hug from his grandmother.
William Smith graduates Jeanine Cryan ’15, Caroline Demeter ’15, Julie Kunzman ’15, Abbey Rogowski ’15 and Chloë Glover ’15 celebrate on the steps of Hope House.
(Right) Natalia Hernandez ’15 raises her hands in excitement as she walks to receive her diploma from President Mark D. Gearan. Hernandez graduated summa cum laude in international relations and Latin American studies.
(Above) Jordan Mueller ’15 embraces a friend after graduating with a degree in environmental science.
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Held in Trinity Church, Baccalaureate allowed for reflection through readings, addresses, prayers and music. Speakers included Aminata Dansoko ’15, Dollian A. Garo ’15, Max R. Feldman ’15, Clara C. Lowenberg ’15 and Chaplain Lesley Adams D.D. ’15 along with musical performances by HWS Chorale and the HWS Gospel Choir.
During Commencement Rehearsal, HWS Trustee Christopher ’84 and Rene Whitney ’83 Welles P’12, P’15 encouraged the Classes of 2015 to never forget their alma maters and emphasized the importance of giving back.
During the William Smith Alumnae Association’s 38th annual welcome, William Smith Dean Catherine Gallouët toasted the seniors before they received pine tree charms and planted their class pine trees on the William Smith Hill. At the ceremony, Assistant Director of Student Activities Jessie L. Marullo-Stamp was announced as an Honorary Class Member.
At the Hobart Alumni Association’s 11th annual Launch, seniors ceremonously dipped a replica of the paddle used by legendary Seneca warrior Agayenta into the waters of Seneca Lake. The event also welcomed HWS Chaplain Lesley Adams D.D. ’15 as an Honorary Class Member.
The President’s Garage Band, including President Mark D. Gearan, faculty and staff members, entertained the Classes of 2015 during a Senior Week performance.
Tamilore Areola ’15 receives a congratulatory handshake from President Mark D. Gearan during the Academic Achievement Awards Ceremony. She was one of 200 seniors who earned Latin praise. Forty students completed honors and 36 are members of Phi Beta Kappa-Zeta of New York.
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PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
Members of the Seneca Society and recent graduates, Augusta “Gussie” Williams ’13 and Michael Barlow ’11, recently gathered in New York City for their annual celebration. Pictured are ( sitting; l-r): Joanne I. Froelich, Makiko Tanaka L.H.D. ’11, Mary Jane Poole P’91, Edith G. Salisbury P’94, Barbara M. Bozzuto, Honorary Trustee L. Thomas Melly, ’52, L.H.D. ’02, James F. Caird ’56, L.H.D. ’12, Kathy Hay Stine P’17, Dorothy L. Rosenberg, Trustee Katherine D. Elliott ’66, L.H.D ’08, Jamie T. Deming, Lyn Cook P’99, P’05; (standing; l-r) Williams, Edward A. Froelich ’55, Takeshi Ueshima, Trustee Allison Morrow ’76, Trustee Thomas B. Poole ’61, P’91, L.H.D. ’06, Cynthia L. Caird L.H.D. ’12, Trustee Thomas S. Bozzuto ’68, Judith H. Melly, President Mark D. Gearan, Honorary Trustee Charles H. Salisbury, Jr. ’63, P’94, L.H.D. ’08, Trustee Craig Stine ’81, P’17, Honorary Trustee Jane F. Napier P’89, Marylouise Napier, Honorary Trustee Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr. ’52, L.H.D. ’02, Richard S. Abramson, Honorary Trustee David H. Deming ’75, Barlow, Honorary Trustee Langdon P. Cook P’99, P’05, L.H.D. ’12.
Seneca Society Welcomes New Members by Margaret Popper
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starlit evening on a terrace in Manhattan served as the setting for the fifth biennial dinner of The Seneca Society, celebrating a group of donors whose gifts have transformed Hobart and William Smith. Established in 2006, The Seneca Society honors the extraordinary philanthropy of donors past and present and recognizes new members at the dinner every other year. A permanent engraving of Seneca Society names is located outside the Scandling Campus Center. At the dinner, President Mark D. Gearan welcomed those gathered, highlighting the newest inductees to The Seneca Society: Trustee Thomas S. ’68 and Barbara Bozzuto and Trustee Craig R. ’81 and Kathy Hay Stine P’17. New Seneca Society Members The Bozzuto Boathouse, dedicated in 2003, was named in honor of Charles Bozzuto, Tom Bozzuto’s father. At its dedication, Tom Bozzuto stated: “My father taught me two very important things: the value of an education … and to always appreciate the water.” On the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary and in honor of her husband’s commitment to education, Barbara Bozzuto established the Thomas S. Bozzuto ’68 Endowed Scholarship Fund. Most recently, the
Bozzutos made a leadership gift in support of the Performing Arts Center. At the Seneca Society dinner, President Gearan praised the Bozzutos for their philanthropic endeavors in their hometown of Baltimore and for their enduring support of the Colleges. At the time the Stines established the Craig R. Stine ’81 Endowed Scholarship Fund in Economics, Craig Stine said: “I have interviewed and worked with many HWS economics undergrads, and I have really enjoyed it. I’ve been blessed, and I want to ease the burden for students. If I can be of help, I want to be.” Recently, the Stine’s gift to support the Performing Arts Center helped trigger the momentum that led to the completion of fundraising. In his remarks at the Seneca Society dinner, President Gearan acknowledged the Stine’s deepening relationship with HWS as parents of Jack, a Hobart junior. Young Alums Show Pride and Thanks Prior to this year’s dinner, two young alums – Michael Barlow ’11 and Augusta “Gussie” Williams ’13 – addressed the group describing the remarkable opportunities they have experienced as a result of their HWS educations. Barlow, from Phoenix, Ariz., earned a prestigious internship at J.P. Morgan that led to a permanent position when he graduated.
He emphasized the way he learned to approach problem solving at the Colleges. “HWS teaches a framework of thinking, an ability to question, to dig deeper, to find out why things are done the way they are. The ability to connect disparate ideas, to think creatively and pragmatically can be applied to literally any occupation or problem in today’s business and social climate,” Barlow stated. Williams, who grew up in Carthage, N.Y., has just completed a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University and is now in the Ph.D. program at the Harvard School of Public Health. She was told by her future Harvard adviser that they liked her application for her diverse academic interests, her extensive research experience and her interdisciplinary education – all things she experienced at Hobart and William Smith. “Whenever I think of Hobart and William Smith, my heart swells and fills with the pride and love I have for my alma mater,” Williams said. President Gearan also shared stories of this year’s graduates who have excelled at the Colleges. He echoed the sentiments of both Williams and Barlow stating: “You – all of you here tonight – have made these stories possible, and many more to come. Thank you for all you do.” ● HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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Protecting Our Region’s Natural Resources
FLI Celebrates 10th Anniversary by Jessie Meyers Moore ’10
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or the past decade, 601 S. Main has been home to the Colleges’ Finger Lakes Institute (FLI), an organization dedicated to the promotion of environmental research and education about the Finger Lakes and surrounding region. “FLI has embodied a clearinghouse attitude,” says John Halfman, professor of environmental John Halfman studies and the first FLI Endowed Chair in Environmental Studies, who co-wrote most of the grants that created 14 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
FLI. “Nutrient loading, invasive species, and industrial wastes are some examples of the more pressing environmental issues that impact these water bodies. These lakes serve as drinking water supplies for the neighboring communities. We must do everything we can to keep them clean. Most importantly, we openly disseminate our accumulating knowledge to regional environmental partners, Lisa Cleckner local government offices and the general public so that everyone benefits from our efforts.” By monitoring the eight easternmost Finger Lakes, Halfman is able to determine why some lakes have better water quality than others and prescribe methods for improving quality. Other FLI initiatives include: • The launch of the Sustainable Community Development Program, which develops innovative and
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cost-effective solutions for pressing environmental issues and serves as the “foundation for municipalities and organizations to pursue funding to address environmental quality and economic development issues,” says FLI Director Lisa Cleckner, Ph.D., MBA. This program, now also offered as a minor at HWS, includes experiential learning opportunities for faculty and students who wish to research and problem-solve community development issues. The completion of a Watershed Management Plan for Seneca Lake, which enables regional municipalities to seek state and federal funding to address nutrient loading that has increased the lake’s turbidity and other water quality challenges. Leveraging HWS scientific expertise on Finger Lakes aquatic resources, including research by Halfman, Associate Professor
of Biology Meghan Brown, Associate Professor of Geoscience Tara Curtin, Director of Introductory Biology Laboratories Susan Flanders Cushman ’98, Assistant Professor of Geoscience David Finkelstein, FLI Director Cleckner, and HWS students. • Hosting the regional home for invasive species management including public education and prevention efforts. • Providing opportunities for inquirybased learning in K-12 schools so students can explore firsthand the important bodies of water in their region. After all, “lakes are a natural laboratory for looking at environmental change over different spatial and time scales,” explains Cleckner. “The Finger Lakes Institute has, in a relatively brief time Senator Michael become an invaluable Nozzolio asset to our region,” says New York State Senator Michael F. Nozzolio L.H.D. ’07 (R-NY), a longtime HWS-supporter who was integral in FLI’s development. “Years ago, when we faced serious concerns with the quality and health of Owasco Lake, the Finger Lakes Institute was there to provide its full support with state-of-the-art technologies and research methods that showed us the way to make significant improvements in the condition of the lake. Armed with the knowledge that the Finger Lakes Institute provided, we were able to work with our local governments to implement a sound environmental plan. While more remains to be done, we have seen tremendous progress in the health of Owasco
“The Finger Lakes Institute has, in a relatively brief time become an invaluable asset to our region.” —New York State Senator Michael F. Nozzolio L.H.D. ’07 (R-NY)
Lake and we owe our debt and gratitude to the dedicated team of researchers at the Finger Lakes Institute.” Such a dynamic undertaking as FLI required significant financial support. Fortunately, HWS received that from Nozzolio and now retired U.S. Congressman James Walsh to get FLI up and running. “Their support of the Finger Lakes Institute was instrumental in its success,” says President Mark D. Gearan, “and we remain grateful for their support of the Institute’s cause over the past decade.” Nozzolio had, in fact, embraced the creation of an environmental clearinghouse while he was a graduate student in agricultural and resource economics at Cornell University. When he partnered with Gearan in 2003 to create FLI, their vision was simple: to establish an institute that would provide our region’s policy makers,
educators, residents and students with the tools that would allow them to protect and enhance the Finger Lakes. Before FLI came to fruition, though, 601 S. Main wasn’t using renewable energy at all. It was actually in such terrible shape that the building was condemned. In its disrepair, however, HWS saw enormous potential to create an eco-friendly structure. Laurelled in 2009 with an EPA ENERGY STAR Small Business Award for its energy efficiency, FLI prides itself on using energy management improvements that reduce waste and pollution through the use of solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling, and erosionpreventing landscaping, among many other initiatives. FLI continues to be mindful of its carbon footprint, looking to sustainable infrastructure and innovative programs to support clean, safe water. “We all need to look at the impacts of economic development on our water resources and consider how much energy is used to make clean water for drinking and to treat polluted water. Ultimately, we need to safeguard our water as it is a unique and valuable asset,” Cleckner says. ●
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Yellen Honored with Blackwell Award
PHOTO BY STEVE BARRETT
by Andrew Wickenden ’09
Dr. Janet L. Yellen, the first woman chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, (front center) is applauded after receiving the Blackwell Award, named for Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive the Doctor of Medicine degree in the U.S. Yellen is joined by HWS Trustee Dr. Richard L. Wasserman ’70 (left), Board Chair Maureen Collins Zupan ’72, P’09 and President Mark D. Gearan. In conferring the Elizabeth Blackwell Award to Yellen, Zupan said: “Janet Yellen is proving that no economic recession can restrain the power of the American spirit, and that when given the right economic conditions, all people can lead fulfilled, productive lives of consequence.”
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obart and William Smith Colleges presented Dr. Janet L. Yellen, the first woman chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, with the prestigious Elizabeth Blackwell Award in January. Named for Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in modern times to receive the Doctor of Medicine degree, the Blackwell Award is given to women whose lives exemplify outstanding service to humankind. Blackwell earned her degree in 1849 from Geneva Medical College, a precursor of Hobart College. “It’s doubly an honor to find myself associated with the individuals who have received the Blackwell Award before today,” Yellen said before an audience of HWS trustees, students, faculty, staff, alums and friends of the Colleges during a ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. 16 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
“I am very grateful to be here, but especially grateful that Hobart and William Smith have used this award since 1958 to celebrate the service and historic achievements of these 39 women. I can’t think of a more fitting tribute to Elizabeth Blackwell. I want to thank you. This is a tremendous honor.” Yellen is the 40th recipient, joining the dozens of other women who have achieved at the highest levels and broken down barriers across their respective fields and pursuits. HWS confers the award whenever a candidate of appropriate qualifications is identified. Other recipients include creator of the Special Olympics Eunice Kennedy Shriver; former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright; Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai P’94, P’96, Sc.D.’94. “Dr. Blackwell was, fundamentally, a
public servant, an individual who devoted her life to easing the suffering of the sick and infirmed, and to improving the health and wellness of all people,” said President Mark D. Gearan during his welcome address. “Tonight, we celebrate another public servant who, like Dr. Blackwell, is a trailblazer and pioneer.” Also at the ceremony and sharing remarks was Dr. John E. Yellen ‘64, brother of Janet, program director for archaeology at the National Science Foundation, and research associate at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. “I am proud to call myself an alumnus and proud that Hobart and William Smith have chosen to honor my sister in this way,” said John Yellen. “…one thing that education can do is to provide an increased selfunderstanding of ‘decency’ by setting it into a broader historical and intellectual context... And in this context I think it very appropriate that Janet receive the Elizabeth Blackwell Award. Physicians by their very calling are decent people and I think that’s an essential characteristic of Janet as well. It’s clear that decency is at Janet’s core and constitutes one of her guiding principles. So I think that the Blackwell Award is particularly appropriate.” An expert on economic policy and macroeconomics specializing in the causes, mechanisms and implications of unemployment, Yellen also serves as chair of the Federal Open Market Committee. Responsible for a balance sheet of more than $4 trillion at the Federal Reserve, Yellen was named by Forbes in 2014 as the world’s second most powerful woman and sixth most powerful person. For the past three years, Bloomberg Markets magazine has named Yellen to its 50 Most Influential list, citing individuals who have “the ability to move markets or shape ideas and policies.” “There has been a gradual, but significant increase in the share of women in economics, but women still remain underrepresented at the highest levels in academia and government, and business,” Janet Yellen said during her remarks. “I hope and will do all that I can to ensure that over time that changes.” ●
Campus Dialogue H
obart and William Smith sponsor a variety of opportunities for students to interact with national and international figures, engaging the leading thinkers of the day in thought-provoking conversations about everything from politics and world events to career opportunities. Below is a partial list of some of the speakers who visited campus during the 2014-2015 academic year: Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, senior adviser for Secretary’s Initiatives in the Office of the Secretary under John Kerry, engaged in conversation on leadership, public service and her career as a diplomat as part of the President’s Forum Series. Norwegian Institute Professor Morten Bøås discussed strategies used by Islamist groups, such as al-Qaeda, in the Islamic Maghreb and Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa. Turkish Sufi musician Latif Bolat spoke about Islam and Turkish Sufi practices in relation to Turkish music.
As part of the Calvin R. Carver Sr. Lecture Series, Kevin KEVIN BREEL Breel, a stand-up comic and mental health activist, presented on mental health and how to overcome associated stigmas. Susan Brison expert on sexual violence and professor and chair of the Philosophy Department at Dartmouth College, gave a lecture, “Ending Rape Culture: A Survivor’s Perspective,” as part of the President’s Forum Series. Hosted by the Professionals in Residence series, founder and president of 2adpro Media Solutions Todd Brownrout ’84 discussed careers in media and advertising. Sabrina Butler and Kirk Bloodsworth, Death Row exonerees, gave firsthand accounts detailing their wrongful convictions, racial inequalities within the justice
system, and the struggles and injustices they continue to face.
WAVELENGTHS
President’s Forum Series with his speech, “Women and Men in a New Millennium.”
David Crane, professor of practice at Syracuse University School of Law, kicked off the first lecture of the Human Rights and Genocide Symposium with a talk focused on international law, questions of universal jurisdiction and justice.
In commemoration of Constitution Day, Sidney M. Milkis, the White Burkett Miller Professor of the Department of Politics and Faculty Associate at the ATSUSHI FUNAHASHI Miller Center, gave the speech “Lyndon Johnson, the Civil Walter Cruz ’11, freelance artist, Rights Movement, and the Living Constitution.” entrepreneur, and co-creator of Superego Clothiers, spoke about combining the arts with activism. Sponsored by the Political Science Department, Susan Brind Morrow, author of Wolves and Honey: Steve Curwood, host and A Hidden History of the Natural World, spoke about executive producer of her work. Living on Earth, Public Radio International’s environmental Robyn Ochs, gender equality activist and editor of news broadcast, gave a talk the anthology Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around on “Meeting the Challenge of the World, led a workshop on “choosing Communicating Sustainablity to label.” and Climate Change.” George Ellenbogen read from his recently published memoir WALTER CRUZ ’11 about the Jewish Montreal ghetto of his childhood, A Stone in my Shoe: In Search of Neighborhood. As part of the HWS Biology Seminar Series, Dr. Lauren Emberson of the University of Rochester’s Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department conducted a colloquium on her research which examines neural activity in perceptual cortices of infants.
As the keynote speaker for the International Round Robin Debate Tournament, Sophie Richardson, author and scholar on domestic Chinese political reform, democratization, and human rights, spoke on “Promoting Human Rights from the Inside and Out.”
Sponsored by the Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men speaker series, Andrew Ross, social activist and professor of ELLEN GINSBERG P’15 social and cultural analysis at New Atsushi Funahashi, the award-winning filmmaker York University presented on “Debt of Nuclear Nation spoke with a guest panel Resistance in a Creditocracy.” that included University of Hawaii-Hilo Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Sponsored by the HWS Global Initiative on Science Sasha Davis and Colgate University Disability, author, speaker and autism advocate Associate Professor of Geography and Asian Jesse Saperstein ’04 gave a lecture about the Studies Dai Yamamoto. strength of individuals on the autism spectrum, as well as the importance of inclusion. HWS welcomed Ellen Ginsberg P’15 as guest of the Professionals in Residence series to discuss her career Carlos Villacorta, assistant professor of Spanish as vice president, general counsel and secretary of the at the University of Maine, conducted a bilingual Nuclear Energy Institute. presentation, reading an excerpt of his novel Alicia, esto es el capitalism. Sponsored by the Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men, Janet Halley, Royall Professor Eric Weaver, retired sergeant with the Rochester of Law at Harvard Law School, discussed sexual NYPD, shared his personal story regarding mental misconduct policies. illnesses within the community, aiming to reduce stigmas. Lisa Hostetler, George Eastman House Curator of Photography, spoke about the history of the As part of the TRIAS Writer-in-Residence series, photography collection at the Eastman House. award-winning Kristine Johanson, faculty member of the University Cuban writer of Amsterdam and a Shakespearean expert, gave a Mirta Yáñez read talk titled “Refusing Melancholy: Occasio as Mediator from her works. of Emotion in Shakespeare Drama.” Nancy L. Zimpher, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, legal chancellor of the strategist, financial attorney, and wife State University of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, of New York, gave joined the President’s Forum Series a President’s reflecting on governmental gridlock Forum talk titled, and bipartisanship. “Early Lessons in Achieving Michael Kimmel, professor of Collective Impact sociology and gender studies at Stony in Education.” ● Brook University, participated in the NANCY L. ZIMPHER
HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES SABRINA BUTLER
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Performing Arts Center Takes Shape
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ince the groundbreaking of the new Performing Arts Center in April 2014, the HWS community has watched across the changing of seasons while the 65,000-square-foot building takes shape and surpasses the halfway mark to completion. Inside, a light-filled, open lobby will link three flexible performance and rehearsal spaces designed specifically for theatre, music and dance, while the third floor will include
a rooftop terrace garden. Adaptable seating will allow for the creation of spaces that can be changed to accommodate multiple types of productions and audience sizes. The building will also include 18 faculty offices, practice and recital rooms, and a film screening room. The Performing Arts project is the largest ever undertaken at the Colleges. Despite the complexity, the speed of construction has remained on track. When completed
Since the April 2014 groundbreaking ceremony, contractors have made rapid progress in the construction of the 65,000-square-foot facility that will become the heart of HWS dance, theatre, music, and film endeavors.
PHOTO BY GREG SEARLES ’13
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in January 2016, the new Performing Arts Center will anchor the center of campus. To uphold the Colleges’ commitment to sustainability and in an effort to reduce the environmental impact, the design and construction teams have ensured that the project achieves LEED Silver Certification or better. ● Keep up-to-date on progress by visiting: www.hwsperformingarts.org
WAVELENGTHS
New Entrepreneurial Studies Minor by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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his fall, a new academic minor in Entrepreneurial Studies will be launched to further expand the atmosphere of innovation and leadership learning already flourishing at the Colleges. “Entrepreneurship always appealed to me as a way to help students figure out how to change the world,” says Professor of Economics Tom Drennen, who will serve as chair of the new program. “We want to give students the confidence to think outside the box, to generate transformative ideas and have the skills to put them into action. This
past semester a student came to me with a great idea for a desalination system to provide clean, fresh water to countries where it isn’t readily available. This new academic program will empower students who have these great ideas with the tools they need to make these dreams come alive.” By leveraging the analytical and critical thinking skills of a liberal arts education, the Entrepreneurial Studies curriculum will provide students with the conceptual understanding, practical skills and ethical structure necessary for business or civic leadership. The Entrepreneurial Studies curriculum will develop students as leaders for the 21st century, as powerful agents of change within existing organizations, and as global citizens capable of creating new nonprofit or for-profit enterprises. With the introductory course “Leadership” available for students this fall, the new minor is set to graduate its first cohort in 2018. Students will take three required courses, at least one ethics class, and two electives from two different departments. Finally, through the capstone project, students will develop and possibly launch a product, service, or organization (for-profit or nonprofit). “Importantly, the new minor will integrate existing programming at the Centennial Center for Leadership with the academic curriculum,” explains Drennen. “The popularity and impact of Centennial Center programs like The Pitch competition and the IdeaLab have proven that there’s a
demand on the part of students to participate in Entrepreneurial Studies and the interest of faculty and alums to assist.” Drennen and others are working now to develop three areas of vital growth to the new minor: space (Drennen envisions an incubator space in Geneva’s downtown district where students can collaborate, create and consult), programmatic support and mentor participation from HWS graduates, parents, and trustees. The Fund for Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiatives, established through the Scandling Trust (see page 20), will enable the Colleges to further their strategic focus on entrepreneurial leadership programming. It will also fund the creation of a suite of co-curricular programs alongside the Entrepreneurial Studies minor that value exploration, risk, collaboration and innovation, and that prepare students for careers in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. “This academic program is an important addition to the Colleges’ innovative leadership and entrepreneurship curriculum,” says Provost and Dean of Faculty Dr. Titilayo Ufomata. “It sets our graduates apart, not only as leaders but as leaders who can approach challenging issues with creativity and insight. We hope that the passion our
faculty, students, staff and alums have brought to the Centennial Center for Leadership programming will be strengthened by the enthusiasm and support of our entire academic community.” ●
Students enrolled in the Entrepreneurial Studies minor will: • Develop knowledge of multiple genres of entrepreneurship • Develop and demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical foundation necessary for entrepreneurial leadership across multiple disciplines • Develop and demonstrate ethical decision making skills • Understand the challenges in the social, economic and global environment and demonstrate entrepreneurial leadership skills to address those challenges • Demonstrate the ability to construct a basic strategic plan for a product, service or organization • Learn and demonstrate communication skills through public presentations and other opportunities • Develop basic competencies in accounting, statistical analysis and Excel
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Inspiring others to invest in HWS
Inspiring Alums to Help the Colleges Educate the Next Generation by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
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ongtime Hobart and William Smith Trustee Katherine D. Elliott ’66, L.H.D. ’08 recalls the years she served on the Board alongside William F. Scandling ’49, L.H.D. ’67 as “an inspiration.” “He was very forthright,” Elliott says. “Whenever we’d be in discussion, talking in circles, he’d bring us back to the heart of the matter: educating young people. It was wonderful to have him stand up and focus us back on why we were there.” In pledging her support of the Colleges, she has funded two Scandling Trust gifts, one adding to an existing scholarship in her grandfather’s name, Lewis H. Elliott, from the class of 1898. The other is a newly established endowed internship fund in her father’s name, the late William Elliott. “The major attraction was the opportunity for students to get a stipend at least once during their career at HWS to participate in an internship or research project,” Elliott says. “I never had an internship, but it would’ve been extremely helpful to have that experience. It’s wonderful that we can have students testing what they want to do in this way.” Elliott’s participation in the Scandling Trust will build on her family’s history of engagement with the Colleges. A donation from William Elliott, who served as an HWS trustee, supported the construction of the William Elliott Varsity House. The scholarship he endowed in memory of his father, Lewis H. Elliott, has provided
“If these gifts help fund a summer project, or an opportunity to intern or study abroad, especially for athletes and science students, many of whom cannot commit to a full semester off-campus, it could make a world of difference.” —Katherine D. Elliott ’66, L.H.D. ’08
more than 80 awards to students. Now this scholarship, bolstered by Elliott’s gift to the Scandling Trust, will support even more Hobart and William Smith students in their academic pursuits, in Geneva and abroad. “Traveling and experiencing other cultures is very important and probably gets more important in the times that we’re living,” she says. “If these gifts help fund a
summer project, or an opportunity to intern or study abroad, especially for athletes and science students, many of whom cannot commit to a full semester off-campus, it could make a world of difference.” In 2005, Elliott made the lead gift to finance the Katherine D. Elliott ’66 Studio Arts Building on the Houghton House grounds. At the time, she had the distinction of having made the largest personal donation to the Colleges by a William Smith alumna. Opened in August 2006, the transformative project provides 14,600-square-feet of space for classrooms and offices as well as studios for painting and photography, and shops for printing, wood and metal. Throughout her years of dedicated support of the Colleges, Elliott says it has been “the people I get to work with, the staff and trustees and students, who have made it fun. It’s a very energetic group of people and we have really been able to put the campus needs that hadn’t been addressed to the forefront. We’ve been able to raise money to do some of the building that are really transforming the place.” As her 50th Reunion approaches, Elliott is focused on building support for the Colleges. “The strength of any institution lies within its alumni and alumnae. We’re the Colleges’ strongest support, loudest voice and most powerful ally. It’s up to us.” ●
Internships: Test-Driving a Career by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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hen Dan Kortick ’89 graduated from Hobart College with a B.A. in economics, he went immediately into a training program at Fleet Bank, which rotated him through the bank’s various departments. Today, he says, internships are beginning to replace such traditional training programs, providing early experience and focused career preparation. “I had no experience,” he says of those early days. “I spent the first two years essentially doing internships in different parts of the bank. It was a good test-drive for both sides — for me, to see whether I liked working in that segment, and for managers, to see if I was a good fit.” Now, as a managing partner at Wicks Group, a private equity firm based in New York City, Kortick is involved in all of the Group’s investment and management activities and serves on the Board of Directors of its operating companies. Through the Scandling Trust, Kortick has pledged his support by making a gift of an Annual Fund Intern. “The opportunity for students to get ‘real life’ experience outside the classroom is extremely beneficial to help formulate what they want to do once their college experience is over,” Kortick says. “It allows students to be better candidates … and it helps from the employer side to have candidates with relevant experience.” Prior to joining the Wicks Group in 2000, Kortick spent 11 years in various capacities at Fleet Bank and BankBoston, earning his MBA in Finance from Bryant University. He previously served as director in the Media and Communications Group of BankBoston, working with clients on financing mergers and acquisitions within several media segments, including broadcasting, publishing, cable and entertainment. Earlier, Kortick worked in the loan work-out and asset-based lending groups at Fleet. He currently serves in different capacities in many educational, community and charitable organizations, and is a steadfast supporter of his alma mater. Looking back on his time at Hobart and William Smith, Kortick recalls a particular
“...The expansive course offerings of the Colleges, the ability to experiment in all these other fields, the ability to do internships to get a specific view of professional responsibility — it rounds out the educational process.” —Dan Kortick ’89 essay, though less for the essay itself than the lesson he learned because of it. “It used to be that we didn’t need a certain number of credits to graduate,” he says. “The primary achievement you had to accomplish before you could graduate was the Baccalaureate Essay. You had to pick a topic and argue it from two different perspectives, and have it approved by a faculty specialist in one of those areas and by a generalist. There was so much focus on the bi-disciplinary point of view that it forced me and my classmates to look at everything from different perspectives.” Today, Kortick says, HWS continues to offer that “broad-based liberal arts education, which I believe is very valuable. The expansive course offerings of the Colleges, the ability to experiment in all these other fields, the ability to do internships to get a specific view of professional responsibility — it rounds out the educational process.” ●
The Scandling Trust Katherine D. Elliott’s ’66 and Dan Kortick’s ’89 investments capitalize on a 24-month initiative called The Scandling Trust, which leverages the final gift of William F. Scandling ’49, L.H.D. ’67 to the Colleges to encourage the support of others in three areas: endowed internships, endowed scholarships, and entrepreneurial leadership initiatives. Their gifts will help ensure that every student of good academic and social standing who successfully completes the Pathways Program will be guaranteed at least one internship or research opportunity during his or her college career. Internships and research opportunities are often unpaid, and Elliott’s and Kortick’s support reinforces the Colleges’ goal to give each student with an unpaid internship a stipend to help defray costs, ensuring that HWS students do not have to choose between present limitations and their future success. Other gifts will make manifest the Colleges’ responsibility to ensure that students’ future choices are not unduly driven by the management of education debt. To ensure that an HWS education remains a viable option for bright and deserving students, The Scandling Trust will raise $10 million for scholarships and $10 million for internship support, providing more students with the resources they need to attend Hobart and William Smith and to take advantage of the opportunity offered. Through popular initiatives like the Stu Lieblein ’90 Pitch Contest, the HWS IdeaLab, the Leadership Institute, Leadersin-Residence and the new Entrepreneurial Studies program (see page 19), students are encouraged to leverage their ideas into products, social movements and creative projects. In cooperation with these developments and in recognition of the important role the Colleges play in preparing students for the future, Hobart and William Smith are now placing a strategic focus on entrepreneurial leadership programming. Through the Scandling Trust, the Colleges will develop academic programs and learning environments, and support collaboration and innovation to foster creative and critically-thinking future leaders. For more information on making a gift to the Colleges in support of The Scandling Trust initiative, please contact: Leila Rice Associate Vice President for Advancement rice@hws.edu | (315) 781-3545
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Members of the Classes of 1975 and 1974 gather for a photo before the annual Forum on the Quad.
Drawing Hobart and William Smith alums from all corners of the globe, nearly 1,000 returned to the shores of Seneca Lake for Reunion 2015. Under bright sunshine and in the company of old and new friends, alums from milestone class years ending in 0 and 5 as well as those celebrating their 50th PLUS Reunion from the Classes of 1936-1964 converged on campus for a weekend of excitement and reminiscing.
June 5-7, 2015
From Performing Arts Center tours to Mini College classes and the always popular Quad Party, alums had the opportunity to choose from an impressive lineup of events that allowed them to reflect on their time as students and get a glimpse of the new developments on campus since their last visit. ●
At the HWS Classic Golf Tournament, actor Christopher McDonald ’77, L.H.D. ’13 (third from left) strikes a “Shooter” pose made popular by Shooter McGavin, the character McDonald played in the hit movie Happy Gilmore.
Members of the William Smith Class of 1985 gather for a photo before the start of the annual Alums on Parade.
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Alums who participated in the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Program pose for a photo with Director of Academic Opportunity Programs James Burruto (left) and Assistant Director of Academic Opportunity Programs Edith Wormley (second from right).
Christie Palmer Lowrance ’65, of Sandwich, Mass., autographs her book, Nature’s Ambassador: The Legacy of Thornton W. Burgess.
Lorie Hall Strait ’65, of Paris, France, Susan Fisher Curtis ’65, of Novelty, Ohio, and Dagne Samuelson Sollid ’65, of Los Alamos, N.M., pose for a photo at their 50th Reunion.
Children enjoy fun with balloons on the Quad as part of the Family Festival. Crafts, games, face painting, hair braiding and other activities were enjoyed by some of Reunion’s youngest attendees.
WAVELENGTHS
Alums and their families gather on Smith Green for Friday night barbecue and food truck dining.
Bena Lee Burrows Silber ’65, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Ed Berkel enjoy the renowned Eddie DeWitt Jazz Orchestra with Steve Venuti ’71.
Alums on the Quad during Saturday’s Family Fest.
Alums pose at the photo booth during the Reunion 2015 Quad Party on Saturday night.
HWS Board Chair Maureen Collins Zupan ’72, P’09, addresses alums and other members of the HWS community during the 25th Anniversary of The Wheeler Society celebration held in the atrium of the Melly Academic Center at the Warren Hunting Smith Library.
John Y. Terauchi ’55, of Tokyo, and Robert L. Kay ’55, of Rockville, Md., pose for a photo. Terauchi and Kay returned for this year’s milestone 50th Plus Reunion celebration.
Fireworks illuminate the sky above campus as alums, families and friends gather to enjoy the display during Reunion 2015.
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Justice Fisher Receives Highest Honor by Steven Bodnar
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uring Reunion 2015, The Hon. Shireen Avis Fisher ’70, Justice of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone, was awarded the highest and most prestigious honor bestowed by the William Smith Alumnae Association: the Alumna Achievement Award. “This is an extreme honor for me,” Fisher said during the ceremony. “It is so important to me because it’s being bestowed to me by my alma mater, William Smith, which is, and has been, my spiritual home. It is the place that over four years, I went from being an adolescent to a grown up.” As Justice of the Residual Special Court, Fisher presided over the appeal of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, the first sitting Head of State to be charged in an International Court with violation of international criminal law. She affirmed his conviction for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity committed by rebels during Sierra Leone’s civil war. “For her willingness to face humanity’s most atrocious crimes, for her dedication to seeking justice for those whose voices have been silenced through violence and war, and for her innate integrity and keen intelligence that have shaped international law, we honor Justice Fisher today,” said President of the William Smith Alumnae Association Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk ’98, who with President Mark D. Gearan presented the award. During her reflections, Fisher said the Colleges were the spring board for the rest of her life. “To receive this honor from a school that means so much to me is deeply, deeply humbling,” Fisher said. “On the journey I have taken, I have held William Smith closely in my heart. It is where I received the goals and the values and the humanity, which have helped me through my life journey.” She also thanked the Colleges for being the place where she connected with her husband, Gregg Fisher ’70. Justice Fisher will return to Hobart and William Smith on Sept. 21, 2015 as a President’s Forum speaker, when she will lead 24 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
The Honorable Shireen Avis Fisher ’70 offers remarks after receiving the Alumna Achievement Award, given to an alumna who by reason of her outstanding accomplishments in her particular business, profession or for community service has brought great honor and distinction to her alma mater.
“The fight against impunity must be made even though it is an endless one; even though it does not prevent wars or war crimes or crimes against humanity, we cannot sit by and do nothing.” —The Hon. Shireen Avis Fisher ’70 a campus discussion about internatinal law and international criminal law. “The fight against impunity must be made even though it is an endless one; even though it does not prevent wars or war crimes or crimes against humanity, we cannot sit by and do nothing,” Fisher said. During her career, Fisher served as an Appeals Judge at the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2009 through 2013, and as its president in 2012 and 2013. Following her appeal of the conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, she wrote a concurring opinion which has been credited with clarifying the essential elements of aiding and abetting liability in international criminal law. Fisher served previously as an International Judge of the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where from 2005 through 2008
she adjudicated cases involving allegations of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide arising out of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Between 2008 and 2009 she served as a Commissioner on the Kosovo Independent Judicial and Prosecutorial Commission. Called to the State and Federal Bar in 1976, Fisher was appointed to the Bench of the U.S. State of Vermont in 1986. She represented the International Association of Women Judges from 2002 through 2012 and was as an independent expert to the Hague Conference on Private International Law, participating in Special Sessions for the drafting and review of Hague Treaties on international family law. Fisher received a B.A. from William Smith, J.D. from the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, and LLM in International Human Rights Law from University College London. In December 2014 she was awarded a Ph.D. in International Law from University College London. She is the 2014 recipient of the Global Justice of the Year Award, presented by Northwestern University School of Law’s Center for International Human Rights. ●
Hobart Football | ca.1936
ATHLETICS
Hobart’s NFL King An AP All-American running back, Fred King ’37 (pictured above) is the most recent Statesman to play in the National Football League, appearing in one game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1937. A 1987 inductee of the Hobart Hall of Fame, King is expected to lose the distinction when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers look to open the 2015 season with Ali Marpet ’15 on the roster.
Marpet ’15 Makes Histor y 26 Buckley ’15 Receives Wooden Citizenship Cup
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Marpet ’15 Makes History
PHOTOS BY KEVIN COLTON
by Ken DeBolt
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Offensive tackle Ali Marpet ’15 and his classmates led the Hobart football team to a 41-5 record over the past four seasons, losing just one regular season game. The native of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., didn’t allow a sack during his senior season for a line that ranked sixth in the nation in fewest sacks allowed. Marpet was taken with the 61st overall pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 NFL Draft, the earliest a Division III student-athlete has ever been chosen.
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ccording to any offensive lineman, was the NCAA, the second in the three-cone probability of a drill and shuttle run, and student making the was fifth in bench press. jump from high school to Buccaneers’ Head college football is just 6.5 Coach Lovie Smith isn’t percent and the chances concerned about how of going from college to Marpet will handle the the NFL are a mere 1.6 transition from DIII to the percent. Don’t tell that to NFL: “…the Senior Bowl is Hobart’s Ali Marpet ’15. good. You bring everybody The 6-foot-4, together and you see how 307-pound Statesman some of the small college made history on May 1 players, how they can becoming the highest handle playing against the Division III student ever big boys and Ali did a great drafted in the NFL. Marpet, job with that.” an All-American offensive Marpet has been The 6-foot-4, 307-pound lineman, was selected in featured on the NFL Statesman didn’t allow a single the second round with the Network, ESPN and CBS sack as a starter at left tackle. 61st pick by the Tampa Sports Network, national In June, the NFL rookie signed Bay Buccaneers. In June, publications like Sports a four-year contract with Tampa the rookie guard signed a Illustrated and USA Today as Bay. The Buccaneers have moved four-year contract with the well as newspapers in every Marpet to guard and expect him team. NFL market. to compete for a starting job this “It’s a huge honor,” During his senior season season. Marpet said after his at Hobart, Marpet led first day at Buccaneers one of the most effective minicamp in May. “The offensive lines in the nation reality is there are a lot of and didn’t allow a sack for Division III players that want to play on so it’s a a line that ranked sixth in the nation in fewest huge opportunity. It’s hard not to wake up and sacks allowed (0.69/g). Marpet was named feel grateful, so every rep that I’m going to get, to the AFCA and D3football.com All-America I’m going to make count.” first teams and earned a spot on the AP Little According to D3football.com, Marpet is the All-America second team. The three-time first first Division III student drafted since 2012 and team All-Liberty League selection also garnered the first Division III offensive lineman drafted a share of the 2014 Liberty League Offensive since 1996. Player of the Year award, the first offensive “I think Ali has done a great job throughout lineman to be so honored. his career, developing into a great young man Over the past four seasons, Marpet and with superb character and athletic ability,” his classmates led Hobart football to a 41-5 Hobart Head Coach Mike Cragg P’12 says. “He record, the most wins for a graduating class in has worked harder every single year. The fact program history. Marpet helped the Statesmen that he’s the highest Division III draft pick ever capture four Liberty League Championships says a lot about what, not only the Buccaneers and appear in four NCAA Division III Football thought of him, but what a lot of other NFL Championships, reaching the quarterfinals in teams thought as well. He’s going to do a great 2012 and 2014. job.” Off the field, Marpet has impressed as One of the top stories of this year’s draft, well. Hobart Dean Eugen Baer P’95, P’97 told Marpet shot up draft boards with an eyethe NFL Network, “He has this balance which opening performance at the Reese’s Senior is so incredible, producing a sync between Bowl in January and an elite performance at physical fitness and mental excellence. the NFL Scouting Combine a month later. The That’s Ali. That’s what he aspired towards, to only Division III student invited to either event, graduate from Hobart College with a degree in he showcased his versatility and athleticism economics, a minor in philosophy, and a minor by playing tackle, guard and center for a North in public policy. That’s him. And then there is squad that rushed for 186 yards in a 34-13 the football. Wow!” ● win. At the Combine, he ran the fastest 40 of
NFL
Top to bottom: Marpet ’15 began his rise up NFL draft charts by turning heads at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, the nation’s most elite all-star game. Marpet ’15 runs through drills during Hobart’s Pro-Day for NFL coaches and scouts. Marpet ’15 addresses media, both local, regional and national, following Pro-Day in March.
THE STATESMEN AND THE NFL
Pro-football-reference.com lists two previous Statesmen as NFL draftees. Vic Maitland ’44 was the first, going to the New York Giants in the fifth round in 1944. Bob Williamson ’48 was the most recent, selected in the sixth round by the Detroit Lions in 1948. Neither man played in an NFL game. If Marpet plays in the NFL, he would join an elite Hobart fraternity. According to pro-footballreference.com, only four Statesmen have ever played in the NFL and none since Fred King ’37 who appeared in one game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1937.
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Spring 2015 Updates HOBART ATHLETICS: At the annual Block H Awards Dinner, football’s Tyre Coleman ’15 and rowing’s Robert McNamara ’15 shared the Francis L. “Babe” Kraus ’24 Award as the most outstanding senior athletes.
PHOTO BY PAIGE MULLIN
WILLIAM SMITH ATHLETICS: Soccer’s Madeline Buckley ’15 was presented with the Winn-Seeley Award as the top senior athlete at the William Smith Athletics Awards Banquet.
Four-year member of the Heron soccer team Madeline Buckley ’15 (second from right) was named the 2015 collegiate recipient of the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup presented by Athletes for a Better World. Also pictured is (l-r) Vincent Dooley, longtime former head football coach and athletic director at the University of Georgia; Shannon Miller, the professional recipient of the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup and most decorated gymnast in U.S. history; and Fred Northup, founder of Athletes for a Better World.
Buckley ’15 Receives Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup by Paige Mullin
“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.”
–John Wooden, Basketball Coaching Legend
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n her four years at William Smith, this year’s collegiate recipient of the 2015 Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup has found numerous opportunities to show how much she cares, and her gestures – large and small – throughout the Geneva community have made a difference in a number of lives. In April, Madeline Buckley ’15 was selected as the only student in the nation to receive the 2015 Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup presented by Athletes for a Better World. The award, which honors the memory of John Wooden, famed UCLA men’s basketball coach and teacher, is presented annually to one intercollegiate and one professional athlete nationwide and across all divisions, who best display character, teamwork and citizenship, the attributes Athletes for a Better World deems central to transforming individuals, sports and society. As this year’s collegiate recipient, Buckley will receive a $2,000 scholarship for the William Smith Athletics Department each year for four years. With the funds, the department will establish an annual award in Buckley’s name to be given to a student who displays character, team work and citizenship. Buckley also received $1,000 to be donated to the charity of her choice, the B+ Foundation. Since high school, Buckley has raised more than $4,000 for the foundation. A four-year forward on the Heron soccer team, Buckley garnered a number of athletic accolades. She was named 2014-15 Liberty League Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Liberty League Offensive Player of the Year, and an NSCAA AllAmerican. Buckley earned All-East Region honors and was a three-time All-Liberty League selection. She helped the Herons to four straight Liberty League regular season and tournament titles and
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four trips to the NCAA tournament, including the 2013 national championship. The critical social studies major and an education minor is a threetime Liberty League All-Academic honoree, a Dean’s List student and a two-time CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District first team selection. This fall, she heads to Wheelock College in Boston, Mass., to earn a master’s degree in child life and family studies. Off the field, Buckley has logged countless hours of community service. She was the William Smith soccer’s team ambassador with Team IMPACT, a non-profit organization that works to improve the quality of life for children facing lifethreatening illness. As a result, Courtney Wagner ’19, a high school student from Canandaigua, N.Y., joined the Heron soccer team in the spring of 2012, traveling with the team to the 2013 national championship. Buckley served as a volunteer at Golisano Children’s Hospital in the summer of 2014. She was a member of the HWS Leads Certificate Program and graduated with a certificate of leadership. Buckley also worked tirelessly for the Youth Leadership College which involves more than 30 HWS students working with elementary school students in the Geneva community. She dedicated a great deal of her time to Geneva Heroes, an eight-week service and leadership program for 40-45 local middle and high school students created and run by HWS students. The leaders and students work on team-building, leadership skills and service activities every Saturday of the spring semester. Buckley was also a three-year member of the William Smith Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as the Heron Society Board of Directors Student Representative. “Though her achievements on the soccer field are remarkable, it is her conscientious and consistent advocacy and involvement of local youth that will invoke the ideals of Maddy’s legacy after she graduates in May,” says Katie Flowers, director of the HWS Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning. ●
HOBART ROWING: The Statesmen continue to dominate the Liberty League, capturing their 10th consecutive conference crown. At the ECAC NIRC, the Statesmen second varsity eight won gold while the varsity eight and third varsity eight both earned silver. At the IRA National Championships in May, Hobart’s varsity eight finished 16th out of 24 boats, the highest finish by a varsity eight at the National Championships. WILLIAM SMITH ROWING: The Herons won the varsity eight and second varsity eight races at the Liberty League Championships to claim the program’s fifth straight and eighth overall conference title. At States, the Herons earned a silver (novice eight) and bronze (second varsity eight) and wrapped up the spring with the varsity four earning gold at the ECAC NIRC. HWS SAILING: The Colleges qualified for the ICSA Women’s National Championship in May and the ICSA Dinghy National Championship in June. William Smith finished fifth at the MAISA Women’s Championship, earning the program’s 15th trip to nationals since 1999. Two weeks later, HWS grabbed the final MAISA bid to nationals with a ninth place finish at the America Trophy. The Herons finished 10th of 14 teams in the Eastern Semifinals while the Colleges finished 10th of 18 teams in the Gill Coed National Semifinals. HOBART LACROSSE (7-7, 4-2 NEC): The Statesmen posted their best record since 2009 and finished second in the Northeast Conference, opening league play with three straight 7-6 overtime wins. Alex Love ’15 surpassed Daryl Veltman ’08 to become Hobart’s most prolific Division I goal scorer, finishing his career with 129 tallies. WILLIAM SMITH LACROSSE (7-9, 5-4 LL): Head Coach Brighde Dougherty ’04 announced she would step down on June 12 to pursue a career as an adventure therapist. The Herons finished tied for fourth in the Liberty League, but missed a spot in the conference tournament due to tiebreakers. However, William Smith sent Dougherty out with a win, topping Rensselaer 15-8 in the season finale. HOBART HOCKEY (21-7-0, 12-3-0 ECACW): Led by All-American Brad McBride ’15, the Statesmen tied the program record for wins in a season, captured the ECAC West regular season and tournament championships and returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009. HOBART GOLF: Eric Mills ’15 competed as an individual in the Liberty League Championship, tying for 19th place at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester.
For up-to-the minute results and scores, visit www.HWSAthletics.com
Atop Demarest | ca.1972
FEATURE
A View from Above Edward J. Soltz ’72, a history major and member of the varsity lacrosse team, enjoys the view from above as he sits atop the entrance to Demarest Hall overlooking the Quad. At the time, Demarest Hall housed the Colleges’ library. Today, Demarest is home to the religious studies, philosophy, English and comparative literature departments.
The Stakeholders
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Including: – John Ho g an ’88 – Aileen Diviney Gleason ’85 – Alan Kalter ’64 – Lakisha Williams ’96 – Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk ’98 – Amy Dreher ’93
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THE STAKEHOLDERS
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FEATURE
How 29 alums stay connected to HWS*
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ast year, Hobart and William Smith Colleges placed in the top 50 in Forbes magazine’s
“Grateful Grads Index,” which ranks colleges and universities based on the percentage of alums who donate to their alma mater each year, a percentage which is a strong indicator of return on investment. But of course, annual giving is only one way graduates pay back
and pay forward the joys, lessons and values of their educations.
The deep commitment of HWS grads in the pages that follow serve as a microcosm of all the appreciative and supportive community members who are charting the course for the future
of the Colleges. With one eye on the Colleges’ strong history and another on their boundless potential, these stakeholders — and many others — are ensuring the sustained presence and healthy progress of Hobart and William Smith, from establishing important scholarships and hosting student interns, to building connections among alums across the country. ●
* and how you can, too!
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Calculating Success by Catherine Williams
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John Hogan ’88 uses his leadership role at JP Morgan to open doors for HWS students
“T
he first time I met John Hogan, we were in the Salisbury Center for Career Services,” says Colby Feane ’06. “I had just completed an interview with Eric Stein [Hobart class of ’89] for a possible internship with JP Morgan. It was the most difficult interview I had ever done and I was relieved it was over. I walked into the hallway and there was John. He didn’t even say hi. He just came over to me, took the knot of my tie and straightened it.” “Oh yeah, that’s true,” laughs Hogan. “His tie was hanging down and his top button was undone.” That interaction set the stage for what has become a decade-long friendship. “John went out on a limb to hire me,” Feane explains. “Before that, I worked summers in an air conditioning factory. Going to JP Morgan in New York City, working on John’s team, that was intimidating. But he leveled the playing field for me and instilled a sense of confidence. John ushered me into that environment and he became my friend.” Hogan has been guiding Hobart and William Smith students for years. In a business that tends to favor Ivy League credentials, Hogan has made sure that HWS students have a shot. “I find Hobart and William Smith students have the drive to succeed, to outwork the people from what might be considered more selective schools,” explains Hogan. “It’s an excellent trait. And they have a broader perspective that they’ve gained from the liberal arts background. The kids from other colleges are very well prepared in subjects like accounting or corporate finance, but they struggle with out-of-the-box questions. The emotional intelligence – or EQ – of HWS kids, though, is higher and that makes them more competitive. You can teach accounting but you can’t teach EQ; it must be ingrained over time.” “The importance of a JP Morgan internship for a student interested in banking cannot be overstated,” says Vice President of Enrollment and Dean of Admissions Bob Murphy, who also heads the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education at HWS. “It’s a game changer. JP Morgan internships are perhaps the most competitive in the banking industry and would not be available to HWS students without John. Not only does John get them in the door, but he continues to mentor and guide their careers once they are there.”
“...Not only does John get them in the door, but he continues to mentor and guide their careers once they are there.” —Vice President of Enrollment and Dean of Admissions Bob Murphy PHOTOS BY KEVIN COLTON
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At HWS Hogan grew up in Yonkers and Irvington, the eldest of four children. When looking for a college, Hogan knew he wanted a liberal arts education and, he says, “I fell in love with HWS; it was my vibe. Hobart gave me the time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.” An economics major, Hogan says he learned important lessons through conversations in the classroom and on the playing field. “It was my first exposure to an environment where you listened and accepted different views, where I understood that the ways that I thought about things weren’t always the most efficient or most effective,” he explains. “I learned how to tackle problems, to discuss them with people who have different backgrounds and very different ideas than me. It prepared me for a career and a family.” Hogan played baseball for four years under Mike Cragg P’12, now the head football coach for Hobart. “Mike taught me how to leave it all on the field, to work as a team toward a common goal, and to work hard. Those lessons have helped me throughout my professional career.” In the summer before his senior year, Hogan was hired on the New York Stock Exchange as a runner for a specialist firm trading stocks. “I got hooked on the fast-paced nature and intrigued by the massive amounts of money changing hands in an instant,” he says.
John Hogan ’88, No. 7, is seated in the front row, fourth from the right.
A Career in Risk Hogan had opportunities to enter finance as a trader or to work in sales or investments. “Risk, though, was just right for me,” he says. “Working in risk in a big bank like JP Morgan means that you get to see the entire geography of the organization. You have to understand operations, legal, accounting, client relations, technology. I followed a currency trader in London who traded the dollar/yen. He knew everything about dollar/yen but he didn’t know much else about how a big bank worked. He was a mile deep and an inch wide and he got a big charge out of that. That was not for me.” Risk management, Hogan explains, involves understanding all of the ways that things could go wrong, planning for the worst, and hoping for the “I learned how to tackle problems, best. “You have to create your playbook of the worst to discuss them with people who possible scenarios so that when the storm hits, have different backgrounds and you’re prepared. If you have to make your playbook during a crisis, it’s too late.” very different ideas than me. It Hogan’s career has been a series of prepared me for a career and a progressively demanding leadership positions that have required the creation of increasingly complex family.” —John Hogan ’88 playbooks, leading him to eventually become the head of risk for all of JP Morgan, serving on the Operating Committee and reporting to JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. “Jaime is brutally honest about performance and results,” says Hogan. “There is no sugar coating. He expects you to know what you don’t know, to be curious, to ask questions. He’s the first one in and the last one to leave at night. He leads by example.” 34 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
“That also describes John,” says Stein, who heads up investment banking for JP Morgan and who has been a close friend of Hogan’s since their days at Hobart where they were both defensive backs on the football team. “John has never been afraid to tackle the difficult situations. There are multiple examples when John felt a decision was being made that wasn’t in the best interests of the firm. So he got in there and he asked the hard questions, pushed for the greater good, and in doing so, prevailed. He’s fearless.” Eric Stein ’89 The weight of any kind of job in the field of risk can be demanding. “But stress is the price of admission,” Hogan says. “Whether you’re playing in the NFL or working at JP Morgan, you’re at the tip of the flame. It begs a balanced perception of the situation. You have to be thoughtful, to listen to other perspectives, to be disciplined and to make the right calculations. Then you have to make a decision and move on.”
In The Foxhole The first time George Kokinis ’89 met Hogan, he recalls he knew immediately that he was a natural leader. “He can hold an audience and he is very witty,” says Kokinis, who is senior personnel assistant for the Baltimore Ravens. “We were on the baseball team together. John wasn’t always the most fluid or the most elegant player, but he was absolutely the clutch player. Pressure doesn’t bother him.” “He is one of the most respected individuals at JP Morgan, and this is the direct result of his consistent hard work, dependability and passion for the industry and the firm,” says William S. Brame ’06, executive director for Institutional Equity Healthcare Trading at JP Morgan. Brame, who first interned with JP Morgan alongside Feane, says Hogan was an incredible mentor who “taught us the importance of honesty, always having a presence, and how to outperform your peers at all times.” “He’s the most decisive executive I’ve ever seen,” says Jack Matteis, executive director of the Hedge Fund Credit Group at JP Morgan, who has worked with Hogan for more than 25 years. “He inspires confidence that something good will happen and that whatever problems we might be experiencing will be solved. I’ve never seen him flustered. How does that old saying go? He’s the kind of guy you want in the foxhole with you.” Which is exactly how recent HWS graduates now working at JP Morgan feel. “John continues to have an enormous impact on my career,” says Adam Green ’12, an analyst at JP Morgan. “His rigorous philosophy with regard to risk management and no-nonsense approach to business have left JPM with the premier risk management franchise on the street. I am enormously grateful for the chance to be a part of it.” “John taught me that you will not get anywhere in your career or life if you aren’t willing to put the work in,” says Sarah Tarantino ’12, an associate on the Credit Risk Management team at JP Morgan. “You may start a step behind, but if you work harder than the next person, you can be unstoppable. … Every presentation I prepare, every meeting, every piece of work I put together, I ask myself, ‘could I have worked harder on this?’ If the answer is yes, then I put some more time in to making it better. And because of that, that idea that John helped to instill in me, I’ve been able to have a successful start to my career.” Michael Garland ’12, an energy derivatives associate at JP Morgan, was similarly encouraged by Hogan. “John’s work ethic has inspired me to get up each day and give it my best, as an honest effort and commitment to an objective carries a tremendous amount of weight in our business,” he says. “Clearly, John’s accomplishments throughout his career are a testament to his integrity and determination.”
In the past 10 years, Murphy estimates that Hogan, along with senior management at JP Morgan, including Stein and Tom Schmidt ’88, have been, “directly responsible for coaching, counseling and securing more than 20 student internships and jobs at JP Morgan, really changing these kids’ lives.” “John opened a door for me that led to an incredible career trajectory,” says Michael Barlow ’11, who works in investment banking in the Technology, Media & Telecom division. “He and Bob Murphy gave me some great advice Michael Barlow ’11 that I use to this day – ‘be honest and don’t bullshit.’ It doesn’t get any better than that.” Catherine Gorman ’15, who landed back-to-back summer internships with JP Morgan and was recently hired as an analyst in the firm’s Diversified Industries Group, met Hogan during one of the Colleges’ Finance Experience trips that the Salisbury Center organizes each winter. “He helped me get in touch with different groups for interviews, which led to my internship sophomore year in Asset Management Risk,” she says. “He taught me to be confident in what Catherine Gorman ’15 I know and to be willing to put in the hard work to learn everything I don’t know.” Thanks to Hogan and Stein, Dominic Carazza ’15 also recently landed a full-time position as an analyst on the Diversified Industries desk. “I love everything about this opportunity – the pace, the challenge and the significance,” he explains. Helping to prepare Carazza for the interviews and the rigors of the job were Barlow, Green and Jon Lawless ’13. “The network I accessed … was invaluable as I competed with applicants from bigger schools that Dominic Carazza ’15 financial firms traditionally target.” “That’s what John has done,” explains Stein. “He’s set the tone for the rest of us at JP Morgan. He’s set forth a path of success for others to follow. When he was in a position to mentor and hire HWS students, he did so and folks like me are now picking up where he left off.” Hogan says he’s happy to give back. “I have a tremendous affinity for Hobart and William Smith. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I like to give back, to help the school succeed and thrive. It’s very gratifying.” ● HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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Vital Connections
Founded in 2008 by Gibson McCullagh ’11 and staffed entirely by students, HWS EMS works closely with the Office of Campus Safety and local ambulance companies to provide emergency services to the Colleges. HWS EMS Medical Director Dr. Jeremy T. Cushman ’96 (second from left) is pictured with current members of the organization. PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
by Kristyna Bronner ’14
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or Dr. Jeremy T. Cushman ’96, staying involved with the Colleges after graduation has been relatively easy. His wife, Susan Flanders Cushman ’98, is the director of introductory biology laboratories at the Colleges, and the couple lives in nearby Honeoye Falls, N.Y. To say that Cushman is an active alumnus would be an understatement. He currently serves as president of the Hobart Alumni Association and visits campus frequently for events like matriculation, Charter Day and the Hobart Launch. In 2013, he even co-authored an eBook with his former adviser, Professor of Biology Jim Ryan, titled iAnatomy. “As a student I felt very connected to the campus, its faculty, its staff and its students both in terms of the opportunities for volunteerism and collaboration, as well as leadership. That is why it’s really part of my fabric—I don’t necessarily think about it, I just do. It is still personally fulfilling to be able to give back to students and staff on campus, but I also expect it of myself. Others did it for me while I was there,” he says. After graduating from Hobart, Cushman went on to receive his medical degree from the University of Maryland, where he completed his residency in emergency medicine. He then pursued an M.S. in emergency health services from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Today, he is associate professor and chief of the Division of Pre-hospital Medicine at the University of Rochester, EMS medical director for Monroe County and the City of Rochester, and was recently appointed as the Acting Commissioner of Public Health for
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Monroe County. His professional career has allowed Cushman to remain engaged with the Colleges in a unique way – as medical director of HWS EMS. Founded in 2008 by Gibson McCullagh ’11 and staffed entirely by students, HWS EMS works closely with the Office of Campus Safety and local ambulance companies to provide emergency medical services to the Colleges, responding to emergency calls 24 hours a day during the academic year. In order to participate, students must complete a semester of training, after which they receive their New York State EMT certification. Every EMS organization must have a medical director, and Cushman readily accepted the role. “In my first year at HWS, I collaborated with a few graduating seniors after we recognized a need to start an EMS responseorganization on campus,” explains McCullagh, who is now the director of Special Projects and Strategic Initiatives at Pro EMS in Cambridge, Mass. “Dr. Cushman readily accepted the role as EMS Medical Director and adviser to the organization and quickly became a strong mentor personally. His advice and commitment truly made starting the service possible, and the work he continues to do with HWS EMS is invaluable.” “This is what I do for my job, so what a great way for me to be able to give back to campus,” says Cushman. “My role for HWS EMS is something I do for a two county area with hundreds of providers and thousands of EMS calls. I don’t have to learn something new; I don’t
have to pretend to be something that I’m not. I have this small area of knowledge and experience that not a lot of people may have; why not share it with my alma mater.” As medical director of HWS EMS, Cushman meets with students involved in the organization at least once each semester. He works closely with the chief of the service, currently Evan Schwab ’16, and the service adviser, Director of Campus Safety Martin Corbett. He reviews patient care records on a regular basis, in addition to other medical care responsibilities. Cushman, who worked as a volunteer at the local hospital and with the volunteer ambulance service during his time at the Colleges, believes HWS EMS provides an important opportunity for students beyond learning about emergency medicine. “I think what’s always made the Colleges special are the opportunities for education outside of the classroom. Just as I had the opportunity to learn a lot as a volunteer, being part of HWS EMS does the same thing. These students are evaluating patients and providing medical care independently under high ethical and moral standards,” he says. “Despite the medical lessons learned, I think the life lessons they are able to experience is something that will hopefully contribute to their overall education and make them better people in the end.” ●
“This is what I do for my job, so what a great way for me to be able to give back to campus.”
Game Plan by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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ith nearly 10 years of experience in corporate and non-profit communications, Rachel Henderson ’06 advises HWS students interested in the field to have a game plan. “Every good job is going to be highly competitive,” she says. “From everything I’ve seen, and from what my mentors tell me, there are several hundred applicants for any one communications opening. Students have to demonstrate some pretty unique work and life experiences just to be considered for an internship or entry-level position.” To that end, Henderson says, “Don’t waste any time if you want to be competitive in your field,” though she also underscores the importance of pursuing a cause “[you] are truly passionate about — you spend way too many hours at work to not do something you love and find rewarding.” Around the time Henderson graduated with a B.A. in media and society and Spanish and Hispanic studies, the United Nations Foundation’s global grassroots campaign, Nothing But Nets, began raising awareness and funding to fight malaria, a leading cause of death among children in Africa. Nothing But Nets works with UN partners like UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency, and the World Health Organization to purchase nets and distribute them to families in sub-Saharan African countries, typically as part of wider public health efforts coordinated by the nations’ Ministries of Health, the UN, and other local and international organizations. Now, as the campaign’s senior communications officer, Henderson is “responsible for ensuring we tell the best, tangible story about who we are and the work we do so that even more people feel inspired to help us save lives,” she says. In her role as the campaign’s “chief storyteller,” as Henderson puts it, she works to share the “powerful stories about the refugees, mothers, fathers and children who we work tirelessly to protect from malaria. I’ve seen mothers lose their babies from malaria — it’s absolutely devastating that a child dies every minute from this disease that’s 100 percent preventable.” In managing the campaign’s press and maintaining the consistency of its brand, offering strategic direction and choosing opportunities to reach new audiences, Henderson strives to connect with and convince Americans “who don’t know what it’s like to suffer from this disease, to help families on
Rachel Henderson ’06, senior communications officer for Nothing But Nets, the United Nations Foundation’s grassroots campaign to raise awareness and funding to fight malaria, visits with children at Nakivale Refuge Settlement in Uganda.
another continent,” she says. “They need to know how much these families rely on their generosity.” Henderson worked for several years after graduation with Ogilvy Public Relations in Washington, D.C., where she was a vice president. At Ogilvy, her career outlook changed significantly, she recalls, when “I helped my client, LIVESTRONG, start its first Global Cancer Campaign. I knew then I wanted my communications expertise to be a channel for an important cause. I’ve always wanted to have an impact on the world and to help people. Nothing But Nets is my dream job because it does both.” Her transition into the non-profit sector came during the 2013 sequester, when Henderson was laid off in what was, “in some ways, the best worst thing to happen to me,” she says. “I knew I wanted to make a shift anyway. I saw an opening with Nothing But Nets and applied right away.” The move from a public relations firm to a non-profit prompted Henderson to reflect on “what drives the culture” of each type of organization and where she saw herself contributing. “I wasn’t interested in helping a company and my clients make money or advance a business agenda,” she says. “Good business is important, but I wanted to work at a place that
wants to change the world. And at the United Nations Foundation, everyone is here with that purpose. Everyone strives for global impact.” And the job, Henderson adds, “can also be really fun. We work with a lot of sports industry partners like NBA Cares, MLS WORKS, and Athletes for Hope to engage athletes, teams, and their fans in the cause.” She and the NBA’s MVP Stephen Curry know each other well, as he’s the campaign’s most dedicated spokesperson. “But my absolute favorite part of my job is hearing stories from those who we’ve helped save from malaria. It’s life changing.” At Ogilvy and now at the United Nations Foundation, Henderson looks for opportunities to share her passion and experience by mentoring HWS students. Over the past several years she has participated in the annual Day on the Hill program and job shadowing opportunities, in part, she says, because during her time at HWS, Henderson “was really fortunate to have many alums mentor me and help make connections. Students and alums should never underestimate the power of building connections and relationships. You never know when you might need to make a call, make a change, or even start over in your career. Our community is powerful and it can help you go far.” ●
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With Hobart’s mascot, “Bart the Statesman,” etched into his office glass, Dan Rosensweig ’83, president and CEO of Chegg.com never fails to show off his Hobart pride. Connecting his office and a conference room is a working garage door that can open and close for meetings, which symbolizes the Silicon Valley startup ethos and serves as a constant reminder to be “nimble, smart, innovative and frugal.” PHOTO BY STEVE MALLER
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Tech Savvy H by Andrew Wickenden ’09
ow do young people develop confidence, recognize opportunity and lead a meaningful life of consequence?
For Dan Rosensweig ’83, president and CEO of Chegg.com, traditional classroom education is “a critical part of it, but it’s only a part. If you’re smart and well educated but can’t convert that, you’ll never realize your potential.” As an accomplished Internet, media and communications entrepreneur, Rosensweig has sought to bring to new users the benefits of contemporary technology—in entertainment, in the marketplace and in education. When Rosensweig began to reconnect with the Colleges in the early 2000s— through President Mark D. Gearan; Bob Murphy, vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions; and Kathy Killius Regan ’82, P’13, assistant vice president for advancement, alumnae relations and national regional network—their conversations inevitably returned to the fact that “the world is evolving, and technology is much more important in people’s lives,” says Rosensweig. “The next generation of students will be tech savvy. So we asked: how can we work to help students leverage technology in their lives and careers?” This question led Rosensweig, who was then COO of Yahoo!, to work directly with HWS interns, several of whom were subsequently hired, ultimately leading “to the changing of Yahoo!’s employment policies about hiring undergraduates because they’d performed so well,” he explains. Since leaving Yahoo!, Rosensweig has continued to mentor HWS interns—formerly as president and CEO of Activision Blizzard’s Guitar Hero franchise and now as president and CEO of Chegg. “Chegg started as a company that wanted to rent textbooks, but now 75 percent of our
“The next generation of students will be tech savvy. So we asked: how can we work to help students leverage technology in their lives and careers?”
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PHOTO BY STEVE MALLER
Dan Rosensweig ’83 (right) meets with employees in the offices of Chegg in Santa Clara, Calif. Chegg began as a textbook rental company, but under Rosenweig’s direction has grown to become the leading student-first connected learning platform.
revenue will come from online resources that help match students to colleges, to careers, to internships,” he says. “The company has evolved with the needs of our customers.” Under Rosensweig’s direction, Chegg is the Student Hub, the leading student-first connected learning platform that brings together people who want to learn with the tools and resources that accelerate achievement of their educational goals. As new technologies emerge, Rosensweig predicts that educational institutions will undergo a similar kind of evolution, seeking “to adapt and integrate those advances into the curriculum,” he says. “I see progressive colleges and universities trying to leverage technology to become more expansive, more accessible and less expensive. Why can’t we expand the curriculum? Why shouldn’t every student be able to audit a class to learn for learning’s sake? Technology has lowered cost, increased accessibility and scaled faster. How do we leverage that in education on behalf of the student?” Part of that leveraging, he suggests, will take the form of infrastructure investments on campus, like the Rosensweig Learning Commons, which fosters “an environment of collaboration and teamwork similar to the way many companies are built in the fast paced world of Silicon Valley,” Rosensweig says. However, a liberal arts education, he adds, bolstered by internships and experiential learning programs, helps complete the portrait of a college graduate ready to lead and succeed in the 21st century. Through his
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work with students and his discussions with HWS leadership about “the liberal arts and its place in the world,” Rosensweig sees an “ideal scenario” when a liberal arts background in critical thinking meets workplace skills and experience. Raised by a single mother who was a public school teacher, Rosensweig grew up immersed in “the importance of learning and mentorship,” he says. “My wife, Linda, and I have been surrounded by the power of education our whole lives. It’s the nexus of learning, thought, and connecting that to the practical day-to-day experience that becomes the opportunity for what my wife and I have experienced, which is the American Dream.” With the goal of “taking extraordinarily bright students and marrying a liberal arts education with practical skills-based learning,” Rosensweig and his wife Linda are supporting an internship funding opportunity that runs parallel to the Colleges’ recently announced Guaranteed Internship Program. “Under President Gearan’s leadership, the school has invested a lot of time and energy to give every student at least one internship,” says Rosensweig, who has in turn become increasingly determined to assist in that endeavor. “If an internship doesn’t pay enough, we want to help finance and fund students to get internships of their dreams and advance in a competitive market.” ●
HWS Trustee Aileen Diviney Gleason ’85, managing director of Global Wealth Management at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is a regular speaker and panelist at the New York City Finance Experience program for HWS students.
the finance experience by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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ach year during winter break, HWS students flock to major cities across the country to connect with knowledgeable mentors from the community of the Colleges’ alumni and alumnae, parents, families and friends. These gatherings – organized by the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Learning – feature presentations, question-and-answer sessions, and networking events aimed at guiding students along the path to careers in the financial world, public relations, the entertainment industry, politics, and more. Events like the “New York City Finance Experience,” held each January in Manhattan, offer students “excellent resources and useful career perspectives that can help them to make informed decisions about their futures,” says HWS Trustee Aileen Diviney Gleason ’85. For Gleason, who is managing director of Global Wealth Management at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and a regular speaker and panelist at the “Finance Experience,” such events are about “working with students to ensure their four years at the Colleges are as great as mine.” Offering deep insight into the excitements and challenges of executive leadership in finance, Gleason regularly mentors students on campus and off – through informational interviews and
Salisbury Center events that I’d always wanted like the Professionals in to be involved and give Residence series – whether back,” says Gleason, helping students “prepare who in December 2011 for that initial job interview; received the Career or discussing the process of Services Award for her getting an internship within support of students. the industry; or what should be Now, as a Trustee, in their cover letter and what Gleason helps “set shouldn’t; or how to translate the strategic direction work experience into tangible and participate in the skills they can leverage in an continued success interview.” of the Colleges. It’s HWS Trustee Aileen Diviney Over the years, Gleason exciting to bring some Gleason ’85 has kept in touch with several of the skills that I have students she’s mentored, to help the Colleges “That continued and “catching up over coffee continue down that and hearing where their path path,” she says. connection also has taken them has been very When she meets rewarding,” she says. “That young alums at Regional builds the legacy continued connection also builds Network events, Gleason of the Colleges.” the legacy of the Colleges.” emphasizes that there As a student, Gleason are “different ways of was a member of the Student giving” to HWS. Economic Committee and was elected into “It’s not always a large contribution to Omicron Delta Epsilon, the International the Annual Fund,” she says, “though that’s Economics Honor Society. She was the important. But recent grads can impact captain and MVP of the William Smith current students directly – they have been lacrosse team in her senior year. She spent through the process of searching for and a semester in Washington, D.C., and one in landing a job, of going through what current London, England, before earning her B.A. in students are going through, and they come to economics. the table with more immediate experience. A “I’d gotten so much from my time at 15-minute phone call is an easy way to give back and can make a tremendous impact.” ● the Colleges that I knew the day I graduated PHOTO BY ANDREW MARKHAM ’10
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PHOTO BY ANDREW MARKHAM ’10
by Jonathan Everitt
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obart wasn’t the last stop in Alan Kalter’s ’64 education, but during his college years in Geneva while working in local radio, he got the first taste of his eventual 40-year broadcasting career. Until May 20, 2015, when Late Show with David Letterman aired for the last time, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native was the show’s renowned announcer. But his journey to the big microphone was circuitous, first at New York University Law, then teaching high school English for three years, during which time he recorded hundreds of educational tapes and emceed weekend shows at a radio station just outside New York City. “I left teaching for an afternoon radio show at WTFM, and was hired to be a newsman at WHN Radio in New York, which quickly became a four-year gig interviewing celebs who came into town for movie and Broadway openings, as well as covering nightclub openings three or four nights a week.” When WHN turned to a Country format, Kalter began voicing commercials — which led to work as a TV show announcer. Over the years, he’s been the voice of, among others, To Tell the Truth, The $20,000 Pyramid, The Money Maze, and The $128,000 Question. His most recent gig of 20 years came to an end this May with the retirement of David Letterman. “It’s been the best job in the world – loads of fun and although I’ll miss Dave, Paul, that great CBS Orchestra and my Late Show family, I’m so grateful for the long run we’ve had and a bunch of terrific memories,” Kalter says. “I loved what
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they let me be – a 10 year old, paid for doing stuff my mom would never have let me get away with.” Back at HWS, it was a fluke that he landed a job at WGVA in Geneva. He applied to be an announcer on a dare, and the station didn’t initially take him seriously, nor want to hire college students. But in a twist of fate, one of their announcers quit the day after Kalter’s audition, and WGVA offered him a job. “They asked me if I wanted to do the news, but soon expanded that to playing the Top 40 and traveling throughout the area as a play-by-play announcer for high school basketball.” And in that first broadcasting gig, young Kalter put the job to work for him, scoring press passes to major sports events on summer break. He also took full advantage of access to WGVA’s studio. “In my off hours, I would create the music tapes for all our fraternity parties from the 45’s that came in to the radio station.” His rule-bending, career-changing path makes him an ideal storyteller for the Colleges, which is why he’s served as Class Correspondent since 1972 — and a frequent advice dispenser for the next generation of students. “The Colleges called me in 1972 when I was doing radio for WHN and they asked me if they could do a story on me, and when they were leaving, I said, why isn’t there a class correspondent for the class of ’64. When they got back to me, they asked if I wanted to do it. I was doing a lot of commercial work after I left WHN. That work took me all over the country and the world. Whenever I visited a new city, I would look up folks from the class of ’64 and, time permitting, would get together with them for a drink.”
Kalter’s varied adventures, affection for fellow alums, and seasoned wisdom make him a perfect host for the Colleges’ annual “Behind The Scenes” program. It’s important to Kalter to help students facing life after graduation gain some perspective. He serves it up in full helpings. “A lot of times, young people can’t see where their lives are going to take them,” he says. “I think it’s important to go into something you might be good at, but that you’re going to love. I have people who come to me at 40 or 50 and they say they made the wrong decision way, way back – they hate the law or teaching. They want to break into voice acting. By then, it’s usually too late. Do it now. With talent, perseverance, a few good breaks and the right timing, you’ll get there. Add a few lucky breaks, the right timing and some good advice from those who’ve gone before and there’s no stopping you.” Connecting with people who’ve come before you is a great way to start. “When you’re young, you meet so many people and you need to take advantage of those relationships with alums and teachers,” Kalter says. “Ask, listen, learn! I’m 72 years old and still treasure advice and relationships that could lead to a job tomorrow.” Today, Kalter is “The Voice” — on Broadway, emitting from the radio in Hereafter Musical; in commercials; as a guest on radio and TV shows; as emcee of corporate galas and charity events; and maybe one day, David Letterman’s announcer on a CBS Late Show Reunion. “But today, I am playing golf,” he says. ●
amily ies
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“I really try to get the students to understand the importance of the academic training they are receiving, and to recognize how all of these different domains and disciplines work together.”
or Michael Rawlins ’80, P’16, the HWS community represents much more than an alma mater or an academic institution; it’s family. Rawlins is among five of six children in his family to attend Hobart and William Smith, including the late Philip Rawlins ’75, Janice Rawlins-Ferguson ’76, Marilyn Rawlins-Grundy ’86 and Norman Rawlins ’88. As a young man, Rawlins caught a sneak peak of what life at HWS was like when he went to visit his older brother, Philip for the first time. From that moment on, he was certain he would follow in his brother’s footsteps. “From the first time I stepped foot on the campus to visit my brother in 1971, I absolutely fell in love with the place,” he says. “I fell in love with the comradery that I saw, and my forgone conclusion from there was ‘I want to be like that. I want to go there.’” Rawlins went on to graduate from Hobart with a double major in fine arts and art history and has since made his mark at one of the most recognizable companies in the country – ESPN, where Rawlins is the principal user experience design architect at the ESPN Technology Division where he works to improve the interactions employees have with ESPN enterprise business applications. With his son, Dylan, set to graduate in 2016, Rawlins is committed to giving back to the Colleges that have opened so many doors for him and his family. “While I was in school I had a model in my brother Philip,” says Rawlins. “He helped me to understand that success is not just based on academic achievements, it was also the ability to make connections and establish resources in the workforce.” It was this model that inspired Rawlins to take action. During Orientation and Convocation weekend of Dylan’s first year, he met Jackie Doyle, associate director of Employer Development in the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education, and instantly signed up to participate in the Professionals in Residence program. “I jumped on the opportunity,” recalls Rawlins. “I told Jackie, ‘I am happy to do anything I can to help HWS students or to be a mentor.’” Along with being ESPN’s principal user experience design architect, Rawlins also serves as the vice president of the User Experience Professionals Association International (UXPA.org). He has led teams as the UX director/strategist at companies such as Cigna, Open FiServ, MassMutual, Hartford Life and Aetna. Rawlins is also an adjunct professor at Manchester Community College (MCC), and serves on a host of technology and industry boards, including the MCC Technology and Communications Advisory Board. In addition to speaking with students on campus about his career, Rawlins invites students to Bristol, Conn., to get a behindthe-scenes look at the world-renowned ESPN campus. This year, Jonah Gould ’18 toured the studio and explored how the company is run with Rawlins by his side. During his time with students, Rawlins stresses, “It’s okay to be a late bloomer. It’s okay to try your hand at many different career paths. The journey is fun. It’s similar to my time on campus when I didn’t quite know how I would evolve, but I had great professors and I was in a great thinking environment.” Rawlins acknowledges that his career has certainly been a journey, having worked in a number of different fields before ending up in his current role at ESPN.
“When I graduated with my double major in the arts, no one would have thought that years later I would be working as a technologist,” he explains. “It was my ability to embrace the liberal arts concept of understanding patterns, and how different disciplines work together that allowed me to get to where I am now. I really try to get the students to understand the importance of the academic training they are receiving, and to recognize how all of these different domains and disciplines work together.” ●
PHOTO COURTESY OF ESPN IMAGES
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RAFTING TRADITION
Fred Matt ’81, president and chief operating officer of F.X. Matt Brewing, the producer of Saranac Beer, stands in front of one of two large copper kettles inside the Utica, N.Y.-based facility.
PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
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by Steven Bodnar
By the Numbers
C
raft beer has exploded in popularity over the past decade. But for Fred Matt ’81, it’s not a particularly new phenomenon. It’s a family tradition. “We’ve been brewing craft and fullflavored beers before ‘craft’ was ‘craft,’” says Matt, president and Chief Operating Officer of the F.X. Matt Brewing Company, the producer of Saranac Beer and one of the largest craft breweries in the country. Founded in 1888 and based in Utica, N.Y., the F.X. Matt Brewing Company is still going strong after more than a century (and Prohibition). And it’s that history – and the continuity of the Matt family – that sustain it. Saranac’s new release, Legacy IPA, for instance, is a recipe fashioned in 1914 by Fred Matt’s great-grandfather, company founder F.X. Matt I. “You’re not in business this long unless you’re giving the customer a product they truly enjoy, and,” Matt adds, “our employees are second to none.” With Fred Matt and his uncle, Nick Matt, chair and CEO, currently at the helm, Matt Brewing offers more than 60 products, including Saranac High Peaks Imperial IPA which was named world’s best at the 2014 World Beer Awards. They also produce a highly popular series of soft drinks, with their famous root beer recently taking home gold in a non-alcoholic category at the 2014 U.S. Open Beer Championship. Part of the brewery’s history of success is due, Matt says, to a tradition of innovation and adaptation. In the 1950s and ’60s, the late comic legend Jonathan Winters was the voice of Schultz and Dooley, the infamous talking beer steins featured in the company’s television commercials for its Utica Club brand. In 1979, Matt Brewing rolled out the first beer ball on the market – a plastic “party ball” that holds the equivalent of 55 12-ounce beers. Matt was the first to launch the mixed 12-pack, now a ubiquitous staple on grocery store shelves. Fast forward to today: F.X. Matt Brewing Company facility – with the oldest part of the structure built in 1853 – has hydrothermal wells, uses anaerobic digestion to generate electricity, has a strong focus on
recycling and is exploring ways to reduce its dependency on oil. Experimentation with new products and flavors takes place in a new pilot brewing room. To diversify their business, they’ve developed a sales and distribution agreement with the Lake Placid Brew Pub, and more recently purchased Flying Bison Brewing Company in Buffalo, N.Y. Good business relies on that innovation but, as Matt explains, it’s also dependent on strong community engagement. “We as a company are always looking for ways to give back and that’s remained a priority for us,” he says. Matt Brewing’s Saranac Thursday and Saranac Summer Concert Series events, which were launched in 1999, give a portion of proceeds to the local United Way, raising more than $600,000 to date. The company is also a sponsor of the nationally-known Boilermaker 15K Road Race, one of the largest of its kind that annually awards four scholarships to high school runners who exemplify the best in their sport. At Hobart and William Smith, Matt has hosted beer tastings during several Reunion weekends and has supported other campus events, including donating brewery tours to Geneva Scholarship Association fundraisers. Matt, who earned a degree in economics at Hobart, says his experience at the Colleges marks a time he holds dear and finding unique ways to give back is easy. “Hobart and William Smith gave me a really great balance between the liberal arts education and the social experience,” Matt says. “The people are great, the professors are terrific and there really is a great pride there. That has always been a strong part of HWS.” But even when Matt was a student, he always knew he wanted to be part of the family business. “Beer just runs in the family,” he says. ●
3,000,000+ visitors who have taken the brewery tour in Utica, N.Y.
Matt Brewing is the oldest brewery in New York State. Its Utica Club brand was the first beer sold after Prohibition.
#14
Matt Brewing ranking on the Brewers Association’s “Top 50 Breweries of 2014” list.
104 miles from HWS to Matt Brewing Company
65: number of
recipes the team of brewers crafts each year.
1950s
decade F.X. Matt Brewing Company produced TV ads featuring talking beer steins “Schultz” and “Dooley” to pitch Matt’s Utica Club beer
HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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by Andrew Wickenden ’09
“A
lot happens by accident,” says Eric Lax ’66, L.H.D. ’93. But the events of his life that have been most profound, he explains, “were enriching to others as well as to myself.” A best-selling author, an advocate for writers and freedom of expression, and a dedicated supporter of his alma mater, Lax graduated from Hobart with a B.A. in English and joined the Peace Corps for a two-year placement in the Caroline Islands in the Western Pacific. “I served on this tiny island of palm and breadfruit trees that had 185 residents and no roads—I could walk around it in half an hour. Friends would write to me, ‘It’s wonderful what you’re doing for those people,’ but I was the outsider; it was they who did much more for me. I was immersed in a culture I couldn’t imagine before then.” “The experience,” Lax says, “taught me how to see the world with different eyes and gave me an understanding of how different yet in many ways how much the same people are.” Upon his return to the U.S., he worked first as a Peace Corps Fellow in Washington, D.C., then as overseas director of the Peace Corps School Partnership Program, which allowed him to travel to more than 40 countries. Since leaving the Peace Corps in 1970 to pursue writing full-time, Lax has 46 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
published nine books, including bestselling biographies of Woody Allen and Humphrey Bogart, as well as articles for The Atlantic, Life, The Washington Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair and Esquire, where he was a contributing editor. Three of his books developed out of friendships that began at HWS including The New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Life and Death on 10 West, about the bone marrow transplantation ward at the UCLA Medical Center, which was headed at the time by classmate Dr. Robert Peter Gale ’66. Radiation: What It Is, What You Need to Know (2013) was co—authored with Gale. Faith, Interrupted (2010) was inspired in part by Lax’s friendship with the Rt. Rev. George E. Packard ‘66, retired bishop for Armed Services, Healthcare and Prison Chaplaincy in the Episcopal Church. “Without these friendships, those books wouldn’t be,” says Lax. Today, as he writes his latest book— an in-depth look at Woody Allen’s craft and philosophy as a filmmaker through the lens of his 2015 Irrational Man—Lax reflects on his college years, which he recalls as “a tremendously meaningful and helpful time. The Colleges were a perfect place for me to go. I grew up in California, had come from a very small boys’ school— there were eight in my graduating class— and suddenly here I was in upstate New York. Hobart and William Smith were
PHOTO BY ORANGE PHOTOGRAPHY
Service in Gratitude
Author Eric Lax ’66, co-chair of the Classes of 1966 50th Reunion with Psychotherapist Edith Sparago Irons ’66.
much bigger but weren’t daunting in their size. It was the perfect fit and a great environment for learning, despite my mediocre grades. I had easy relationships with several professors as well as Dean Atkinson and President Hirshson, and have deep friendships with other students that have lasted more than half a century.” Lax and his wife Karen Sulzberger reciprocate that welcoming environment, regularly opening their home in Beverly Hills for admissions gatherings for accepted students and their families, and receptions for alumni, alumnae and parents in the region. Lax is also co-chairing his 50th Reunion Committee with Edie Sparago Irons ’66, his friend since their first day on campus. (They also co-chaired their 40th Reunion). It is a volunteer position he has undertaken in appreciation for “the preparation for life and for the friendships that the Colleges gave me,” he says, adding, “I had a wonderful education at Hobart. I learned how to think and in some ways I’ve never left college. Being a writer of non-fiction is like being a perpetual graduate student. Between Western Civ and the variety of courses outside my major, I learned to take what I studied and make broader sense of it. It was the epitome of the liberal arts education. I’m very grateful for it, and glad I can give something back.” ●
Reunion Magic by Josh Brown
“T
here was a wonderful sense of community at the Colleges,” says Edith Sparago Irons ’66. “Perhaps it was the uniqueness of the historical moment we shared: we entered college as children of the 50s; we sat together and watched the Beatles in their first appearances on the Ed Sullivan show; we huddled during the Cuban missile crisis; we automatically gathered at the Chapel when JFK was killed; we graduated into the 60s and all the change and turmoil and promise of that decade. Still, I’m convinced that most of the credit for the creation of that sense of community has to go to Western Civ, in that it was a shared experience that gave us a common language and a common lens.” As co-chair of the Classes of 1966 50th Reunion with Eric Lax ’66, Irons is looking forward to reminiscing over these fond memories with her classmates while recapturing the youthful magic once felt on campus. “There is this inexplicable magic thing that happens,” says Irons, who has been instrumental in planning a number of Reunions over the years. “The minute you hit Pulteney Street, or walk on the Quad, you turn 20 all over again, as do all the people around you. It’s amazing. It might not be the case in any other setting, but on the Quad, everyone looks the same as they always did.” After graduating from William Smith, where she was an English major and first-year class president, Irons began teaching junior high school English and social studies in Massachusetts. It was there she realized her true calling was counseling others. “The students would come in to talk to me about their lives and sometimes their problems. But I didn’t feel I was equipped with the right training to help them. I decided to go to graduate school to become a counselor.” After earning a master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Irons was invited to the university’s doctoral program and later completed her clinical training at the Center for Psychotherapy in New York City. Soon after, she and her husband moved to North Carolina, where Irons developed the counseling program for Planned Parenthood of Charlotte. Today, Irons is a well-established psychotherapist in private practice. She works with adults presenting a range of problems from struggling with life’s inevitable transitions, to depression or anxiety, to marital or relational issues. “Helping a couple salvage their marriage
Psychotherapist Edith Sparago Irons ’66, co-chair of the Classes of 1966 50th Reunion with Author Eric Lax ’66.
is really rewarding,” she says. “Human beings are endlessly fascinating to me. I feel incredibly lucky to have work that still feels interesting and meaningful.” In addition to her therapy practice, Irons is most proud of her two children and grandchildren. “Raising them was the most important work and most fun work I have ever done,” she says. Irons stays active in her community, currently serving on the boards of Charlotte’s Tomorrow’s R.O.A.D and Connections for Youth Leadership. She was instrumental in the creation of The Bruce Irons Camps Fund (BICF), in honor of her late husband, R. Bruce Irons III. BICF works with Charlotte elementary school teachers and counselors to identify 4th graders who display good citizenship, academic effort, and leadership potential, and sends kids to residential summer camps. BICF provides support and mentoring through the school year, and continues to send them to camp each year that they earn it. “It is unique, in that we stick with our kids over the course of these foundational years. And we have had great success. Many of our original campers are now in college. One young man just passed the test to become a Charlotte firefighter. This year we are sending 102 kids to camp. I am no longer on the board of BICF, but I am very proud to have been part of that organization.” “For me, and maybe for many of us, the Colleges shaped the way I look at the world. It was a common lens, a common trial-by-fire and a common sense of humor. It was the place of so many different discoveries, so many beginnings. It was the jumpingoff into adulthood, the foundation to my thinking and to the way I live in the world.” ●
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Service with Spirit
L
by Jonathan Everitt
akisha Williams ’96 grew up in a family filled with people who served their religious community, and when the time came for her to decide what direction her life would take, the groundwork was already there. Today, she works at Goddard Riverside Community Center, a human service organization in New York City, where she serves as connections coordinator. But what led Williams there was a combination of lessons learned growing up in a service-focused family in the Bronx and an inspiring experience at Hobart and William Smith. “When I started at HWS, I thought I wanted to be a psychology major,” Williams says. “Then I took a religious studies class and that was it. I majored in religious studies and minored in sociology. Because of the classes I took I fell in love with religious studies.” After graduating from William Smith, Williams went directly to Union Theological Seminary in New York. While there, she had a work study placement at an Episcopal church that later merged with Goddard Riverside. She has remained at Goddard to this day because she appreciates its philosophy of service. “I’m at Goddard because it’s a settlement house,” Williams says. “It’s one of the oldest in the country. The settlement house tradition is that it doesn’t just provide temporary services, but tracks you from cradle to grave.” Among the people Williams serves are the homeless population throughout Manhattan. “The need is great,” Williams says. “Right now, we have the biggest population of homeless children New York City has ever seen.” Helping people living in crisis is a big part of Williams’ daily existence. But there are two occasions each year that stand out as her most fulfilling. One is the holiday season.
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Helping people living in crisis is a big part of Williams’ daily existence. “We serve about 3,000 meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Williams says. “More and more, we see families and individuals coming in, not because they’re homeless, but because they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.” Her other favorite moment of the year is Goddard’s Neighbor to Neighbor Dinner the first weekend in May. It’s an awards ceremony for outstanding volunteers in the community. “This year we’re giving six awards out, and the people we’re going to honor are amazing,” she says. “One is an eighth grader.” And those aren’t the only award winners in Goddard’s circle. Williams herself has recently been honored with a couple kudos of her own. A minister and youth pastor at Antioch Baptist Church in Harlem, Williams received the Faith and Favor Ministries’ Favor Award for her ministry work and was recently named Woman of the Year by the Bronx Leadership Academy II. In the midst of her busy work life and achievements, Williams still finds time to serve as class correspondent for the William Smith Class of 1996. “While I was at William Smith, I made some of the most lasting relationships of my life. Being class correspondent helps me stay connected to those people. My very best friends are from Hobart and William Smith. My confidants are from HWS.” Her time at the Colleges was a vital part of the foundation she has built for a life of service. “I gained family. I gained sisters. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.” ●
PHOTO BY MICHAEL PARAS
HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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STAY CONNECTED Follow the Colleges on Twitter and Instagram: @HWScolleges Join the Colleges’ Facebook page by liking “Hobart and William Smith Colleges.” You can also search your class year – Hobart and William Smith Classes of 1976, for example, to find FB pages for each and every class. Check out the hundreds of HWS videos available on YouTube www.youtube.com/user/hwsvideos Get all the latest HWS Athletics News, scores and highlights at HWSAthletics.com, follow us on Twitter at @hwssid, or find the Herons and the Statesmen on Facebook at facebook.com/ HobartStatesmen and facebook. com/WilliamSmithHerons Head to www.hws.edu to sign up to receive the Colleges’ weekly e-newsletter, which includes a selection of news items, information on upcoming events, and links to athletic scores. Connect with HWS alumni and alumnae worldwide by downloading the EverTrue App. Search “EverTrue” in the Apple App store or Google Play store. Tune in to www.hws.edu every Friday afternoon to see the most recent version of This Week in Photos, a collection of photos of HWS faculty, staff, students, alums and parents on campus and around the world. Listen to WEOS live and download podcasts of radio programs at www.hws.edu/news/podcasts Explore biographies of alums leading lives of consequence, updated weekly and available at www.hws.edu Read first-person accounts of life after college from recent graduates, updated weekly and available at www.hws.edu
50 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
Social Media
Super Users
W by Kristyna Bronner ’14
hether sharing pictures or posting status updates, social media is an easy and effective way to stay in touch and show support for HWS. Since joining Facebook in 2007, the Colleges have used social media to engage with members of the Hobart and William Smith community and as new networks have become available, the Colleges have expanded their presence online — joining Twitter in 2009 and Instagram in 2012. Today, the Colleges’ social media feeds serve as a tool to easily interact with students, alumni and alumnae, parents and friends of the Colleges. A typical day on the Colleges’ social media feeds ranges from a story about a student or faculty accomplishment to “throwback” (historic) photos or a beautiful shot of Seneca Lake. But, perhaps the best reason to check the Colleges’ social networking feeds every day is to connect with fellow fans of HWS. We reached out to our Facebook and Twitter super-users to discuss what keeps them motivated to stay engaged with the Colleges. ●
W
hen Carol Ulmer ’72 applied to colleges as a senior in high school, William Smith was her first choice. There, she double majored in mathematics and economics, volunteered in Geneva as a tutor, and served as head resident of Sill House her senior year. After graduating, she began her first job at a consulting firm, Arthur D. Little Inc., in Cambridge, Mass., and later worked as a corporate banker for more than 20 years. She recently retired from the Wharton Music Center in Berkley Heights, N.J. Ulmer has stayed engaged with the Colleges in many different roles over the years—as alumnae chair of the Annual Fund, class agent, hosting alumni and alumnae events at her home and as a member of the Board of Trustees. To Ulmer, staying involved is important. “It was the best time of my life. I just got so much out of being there, not only academically, but the people that I met. I feel like I owe so much to the Colleges for who I am now,” she says. “College is a place where people grow up and learn to be themselves. That was true for me. I came from a really small town, and I was the first one to go to college from my family. It was really a brave new world for me. I became a totally different person and a better person for that.” Ulmer says she mostly uses Facebook and the HWS weekly e-newsletter to keep up with what’s happening on campus and with her former classmates. She points to the Classes of 1972 Facebook page as a great resource for staying connected with members of her class. After the Classes’ 40th Reunion in 2012, people began to post on the page more frequently. “I now have a group of people, some of whom I didn’t even know when I was at school, who are now my Facebook friends. I find it really great to have that connection. It’s so much easier to keep in touch and know how people’s lives are going,” she says. ●
PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
Facebook Super-User: Carol Ulmer ’72
Twitter Super-User: Adam Goldstein ’08
A
dam Goldstein ’08 first visited the Colleges on a beautiful summer day with his mother. At Hobart, he majored in economics, minored in public policy, completed an independent study and studied abroad in Geneva, Switzerland. Goldstein was involved with the debate team, Hobart Student Government and was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa. He now works as a senior energy sector analyst at Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, D.C. “It was a very special time in my life. I have some really positive memories and great friends that I made there,” he says. For Goldstein, Twitter, his favorite social network, is an easy way to stay connected. Goldstein enjoys seeing campus photos as well as posts about student life and campus happenings. “When a photo pops up in my timeline and the Quad is covered in snow, it brings back so many memories and can really brighten my day,” he says. “In D.C. the seasons change but not in quite as dramatic a way. It can be a nice way to see what hasn’t changed and what has changed at HWS.” For alums looking to reconnect with the Colleges, Goldstein offers some advice. “Connect with a local National Regional Network representative. Regional HWS events are a great way to keep in touch with alums living in your area. Stay engaged with that’s happening on social media, especially if it’s hard to get to regional events,” he recommends. ●
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Filling A Blank Canvas by Jonathan Everitt
T
he Manhattan art world has changed considerably in the past 30 years and Wendy Olsoff ’78 has adapted at every turn. So has PPOW—a Chelsea art gallery she co-founded and owns with Penny Pilkington. The Merrick, Long Island, native had a love of art before she ever came to Hobart and William Smith. But it was here that she pursued art and art history, thanks to the heavy influence of one art history professor in particular. “I majored in English and minored in art history,” Olsoff says. “The art history classes were transformative and Professor of Art Elena Ciletti inspired me. I’ve had a lot of inspirational women in my life, and I think the first one was Elena.” After graduating in 1978, Olsoff first went into teaching, but soon discovered it wasn’t her true calling. “I didn’t really know that you could have a career in art,” she says. “So I got a certificate in teaching.
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I got to New York and didn’t want to teach. I ended up working at a department store.” A friend encouraged her to go to work for a gallery. “About a year and a half out of college, I got a job at a gallery,” Olsoff says. “I met my current business partner there.” In 1983, the two opened PPOW—a mixture of their first and last initials—and never looked back. Although they have relocated more than once since first opening up shop in 1983 during the first wave of New York’s East Village art scene. “We had to leave the East Village because the art world left the East Village,” Olsoff says. “We got bigger, cheaper space in SoHo. We stayed in SoHo, then it became so overrun with tourists and retailers and the rents got so high, we moved to Chelsea.” Today, PPOW offers a summer internship program which HWS students frequently participate. “My staff knows that the HWS applicants need to be seriously
Wendy Olsoff ’78 co-founded and is the co-owner of the Chelsea art gallery PPOW in Manhattan. The gallery has a history of featuring artists who have political and social meaning in their work, from HIV/AIDS advocacy to feminist art. Each summer, Olsoff gives HWS students an inside look at life in the gallery through her internship program. PHOTO BY ANDREW MARKHAM ’10
considered,” Olsoff says, “But we hire interns from other schools, too. I want to be able to nurture them, but they have to qualify just like everyone else.” Interns at PPOW work hard and get direct experience with the work of running a gallery. Sometimes, the grunt work. “They’re assisting other staff who have more work than they can handle,” Olsoff says. “It might be helping to set up a booth at an art show, scanning articles and photography, doing inventory, wrapping and carrying paintings out to clients. All the things a beginning person would do at a gallery. They see how an art gallery really functions.” Though Olsoff doesn’t work closely with the interns herself, before the summer is finished, she takes each one out to lunch or dinner, just to have some time to talk and to dig a little deeper. “My interns aren’t coming to a gallery that just puts stuff up on the wall to sell to rich people,”
“You can have a successful career as an artist and have a strong political voice and identity.” — Wendy Olsoff ’78
Olsoff By the Numbers
P•P•O•W
8
Number of exhibit openings PPOW has held
Olsoff says. “We’re here to create a more inspiring environment. In my department store job, I was selling shirts and shoes and dresses. Even though I’m selling things now, they have to have meaning.” Through the years, she’s found meaning in representing artists whose work is inspired by the issues of our times. “The gallery has had a history of showing artists who have political and social meaning in their work. Estates of artists who have died of AIDS, like David Wojnarowicz and Martin Wong. We also show some of the most famous artists who have done work in feminism.” Olsoff herself serves on the council of the Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. As the art world evolves, becomes more connected and global, and more competitive, there are new opportunities for artists and curators, she says. And PPOW is proof that success doesn’t have to come at the expense of taking a stand on certain causes. “You can have a successful career as an artist and have a strong political voice and identity.” A successful gallery, too. Which may be why, in 2012, she and Penny Pilkington received a Visual AIDS Vanguard Award for their work in the arts and their commitment to HIV/AIDS advocacy and support of artists living with HIV. Making sure her interns understand life’s harsh realities is important to Olsoff. “The difficulty for students these days is what the art world is really about” she says. “It looks fun and exciting, but it’s long hours and low pay and very competitive. You have to have the right personality. It’s incredibly social and you have to be extremely savvy and also have a soul.” ●
number of HWS interns accepted into PPOW’s summer program
pieces of art work currently on display at PPOW
1983
year Olsoff and Penny Pilkington founded PPOW during the first wave of the East Village Art Scene in New York City
1’’ diameter dimensions of smallest piece of art in PPOW’s gallery
76
Age of oldest artist PPOW represents
2:
Number of children Osloff has
7:
Numbers of times PPOW has moved locations
6:
Number of art fairs PPOW hosted last year
2012:
92
29:
year Olsoff and Pilkington were honored with the Visual AIDS Vanguard Award recognizing their work in the arts and commitment to HIV/AIDS advocacy and support of artists living with HIV number of artists represented by PPOW
x 216”: dimensions of
1:
1.5:
the largest piece of art at PPOW
number of times Olsoff has returned to campus as a Professional In Residence number of books Olsoff has read in the last month: Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs by Sally Mann and Edgewise: A Picture of Cookie Mueller by Chloë Griffin and John Waters
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A DAY IN THE LIFE ...
Josh Horowitz ’98 braves the New York City traffic as he walks to work in Times Square.
Preparing for an interview, Horowitz fuels his funny-bone with a cup of coffee from the HWS Herald mug that sits on his desk.
AFTER HOURS 54 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
After working at the headquarters building, Horowitz takes the subway to MTV’s new office space in lower Manhattan.
Horowitz makes his final preparations before shooting an episode of After Hours for MTV.com. PHOTOS BY KEVIN COLTON
Josh Horowitz ’98 jokes around with Jennifer Morrison, star of ABC’s hit show Once Upon a Time, on his weekly podcast, “Happy, Sad, Confused.” Horowitz, who got his comedic start hosting his own talk show on WEOS, hasn’t lost his touch as he puts out “shockingly candid” conversations each week with celebrities ranging from Woody Allen to Jack Black and Daniel Radcliffe. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MTV IMAGES
Happy? Sad? Confused?
W
hen you’re climbing the pop-culture ladder as a guy with a mic, a sense of humor can take you far. From a college radio station to corny YouTube clips to the unhallowed halls of MTV. With a love of all things media and the guts to tease celebrities into highly listenable conversations, Josh Horowitz ’98 has been laughing all the way to the red carpet. It wasn’t long after he arrived on campus that Horowitz, now known for his weekly podcast, “Happy, Sad, Confused,” and as host of After Hours on MTV, was bitten by the media bug. “The first turning point for me was getting into the Herald,” Horowitz says. “I was into it in a super-heavy way by the end of my first year. I dove in head first and spent many a late night at the Herald. It was a blast. I remember being up till three or four in the morning before we went to press.” Horowitz soon made a jump from the “WEOS newsroom to the broadcast studio, starting a talk became show on WEOS in his sophomore year. “WEOS let us do anything in the form of the biggest talk,” Horowitz says. “I don’t know what came thing in my over me, maybe a moment of insanity that I could host my own show. I was a huge media and pop universe.” culture junky. If they’re letting you do your own show, I was like, ‘I’ll try that.’” “WEOS became the biggest thing in my universe,” Horowitz says, whose talk show was styled after NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Horowitz took full advantage of the station’s status as a National Public Radio affiliate, using its prominence to attract and book his own guests. An internship leads to a breakthrough gig Those early days of exposure led to some much bigger gigs—and some elbow-rubbing with some of the biggest names in entertainment. Each summer, he’d head home for break and land internships in the vast broadcasting universe of New York City, including one on PBS’ legendary Charlie Rose, where he also secured a job as a producer after graduation. “By the time I got out of school I had been hosting my own show for three years,” Horowitz says. “I definitely found my voice in college.” After four years at Charlie Rose, Horowitz tapped into the printer’s ink in his veins and worked for a string of pop-culture magazines. But
by Jonathan Everitt
the pull of broadcasting proved irresistible. He eventually returned to television, working as a producer at CNBC, where the misfortune of a low-rated program was his own little stroke of luck. “I was a producer for John McEnroe’s talk show on CNBC, notorious for being the lowest-rated show in television,” he says. “But it was a great experience. By the end of the show’s brief run, they allowed me to do some stuff on camera and do a silly character interviewing celebrities on the red carpet.” It was a spark of humor and on-camera charm that found its way to YouTube—where old video clips never die. That would be important later. Changing channels to MTV After the show was cancelled, Horowitz wrote a book, The Mind of the Modern Moviemaker, a collection of interviews with filmmakers, published in 2006 by Plume. That same year, he landed a job at MTV covering movies. Today, he’s a correspondent for MTV News, traveling the world for the network, racking up exclusive interviews with A-list actors along the way. He also hosts After Hours on MTV.com, a sketchbased show where he has some laughs with celebrity guests. In the years leading up to MTV, Horowitz had been mostly behind the scenes working as a producer. But the humorous celebrity interviews he’d done toward the end of his time at CNBC were just waiting to be watched by the right person—and they were. “My boss at MTV at the time discovered these red carpet things I had done on YouTube, and he called me in,” Horowitz says. “He said ‘These are really funny, why don’t you do these for us?’ They put me on camera and it snowballed. Within the first couple years, I started doing a whole lot of comedic and serious interviews on camera.” Then, another big break happened. MTV’s flagship host at the time, Kurt Loder, was scheduled to interview John Travolta, and couldn’t make it. “My boss asked me if I could do it, and I said ‘sure,’” Horowitz says. Since then, Horowitz has spent plenty of time hobnobbing with stars on camera, covering red-carpet shows live at events like the Sundance Festival, San Diego Comicon, SXSW, and the MTV Movie Awards. So, does the constant brush with fame rub off? He doesn’t feel like he himself has celebrity status, though people recognize him occasionally. “I was covering the premiere for the film Insurgent recently, and I definitely felt like I was recognized and appreciated, so it’s not a daily thing, but in certain contexts,” he says. Which is no doubt a subject that came up when Horowitz recently served as a major stop on the HWS student career trip, “Behind the HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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Scenes,” in NYC. Students each spring head to New York City to meet with HWS alums working in news and entertainment. It’s a chance to see their work life firsthand. Horowitz enjoys supporting the efforts of the Colleges to open doors—and eyes—to the professional world. “The students were asking the right questions,” he says. “And they had it more together than I did.” A quirky, hilarious podcast takes off Outside of his work at MTV, Horowitz does a podcast series of his own. The shtick: interview celebrities, close out the conversation with an oddball questionnaire, and shoot a series of spontaneous photos in which his guests pose successively as happy, sad and confused. If it sounds weird, it is—and also hilarious and wildly popular with the public. “It began as a photo thing and now it’s a photo thing and a podcast,” Horowitz says. “In early 2013, I was talking to Jessica Chastain about Zero Dark Thirty, and I remember thinking that journalists often have photos taken with talent and it’s super cheesy. I have a big BS meter. So I was trying to come up with a self-aware, silly version of that. I asked Jessica to do three photos: happy, sad and confused.” He kept the theme going at the Toronto Film Festival that year, and the formula evolved into a podcast. “It’s a really direct descendent of the radio show I was doing at WEOS,” Horowitz says. “At MTV, I have the opportunity to do that sometimes, but I don’t often get the chance to sit down with someone for a long time. By now I have good relationships with talent and publicists, and about a year ago, I started doing it at my office at MTV.” A startup digital publisher, Wolfpop, recently approached Horowitz about adding his podcast to their lineup, and he agreed. With a dream job, a fun side gig, and a book under his belt, there’s one question that needs no answer. Happy. ●
By the Numbers
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Were you ever grounded and for what? I basically skipped an entire year of high school. I didn’t drink, I didn’t smoke, but my freshman year of high school, I decided not to go to school. Virtually the entire year, I skipped school. For months at a time, I convinced my parents that I was going, then I’d get caught and I’d get grounded. I would impersonate a guidance counselor on the phone and tell them the note in the mail was wrong. People tell me I look like ______. My mother-in-law says I look like Jake Gyllenhaal. I’ve also had a fair number of tweets about my resemblance to Edward Snowden. I’ll take Gyllenhaal over Snowden. What was your favorite TV show as a kid? My favorite sitcom of all time is Cheers. I also loved the Greatest American Hero. What is the least favorite part of your week? The anticipation before an interview. I tend to over-prepare and stress and overthink and assume it’s going to go badly. Nine times out of 10, it goes very well.
6:
5: number of times
Horowitz has seen the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road
60:
number of minutes Horowitz spent interviewing the film’s writer, director and producer, George Miller
@joshuahorowitz Twitter followers
number of days spent traveling for work in 2014
Horowitz often puts his guests on the spot with left-field questions, but they’re good sports. So is he. Here are some responses to some curveballs of our own.
age of Horowitz when his grandfather made him leave the film Mad Max: Road Warrior after just 15 minutes.
79,300
75
HAPPY, SAD, CONFUSED: A Q&A
220
number of minutes on recorded podcasts per month
627:
Instagram photos posted by Horowitz. 6: Instagram photos featuring actor Daniel Radcliffe.
(sketch of Horowitz by his producer, Joel Hanek, on his office white board)
62
number of happy, sad, confused interviews completed
2: breath mints consumed
number of minutes spent laughing on air before heading to the red carpet. (estimated)
1: number of
times Horowitz has interviewed Mark Wahlberg in Hong Kong.
7: Number of
times Horowitz has covered the Academy Awards.
“My goal is to help athletes reach excellence in and out of their sport, and self-awareness is the first step and key to reaching personal and professional excellence.”
PHOTOS BY KEVIN COLTON
Empowering Excellence by Jessica Evangelista Balduzzi ’05
“W
illiam Smith was an empowering experience,” says Tiffany Jones ’99. “As a student athlete, I was able to develop leadership skills on and off the field. To this day, the culture at the Colleges allows student athletes to achieve both their academic and athletic goals. ” Growing up, Jones loved sports, but knew she would never have an opportunity to play professionally. With a burning need to keep athletics in her life and a natural desire to help others, Jones, a double major in psychology and English with a minor in women’s studies, earned an M.S. and Doctorate with a specialization in sport psychology from Springfield College. Today Jones, a four-time women’s soccer varsity letter winner and center midfielder in two NCAA Final Four Championships at William Smith, is a sport psychology consultant and the president of X-Factor Performance Consulting, a firm that helps athletes of all ages develop mental and life skills. Through innovative workshops and creative individual sport psychology training programs, X-Factor provides their clients with the skills and training they need to compete in every aspect of their “game.” “My goal is to help athletes reach excellence in and out of their sport, and self-awareness is the first step and key to reaching personal and professional excellence,” says Jones. “I look at the personality, behaviors, strengths, weaknesses, motivators and beliefs that shape their sport experiences. An athlete must take care of his or her emotional needs before achieving success on
the field. Mental toughness, or how an athlete responds when something goes wrong on the field, is the most important thing I can teach.” Jones’ tough love approach has allowed her to work with professional athletes, national programs, colleges and universities, high schools and youth programs from around the country to prepare athletes for life’s transitions after sports. A certified consultant for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP-CC), Jones was the consultant for the USA U-20 Women’s National Soccer Teams (World Cup Champions 2008; 2010), Women’s Professional Soccer, National Football Foundation, Empowering Sports, LLC, and Ultimate Gymnastics. She is in the process of completing her first book, The Jones Method: Reaching personal and athletic excellence by implementing sport psychology techniques. Throughout her career, Jones has returned to the Hobart and William Smith campus every fall and spring to lend her expertise to the William Smith Athletics Department. During both team and individual sessions with the Herons, Jones addresses topics like mental toughness, managing emotions and anxiety, decreasing negative thoughts, motivation, controlling the controllables, and developing effective communication between coaches and athletes. “I love coming back to the Colleges,” says Jones. “It’s like Disneyland for athletes. The coaches are educated, passionate and receptive to new ideas. The Herons are competitive, results orientated and passionate about their lives post William Smith athletics.” ●
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PHOTO BY ANDREW MARKHAM ’10
At Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Gaines advises employers on all aspects of executive compensation and employee benefit plans and their treatment in corporate transactions and in bankruptcy. He counsels investment fund sponsors and large institutional pension investors, and represents employers and executives in the negotiation of employment and severance agreements. He is also a frequent writer and lecturer on executive compensation and employee benefits topics. A national expert on executive compensation and employee benefits, for the past four consecutive years, Andy Gaines ’83 has been recognized as a “leading individual” in Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation by Chambers USA, which called him “technically sound, responsive and practical.” He also has been recognized by Legal 500 USA, The Best Lawyers in America and by the PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook.
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An Affinity For Law by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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n the fall of 2014, Trustee Andrew Gaines ’83 put out the call for alumni and alumnae to join the HWS Law Affinity Group—“a club essentially, for lawyers who practice in the metro New York City area who went to the Colleges,” says Gaines, a senior partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in the firm’s Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice. With approximately 300 HWS graduates who are practicing lawyers in the area, the affinity group offers “a chance to reconnect with classmates and other alums of all ages, all types of practices, people in big firms, people who work for themselves, for corporations,” Gaines says. The model thus far has been to meet “a few times a year and get a speaker from the Colleges as we develop the group. At the inaugural meeting we invited President Mark D. Gearan to speak and Professor of Philosophy Scott Brophy ’78 talked to the group about the pre-law counseling program.” Gaines, who was raised along with his siblings by a single mother, “was fairly certain I was headed to a state school,” he says. “But fortunately for me I had a guidance counselor who heard HWS was stepping up financial aid and suggested that I throw an application in there. I was able to go to Hobart for the same cost as a SUNY and I’ve always appreciated that. I also met my wife, Monica Wolf Gaines ’84, at school so a lot of my life revolves around the Colleges. I felt that as a result that I had a responsibility to give back.” While he hopes that the Law Affinity Group eventually “grows large enough that we can fundraise and can have an impact on the Colleges in that sense, what I’m learning is that there are lots of ways to offer support, particularly in light of some of the new programs the Colleges have instituted. HWS has a big pre-law program and a lot of students interested in going to law school. An organized group of alums in the legal profession who could be available to undergrads for mentoring would obviously be very helpful – with guidance and insight into the profession, contacts at law schools, and with internships.” “We have lots of HWS grads who are lawyers, and lots of HWS students who want to be lawyers,” he says. “A lot of our alums work at very prestigious companies and already provide wonderful, vital opportunities for students to see the working world. I hope this Law Affinity Group can be an extension of that and provide a resource and opportunity for both students and alums.” ●
History in a Heartbeat by Avery Share ’15
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ost people would have trouble understanding the purpose for objects like 18th-century European apothecary jars or surgical instruments from Ancient Rome. But for Judy Chelnick ’76, associate curator in the Division of Medicine and Science at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, weaving a story out of something like an old pill bottle or the preliminary instrumentation used on premature babies in neonatal intensive care units is what she calls, “a lot of fun.” “Not everybody is that keen about medical instrumentation,” Chelnick says. “But it’s a thrill that these things have survived, and some of them in wonderful condition. The fact that somebody thought that they were important enough to save for the future is fascinating.” Chelnick, who has had a special interest in cardiology throughout her career, is currently in the first stages of curating objects for an exhibit on the history of artificial heart valves set to come out in August 2016. The process for putting together any exhibit, she says, is about finding the story you want the objects to tell. For the history of artificial heart valves, the story has a lot to do with finding suitable materials. “Physicians worked a long time to find materials that are compatible with the body and that would not be rejected,” she says. Whether she’s working with cardiology equipment or researching a denture found from the Civil War period, Chelnick says that after 27 years at the Smithsonian, there still is “no typical day.” And for her, that’s one of the best parts about her job. Other days are spent collaborating with colleagues on new exhibitions and supervising interns. She is also a member of the National Museum of American History’s Collections Committee which acts as an advisory body to the associate director for curatorial affairs on collection development, including acquisitions, outgoing loans, deaccessions, and disposals. Not only does she give tours to students and tourists who visit the Smithsonian, but as a
Professional in Residence for the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education, she’s also dedicated to mentoring HWS students. “I want to be able to help students,” she says. “When I was a student, there wasn’t a career development center like there is now, and I didn’t really have anyone to talk to. I know a lot of people who want to work in museums but they don’t really know how go about doing it, so I want to be able to help ease the way for them.” Although she didn’t have career services at her disposal, Chelnick says that the “superb history department” was instrumental in her decision to pursue a career in museums. In particular, she says it was her “Artifacts in American Culture,” an American studies course that changed the way she looked at everything. “I started looking at clocks on the wall, I started looking at molding, it just gave me a different perspective of how to look at things and why things were made out of what they were made of and why they were designed a certain way,” Chelnick says. “And everything just grew from there.” ●
Judy Chelnick ’76, associate curator in the Division of Medicine and Science at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History examines a 15th-century Italian albarello drug jar. In the background is Yorik, the bionic skeleton. PHOTO BY STEVE BARRETT
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Giving Back: One Cigar at a Time by Jonathan Everitt
Joel Sherman sits with his children, Bill ’85, Michele and Larry Sherman ’92 in their family cigar shop, Nat Sherman, Inc. in New York City. Founded by their grandfather in 1930, Bill and Larry are the third generation of Shermans to work at the shop, where they are both executive vice presidents. Firm believers that life’s biggest moments deserve a fine cigar, the brothers give every graduating Hobart senior an official Hobart Cigar at the annual Hobart Launch each spring.
PHOTO BY DAVID YELLEN
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T
wo brothers who both came been savoring the smell of success for the only contributions the Brothers through Hobart College more years, frequently recognized as one of Sherman have made to the Colleges. than 20 years ago are now busy the finest cigar makers in the country. They’ve had their share of interns from making their mark on the family And the Hobart Cigar remains one the HWS—and at least one employee is a business. Just like the family business brothers’ favorite offerings. HWS grad. now makes its mark on their alma “We’ve created a lot of other “Larry and I are both appreciative mater. products, but it still has a very near and of what Hobart meant for us,” Bill says. Since 2004, Bill ’85 and Larry dear place in our heart, and it’s one of “We’ve been very supportive of the Sherman ’92, both executive vice our best sellers. It’s also one I enjoy Colleges, and helped sponsor events presidents of Nat Sherman, Inc. in going back to,” Larry says. for alums at the townhouse,” he adds, New York City, have been giving their Giving their products names referring to the flagship store and cigar company’s affectionately named that speak to their uniqueness as a lounge on 42nd Street in Manhattan. And the way they earned their place in Hobart Cigar as a signature element business? That’s a family tradition, too. the family business can be a lesson for of The Hobart Launch, an annual “It goes back to what makes our recent graduates, too. ceremony in which soon-to-be Hobart company special,” Bill says. “Instead “Our father had a rule for all of us. graduates are welcomed into the of just using traditional names, like The family business is always there for brotherhood of Hobart alumni. Churchill, we’ve taken a unique you, but before you do that you have to “It’s something that came from a approach to our cigars and named go out on your own,” Larry says. conversation,” Larry says. “And once you’ve done that in “The Hobart Cigar was your own right, you’re welcome introduced in the mid-90s. to join the family business.” In 2004, Jared Weeden ’91 “He encouraged us to start in Alumni Relations reached outside of the family business,” out to me to ask about Bill says. “He told us, ‘If you only including the Hobart Cigar learn from me, you’ll only know in The Hobart Launch, and as much as I do.’ Those values I told him I’d be more than help us contribute more to the happy to support that. It’s family business.” a tradition that we as a Bill, a history major, went to family are ecstatic about work for an advertising company participating in.” that specialized in point-of During The Hobart purchase signage while Larry, an Launch, each class member English major, first ventured into is handed a replica of the the executive travel business, paddle of Chief Agayentah, Nat Sherman, Inc. cigars and replicas of the paddle of Chief followed by a stint at Polo Ralph a legendary Seneca Indian Agayentah are given to graduating seniors at the Hobart Launch. Lauren. warrior who died on Seneca But both men returned to Lake. At the conclusion of the family company with a broader the event, attendees also receive the them for things that are more indicative official Hobart cigar, compliments of of who our company is and who we are perspective on work and business— and more to offer their colleagues. Nat Sherman, Inc. as a family.” “Our family is very close,” Larry Having a cigar to punctuate life’s When you’re a Sherman, family biggest moments is a long-cherished traditions run deep. In fact, a fresh crop says. “So even though we were all branching out and exploring other practice—one the brothers say of family members is enrolled or on the things, one thing that always drew us heightens the significance of the day. way to HWS. back was the closeness of our family “Smoking a cigar can be a very “The next generation of our family and the chance to work with our personal experience, but it can also be is starting to go to HWS,” Larry says. siblings and our mother and father. something that brings people together,” “It was thrilling to write a letter of We can talk about it around the family Larry explains. “Something for recommendation for my nephew. And dinner table.” ● graduating seniors to share together. I have another nephew who’s already The smell of it, the ceremony.” there.” Founded by Bill and Larry’s Inspiring enrollment and providing grandfather in 1930, Nat Sherman has personal financial support aren’t
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managing markit by Andrew Wickenden ’09
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anaging director and co-head of information at Markit, a leading diversified provider of financial information services, Calvin, “Chip” Carver Jr. ’81 has been a member of the HWS Board of Trustees for the past 13 years, where he has served on the Financial Affairs Committee, as well as the Audit and Investment Committees. After earning a B.A. in economics from Hobart College, Carver received an M.B.A. from New York University. Carver regularly works with Hobart and William Smith interns and alums, and returns to campus to mentor students. Here, he shares his thoughts on what sets HWS students apart, what excites him about the financial marketplace and what informs his multifaceted engagement with the Colleges.
.................................................................................. On working with HWS students and graduates… “In the business environment, there’s a lot of pressure on kids to decide what they’re interested in and what they want to do out of college,” Carver says. “I know I had no clue what I wanted to do and I had the benefit of exposure to professional life via my dad and my parents’ friends.” Carver, a regular fixture of the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education’s Professionals in Residence Series, emphasizes that “because we put pressure on kids to make those decisions, every time you can expose them to the workplace is extremely important.”
And having hosted more than a dozen interns at Markit—many of whom have gone on to become full-time employees—Carver continues to look for students with a liberal arts education.
And having hosted more than a dozen interns at Markit—many of whom have gone on to become full-time employees— Carver continues to look for students with a liberal arts education.
“Especially at HWS,” he says, “students are able to communicate both orally and through written word. They’re able to research and understand a particular problem. After they’re able to come through that analysis, they’re comfortable reaching conclusions and making decisions.”
PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
three divisions; Information, Processing and Solutions which provide products that enhance transparency, reduce risk and improve operational efficiency across all financial asset classes. Its client base includes several significant institutional participants in the financial marketplace, and has won numerous awards for its product innovation and technology development.
“To develop the product and take it all the way through, become successful and actually start to make money was pretty exciting.”
On business, people and business people… “Any job you have is going to involve people,
Carver joined the company in 2008 when Markit acquired SwapsWire, the electronic trade confirmation network for over the counter derivative markets, where he was CEO. When he joined Markit, Carver was co-head of the processing division and later served as COO, managing the firm’s global technology development and infrastructure activities. The Information Division, where his energies are now focused, provides indices, pricing data, reference data and analytical tools for a wide range of asset classes and markets.
Earlier in his career, after Goldman Sachs invested in SwapsWire, “they didn’t really have a product and certainly didn’t have any revenue,” Carver says. “To develop the product and take it all the way through, become successful and actually start to make money was pretty exciting. I get to do that at Markit quite a bit. We start a new project or get a new product and it’s essentially a new business.”
which makes it fun but challenging,” Carver says. “You have to understand how people are approaching a particular problem, how you can help them arrive at a conclusion, and how you can help—whether they are employees or investors or your clients.”
On traveling… Carver spends a lot of time in the air, commuting to Markit’s London offices from his home in New Jersey.
Markit employs about 3,700 people worldwide, with 19 offices around the globe including London, Chicago and New York. The company operates
“Most people look at the commute and say it must be a big drain,” Carver says, but he’s quick to point out that if you add up the commuting time, the trip
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to London is less than he was commuting from New Jersey to Manhattan each week. “I was sleeping rather than driving and doing it all at once,” he says, adding that when he first started that commute in 2002, “I made sure every weekend I was back home or a member of my family was in London with me. I also made sure I stayed on U.K. time, which basically allowed me to function because I wasn’t changing sleep patterns. You get really good at knowing when to get to the airport and which seat you want.”
On having fun at work… “My first job out of college was not very exciting,” Carver admits. “It was near Wall Street but hardly had anything to do with finance. As I sat there, I realized what I was doing wasn’t what I wanted to do and not where I wanted to go.” After earning his MBA at NYU, which he says, “took me to that next level,” Carver joined Citibank before moving to a managing director role at Goldman Sachs, where he managed fixed income derivatives trading and was responsible for e-commerce for global interest rate products, including “When I went from Citibank to government bonds and fixed Goldman Sachs, I arrived when incomes derivatives.
they had one single position
“When I went from Citibank to in over the counter derivatives Goldman Sachs, I arrived when they had one single position across the whole firm. And when in over the counter derivatives I left there were thousands of across the whole firm,” Carver positions and it was a significant recalls. “And when I left there were thousands of positions P&L business after 12 years.” and it was a significant P&L business after 12 years. Starting a business literally from scratch in terms of everything you need to run— from an operational standpoint, people, systems—to be involved in all those aspects of it, that was exciting. And then to be able to actually operate the business and trade for many years was also a lot of fun.”
On social justice engagement…
Named for Carver’s father and created in memory of Carver’s brother, the Calvin R. Carver Sr. Lecture and Student Support Endowment at HWS has helped shape an environment on campus to address the challenges of social justice and mental health. Carver and his wife, Anne DeLaney, established the lecture series in the spring of 2012 with two primary objectives: (1) to bring to campus each year one speaker who addresses a topic intended to promote inclusiveness, resiliency, positive mental health and social justice; and (2) to assist students who may be experiencing mental or physical health difficulties stemming from developmental, personal or family circumstances. In 2013, the endowment, in conjunction with the President’s Forum Series, brought gay rights advocate Judy Shepard to campus. After losing her son, Matthew Shepard, to murder motivated by anti-gay hate, Shepard set out on an enduring course to prevent her son’s fate from happening to others. “My brother was gay and was a couple years younger than me, and the 1980s wasn’t the easiest time to be gay and open about it,” Carver says. “I realized that he struggled saying he was gay to me because of assumptions about what I might think, which is really sad.” His brother also suffered from addiction, and reflecting on his brother’s death, Carver notes that “people shouldn’t be in those situations, and if they do find themselves in those situations, we should be able to provide assistance. My dad is an extremely kind and understanding person who would gladly help anyone facing those kinds of adversities, which is why we named the series after him.” “It’s important to have a public forum where these issues are talked about openly,” Carver adds, “which hopefully will make it easier for an individual to seek help.” ●
By the Numbers
10
number of HWS interns who have been hired by Markit in the past two years
1.9M 100
Markit’s position on Institutional Investor’s 2014 Technology Trading 40 list
number of CDS daily quotes Markit handles per day
number of years Carver commuted between his office in London, England and his home in Morristown, New Jersey before moving to London full-time in 2014
number of Little League games Carver coached in Morristown, N.J. while commuting to London, England
10
number of years that Carver has worn his favorite orange Hobart hat (although he is on his 4th version)
number of NCAA Division III National Championship teams who use the Carver-Delaney Team Rooms
number of times Carver and his family have traveled to Africa to help establish a school through the Global Literacy Project
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by Avery Share ’15
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rmed with a “fire” to make a difference in people’s lives, Drury MacKenzie ’03 has dedicated her entrepreneurial drive to finding a business solution for one of the most pressing issues in underdeveloped countries across the globe – finding reliable sources of energy. “My first entrepreneurial experience was in the Peace Corps,” says MacKenzie, who, after graduating from William Smith, was assigned to a rural mountain area in the south eastern part of Haiti. “With no outside money or investments, you have to be resourceful and make stuff happen.” MacKenzie has been working to “make stuff happen” ever since her service in the Peace Corps was cut short due to a coup that required evacuation from the region. Since then, she has returned to Haiti on her own “too many times to count,” as well as worked extensively in Africa and in nations around the world to bring innovative energy solutions to areas with poor infrastructure and unreliable energy. Haiti, in particular, has been the focus of much of her work. “The country just kind of drew me in,” says the cum laude economics major. “Haiti was a very big part of who I’ve become since I left HWS, and it was also the inspiration to go to business school and start my first business, RenewEn, which was focused on Haiti and other developing countries.” Founded in 2009, RenewEn was born from MacKenzie’s idea to bring a pay-as-you-go energy system to homes and businesses in the off-grid market in Haiti. To turn her idea into a tangible product, MacKenzie attended IE Business School in Madrid, Spain and then hired an industrial design lab in San Francisco to design what is essentially a “smart battery system” that can be charged by anything from a diesel energy system to a solar panel. “I wanted an energy system that would be appropriate for Haitian needs and their infrastructure,” MacKenzie says. “It’s one thing to be an American coming in and saying, ‘This is what they need,’ and it’s another to look at the reality to see what people really need and what’s appropriate.” Today, MacKenzie is still working to bring reliable energy to underdeveloped countries, while also focused on strategy research consulting through her new company, Pando Synergy LLC. Pando Synergy leverages technology to leap-frog incumbent fixed infrastructure in hopes of democratizing access to basic services while empowering small businesses and consumers to save money and resources. And it’s this lesson that MacKenzie wants the next generation of HWS entrepreneurs to learn. As part of the Colleges’ Centennial Center for Leadership’s 2015 Stu Lieblein ‘90 Pitch Contest selection committee, MacKenzie made sure that those who participated in the entrepreneurial competition realized their potential to turn their ideas into something lasting. “It was amazing to see these students thinking about making something happen, and then going through the process of how to actually make it happen operationally and strategically,” MacKenzie says. “I discovered my passion for social entrepreneurship at HWS, and since then,” she says, “I’ve learned to never underestimate the power of making a difference.” ●
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PHOTO BY GREG SEARLES ’13
Entrepreneurial Empathy
Lessons for a Lifetime by Andrew Wickenden ’09 hen I first arrived at the Colleges, the new curriculum had just been instituted,” says Paul Birkby ’76. “And I remember hearing from the faculty: ‘the most important thing we can teach our students is how to teach themselves.’ That has stayed with me throughout my life.” It’s a message that Birkby, a librarian and media specialist at Penfield High School near Rochester, N.Y., passes along to his own students today. After earning his B.A. at Hobart and his J.D. at Rutgers University, Birkby practiced law in New Jersey for several years before realizing that his true calling was working with children. “One of the things I noticed as an attorney was that many folks who needed my services hadn’t developed good critical thinking skills, and that if they’d been able to think more critically, the difficulties they had gotten into might have been avoided,” Birkby says. Birkby returned to Central New York with his family, and having volunteered at his children’s schools, decided that rather than taking another bar exam, he wanted to work with students to help foster their growth into healthy adults. He entered the master’s of library science program at the University of Buffalo and soon after began his career as a school librarian. “One of the things I like about my role as a school librarian is that I get to see growth over four years, both intellectual growth and social and emotional growth,” says Birkby, who worked for 13 years at the elementary level before taking his current position at Penfield High School. When his partner (now-husband) was transferred to Atlanta, Birkby took a year’s leave of absence but says, “It didn’t take me long to realize that I am a northeastern boy.” When he returned to Penfield, there was an open position at the high school, and although he arrived to secondary education with some trepidation, within months, Birkby says, “I got very comfortable. Many of the kids I had taught in elementary school were now in high school, and in those first few years, it was amazing and fulfilling to see these kids maturing.” Now, having been at the high school for the past nine years, “I can’t imagine going back to elementary,” says Birkby, who is the faculty adviser to the Class of 2015 and to the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. “The social and emotional side to teenagers is as important to me as their academic growth. At the elementary level, I knew there were kids whose orientation and gender identity would someday become an issue, but I didn’t feel equipped to help them address that. At the high school level, I am much more able to help them, and working with students is very fulfilling.” Birkby was recognized in 2014 for his service with the WROC Golden Apple Award, for which he was nominated by a current Penfield High student. He is on the Board of Directors of Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley and has facilitated or co-facilitated Safe Zone training courses through the area, including within the Penfield School District and recently for resident assistants at Hobart and William Smith. “It’s important for me to give back,” says Birkby, who trained HWS students on LGBT vocabulary, the Cass Identity Model and helped answer questions through role played scenarios. “I’m fond of saying that Hobart and William Smith, in addition to outstanding academics, taught me how to be an adult,” he says. ●
“One of the things I like about my role as a school librarian is that I get to see growth over four years, both intellectual growth and social and emotional growth.” —Paul Birkby ’76
PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
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“The connections to HWS always pop up – whether it’s a fellow alumna wearing William Smith gear on a run in Central Park or spotting someone sporting an HWS hat at a Whole Foods.” — Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk ’98
“M by Steven Bodnar
y connection with the Colleges didn’t end at graduation,” says Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk ’98. “It’s a lifelong relationship that is part of my identity.” Currently president of the William Smith Alumnae Association, Jarmoszuk’s deep appreciation for the Colleges began when she first arrived on campus. It was at the Colleges, Jarmoszuk says, where she discovered that with hard work and determination, she could achieve her goals. “When I first visited HWS, I felt like everything fit the minute I walked onto campus,” says Jarmoszuk, a lifelong resident of New York City who serves as chief of staff for the senior vice president of development at New York University. “Now, when I return to campus – that drive back – in a way, it makes me feel like I’m going home.” 66 Pulteney Street Survey | Summer 2015
PHOTO BY GREG SEARLES ’13
The Gift of Giving
At HWS, Jarmoszuk served as a student trustee. She worked in the William Smith Dean’s Office, which in addition to her academic work as a political science major, gave her confidence and experience, as well as the chance to grow as a student leader. She was presented with the Gloria Robinson Lowry ’52 Award, established in honor of Lowry, the first African American woman admitted to William Smith. “I definitely found my voice at the Colleges and honed in on the things that I’m interested in,” Jarmoszuk says. “I learned very early on that you have to play to your strengths and the things that you’re good at – the things one personally values.” Even though her time in Geneva went by in a blink, she says that what she gained from the Colleges has stayed with her. “My education allowed me to accomplish a lot in my life, and I’ve carried the relationships I developed at the Colleges with me.” Before joining NYU, Jarmoszuk worked on Wall Street for a decade, including as an investment strategist at Neuberger Berman and in various positions at Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank and Sanford C. Bernstein. She’s also the former director of Institutional Philanthropy at the New York Women’s Foundation. Since graduation, Jarmoszuk has made an enduring commitment to the Colleges, serving on the William Smith Alumnae Council since 2009 and as a volunteer with the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education, helping students land positions and internships at leading companies in the finance industry. “I have always found it important to give back,” she says. “Specifically, to the Annual Fund.” Jarmoszuk says that even in a city of more than eight million, seeing a reminder of HWS worn by an alum shows the depth and extent of the alumni and alumnae network. “The connections to HWS always pop up – whether it’s a fellow alumna wearing William Smith gear on a run in Central Park or spotting someone sporting an HWS hat at a Whole Foods.” “The Colleges are a unique place,” Jarmoszuk says. “We have a rich and unique history and every single person who attends or graduates is part of that history and we take that with us along the way, wherever we go. We all share this common bond.” ●
By the Numbers
270
number of miles from Jarmoszuk’s home in NYC to Geneva
3
number of times Jarmoszuk has returned to campus this year alone
14
number of HWS clothing items Jarmoszuk owns
15 +
number of alums she has seen wearing HWS gear in NYC in the past year
3
number of seconds it took for Jarmoszuk to fall in love with HWS awards Gabi on the Roof, a film Jarmoszuk co-produced, won at the 2010 Brooklyn International Film Festival
12.5
number of miles Jarmoszuk ran in this year’s Seneca 7 Race with fellow William Smith alumnae
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From the heart of Ground Zero by Jonathan Everitt
G PHOTOS BY AMY DREHER, COURTESY 9/11 MEMORIAL
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rowing up in Syracuse, N.Y., Amy Dreher ’93 had an eye for things that are unjust and a desire to make things right. In the 1980s, Syracuse was a struggling city and Dreher was drawn to the people and places experiencing profound crisis. These early encounters led to a career in the non-profit sector working at a string of agencies and organizations, from the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ithaca, N.Y., to the New York City-based Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) and Lambda Legal. Today, she works for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. But her journey to Manhattan began many years earlier, with a community college professor who encouraged her to consider Hobart and William Smith Colleges. “Her husband taught at HWS, so she suggested I go look at it, and the rest is history,” Dreher says. After transferring to William Smith, Dreher combined her interest in art, culture and social justice in an individual major that encompassed studio art, art history and women’s studies. Degree in hand, Dreher first went to work in Ithaca and later New York City, where she now lives, to continue her career in the non-profit world. On September 11, 2001, she was working at Lambda Legal in downtown Manhattan. “I was five or six blocks from the World Trade Center,” Dreher says. “I was late for work, but I was at the office that morning and walked out with the rest of the staff.” Like millions of Americans, Dreher felt inspired to do something to help the country heal and rebuild. And in 2005, Dreher took a position with the 9/11 Memorial—the centerpiece of the rebuilding effort of the original 16-acre World Trade Center site.
PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
Amy Dreher ’93 stands in front of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
By the Numbers 3,000,000 and counting Visitors to the National September 11 Memorial Museum since opening in May 2014
110,000: square feet of exhibition space located within the heart of the World Trade Center site
59,000 followers on @Sept11Memorial, the official Twitter source for The National September 11 Memorial and Museum.
#Honor911 #NeverForget
6
number of blocks Dreher was from the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001
80:
Number of Dreher’s images featured at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan’s exhibition, “Remember and Rebuild: Picturing the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Photographs by Amy Dreher”
“I was brought in to manage the direct mail campaign and the donor database,” Dreher says, “A few years into that work, people knew I always had my camera with me, so I started nudging to see if I could help document the construction. And that led me to a different sort of understanding of the project.” From there, Dreher had the opportunity to serve as the 9/11 Memorial’s staff photographer during the construction of the Memorial Plaza and the first year the Memorial was open. Her images chronicle the transformation that took place behind construction barriers, and sometimes under cover of darkness. “It was a fascinating thing to be in the middle of this place known for its great sorrow, watching it being rebuilt and meeting the people doing it,” she explains. Dreher remembers the night that iron workers delivered and installed two surviving tridents from the base of one of the fallen towers. “They brought in these huge pieces of steel, these tridents, and it was amazing to watch these iron workers placing them. Taking the pieces off of the flatbed and assembling them for the Museum,” Dreher says. Equally emotional was a massive planting project that now rings the Memorial with mature trees. “The first night of tree-planting was a bonding moment for many of us working at the Memorial,” Dreher recalls. “It happened at night, behind a blue fence that surrounded the site, so it didn’t look like anything was happening. But once people saw the plaza, they understood what had taken place.” And her personal story is one that resonates with today’s HWS students, which is why she gladly offered to be part of the Colleges’ Career Services Non-Profit Day. This spring, Dreher hosted a group of HWS students at the Memorial, where she shared her advice and answered questions. The students then laid flowers on the names of the three Hobart graduates who died in the September 11 attacks – Andrew Golkin ’93, Scott Rohner ’01 and Michael Simon ’83, P’11, P’13. The students raised smart questions and Dreher responded with her own practical wisdom. “They wanted to know what it’s like to work at an emotionally intense non-profit, and I’ve worked at a few of them,” she says. “We talked about the strain that can put on a person, and how you navigate moving forward. And we talked about how to find a way to do the things you want to do.” Like, sometimes, you have to sneak out and be the photographer. And eventually, it pays off. Dreher found that after years of capturing the remarkable images that came out of tragedy, she now has the fulfillment of documenting a living memorial where people can pay their respects. “To see visitors come up and touch the parapets with the names, it’s incredibly powerful,” she says. “The families finally have a place they can visit.” ●
year the “Survivor Tree,” a pear tree discovered at Ground Zero severely damaged, with snapped roots and burned and broken branches, was replanted at the Memorial as a living reminder of resilience, survival and rebirth
23,000 still images in the Museum Collection, which also contains over 500 hours of video, 12,500 artifacts, more than 1,990 oral histories and more than 2,100 archival documents
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STATES
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Giving Back, Together
E 1970
Thomas L. O’Connor ’95 and Sarah Daniels O’Connor ’95 with their children (l-r) Mary Kate, Grace, and Tommy.
by Steven Bodnar
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teams. Following graduation, they have invested homas L. O’Connor ’95 and Sarah Daniels in the Colleges to benefit future generations of O’Connor ’95 know well that gaining an student-athletes. edge on the field or court can make a Together, they established The O’Connor difference in the highly competitive arena of Golf Award, an endowed honor given to a collegiate sports. It’s one of many reasons the Hobart golfer who demonstrates significant former student-athletes turned board members improvement, untiring perseverance and the will of the Statesmen Athletic Association (SAA) to win during a season or career. Harry Hagen and Heron Society, respectively, know that even ’16 is the 2014-15 recipient. a small gift can make a lasting impact. “It’s really a good time to remain “It’s just so important to show involved at the Colleges,” Tom says. support for the different programs “Whether it’s the “I always look forward to getting get at HWS that mean so much to us,” SAA or the Heron back to campus and connecting with says Tom, a senior vice president Society, we want students and coaches, while staying at PBF Energy, a major petroleum to make sure that up to speed with what’s happening refiner and supplier. “Whether it’s HWS teams stay overall at HWS.” the SAA or the Heron Society, we competitive at Sarah says that giving back to want to make sure that HWS teams the regional and the Colleges is a personal choice, stay competitive at the regional and national levels, and particularly because the Colleges have national levels, and that students that students and given so much to her. “HWS is where I and coaches have as much support coaches have as as we can give them.” much support as we learned to think critically and where I learned to push myself physically and For the O’Connors, of can give them.” mentally,” Sarah reflects. “HWS has a Riverside, Conn., HWS athletics special place in my life.” have been a significant part of Sarah began her commitment to giving to their lives since they were students. Sarah the Colleges as a student. She was a member played lacrosse all four years, while Tom was of the Senior Gift Committee, The Stewardson a member of the Hobart golf and basketball
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Society, which brings together members of the senior classes to present a gift to HWS upon their graduation. Sarah says that in the years that followed, she knew she wanted to stay involved with William Smith Athletics. “I saw the incredible support current students were receiving from the Heron Society and I knew that by starting off small I could stay connected,” she says. She says she’s seen the residual benefits of giving in action, whether the support goes to new and better equipment or to the Herons’ Peak Performance Plan that emphasizes leadership, empowerment and education for William Smith student-athletes. The O’Connors say there’s a real pride in continuing to stay connected with current student-athletes – making sure that the teams have as much support as possible and the resources to compete at the highest levels. “The Colleges are very special,” Tom says. “We want to see them continue to thrive.” ●
A Lifetime of Gifts by Jessica Evangelista Balduzzi ’05
T
hrough the Annual Fund, Hobart and William Smith students are supported every year by the generosity of donors who believe students’ futures are worth the investment. Since graduating from the Colleges, alumnus Grady Jensen ’44, P’83, L.H.D. ’04 and alumna Katharyn “Kay” Schofield Martens ’46, P’72, have made giving to the Annual Fund a priority. They are respectively, Hobart and William Smith’s longest consecutive donors.
“In the spring of 1940, Elon Howard Eaton, Jr., son of HWS Professor of Biology Elon Howard Eaton and a teacher at the private country day school I attended in Pittsburgh, Pa., took Vic Maitland ’44, Ted Morrison ’44 and me to Hobart for fall weekend. We had a wonderful time and I knew right then that Hobart was where I’d attend college. Those years were some of the happiest of my life, and it’s been my pleasure to give back to the Colleges all that they’ve given me.”
—Grady Jensen ’44, P’83, L.H.D. ’04
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t Hobart, Jensen earned his first-year numerals in football, played lacrosse, served as literary editor of the yearbook, and was a member of Kappa Sigma. After graduation, he became a pilot in the U.S. Navy, and subsequently earned his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania. During a career that spanned nearly 50 years, Jensen worked for Chase Manhattan, American Express, The Harwood Companies, New York University and Columbia University, retiring in 1996 as executive director of senior personnel employment. Since then, Jensen has given back to his alma mater through his work as Alumni Trustee, vice president and president of the Hobart Club of New York, six-time Reunion Coordinator, member of the Hobart Sesquicentennial Steering Committee, and class correspondent. In 2009, after 29 years of patient and persistent following, he acquired, refurbished and donated artifacts from the S.S.HOBART VICTORY, a World War II Victory ship, now on permanent display in the Warren Hunting Smith Library. He was awarded an Alumni Citation for loyalty and service to his alma mater in both 1984 and 1994.
“William Smith College gave me a superior quality of educational and life experience. There, we were taught to do things right, or not do them at all. William Smith is worth anything that I can give physically and mentally because I believe in my alma mater. I am proud of my alma mater.”
—Katharyn “Kay” Schofield Martens ’46, P ’72
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t William Smith, Martens majored in psychology and was a member of numerous clubs and organizations, including Schola Cantorum, Campus Community Chest, Altar Guild, The Herald, The Little Theater and Student Council. She graduated in three years under an accelerated WWII program and became an active member of her communities. Martens served on the Danbury, Conn., and Englewood, N.J. hospital auxiliaries, as a volunteer with the American Red Cross and Community Chest, as the Education Chair, vice-president and secretary of the American Association of University Women, and a member of the Board of Trustees at the Wilson School in Mountain Lakes, N.J. An active member of her church, Martens served as a fundraiser for the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, N.J. and as a member of the vestry at Manakin Episcopal in Midlothian, Va. Martens has given back to her alma mater as an Alumna Trustee, president and coordinator of the William Smith Club of Central New Jersey, three-time Reunion Coordinator, National Chair of the William Smith Capital Funds Campaign, president and treasurer of the Alumnae Association, Founder’s Day Speaker and organizer of William Smith alumnae chapters throughout the country. She was awarded a Board of Trustees Citation in 1959, the William Smith Alumnae Award in 1960, the Sesquicentennial Award in 1972 and the prestigious Elizabeth Herendeen Odell Award in 2001 for her dedication and commitment to her alma mater.
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1 Provide Students with One-on-One Career Advice and Internships
Put your name on the list of HWS alums, parents and friends who are willing to speak with students about translating their HWS education into a career. Join Calvin “Chip” R. Carver Jr. ’81 (p. 62), John Hogan ’88 (p. 32), Wendy Olsoff ’78 (p. 52) and the more than 5,000 volunteers who are members of the HWS Career Network. Contact Brandi Ferrara, director of the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education, at (315) 781-3514 or bferrara@hws.edu for more information.
6 3 Wear Your HWS Pride On Your Sleeve…
…or your head, or your bumper. Support the Colleges by visiting the College Store, in person and online, for all your HWS gear. Drink your coffee or tea from an HWS mug. Decorate your office with an HWS pennant. View the latest HWS clothing and gifts at http://collegestore.hws.edu.
Support the Scandling Trust
Join Katherine D. Elliott ’66, L.H.D. ’08 (p. 20), Dan Kortick ’89 (p. 21) and the many other alums who have participated in the Scandling Trust, a 24-month initiative to leverage Bill Scandling’s final gift to the Colleges to encourage the support of endowed internships, endowed scholarships and the creation of an entrepreneurial leadership initiatives fund. For more information, contact Leila Rice, associate vice president for advancement, at rice@hws.edu or (315) 781-3545.
FIFTEEN ways to show 2 Return to Campus to Mentor Students
Join the Salisbury Center’s Professionals in Residence speaker series, like Aileen Diviney Gleason ’85 (p. 41), Judy Chelnick ’76 (p. 59) and Michael Rawlins ’80, P’16 (p. 43). Contact Brandi Ferrara, director of the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education, at (315) 781-3514 or bferrara@hws.edu for more information. Or lend your professional experience elsewhere on campus, through the Centennial Center for Leadership, like Drury MacKenzie ’03 (p. 64), or through HWS Athletics, like Tiffany Jones ’99 (p. 57). Contact Kathy Killius Regan ’82, P’13, assistant vice president for advancement at (315) 781-3532 or regan@hws.edu; or Jared Weeden ’91 assistant vice president for advancement at (315) 781-3782 or weeden@hws.edu.
4 Support Projects That Match Your Interests and the Needs of the Colleges
“The next generation of students will be tech savvy…how can we work to help students leverage technology in their lives and careers?” asks Dan Rosensweig ’83 (p. 38), whose gift established the Rosensweig Learning Commons on the first floor of the Warren Hunting Smith Library, centralizing technology and the Center for Teaching and Learning under one roof. It’s a gift that mirrors the ethos of his company, Chegg.com, (p. 38-40), where Rosensweig regularly hosts students for summer internships. Today, Rosensweig and his wife Linda are supporting an internship funding opportunity that runs parallel to the Colleges’ recently announced Guaranteed Internship Program. To learn how you can match your interests to the needs of the Colleges, contact Bob O’Connor, vice president for advancement at (315) 781-3535 or at oconnor@hws.edu.
5 Celebrate Reunion!
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Give back to your fellow alumni and alumnae and their families by joining HWS staff and volunteers to help coordinate Reunion events and activities, like Eric Lax ’66, L.H.D. ’93 (p. 46) and Edith Sparago Irons ’66 (p.47). To become a class Reunion volunteer, contact Jared Weeden ’91, assistant vice president for advancement, at (315) 781-3782 or weeden@hws.edu.
7 Connect Through an Affinity Group
From Geneva Scholarship Associates, which has provided scholarship assistance to more than 190 young people from Geneva since 1968, to the HWS Law Affinity Group, founded in 2014 by Andrew Gaines ’83 (p. 58), connect with your classmates and assist current students. For more information, contact Jared Weeden ’91, assistant vice president for advancement at (315) 781-3782 or weeden@hws.edu.
8 Join the Wheeler Society
Hundreds of alums, parents and friends of the Colleges have included HWS in their estate plans by joining The Wheeler Society. A planned gift – of any type and at any level – allows you to make a lasting statement of your support for the Colleges while still securing your economic future and that of your family. For more information, contact Leila Rice, associate vice president for advancement, at rice@hws.edu or (315) 781-3545.
11 Keep Your Classmates Connected
Alan Kalter ’64 (p. 42), the longtime voice of The Late Show with David Letterman, is also the voice of his class in The Pulteney St. Survey. Alumni House estimates that in his 43 years as class correspondent, Kalter has written 150 columns and 100,000 words, connecting with nearly every single living member of the Hobart Class of ’64. Haven’t seen yourself profiled? Want to learn more about becoming a correspondent? Visit www.hws.edu/correspondent.
14 Connect through the National Regional Network
Attend an event in your area, see a Hobart or William Smith team play near your home, recommend the Colleges to a friend or family member, and get involved! The National Regional Network divides the country into nine regions, each one overseen by a team of volunteers tasked with engaging alums, parents and students in activities in support of admissions, career services, regional events and development. Contact Kathy Killius Regan ’82, P’13, assistant vice president for advancement at (315) 781-3532 or regan@ hws.edu or learn more by visiting www.hws.edu/ alumni/regional/.
your HWS pride! 9 Become a Class Agent
Class agents make a gift to the Colleges, then ask their classmates, former teammates, friends and roommates to do the same, multiplying support for everything from scholarships and financial aid to student life initiatives. If you’d like to become a class agent or know someone who would make a great class agent, contact Josh Foladare, director of annual giving at (315) 7814068 or foladare@hws.edu.
10 Support the Annual Fund
Grady Jensen ’44, P’83, L.H.D. ’04 and Katharyn “Kay” Schofield Martens ’46, P’72 (p. 71) are, respectively, Hobart and William Smith’s longest consecutive donors to the Annual Fund. Annual Fund gifts, which have the most direct impact on students, can be allocated in a number of different ways to address immediate campus needs. To learn more, contact Josh Foladare, director of annual giving at (315) 781-4068 or foladare@hws.edu.
12 Take Advantage of the Legacy Program
Between Michael Rawlins ’80, P’16 (p. 43) and his siblings, five of the six of them are Hobart and William Smith graduates. His son, Dylan, is a rising senior. The Legacy Admissions Program celebrates alumni and alumnae who, like the Rawlins famly, make HWS part of their family tradition. The program offers financial and academic support intended to help legacy students make the most of their HWS education. To learn more, contact Bill Warder ’96, senior associate director of admissions at (315) 781-3729 or warder@hws.edu.
15 Support HWS Athletics
Join Thomas L. O’Connor ’95 and Sarah Daniels O’Connor ’95 (p. 70) in their support of student-athletes through the Statesmen Athletic Association (SAA) and the Heron Society. Visit www. hwsathletics.com/ for the most up-to date athletics schedules and events in your area, as well as ways to give to the SAA and the Heron Society.
13 Recruit the Future of HWS
For more than five decades, alumni, alumnae and parents worldwide have supported HWS admissions recruitment programs through volunteer activity in their local area. Help recruit the next generation of outstanding students to Hobart and William Smith. Volunteer at college fairs, conduct hometown interviews or host an event in your area, like Eric Lax ’66, L.H.D. ’93 and his wife Karen Sulzberger (p. 46). To learn more, contact Kathie Clark, admissions volunteer network coordinator, at (315) 781-3727 or kclark@hws.edu.
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Alumni and Alumnae News UPCOMING REGIONAL EVENTS! Thursday, July 16 Chicago, Ill.
Spirit of Chicago Alumni and Alumnae Boat Cruise
Tuesday, July 28 Minneapolis, Minn.
WE DID IT! Alumni and alumnae expressed their support of Hobart and
William Smith by responding in record numbers to the May Challenge. The month-long initiative capped off a record year for the Colleges’ Annual Fund. Here are just a few outcomes:
5,818
Summer Send-off Reception, hosted by Mitch and Jeanne Cook P’18
Sunday, August 9 New York, N.Y.
HWS Day at the Yankees
Tuesday, August 11 Rochester, N.Y.
William Smith Chapter Send-off Picnic
Wednesday, August 12 Denver, Colo.
• Total number of alumni and alumnae donors to the Annual Fund this year. • The largest number of alumni and alumnae donors since 2006!
300+
The number of volunteers (faculty, staff, students, alumni, and alumnae) who participated in outreach during the May Challenge.
1,987 • Total number of donors between May 1 and May 31, 2015. • The most donors in any one month in the Colleges’ history.
Summer Send-off Reception, hosted by Mark Gray ’86 and Karen Carpenter Gray ’88, P’19
Wednesday, August 12 Philadelphia, Pa.
Gathering with President Mark D. Gearan, hosted by Chris Chimicles ’98
Friday, August 14 Westhampton, N.Y.
Gathering with President Mark D. Gearan, hosted by Trustees Tom Poole ’61, P’91, L.H.D. ’06 and Bert McCooey Jr. ’76, P’04, P’09
Saturday, August 15 Newport, R.I.
Gathering with President Mark D. Gearan, hosted by Philip H. Fett Jr. ’82, Beth Tatian Fradin ’82 and Lianne Andreoni Paolino ’81, P’14
Sunday, August 16 Beverly Farms, Mass.
71 The number of HWS classes that participated in the challenge – as far back as the Classes of 1938!
500+
• The number of posts to social media in support of the May Challenge. • Almost one third of social media posts were on “Bump Day,” which brought in 307 gifts for the Colleges.
5,500 + May = $500,000
2,421 The number of Hobart and William Smith students who will be directly impacted by your support!
$500,000 and $3,654,246 • $500,000 – the bonus gift secured by the Colleges because of your support! • $3,654,246 – the total amount invested in the Annual Fund this fiscal year – the most in the Colleges’ history.
Gathering with President Mark D. Gearan, hosted by Trustee Chris ’84 and Rene Whitney ’83 Welles, P’12, P’15
Tuesday, August 18 Buffalo, N.Y.
Gathering with President Mark D. Gearan
Sunday, August 23 Saratoga Springs, N.Y. HWS Day at the Races
Saturday, August 29 Rochester, N.Y.
HWS Day at the Red Wings with Professor of Political Science Iva E. Deutchman For up-to-date information on events or to RSVP visit www.hws.edu/regional or call Alumni House toll free at (877) 497–4438.
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“A high percentage of participation is a reflection of how satisfied our alums feel about their alma maters. Prospective students and their families, ranking guides, foundations and corporations also look to this number as an indication of the strength and vitality of an institution. Needless to say, participation is tremendously important, and I’m proud that our community responded in such a big way this year.” — Jared Weeden ’91, assistant vice president for advancement
ALUMNI & ALUMNAE
9 Regions • 9 ALUMS 9 National Regional Network News Stories
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very day, the Colleges receive news of alumni and alumnae. Some stories are about career milestones and life accomplishments while others record unexpected connections in unlikely locations. Below we share some of our favorites from the spring semester, organized by Region. For more on the National Regional Network, to submit news and to see what’s happening across the country, visit www.hws.edu/regional.
NEW ENGLAND
WEST MOUNTAIN Amy Brennan McCarthy ’94 is featured in a new Subaru commercial talking about her love of Grand Teton National Park, and how her Subaru helps get her there to help injured birds of prey. McCarthy is executive director of Teton Raptor Center. She currently serves as the HWS regional vice president for the West Mountain region.
Two alums have returned to the Finger Lakes region for important jobs. Christopher N. Lavin ’81 is the new executive director of the Geneva Community Center and Boys & Girls Club of Geneva. Merrill Amos ’11 (pictured above) is the new museum curator and educator at the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls.
MIDWEST WEST COAST
At the 2015 College Television Awards, Stephen Gemmiti ’14 earned second place in the “Best Series” category for “Young Adulterated,” a 10-episode series that follows the colliding lives of five college students as they navigate an explosive junior year.
Amy Van Loon ’14 and Nora McKay ’14 are heading to New Haven, Conn., this fall where they will attend Yale School of Nursing. The prestigious program is regularly ranked as one of the top 10 graduate nursing schools in the country, making Van Loon and McKay future leaders in the field. Van Loon and McKay will both study in the maternity nursing and midwife specialty.
UPSTATE N.Y.
Mike Litzinger ’84 was recently named head coach for the women’s swimming and diving team at the University of Notre Dame. The announcement, as well as a profile of his career, was featured in an article in Swimming World. The new position builds on Litzinger’s years of coaching swimming and diving teams for universities across the country.
TRI STATE Described by Entertainment Weekly as “wickedly funny,” Joshua Warr ’05 debuted Love & Warr at Broadway’s famous supper club 54 Below. Featuring a variety of musical genres ranging from pop standards to rock and Broadway hits, the show received rave reviews with Broadway World writing that Warr, “…hits it out of the park at every turn.”
SOUTH EAST
SOUTHWEST Trustee Dr. Richard L. Wasserman ’70 was the focus of a feature in the Dallas Morning News, as one of the few physicians in the United States to offer food oral immunotherapy. Through Wasserman’s practice – DallasAllergyImmunology – patients are desensitized by slowly increasing the consumption of the food to which they are allergic. Wasserman offers it for milk, egg, peanut, tree nut and wheat allergies.
After a year of continued success on the race track, Lucas Catania ’15 and his father, Dr. Joseph Catania ’83, P’15, P’17 of Cazenovia, N.Y., raced in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge. The racing duo, who have competed in a number of regional and national races over the past few years, made their series and International Motor Sports Association debuts in March at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla.
MID-ATLANTIC Gary Anthony ’10 is the latest HWS alum to earn a prestigious Rangel Graduate Fellowship through the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program, which aims to attract and prepare outstanding young people for careers in the U.S. Foreign Service. Anthony is currently an M.A. candidate in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Services.
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Regional Events
Connect with alums in your region! Visit www.hws.edu/regional for upcoming event information.
Alumni, alumnae and incoming students from the Classes of 2019 gathered with President Mark D. Gearan at the home of Eric Lax ’66, L.H.D. ’93 and Karen Sulzberger in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Hobart hockey alumni pose for a photo following the annual alumni game held at The Cooler. Pictured front row (l-r) Scott Mason ’81, Michael White ’13, Michael Steiner ’09, Cosimo Favaloro ’85, Jared Weeden ’91; back row (l-r) Lawrence Carle ’74, Coach Mark Taylor, Tom Rush ’14, Max Wopperer ’14, Ryan Corcoran ’13, Bobby Hannah ’13, Ted Brzek ’08, Greg Gallagher ’06, Marc Borden ’07, Assistant Coach Sean Flanagan.
William Smith Club Hockey alumnae Kristi Augenblick ’12, Caitlin Seadel Celella ’09, Kelly Biggs ’11, Tara Fulco ’12 and Jaime Callan ’11, pose for a photo during a gathering at The Cooler in downtown Geneva.
Drew Oliveira ’13, Steve VanVechten ’11, Colin Desko ’13, Lachlan MacKinnon ’07 and Andrew Guild ’13 smile for the camera at the Boston Holiday Event held at the Liberty Hotel in Boston, Mass. Alumnae pose for a photo at the winter gathering of the William Smith Chapter of Rochester. Pictured (l-r): Chrissy Bennett West ’94, Nancy Nowak Rutherford ’71, Jean Collins VanEtten ’74, Tracy Zorn DeFlorio ’85, Alice “Robin” Robinson Pulver ’67, Jane Eggleston ’69, Joyce Killick Fowler ’72, Dawn Hoff-Cowdery ’89 and Juliann Green ’84.
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ALUMNI & ALUMNAE
Sebastien Sauvagnat ’17, Allison O’Neill ’01, Denby Misurelli Probst ’88, William Smith Dean and Professor of French and Francophone Studies Catherine Gallouët, David Seld ’52, Mena dePaula Sauvagnat ’90, P’17, Margot Sauvagnat and Pierre Sauvagnat P’17 pose for a photo following lunch at Cafè du Soleil as part of an alum gathering in Geneva, Switzerland.
Alums celebrate the New Year at the New York Athletic Club. Joining them was Professor of English Grant Holly (far left) and HWS Trustee Bill Whitaker ’73, L.H.D.’97 (third from right) and Matt Campbell ’12, assistant director for Tri-State Regional Engagement (second from right). Special thanks to our NYAC member host, Graham Meighan ’13.
Christopher Salm ’94, Colleen O’Hara ’12, Corey Kenny ’17 and Peyton Craighill ’94 pose for a photo during the Washington, D.C. Day on the Hill networking reception.
Hobart and William Smith alums and their families pose for a photo prior to cheering the Hobart lacrosse team on to its third straight victory at Sacred Heart.
Rich Moses ‘89 and Selwyn Rayzor hosted a New Year’s gathering for alums in Dallas, Texas.
Members of the HWS Law Affinity Group pose for a photo at a gathering hosted by HWS Trustee Beth Yingling ’76 and Andy Celli ’87.
Alums attended a gathering in Birmingham, Mich., with President Mark D. Gearan, hosted by Howard “Chris” ’59 and Judy Christie. HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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Assistant Director for New England Regional Engagement Corey McClintock ’12, Greg Clifford ’12 and Matt Sousa ’10 pose for a photo at the HWS Professional Networking event in Boston, Mass. Hosted by Steve Decatur ’79, P’15, the event included a presentation by Dr. Christopher C. Muller ‘74.
Alums enjoyed an evening at the Anderson Collection at Stanford University with Hunk W. ’49, LL.D. ’67 (front, far right), Moo Anderson (front, center) and President Mark D. Gearan.
Eric Stein ‘89, head of investment banking at JP Morgan, speaks to accepted students from Fairfield and Westchester counties during an admissions event for the Classes of 2019 in Rye, N.Y.
Alumnae, alumni and parents cheer on the Herons during the William Smith lacrosse game against Union in Schenectady, N.Y. Matthew and Jolie Johnson P’17 are pictured with President Mark D. Gearan during the HWS Greenwich Winter Reception hosted at their home.
Elizabeth Herbst ’17 and Teaganne Finn ’16 speak with Associate Director of Alumni and Alumnae Relations Chrissy Bennett West ’94 during the Spring Hai Timiai Networking Reception in the Vandervort Room on campus.
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Young alums celebrate the Colleges during a “Side Show” themed happy hour at the Strand Hotel in New York City.
ALUMNI & ALUMNAE
Alumni and current members of the Hobart soccer team gather for a photo following the annual alumni soccer game.
Teya Lucyshyn ’19, a current senior at East Aurora High School, has been named this year’s recipient of the William and Diane Green P’83, P’87 East Aurora Community Scholarship. An event to celebrate Lucyshyn and recent recipients, and to raise awareness of the scholarship and endowed fund was hosted by HWS Trustee William Green ’83. Matt Green ’87, P’16, Teya Lucyshyn ’19 and Bill Green ’83 are pictured above.
Assistant Vice President for Advancement Jared Weeden ’91 (center) poses for a photo with Hollywood director and writer Mark Neveldine ’95 and his wife, actress Alison Lowman, at an alum gathering in Saratoga Springs. The event was hosted by Jeff ’88 and Elaine Bruno ’91 Vukelic.
Alums and fans of Hobart lacrosse gather for a photo during a tailgating party before the game against Georgetown University.
Alumni and alumnae gathered in Vero Beach, Fla., at the home of Nick ’64 and Joan At a New Year’s gathering in Houston, Texas hosted by Philip W. Winston ’93 (in the Hobart sweatshirt), alums pose for a group photo. At the event, Diane Goss Clark ’74 Hinton ’65 Hurd for an afternoon of food and conversation. Pictured (l-r): George Hebard ’65, Joe Mechen ’64, P’91, Nancy Hebard, Ginny Redpath and Jane Mills ’55. was presented with a citation from the Alumnae Association. HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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BOOKSHELF
CITY VIEWS by Morgan Gilbard ’15
P
hotographer Carter Berg ’96 thrives off clarity. While he has captured numerous Ralph Lauren campaigns and fashion magazine spreads throughout his illustrious career, Berg is most fascinated by the commonplace, which through his lens becomes remarkable. His latest volume New York Snapshots is filled with striking views, city grit and wonder. A sociology major at HWS, Berg discovered his love for photography during his senior year when he worked as a production assistant for the esteemed fashion patron Bruce Weber. After declaring, “I want to do that,” Berg never looked back.
He decided to carry his camera with him wherever he went — a choice that reflected Berg’s identity as a trendsetter a decade before the ubiquity of camera phones and Instagram. Berg is not fighting the tide though; his Instagram is an ode to his loves— New York City, his wife Kasia, and life itself. Published in October 2014, New York Snapshots is a project Berg developed over 10 years. The book was praised by Architectural Digest for creating a tangible experience for viewers that mimics seeing the city with fresh eyes: “Even the most jaded, seen-it-all New Yorkers will be charmed.” ●
Carter Berg ’96 How has your style evolved? When I first started taking pictures I was more premeditated in terms of when I would shoot. I would take my camera with me only when I knew that there was a picture I wanted to take. I learned the hard way that I was missing moments I wanted to photograph simply because I left my camera at home. I realized that I cannot predict when or where the next moment of inspiration will come. I now take my camera with me pretty much everywhere I go, even if I’m “only” going to park my car. I may not always use it but at least I won’t miss anything simply because my camera is on the shelf.
What has most influenced your work? My hometown of New York City. It inspires me every time I walk the streets. You can never see it all and it’s always changing. You studied sociology at HWS. Is there a crossover with your photography? I absolutely carry what I learned from sociology with me in my work. My favorite class was “The Sociology of Human Nature” taught by Professor Emeritus of Sociology Jim Spates P’00, P’09. My greatest take away was that it made me aware of the value of life experience. And that it is in both positive as well as negative experiences that we grow and learn.
During your time at HWS, where would a friend be most likely to find you? There was a hotdog place downtown called “The Dog House” that we used to go to for lunch quite often. The man who owned and ran it was named Johnny and it was an especially unique place. Chilicheese dogs were the best! Johnny retired and the place closed just before I graduated. Proudest moment of your career? Publishing a book of pictures on my hometown called New York Snapshots was tremendous. Photographing my mom’s latest book, Never Stop To Think Do I Have A Place For This [by Mary Randolph Carter] is another. Lastly I’ve been very fortunate to photograph advertising campaigns for Ralph Lauren over the past 10 years. No complaints! ●
Nightstand: What is your favorite subject to photograph? LEAH MEANY KRISTENSEN ’91 Owner, Leah Kristensen Photography; leahkristensen.viewbook.com Koege, Denmark “I live in Denmark, and my passion lately is the Danish countryside. The everchanging light, the flat horizon, the rich color... it’s all so beautiful.”
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JON WHITE ’80 Owner, Jon White Galleries; www.jwgalleries.com Rochester, N.Y. “I enjoy most of the photography I do today, and there are a lot of great subject matter out there. Through my ongoing project, “The Colors of the Urban Landscape,” I’ve been traveling to different cities to find local color wherever I can.”
KAREN GOWEN ’86 Owner, Karen Gowen Photography; www.karengowenphotography.com Chadds Ford, Pa. “I am first and foremost a portrait photographer with a bent toward a photojournalistic style. I love photographing people of all ages but especially kids ages 3-8 because they are so full of confidence and are never afraid to show their true personalities. I have become known for capturing the essence of people without the trappings of formal posing and props. I love people and it shows in my work.”
The HWS sailing team practices on Seneca Lake. PHOTO BY KEVIN COLTON
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JOIN US! Founded 1989
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1) Bill Whitaker ’73, L.H.D. ’97; Correspondent for CBS’ “60 Minutes” 2) Beth Newell; Professor of Biology, 2014 Middle States Reaccreditation Steering Committee member 3) Charlie Boswell II ’50; Registrar Emeritus (1955-1987) 4) Dr. Sandra Rivera ’85; Assistant Director, Office of Economics, USITC 5) Skylar Beaver ’08; Director of Annual Giving at Washington and Lee University 6) Walt ’62 and Joan Gage P’91; Attorney at Law, Lecturer
You need neither great wealth nor gray hair to make a planned gift. You just need a desire to support the mission of Hobart and William Smith in preparing students to lead lives of consequence. To learn more about making a planned gift and joining The Wheeler Society, contact Leila Rice, associate vice president for Advancement, at (315) 781-3545 or rice@hws.edu. www.hws.edu/legacy HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES
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Emily Surprenant ’15
• Returned Peace Corps Volunteer in Saint Lucia • Majored in political science at HWS and earned a master’s of social work from Columbia University • Manager of Community Outreach at KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to ensuring that all kids get a childhood filled with play.
• Peace Corps Volunteer in Kosovo • Majored in International Relations and participated in the Teacher Education Program • HWS leadership roles in Relay for Life, Colleges Against Cancer and the Debate Team; Writing Fellow and member of String Ensemble.
1. What’s your proudest achievement? Serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
1. What’s your proudest achievement? Being accepted to serve in the Peace Corps.
2. What motivates you to give back? I have found my calling in servant leadership. I am motivated by this reciprocity and knowing that through the simplest actions, I could be making someone’s life, and they could be making mine, infinitely better.
3. Where do you turn for inspiration? Young people, creative solutions and my mentors’ determination to never accept “no” as the final answer.
3. Where do you turn for inspiration? My father. He uses his wisdom, humor and passion to educate and inspire individuals on how to change the world through service and leadership.
4. What advice would you give your 13 year old self? Imperfection and failure are essential ingredients to living a happier adult life. 5. If you could travel in time, where would you go? Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
7. What is your personal mission statement? Stand for what you believe in. 8. What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume? I’m a drummer in an all-women’s afro-Brazilian samba reggae band that promotes women’s empowerment and the rich culture found in the Bahia region of Brazil. 9. What quality do you value most in your friends? Unconditional love.
HWS Pride
And How 29 Alums Show It
4. What advice would you give your 13 year old self? Own your decisions; the only person you are responsible for pleasing is yourself. 5. If you could travel in time, where would you go? The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. 6. What is the most pressing issue facing today’s college graduates? Finding a profession that balances passion, mission and vocation, and justifying that over a career that may offer financial security. 7. What is your personal mission statement? We all possess the tools and share the responsibility to shape a changing world. 8. What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume? I am in every way Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation. 9. What quality do you value most in your friends? Authenticity
Summer 2015
6. What is the most pressing issue facing today’s college graduates? Making the world just for all, not the select few or the lucky.
PARALLELS PARALLELS
2. What motivates you to give back? Working with people from all walks of life and being inspired by their commitment and daily heroism. I like the idea that people can connect when they’re in the trenches working toward a common good.
The Stakeholders
Jennifer O. Leshnower ’00
PLUS: Ali Marpet ’15 Takes on the NFL