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Outstanding Service Award
JON P. ACHENBAUM ’77, MBA, TRUSTEE
Honors up to five members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated outstanding service to the College for at least 10 years as an alumna/alumnus, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend. Alumni recipients must be members of a celebrating reunion class.
An accomplished senior executive, advisor, and board member, Jon Achenbaum has been leading companies across the branded consumer products and medical device industries for the past 20 years. Currently CEO of leading international knife and edged tool wholesaler Master Cutlery, he has also served as president and CEO of Freeman Beauty, Newhall Laboratories, and Lever Ponds Canada.
His areas of expertise include marketing and brand management, strategic planning, financial management, and team building and leadership. In short, Jon knows a lot about what makes organizations thrive — and he’s been helping Skidmore to do just that for almost four decades.
A Skidmore economics major, Jon earned an MBA from New York University in 1981. Just three years later, he signed on as a volunteer for Skidmore’s Celebration campaign. Stints as regional group volunteer and class agent quickly followed. In 2004, he was invited to join the Strategic Communication Advisory Board, where his contributions powered a transformational rebranding campaign. His dedication did not go unnoticed.
In 2013, Alumni Association President and Trustee Sibyl Haley ’71 strongly encouraged Jon to step into the role of alumnus trustee, a dual position serving both the College Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“I remember well that conversation with Sibyl,” he reflects. “I was honored, of course, but also more than a bit surprised. When I asked her, essentially, ‘Why me?’ she cited my many years of consistent service to the College. It was only when I checked my records that I realized I had been supporting Skidmore for over 25 years.”
And nine years later, he is still at it. Past chair of the Board of Trustee’s Audit and Strategic Planning committees, Jon has been an influential voice on the Advancement and Communications and Academic Affairs committees. Today, he continues serving as vice chair of the board and chair of the Budget, Finance, and Infrastructure Committee. In that position, Jon has worked closely with vice presidents Mike West and Donna Ng to help ensure Skidmore maintains a balanced budget— which it has, for 20 consecutive years. “The committee also played a pivotal role in getting the Center for Integrated Sciences approved, financed, and started,” he notes.
Over Jon’s tenure as trustee, Skidmore experienced one of the most significant periods of growth in its history. This upward trajectory has included a sustainably-expanded physical plant and increased recognition as a national leader in liberal arts education.
He is especially proud of helping to improve the College’s marketing and branding. “That work was key in establishing the Creative Thought Matters motto and building a first-rate communication and marketing team,” he reflects. “The team’s efforts over the past five years have been outstanding and have truly made a difference in attracting students and donors.”
Serving as co-chair of the presidential search committee that brought Marc Conner to Skidmore, “is a major highlight” of Jon’s volunteer career. “It was challenging but meaningful work, and I am thrilled with the result. Marc is an inspiration.”
After all these years, he says, “I am even more passionate about Skidmore than ever. I believe in the College’s mission and am excited by what promises to be its very bright future.”
— Jon P. Achenbaum ’77
