Union Magazine Spring 2018 by Union College

SPRING 2018

UNIONCOLLEGE A Magazine for Alumni and Friends

Volume 112 / Number 3

The Ainlay Era: Toward the Common Good

Lost in translation; found in purpose

President Stephen C. Ainlay looks out at graduates during a recent Commencement ceremony.

SPRING 2018 // Volume 112 // Number 3

UNION COLLEGE ON THE FRONT COVER

President Stephen C. Ainlay and Judith Gardner Ainlay

IN THIS ISSUE:

VICE PRESIDENT FOR COLLEGE RELATIONS

Terri Cerveny CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Tom Torello EDITOR

Charlie Casey caseyc@union.edu ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Erin DeMuth Judd demuthje@union.edu CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Christen Gowan Tina Lincer Phillip Wajda CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Matt Milless Mike Farrell

Features

16 The Ainlay Era: Toward the Common Good Union’s 18th president modelled his administration on alumni who showed selfless dedication to a larger cause. His wife focused on fostering a sense of community.

DESIGN

2k Design

PRINTING

Fort Orange Press

Lost in translation; found in purpose

UNION COLLEGE is published

Students in Prof. Maritza Osuna’s Spanish class explore the complexities of translation and aid a local agency serving victims of domestic violence.

three times a year by the Union College Office of Communications, Schenectady, N.Y. 12308. The telephone is (518) 388-6131. Non-profit flat rate postage is paid at Schenectady, N.Y., and an additional mailing office. Postmaster: Send address changes to Office of Communications, Union College, Schenectady, N.Y. 12308-3169. Alumni who want to inform the College about changes of address should contact the Alumni Office at (518) 388-6168 or via e-mail at alumni@union. edu. The same phone number and e-mail address should be used to correspond about ReUnion, Homecoming, alumni club events, and other activities.

Departments 2 President’s Message

36 focUs

41 Class Notes

3 Letters

38 Bookshelf

58 Unions

4 Around U

40 Alumni Clubs

64 Arrivals

14 Making a World of Difference

66 In Memoriam

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

The Honor of Partnering

his will be my final presidential message in Union College magazine. I’ve enjoyed writing these brief reflections over the past 12 years and I can only hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. As my last, it was more difficult to decide on a theme. In composing previous messages, I could say, “well maybe I’ll save that idea for the next one.” Not this time.

I landed on the theme of partnering because, as I reflect back on our 12 years, it is the satisfaction of working with others to advance the College that looms large in my mind. We’ve accomplished a great deal these past 12 years. We’ve built and renovated buildings, we’ve made Union a far more sustainable campus, we’ve grown our endowment to the largest it’s ever been, we’ve set records in applications and receive more early decision requests than ever before. We are the most diverse in the College’s history, the most international, and our regional representation is greater than ever before. We’ve recruited fantastic new faculty, doubled the Annual Fund, and are now consistently listed as a top producer of Fulbrights. We’ve won a National Championship in men’s ice hockey. We’ve dramatically increased the number of volunteer hours our students give to supporting the surrounding community. And, we’ve done all this and more together. You’ve responded to all calls for help and support. You’ve joined me and together we’ve “put shoulder to wheel,” advancing Union is so many ways. There are so many to thank. I must begin with my spouse, my partner in the presidency, and friend for life, Judith Gardner Ainlay. She too is passionate about this College. She’s given so much of her time and energy to advancing Union. And, she has sustained me with her support and care. She has been there at every step.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

This leads me to note in this issue the passing of Enid Morris, another presidential partner who gave so much to advancing Union. Both Judith and I appreciated her friendship and her wisdom more than we can say. We appreciate what John and Enid Morris did for Union. We are profoundly saddened by Enid’s passing. Thanks goes to Union’s Trustees, members of the President’s Council and Alumni Council, my administrative team, members of our faculty, staff, students who have lived and studied here as well as their parents, alumni, and friends of the College. There are a host of other individuals and organizations supporting specific programs of the College that also must be thanked. All have been partners in advancing Union. In fact, none of what we’ve achieved would have been possible without our concerted efforts. You’ve ensured the quality of the Union experience, you’ve told our story, you’ve brought prospective students to our doorstep, you’ve established our financial strength, you’ve broadened access to this wonderful education, and you’ve cheered us on to success. Together, we’ve made Union College the special place that it is today. Thank you all for partnering with me these past 12 years. Thank you all for your support, which inspired us and enabled us to do great things for a College we all love. It’s been the honor of a lifetime to partner with you all. It seems fitting that the final words of my final presidential message be the same as those I utter at the end of every Commencement ceremony. I wish you the best, you brothers and sisters under the laws of Minerva, you sons and daughters of Union College. Godspeed. STEPHEN C. AINL AY, Ph.D.

U LETTERS

Visiting campus sometime soon?

REMEMBER YOUR TERM ABROAD? In anticipation of a half-century celebration of International Programs, we are collecting alumni recollections from terms abroad.

Don't forget to Instagram a picture of the Nott Memorial using the hashtag #NottShot

PLEASE WRITE US AT:

magazine@union.edu

Keep it going, Prof. Berk

hen I saw a recent note celebrating Stephen Berk’s first 50 years of teaching at Union College, it immediately brought back memories of Prof. Berk’s first lecture in a course on European history, which I attended as a callow freshman. I don’t remember the precise topic of the lecture, but I think it had to do with the Renaissance. It was a typical Steve Berk lecture, delivered with confidence and enthusiasm. His classes, always stimulating and informative, helped shape my interest in history. Prof. Berk was always trying to improve upon his teaching and scholarly efforts. His lectures were never stale. Indeed, when my daughter Maria Vivian (Union 2008) chose Union, I was not surprised that she too gravitated toward Steve Berk, taking four courses with him. Since that first lecture, I have attended many others. But Steve Berk still ranks among the very best. Moreover, he was a mentor to me and many others. Indeed, I think I learned more from informal conversations with Steve than I ever did in class. It is my fondest hope that Stephen Berk will continue teaching for many more years, surpassing Eliphalet Nott’s 62-year record of teaching at Union College. RICK SPARBER

Class of 1973

» Visit us online at www.union.edu/magazine

» Follow us on social media SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

AROUND

Scott Greenberger, the author of “The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur,” was the keynote speaker.

Founders Day gives nod to Chester Arthur

nion’s own Chester A. Arthur is arguably one of history’s most obscure presidents. But there may be a shift in his standing, thanks to journalist Scott Greenberger. Arthur, a member of the Class of 1848, was the subject of Greenberger’s Founders Day address in February. The event commemorated the 223rd anniversary of the College’s charter, the first granted to a college by the Board of Regents of the State of New York. Author of The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur, Greenberger provided an encyclopedic overview of the life and legacy of the country’s 21st president. It is a story of redemption. Greenberger shared anecdotes of Arthur’s time at Union. Known as “Chet” to his classmates, the tall, popular and fashion-conscious Arthur pursued the 4

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

traditional classical curriculum. He was a member of Psi Upsilon and the Delphian Institute debating society. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his senior year. For his graduation oratory, he spoke on “The Destiny of Genius.” He also had a mischievous streak. “He once threw the West College bell into the Erie Canal, and he carved his name at least twice into college buildings,” Greenberger said. “He was fined for breaking a pane of glass and for skipping out on chapel. During his senior year, he had to pay a hefty 50-cent fine for writing in ink in a book.” After Union, Arthur moved to New York City to practice law. He served as a quartermaster general for the Union Army during the Civil War. “But in the years following the war, Arthur’s quest for power and wealth led him down a darker road,” said Greenberger,

executive editor of Stateline, the daily news service of the Pew Charitable Trusts. He became a flunky of the powerful and corrupt New York Republican machine. Later, when it seemed like his political career was fading, he was nominated to be James Garfield’s vice president in 1880. And when Garfield was assassinated in 1881, Arthur became the unexpected president. Americans trembled at the thought of the seedy, inexperienced Arthur leading the nation. Yet the enormity of the office changed him. This was due, in part, to the suffering and death of Garfield. A series of letters from an admirer named Julia Sand also played a role. A fellow New Yorker, she offered counsel and wisdom to Arthur, urging him to seize the moment for the good of the country. He heeded her advice. “As president he shocked everybody and became an unlikely champion of civil

Stephanie Nichols, a math specialist and former math teacher at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Va., was presented with the Gideon Hawley Teacher Recognition Award by Strom Thacker, the Stephen J. and Diane K. Ciesinski Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Nichols was nominated by Sophie Huther ‘20

service reform, laying the groundwork for the progressive presidents, especially Teddy Roosevelt, who came after him,” Greenberger said. “He also began the much-needed rebuilding of the U.S. Navy, which set us on the road to becoming a world power.” Arthur died from a kidney ailment at his home in New York City on Nov. 18, 1886, a year-and-a-half after leaving office. But the story of his transformation is timeless, Greenberger said. He recalled the warning shortly before the 2016 election from then-President Barack Obama that the presidency doesn’t change a person, “it magnifies who you are.” “After more than a year it’s hard to argue that the presidency has changed Donald Trump,” Greenberger said. “But the story of Chester Arthur calls into question Obama’s view. His redemption in the White House

suggests that the presidency can change a person—at least, it did once.” In his final Founders Day greeting, President Stephen C. Ainlay reminded the audience that it was also the 100th anniversary of the death of Andrew Van Vranken Raymond, Class of 1875 and the ninth president of the College. He initiated what is now known as Founders Day. “Many have argued that he saved Union College, plagued as it was with in-fighting, fiscal woes, facility needs and declining enrollments before he took the position,” Ainlay said. “As president, he sold off assets to reduce debt, recruited a first-class faculty (including Charles Steinmetz), convinced Frank Bailey to serve as College treasurer, and convinced Andrew Carnegie to help build what is today the Reamer Campus Center and what was then a general engineering building. He also

convinced GE to help build an electrical engineering facility. Let us remember him today as representative of the many people who poured their hearts and souls into ensuring this institution not only survived but thrived.” Also at Founders Day, Stephanie Nichols, a math specialist and former math teacher at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Va., was presented with the Gideon Hawley Teacher Recognition Award. Named for the 1809 graduate of Union who was New York State’s first superintendent of public education, the award is given to secondary school teachers who have had a continuing influence on the academic life of Union students. Nichols was nominated by Sophie Huther ‘20, a mechanical engineering major and visual arts minor.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

AROUND

Washington’s hair kept here

n ongoing inventory of archival collections at Schaffer Library has uncovered a historic find: a rare lock of hair belonging to George Washington. “This is a very significant treasure,” said India Spartz, head of Special Collections and Archives. “It’s a tremendous testament to history and our connection to some of the most important historical figures.” While surveying some of the College’s oldest books and records, Daniel Michelson, a historical records project archivist, spotted a compact, leather book, “Gaines Universal Register or American and British Kalendar for the year 1793.” The popular almanac, which includes population estimates for the American colonies and comparisons of various coins and monies, is believed to have belonged to Philip J. Schuyler, the son of Gen. Philip Schuyler, one of the College’s founders. The eldest Schuyler was also a close friend and supporter of Washington, served under him during the Revolutionary War, and later became a U.S. senator from Albany. The almanac contains a series of handwritten notes from Schuyler, including how to “preserve beef for summer’s use.” It is inscribed “Philip Schuyler’s a present from his friend Mr. Philip Ten Eycke New York April 20, 1793.” Further examination of the almanac by 6

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

John Myers, catalogue and metadata librarian, uncovered a slender yellowed envelope tucked inside. It was inscribed: “Washington's hair, L.S.S. & (scratched out) GBS from James A. Hamilton given him by his mother, Aug. 10, 1871.” The envelope contained several strands of gray or whitening hair, neatly tied together by a single thread. Also inside was an 1804 letter to the younger Schuyler. A grandson of General Schuyler, James Alexander Hamilton was the third son of Alexander and Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton served as a lieutenant colonel in the Revolutionary War under Washington and later joined his cabinet as the first secretary of the Treasury when Washington was elected the nation’s first president. According to Ron Chernow’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Hamilton (which inspired the blockbuster musical), George and Martha Washington were close to the much younger Alexander and Eliza. Washington died in 1799. “In an era when people frequently exchanged hair as a keepsake, it’s quite probable that Martha had given Eliza some of George’s hair, which in turn was given to their son, James, who later distributed it, strand by strand, as a precious memento

to close friends and family members,” said Susan Holloway Scott, an independent scholar and author of the recent historical novel I Eliza Hamilton. Officials with the Schuyler Mansion, a state historic site in Albany, believe that James Hamilton gave the lock of Washington’s hair to his granddaughters, Louisa Lee Schuyler and Georgina Schuyler, whose initials are on the envelope discovered at Union. The mansion displays another few strands of Washington’s hair in a locket kept under glass. A lack of documentation on clear custody of the material found in Union’s archives or DNA testing makes it difficult to verify that the strands of hair are Washington’s. The handwriting believed to be James Hamilton’s on the envelope is similar to Hamilton’s handwriting that accompanies strands of Washington’s hair held by the Massachusetts Historical Society. John Reznikoff, a prominent manuscripts and documents dealer in Westport, Conn., examined photographs of Union’s material. “Without DNA, you’re never positive, but I believe it’s 100 percent authentic,” said Reznikoff. In 40 years of collecting, Reznikoff has acquired locks of hair from Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Beethoven, Napoleon and others. He is listed in the Guinness

Book of World Records for the “Largest Collection of Hair from Historical Figures.” “It’s not hugely valuable, maybe two to three thousand dollars for the strands you have, but it’s undoubtedly George Washington’s,” he said. One mystery remains: How did Philip J. Schuyler’s almanac, with the hair inside, end up in the College’s archives? No records have been located to confirm its provenance. His father, General Philip Schuyler, has a strong connection to Union. He is considered among the College’s founders, when, as a member of the New York State Board of Regents, he supported the placement of a college in Schenectady instead of Albany. His letter announcing the granting of a charter for Union is kept in Special Collections. Schuyler’s portrait also hangs in Hale House dining hall. It was presented to the College by his great-grandson, Robert Livingston Schuyler, at Union’s first Founders Day on Feb. 27, 1937. In the meantime, Spartz is working to preserve the lock of Washington’s hair, the letter and the almanac. A public display is planned at some point. Familiarity with Washington’s distinctive hairstyle is high, in part because Washington is featured on the dollar bill and the quarter. And contrary to popular

lore, Washington did not wear a wig. His hair was originally reddish-brown and he powdered it regularly to achieve the fashionable white color. By the time of his presidency, however, the reddish-brown had faded to the gray-white color seen in Union’s strands. The discovery of Washington’s hair is not Union’s most significant association with the nation’s first president. In 1968, the College announced the discovery of a major cache of letters of Washington and other major figures of the Revolutionary War period. Included was a letter from Lt. Col. John Jameson that may have given Washington the first hint of Benedict Arnold’s treason. The find was made by Codman Hislop, a research professor of American Civilization. The owner of the papers, John Hawkes of Vermont, had asked Hislop to select something from “family papers” for a Washington’s Birthday exhibit at a local grammar school. In a 15-page exclusive for its Feb. 23, 1968, issue, Life magazine heralded the discovery as “one of the great finds of the present century,” and the announcement was picked up by news outlets worldwide. The collection was kept by Union until 1978, when most of it was returned to its owner.

Strands of Washington's hair were discovered in an envelope tucked inside a leather book, “Gaines Universal Register or American and British Kalendar for the year 1793.”

A top producer of Fulbrights

nion has been recognized among the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2017-18 Fulbright U.S. Students, according to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This marks the second time in three years the College has received this distinction. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Union produced four Fulbright Student award winners, ranking it among the best of similar institutions: Samuel Broda ’16 (Brazil); Aubrey Griffin ’17 (India); Lindsay Reich ’17 (Malaysia) and Kyle Tevlin ’15 (Laos). Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Fulbright competition is administered at Union through the office of National Fellowships and Scholarships. For more information, contact its director, Lynn Evans at evansl@union.edu.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

AROUND

Nelson-Mukherjee named Nichols Fellow

rika Nelson-Mukherjee, associate professor of German Studies, has been awarded the fifth Byron A. Nichols Endowed Fellowship for Faculty Development for a two-year period beginning September 2018. The Nichols Fellowship supports faculty members in developing programs and skills that enhance intellectual, social and personal interactions with students. Professor Nelson-Mukherjee’s project is titled “The Salve of Stories: Creating Community through Shared Narrative Practices.” She will use the fellowship to develop a course that addresses the larger issues of death, dying, and human destruction. The fellowship also will support conference attendance with students at the University of Iowa, a conference at Union with filmmaker and author Doris Dörrie, and a joint paper with student participants in the University of Iowa’s The Examined Life Journal. “The selection committee felt that Professor Nelson-Mukherjee made a compelling case that personal narration can serve as a gateway to greater insight and a deeper connection to the larger story of one’s community and the world,” President Stephen C. Ainlay said. “Her course on Narrative Practices will inspire students to think, reflect and apply their growing self-awareness to ethical issues of the day. This seems to be a growing field with broad application and our hope is that this course will give students unique tools and resources for their personal and professional journeys.” Past Nichols Fellowships have been awarded to: • 2009-11: Stephen J. Schmidt, professor of economics, who used his fellowship to develop a new course, “Values and Economics Justice.” • 2011-13: Carol S. Weisse, professor of psychology and director of Health Professions Programs, who used her fellowship to develop a “Humanism in Medicine” practicum course that encourages and supports professional formation among students interested in healthcare. • 2013-16: Ashraf Ghaly, the Carl B. Jansen Professor of Engineering, who used the fellowship to develop a new course titled, “Environmental Forensics.” • 2016-18: Jillmarie Murphy, associate professor of English and director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program, who has used her fellowship to develop a new course, “The Theory of Things: Objects, Emotions, and Ideas.” The fellowship was created by Susan Mullaney Maycock ’72 and former Union Professor Alan Maycock in honor of Byron Nichols, a popular political science professor and influential member of the Union faculty from 1968 to 2008. More than 100 of his friends, colleagues and former students have contributed to the fellowship.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Beckman Scholars Award supports research

nion is one of a dozen colleges and universities selected to receive a 2018 Beckman Scholars Program Award. This is the first time the College has been awarded a grant from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, a nonprofit foundation that supports basic scientific research, primarily in chemistry and life sciences. The Beckman Scholars Program provides an in-depth, sustained undergraduate research experience for exceptionally talented students at four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. Beginning this year, students will spend two summers and a full academic year working on a research project with a faculty mentor. The $104,000 grant will support four Union Beckman Scholars studying chemistry, biology, biochemistry or neuroscience. The research will be conducted under the guidance of one of nine faculty mentors: Cay Anderson-Hanley (neuroscience), Mary Carroll (chemistry), Leo Fleishman (biology/neuroscience), Kristin Fox (chemistry, biochemistry), Michael Hagerman (chemistry), Joanne Kehlbeck (chemistry, biochemistry), Scott Kirkton (biology), Laura MacManus-Spencer (chemistry) and Roman Yukilevich (biology). In addition, Beckman Scholars are expected to participate in professional or scientific meetings, establish connections through the College’s alumni network whose disciplinary expertise aligns with the scholar’s interests, and engage in structured writing exercises, such as small research grant proposals. They are also expected to attend the Beckman Scholars Symposium in Irvine, Calif. Scholars will receive a stipend for research and funding for supplies and travel. “Winning this grant reflects extremely well on the whole college, and the undergraduate research program that’s been a key element of Union, because it’s in part a recognition of the great work done by our student researchers and their faculty mentors over the last several years,” said Chad Orzel, director of undergraduate research. “The resources this provides will further enhance our undergraduate research program and will be a transformative experience for the students.”

UNION COLLEGE

#ADAY4U Changing the world: A decade of Presidential Green Grants

en years ago, the College awarded its first Presidential Green Grants, an initiative aimed at supporting environmentally sustainable projects at Union. As President Stephen C. Ainlay told the 10 inaugural winners, the grants would help find the mechanisms by which they could improve the world. “We are actually asking the Union community, ‘How are we going to do this? What are the new ideas?” Ainlay said. “Over the next couple of years, I hope we see even more good ideas that could become part of the way we do business at Union College.” Open to faculty, staff and students, the grants have indeed generated an abundance of good ideas over the past decade. Since it was launched, grants totaling $172,000 have been awarded to support 123 projects.

This includes the 17 projects announced in January. They range from placing recycling bins in each first-year student’s residence to creating an environmental action media lab to studying the effects of a group of environmental contaminants called perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), which have recently shown up in high levels in the water supplies of several New York and Vermont towns due to contamination from plastics manufacturing facilities. “What you are doing is keeping sustainability in front of people,” Ainlay told the recipients of this year’s grants. “You have to keep it going, so the priority of sustainability remains not just a Union priority, but a much broader one than that.” Ainlay credited Jeffrey Corbin, associate professor of biology and faculty co-chair of U Sustain, for first suggesting the idea of an incentive program to support environmentally sustainable projects at Union. Sustainability is one of the key priorities of the College’s Strategic Plan. In 2007, Ainlay was among the first to sign the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (now known as the Climate Leadership Commitments), pledging to formally work on reducing, and eventually eliminating, campus greenhouse gas emissions. Union was also recently named again named one of the country’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review’s “Guide to Green Colleges.” “Each of the projects we honor today represents the best of our community,” said Corbin. “They each take an idea, and with a little bit of monetary support and, just as important, encouragement, have the chance to see it become reality.”

02/21/18

Another ADAY4U for the record books

his year’s ADAY4U was another one-day fundraiser that smashed goals and exceeded expectations. The aim was to reach 1,795 donors in a single day, which would unlock an additional $200 per gift from the Union trustees. More than 2,630 donors from 44 states and 16 countries helped raise over $1.2 million for the College’s Annual Fund Feb. 21. When President Stephen C. Ainlay stopped by Reamer Campus Center to make his ADAY4U gift, Garnet Society students presented him, and Judith Gardner Ainlay, with a book of thank you notes. Through June 30, the College is running “Drive for $5M,” an opportunity for the Union community to show their support and say thank you to the Ainlays. Learn more about Drive for $5M at www.union.edu. Throughout ADAY4U, members of the Union community, including alumni, parents, students, faculty and staff, expressed their school pride online using the #ADAY4U hashtag. Top alumni classes in total donors included 1973, 1992 and 2012.

$1.2M

Total Dollars Raised

2,630 Total Donors

44 States

Countries SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

AROUND

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

CHOCO-HOLICS REJOICE Cocobar at 433 State Street is a recent addition to Schenectady’s booming food scene. The shop’s hand-dipped chocolates beckon theater-goers at Proctors across the street.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

| TIMELINE | JAN.

FEB.

Jermaine Wells appears in a Carpool Karaoke skit featuring Grammy’s host James Corden and singers Sting and Shaggy. A coordinator for Learning Environment Services and Special Events/Conferences, Wells also plays Whoopi Goldberg’s son-in-law, Barry, in “Furlough.” A Bronx native, Wells joined Union in 2005.

Dive Right In

Moore talks capitalism and its impact on the planet Environmental historian and historical geographer Jason W. Moore gives a talk, “From Columbus to Climate Crisis: Connecting Power, Capital and Nature in Modern World History,” as part of the Common Curriculum Speaker Series. Moore shows how capitalism’s logic of “cheap nature” has reached an impasse and pushed planetary life toward an unprecedented tipping point.

Exhibit showcases Iranian bronzes “Lost Art: Ancient Iranian Bronzes in the Union College Permanent Collection” opens in Schaffer Library, featuring assorted weaponry and horse fittings presumed to be from the Luristan region of Iran, with some dating to the Iranian Iron Age (roughly 1300-650 B.C.E.). Roughly 100 ancient cast bronze objects were donated to Union in 1969 by Professor Emeritus of Biology Carl George and his wife, the late Gail George, who taught dance at Union. 12

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Sam Hoyt ’18 knows diving can hurt. It’s why the mechanical engineering major is designing a sparger for his senior project. The aeration system, often called a bubbler, sits on the bottom of the pool directly under the diving board to create a cushion of bubbles for the diver’s landing. “The system makes the impact of the dive softer,” said Hoyt, the Liberty League’s Male Diver of the Year. “This is important because you don’t get hurt as much when you dive, especially if the dive is wrong. Having a sparger also increases the diver’s confidence level. If the ‘smack’ doesn’t hurt as much, you are more willing to try new dives without the risk of getting hurt.”

1,468 News Articles

George Washington makes his mark on Union The story of the discovery of George Washington’s hair (p. 6) was covered extensively by national media, with 1,468 news articles reaching nearly 1 billion people.

MAR.

The Peace Corps ranks Union No. 22 among small schools on its 2018 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list. Today, there are 10 Union alumni volunteering worldwide in a number of capacities in Thailand, Benin, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia and Senegal.

22 10

No.

among small schools— 2018 Peace Corps Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities

Union alumni volunteers worldwide in Thailand, Benin, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia and Senegal

With a cast of 27 dancers and a range of choreography, this year’s Winter Dance Concert, “Breaking Boundaries,” explores how dance can surprise, spark a conversation and engage an audience in a shared human experience.

915M News Reach

$8.5M Advertising Value

The 7th annual Dutchmen Dip, which supports members of the Union community battling cancer, raised about $5,300. The event is organized by Union’s Colleges Against Cancer group. SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

PARTNERS inCHANGE Photo by Mark Warren

Left to right: Katie Letheren ’10 and Educate West Point founder, Musa Sheriff, outside of the single government school in West Point; Outskirts of

irst Cambodia. Then Namibia, Austria and Lesvos, Greece. Lastly Liberia. Katie Letheren ’10 has spent the past five years as an international aid worker, primarily specializing in global health and crisis response. Her time abroad, particularly in Liberia, motivated her to co-found the nonprofit Educate West Point. Working to strengthen the country’s post-Ebola health systems with

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Partners in Health, Letheren lived in Liberia for 1.5 years (ending Sept. 2017). While there, she met Musa Sheriff, who inspired EWP and co-founded the organization with her and fellow aid worker, Mitch Mercer. Sheriff grew up in West Point, Liberia’s largest slum. He’s always dreamed of changing the fates of West Point children, like his own young son, with the power of education. “Walking around West Point, the whole slum was flooded.

There was a foot of water in peoples’ houses—one-room houses sleeping 10 people,” said Letheren, who majored in political science. “The slum was built on trash as far as you could see going out into the water.” “There was no sanitation. Child prostitution and drug trafficking run rampant,” she added. “Once you see what this means for the residents— see it with your own eyes, you can’t turn away. You can’t carry on like you never saw it.”

So Mercer and Letheren readily agreed to help Sheriff start EWP. Launched in July 2017, EWP is partnering with the Liberian Ministry of Education to help the 22,000 children of West Point who can’t afford to attend school. Government school in Liberia is technically free, Letheren said, but children still need uniforms, school supplies and food. Their parents, many who make a dollar a day, often can’t spare the money.

Photo by Mark Warren

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EWP, visit educatewestpoint.org

West Point; Educate West Point’s first five female beneficiaries.

And the single government school in West Point couldn’t serve them all anyway. “Once the Ebola treatment unit for the entire slum, the school is operating well over maximum capacity with 1,200 students,” Letheren said. “There is no electricity or running water, not enough chairs or desks, and many students cannot afford to eat a single meal during the school day. Just one meal of rice and hot soup costs 50 cents.” And so EWP is striving to

find sponsors for children. Sponsors who will help purchase essential supplies and help secure the education the children need to achieve their dreams. Like George Weah did. Sworn in as Liberia’s president in February, he grew up in another slum near West Point called Clara Town. Education helped him win the presidency, Letheren wrote in a recent article for Front Page Africa. Letheren, now in Boston on a short-term contract with

Partners in Health, was named PIH Liberia’s Employee of the Year in 2016. She’ll be stateside, assisting with the fall opening of PIH’s new University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, until her first assignment with Doctors Without Borders is finalized. She sums up her dedication to international aid work with a quote from the book she’s reading now, Chasing Misery, by Kelsey Hoppe. “It is about saying, ‘you are human, as I am human, and if

you must suffer abject and miserable circumstances the least I can do is be there with you … and let you know that you are not alone, that your suffering … is not forgotten. It is seen and it matters. You matter.’” Letheren is writing her own book (out in 2020) about the mental and emotional toll of working as an international aid worker, and how Buddhist teachings can be applied to guide aid workers through these challenging times. SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

The

AINLAY ERA Toward O the Common Good

f the hundreds of remarks delivered by Union’s president over the past 12 years, few, if any, have come without a reference to some historical Union character. Frequent among those characters is William H. Seward, Class of 1820, in whom Stephen C. Ainlay finds “no better model of civic responsibility.” In 1860, the prominent former governor of New York was a pre-convention favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, only to lose to Lincoln in the final ballot. But Seward overcame the bitter disappointment and accepted the president’s invitation to become secretary of state, where he was an architect of abolition. Another alumnus that Ainlay admires is Robert Porter Patterson. As undersecretary of war under Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 1912 graduate was largely responsible for harnessing American industry in support of the Allied effort during World War II. Later, the distinguished jurist set aside his personal dreams of joining the Supreme Court to honor Harry S. Truman’s request that he instead serve as secretary of war. In alumni like Seward and Patterson, Ainlay has found exemplars of one of his administration’s defining themes: instilling in students a spirit of selfless dedication to a larger cause.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

The AINLAY ERA

“I think that’s a remarkable quality in people when they put their personal ambitions and goals beneath what is needed for the common good,” Ainlay said a few months after announcing his plan to step down in June. “I regard it as a theme of my life and I like to think that at my best I’ve internalized that. My father and my mother were both that way. I think this was one of the things that made the “Greatest Generation” great. 18

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

For Ainlay, a simple walk across campus is almost always prolonged by visits with students, faculty and staff.

Coming to Union Stephen Charles Ainlay was named Union’s 18th president on Oct. 25, 2005, a few weeks after then Board Chairman Stephen Ciesinski ’70 paid a call at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. If Ciesinski needed any convincing that Ainlay would be right for Union, it came when he noticed that the candidate took an inordinately long time to traverse the campus. Ainlay’s penchant to stop and chat with students, faculty and staff would continue at Union for the next 12 years. Before Union, Ainlay had spent a quarter century at Holy Cross as a professor of sociology and administrator, finally serving as dean and vice president of academic affairs. What may seem to be disparate topics of his academic research—blindness, spirituality and aging—are connected by what he called at his inauguration “the human need for people

to see themselves as part of a greater whole.” His books include Day Brought Back My Night about how people cope with blindness late in life, and Mennonite Entrepreneurs about balancing a drive for personal gain in a community that eschews material acquisition. Ainlay grew up in Goshen, Indiana, a small town just south of the Michigan border with large Mennonite and Amish communities. Though not a member of either community, they would inspire much of Ainlay’s later scholarship. In Goshen, Ainlay met his wife, Judith, when he offered her a ride home from a high school student government meeting. They attended Goshen College together and spent a year in England. They were married while in graduate school at Rutgers, where Judith earned an M.S.W. and worked for agencies serving seniors while Stephen finished his master’s and doctorate with the

renowned Peter Berger, author of the influential book, The Social Construction of Reality. Ainlay began teaching at Holy Cross in 1982. Judith directed the Gerontology Studies Program of the College of Worcester consortium, which includes Holy Cross, Clark University, Assumption College, Worcester State College and the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Early arrival Just moments before his first public campus appearance on Nov. 16, 2005, Ainlay taped a short video for the local chamber of commerce. In one flawless take, he extoled the virtues of Union College as an engine of regional economic development. He cited Union’s historical significance as the state’s first non-denominational college, the pioneering approach of its broad curriculum, its geographic advantage in the Capital Region and its unique products: highly

adaptable and innovative graduates who are leaders in a world of swirling change. He wasn’t yet on Union’s payroll. Three months before his official start date of July 1, 2006, the then 54-year-old had left his post as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Holy Cross and set up in a President’s House that was in the midst of dusty and noisy preparations for the Ainlays’ arrival. He was on campus to meet with as many faculty, students and staff as time would allow. He spent time with Interim President Jim Underwood, and helped shape what would become the first Strategic Plan under the Ainlay presidency. He traveled the country getting to know trustees and other donors. He accepted student invitations to barbecues and Minerva events. And in his spare time, he embarked on historical scholarship of Union College that would inform nearly every set of SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

The AINLAY ERA “What I hadn’t anticipated was feeling the weight of that robe on my shoulders, literally. It was almost an epiphany, that notion of being the bipedal representation of Union. The school was now on my shoulders.”

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

welcoming remarks he would give over the next dozen years.

Common good Ainlay’s inaugural address on Sept. 16, 2006, set the tone for his priorities: furthering academic excellence, promoting diversity and inclusion, enhancing the campus, fostering sustainability and taking advantage of Union’s location. But the overarching theme of his inaugural address would become familiar: “We must find ways of getting in students’ way, creating space for them to think about the very meaning of the common good, what it means to submit to a cause that transcends personal ambition,” Ainlay said in his inaugural address. “If not possible in a place in the shadow of William Seward, then where?”

The weight of the robe Before his inauguration, Ainlay attended a “boot camp” for new presidents at Harvard University. What impressed him most was the idea that college presidents are bipedal representatives of their schools. At the inauguration, Brian Gulack ’07, president of Student Forum, placed the presidential robes on Ainlay. “What I hadn’t anticipated was feeling the weight of that robe on my shoulders, literally,” Ainlay recalls. “It was almost an epiphany, that notion of being the bipedal representation of

Union. The school was now on my shoulders.” When the family of Ed Kane ’40 asked Ainlay to visit the 93-year-old ailing man, Ainlay arrived to find the former president and COO of DuPont decked out in garnet with a Union tie and his college ring. “I realized at that moment, that it wasn’t about me,” Ainlay said. “It was about Union College coming to see him.” “That was a really powerful experience that has been played out many times,” he said. “When I’ve been asked to speak at funerals, or gone to visit ill people, or simply walked into a room, I’m aware of the fact that I am representing an institution that means a lot to people.” What Ainlay did not learn at the Harvard boot camp was that it cuts both ways. “Nobody warned me about the other part, that the school becomes how you see and understand yourself and what your values and priorities are,” he said. “Part of this transition that has been particularly difficult is that it’s a little bit like lopping off a part of your very self.” “Union has shaped the way I think about myself, the world of higher education and what our mission should be.” “Much of what we are doing now by way of integrating the arts, humanities, social sciences with the STEM fields shapes the way I understand how we should be setting priorities not only as a school but as a nation.

Top, Ainlay in his office with portrait of William H. Seward Above, Ainlay with John S. Wold '38 for the dedication of the Peter I. Wold Center

“When I write notes to new presidents, I tell them that story and urge them to be prepared for how the school is going to become you. It’s a wonderful thing but it’s also an overwhelming sensation.”

‘Broad and deep’ When Ainlay talks of the College’s distinctive niche, he often uses examples of alumni with broad and deep interests. Armand Feigenbaum ’42 and his brother, Donald ’46, founded General Systems Co., the Pittsfield, Mass. firm known globally for systems engineering and total quality control. When Ainlay spoke with them about their giving preferences, they were less interested in supporting economics or engineering—

their academic and professional fields—than in other fields that were valuable to their education. Last year, the College dedicated the Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts, made possible by a bequest from the Feigenbaums. The late John Wold ’38, who founded a successful geology firm in Wyoming, supported the sciences at Union, but also endowed a chair in religious studies. “John Wold was pure Union,” Ainlay said. “He understood that geology was a very important part of who he was, but so were his studies in the humanities and other fields.” Ainlay is also fond of citing examples of current students with wide ranging interests: the art major who studies the

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

The AINLAY ERA

Above, left, President Ainlay sits in as a DJ on WRUC. Above, right, on an annual motorcycle trip with his brothers, Ainlay riding the famous Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina.

chemistry of paints, the mechanical engineer who designs prosthetics for children, the pre-med student who majors in music. “I mention work of current students when I talk because I want people to understand that what has made Union so special in the past—that broad and deep education—is even more what we are about today.” When Ainlay meets students on campus and asks that they are working on, he is gathering material for his talks to alumni and foundations. “The better we at telling our story about the opportunities here, the more students are coming to Union,” he said. “So, the stories begin to multiply.”

Working as a couple With mostly parallel careers before coming to Union, the Ainlays looked forward to working together. “Part of what I’ve enjoyed most about working at Union is that we’ve been able to do it together,” Ainlay said. “Judith has been remarkably 22

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

critical to what we’ve been able to accomplish here in every way, shape and form,” he said. “Through the work she has done to develop relationships with the community, she has humanized Union in the City of Schenectady. She has found important ways to get involved with Proctors, Heritage Home and the Boys and Girls Club. Through her relationships with students, faculty, and staff, she’s been key to building a strong community here on campus.”

Downtime? It’s hard not to be President of Union College. In a typical day, Ainlay estimates, he gets about 40 emails per hour. He wakes up and checks his phone to see what happened since he went to bed. Much to his wife’s chagrin, he often thinks and talks about Union during leisure time. “That’s not as pathetic as it sounds,” he said. “I like thinking about it and it’s part of doing the job.” The Ainlays have found going to student activities a welcome

distraction. They have also enjoyed spending time in the Adirondacks. Nearly every summer, Stephen has joined his two brothers for motorcycle trips through scenic treasures like Michigan’s Lake Superior, the Southwest, Prince Edward Island and Glacier National Park. “The motorcycle trip allows us substantial time together to talk about our lives in ways that are hard to do with larger groups of people,” he said. “And frankly I love the aesthetics of riding a motorcycle.”

progress in key areas including academic excellence, optimizing the learning environment, admissions, development, sustainability, community service, diversity and inclusion. With the implementation of the Strategic Plan came a mission statement, which in part reads: “We develop in our students the analytic and reflective abilities needed to become engaged, innovative and ethical contributors to an increasingly diverse, global and technologically complex society.”

Strategic Plan

Milestones and Accomplishments

Throughout his tenure, Ainlay has remarked on the importance of a plan that guides all members of the Union community by articulating our mission, core values, strengths and collective vision. “One of the most successful things we’ve done is to develop a Strategic Plan and to have followed through on it,” he said. First adopted in 2007 and revised in 2013, Union’s Strategic Plan has charted a course of

In his years as president, Ainlay has worked to secure Union’s place as a leading institution with liberal arts and engineering, where outstanding students get a deep and broad education that integrates and redefines fields of learning. Union has become the school of choice for many of the nation’s top students. It has steadily grown its applicant pool to the largest ever this past year, resulting in the most selective

ast spring, the College broke ground on its most ambitious project to date: the Integrated Science and Engineering Complex. The $100-million, 142,000-square-foot facility will promote visibility and connections across disciplines. The building will house primarily six major departments: Biology, Chemistry, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics and Astronomy. At the groundbreaking for the building last May, Ainlay said, “This project is essential for Union to maintain its historic leadership role in the liberal arts—a role that flows from our institution's integration of arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, and engineering. Union's Board of Trustees voted recently to honor the Ainlays by naming the arc-shaped center of the complex Stephen Charles Ainlay and Judith Gardner Ainlay Hall. The board also voted to present the Ainlays with honorary doctorates at Commencement.

Below, the president at the construction site for the Integrated Science and Engineering Complex, the center of which will be named for Stephen and Judith Ainlay.

Top, at the annual gathering of Posse Scholars. Above, with the team after a men's lacrosse win.

admissions process in history. Under Ainlay, the College completed its largest campaign and one of the largest for any liberal arts college, raising $258 million. That campaign enabled Union to strengthen facilities, and build or renovate 14 major structures. Union has nearly doubled the size of the Annual Fund, which directly covers the actual costs of educating students. Union is now the most diverse and global it has ever been, and it has established Multi-cultural Affairs and Title IX offices to make Union a more inclusive and safer community. For the last five years, Union

has received the HEED Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine in recognition of its commitment to diversity and inclusion. In 2007, Ainlay made the College a charter signatory of the Climate Commitment, adopting a plan to reduce the College's carbon footprint and provide research and education. The College has ambitious recycling programs, presidential grants to promote sustainability programs and a new cogeneration plant that has dramatically cut emissions and saved energy. Ainlay has capitalized on Union’s location in the Capital SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

The AINLAY ERA

Top, Addressing men's ice hockey after a game. Above, left, a class at the Kelly Adirondack Center, home of Union's Adirondack programs and a milestone of the Ainlay administration. Above, right, celebrating the 2014 national championship in men's ice hockey.

Region of Upstate New York to provide unique opportunities for students, and to enhance the College’s reputation and influence. He led the acquisition of the former home of environmentalist Paul Schaffer and the Adirondack Research Library to create the Kelly Adirondack Center, which provides rich opportunities for studying and enjoying the Adirondacks. The revitalization of Schenectady, in which Union

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

was a strong participant, has created new opportunities for partnerships with local organizations, and Union has been repeatedly placed on the Presidential Honor Roll for Community Service.

Quality time with students At Ainlay’s inauguration, William R. Brody, president of Johns Hopkins University, told the new president the best advice he could give was to

take time to interact with the students. It’s a piece of advice and both Stephen and Judith Ainlay have taken. The Ainlays arrived at Union as recent empty nesters. Their eldest son, Jesse, had graduated from Holy Cross and was working as an assistant at a New York law firm. Jonathan was a junior at the University of Arizona. So, living among 2,200 students was appealing. “We just enjoy working with young adults,” Ainlay said.

The Ainlays are ubiquitous at student events. They attend plays in Yulman Theater, concerts in Memorial Chapel, dance recitals in the Henle Dance Pavilion and the Nott Memorial, research poster sessions in the MacLean Atrium, and games at all venues. They attend dozens of events during Steinmetz Symposium, the annual exposition of student scholarly and creative work.

Ainlay teaching a familiar topic: the history of Union College.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

The AINLAY ERA

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Judith Gardner Ainlay: Managing Partner

curator of union history, community builder

n late May of 2006, Judith Gardner Ainlay celebrated the graduation of her last group of students at the Gerontology Studies Consortium she directed in Worcester, Mass., packed her car with the last of her belongings and drove two-and-a-half rainy hours west to Schenectady to join her husband for their first official event: a ReUnion meet-and-greet at the President’s House. Unrecognized by staff, she was turned away at Payne Gate, just feet from the President’s House, while the 5K Minerva’s Race traversed the campus. Welcome to Union. She recalls it today with laughter, but the episode was perhaps a fitting introduction to an ill-defined job: presidential partner.

Creating the job As she wrote several years later in the Chronicle of Higher Education, there is no formal training or support for a presidential spouse, each of whom occupies a distinct—and at times isolated—role determined by background, personality and institution. A friend who had become a presidential spouse two years earlier advised: don’t make any immediate commitments and use that first year to define your role. Long before the year was over, Judith had charted a course that combined her passions for historic home preservation and bringing people together. She created for herself dual roles on campus—curator and community

builder—and set out to restore the historic President’s House to make it a tool for the College. “I enjoy making community, making people feel welcome and warm and part of something,” she said recently, reflecting on 12 years at Union. “It’s important at a place like Union to create this feeling of community, to show that we’re all in it together.”

The President’s House: ‘open and welcoming’ Edward Tuckerman Potter, Class of 1853, designed the President’s House based on Ramée’s original plan for the residence. Construction began in 1857, but owing to financial pressures, the building was not completed until 1861.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

Union history and the College’s formal living room. “It’s important to us that this place feels open and welcoming,” she said. Her passion for restoration has gone to another project, the creation of a faculty house on Douglas Road, just east of campus. She solicited donations of furniture and art for a building that has become a welcoming place for faculty gatherings.

1,500 visitors per year

Top, Judith Gardner Ainlay at the central staircase of the President's House, which (above) serves as the setting for a family portrait

The center hall opens to wide plank floors and an open staircase flanked by portraits of Alexander Hamilton, John Bigelow (1835), Urania Nott and George Washington Doane. The home is filled with antiques donated by alumni and friends. Among the home’s attractions is dining room wallpaper depicting scenes of West Point, Boston, New York and Niagara Falls that was printed from the original blocks made by a French artist in 1834, the same 28

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

ones used to produce wallpaper in the White House. Marian Osgood Fox, wife of President Dixon Ryan Fox, was criticized for the extravagant purchase at the depth of the Depression, Judith noted, “but it was one of the best things ever done for this house.” Over the years as budgets allowed, Judith Ainlay has overseen incremental improvements to the house. Rebuilt chimneys. New stucco exteriors. Restored slate roof. Kitchen upgrade. Garden renovation. Today, the house is a centerpiece of

At the President’s House in a typical year, the Ainlays together host between 38 and 45 dinners and receptions for more than 1,500 students, faculty, staff, alumni and guests. Judith makes sure to get photos of each event. “If you want to know who has visited the President’s House, we have a record,” she said. The Ainlays also have community gatherings, perhaps most notably the annual holiday party in December, a popular event that draws local business and government leaders. One of the Ainlays’ biggest joys is welcoming students to the house. “I love that they come in and feel very special here,” she said. Judith’s husband remarks that she has made it a “personal mission” to bring students to the house. She invites groups of student leaders—Student Forum, Greek and Minerva leaders, RAs—and prefers the smaller settings with 12 around the dining table “because you really get lovely conversations going.” Each September during first-year orientation, the Ainlays welcome the entire class of new students at their doorstep to serenade the couple with their just-learned version of Ode to Old Union. The Ainlays always make sure to get a photo.

In the local community Schenectady’s Heritage Home for Women, a residence for older women of limited means, is a natural fit for someone who has spent much of her career in gerontology. What makes Judith’s service as a Heritage Home trustee even more fitting is that the home was founded 150 years ago by Urania Nott, wife of Union’s fourth president and a prominent champion of women’s education and rights.

The AINLAY ERA

A highlight of orientation, first-year students serenade the Ainlays with Ode to Old Union.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

The AINLAY ERA Judith, who serves as vice president of the Board of Trustees, recently led a million dollar refurbishment project of all of the common space in the 113 year old community for its 36 residents, which included new bathrooms, furniture, carpeting, lighting, wall coverings and more. “Judith played a pivotal role in ensuring the success of this extensive project,” said Jane Schramm, administrator for Heritage Home. “She would make a fantastic ambassador or diplomat.” This multi-faceted project, a lead-up to Heritage Home’s 150th anniversary year (2018), consisted of a much needed upgrade to the building’s interior, Schramm said. “Judith has been like Urania Nott for us,” Schramm said. “She is a remarkable woman who has followed in Mrs. Nott’s footsteps. We are blessed to be able to experience and enjoy the positive impact of her work on behalf of the Home each and every day.” A portrait of Eurania Nott, donated by the Ainlays, proudly welcomes visitors in the lobby of the home. Judith has also been active on the board of directors of Proctors, a wide-ranging arts organization that has been a catalyst for the Renaissance of Schenectady. Over the last decade, Proctors has expanded from a theater to include arts organizations throughout the Capital Region. Judith has helped to organize events co-sponsored by Union and Proctors, most recently talks by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, author Thomas Friedman and columnist David Brooks. “I, and we, will miss Stephen and Judith,” said Philip Morris, CEO of Proctors. “They engaged with Proctors in a hundred ways, from being donors personally (and in Judith’s case, being a trustee), to helping invent new connections to the College and encouraging the Union community to embrace our efforts. All things change. I am sad, though, that they depart.”

Top, the Ainlays at a Proctors event with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. Center, greeting alumni at ReUnion. Above, hosting the women's basketball team at the President's House. 30

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Left, first dog Winston greets students. Below, grandchildren Charlie, left, and Teddy get a ride in the president's golf cart

She is also a member of the auxiliary board of the Boys and Girls Club of Schenectady, which last year honored the Ainlays at their annual banquet for promoting the College’s connections with the organization. She began an initiative called U-ReBloom, in which students bring fresh flowers from College events to local elderly residents. The program, run through the Kenney Community Center, is an important vehicle for student outreach.

Partner in fundraising At one time, only one half of most couples made decisions about philanthropy. Not anymore. “People who are going to give millions of their hard-earned dollars often are a couple and those decisions are made by both people,” Judith said. “So the role of the spouse is very important to fundraising.” After the completion of the “You Are Union” campaign, which raised $258 million, Union’s trustees recognized the importance of the Ainlay partnership by endowing a $1 million student scholarship in their name. The couple welcomes the Ainlay Scholars at a President’s House dinner each year. For her part, Judith alone has been responsible for securing a number of gifts to Union including one from the Wright Family Foundation to endow a chemistry laboratory in the Peter Irving Wold Center.

At a recent event, Judith Ainlay was introduced by an alumnus-host as “managing partner.”

Parents of 2,200 The Ainlays, who came to Union as recent empty nesters, used to joke that they swapped two kids for 2,200. As they did with their two sons, Jesse and Jonathan, they enjoy going to games, plays and performances. “I do feel somewhat motherly toward the young people, but mostly I’m just amazed at how smart and talented they are, and how caring,” Judith said. “We have a really amazing group of students. There is something about the way Union is set up—the trimester and the ability to have other interests than academic—that really develops—or draws out—a great person.”

Meet Winston: Canine Student Magnet There’s nothing like a dog to start a conversation with students. Winston, the Ainlays’ 10-year-old English springer spaniel, is perhaps almost as recognizable on campus as the other residents of the President’s House. He gets his own invitation to pizza parties at Green House. “Winston has been our way of getting out on campus,” Judith said. “When you’re

walking a dog, people will approach you.” “If a student might be intimidated, they are not by Winston,” Stephen Ainlay said. “A lot of students have pets at home and it starts a conversation.”

What comes next The Ainlays’ next chapter revolves around family. “Family is really important to us, and we know how difficult it can be to be far away from parents,” Judith said. “So, we want to support our kids and play with our grandchildren.” SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

The AINLAY LEGACY

Notes of appreciation from the Union community The College’s Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to name the arcshaped building under construction as part of the new Integrated Science and Engineering Complex in honor of President Stephen C. Ainlay and his wife, Judith. It will be named “Stephen Charles Ainlay and Judith Gardner Ainlay Hall.” The project also includes the renovation of three sections of the existing S&E center by fall 2019. The Board also voted to present the Ainlays with honorary doctor of letters degrees this June at Commencement. My very first meeting with Stephen Ainlay was at Holy Cross, where he was the chief academic officer. As we walked and talked around campus, it became immediately apparent that he had a genuine interest in the students and knew nearly all of them by name. He made a point of not merely saying hi to them, but asking them about something in their lives. Fortunately, he brought his charismatic and caring personality to Union College, and the impact was immediate and profound. The entire college began to transform into a true community/family- students, parents, faculty, alums, staff and Schenectadians. This strong bonding has only gotten more pronounced during his incredible tenure, but would not have been possible without the sincere support of his wife, Judith, who herself has embraced Union and is just as interested and dedicated as Stephen. And true to her personality, she has set a standard for “giving back” with her own volunteer work with the aging community.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Stephen and Judith, you both have raised us to a whole new level, we are on an amazing trajectory, and we are immensely grateful. Diane and I and everyone in the Union Community are personally very proud to be a part of your—yes— remarkable presidency, and so filled with satisfaction and appreciation of a job so well done.” —Steve Ciesinski ’70, trustee and former chair

“As chair, I probably introduced Stephen 50 times at various school and off campus functions. I expected to become inured to his “stump speech” and be able to let my thoughts wander as he took the podium. But, characteristically, he always, and I mean always, had a new focus, a different feature, a recent anecdote as his theme for his remarks. I learned something new about Union, about the world, and about Stephen every time I heard him speak to the Union community.” —Mark Walsh ’76, former board chair

“Stephen and Judith Ainlay have made countless contributions to Union during their tenure. I would point two as standing out the most in my mind. First, was the progression of our culture, to be even more open, diverse, inclusive, and welcoming. Second, was their vision and drive to make the new Science and Engineering Center a cornerstone of our future. Together, these contributions position Union to be an even more differentiated leader in higher education well into the future.” —John E Kelly III ’76, chair, Board of Trustees chair

“I cannot thank you enough for making Union extraordinary and most importantly for making Union an accessible place to students like myself. Finally, I hope that you never forget about your favorite Jordanian student when you leave our hallowed grounds. I wish you the all the best this life. You will be missed dearly.” —Sarah Taha ’19, student trustee

“Stephen Ainlay knows how to tell a good story. He tells stories about Union students and their accomplishments. He tells stories about Union's history. He tells stories about faculty and alumni. His stories call to mind the defining characteristics of our identity as a college community. We learn things about Union we never knew. We see new history being made through the work of our students. When Stephen oversaw the writing of Union's first strategic plan, he emphasized that it, too, is a story, a narrative with a rhetorical structure that reflects and defines the character of this place. We can see the plan’s narrative shaping our campus every day in building design, in hiring and admissions decisions, and in programmatic focus. We can honor Stephen's legacy at Union by using the power of narrative to shape what we do and by telling the story.” —Therese McCarty, John Prior Lewis ’41 Professor of Economics and former chief academic officer

“I’ve been fortunate enough to simply chat with Stephen on many occasions. While we often talked about the College and its operation, we also covered some less obvious and less obviously serious topics, such as the shortcomings of fountain

pens for college presidents; the magic of the basement in the President’s house to a four-year-old; why, when you are new in town, you should always check out the menu of a restaurant before taking your spouse there; and how a motorcycle can save your life. He also told me about the value of a laugh for a college president. As you might be able to tell from the list, Stephen taught me the value of having a president with a good sense of humor.” —Bradley Hayes, associate professor of political science, former trustee

“Stephen genuinely cares about excellence in teaching. When I asked him to support my colleague in classics, Stacie Raucci, for a national teaching award, he enthusiastically volunteered to write a letter of support. When Stacie won the award, Stephen insisted that we celebrate, he attended our reception, and he bubbled over with excitement as he told students and faculty alike how proud he was of Stacie’s achievement because, as Stephen put it, excellent teaching is at the heart and soul of our College. Stephen couldn’t have been more excited by Stacie’s teaching award than if he’d won the award himself!” —Hans-Friedrich Mueller, Thomas Lamont Professor of Ancient & Modern Literature, former faculty trustee

“Thank you for the little things, I still remember you guys coming to some of our swim & dive meets. I know how busy you guys are and I know that it meant a lot to all of our Union Athletes and me.” —Jeremy Sagaille ’15

“Thank you for continuing to guide Union into the future.” —Susan Lyon Krivoshik ’91

“Thank you to you President Ainlay and your wife Judith for all the years that you have given to Union College. As a proud mother whose son is currently a sophomore at Union and is loving his time in college, as a wife to an alum (Jason Temple '95) who still has a strong bond to the school and whose father-in-law also attended the College. We are truly a Union family!” —Annabelle Temple P’20

“Thank you President and Mrs. Ainlay for your strong support of the Union tradition.” —Gilbert E. Holmen ’66

“Thank you to the Ainlay’s for their devotion to Union College over the past several years.” —Fred Davies ’53

“My wife and I are so happy to be a part of the Union College community, and to take part in its continued success! We are thrilled that our son has chosen Union College where he is flourishing as an Electrical Engineering student. And, most of all, we’d like to thank you for the leadership and vision that has made Union College such a special and unique educational institution!” —John Morley & Jennifer Karp P’19

“Your immediate and enduring passion for Union College is a testimony to you and you wife’s dedication to our fine institution. May your contribution be remembered, and heralded, decades and centuries from now. Thank you.”

“Thank U for being great role models and for always showing care and interest in your students as much as in your faculty. You'll be missed by the Union community near and far!”

—Neil Johnson ’79, CFA

—Hristina Milojevic ’15

—Brian Maybee '73

“Union has been blessed to have a president who is so engaged with students, who got to know them and their passions and who took time out of his schedule to attend their activities. Mrs. Ainlay made me feel so comfortable at the President’s House. She welcomed me in and put me at ease.”

“Our son Josh is a freshman at Union—We had the pleasure of meeting President Ainlay at the Accepted Students Open House in April. He is inspiring! Thanks for being a great role model for the Union students!”

“Thank you for your dedicated service to Union College. I wish you well for the future.”

—Daniel & Siri Kloud P’21

“Thank you for continuing to build our history!” —Michael Pianin ’80

“Thank U President and Mrs. Ainlay for your many dedicated years of service to the College. I can’t help but feel like a big chapter is closing at Union (especially since your last year coincides with my 5 year), but look forward to all that will come for the place you’ve laid an incredible foundation. Best of luck!” —Tess Skoller ’13

“Thank you to the Ainlays. A strong College on a steady course.” —George Bain ’73

“Thank U for all you have done to improve Union and the Schenectady area during your tenure.” —John Waterbury ’65

“Union has been an incredible asset to the Boys and Girls Club as we work to help kids reach their full potential in life. Stephen and Judith’s inspiring leadership has played a significant role in the success we have had in helping Schenectady’s young people.” —Shane Bargy, executive director, Boys & Girls Club of Schenectady

—Krystal Tru Edwards ’17 SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

Lost in translation; found in meaning

“

tudents in Prof. Maritza Osuna’s capstone course, SPN 405 (Lost) and Found in Translation, know well the word for “rewarding”: gratificante. This winter term, they took on a project that not only explores the complexities of translation but helps a Schenectady domestic violence shelter trying to extend its reach to the local Spanish-speaking population. “To learn about a concept from a textbook is one thing,” said Drew Lenz ’19, “but to tackle this concept firsthand with a project that has immediate, real-world implications is both challenging and rewarding.” Osuna developed this year’s syllabus after focusing her last class on translating works by Puerto Rican playwright Carlos Canales. “I thought, this year let’s do something to impact our local community,” she said. She connected with the Schenectady YWCA and arranged for her students to take on the task of translating the shelter’s eight pages of rules and regulations. One of their first lessons:

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

To learn about a concept from a textbook is one thing, but to tackle this concept firsthand with a project that has immediate, realworld implications is both challenging and rewarding. – Drew Lenz ’19

”

there is no such thing as “word-for-word.” Bridging the divide between Spanish and English requires not just fluency, but an understanding of cultural nuance, Osuna said. For example, if a client is to be “expelled” from the program for breaking the rules, does the Spanish translation convey the permanence of expulsion? The passive voice in English has to become active in Spanish to convey a more linguistically and culturally accurate meaning, Osuna said. So, the English phrase, “we are here to help” must be: “we want to help you.” Katie Tighe ’18 finds the work both challenging and humbling.

“One of the recurring issues is trying to translate across cultures,” she said. “To what extent do you stay as close to the original as possible versus taking some liberties to have the translation make more sense? It is a constant balancing act that often requires us to make linguistic disclaimers in the translations.” Like most of his classmates, Sam Fogarty ’20 thought the class would be a mundane routine of swapping one word for another. “However, this was not the case,” he said. “I've learned an immense amount about culture, gender, language and communication.” The class has advanced Fogarty’s interest in advocating for Spanish-speaking LGBTQ people and women. Last winter, he volunteered with True Colors Inc., a Hartford-based organization serving sexual and gender minority youth. He plans to do translations for the organization this spring. Tiffany George ’18 calls it the “most hands-on class” she has taken at Union. “I feel that we live in a society dedicated

to finding out one answer that solves something,” she said. “In the world of translation, there are multiple interpretations, perspectives, and opinions on how a single line should be translated.” Giovana Vivaldi Coelho ’18 speaks to gratificante. “It is a class that rewards you every step you take in the learning process, because it gives back to students in the form of practice while it also directly benefits those in the community who are in need.” Kim Siciliano, executive director of the YWCA said, “We are very grateful to Professor Osuna for choosing us to be the organization for which her class translates documents. Victims of domestic violence and homelessness already have many barriers to getting the services they need. Through the work of Professor Osuna’s class, we will be able to erase the language barrier with our Latina population and bring awareness about our programs and services to a population who needs us, but might not know about us.”

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

FOCUS

Ever wonder what Union professors are up to when they

Microplastic pollution: Finding the source J A C Q U E L I N E A . S M I T H , research professor of geology (with John Garver,

aren’t teaching?

geology professor, and James Hodge and Bradley Kurtz, College of Saint Rose students)

Just about every-

thing, as it turns out. Nothing is beyond their collective reach or curious minds. Here’s a glimpse of the diverse and intriguing work they do.

Microplastic particles found in Hans Groot Kill on Union’s campus in March 2017

lastic is everywhere. In bags. In bottles. In clothes, toys, disposable cups and artificial turf. It’s in cosmetics and soap, too (those little exfoliating microbeads). Plastic is even pervasive in New York’s Mohawk River. It’s just too small to be noticeable most of the time. Jacqueline Smith is trying to figure out where these aptly named microplastics are coming from. “Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5 mm, including particles deliberately manufactured to be small and those that result from breakdown or wear of larger pieces of plastic,” she explained. “Microplastic particles were found in every sample of floating material and sediment that we collected between Rome and Cohoes, N.Y.” “Abundance varied, however, with the greatest numbers of particles found in samples from Utica and Schenectady,” Smith continued. “Now, we’re focusing on the microplastic abundance in approximately 30 tributaries to the Mohawk River. We’ll be looking at where the microplastic loads are heaviest so that we can better determine the sources of this pollution.” Why? “In simplest terms, microplastics are garbage, and New York State regulations prohibit the discharge of garbage in surface waters,” Smith said. “Plastic particles are man-made and have the potential to alter the physical, biological and chemical integrity of water,

making them pollutants in the eyes of Federal entities like the EPA.” For good reason. “Important findings about potential adverse effects of microplastic on wildlife, human health and the environment emerge almost daily,” Smith said. “Some studies already suggest that negative effects in aquatic organisms can take various forms, such as brain changes and inhibited growth.” And what affects animals in rivers could impact animals in oceans thousands of miles away. “Microplastic pollution in the oceans is considered ubiquitous. The EPA webpage cites references estimating that 90 percent of plastic in the pelagic marine environment (floating material) are microplastics,” Smith explained. “The oceans are endpoints for material transported by rivers.” “Microplastics have also been found in a range of water bodies in New York, including Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, various tributaries to the Great Lakes, the Mohawk River, the Alplaus Kill and the Hudson River,” she added. “Plastic is so abundant in our lives that it should probably not be a shock to learn that plastic debris is finding its way into every aspect of our environment. But I still do find it shocking.” Smith’s work is supported by grants from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Mohawk River Basin Program. The funds will also create two research positions for Union students this summer and fall. –By Erin DeMuth Judd

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Did you know? Microplastics reach water bodies: - In treated wastewater discharged from treatment plants not equipped with filters that can trap such small particles - In overflows from antiquated combined sewer systems that overflow during rainstorms - In runoff that flows directly into streams, rivers and lakes Microplastics also form in waterbodies as larger pieces of plastics, like Styrofoam cups, break down.

Microplastic collected from the Mohawk River at Utica

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

CONSIDERATION

| BOOKSHELF |

M. JOHN LUBETKIN ’60

LAWRENCE BALDASSARO ’65

NORMAN DOVBERG ’68

DR. STEPHEN L. ZUCKERMAN ’62

A Million Dollars an Ounce

Baseball Italian Style

CreateSpace

Skyhorse Publishing

The Brief Long-Term Therapy of A. Lester Lord

As Hitler’s empire crumbles in 1945, an American paratrooper seizes $10 million in rare stamps looted by Nazis during the war. Back stateside, he quickly discovers he's opened a Pandora's Box. To sell the stamps, he'd have to trust Meyer Lansky, the brains behind "Lucky" Luciano's New York mob. Then there's the SS General who masterminded the plundering, who will stop at nothing to get the stamps back. A blending of fiction and fact, the story includes accurate history. The villain, SS Brigadier General Franz Six, led the killing of 15,000 people in 1941 in Smolensk alone. Lubetkin has published four books with the University of Oklahoma Press, including the award-winning Jay Cooke’s Gamble: The Northern Pacific Railroad, the Sioux and the Panic of 1873.

Baseball Italian Style brings together the memories of major leaguers of Italian heritage whose collective careers span almost a century, from the 1930s up to today. In these first-person accounts, fans will meet players they cheered as heroes or jeered as adversaries, as well as coaches, managers, frontoffice executives, and umpires. The men who speak in this collection include eight Hall of Famers (Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Ron Santo, Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Tommy Lasorda, Tony La Russa, and Joe Torre). At a time when statistical analysis plays an increasingly prominent role, these monologues are a reminder that the history of baseball is passed on to future generations more eloquently through the words of those who lived it than it is by numerical data.

Why God Spoke to Me: Dr. Zuckerman’s God Scripted Path to Redemption & Enlightenment

Bookshelf features new books written or edited by or about alumni and other members of the Union community. To be included, send the book and the publisher’s press release to: Office of Communications, Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308 or send publisher’s press release and a high-resolution book cover image to magazine@union.edu.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Self-published

Norman Dovberg, a psychiatrist, has written a sequel to Cosmic Casino: The True Word of A. Lester Lord, Transcribed by Joseph D. Nehemiah. According to Nehemiah, A. Lester Lord had been god of earth after Boss inadvertently created the universe with a blast from his guitar during a rock concert. On billions of planets evolved intelligent beings with a built-in need for spirituality. In keeping with his policy of sending a heavenly host from headquarters to be a god for all such civilizations, Boss sent Lester to earth. The Brief Long-Term Therapy of A. Lester Lord continues Lester’s story. The book is filled with the musings of the author on such disparate subjects as the dying art of analytic psychotherapy, religion, competitive running, culinary arts, the foibles of human relationships and the political scene in the era of Donald Trump.

Top Pick Ink

Sometimes, the most unexpected events have the largest impact on our lives. In 1991, Stephen Zuckerman, M.D., began hearing a voice in his deaf left ear. Initially, he was skeptical as to the voice’s origins, even considering that he might be going crazy. But the voice had knowledge that Stephen could never have known, and with dramatic strokes it changed him, forcing him to accept the fact that he was having a miraculous spiritual experience. He eventually gave himself over to the voice, allowing it to guide him through board meetings, romantic relationships, and anything life could throw at him. The ensuing journey took him to unexpected places, including a harrowing stay in a psychiatric ward. But it was through the voice that Stephen was able to find his true self, ultimately answering the question: Why did God speak to me? With so much of the world beyond our intellectual comprehension, this memoir dives deep into the heart of the spiritual, challenging our notions of religion, self, and our current mental health system.

AJAY MAJOR ’12, edito

WILLIAM BRENNAN

JILLMARIE MURPHY, associate

Family Doc Diary: A Resident Physician's Reflections in Fifty-Two Entries

The Choice Not Made

professor of English

CreateSpace Independent Publishing

Attachment, Place, and Otherness in NineteenthCentury American Literature: New Materialist Representations

In-House and Pager Publications, Inc.

Phyllis Ying M.D., a family medicine resident physician in Seattle, crafted 52 personal journal entries throughout her intern year that blended prose, pictures and painting. In the preface, she writes, “I hope that these pages provide readers with some insight into the hopes, worries, and triumphs that fledgling doctors experience. May this book ignite the same spark in you as the journaling community has sparked in me.” The book is published by in-House, the online magazine for residents and fellows, and Pager Publications, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit literary organization that curates and supports peeredited publications for the medical education community. The organization strives to provide students and educators with dedicated spaces for the free expression of their distinctive voices.

The Choice Not Made, set in Washington, D.C. and at Union College, features fictional protagonist, Bryson Moore, who is a prominent professor of history. The story involves a number of well-known Union men—President Eliphalet Nott, Professor of Chemistry Charles Chandler, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Frederick Seward (Class of 1849) and U.S. Secretary of State William Seward (Class of 1820). It’s an alternate history of the last weeks of President Abraham Lincoln’s life. Moore supports neither Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction nor that of the Congress, and when pressed by Nott, Morre describes his vision for reunion of the states. Nott finds Moore’s proposal intriguing and shares it with William Seward, who in turn arranges for Moore to meet with the Lincoln. The night before Lincoln is to announce his plan for reconstruction, he is calamitously assassinated, and the novel comes to a rapid and tragic conclusion with Moore returning to his beloved Schenectady and Union.

Routledge

This interdisciplinary study examines the role interpersonal and place attachment bonds play in crafting a national identity in American literature. While integrating the language of empirical science and the physical realities of place, Murphy investigates non-human agency and that which exists beyond the material realm and considers how early American writers constructed modernity by restructuring representations of interpersonal and place attachments, which are then reimagined, reconfigured, and sometimes rejected by writers in the long 19th century. Within each narrative, American perceptions of otherness are pathologized as a result of insecure human-to-human and human-to-place attachments, resulting in a restructuring of antiquated notions of difference. Murphy argues that to understand the varied framework of human bonding, it is important to emphasize America’s “attachment” to various constructions of otherness. This book gestures toward those who seek to understand the human motivations that continually inspire the American imagination.

RUDY NYDEGGER, professor emeritus of management & psychology

Clocking In: The Psychology of Work ABC-CLIO

Although most people go to work Monday through Friday, few stop to think about the central role work plays in our lives. Besides allowing us to provide for the material needs of ourselves and our families, having a job or career can help us to meet new people and stay socially connected. It can increase our self-esteem and sense of self-worth, and allow us to have an impact on the world. But work can also leave us exhausted and stressed, and many people find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. This clear and accessibly written book in Greenwood’s Psychology of Everyday Life series provides readers with an understanding of the important roles work plays in our lives, the many forms work may take, and the ways in which our relationships with work change throughout our lives. Rudy Nydegger, Ph.D.., ABPP, FNAP, PLLC, is chief of the Division of Psychology at Ellis Hospital.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

Alumni Clubs CAPITAL DISTRICT

WASHINGTON, D.C. Cheryl Attard, Powell A. Wright ’13, Malcom Sherrod ’17, Pete Haviland-Eduah '10, Alyssa Bonesteel ’17, Julia M. Brooks ’17, Emma C. Stein ’17 and Cailin M. Schmeer ’16 attend the Washington D.C. Alumni Club holiday party at the DACOR Bacon House in December 2017.

BOSTON

Save the Date UPCOMING ALUMNI CLUB EVENTS JUNE 9, 2018 Yankees vs. Mets (pregame at McFadden's) New York, N.Y.

JULY 25, 2019 Summer Send-off hosted by Kara & Rich Williams P’21 Wilton, Conn.

JUNE 14, 2018 Lunch and Learn with Gustave Davis ’59: Nott’s Boys & the Purchase of Alaska Cape Cod, Mass.

AUG. 9, 2018 Class of 2022 Send-off hosted by Cheryl (Packman) Davis ’90 P’21 Scarsdale, N.Y.

JUNE 17, 2018 Commencement Union College JUNE 24, 2018 Pride March New York, N.Y.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Mark T. Higgins ’00, Andrew R. Darrigo ’00, Michael S. Cook ’00 and Jason M. Frasca ’00 enjoy a pre-game lunch at the Shake Shack before Union faced off against Harvard in January.

OCT. 12-14, 2018 Homecoming & Family Weekend (game against Springfield) Union College For more events, visit uconnect.union.edu

In January, alumni and current parents gathered in Boston for the conclusion of the Union on the Road Series with history Prof. Denis Brennan, who spoke on the history of Union College.

CL A S S

Union hockey fans enjoy Mayor Cup’s pre-game meet-up at Johnny Rockets at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. in January.

Alumni and current parents joined the women’s tennis team at a pre-match reception with Coach Brian Bowman in February.

Garnet Guard Alumni who have celebrated their 50th ReUnion. GARNET GUARD CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Bob Howe ’58 135 Chevy Chase Dr. Wayzata, Minn. 55391 howex001@umn.edu

1947

Summer 2017 family reUnion with three generations of alumni: Frank Peters ’47, Marisa Peters ’20, Francis (Chip) Peters ’85 and Jennifer Lachance ’09

Craig Barger ’71 and Andrew R. Anderson ’70 enjoy a pre-game lunch at the Shake Shack before Union faced off against Harvard in January.

1950 Nicholas Boink writes, “I participated in Honor Flight mission 10. This program provides a round trip flight to War Memorials in Washington, D.C. (same day) for veterans. It was a truly remarkable experience and the size and enthusiasm of the crowds of well-wishers was overwhelming.”

N O TE S

John Moody was co-curator of a Manhattan-wide interfaith Stations of the Cross sponsored by Trinity Church Wall Street and involving museums, places of worship, colleges, and public monuments. Held during Lent, Feb. 15 through March, most stations, all marking Jesus’ way to the cross, feature contemporary art and comment and meditative material all focusing on the plight of refugees and immigrants today. An integrated phone app accompanied participants from station to station from the Cloisters Museum to the World Trade CenterMemorial. The free app Alight is available for viewing, also: artstations.org. Robert Hayes writes, “The updating summary paper with Zambian colleagues on weaning food development has now been published. I am still very active in the Gideons International and also now in Trail Life USA, a Christianoriented outdoor organization for boys.”

1951 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

James Taub 711 S. Market Street Johnstown, N.Y. 12095 (518) 762-1172 shrevie711@hotmail.com David Brind represented Union College at the inauguration of Gregory Vincent, the new

president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

David Brind ’51, center, represented the College at the inauguration of Gregory Vincent, right, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. At left is Sally Webster, former leadership gifts officer at Union and a graduate of William Smith.

1952 Donald Hoskins writes, “As I approach 88 (May 22) I am still active as a geologist, mentoring students in field data collecting, working on unfinished maps and paleontology projects.” Charles Stewart writes, “Basically life is treating me well, except I have that affliction we all have of getting older. Fortunately I am doing well except for peripheral neuropathy which affects my balance among other things. This has led to my giving up fishing and my boat so

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

CLASS NOTES

nowadays my major hobby is cooking. While I cook everything, I particularly enjoy cooking a new dessert. Living in Florida everything grows including weeds. Thus I need to do a lot of weeding to keep our property from being overrun. We do a weekly Meals on Wheels run and I was delighted to watch my Philadelphia Eagles finally win a Super Bowl. Hope to see some posts from others and how they are doing.” Paul Fitting ’50, Rod Gartner ’51 and Sherwood Lennartson ’52 never became acquainted while living on campus. Sherwood writes, “After graduating, we worked in the Pittsburgh area for over 30 years, retired but our paths never crossed. Then unknowingly, we all decided to move to a new retirement community, the Masonic Village at Sewickley. The meeting miracle took place. Imagine our surprise when we discovered the common background and our esteem for Union College. It’s been an adventurous 66 years or so since we graduated, but life has been good to us. Best of all, we are still here! While time may have taken its toll, there is still ample enthusiasm for ‘Dear Old Union.’ Periodically, we meet to ‘raise a cup’ for Union, sing ‘Here’s to Dear Old Union’ and reminisce about our classmates, courses,

professors and the positive benefits they all contributed to our lives. Thank you, Union College!”

1953 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Garrett Murphy 345 Northern Blvd., Apt. 348 Albany, N.Y. 12204 gwmurphy53@gmail.com

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

1957

1956

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Alfred Kingon writes, “Retired now after careers in Wall Street, magazine and other editing, and government service.”

1955 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Ken Haefner 1346 Waverly Pl. Schenectady, N.Y. 12308 kbhaefner@gmail.com Mort Silver writes, “As the CEO of Orda Management Corporation, I have recently completed the total renovation and modernization of two office buildings on Park Avenue South in New York City near Union Square. A bridge was built between the buildings to create one combined building

Paul Mohr 140 E Duce of Clubs Ste A Show Low, Ariz. 85901 dadtired@frontiernet.net

1958 Robert B. Howe 135 Chevy Chase Dr. Wayzata, Minn. 55391-1053 howex001@umn.edu

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

William “Dal” Trader 5361 Santa Catalina Avenue Garden Grove, Calif. 92845 daltrader@earthlink.net (310) 629-8971

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Avrom J. Gold 40 Conger St. Apt. 709B Bloomfield, N.J. 07003 (973) 743-1651 avromgold@gmail.com

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

1959

1954

Rod Gartner ’51, Sherwood Lennartson ’52 and Paul Fitting ’50 (photo by Lannie Gartner)

of 675,000 square feet. Among other amenities are landscaped gardens on the roofs of each building. The newly combined building is tenanted by Facebook, Buzzfeed, STV and T. Rowe Price. The project also includes three upscale restaurants.”

Dr. Norm Bartner ’56 with Jay O’Neill ’56. Norm writes, “We were co-captains of the most successful swim team in Union history up until that time under Coach Ray Mullane. About seven years ago, we dedicated a plaque to Ray and a new scoreboard contributed by teammates.”

Lou Martucci writes, “I am now in a ‘retirement’ phase having had productive careers as an Air Force officer (technical intelligence/analysis), and as a national security programs director and emeritus scientist at a national laboratory. Have often recommended to aspiring college students to first consider a small school, with a high ratio of faculty/students, recognition for quality education, and opportunity for academics and athletics—just like Union College. Presently, I am retired and living in northern Oregon.”

Arnold Goldschlager, M.D. was invested as a Knight of the Order of St. Hubertus. This is a prestigious medieval Knighthood dedicated to the principles of Conservation. Napoleon was a Knight in this order. There are only four hundred Knights worldwide.

Dr. Arnold Goldschlager ’59

1960 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Charles E. Roden kiw702@aol.com Paul Wintrich recently recalled a late classmate, Edward “Ned” Hatfield. Paul writes, “While at Union, Ned was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and

played on the soccer team, which he captained for two years and led the team to a 5-4 season in 1958 which culminated in a 7-2 win at Hamilton with Jay Vanneck scoring a hat trick in the mud.” Ned, who passed away July 25, 2017, was a high school teacher of biology, environmental science and aquatic biology in Freedom, N.H., where, in retirement, he ran a B&B.

1962 Vernon Penner writes, “I have taken a sabbatical from my part-time position as the Diplomat in Residence at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and started making local presentations on the declining fortunes of the U.S. Department of State. And there is always sailing...”

1963 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

George Ball 6929 Country Line Road Wayland, N.Y. 14572-9553 gball@frontiernet.net Dan Schwarz was recently honored by Cornell University, where he is the Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow. The event—Celebrating Dan Schwarz: 50 Years of Transformative Teaching— recognized his illustrious career. Also, Dan’s book, How to Succeed in College and Beyond: The Art of Learning, has been published in a Mandarin edition in China, with a new chapter for Asian students. His 18th book, The Modern European Novel since 1900 (Wiley,) is about to appear.

1964 Alan Horn writes, “Still at Disney (hope you saw “Black Panther”) and working away. Not sure when I’ll retire but planning on December of 2019. I do speak with Robert Brockner every Sunday.”

Vernon Penner ’62 sails under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Arnold Mindell writes, “I graduated Union (B.A. and B.S. in 1962), got my masters at M.I.T, and became a Jungian analyst in Switzerland. I married Amy, then developed “Process Oriented Psychology,” (now in many centers around the world). I wrote 22 books on P.O.P. and send a hug to all at Union!”

next Union College attendees. Time will tell.”

William Rosen writes, “Elected as chair of Region 5 of Association of California Water Agencies. Regions manage and conduct events relevant to the member public water agencies.”

1965 Robert (Bob) Lupoli writes, “Still doing some consulting in the finance/legal field for a fin-tech firm located in Connecticut. Daughter Lecia ’98 has welcomed a son, Leo, to our family, and niece, Kristin ’93, a doctor in New Jersey, has two daughters. My son, Whit (age 15), my two grand-nieces, or grandson Leo could be the

1966 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Antonio F. Vianna 7152 Tanager Drive Carlsbad, Calif. 92011 simpatico1@juno.com Jan Werner writes, “In early January 2018, Frank LoVerme, Bill Barnes and I gathered at Staples Arena to watch the Warriors trounce the Clippers. A fun time was had by all.”

21st U.S. President, prevailed at trial, securing damages and costs for the teacher. After the verdict, the Third Avenue Railway Co. desegregated its trolley service. The author contrasts the Jennings case with that of the better-known Rosa Parks case, the latter of which became a watershed moment of the Civil Rights movement and a landmark case in U.S. Supreme Court. Zauderer is a trial and appellate lawyer, an arbitrator and partner in Flemming Zulack Williamson Zauderer LLP. A frequent media commentator on legal issues, he is former chair of the NYS Bar Association Commercial and Federal Litigation Section and past president of the Federal Bar Council.

1968 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jan Werner ’66, Frank LoVerme ’66 and Bill Barnes ’67

1967 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Joseph Smaldino 6310 Lantern Ridge Lane Knoxville, Tenn. 37921 smaldinoj@comcast.net (815) 762-5984 Mark Zauderer has authored an article, “The Forgotten Case of a Schoolteacher and a Future President,” in the November/December 2017 issue of the New York State Bar Association Journal. He chronicles the case of Elizabeth Jennings, an African-American schoolteacher who in 1854 was forcibly removed from a “whites only” trolley in New York City. Taking her case was a young attorney, Chester A. Arthur, who wrote an antislavery essay while a student at Union. The 1848 Union grad who would later become the

John Dresser Etna, N.H. jdressernh@gmail.com Allen Sessoms writes, “Along with five partners, I started a firm, the Higher Education Innovation Group, where I serve as the managing partner. We intend to partner with colleges and universities to provide support in areas from executive search to federal relations. My partners include another former university president and a former acting director of the National Science Foundation.”

1969 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

George Cushing Delanson, N.Y. pinyachta@gmail.com Ray Pike Salisbury, Mass. rnwpike@comcast.net Michael Ein writes, “I am semi-retired after 40 years of an infectious disease consultaSPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

CLASS NOTES

Master dog trainer, leading educator

tephen Mackenzie is a nationally recognized master dog trainer. He’s been deputy sheriff of Schoharie County (N.Y.) for 20 years, seven of which he spent as the K9-handler and trainer. And at SUNY Cobleskill, he’s changed the face of animal science, developing the college’s burgeoning canine program from scratch. It’s a career that might not have been, but for a dog named Rusty. As a kid, Mackenzie and his family lived beside Lake Sammamish in Washington. They had a dock extending into the water that Mackenzie had strict instructions not to play on unsupervised. “Well, you know how little boys are when they are told not to do something. Somehow I found myself out on the dock one day alone,” Mackenzie recalled. “Sure enough I lost my balance, fell in and ended up too far away from the dock to reach it and pull myself out. I remember going under and reaching the surface again three times.” “Realizing something was wrong and being a trained retriever, Rusty hit the water, grabbed me by the shirt and arm and swam me to shore,” he continued. “I would surely have died if he had not responded to his training and done the right thing.” Today Mackenzie is in the process of creating a curriculum for Cobleskill’s first dog-centric major—a bachelor of technology in canine training and management. It will expand on the increasingly popular canine concentration (within the animal science program) that Mackenzie has been building since he joined the college 35 years ago. “When I came to Cobleskill, there were no practical, hands-on courses being offered on dogs,” he said. “I created Care and Training of the Working Dog, which has a significant hands-on element and is still being offered to this day.” Other courses followed to help build the 4-year concentration, which prepares students for jobs in kennel management, breeding, training, education, security, law enforcement, search and rescue, and careers at feed, insurance, veterinary supply and equipment companies. Mackenzie, who holds an M.S. in biology from the University of Bridgeport and a Ph.D. in animal breeding from Cornell University, received the Master Trainer of the Year award from the North American Police Work Dog Association in 2017. The same year, Cobleskill announced the Dr. Stephen Mackenzie Canine Equipment Endowment in honor of his contributions to the discipline. A court-recognized expert in animal behavior at the state and federal level, he is also the author of two books on horse training and three on training police service dogs, one of which is dedicated to Rusty.

STEPHEN MACKENZIE ’71 Major: Biology Current Position: Professor of Animal Science, SUNY Cobleskill

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

’71

Stephen Mackenzie ’71 with Rico

tion practice in Northern California. Enjoying long cruises, our condo in the Bahamas, grandchildren and not having the constant pressure of patients’ lives depending on me. I still have dreams/nightmares of walking into a bio or chem exam totally unprepared and not understanding how I could have let that happen—PreMed PTSD, I guess. I still fondly remember my fellow PreMeds and Phi Epsilon Pi brothers. Looking forward to attending our 50th next year.”

Michael Ein ’69 on a recent Antarctica cruise with his wife of 44 years, Pam

1970 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Frank P. Donnini Newport News, Va. fpdonnini@aol.com Lonnie Palmer has published a book now available on Amazon titled Why We Failed: 40 Years of Education Reform. This solutions-based book highlights the reasons U.S. education reform produced limited student achievement gains while public K-12 education costs soared. The book provides real solutions that will work in today’s schools. The book is an excellent source for educators, parents and policy makers. Frederic McNally writes, “Have recovered 92 percent of range of motion after losing my

balance and falling on a hill landing on my chest and hands, breaking three bones in my left middle finger and palm area, going to the emergency room, having a splint, seeing the hand surgeon, and six months of occupational therapy to achieve physical recovery of functions, so I can touch type again without pain. I will be writing a new textbook for a collegiate audience on Scofflaw Behavior: Preventing by Inoculation against Maladaptive Emergent Sexuality and Education for Criminal Justice Personnel about Subcultural Clashes. I had a lot of time to think about causes of scofflaw behavior and how to prevent it for the last 14 months.” Charles Cusimano writes, “At a time when many of my peers are considering retirement, I changed jobs in 2015 at the age of 66, leaving WWSB-TV in Sarasota, Florida to become general sales manager and now station manager at SNN The Suncoast News Network, also in Sarasota. Love living in paradise and still enjoying the fast changing media business.”

Paul Male writes, “Currently enjoying my seventh winter as a snowbird in St. Petersburg, Fla. I am an usher for the Yankees spring training games at Steinbrenner Field. Continue serving as the town engineer for the Town of Stillwater in Saratoga County.” Bill Larzelere and Glen Behrmann ’79, both BSEE’s at Union, recently participated in a CIGRE technical meeting in Zurich, Switzerland on issues relating to the research that is ongoing in the study of equipment that will be used in modern ultra-high voltage DC power transmission systems, including methods to assure the reliability of this emerging technology for long distance, efficient power transmission. Glen has been working for ABB in various research positions since 1989. Bill is co-founder of Evergreen High Voltage, a manufacturer of electrical test equipment.

1971 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Henry Fein, M.D. Rockville, Md. hgfein@aol.com Harris M. Nagler, M.D. has been named president of the Urology Care Foundation’s board of directors. UCF is the world’s leading nonprofit urological health foundation and the official foundation of the American Urological Association. Harris, who began his two-year term as president January 1, is professor of urology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.

Bill Larzelere ’71 and Glen Behrmann ’79

President Stephen C. Ainlay and Kenneth Wyse ’72

he is responsible for extending licensing on current brands and creating new opportunities in the field, as well as directing national and international fashion publicity and promotion for the IZOD, Van Heusen, and ARROW licensed products.

1974 CLASS CORREPSONDENT

Cathy Stuckey Johnson San Mateo, Calif. caj1080@hotmail.com Bucky Rulon-Miller writes, “In 2017, I completed my 10th sailing voyage through the Lesser Antilles with stays at St. Lucia, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau (pop. 271), Tobago Cays, Union Island, Carriacou and Grenada. In the autumn, I bicycled the 335-miles between D.C. and Pittsburgh on the C&O Canal Towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage. It turns out that I'm half as fast as the Kenyans (2:08 for 13.1 miles).”

1972 Kenneth Wyse recently received the Wholesaler of the Year Award from the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund, a national non-profit organization made up of influential members of the fashion community. Kenneth is president of licensing at PVH Corp. Based at the company’s New York City headquarters,

Bucky Rulon-Miller ’74

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

CLASS NOTES

Michael Goler was honored with the Bob Rosewater Memorial Award for Meritorious Service to the Real Estate Section of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. The award recognizes his long-term service to the Bar Association’s Real Estate Law Section, his expertise in the practice of real estate law, and his commitment to community service in Greater Cleveland. Michael, a partner in the law firm Miller Goler Faeges Lapine LLP, is a past chair of the Real Estate Section, a past chair and regular participant in the Section’s annual Real Estate Law Institute, and a founder and first chair of the Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section. In 2016, he received the Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer Award from the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Michael Goler ’74

Gregory LiCalzi writes, “I haven’t caught up in many years so I will take this opportunity to greet my old friends and classmates and share a brief glimpse of my life post-Union. My wife (and life partner) Carol and I have been married for almost 39 years and we have four children and four grandchildren (so far). We split our time between Celebration, Fla. and Westhampton Beach, N.Y. I continue to work in the public finance sector providing capital to nonprofit organizations; and I also serve on a few charity boards. My eldest Liz (a Colgate grad) and her husband Mark (Binghamton) have two sons, Brady and Owen. They are both physicians practicing in the Atlanta area and met at SUNY Upstate Medical School. My youngest son, Luke, lives in Tampa after graduating from USF. He has become a true Floridian since our relocation to the Sunshine State in 2005. My twin sons are Greg and Mike. Greg is a Dutchman (2004) and he is married to Kim (Fairfield). They have two daughters, CoCo & LuLu, and live in Munsey Park on Long Island. I have the privilege of working with Greg at our boutique investment banking firm. Greg’s twin brother Mike graduated from the USNA and became a USMC officer. Mike,

John Rinaldo ’75, Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy

a Marine tanker, died in Iraq during his first deployment in 2006. Needless to say, we are extremely proud of Mike and will always remember and honor his service and sacrifice. With this is mind we created the Ace in the Hole Foundation to raise funds to assist military families and other worthy charities—causes Mike supported during his short life.” Mark Zullo writes, “Still going strong in my family medicine practice, now at South County Hospital in Wakefield, R.I. (only 1 mile from home!). And still managing to surf as often as there are waves. Now with 7 grandkids as well, so life is not boring, to say the least.”

1975 John Rinaldo writes, “I’m enjoying retirement after almost 40 years designing compressors for Atlas Copco Comptec, but continue to be the U.S. delegate to a couple of ISO committees on gear design. Elaine now enjoys accompanying me to the international meetings and then spending an extra week enjoying the area.”

LiCalzi family vacation 2017

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Amy Titus writes," My husband, Gareth Howell, passed away

on January 4, 2018. He is survived by our two sons, Llewelyn and Rhys Howell." Amy currently resides in Washington, D.C.

1976 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jill Schneier Wegenstein Carmel Valley, Calif. jwegenstein@gmail.com Mark J. Bennett received a presidential nomination as a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a director in the Honolulu firm Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher, where he has practiced complex civil and appellate litigation and government relations since 2011. Prior to joining the firm, Mark spent almost eight years as the attorney general of Hawaii. John Corey writes, “Where once there was the day job, there now is late in-sleeping. From managing the growth curve to handling housekeeping. No more the frequent flyer, no run from fire to fire. Luckily not ailing, so often we go sailing: escaped from winter now, we were windward west of Maui. Hope all fellow Minervans (you) get their best deservin’s too.”

Sue and John Corey ’76 on the Sea of the Moon, suffering through retirement, so far.

1977 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Leila Shames Maude LeeShamesMaude@alumni. union.edu Irving Kaufman writes, “Still working at our BeWell Family Practice in Somerset, N.J. with Reva, my wife and office manager. We are now reversing and preventing Alzheimer’s disease using the Recode Protocol of Dale Bredesen M.D. from UCLA. Our four children are all doing fine. We are enjoying our “pied a terre” in Manhattan, and exploring spirituality at the West End Synagogue. irvofnj@yahoo.com”

Les Trachtman ’77 and friends return to campus for their 40th ReUnion

Les Trachtman writes, “Despite seeing retirement notices from some of my classmates, I continue to work just as hard and long as ever. Being an entrepreneur all my life, I am not sure I can ever give it up. In addition to running my sixth startup (although I have just promoted a Union alum Josh DeBartolo ’08 to run the day-to-day to give me some additional cycles), I’ve published a book titled Don’t F**k It Up, How Founders and Their Successors Can Avoid the Cliché’s That Inhibit Growth. A few of my fraternity brothers, Bill Glavin and Dave Weinstein, attended one of my recent book signings in Albany. Whenever I get the chance I visit the campus and recently presented in two of Hal Fried’s economic courses, focused on entrepreneurial thinking and am an avid supporter of the Minerva Fellows social entrepreneurship program at Union.”

1978 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jeff Laniewski, Florence, Ariz. jlaniewski4@gmail.com James Manning writes, “Hey all, I am so happy these days knowing my daughter, Lucy, will be in the 2022 class at Union— woohoo! Did you know that of

James Manning ’78

all the small northeastern liberal arts schools, Union is the only one with nut-free food services? It provokes in our family a collective sigh of relief. I am doing well, living in Great Barrington, Mass. I recently hit the slopes after a 17-year pause, and just started as a ski instructor at Butternut. Life is good.”

1979 Michael Chaskes writes, “On Nov. 4, 2017, I became a grandfather to a beautiful, health girl—Stella Madison Wassertrom. I am a cardiologist and professor of medicine and vice chair for the department of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine at the State University of New York at Buffalo.” Julie Greifer Swidler and several other top women executives at major record labels and music publishers recently wrote a letter to the Recording Academy’s board of trustees after its president, Neil Portnow, said women need to “step up” to advance their music careers. According to a recent New York Times article, the executives call the academy “‘woefully out of touch with today’s music, the music business, and even more significantly, society,’ and say that the organization, which

presents the Grammys, needs to become more inclusive and transparent.” Julie is general counsel of Sony Music. Steven Breitenfeld writes, “I continue to enjoy curling with fellow Union College Curling Club alumni, Keith Dropkin, and Roseanne & Brad Glaser, at Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, Mass. I often talk with my dear wife, Christina Brucia, a Union alumna, about how it continues to amaze me how attending Union College continues to ripple through our life. I want to wish all my fellow Union College Curling Club Alumni—1975 to 1982— good curling!”

1980 James Loree, president and chief executive officer of Stanley Black & Decker Inc., was recently appointed to the Whirlpool Corp. board of directors. He will serve on the audit committee and the corporate governance and nominating committee. He is also a trustee of the College. David Dunham writes, “I recently moved back to the Pacific Northwest, this time to Tacoma. I have a great view of Mt. Rainier out my window as I type this.”

Five friends from the Class of 1979—Alan Rosenberg, Amy Goldhamer Margolis, Allan Greenberg, Jan Rosker Anderson and Gary Philipson—recently celebrated their 60th birthdays with a fall Danube river cruise.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

CLASS NOTES

Mack Sperling, a Brooks Pierce attorney, was recently recognized as an industry leader in the 2018 edition of North Carolina Super Lawyers. Mack was named a “Super Lawyer” for business Litigation. Peter Raymond writes, “Spent a year working between the U.S. and China and am now back. Fascinating experience. Living in Shanghai was a glimpse into the future from many perspectives: digital, infrastructure, trade, innovation and much more. Having hit the retirement age at PwC, I'll be retiring at the end of June. Looking forward to new adventures including another epic bike trip with fellow Union Kappa Alpha alumni. This time in Utah in September and including: Gregg Singer, James Quittmeyer, Steve Buchanan, Thom Siragusa, Tom Hallenbeck, Russ Davidson, Don Dulchinos and possibly more.”

1982 After over 24 years in Portland, Oregon, and over 22 years at Intel, Richard Zucker is returning to the Seattle area, where he went to graduate school. Thirty years after an internship there, he is returning to Microsoft and his software roots. Roy Jackson has been named executive vice president of development and industry relations for the National Restaurant Association. Roy, a longtime industry executive recently retired after more than 20 years in various leadership positions at the Coca-Cola Company. He is a Union College trustee.

New York City orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Joseph A. Bosco III recently became second vice president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic 48

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Good friends for many years, Darcy Hammerman ’82, Larry Fallek ’81, Jay Gilburne ’81, Dave Schwartz ’80, Jeff Silverman ’82 and Richard Roth ’81 enjoyed a mini ReUnion at Telly’s Taverna in Astoria.

Donald Lippman ’82, Bailey Rand ’08 and Michael Lippman ’18 in Pololu Valley, Hawaii, in December. The Lippmans happened to see Bailey’s Union cap.

Surgeons (AAOS) Board of Directors. His new role is the first in a four-year term of volunteer service that includes serving as president of the Academy in 2020-21. Joseph is a professor and vice chair for the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone Health. He specializes in sports medicine, total knee replacement, shoulder and elbow surgery.

1983 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Cory Lewkowicz Needham, Mass. corylewkowicz@gmail.com Andrew Levine has produced a podcast, “Second Act Stories,” in which each episode profiles someone pursuing a more rewarding life in a second act. It can be downloaded on iTunes or streamed from www.secondactstories.org. “If there are any Union ‘Second Act’ candidates, I’d love to hear about them,” he writes. He can be reached at SecondActStories@gmail.com. Andrew continues to serve as chairman of Development Counsellors International.

1984 David DeFilippo, chief people and learning officer at Suffolk, and his team garnered four national awards this past fall.

Adam Spitz ’84 and wife Sheila Acker Spitz ’84

The team won three Learning in Practice awards and one Optimas for various human capital solutions that are focused on accelerating the development of Suffolk’s talent. Adam Spitz writes, “I am an endocrinologist in Charlotte, N.C. My wife, Sheila Acker Spitz, and I celebrated our 36th Valentine’s Day together and 31 years of our Union union! Our eldest daughter, Peri, is to be married in October ’18.” Jill Bleifer Fergus writes, “We’re still living in NYC, lower Manhattan and about to become empty nesters. My son is a sophomore at Amherst College, swimming for them. My daughter will be off to U Penn in the fall. I’m pursuing a new career in recipe development, food styling and photography at feedtheswimmers.com and portfolio @feedtheswimmers on instagram.”

1985 Janet (Nachbar) Harrold ’82, Felicia Rubinstein ’82, Randi Ribakove ’82, Sheryl (Katz) Meyers ’82, Mark Meyers ’82, Rich Tanenbaum ’82, Marty Magida ’81 and Hilary Harrold ’81 at the annual winter gathering at Copake Lake. Pregaming for a vicious game of Cards Against Humanity.

David DeFilippo ’84

Francis “Chip” Peters writes, “My wife and I recently visited our daughter Marisa (Class of 2020) during her term abroad in Rennes, France. We celebrated a Union Thanksgiving dinner with her classmates, professors, and the host families. I was a student in the same program 34 years earlier, and this visit impressed me

Jason Feingold writes, “Living in Los Angeles (again!), writing enterprise software.”

Union’s SDT sisters unite in New York with classes from the ’80s, and SDT celebrates its 100th birthday.

with the renewed vibrancy of Rennes and the contagious enthusiasm of the Union students.” Timothy Hesler, CTP writes, “After five years, I am still at New York University as assistant treasurer, running the banking, investments, liquidity and pension management for the university globally, along with all short-term debt programs, payment strategies and foreign exchange. I was also named president of the Pinnacle Consortium of Higher Education, a 35-year-old Vermont insurance company owned by NYU and 16 other peer research universities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. This gives me an opportunity to learn more about risk management. After spending 15 intense years in the management consulting industry, moving to higher education has been a welcome change, albeit with different challenges. I remain engaged in consulting on a part-time basis, as a senior advisor for McKinsey & Company for the Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice in New York. I have been married to my wife Wendy for 29 years, and my twin daughters, Ann and Kate, are living in the city, both in grad school at NYU and Columbia, respectively.”

1986 Evan Schwartz writes, “I’m the director of storytelling for Innosight. We’re an innovation and strategy consulting firm based in Boston that helps leaders shape the future, rather than get disrupted by it.” Lisa Weisinger writes, “Hi Everyone! Our daughter will be graduating from Union this spring. She has played basketball there (Go UCWB!) and has loved every minute of her college career. We thank Union for preparing her for the next leg of her journey. We have loved being on campus and will miss Union when she graduates.” Dwight Cooper writes, “Laura (Fineberg) Cooper ’84 and I live in Andover, Mass., with our son Eric. He is a freshman in high school and enjoys playing the trumpet in marching band and jumping hurdles in track. Laura is writing children’s stories and tutoring. I am the VP of software development at Casenet, a company developing software for patient care management.”

1987 Longtime Con Edison executive and electrical engineer, Timothy P. Cawley, has assumed a new role as president of the

The Nature Conservancy Magazine recently interviewed Paul and Carol Soderholm about their conservation efforts in Illinois, where they have been restoring prairie on 190 acres of land they own. Of this, 130 acres—named the Edward F. Vassallo Land and Water Reserve in memory of Carol’s son, Edward—will be gifted to the Nature Conservancy. Edward Vassallo ’90 passed away in 2014.

energy company. Previously, he was president and chief executive of Orange and Rockland Utilities, a subsidiary of Con Edison Inc.

1988 Richard Gersten writes, “Time flies. Two kids in college. Daughter, Hallie, graduates from Lafayette this May and son, Tyler, is a sophomore at Bucknell. Both liked Union but not top choice.”

1989 Elizabeth (Landsiedel) Etemad writes, “Back and forth to East Coast now. My daughter is a freshman at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Still enjoying family practice in Novato, Calif. Elected to Meritage Executive Board, 700 member physician group for Marin and Sonoma counties. It has been interesting diving into politics after 19 years in private group practice and now as an employee. Union College is as lovely as ever though I do not miss winter trimester.”

In September 2017, Steve Sanders was sworn in as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. Steve returned to the Appeals Division, where he had served for nearly 10 years between 2007 and 2016. Steve is also an adjunct professor of law, teaching appellate advocacy at Seton Hall University Law School in Newark, N.J.

1990 Michele Alfano of Michele Alfano Design was one of four design firms selected for the 2017 #DXVDesignPanel, where she re-imagined the modern movement inspired by the Scandanavian philosophy of Hygge and using the new Modulus DXV collection. Hygge is a Danish concept that cannot be translated to one single word but encompasses a feeling of cozy contentment and well-being through enjoying the simple things in life. Michele’s design is now DXV’s Modern AD campaign for 2017-2018 and will be seen in many design magazines like Luxe, Elle Décor, Vanity Fair, Metropolitan Home, NY Times T style, Interior Design and Architectural Digest. Of her design, Michele writes, “It

Michele Alfano ’90

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

CLASS NOTES

heightens your senses, whether you’re soaking in the tub, standing on the fur rug or sitting on the bench with a warm cup of coffee. I love clean lines but overlay them with bold graphics, texture, pattern, so there’s fusion between the clean and the tactile.” Her website is www.michelealfanodesign. com. Follow her Instagram @ michelealfanodesign

1991 Matthew Futterman and Jason Albert, friends and housemates at Union, had an unexpected meeting at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where Futterman was covering the games for the New York Times, Albert for the Nordic website fasterskier. com. Futterman, deputy sports editor for the Times, wrote a brief account in which recalled his Union days with Albert and “endless hours on beat-up couches contemplating problems large and small.” After their impromptu Olympic meeting, they convened to watch some cross country races where, Futterman wrote, they were “right back on those couches—thankfully, without very much to complain about.”

Matthew Futterman ’91, left, and Jason Albert ’91 had an unexpected meeting at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, where they covered the games for the New York Times and fasterskier.com, respectively.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

1992 Lance Harry writes, “The Harry’s moved to Minnesota in the summer of ’17... great job opportunity for me as GM of a newly-formed division of Tractel, Inc. I’m responsible for two manufacturing companies, one here in Chaska, Minn., the other down in Houston. Definitely a cold winter, but finding ways to keep busy up here in the ‘bold north’ and state of hockey!”

Christopher Matteson writes, “Attended the Dutchmen v. Yale hockey game in New Haven 1-19-18 with my wife Christina and children Eleanor (9) and John (7). Clearly they’re budding fans and wore the garnet and white jerseys well! We all enjoyed a fun pre-game event hosted by the alumni office at the New Haven Lawn Club. Go U!”

1993 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jill D. Bernstein New York, N.Y. jilldbernstein@yahoo.com Beth (Pincus) Finger lives on Long Island with Alex Finger and their three children. She is the founder and director of a non-profit venture called Jewish Without Walls (JWOW). Alex is an orthopedic surgeon with Advanced Orthopedics.

Lancy Harry ’92 and son, Baden, 13, enjoy some pond hockey at 0° F near their home in Minnesota.

Eleanor and John Matteson, children of Christina and Christopher Matteson ’92, wear their Union jerseys proudly— and deep in Bulldog territory.

Stacie Brenkovich writes, “Kids are growing fast and I continue to work at Accenture in the social collaboration space, celebrating my 25-year anniversary in July! We continue to take advantage of our proximity to NYC, spending a recent day skating at Rockefeller Center.”

John and Stacie Brenkovich ’93 with children Matthew (7) and Avery (4) at Rockefeller Center

1994 James Klotz writes, “VDOT area construction engineer assigned to the Commonwealth’s I-64/ I-264 Interchange and I-264 widening and Witchduck Road Interchange improvement projects. Construction of both projects totals $200 million; their purpose is to improve the gateway to coastal Virginia Beach and access to the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.” Kurt Venator, DVM Ph.D., was recently promoted to chief veterinary officer at NestlePurina PetCare. Dylan Ratigan recently announced his decision to run for New York’s 21st Congressional District seat. The journalist, former TV host, author and businessman is the 10th Democrat vying for the seat. He gave the keynote address at Union’s Commencement in 2012.

1995 Stacey Rainey writes, “After long enough on the corporate train, I finally started a company, Community Barn Ventures, based in Middlebury, VT, working with organizations to help them grow, solve problems or consider new markets. Community Barn is on Main Street and getting more involved in the community every day. I live nearby with Cort Boulanger ’93 and three crazy kiddos.”

1997 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Sara Amann Garrand Ballston Lake, N.Y. sgarrand1@nycap.rr.com

Tapping success

few miles west of campus along the Mohawk River, a Union couple are enjoying the sweet rewards of running Schenectady County’s only commercial maple sugar operation. Chris Welch ’00 and Erica (Gierke) Welch ’06 have converted an abandoned apple orchard near the Montgomery County line into Riverside Maple Farms. Last year, they built a 5,000-square-foot red barn to house the operation, which sits on a 30-acre parcel. Now in their second year, they are producing about 1,000 gallons of syrup annually, no small feat when one considers that it takes about 40 gallons to sap to produce one gallon of syrup. Their retail store also offers a range of maplethemed products: candies, spreads, popcorn, cotton candy. They tap about 3,000 trees, some on site but most on 260 acres near Scotia. They maximize their sap yield by using a vacuum system on their network of taps and tubing. A reverse osmosis system concentrates the sugar content of the sap before the final boil. Maple sugaring has always been in Chris’ family. His father, Cal Welch ’62,

CHRIS WELCH ’00 Major: Theater

’00

ERIKA (GIERKE) WELCH ’06 Major: Economics and political science

’06

Chris Welch '00 and Erica (Gierke) Welch '06 with Chris' father, Cal '62, at Riverside Maple Farms.

tapped trees on their Glenville property, where Chris and his sister, Caroline Welch ’01, grew up. Chris and Erica have day jobs in the IT field, but they find time to run the sugar house, mind the retail store and give tours to a seemingly endless parade of scout troops, schoolkids and 4H clubs. “Our real passion is bringing people in, teaching about the process, having tours,” said Erica.

Chris, a theater major at Union, recalls his many lessons in design and set building with Prof. Charles Steckler when tending to the myriad of details in maple production. Erica finds that her training as an economics and computer science major makes her well suited to tackle the challenges of business and technology that come with the farm.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

CLASS NOTES

Bonbons make sweet business

Gooey vanilla caramel on top of pecan praline with bites of candied pecan pieces and graham crust in a milk chocolate shell

ave a craving for something decadent? Julie Moran’s got you covered. Simply click on over to Julie’s Chocolate (www.julies-chocolate.com). You’ll find bonbons to satisfy every sweet tooth—from toasted coconut to salty caramel and even peanut butter and jelly (Moran’s personal fav). A business consultant by day, she opened the online shop in fall 2016. “I’ve always had an interest in visual arts. At Union I tried different mediums like drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and pottery. Chocolate is my new medium,” said Moran, who does occasional pop-up events around Chicago with her candies. “There are so many different applications for chocolate but I was drawn to bonbons because I can combine the visual appeal with delicious flavors. Julie’s Chocolate has offered a unique creative outlet in my free time.” That free time is spent making small-batch, handcrafted bonbons. It’s a multi-day process she takes seriously. First, she meticulously paints the molds by hand. Then she casts them in chocolate to create the bonbon’s thin outer shell. Once set, she adds the fillings, which range from smooth ganache to crunchy nuts and pralines. Finally, she caps the bonbons with another layer of chocolate. “I believe food should not only be delicious, but artfully presented. The design of each bonbon is very important to me and may take many weeks to test and finalize,” Moran said. “I try to include a variety of colors and painting techniques to ensure all the chocolates are unique but also look nice together.” Moran, who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu (London) with a grand diplôme in cuisine and patisserie in 2014, also studied food styling at Leiths School of Food and Wine. She offers 15 different bonbon flavors, with more in development. “In 2016, I thought I would just ‘dip my toe in the water’ to see if there was demand for the product,” Moran said. “Now I’m looking to expand the menu in fall 2018.”

JULIE MORAN ’04 Major: Psychology and visual arts Current position: Owner, Julie’s Chocolate

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

’04

1998

2003

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Ryan T. Smith Jupiter, Fla. ryan.smith@thebenjamin school.org

Katrina Tentor Lallier Shrewsbury, Mass. katrinalallier@gmail.com

1999 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kellie Forrestall BeeBee Lowell, Mass. forrestkj@hotmail.com

SmithGroupJJR, one of the nation’s leading integrated design firms, recently hired Steven Baumgartner as an urban systems and infrastructure strategist. As a principal of the firm, Baumgartner will lead multidisciplinary teams across the U.S. in the research, design and development of large scale campus, city and district planning initiatives for the firm’s higher education, workplace and urban design practices.

2002 Kwok Lee writes, “On Feb. 6, I was nominated as a 2017 Culture Hero in my organization (HSBC). Having been with my organization for seven-plus years in a leadership role, it is a great honor that represents integrity, courage and upholding the values of the organization at large. Out of 11,000+ employees in the U.S., 200+ were identified and only 100+ were nominated.”

Top to bottom: Julie’s favorite flavor, Peanut Butter & Jelly: Strawberry ganache with a homemade crunchy peanut butter layer in a milk chocolate shell; Chicago flag inspired bonbon with Chai infused white chocolate ganache in a white chocolate shell; a variety of bonbons.

Kwok Lee ’02

John Forbush has joined Avangrid Networks, Inc. as an in-house attorney. Based in Rochester, N.Y., John will represent Avangrid’s public utility companies in litigation and regulatory proceedings, as well as provide counsel on a wide range of operational and strategic issues.

2005 Jason Tucciarone received his MD/PhD in neuroscience from Stony Brook University and has completed his first year of research track residency in psychiatry at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.

2006 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Sarah T. Heitner New York, N.Y. sarah.t.heitner@gmail.com Mary Olushoga writes, “My team and I just launched a new platform to support the minorities in technology ecosystem. Sheworksintech. com is focused on helping women find job and internship opportunities in technology focused fields and careers.” This venture compliments awpnetwork.com, which Mary launched in 2012. The platform helps power small business success for African entrepreneurs. Erika Rahill writes, “A bunch of the Union softball girls from the Class of ’06 with Union husbands and lots of future Union babies “tailgated” in Reamer in November before the Union-RPI football game and prior to being inducted

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

CLASS NOTES Alumnae from the Class of 2006 on campus with their husband and children, prior to the Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony (November 2017) that included the women’s 2003 softball team.

Eze Abosi ’06, Brendan Merrell ’07, Patrick Mulrooney ’07, Clarissa Odence ’11, John Greklek ’07, Justin Forrester ’03, Alex Cline ’07 and Michael Ewing ’14 all work at Decision Resources Group.

into the Athletics Hall of Fame that night as a part of the 2003 women’s softball team.” In attendance were Beth (Carcone) and Jimmy Peters, Katie (Ratner) and Dave Moriarty, Erika (Eisenhut) and Jim Rahill, Stephanie (Rubino) and Ryan Grant ’05, and Alicia (Gifford) and Frank Arcuri ’05.

2007 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jackie Siedlecki Murphy Delmar, N.Y. jaclynrenemurphy@gmail.com Caroline Blackburn, an attorney in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was recently promoted to chief assistant county attorney for Dutchess County. Her practice focuses on labor and employment, taxation and finance, and general municipal law. She is a graduate of Albany Law 54

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

School. She and her husband, Daniel (married in June 2016) reside in Clinton Corners, N.Y. Jazmin Puicon was recently awarded the highly competitive Warren and Beatrice Susman Dissertation Completion Fellowship at Rutgers University for 2017-18. She is a doctoral candidate in history at Rutgers, specializing in Latin American History and Women’s and Gender History. Her dissertation research focuses on AfroColombian women, salsa music, and popular democracy in urban Colombia in the 20th century.

2008 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Dana Cohen Bernstein New York, N.Y. dana.lynn.bernstein@gmail.com

Kate Langwig has been named as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, part of the Virginia Tech College of Science. Kate focuses her research on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, addressing such questions as pathogen transmission and dynamics, heterogeneity in host susceptibility and infectiousness, the impacts of pathogens on ecological communities, and the conservation and policy implications of infectious disease. Eden Neary writes, “In September of 2017 I became a nationally certified drug recognition expert. A drug recognition expert has specialized training in detecting drug impairment of operators of vehicles. There are about 8,000 DREs worldwide. Also, on January 21, 2018, I was promoted from trooper at Vermont State Police New Haven Barracks to sergeant at the Vermont State Police Rutland Barracks. I am a night shift patrol commander at the Rutland Barracks.”

called RC Atlee—with no small thanks to Ellie Rines ’10. I hosted a dinner in honor of two Union/Sigma Phi friends who are both engaged to be married—Brandon McArdle ’09 and Matthew Kearney ’09—and both living in Philadelphia. Both weddings are this summer.” Jude Mason went to his 50th Phish show. He is also expecting a baby girl.

2009 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Gabe Kramer Los Angeles, Calif. kramerg3@gmail.com Carl S. Winkler New York, N.Y. carl.s.winkler@gmail.com Mary Roberts recently started a theater company at the historic Muscoot Farm, where she works as an educator. The company performed a night of one-acts in June, a staged reading of The Crucible in an old barn in October, and then an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that took audiences in and out of different characters’ homes.

Eden Neary ’08 Mary Roberts ’09 Robert Atlee-Hodgson writes, “Celebrating two years in Hamptons real estate working with Compass Hamptons. Just had a record sale in East Hampton estate section, still splitting my time between Philadelphia and NY. I also opened a pop-up gallery—

Rachel Fitz will be completing her anesthesia residency at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. this June. She will be staying on as an attending physician for general and obstetrical anesthesia and acute pain management. She

recently returned from a medical mission in Haiti, providing care for over 50 patients undergoing surgical procedures.

2014 Ava Carnevale writes, “I moved to Sacramento, Calif. from Boston, Mass. and started a new job as a business development advisor for retirement plan sales and financial advisory work.” Nick D’Angelo accepted a position as a law clerk to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore of the New York Court of Appeals that began March 1.

Rachel Fitz ’09 and colleague at a medical mission in Haiti

Lindsay Salandra recently became engaged to Pierce Kuchle during a vacation to the Big Island of Hawaii. Nuptials are being planned for May 2020.

2011

The Eta Chapter of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc., alumni and undergraduates met up for their Annual Christmas Dinner in New York, N.Y.

2015 Vincenza Macherone writes, “I accepted a position as associate investment advisor at Del-Sette Capital Management on Union Street in Schenectady. I help clients with all of their retirement planning needs, drawing on previous experience as a financial planner and tax analyst at the Ayco Company, where I began my career after graduating from Union.”

2016

Kian Nowrouzi ’16, Dima Yankova ’16, Quisqueya Witbeck ’16, Professor Teresa Meade and her husband, Andor Skotnes, gathered at Zen Bistro in downtown Schenectady, where they reunited to catch up and reminisce about their experiences during the Cuba Mini-Term of December 2015.

Thomas Gerber (Union Graduate College, MBA) and Clarissa Amaral ’11 have been married for five years. They met during their time in Schenectady.

2012 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Anna Meiring Boston, Mass. annameiring@gmail.com

2013 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

April Chen ’17, Quisqueya Witbeck ’16 and Bella Li ’17 at a surprise meeting on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston’s Fenway District. All three are master’s students at Northeastern University; Chen and Li are in the joint Accounting-MBA program and Witbeck is in the Global Studies & International Relations program.

Maggie Hoffman ’15, Peter Rasmussen ’16, Yilun Zhang ’15, Parth Visrodia ’16, Mihir Patel ’16, Quisqueya Witbeck ’16 and Raashika Goyal ’16 during a chance meeting at the SoWa Winter Festival in downtown Boston. Rasmussen, Zhang, Witbeck and Goyal studied abroad together in Canada, England & the Netherlands during the National Health Systems Term Abroad in 2014.

Cristina Vazzana Boston, Mass. vazzanaca@gmail.com SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

“I am constantly applying the research, writing problem-solving skills I learned at Union to everyday challenges.”

KEILAH CREEDON ’14 Major: History, Mathematics (minor in Dance) Current Position: Educator and workforce trainer in Rwanda

’14

In Rwanda, building a better future

ith a focus on three different disciplines, Keilah Creedon ’14 admits to having had some doubts senior year about where her liberal arts degree would take her. “I’m used to getting quizzical looks when people read my CV,” Creedon says. “They jokingly ask, ‘So you’re a dancing mathematician historian?’ But it made for a very rich day at college when I moved among math and history and dance. Being able to do that is what’s so great about Union.” Creedon conducted research in both her history and mathematics majors, and as a dance minor, she choreographed a piece to raise awareness about sex trafficking. The Flagstaff, Ariz., native also lived in the community service theme house, played the cello in the Early Music Ensemble and was active in the campus Christian fellowship. A course in globalization shaped and challenged her views about work in developing countries. “It was at Union that my desire to make the world a better place took root and became more refined,” she says.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

She notes that her professors encouraged her to pursue this passion further by writing a history thesis about contemporary slavery and a math thesis that statistically mapped the connection between genderbased violence and HIV/AIDS. “Math and history aren’t necessarily fields that lend themselves to social justice or development studies, but at Union they became lenses for me to examine those exact things,” Creedon says. After graduation, Keilah went to Rwanda as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. When the fellowship ended, she took a job at MindLeaps, a nonprofit for street children, where she taught English and dance and helped start a basic literacy program. Now in a communications role at the Education Development Center, she works closely with the Rwandan government on innovative solutions to joblessness. She lives in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, and travels throughout the country, reaching out to vulnerable youth through literacy and workforce training programs. Though a world away from the Union campus, she says her college experiences

are never far from her thoughts. “I am constantly applying the research, writing problem-solving skills I learned at Union to everyday challenges,” she says. “I am also grateful for the way I was challenged to think creatively as a dancer and musician.” In Rwanda, Creedon continues to flourish in a close-knit community of friends, artists and mentors. She is part of a contemporary dance group and a local church, and she has played in an Afro-rock band. “This is a really exciting time to be in Rwanda,” she says. “Most people think of Rwanda only in the context of the genocide that devastated the country in 1994, but it has such a different, inspiring story to tell now—one of incredible development, change, peace and security. The drive and determination to build a better future here are contagious. It’s humbling to get to be an eyewitness to this period of Rwanda’s history. “My dream was to do something bigger than myself, to give back in a global sense and contribute to change in others’ lives. Union helped transform my dream for the future. I’m living it.”

Union College Annual Fund

Join us today as we enter the last leg of our “Drive for $5M.” Only with your support will we reach our goal of a $5 million unrestricted Annual Fund. Help us honor and say goodbye to President Stephen C. and Judith Gardner Ainlay by supporting this initiative.

Every time you make a gift to Union College, you help support financial aid programs, student research, academic departments, operations and campus life. Annual Fund gifts touch every corner of a student’s life, putting every dollar to its best possible use.

Supporting Union is easy: ONLINE: uconnect.union.edu/give BY PHONE: (518) 388-6175 BY MAIL: Annual Fund Office Union College 807 Union Street Schenectady, N.Y. 12308

Please make checks payable to Union College.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

U UNIONS

’06

’76 58

Alumni attend the wedding of Adam Nebenzahl ’06 and Stephanie (Schuman) Nebenzahl ’06

Harry Hayes ’76 and Luci Cody were married Sept. 16, 2017 n Albany, N.Y.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

’00

Alumni attend the wedding of Robyn Polansky ’00 and David Morrison

2000

2007

Robyn Polansky married David Morrison Sept. 3, 2017 in Stamford, Conn. Alumni in attendance included Robyn’s father, Mark Polansky ’68, Sue Zelnick O’Neil, Ron Zuckerman ’99, Melissa Sullivan Popkoski, John O’Neil ’99 and Lee Polikoff ’00. David is a dentist in Clifton Park, N.Y. After 18 years living and working in New York City, Robyn moved back upstate. The couple resides in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Jess Cromeek and Duncan Bell (’08, James Madison University) were married Oct. 15, 2017 at Red Maple Vineyard in the Hudson River Valley region of New York. Alumni in attendance included Shirel Kozak, Colin Foard, Misha Smirnov, Daniel Fishman, Lorlette (Haughton) Moir, Luther Vucic and Samantha Seide.

2006

Keri Messa married Alex Foley in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at the Hall of Springs on Oct. 14, 2017. Alumni and friends in attendance included Frank Gaynor ’73, Tom Morante ’73, Steve Madej ’09, Meredith Katz, Frank Messa ’73, Jennifer Turecamo, Ryan Deck ’09, Jen Saad, Chelsea Cobb, Lisa Saguirian, Brett (Rosensweig) Weiss, Cristin Tenety, Emily Bryson, Dan Leavitt ’06, Rachel (Beckman) Leavitt ’06, Julie Rahill, Caitlin Cuozzo, Merrell Middleton, Andrew Dikan ’06, Alyssa Holmes, President Stephen Ainlay, Judith Ainlay and Chris Cernik ’73.

Adam Nebenzahl and Stephanie (Schuman) Nebenzahl were married Sept. 17, 2017 in Incline Village, Nevada. Alumni in attendance included Stephanie (Rubino) Grant, Ryan Grant ’05, Katja (DeVries) Andreo, Loren Andreo ’05, Katharine Linehan, Nicole Sabbatino, Jennifer Pangburn, Carin Jenkins, Courtney (Allen) Brandt ’03, Edward Brandt, Marc Wiener, Michael Simon, David Korim, Ryan Laddey, Billy Condon ’07, Daniel Felder ’07, Chris Nealon and Will Dewey ’07.

’08

’07

Alumni attend the wedding of Jess Cromeek ’07 and Duncan Bell

’08

Valerie Gomes McLeod ’08 writes, “My husband, Chad, and I married this past September in Hampden, Mass. We live in Wilbraham, Mass.”

2008

Alumni and friends attend the wedding of Keri Messa ’08 and Alex Foley

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

UNIONS

Greg Paul and Danielle (Wineberg) Paul were married September 16, 2017 at Boston Marriott Long Wharf. Alumni in attendance included Emily Follansbee, Mike and Ashley (Banta) Gallagher, Amanda Roosevelt, Brittany Lamb, Carol O’Hea, Brian ’07 and Pauline (Schwenk) Samuelsen, Marielle (Kaufman) Fratarcangeli, Ali (Hinkaty) Sparby and Mary (Volcko) Reed. Caroline Kernan and Pye Russell were married Aug. 26, 2017 in Harvard, Mass. Alumni in attendance included Les Kernan ’74, Doug Kernan ’81, Katharine (Gould) Meyer, Chris (Couser) Guerinot ’06, Victoria Pagano, Stephanie (Hargadon) Rogers, Kyle Tilley, Gordon Burdis, Tom Haynes, Andy Wilks, Chris Collison and Ben Gilroy, with many others there in spirit.

’08

Alumni attend the wedding of Greg Paul and Danielle (Wineberg) Paul ’08

2009 Collin Doyle ’10 and Stephanie Gilbert Doyle married Oct. 1, 2016 with family and friends in Brighton, Utah. Alumni in attendance included V. Ashley Kovack ’10, Jason Shaffer ’10, Ryan Skeuse ’10, Megan Sesil, Kristin Hissong ’08, Susan Pocock Mannino, Gabi Wintner Uydess, Diana Polli ’10 and Alex Zirbel Jennings. Lacey Morgan and Douglas Weller were married in Oswego, N.Y. Oct. 7, 2017. Over 30 alumni celebrated together, including Lacey’s dad and uncle, Robert and John Morgan (both Class of 1979), Kristine Brooks, Kate Jones, Andrew and Meredith Scaplen, Matt Kearney, Andrew Finley, Rachel Torres, John Goot, Douglas Merkert, Michael McAndrew, Nick and Christina Ingalls, Bridget Graham, Brian and Malysa Hurley, Ian Brennan, Matt Greenberg, Ted Weller, Brett

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

’08

’09

Alumni at the wedding of Caroline Kernan ’08 and Pye Russell ’08

Alumni attend the wedding of Collin Doyle ’10 and Stephanie Gilbert Doyle ’09

’09

Alumni attend the wedding of Lacey Morgan ’09 and Douglas Weller ’09

Huntley, Kameron Simpson, Trevor Flike, Zach Epley, Tricia Linden, Sean Wade, Alan Fox and Jordan Zellinger.

’09

Alumni attend the wedding of Jillian (Bannister) Shaheen ’09 and William Shaheen

William Shaheen and Jillian (Bannister) Shaheen were married Sept. 30, 2017 at Marianmade Farm in Wiscasset, Maine. Alumni in attendance included Mallory (Mason) Sakats, Amy (Kemmler) Kocienda, Megan Bordino, Elizabeth (Stanford) Zulick, Alan Zulick, Jenna Frisch, Katherine Nielsen, Elise Wakeland, Tatum Weishaupt, Elizabeth Zamore, Lyndsay Wehrum, Sara (Wilson) Reigle and Andrew Reigle.

2010 Cristina Liquori was married to her partner, Laura Haapanen, Nov. 17, 2017. The couple celebrated the private ceremony with a honeymoon in Maui. They also celebrated personally with family and friends, many Union alumni included.

2011

’11

Alumni attend the wedding of Lauren Brown ’11 and Dustin Harris

Lauren Brown and Dustin Harris were married Sept. 16, 2017 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The wedding party included Sloane Sheldon. Other alumni in attendance included Win SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

UNIONS

’11

Alumni—class years ranging from 1976 to 2014—attend the wedding of Liz Sargent ’11 and Max Troop ’11 June 24, 2017.

Schellens ’07, Jordan Silletti ’09, Matthew Breazzano, Nick Oren, Kelly (Pearson) Oren, Scott Zurawel, Kristina Csaplar, Emily Dodge, Max Taylor, Sheila Autilio ’83, Emma Krosschell, John Russell, Max Becton, Anne (Woodward) Reiser and Ken Reiser ’12.

After several years living abroad in Tanzania and Rwanda, Rebecca Wentworth and Jason Abbott-Dallamora were married Aug. 6, 2017 at her parents’ home in Monson, Maine. They are set to move to Thane, India, August 2018. Alumni in attendance included Julie Russell, Rachel Mayer ’12, Kaylee Queen ’12, Keiko Mimuro and Phil Guerrant (Union Graduate School).

’11 62

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Alumni attend the wedding of Rebecca Wentworth ’11 and Jason Abbott-Dallamora

2013

’13

Alumni at the wedding of Sarah Dean ’13 married David Creer

Sarah Dean married David Creer on Dec. 30, 2017 in Pomfret, Conn. The bridal party included Aisling Kearns and Francesca Imgrüth ’14. Other alumni in attendance included Katelyn Lancto, Katie Camilleri ’12, Liz Hackert, Kat Cohen, Katie (Morris) Kaplan ’11, Bob Hanaburgh ’12 and Josh Weijer.

2014

’14

Kathryn (Ziemba) Baisley and Matthew Baisley were married Oct. 28, 2017 at St. Mary’s Church in Clinton, N.Y., with a reception following at the Sadaquada Golf Club. Alumni in attendance included Alexandra (Aufiero) Bodie, Emily Crandall, Shannon Crowley, Leah Doucette, Peter Goemaat, Mallory Kiley ’17, Nicholas LaPoint, Juliette Larzelere, Sarah Leffel, Meghan Murphy, Anne Morrissey, James Skelton, Gabrielle Tantillo, Sara Vicks and Patrick Ziemba ’16. Alumni attend the wedding of Kathryn (Ziemba) Baisley ’14 and Matthew Baisley

Kevin Chico and Suhasini (Padhi) Chico were married Dec. 27, 2017 in Bhubaneshwar, India. These alumni all made the trip: Adam Miller, Katie Beale, Kara Kaufman, Alex Block, Victoria Rosalie, Robyn Gayle, Connor Cahill, Ariel Somers, Ilyena Kozain, Lucas Comstock, Mackenzie Westfall, Alizah Kaplove, Lauren Tower, Lily Gurman, Kayla Lawrence and Geoffrey Noah.

Alumni attend the wedding of Kevin Chico ’14 and Suhasini (Padhi) Chico ’14

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

U Photo by Hannele Lahti

ARRIVALS

1990

2006

Darren Binder writes, “My husband, Dave Liedman, and I welcomed beautiful twins, Keira and Austin, to our family June 12, 2017. They are wonderful babies and are keeping us very busy. We also moved a short distance from Washington, D.C. to Chevy Chase, Md.”

Caitlin (Del Zotto) Rozzi and husband, James, welcomed their second son, Jack, May 8, 2017. Jack was 5 pounds, 3 ounces, and 17 inches long. Jack joins big brother CJ, who turned 2 just days before his brother was born.

1998 Deb (Loffredo) Lindenman and Marc Lindenman of Fairfield, Conn., adopted their daughter Madison in September 2017. “Everyone is doing well and we are thrilled to have Madison as part of our family.”

Benjamin Beaty and his wife, Catherine, welcomed their daughter, Charlotte May Beaty, July 19, 2016.

2007

2000 Roger Noyes and partner Candace White are excited to announce the birth of their son, Oliver Noyes-White, on July 17, 2017. Noyes and family live in Slingerlands, N.Y.

Julia (Mathew) and Anil Padiyedathu welcomed their son, Mason George, Sept. 13, 2017. He was 7 pounds and 11ounces, and 21 inches. He joins big sister Leila Ann.

2003

2008

Brian Kern and his wife, Alissa, recently welcomed the birth of their son, Ethan Frederick Kern, Aug. 10, 2017. His big sister, Natalie, loves him, along with the entire family.

Sean and Rachael Maginess welcomed their daughter, Norah Audrey, on Nov. 17, 2017.

Catherine Ollinger ’07 and Douglas Bush welcomed their daughter, Lucy Bush, on Aug. 25, 2017.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

Deb (Loffredo) Lindenman ’98 and Marc Lindenman with daughter Madison

Lucy Bush (Bush ’05)

Caitlin (Del Zotto) Rozzi ’06 and husband, James, with sons Jack and CJ

Charlotte May Beaty (Beaty ’06)

Brandon and Cecilia Pearson (Pearson ’07)

Mason George Padiyedathu (Padiyedathu ’07)

Norah Audrey Maginess (Maginess ’08)

Erika (Eisenhut) and Jim Rahill welcomed Patrick Gregory Rahill on June 15, 2017.

Melissa and Mitch Pearson welcomed their twins, Brandon and Cecilia, to the world on June 15, 2017.

2005

Darren Binder ’90 and Dave Liedman with their twins, Keira and Austin

Ellie Helmer was born March 17, 2017 to Jackie Raftery-Helmer and John Helmer.

2010 Alec Rosen and Lizzy (LaBonte) Rosen are thrilled to welcome Grace Evelyn Rosen, born Jan. 19, 2018 at 12:54 p.m.

Building Our Third Century Oliver Noyes-White (Noyes ’00)

A bequest was received from the estate of John M. Ferguson, Class of 1959. Proceeds will be used to support areas of greatest need. While at Union, Mr. Ferguson earned degrees in economics and electrical engineering. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta.

Patrick Gregory Rahill (Rahill ’06)

A quarterly trust distribution was received from the estate of Naomi Chambers and added to the Walter R.G. and Naomi Baker Scholarship. Mrs. Chambers was the widow of Walter R.G. Baker, Class of 1916. An additional trust distribution was received from the estate of Alfred C. Baechlin Jr., Class of 1932. This distribution will be added to the AlJean Baechlin Memorial Scholarship, established with prior trust proceeds, and will provide financial support to one or more deserving students. A quarterly trust distribution was received from the estate of Robert L. Slobod, Class of 1935. Proceeds will be used to support areas of greatest need. A bequest was received from the estate of Charles W. Herman, Jr., Class of 1952. Proceeds will be added to the Robert C. Herman Memorial Book Fund, established years ago in memory of his son, Robert, Class of 1977. Funds are used to purchase books in the field of political science. Mr. Herman was an economics major and member of Alpha Delta Phi.

CHARITABLE GIF T ANN UITIES A charitable gift annuity was established by James G. Ehlen Jr., Class of 1962 and Carol Ehlen. Remainder proceeds will be added to the James G. Ehlen Jr. Endowed Fund. Grace Evelyn Rosen (Rosen ’10)

WINTER SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

8 IN MEMORIAM

8 .........

1940s . . . . . . . . .

David H. Van Dyck ’44, of West Hartford and Bolton Landing, N.Y., who served with the U.S. Navy during the battles at Leyte Gulf and Iwo Jima during World War II, Dec. 25, 2017. A lifelong secondary school teacher and coach, first at Storm King School and later at Kingswood Oxford School, he was 94. Karl Klarman ’44, of Nashua, N.H., who earned a master’s in electrical engineering from Columbia University and served with the U.S. Army during World War II, Feb. 6, 2018. A vice president of Electro-Tec Corporation in the 1950s, he taught classes at Union College after the war. In the 1960-70s, he worked at RCA, where he was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Apollo Space Program’s rendezvous radar system for the Lunar Module. Karl, who led his own engineering consulting business into retirement, was 95. Dr. Edward W. Hopkins ’45, of Cockeysville, Md., who served in the U.S. Navy and Army and graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Nov. 22, 2017. A pediatrician who worked for the State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and later the Herman & Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital, he enjoyed sailing the Chesapeake Bay and playing piano. He was 92. Dr. Robert J. Disney ’46, of Manheim, Pa., and formerly of Albany, N.Y., who served with the U.S. Navy in World War II and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, Nov. 28, 2015. Robert practiced dentistry in Albany for 51 years. He was a member of the Third District Dental Society and the past chairman of the Legislative Committee.

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

A member of the American Legion Post in Delmar, N.Y, he was 90. Francis A. Szczutkowski ’47, of Erie, Pa., who served with the U.S. Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater, was a member of the Navy’s SeaBees (construction battalion) and served in the Naval Reserve, Nov. 24, 2017. A civil engineer who retired from Hammermill Paper Company after 32 years and was Erie division plant manager, he served on various boards, including the Erie Port Authority and East Side Boy’s Club. Frank, who enjoyed time with his family and fishing on Lake Erie, was 92. Glen R. Pratt ’47, of Richmond, Va., who graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, held a Ph.D. from Temple University and was a professor at Bloomfield Presbyterian Seminary, Feb. 1, 2018. A pastor of several churches in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Virginia, and an Army Chaplain during the Korean War, he was also professor emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he was a founding member of the National Society of Health and Human Values. He was 93. Dr. John B. Bobear ’48, of New Orleans, La., who graduated from Albany Medical College and the Brooke Army Medical Field Service School, and served in the U.S. Army Reserve Corps, Jan. 28, 2018. A professor emeritus at Louisiana State University Medical Center, he served in several leadership capacities at Charity Hospital, including as medical director. A specialist in tuberculosis and pulmonary medicine, he retired from practice in 2008. Winner of the 1995 Breath of Life Award from the American Lung Association, he was active in several professional organizations, he was 92.

Richard T. Edwards Jr. ’49, of Carol Stream, Ill., who served with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, participating in the capture and defense of Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Sept. 30, 2017. A recipient of the Purple Heart and numerous other citations for his service, he ended his career in the electrical cable industry as a district sales manager with the Rome Cable Corporation. He was 95.

.........

1950s . . . . . . . . .

Richard E. Kopper ’50, of Chittenango, N.Y., who was an electronic technician with General Electric for 35 years and served with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, Jan. 5, 2018. Richard, who enjoyed vacationing in Daytona Beach, playing pitch and watching his granddaughter’s sports events, was 97. James H. Bryson ’50, of Brevard, N.C., who volunteered at Hospice and Literary Volunteers in Stamford, Conn., and Hendersonville, Aug. 13, 2017. Instrumental in starting the Stephen Ministry program at Etowah United Methodist Church, he was 90. David G. Kilgus ’50, of Long Branch, N.J., a certified public accountant who served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Capricornus and held an MBA from New York University, Feb. 2, 2018. A past member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts, and the New Jersey and New York Societies of Certified Public Accountants, he enjoyed boating and ski vacations with family. He was 91. Rev. Robert W. Williams ’51, of Concord, N.H., who served with the U.S. Coast Guard aboard the USS William Mitchell during World War II and received the Philippine Liberation Medal and U.S. Naval

8 JOSEPH K. HANDLER ’52

Combat Action Ribbon, Dec. 15, 2017. A graduate of Colgate Divinity School and Eastern University, he was executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire and was an elected state representative (2005-2012). He was 91. Gino R. DeTogni ’51, of Succasunna, N.J., who served with the U.S. Army and held a master’s in psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dec. 25, 2017. Gino, who first worked at Watervliet Arsenal (N.Y.), later retired from Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway Township as a research engineer. A member of St. Therese RC Church and the Knights of Columbus, he was 92. Robert H. Horn ’51, of North Branford and Madison, Conn., who graduated from Naval OCS and was assigned to NavComSta in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Jan. 21, 2018. After retiring as a lieutenant in 1956, he became corporate director of industrial engineering at Chesebrough Ponds. Robert, who volunteered with his wife for the International Executive Services Corps, and for Habitat for Humanity, was 88. Cesare A. Bucci ’51, of Scotia, N.Y., a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Occupation Army in Japan and worked for General Electric in the large steam turbine generator department, Jan. 16, 2018. A member of the Italian Community Center Charitable Foundation and St. Anthony’s Church, he also volunteered with the AARP Foundation Tax Aide program for more than 20 years at the Glenville Senior Center. He was 93. Stephen J. Simons ’51, of Edgeworth, Pa., who spent 43 years as a civil engineer with Dravo Corporation, where he participated in several notable engineering projects, including Pike Island Locks, Feb. 7, 2018. Active in his community, he volunteered

oseph K. Handler ’52, of Pittsfield, Mass., a dedicated supporter of Union College and committed volunteer in his community, died Jan. 9, 2018. He was 86. Born in Pittsfield, Joe graduated from Union with a bachelor’s of science in social sciences before earning an MBA from the University of Massachusetts. Also an officer in the United States Navy who served aboard aircraft carriers in the Atlantic and Pacific, he enjoyed a 34-year career as a human resources professional in General Electric’s ordnance division.

An active Union student, Joe was involved in Concordiensis, Garnet yearbook, student government, Kappa Nu and the Interfraternity Council. He was equally engaged after graduation, becoming a supportive and generous alumnus. Joe served as an associate class agent for many years and was a member of the College’s Alumni Council from 2002 to 2017. He and his wife also established the Joseph K. Handler and Mary Jane Handler Scholarship and regularly attended the College’s scholarship luncheon each May. They were familiar faces at many other Union events in Schenectady and Florida, as well. Also active in his community, Joe was a lifelong member and president of Temple Anshe Amunim. A staunch patron of the arts, he supported many Berkshire cultural institutions as a donor and member of numerous boards, including the Berkshire Athenaeum, Kimble Farms, Berkshire Center for Families and Children, Pittsfield City Personnel committee, Colonial Theater and the Tanglewood Volunteer Association. Joe is survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary Jane; children David M. Handler ’81 and Susan Handler Monac ’85; and grandchildren Alexandra Segel, Rebekah Handler, Samuel Monac, Harry Benjamin Handler ’18 and Emily Monac ’18.

8 SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

IN MEMORIAM

8 HERBERT SCHMERTZ ’52

erbert Schmertz ’52, a Mobil Oil executive who changed the face of public relations with his influential and innovative media tactics, pioneering the use of corporate “advertorials” in the 1970s, died Jan. 17, 2018 in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 87. Herbert, born March 22, 1930, grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Union College. He went on to earn a bachelor of laws from Columbia University in 1955. In 1977, Union awarded him an honorary degree doctor of laws degree. After doing intelligence work in the Army in Washington from 1955 to 1957, he joined the American Arbitration Association. He then became an organizer for John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960, which fostered a lifelong association with the Kennedy family. After Robert F. Kennedy became his brother’s attorney general, Herbert was named general counsel to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. In 1966, Herbert was hired as a labor lawyer at Mobil. In 1969, he took over Mobil’s public affairs department, which he would lead as vice president until 1988. During these years, he took an approach to public relations that was aggressive and outside-the-box.

When Mobil Oil was being demonized during the energy shortages of the 1970s, Herbert pushed the company to defend itself, not ignore the criticism as was standard public relations policy. Under his leadership, Mobil started enhancing its image by association—particularly with PBS. The company sponsored “Masterpiece Theater,” “Mystery!” and other public television programs. A believer in creative confrontation, as he called it, Herbert went head-to-head

8 68

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

with media and refused to let critical reporting go unanswered. He made certain the views of Mobil Oil were heard, something business leaders of the time generally didn’t do. In October 1970, Herbert began buying space of the op-ed page of The New York Times. The essays expressed Mobil’s views, responded to current news and addressed more general issues like mass transit. These “advertorials” ran in other papers, too, and Herbert appeared on television many times, as well. Herbert, who wrote “Goodbye to the Low Profile: The Art of Creative Confrontation” with William Novak, left Mobile in 1988 to form his own company. When he retired, The New York Times asked him to identify his biggest success. “I think,” he told the paper, “the Mobile has made it respectable for companies to have views, opinions and philosophies and to express them.” Advertiser-controlled or influenced content is now routinely found in papers, on television and radio, and online. Herbert is survived by daughters Nicole and Lexy; sons, Anthony, Thomas and Conor; and six grandchildren.

with many organizations, built baseball fields and coached and umpired Little League. Survived by his wife of 64 years, Dolly, two children and seven grandchildren, he was 89. Charles W. Herman Jr. ’52, of Huntington, N.Y., Dec. 3, 2017. James R. Karl ’53, of Roanoke, Va., who spent his career with General Electric as an international sales representative, Dec. 9, 2017. Active in the Virginia Gentlemen Chorus and the Church of Transfiguration in Fincastle, he was 86. David W. Meyer ’54, of Watervliet, N.Y., who served in the U.S. Navy and was employed for many years by the NYS Department of Health as a personnel manager, Nov. 8, 2017. An active member of the First Presbyterian Church, he was a supporter of youth activities in Watervliet, especially Boy Scouts of America. He was 86. James F. Hoffman ’54, of Naples, Fla., and previously of Hudson, Ohio and Travelers Rest, S.C., who owned and operated Hudson Business Forms, July 10, 2017. A skilled golfer who enjoyed bone fishing in the Bahamas, he also was an accomplished gardener. Richard J. Scukas ’56, of Glen Mills, Pa., who served in the U.S. Navy as a Flying Midshipman and in the Reserves as a naval aviator, Jan. 14, 2018. Richard, who retired from DuPont in 1991, enjoyed woodworking and traveling. He was 89. Timothy R. McDonough ’57, formerly of Branford, Conn., Punta Gorda, Fla., and Vero Beach, Fla., who served with the U.S. Navy’s underwater demolition team (a precursor to the Navy Seals), Oct. 26, 2017. Tim, who spent most of his professional life in the communication and technology

business with Southern New England Bell, GAF Corp and Boehringer Ingelheim, was a member of the Quail Valley Club and Orchid Island Yacht Club. He was 84. John D. Torpie ’57, of Dallas, Texas, who held a master’s in electrical engineering from Yale University and a master’s in applied mathematics from the University of Rochester, and retired from Xerox after 32 years as an engineering program manager, Jan. 4, 2018. Granted patents for inventions in imaging and advancements in efficiency of telecommunication, he was also an adjunct professor of math in the Dallas County Community College District. A member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, he was 82. Peter R. Worch ’57, of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., and Binghamton, N.Y., who held a master’s and doctorate in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University and served in the U.S. Air Force for 24 years in research and development (retiring a colonel), Jan. 6, 2017. He pioneered development of advanced manned and unmanned aircraft systems, including early stealth technology. He served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, chairing major studies in communications and aviation. An advanced design consultant to the military combat aircraft industry until his death, he was 81. Charles A. Fisher ’58, of Annapolis, Md., Aug. 6, 2017. He was 82. Dr. Bruce Hauptman ’59, of Lexington, Mass., who graduated from New York Medical College and served with the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, Nov. 11, 2017. A psychiatry instructor at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, he later founded (with his wife) the Community Therapeutic

Day School. He also had a private practice in Cambridge. He was 79. Frederick E. Huber Jr. ’59, of Buffalo, N.Y., Dec. 12, 2017. He was 80.

.........

1960s .........

Douglas E. Murphy ’62, of Atlanta, Ga., who graduated from Adelphi University and after a career in the finance field, retired from Blue Cross-Blue Shield in 2002, Jan. 17, 2018. Active in his community, Doug volunteered at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, representing the Sons of the American Legion. In 2015, he received The President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, signed by Barack Obama. An avid Georgia Bulldogs football fan, he was 78. Kenneth A. Payment ’63, of Tenants Harbor, Maine, who graduated from Cornell Law School and spent his 40-year legal career with Harter, Secrest & Emery, Nov. 9, 2017. Kenneth, who made an argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989 that resulted in a change in the tax laws applied by the IRS to estates nationwide, also represented Dolly Parton. He was 76. Paul S. Livingston ’64, of Albuquerque, N.M., who held a master’s in special education from City College (N.Y.) and a J.D. from the University of New Mexico, Nov. 3, 2017. A practicing attorney for 33 years and tireless advocate for constitutional and civil rights, he successfully litigated several cases on behalf of patients in medical malpractice cases. Instrumental in supporting one of the first county clerks to grant gay marriage licenses, he was 75. David L. Spencer ’64, of Clifton Park, N.Y., who was a member of the Edison Club and the Schenectady Curling Club, May 30, 2017. He was 82.

SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

IN MEMORIAM

Frederick L. Eyer ’66, of Buffalo, N.Y., who studied linguistics at the University of Buffalo and worked at the library there, Jan. 3, 2018. Frederick, who in his later years also worked at UPS, was 72. Lee T. Ellis Jr. ’67, of Washington, D.C., who attended the University of Tennessee, graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and was a trial lawyer with Baker & Hosteller LLP, Jan. 13, 2018. Lee, who in 2006 was named the District of Columbia Defense Lawyer Association’s lawyer of the year, tried federal and state cases throughout the country. A member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court who served many organizations, including as president of the University Club of Washington, D.C, and its charitable foundation, he was 72. William R. Knipscher ’68, of Vestal, N.Y., a high school English teacher and guidance counselor at Livingston Manor and Roscoe Central Schools, Nov. 11, 2017. William, who spent many hours devising rockets that actually flew and radios that actually transmitted, was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Binghamton. He was 71. Mary Fortune ’68, of Mechanicville, N.Y., a longtime business and human resources manager who was special assistant of the administrator for the National Institute of Science and Technology, director of management development for NASA headquarters and business manager for Acta Materialia Inc., Jan 3, 2018. A faithful Roman Catholic, she was 90. Franklyn V. Fusick ’69, of Inverness, Fla., who ended his 33-year mechanical engineering career at the Duke Energy Complex in Crystal River, Nov. 22, 2017. Active in his community, Frank served on

UNION COLLEGE | SPRING 2018

the Save Crystal River Inc. Board and was a founder of the Kings Bay Rotary Stone Crab Jam, for which he was given the Paul Harris Award. He was 71. .........

1970s

led the transition of the family company into Carton Donofrio Partners Inc., of which he became CEO. Chuck was 62. .........

.........

Walter E. Burt ’73, of Gotha, Fla., Sept. 7, 2017. He was 67. John J. Caulfield ’74, of Fishkill, N.Y., who served with the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict and earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Academy of Aeronautics, Jan. 1, 2018. John, who spent 30 years with IBM and retired as an advisory engineer, was a member of VFW Chapter #1248 and the Disabled American Veterans. A holder of federal licenses to operate aircraft and supervise power plant operations, he was 87. Christopher A. Leet ’75, of Augusta, Ga., who attended Northwestern University and SUNY Albany, Jan. 2, 2018. A fan of the Chicago Bears and White Sox, he enjoyed playing guitar and listening to the Beatles. He was 64. Vincent M. Conte ’76, of Schenectady, N.Y., who served in the Korean War before spending 41 years as a quality control engineer at General Electric, Jan. 26, 2018. A member of the GE Quarter Century Club and Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, he was an avid gardener and hunter. He was 85. Harold C. Donofrio Jr. ’77, of Glen Arm, Md., who attended graduate school at the University of Montana and worked for Young & Rubicam before joining Richardson, Myers & Donofrio (marketing communications firm established by his father), Nov. 26, 2017. A past president of the board of St. Paul’s School for Girls and a board member of Goucher College, he

1990s . . . . . . . . .

Andrew M. Rice ’91, of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., who held a master’s in computer science from the University of Idaho, Dec. 5, 2017. Andrew, who was a computer software designer for IBM, McDonald’s, Diamond International and Sears, was a talented pianist who enjoyed mountain biking and hiking. He was 48.

Friends of Union College Sandra Estell Stone Stake, of Schenectady, N.Y., who worked in the Office of Alumni Giving at Union College (1982-1988) before joining Albany Academy and later Ayco Company, Nov. 4, 2017. Sandra, who retired in 2006, enjoyed gardening, reading and searching for treasures at garage sales. An active member of Union Presbyterian Church for 26 years, she was 80. Roberta Carlson, of Rotterdam, N.Y., who worked for Union College, as well as Price Chopper, Siena College and Brown’s Transportation, Nov. 15, 2017. Bert, who enjoyed bowling, NASCAR and camping at Pine Lake and Royal Mountain, was 59. Thomas D. Younkins, of Albany, N.Y., who held a B.S. from Penn State University, spent 38 years with General Electric and taught graduate nuclear engineering at Union College for 19 years as an adjunct professor, Nov. 19, 2017. At Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, he led a group that contributed to the design and development of the AIG nuclear reactor. Tom, who tutored at Guilderland High School during retirement, was 85.

JACK J. HILL

ENID E. MORRIS

ack J. Hill, former director of Campus Operations, who worked at Union from 1979 to 1989, passed away on Feb. 9, 2018 in Sarasota, Fla. He was 94. During his time at Union, he oversaw the renovation and expansion of the College Center (now Reamer Campus Center), with new dining facilities, offices, College store and auditorium; and Alumni Gymnasium, with a new pool, racquet courts, offices, lockers and weight rooms. Both facilities were dedicated in 1987. Before joining Union, he served as plant superintendent at SUNY New Paltz. During World War II, he attended Amherst College and was commissioned as a flight officer. He had lived in Clifton Park and Carlisle, Pa. He attended St. Patrick Catholic Church in Carlisle, and was a former member of St. John Rectory Church in Pawling, N.Y. Survivors include two daughters, Joan M. Clifton and Bonnie Sollazzo; six grandchildren; and nine-great-grandchildren. His wife, the former Florence W. Walsh, passed away in 2007.

he audience at Founders Day observed a moment of silence for Enid Eiry Morris, first lady at Union from 1979 to 1990, who passed away Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, at her home in Hamilton, N.Y. She was 91. Mrs. Morris was a familiar presence on campus while her husband, John, served as Union’s president. She regularly attended lectures, performances and special events. She often hosted campus and community groups at the President’s House and participated in student fundraising events. “Enid was a remarkable person,” President Stephen C. Ainlay told the audience at Founders Day. “Judith and I have gotten to know her very well. She and John have become absolutely splendid in their friendship with us. They came and stayed at the house. Enid, in particular, shared her memory of the house and the events they held. They loved Union College.” Born Aug. 4, 1926, in the small village of Bancffosfelen, Wales, she one of nine children of Tom and Mary Rees Walters. After receiving a teaching certificate from Llandrindod Teachers College, she taught in the experimental program in Maesteg, establishing a Welsh School in an area where English had become the primary language. This is a program that now has wide acceptance in Welsh education. She married John Morris in 1954, when they came to the U.S. where John became pastor of the Vernon

Presbyterian Church. Later moving to Hamilton, N.Y., she was active in the community and worked for Colgate University as the secretary to the Division of Humanities and later as administrative assistant to the Peace Studies Program. While at Union, she earned her B.A. from Skidmore College. In retirement, the couple also spent time in San Augustine, Texas; Henniker, New Hampshire; and Cazenovia, N.Y. Survivors include are her husband, John; a son and daughter-in-law, Paul John and Susan Morris of Harvard, Mass.; and her family in Wales including niece Lee Owen of Hendy. Private interment will be in Colgate University Cemetery. A celebration of her life is planned for the spring. Memorial contributions may be made to Park United Methodist Church, Hamilton, N.Y.

8 SPRING 2018 | UNION COLLEGE

IN MEMORIAM

NANCY HATCH BEEKMAN

ELVERA “VERA” SHUTTER

ancy Hatch Beekman, who spent 20 years in Union’s office of Advancement Information Services, died Jan. 10, 2018 at her home in Schenectady, N.Y. She was 86. “Nancy’s love of Union and her commitment to our team was evident to all in the decades she proudly served here,” said Kathy McCann, director of Advancement Information Services (AIS). “Her life was rich with a multitude of experiences and her stories of those are a treasured, lasting memory for me.” Nancy, who retired from AIS (then the Records Office) in December 2014, was born a triplet in New Rochelle, N.Y., May 5, 1931. She attended St. Lawrence University for two years with her sister, Rosamond, prior to moving to Boston, where she joined her sister, Elizabeth, at Radcliffe College. Upon graduation from Radcliffe in 1952, Nancy worked at Harvard until she married Douw Kunhardt Beekman in 1954. Once her children were school age, Nancy also worked at the family’s automotive parts business, Douw F. Beekman, Inc. Active in her community, she was a member of the Junior League of Schenectady and the Queens Fort and was devoted to Planned Parenthood. A past president of the Hudson Mohawk chapter, she volunteered with Planned Parenthood until this past year. Nancy loved both summer and winter sports, especially swimming, sailing and skiing. She spent her vacation time at Lake George and with close friends sailing in the British Virgin Islands. She was a lifelong learner who enjoyed the U-Call program at Union, and an avid reader who loved crossword puzzles. She is survived by daughters, Betsy Summerhayes and Alison H. Brust; sister, Libby Ellis; and grandchildren, Michael C. Brust, Kristin A. Brust, Noah Jenkins and Benjamin Jenkins. Nancy was predeceased by her husband of 55 years, Douw Beekman.

8 72

UNION COLLEGE | WINTER 2018

lvera “Vera” Shutter, who served nearly four decades as the highly adaptable custodian of Union’s data systems, died Jan. 14, 2018 at the age of 83. Vera’s arrival at Union in 1966, fresh from a job as keypunch operator at New York Telephone, heralded Union’s entry in the computer age. She began in the basement of Silliman Hall where she collected, entered and sorted data for the Annual Fund and payroll. In 1968, she moved to the large computing room at Peschel Computer Center in Steinmetz Hall. Through her retirement in 2005, her work evolved along with computers, from IBM punch card machines to modern servers. Once you get the concept of running the programs, she said, it’s just a matter of learning a new machine every few years. “I’ve never been uncomfortable with the changes. But each time has been a challenge.” At her retirement, colleagues praised her for the quantity of material she handled and her versatility in adapting to new generations of technology. They also recalled the many memories she had accumulated: an ax-wielding fireman at her office door, her young daughter “helping” with a professor’s punch cards, a live bat in her waste basket. “Everyone thinks I’m kidding,” she said of her stories. “It’s just that I’m telling the exact truth and they don’t believe it.” Survivors include four children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Elvera was an active member of Roessleville Presbyterian Church, teaching Sunday School for many years. She also enjoyed painting, cake decorating and puzzles, but mostly spending time with her family. Memorial contributions may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, Inc., 912 Killian Hill Road S.W., Lilburn, GA, 30047 or at www.LBDA.org.

CHARITABLE GIVING to UNION from IRAs FAVORABLE UNDER NEW TAX LAW Gifts from IRAs were taxwise for non-itemizers before passage of the new tax law; this will be true now and can also be advantageous for taxpayers who do itemize.

onors must be 701/2 or older. Gifts must be made directly from the IRA to Union College and gifts to all charities combined cannot exceed a total of $100,000 per taxpayer per year. Tax-free distributions are for outright gifts only—not for life-income gifts such as a gift annuity or charitable remainder trust. Gifts cannot be made to a donor advised fund, supporting organization or private foundation. The gift is not included in taxable income, and no charitable deduction is allowed. Gifts from traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs are the only ones that are tax free.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jacqueline Cavalier, Director, Gift Planning (518) 388-6156 (direct) | cavaliej@union.edu | www.union.giftplans.org

THIS BENEFITS YOU IF: • You want to make a charitable gift to Union and your IRA constitutes the largest share of your available assets. • You are required to take a minimum distribution from your IRA, but you do not need additional income. • You do or do not itemize your deductions. An IRA charitable gift will not be included in your taxable income, potentially lowering your federal and state income tax. • You would like to make an additional charitable gift, but it would not be deductible because of the annual limitation of 60 percent of adjusted gross income for charitable contributions. The IRA charitable rollover is equivalent to a deduction because it is not included in taxable income. • You have an outstanding pledge to a charity. The IRA charitable rollover can satisfy a pledge without violating rules against self-dealing.

Office of Communications 807 Union Street Schenectady, NY 12308-3169

Please recycle

12-14

Campus Movies

S ATU RDAY HIG HL I GHTS First-Year Family Breakfast Reception Family Picnic & Kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Carnival Harvest Dinner Family Trivia Night

Registration opens August 15 REGISTER ONLINE: www.union.edu/hfw OR CALL US: 518-388-6168

Pumpkin Carving Competition

Chemistry Club Ice Cream Social

Visit-A-Class

ATIN

YEARS

OMING W

Volunteer Appreciation Reception

EBR

FR I DAY HIG HLIGHTS

2018

& Family Weekend

OCTOBER

Homecoming