UAlbany Magazine, 2011 September

Big Picture
With the Fall 2011 semester about to begin, this student found a cool spot near the fountain to get a jump start on her studies 
– and enjoy the late-summer sun. Just a few days later, space in that area was a little harder to come by as thousands of other 
students converged on campus for the first day of classes Aug. 29. They included the 2,450 members of the Class of 2015, an 
accomplished, highly diverse group drawn from a pool of 21,052 applicants and boasting an average high school G.P.A. of 90.5. 
(For more about the Class of 2015, click here.) We welcome our students – new and returning – and wish them well in their 
scholarly endeavors this academic year.  
www.albany.edu
1
Features
	
5	
“A Victor, not a Victim” 
With strong support from the University at Albany community, 
Rukayatu “Ruky” Tijani, B.A.’11, triumphed over tragedy and  
is looking forward to a bright future.    
	
8	
25 Years of Achievement  
For a quarter-century, foreign countries seeking to strengthen 
and develop their legislatures have relied upon the expertise of 
SUNY’s Center for International Development (CID), a unique 
entity that partners State University campuses, UAlbany,  
Rockefeller College, other institutions and funding agencies  
to promote legislative and governmental success. 
	 11	
What’s Cookin’? 
UAlbany alumni restaurateurs, chefs, television hosts, cookbook 
authors and other food-industry notables happily answer that 
age-old question – and share a few of their favorite recipes, too!
	 36 	 The Unstoppable Eddie Delaney 
Great Danes defensive end Eddie Delaney, B.A.’11,  
who was born without a left hand and has diabetes,  
has tackled both challenges head on. 
Departments
	
2	
From the Podium and Beyond
	
6	
Where Are They Now?
	 10	
Gifts at Work
	 38	
Ask Geoff 
	 40	
The Carillon  
(Alumni News and Notes)
	 60	
Out and About 
UAlbany
University at Albany Magazine
Fall 2011, Volume 20, Number 2
Contents
www.albany.edu
2
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
From the Podium and Beyond
By Carol Olechowski
NYSUNY 2020 Will Support University Centers,  
Spur Economic Growth
Support from the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program will 
strengthen programs at UAlbany and SUNY’s three other University 
Centers while promoting economic development throughout the 
Empire State. Full Story
“The Social Workers” Premieres on WCDB
Acclaimed radio host Kathryn Zox, M.S.W.’83, has 
launched “The Social Workers,” a live broadcast that 
airs on WCDB 90.9 FM Thursdays at 9 a.m. Full Story
UAlbany Is Honored for Community Service
UAlbany’s support for voluntarism, service learning and civic engage-
ment has won recognition from the federal Corporation for National 
and Community Service. Full Story
School of Business Breaks Ground for New Home,  
Receives Dual Accreditation
School of Business students, faculty, staff and alumni had two reasons to celebrate 
last spring: Ground was broken for the school’s new home on the uptown campus, 
and its business administration and accounting programs received dual  
accreditation from an international association. Full Story
Dewar Will Teach  
Simultaneously at  
UAlbany and in Asia
Videoconferencing across 
two continents, Associate 
Dean for Academic 
Affairs Diane Dewar, 
an associate professor 
and chair of the De-
partment of Health 
Policy, Management 
and Behavior, will si-
multaneously teach a course 
to students at UAlbany’s 
School of Public Health and 
Hanoi Medical University 
this semester: Full Story
Chen, Fellow Research-
ers Investigate Cause  
of Heart Arrhythmia
A minuscule cardiac mol-
ecule may provide impor-
tant clues to the causes of 
arrhythmia, or irregular 
heartbeat, according to a 
study conducted by Assistant 
Professor of Biological Sci-
ences Haijun Chen and his 
research team. Full Story
CRC Study Indicates 
that Vitamin D3 May 
Slow Progression of 
Prostate Cancer
Vitamin D3 could slow the 
progression of prostate can-
cer, according to a Cancer 
Research Center study con-
ducted by graduate student 
Wei-Lin Winnie Wang and 
supervised by professors 
JoEllen Welsh and Martin 
Tenniswood. Full Story
Mark Schmidt
Mark Schmidt
UAlbany
Magazine
Fall 2011, Volume 20, Number 2
UAlbany magazine is published twice a year for alumni, parents, 
faculty, staff and friends of the University at Albany, State Univer-
sity of New York. Our objective is to produce a lively, informative 
publication that stimulates pride and interest in UAlbany.
Vice President for University Development
Fardin Sanai
Director of Development Operations and  
Assistant to the Vice President
Cecilia Lauenstein
Editorial Staff
Executive Editor
Carol Olechowski
colechowski@uamail.albany.edu
Art Director/Designer
Mary Sciancalepore
Writers
Jeff Gold; Amy Halloran, B.A.’90; Kelsey M. O’Brien;  
Greta Petry, M.A.’01; Geoffrey Williams 
Photographers
Antonis Achilleos; Jamilah Bartholomew; Dave Garwacki; 
Gary Gold, B.A.’70; Judy Madnick, B.S. ’65, M.S.’66; Mark 
McCarty; Christa Renee; Daryl-Ann Saunders; Mark 
Schmidt; Pernille Tofte; Mike Tritchonis; UAlbany Athletics
Researchers
Jennifer Casabonne, M.S.’03; Deborah Forand;  
Agostino Futia, B.A.’01, M.A.’08; Lisa Gonzalez, M.A.’03; 
Michelle Mahon, M.B.A.’09
Business Manager
Lillian Lee
Web Editor
Melissa Fry
The Carillon
Editor
Melissa Samuels
msamuels@uamail.albany.edu
Class Notes Editor
Kathleen Gaddis
kgaddis@uamail.albany.edu
Art Director/Designer
Mary Sciancalepore
UAlbany magazine is available online at  
http://www.albany.edu/news/index.shtml
The University at Albany’s broad mission of excellence in under-
graduate and graduate education, research and public service 
engages more than 17,000 diverse students in 10 schools and 
colleges. For more information about this internationally ranked 
institution, please visit www.albany.edu. 
Cover: Through her daily e-mail, television program, Web site and 
personal appearances, Lisa Lillien, B.A.’87, a.k.a. “Hungry Girl,” 
serves up common-sense, entertaining nutrition tips, diet tricks 
and recipes to millions of fans. In this issue of UAlbany, several 
other alumni also bring memories of the University, career 
insights – and a few of their favorite dishes – to the table.     
Photo: Christa Renee 
Jacobson, Vellutino Are Named Distinguished Faculty
UAlbany faculty members Frank R. Vellutino and Trudi E. Jacobson re-
cently attained the highest academic rank accorded by the State University 
of New York Board of Trustees. Full Story
Grant Will Aid Struggling Readers  
A $3.1 million U.S. Department of Education grant will support the Child 
Research and Study Center’s Lynn Gelzheiser and several of her UAlbany 
colleagues as they continue to assist struggling young readers. Full Story 
For more information about the University at Albany, 
visit www.albany.edu. 
Alaei Earns International Recognition
School of Public Health doctoral student Kamiar Alaei, M.D., re-
ceived the Global Health Council’s Jonathan Mann Award for Global 
Health and Human Rights last June. He shared the award with his 
brother and fellow physician, Arash Alaei. Full Story
www.albany.edu
3
Mark Schmidt
Mark Schmidt
Times Union
4
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
After School Special:  
The 2011 Alumni Show
kicks off Friday, Oct. 14, with a  
reception and wine tasting from  
5-7 p.m. The exhibition, which  
runs through Dec. 10, will showcase 
painting, sculpture, photography, 
video, installation and works on  
paper by University graduates  
who live as near as Albany and  
as far away as New Zealand.
Planning for the show began last year 
with broad outreach to alumni. In 
response, hundreds of alumni artists 
submitted digital images of their  
current work for consideration. 
Those selected include Fulbright 
Scholars and Guggenheim Fellows. 
Their artwork has been exhibited all 
over the globe and is represented in 
collections that include the Museum 
of Modern Art and the Whitney  
Museum, as well as the University 
Art Museum collections. 
Many of the participants 
teach at colleges and 
universities throughout 
the United States.
In addition to highlight-
ing working alumni 
artists’ individual  
accomplishments, noted 
Janet Riker, museum 
director, the exhibi-
tion “will highlight the 
strength of the art program at  
UAlbany and the impact of our 
alumni on the art world.”
Curator Ken Johnson, M.A.’78, a 
freelance critic whose reviews appear 
regularly in The New York Times, 
wrote an essay for the exhibition’s 
84-page catalogue. Johnson, author 
of Are You Experienced? How Psyche-
delic Consciousness Transformed Modern 
Art (2011), will sign the book at the 
Alumni Weekend Fall Festival.  
He will also lecture and sign books 
Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at the museum.
The exhibition is made possible by 
a generous grant from the Alumni 
Association through the Grandma 
Moses Fund and supported by the 
Office of the President, the Office  
of the Provost, The University at  
Albany Foundation, the Ellsworth 
Kelly Foundation, University Auxil-
iary Services (UAS), the College  
of Arts and Sciences, the Art  
Department, Shirley  
W. Brand, and  
H. Patrick Swygert. 
For more information 
about After School  
Special: The 2011  
Alumni Show, please visit  
www.albany.edu/museum.
From the Podium and Beyond
Coming Attraction
Its galleries filled with more than 100 works by 72 alumni artists,  
the University Art Museum is preparing its own special addition  
to Homecoming Weekend festivities.
Sandra Scolnik, M.F.A. ’97
Collective Memory, 2009
Oil on wood panel
Kenneth Ragsdale, M.F.A. ’05
Arlington, 2008
Archival inkjet print
Benjamin Entner, B.A. ’02
Still Life: Graphite on Paper, 2008
Graphite on Tyvek and bathroom fans
R
ukayatu “Ruky” Tijani was 5 when she learned 
about famed jurist Thurgood Marshall’s work in   
  the landmark Brown vs. Topeka Board of Educa-
tion case. She has dreamed of becoming a lawyer ever 
since. That day drew closer last May 15 with the Honors 
College student’s graduation summa cum laude from the 
University at Albany and her acceptance to law school  
at the University of California, Berkeley.
Her divorced mom raised Tijani; her older 
brother Tommy; and her developmentally disabled 
brother Abraham, now 17, all alone. Losing Tommy, 
who had Down Syndrome and died while Tijani was still 
in high school, “feeds my passion to succeed,” said the 
Coney Island, N.Y, native. Although Tijani, a Resident 
Assistant, Project Excel mentor/tutor and library work-
study at UAlbany, sometimes couldn’t afford to go home 
for the holidays, she would send money to her mother, 
who lost her job. “As a mentor and a tutor, it is important 
for me to tell students who are just going through dif-
ficulties: ‘I’ve been there. And I’m a victor, not a victim,’” 
said Tijani, who plans a career in entertainment law,  
civil rights litigation and constitutional law.
She finds a way to make things happen. Tijani once  
confided to her math professor, “I have no money to  
afford the book for class, but if you loan me the textbook 
during your office hours, I’ll get that A.” She did.
As campus coordinator for the Law School 
Admissions Council, Tijani presented workshops each 
semester about the law school admissions process and 
resources for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. 
She was vice president of Phenomenal Voices, a multicul-
tural performing arts group, and served as public relations 
director for the Precizun step team. 
Tijani, who graduated with a 3.99 G.P.A. 
and a dual degree in political science and Africana stud-
ies, ranked in the top 1 percent of the Class of 2011, 
won two Spellman awards and was a member of three 
national honor societies. She credits Makisha Brown and 
Chris Fernando of Project Excel (officially the TRIO 
Student Support Services program), as “pivotal to my 
academic success. I became the person I am because of 
all the resources available to me at this University and all 
the people who truly believed I could be somebody, not 
because of my obstacles, but despite them.” 
  “A Victor,  
not a Victim”
                  By Greta Petry, M.A.’01
www.albany.edu
5
Ruky Tijani, B.A.’11  
Mark Schmidt
6
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Where Are They Now?
By Carol Olechowski
Congratulations to Robert J. Sampson, M.A.’79, 
Ph.D.’83, and John Laub, M.A.’76, Ph.D.’80 
(Spring 2004 UAlbany, “Understanding the Lives of 
Troubled Boys”), on receiving the Stockholm Prize 
in Criminology last June 14. The award, presented 
by Sweden’s Queen Silvia in a ceremony at Stock-
holm City Hall, honored the researchers for their 
study of how and why criminals cease to offend at 
various turning points in their lives. Sampson is the 
Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at 
Harvard University and a visiting scholar at the Rus-
sell Sage Foundation in New York. Laub, currently 
on leave from the University of Maryland, College 
Park, has served as director of the National Institute 
of Justice in Washington, D.C., since July 2010.    
U.S. Public Health Service  
Lt. Katrina Mosley, M.P.H.’06 
(Spring 2010 UAlbany, “Un-
derstanding Public Health”), 
who studied community health 
and behavioral science, is back 
home now in Georgia. Formerly 
stationed with the Food and Drug 
Administration’s New Orleans 
District Office in Nashville, she 
moved to her hometown, Atlanta, 
to work at the FDA’s District Of-
fice there, “which covers North 
and South Carolina.” In July 
2010, during the Deepwater Hori-
zon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 
Mosley was deployed to Mobile, 
Ala., “where 
I worked as 
a medical 
officer, assist-
ing with the 
logistics of the 
beach clean-
ups along the 
coast.” 
Former volleyball stand-
out Ashlee Reed, B.S.’06 
(Spring 2007 UAlbany, “Team 
Player”) may be back in Tex-
as, but she hasn’t forgotten 
UAlbany. The Austin native, 
who earned a degree in hu-
man biology and psychology, 
is now completing doctoral 
studies in physical therapy at 
Hardin-Simmons University. 
Reed describes the program 
as “one of the most intense in 
the country, since we go year 
’round and finish in two-and-
a-half years. But I know it 
will be worth it!” Being back 
in Texas is “very different,” 
but Reed feels right at home: 
The school’s colors are purple 
and gold. “There is also an 
Albany about 20 miles down 
the road,” she adds, “so when 
I hear on the news, ‘In Albany 
today …’ it still throws me  
for a loop!”         
Mark Schmidt
Pernille Tofte
www.albany.edu
7
School of Criminal Justice faculty member 
Frankie Y. Bailey, M.A.’79, Ph.D.’86, (Fall 
2010 UAlbany, “Author, Author!”) has pub-
lished the fifth book in her Lizzie Stuart mys-
tery series. In Forty Acres and a Soggy Grave, 
released July 26, crime historian Stuart and 
her fiancé, John Quinn, travel to Virginia’s 
Eastern Shore for a weekend “that turns 
deadly.” The other books in the series are 
Death’s Favorite Child; A Dead Man’s Honor; 
Old Murders; and You Should Have Died on 
Monday. Bailey, whose research currently 
focuses on crime, clothing and American 
culture, has also completed the first book in 
“a new near-future police procedural series 
set in Albany.”
“Jordan is a fascinating place to work and live,” 
reports U.S. Foreign Service Officer Jeffrey 
Loree, B.A.’89 (Fall 2007 UAlbany, “Diplo-
matically Speaking – and Listening”), a cultural 
attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Amman since 
August 2010. “Jordanians have a well-deserved 
reputation for hospitality in a region famous for 
it. Most have some facility with English, and it 
is hurting my already limited ability to com-
municate in Arabic,” jokes the Lewiston, N.Y., 
native, who majored in Chinese at UAlbany and 
also speaks Japanese, French and Indonesian. 
Loree’s wife, art conservator Hiroko Kariya, is 
managing “a wide range of archeological proj-
ects” in Egypt while the couple lives in Jordan. 
Mark McCarty
I
n the 25 years since its founding, the State University 
of New York’s Center for International Development 
(SUNY/CID) has had several homes within the SUNY 
System. But one constant has remained: its mission of “Con-
necting People and Ideas for Integrated Development.”
Based at the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College of 
Public Affairs and Policy since 2007, SUNY/CID combines 
knowledge with the practice of government and policy-mak-
ing to aid foreign countries in strengthening and developing 
their legislatures. SUNY, UAlbany and Rockefeller College 
resources; field offices on five continents; and links with 
donor agencies, local and national governments, institutions 
of higher learning, and other partners have enabled the cen-
ter to merge projects with a government-focused research 
agenda. As a result, SUNY/CID has implemented more 
than $200 million in international development projects 
over the past quarter-century while forging strong relation-
ships with legislative bodies around the globe. 
“We’ve had a great impact,” noted M. Monica Bartoszek, 
the center’s outreach coordinator. “We’ve developed a 
really solid reputation for the work that we do, legislative 
strengthening and other projects in Bolivia, Afghanistan, 
Lebanon, Haiti, Kenya, Uganda and many other  
countries.”
SUNY/CID training, Bartoszek said, is comprehensive, 
encompassing “everything from HIV/AIDS education  
and computer training to learning how to organize public 
hearings for parliamentary committees.” Projects range  
in duration from six months to 10 years. 
Through internships, UAlbany students like Emily 
Blakeslee, B.A.’11, participate in SUNY/CID’s work.  
The Binghamton, N.Y., native credits the experience with 
“inspiring me to pursue a career in the international non-
profit field, specifically focusing on improving the lives and 
circumstances of women and children.” 
Now studying for her M.P.A., Blakeslee, 21, began her 
internship in September 2010. In the year since, assigned to 
the home office in Albany, she has “updated our Web site, 
Center for  
INTERNATIONAL  
DEVELOPMENT
Through CID, Emily Blakeslee, 
B.A.’11, has encountered 
“many scholars” who “have 
taught me a great deal and 
have shared eye-opening 
firsthand perspectives on 
development work.”
8
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
~~ 25 YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT ~~
Courtesy SUNY/CID
  
reviewed financial reconciliations, done 
all types of research, helped coordinate 
travel plans, worked on document 
management and assisted with media 
outreach. With each task, I learn some-
thing and gain a new perspective and 
understanding of the work we do at 
CID. I have been able to take theories I 
learned in a classroom and apply them 
to real people and real situations. 
SUNY/CID Senior Associate Mark 
Baskin, a research professor at Rock-
efeller College, has managed parlia-
mentary strengthening projects in Iraq, 
Serbia and Jordan and contributed to 
projects in Afghanistan and Kenya. 
Baskin, a Fulbright Fellow in Yugo-
slavia in the 1980s, had several other 
fellowships in the Balkans, and worked 
for the United Nations as a peacekeep-
er in the 1990s and later at a peace-
keeping training center in Canada.
Attracted to SUNY/CID and Rock-
efeller College because “I thought they 
brilliantly lend a practical, pedagogical 
and academic approach to international 
development and diplomacy,” he is cur-
rently directing a comparative research 
project on constituency development 
funds (CDFs), “policy tools that en-
able Members of Parliament to play a 
role in assisting in service delivery in 
their constituencies in more than 20 
countries, including Kenya, Uganda 
and Bangladesh.”
The 100-plus SUNY/CID 
projects implemented in 
Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin 
America and the Middle 
East over the years, ob-
served Baskin, “have dealt 
with strengthening the 
capacity of the legislature 
to serve as a constructive 
partner in government, 
economic development, en-
vironmental projection, the 
strengthening of civil soci-
ety, the deepening of rule of 
law and good government, 
among other things.” 
At any given time, Baskin added, “eight 
to 12 interns and student fellows help 
us with our work. They acquire ana-
lytical tools and skills that help them 
establish careers in some aspects of 
international affairs, government  
and post-graduate studies, and in the 
private sector. Former interns have 
found jobs in Congress and in the  
executive branch of government. Oth-
ers have gone on to complete profes-
sional and academic programs  
at graduate schools.” 
For information about upcoming 
events commemorating SUNY/CID’s 
25th anniversary, please visit the 
center’s Web site. Search internship 
opportunities at www.cid.suny.edu.   
SUNY/CID is directed by  
Malcolm Russell-Einhorn.  
Its partners include:
• United States Agency for  
International Development (USAID)
• UK Department for International  
Development (DfID/UKaid)
• The World Bank
• Inter-American Development Bank
• The United Nations Development  
Program (UNDP)
• Higher Education for Development 
(HED)
• Ford Foundation
• Deutsche Gesellschaft fur  
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)
• Organization of American  
States (OAS)
• The Andrew Mellon Foundation
• The Open Society Institute
• The Tinker Foundation
• Commonwealth Parliamentary  
Association
www.albany.edu
9
Hon. Amarnath Pradhan, India, MP; Hon. Qamar Zaman Kaira, Pakistan, MP;  
Dr. Mark Baskin, SUNY/CID; Hon. Delroy Chuck, Speaker of the House  
of Representatives, Jamaica; Dr. Nelson Kasfir, Dartmouth; and  
Dr. Harry Blair, Yale, participate in a CDF conference.
Members of the Parliament of Bangladesh mingle with students 
outside the U.S. Supreme Court at a USAID-funded Promoting  
Democratic Institutions and Practices Project (PRODIP) study  
tour jointly administered by SUNY/CID and The Asia Foundation. 
Study tours offer close-up views of U.S. legislative practices and  
opportunities for participants to speak with constitutional experts.   
Courtesy SUNY/CID
Courtesy SUNY/CID
10
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Gifts at Work
By Carol Olechowski
E
ngage the entire University com-
munity, add an element of friendly 
competition among student groups, 
and what do you get? UAlbany Unite 
– and the most successful student gift 
campaign ever.
Rather than support one indi-
vidual project, UAlbany Unite 
invited students from various 
campus organizations to submit 
videos documenting their 
groups’ work. Donations were 
then solicited from students’ 
families and friends and  
from alumni. 
The idea behind UAlbany 
Unite, explained UAlbany  
Vice President for University 
Development Fardin Sanai, was to 
provide “a creative experience and also 
teach students about philanthropy first-
hand.” In addition to contributing to a 
cause, Sanai said, students “were able to 
learn about the importance of support-
ing and promoting their organizations, 
as well as the University.” 
Through UAlbany Unite, donations 
from more than 600 students, parents, 
alumni, faculty and staff exceeded 
$17,000. Sponsorships from University 
Auxiliary Services (UAS), the Student 
Association (SA), the Alumni Associa-
tion, The University at Albany Foun-
dation and The Class of 2011 Book 
Drive doubled that amount, raising a 
total of more than $35,000 for the gift. 
Previously, the largest class gift was 
the $33,000 the Class of 2009 raised 
to support the Richard Bailey Memorial 
Scholarship Fund. 
During the 2011-12 academic year, 
participating UAlbany Unite student 
groups will use their funding to en-
hance student life on campus and fur-
ther their organizations’ missions. The 
groups include L’Chaim, Five Quad, 
Middle Earth, Hillel, the Univer-
sity Equestrian Team, the Ski and 
Snowboard Club, Women’s Self 
Defense and Fitness (WSDF), 
Albany Student Television (ATV), 
Mixed Martial Arts, Women’s 
Rugby, Albany Running Exchange, 
Albany Business Leaders Emerging 
(ABLE), The Sketchy Characters, 
and D.R.E.A.M.org.
To view last year’s entries,  
donate to one of the groups,  
or learn more about this year’s  
UAlbany Unite initiative, please  
link to the University’s Web site  
at www.albany.edu/unite or visit 
UAlbany Unite on Facebook. 
School of Business Alumni  
Support E&Y Initiative
Ernst & Young employees who graduated 
from UAlbany’s School of Business continue 
to support the school through the Ernst & 
Young Initiative. Last spring, Alex Fredericks 
’95 and Anna Politano ’10, third and fourth 
from left, presented a check to School of 
Business Dean Donald Siegel, Professor and 
Chair of Accounting Ingrid Fisher, and Vice 
President for University Development Fardin 
Sanai. The initiative aids the school in educat-
ing a competitive workforce while enriching 
the student experience.   
UAlbany Unite: Equation for Fundraising Success
What’s Cookin’?
Quite a lot is cookin’ with UAlbany alumni in the food industry!  
Read on to learn how the host of a nationally televised cooking program,  
a vegan chef, a spirits reviewer, the CEO of a major restaurant-management  
corporation, the founder of a natural-foods company, a vintner, a special-events 
director and several restaurateurs devised their own recipes for success.  
Also included in this online-only issue of UAlbany are a few surprises:  
video links – and some tasty recipes to try at home!     
What’s    
 Cookin’?
www.albany.edu
11
Butera’s Tomato Bruschetta  
– Butera’s, Long Island   
12
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
S
everal years ago, however, 
Lillien hit upon a unique way 
to conquer her “obsession” 
with food, maintain a healthy weight, 
follow a common-sense diet – and 
help other women to do the same. “I 
have a knack for finding products that 
taste great but are low in calories and 
fat, and also ways to make homemade 
food that tastes super-fattening but 
isn’t,” she says. “And I love to share 
my findings and ideas with people. 
One day, the idea to create sort of an 
umbrella diet brand from a regular 
person, as opposed to a doctor or a 
dietitian, popped into my brain. It 
needed to be fun and a little sassy, not 
boring. So Hungry Girl was born.” 
Hungry Girl began in 2004 as a free 
e-mail that went out to fewer than 
100 people each day under the head-
ing “Tips and Tricks … for Hungry 
Chicks.” In the years since, Lillien 
has continued to “deliver the content 
in a very personal 
way,” serving up 
to subscribers 
such artfully titled 
entree, side-dish 
and snack options 
as “Hakuna Frit-
tata!” “Los Tacos 
Locos” and “Lord 
of the Onion Rings” 
and suggesting 
low-calorie, low-fat substitutions for 
packaged foods. Currently, “the e-
mail reaches 1.1 million people daily. 
And that list has grown 100-percent 
organically – via word of mouth,”  
she notes.
As an undergraduate, Lillien planned 
for a career in entertainment and me-
dia, despite having “no 
connections in the field 
at all. I always felt I was 
a little entrepreneurial, 
though, and would one 
day start a business.” She 
completed internships at 
an Albany television sta-
tion and at Tutti Frutti, 
a Long Island “teen 
fanzine” that hired her 
as editor-in-chief right after gradua-
tion. Lillien later worked for Nickel-
odeon, then for Warner Bros., before 
Lisa Lillien, B.A.’87
“Hungry Girl”
What’s Cookin’?
I always loved food but had a weird relationship with it,” confesses Lisa Lillien. Growing up on Long Island, 
N.Y., “the child of a yo-yo dieter, I was always a little chubby and watching what I ate. In my teens and 20s, 
I went up and down about 15 pounds.” At UAlbany, where she majored in communications and minored in 
business administration, “I didn’t gain the ‘freshman 15,’ but I definitely wasn’t losing weight. I would eat 
Denny’s Grand Slam breakfasts after going out to The Lamp Post – or pizza at 3 a.m. Not ideal!”
By Carol Olechowski
www.albany.edu
13
14
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
assuming the Hungry Girl 
persona full time several 
years ago.
“The growth of the brand” 
has opened many doors for 
its creator. Lillien has writ-
ten a New York Daily News 
column and five cookbooks 
(“all New York Times best 
sellers – and three No. 1s!”), 
including Hungry Girl 300 
Under 300: 300 Breakfast, 
Lunch and Dinner Dishes Un-
der 300 Calories. She hosts 
the “Hungry Girl” televi-
sion program, airing on 
both Food Network and the 
Cooking Channel, and pro-
duces “weekly content” for 
Yahoo!, WeightWatchers.
com and Redbook magazine. 
In addition, the California-
based Lillien makes personal 
appearances around the U.S. 
Her greatest challenge, 
Lillien finds, is “juggling all 
the work. I do have a staff 
of about 12 people now who 
work with me on all things 
HG, but I work so many 
hours and don’t like to say 
no, and so I have very little 
free time these days.”
Still, Lillien, who admits to 
having “a really big ap-
petite,” always has time to 
whip up her favorite recipe: 
“Lord of the Onion Rings.”  
Lord of the Onion Rings Prep: 20 minutes ~ Cooking: 25 minutes
Ingredients
1 large onion 
1/2 cup Fiber One Original bran cereal
1/4 tsp. garlic powder, or more to taste
1/8 tsp. onion powder, or more to taste
1/8 tsp. salt, or more to taste
black pepper, to taste
 
Directions
Preheat oven to 375o. 
• Slice the ends off the onion and remove its outer layer.  
Cut onion into half-inch-wide slices and separate into rings. Set aside.
• Using a blender or food processor, grind cereal to a breadcrumb-like consistency.  
Season crumbs with the spices and transfer to a plate or bowl. Set aside.
• Pour egg substitute into a small bowl. Prepare a baking sheet (or two) with non-stick spray. Set aside.
• Using tongs or a fork, dip the onion rings into the egg substitute, shaking each one lightly to remove the excess.
• Coat each ring with the seasoned crumbs. Evenly place rings on the baking sheet(s).
• Bake until each ring is crispy outside and soft inside, about 20-25 minutes, carefully flipping rings midway through. 
• Serve with mustard, if desired. Enjoy!
Makes one serving.  Calories: 155
1g fat; 515mg sodium; 41g carbs; 16g fiber; 7g sugars; 9g protein; PointsPlus® value: 4
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)  
[HG FYI: You’ll only need about 1/4 cup, but using 1/2 cup  
makes it soooo much easier.] 
Optional dip: Vivi’s Original Sauce Classic Carnival Mustard 
What’s Cookin’?
Visit Lisa Lillien and  
her alter ego online at  
www.hungry-girl.com. 
www.albany.edu
15
16
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
What’s Cookin’?
Jeffrey Bank, B.A.’88
Knowing “What’s  
Important”
By Carol Olechowski
As a UAlbany undergraduate, Jeffrey Bank 
majored in sociology and minored in  
political science, intending to become a 
lawyer. But the Long Island native opted  
for a much different career path.
“My next-door neighbor was a restaurant  
broker,” Bank remembers. “I was looking  
for a summer job and said, ‘I’d love to come 
work for you in your office.’” The neighbor 
suggested instead that Bank go to work in  
a restaurant. “I worked the whole summer  
in three restaurants, learning the business.  
With no time to spend any money, by the  
end of the summer, I thought I was rich.”
The restaurant business, Bank decided, 
“looked like a fun and interesting career.  
Why would I go to law school?” Over the  
next 10 years, he ran three restaurants on 
Long Island, selling them to open Artie’s  
Delicatessen in New York City in 1999. 
Bank, however, “quickly got bored in a single 
restaurant.” Alicart Restaurant Group, a  
New York-based firm “offering an exciting 
and unique spectrum of dining concepts,” was 
undergoing some internal changes just as he 
was looking for a fresh challenge. Bank joined 
the company and, in 2006, became CEO.  
Alicart Restaurant Group manages annual 
sales exceeding $70 million. Its flagship brand, 
Carmine’s – “NYC’s 
Legendary Family Style 
Italian Restaurant” – 
was established in 1990. 
Carmine’s has two loca-
tions in New York City 
and others in Atlantic 
City and Washington, 
D.C., and at the Atlantis 
in the Bahamas. For 16 
Alicart Restaurant Group
years, Alicart has also managed Virgil’s 
Real BBQ, which is located in Times 
Square. A 650-seat Virgil’s will open this 
coming November, also in the Atlantis 
in the Bahamas. Bank travels to the vari-
ous restaurants in keeping with his com-
mitment to provide “high-quality dining 
experiences marked by delicious food, 
welcoming ambience, great value and 
superior service.” 
One of the best 
parts of his job, 
Bank says, is 
interacting with 
Alicart’s 1,200 
employees and 
watching them 
grow: “Some 
people have been here 21 years, since 
day one. You’ll see someone who started 
out as a dishwasher and is now a chef, 
or a director of Operations who was a 
server years ago. People are promoted 
from within. I don’t want a dishwasher 
or a host to think that will be his or her 
only job, but more a possible career 
path. We call it Alicart University. A lot 
of our employee growth is organic. 
“We do also hire people from outside, 
and we ‘Carminize’ them, as well. New 
hires will succeed if they understand 
what’s expected of them and we provide 
the right tools for them to do their jobs. 
It’s all about communication. You need 
to know what’s important to people.  
Everyone likes to make more money, 
but it’s also about quality of life and  
having time for family and friends.” 
Bank’s “great experience” at Albany 
“made me a more effective CEO. In 
Introduction to Theatre, we helped man-
age productions and run a theatre. My 
Spanish-culture class was extremely 
interesting. My internship with the New 
York State Senate was a phenomenal  
opportunity; it gave me great insight 
into government and the budget 
process. The well-rounded liberal arts 
degree I received at Albany has been a 
very valuable tool in making me success-
ful. Managing people is as important 
as managing ‘the 
numbers.’”
Bank has continued 
the learning pro-
cess. Early in his 
career, he discov-
ered that “knowing 
the business inside 
and out is the best 
way to manage it thoroughly. On my 
first day of work, over 25 years ago, I 
changed out of my suit and tie and into 
whites. I wound up washing dishes that 
day because two dishwashers called in 
sick. Later, if a waiter didn’t come in, 
I waited tables. There’s nothing better 
than practical experience.”  
www.albany.edu
17
Alicart Restaurant Group
Ken Denberg, Ph.D.’88
A Vintage  
All His Own
By Amy Halloran, B.A.’90
18
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
www.albany.edu
19
T
he Cambridge, N.Y., resident has taught rhetoric and 
composition at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 
Troy since 1998. Six years ago, he started teaching creative 
writing for undergraduates at UAlbany. He also works in 
the University in the High School program, which allows 
seniors to earn college credit. “My position is to evalu-
ate the teachers,” said Denberg, 
noting that the secondary school 
students take rigorous, college-
level courses. 
Denberg has lived in Washington 
County since 1985. The location 
served his summertime avocation 
for fly-fishing – Distinguished 
Teaching Professor Emeritus of 
English Eugene Garber has long 
been a fishing partner – and living 
rurally inspired him to “use the land,” as well. 
The property’s Darwin Road address led Denberg to name 
it Natural Selection Farm. He planted 1,000 blueberry 
bushes there, along with 200 raspberry plants; the fruits 
are sold in fresh markets and to restaurants in the Saratoga 
area. The three-acre vineyard contains 700 vines. 
Businesses in Saratoga and Washington counties have been 
enthusiastic supporters of his winery. Denberg made and 
sold 500 bottles of wine last year. This year, he has 1,700 
bottles and anticipates the same response.  
“I didn’t know you could get a wine this good in New York 
State,” one restaurateur told him before ordering a case of 
Handsome Farmer Red, a dry, full-bod-
ied blend of Marquette, St. Croix and 
Geneva Red grapes. Denberg also makes 
a blueberry wine and two white wines. 
“A lot of people turn their noses up at 
New York State wine, but within the last 
five years, people are really learning how 
to make wine,” Denberg explains. “You 
need to understand how to read the wine 
as it’s coming along. Once you grasp the 
concept that it’s telling you something, 
you can have the wine analyzed to tell you what to add to 
it, and to the ground.”
Denberg links his agricultural endeavors to his nonfiction 
writing, and to reading the works of others, such as Wen-
dell Berry, Michael Pollan and John McPhee. In 2005, he 
received a New York State Council on the Arts Award for 
his creative nonfiction.    
What’s Cookin’?
Writer and teacher Ken Denberg recently added “vintner” to his list of occupations.
Mark McCarty
Mark McCarty
20
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
T
he Portland, Ore.-based Reinfeld still loves 
to cook. But these days, he’s a renowned 
vegan chef, so the meatballs are made with  
tempeh, and vegetables stand in for the pasta. 
Vegans, says Reinfeld, “enjoy fruits, vegetables, 
grains, seeds, nuts, herbs and spices. Veganism 
is essentially a vegetarian diet with no dairy or 
eggs. A strict vegan would not use animal prod-
ucts – including leather and fur – at all.”  
Reinfeld’s “love of travel and compassion for 
animals” led him to veganism, a “surprisingly 
easy” lifestyle to embrace. “Salads are vegan, 
so most of us have been eating vegan foods our 
whole lives. Salsa, guacamole and stir fry are 
also vegan. There are so many vegan products 
available that you can create world-class cuisine 
using only plants, and substituting tofu or  
tempeh for fish or chicken.” 
Years ago, “I ate lots of different things with-
out really thinking about whether they were 
healthy,” observes Reinfeld, admitting to a 
youthful fondness for fast food. “I wouldn’t  
say I was a picky eater.”
He later began to cultivate more conscientious 
eating habits. As a pre-law student majoring in 
philosophy and minoring in business, Reinfeld 
“awakened to the joys of travel” junior year 
while attending the London School of Eco-
nomics. After returning to UAlbany, he applied 
to New York University for law school, then 
deferred enrollment for a year to continue his 
travels in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, 
absorbing what – and how – people of other cul-
tures ate. He attended NYU for a semester but 
“decided this wasn’t for me. I got rid of most of 
what wouldn’t fit in my car and headed west, not 
sure where I would land or what I would do.” 
Reinfeld landed in San Diego and began his 
“cooking career” in the kitchen of a natural-
foods store. Three years later, “I branched off 
on my own and started the Blossoming Lotus 
as a personal chef/consulting service, teaching 
What’s Cookin’?
Mark Reinfeld, B.A.’89
Enlightened Chef
By Carol Olechowski
Mark Reinfeld learned to cook from the best: “my mom and my 
grandfather, Benjamin Bimstein, a famed chef and ice-carver in 
New York City in the 1950s. I used to love to prepare meatballs 
and spaghetti,” he remembers.
Mark Reinfeld defines a  
few vegan food items:
spelt: an ancient form of wheat 
many people find more digestible 
than whole-wheat flour
quinoa: a South American grain 
– botanically a seed – high in 
protein and having a nutty flavor
tempeh: a cultured soy product 
used as a meat replacement
tamari: a wheat-free soy sauce 
that adds a rich, flavorful depth 
to dishes
chia seed: a seed high in omega 
fatty acids and wonderful in pud-
dings and other desserts
nutritional yeast: a fortified yeast, 
high in protein and Vitamin B12, 
that provides a nutty, cheesy fla-
vor and rounds out a vegan diet     
people to cook and providing meals for 
folks.” The Blossoming Lotus name 
– later used for a restaurant Reinfeld 
opened on Kauai, Hawaii, then for the 
one he and business partner Bo Rinaldi 
currently own and operate in Portland 
– signifies “evolving consciousness and 
is a symbol of enlightenment,” explains 
Reinfeld. “To me, it means to offer an 
enlightened form of cuisine.”   
His career is likewise blos-
soming. For those eager 
to learn more about vegan 
cuisine, Reinfeld offers 
Internet cooking workshops 
and personal lessons for 
small groups. With Rinaldi, 
he published the best-selling 
Vegan Fusion World Cuisine, 
which “had a foreword by Dr. Jane 
Goodall and went on to win nine na-
tional awards, including a Gourmand 
Award for Best Vegetarian Cookbook 
in the U.S. Bo and I then wrote The 
Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw 
with Jennifer Murray.” Reinfeld,  
who teamed with Murray again for  
The 30 Minute Vegan and The 30  
Minute Vegan’s Taste of the East, is  
“now working on my fifth book,  
The 30 Minute Vegan’s Taste of Europe.”      
Aside from enjoying wholesome,  
delicious dishes like Roasted Red Pep-
per Hummus (recipe below), “people 
who include more vegan foods in their 
diets often experience relief from such 
health problems as undiag-
nosed allergies to dairy and 
other products,” Reinfeld 
maintains. He once suf-
fered from headaches and 
sore throats but noticed that 
both maladies “pretty much 
disappeared once I became 
a vegan.” As a bonus, “I felt 
more energy and was able to 
maintain the weight I was in college.”
At the Blossoming Lotus, Reinfeld 
serves “organic and locally grown foods 
whenever possible. There are so many 
vegan products – great-tasting cheeses, 
butters, meat replacements – on  
the market that it is fairly easy to  
‘veganize’ any dish.”  
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (Courtesy Vegan Fusion World Cuisine)
2 red bell peppers (1 cup), roasted 
3 cups garbanzo beans, cooked and drained well
3/4 cup tahini, roasted to a creamy consistency
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons wheat-free tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons cumin powder, toasted
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic 
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
3/4 teaspoon black pepper, ground to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce, or to taste (optional)
Place roasted pepper in food processor with lemon juice, soy sauce or  
tamari and olive oil; blend well.
Add garbanzo beans and remaining ingredients; process until smooth.
Variations
Replace red pepper with one of the following:
Garlic Lover’s: 1 1/2 cups roasted garlic and 1½ teaspoons minced fresh garlic
Sun-dried Tomato Basil: 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and drained; 2 tablespoons minced basil
Kalamata Rosemary: 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced; ¾ cup Kalamata olives
Caramelized Onion: 1 cup caramelized onions, pureed
Serves 6-8
www.albany.edu
21
Anne (Treffiletti) Trimble, B.A.’71 
Maintaining an  
Albany Institution
By Amy Halloran, B.A.’90
22
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
www.albany.edu
23
A
nne (Treffiletti) Trimble opened    
  La Serre with her husband,  
     Geoffrey W. Trimble, B.A.’72, 
now deceased, in downtown Albany in 
1977. The name means “greenhouse” 
in French, and the restaurant is tucked 
among the capital’s tall buildings, 
with a small greenhouse offering 
sunny seating and a courtyard allow-
ing further access outdoors. La Serre 
serves continental fare and has private 
rooms, too, bringing the restaurant’s 
capacity up to 200.  
While the Trimbles were studying at 
UAlbany, they worked at L’Ecole, a 
little bistro within walking distance of 
campus. “The place was very quaint, 
ahead of its time,” Anne recalled.    
The Treffiletti family was in the 
wholesale grocers business, and Anne’s 
father – whose hard work and example 
“gave us a better education than any 
institution ever could” – made sure 
his daughters were formally prepared 
for whatever line of work they 
chose. Anne earned an associ-
ate’s degree in business from 
the Junior College of Albany 
and spent a few months in San 
Francisco before returning to 
Albany for her bachelor’s. She 
studied education. Geoffrey 
was an English major. Both of 
them loved taking film classes 
with Professor Arthur Lennig.
After teaching, Trimble  
discovered she liked the  
restaurant business better. 
She and Geoffrey started  
La Serre with L’Ecole’s  
owner, Ken Nierenberg. 
Their partner left after 
a year, but La Serre has 
become an institution, serv-
ing the Capitol and other 
Albany fixtures, including 
SUNY Central.   
Long before the wild success of his 
novel Ironweed, William Kennedy was 
Geoffrey’s advisor. Over the years, the 
author has made La Serre a part of 
The New York State Writers Insti-
tute, feting writers at dinners there. 
Relationships such as this, and other 
contacts made before and after the 
Trimbles’ time at UAlbany, have con-
tributed to the restaurant’s success.  
La Serre is busiest during the legisla-
tive session. Changes made to lobby-
ing laws in the 1980s, Trimble said, 
permanently affected not only her 
establishment but the whole restau-
rant industry, from produce vendors 
to valet-parking attendants. She sees 
the loss in terms that are not strictly 
financial: “Politicians were more able 
to mingle and talk across the aisle” 
years ago, Trimble observed. 
The restaurant business seems to run 
in Trimble’s family. After working  
in finance, son John came to La Serre 
when his father passed away, five years 
ago. Daughter Nicole’s restaurant, 
Porreca’s, is in Lake George. Nephew 
Michael Carney, a star server at La 
Serre several years ago, continues  
to tend bar there.
Over the years, La Serre has served 
hundreds of graduation parties.  
Many UAlbany students have been 
employed there, especially when  
The Wellington housed students 
downtown.  
What’s Cookin’?
Lobster Ravioli
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
1 pint heavy cream
1 pound prepared pasta dough, stretched thin
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 ounces butter
1 egg
6 ounces ricotta cheese
6 stewed tomatoes (plus a small amount of juice)
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
4 ounces cooked lobster meat
pinch of basil, chopped
2 ounces parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/8 bulb garlic (approximately 1 clove)
1 egg
 
Filling: Beat egg and mix into the ricotta. Add spinach, 
garlic, parsley, parmesan cheese and lobster meat. 
Blend thoroughly with a spoon and set aside.
Sauce: Melt butter in a saucepan; add tomatoes, 
squeezing gently to release juice. Simmer for 3  
minutes, then add heavy cream, parmesan cheese, 
basil, parsley and lobster meat. Simmer until  
cream thickens.
Ravioli: Flour a large, flat work surface and lay out 
a half-length of dough. Spoon out 18 teaspoons of 
filling (3 across and 6 down) at even intervals. Place 
other half of pasta dough on top. Beat 1 egg and 
place ravioli cutter in it while cutting ravioli in even 
squares, making sure all sides are sealed. Place in 
boiling water for 5 minutes, then simmer in sauce 
for 3-4 minutes. Place ravioli on plates, ladling sauce 
over them. Add fresh parsley and/or basil as garnish.   
Mark McCarty
John Trimble helps his  
mom operate La Serre.
Mark McCarty
24
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
A
s wife, mother, stepmom, biochemist and multi- 
  tasker, Stephanie Blackwell wears many hats.  
Thirteen years ago, the Aurora Products Inc. (www.
AuroraNatural.com) president and CEO/owner added 
another: “entrepreneurial businesswoman.”
Blackwell, who had “a very sheltered” upbringing in 
Kingston, N.Y., never anticipated embracing that role. 
She earned her baccalaureate degree in science at  
Wells College, then enrolled at Albany – “my first  
exposure to the ‘real world’” – to complete master’s  
studies in chemistry. 
Professor of Chemistry Harry Frisch later helped Black-
well find a job as a polymer chemist at Bell Laboratories 
in New Jersey. She worked there for two years before 
realizing “I wasn’t where I wanted to be” and going into 
sales. Shortly afterward, she met Harvard M.B.A. Richard 
Blackwell; the couple married and had four children 
within six years. With “three in diapers at the same time,” 
the busy stay-at-home mom promised to “do something 
for myself in the future.”  
In 1998, Blackwell, by then divorced from her first hus-
band and remarried (to George Bailey), kept that promise. 
Inspired by Americans’ focus on health and fitness, she 
launched Aurora Products Inc., a line of all-natural foods, 
in a small warehouse in Bridgeport, Conn., with a staff of 
four and a credit card. Today, in a bustling 75,000-square-
foot facility in Stratford, Conn., more than 150 employees 
process and package container loads of dried fruit, nuts 
and other high-quality ingredients shipped in from all 
over the U.S. and the world. 
Aurora Products contain no artificial colors, flavorings 
or preservatives. Only natural sweeteners, such as fruit 
juice, are used in the preparation of granola, trail mixes 
and other healthy snacks. The product line can be found 
at major East Coast supermarket chains (such as Stop & 
Stop, Big Y, A&P and Hannaford); national warehouse 
Stephanie (Vogel) Blackwell, M.S.’76 
Businesswoman  
Extraordinaire  
By Carol Olechowski 
What’s Cookin’?
Mike Tritchonis
Mike Tritchonis
clubs (including BJ’s and Costco); and “in  
alternate channels” (such as T.J.Maxx, Marshall’s, 
Christmas Tree Shops and Mohegan Sun). About 
half of Aurora’s business consists of privately  
labeled packaged goods sold under retailers’  
own brand names. 
In addition to guaranteeing her customers fresh, 
wholesome products, Blackwell is working to sus-
tain the environment. Much of Aurora’s packaging 
is both manufactured from recycled materials and 
recyclable. Organic sunflower oil left over from 
the nut-roasting process “is sold and re-used as 
fuel,” she adds. 
Blackwell, who prefers that all her employees call 
her Stephanie, recognizes that people are key to 
Aurora’s success. She gives back to her neigh-
bors, supporting such Stratford-area initiatives 
as Habitat for Humanity and Sterling House, a 
community center. Some of her employees are 
hired through The Kennedy Center, a non-profit 
rehabilitation agency that supports more than 
1,500 disabled and mentally challenged adults.   
Aurora is flourishing: Seasonal employees aid in 
handling holiday production. A move to an addi-
tional 90,000-square-foot plant in nearby Milford 
is anticipated soon. The company, which ended  
its inaugural year with gross sales of $900,000, 
looks forward to finishing 2011 at close to  
$40 million in sales. 
Blackwell is gratified at Aurora’s growth – and 
delighted that her children Matthew, Laura and 
Gregory are working with her now. As director 
of Operations, national marketing manager and 
customer service associate, respectively, they are 
bringing a fresh perspective to the business while 
learning to carry on their mom’s commitment to 
product quality, her concern for the environment, 
and her loyalty to those who work for her and  
live in the surrounding community.  
Daughter Lindsay, a 2006 UAlbany graduate  
and Florida resident, is pursuing her own  
career interests.  
Blackwell’s children Matthew, Laura 
and Gregory, pictured left to right, 
work with her at Aurora Products.
www.albany.edu
25
Dave Garwacki
What’s Cookin’?
26
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Pictured clockwise from top are Justin’s, two shots of the Recovery Room, and Pearl Street Pub.
www.albany.edu
27
J
ohn DeJohn runs several eating and drinking establishments 
in and around Albany. Justin’s and DeJohn’s are restaurants 
that nearly face each other on Lark Street. Just down the 
   street is Legends on Lark; Pearl Street Pub and the Dirty 
Martini Lounge are located farther downtown. DeJohn also oper-
ates the concessions for The Armory a sports venue. By year’s 
end, several other projects should be up and running, including 
a nightclub on the lower level of the Armory, and a pub on the 
Washington Street side of the building. Legends on Pearl and 
DeJohn’s Ship Pub, in Latham, opened this fall.  
“I think that managing classes and schoolwork taught me a lot 
about being able to run 10 restaurants,” said DeJohn, pausing to 
chat in the busy, white-tableclothed dining room at Justin’s.  
DeJohn, who majored in English, credits UAlbany, and his two 
years’ active duty in the Marines, with giving him the tools to 
run his businesses. Many of these tools are social in nature: Don’t 
demonize things you don’t understand. If you fight everybody you 
don’t agree with, you’ll never get anything done. If you can under-
stand what people are thinking, you can get them on your side.
DeJohn’s first job, at 15, was washing dishes at an inn in the 
Catskills. He worked in every position – except cook – while  
he got his associate’s degree at Columbia-Greene Community 
College, and in more restaurants while he attended UAlbany. 
Following graduation, DeJohn served with the Marines. He was 
a technician at Verizon for 11 years, continuing to work for the 
company while running his first two restaurants.  
“The biggest thing I learned is how to manage people and how 
to motivate them to do things they don’t necessarily want to do. 
I learned that leadership from UAlbany, from the interaction 
between students and teachers,” he said.  
John DeJohn, B.A.’95
Master of Management  
and Motivation
By Amy Halloran, B.A.’90
Above: The Dirty Martini Lounge’s Private VIP 
Room is a cozy spot for gatherings.
Below: The Upper Room at the Pearl Street 
Pub and Dirty Martini Lounge accommodates 
parties of up to 100.
28
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
When Newman entered college, “I hadn’t yet settled on a 
career path, and I took some eclectic courses – Cartogra-
phy, Sociology, Introduction to French – freshman year to try 
to figure that out. By sophomore year, I’d settled on an 
English major and an art minor. I still didn’t have a 	
	
career picked out,  
but I knew I wanted 
to write.” To that 
end, she took the 
sole journalism 
course UAlbany 
then offered and 
wrote for the ASP 
“now and then.” 
Later, “I went 
straight from col-
lege to graduate 
school at NYU 
Journalism, where 
I rode out the 
early-’90s reces-
sion and earned a 
master’s degree.” 
Newman’s first 
media positions 
ranged from an 
unpaid intern-
ship at New 
York Magazine 
to “some odd 
part-time, paying gigs – writing book-
jacket copy for trashy romance novels, editing crossword 
puzzles, copy-editing for a financial weekly. My first full-
time job was as associate editor for Traders Magazine, and 
I spent several years in financial journalism.”
In her current career, Newman most enjoys “the op-
portunity to taste such a vast array of spirits and cocktails 
– and to meet the people behind them, the distillers and 
bartenders. It still amazes me that I get paid to taste spirits 
and then write about what I think,” 
marvels Newman, who blogs at 
karanewman.wordpress.com and 
also discusses wine and spirits 
regularly on radio and television 
and at seminars. 
Newman’s first book, Spice & Ice, 
written while she was a columnist 
for Chile Pepper magazine, came 
about when “I realized I had more 
great recipes and stories than I 
could ever shoehorn into the col-
umn.” Currently, the Manhattan 
resident is working on two others: The Secret Financial Life 
of Food, “about agricultural commodities like pork bellies, 
but from a culinary perspective,” and a cocktail cookbook 
for which she and her publisher will develop an app.
Newman employs “a pretty seasonal approach” to recipe 
development. “I’ll start with whatever feels right for the 
season – lighter spirits for spring, for example – and then 
I’ll think about the produce and herbs or spices that are 
available. After that, it’s a matter of adding citrus, sweet-
eners, and bitter elements that enhance and balance out 
the combination. And after that I think about presenta-
tion – what kind of ice, glassware, garnishes to use.”
If a recipe doesn’t work, “I tweak it or scrap it. P.S.,  
I usually don’t have a shortage of recipe testers for  
cocktail ideas!” observes Newman, who shares the  
following recipe with UAlbany readers.
Kara Newman, B.A.’92
A Spirited Writer
By Carol Olechowski
Kara Newman launched her career by writing about one of her passions: food. “After a couple of years, I realized that  
this was not just a hobby, and it began to consume more of my attention. Food writing evolved into wine and spirits, and  
I realized that was what I loved best. Now, it’s my full-time job,” says the Wine Enthusiast magazine spirits reviewer.
What’s Cookin’?
Daryl-Ann Saunders
www.albany.edu
29
Sparkling Ginger Daisy
From Spice & Ice: 60 Tongue-Tingling Cocktails, by Kara Newman 
(Chronicle Books)
A daisy is a classic juice-based cocktail sweetened with grenadine 
or a red liqueur, and often topped with sparkling wine. Here, the 
bright spice of ginger plays against a backdrop of bubbles for a  
festive holiday sparkler. And if you feel like gilding the lily, try  
one or both of the optional special touches below.
1 ounce Plymouth Gin
1 ounce Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grenadine
Brut champagne
Combine gin, ginger liqueur, lemon juice and grenadine in an  
ice-filled mixing glass. Stir until well chilled, and strain into a  
champagne flute. Top with champagne.
Option 1: If desired, rim the flute with sparkling sugar  
before pouring in the drink.
Option 2: Garnish with a cherry at the bottom of the flute.    
Antonis Achilleos
30
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
www.albany.edu
31
S
ociology is just marketing without trying to get people  
to buy things. I use sociology every single day because  
I deal with people,” said Tolive, whose 60-seat restaurant  
is a Capital Region fixture.  
“We’ve offered health insurance for 20 years,” she added. 
“We were one of the first restaurants to do that. I recognize 
that this is not just a business.”  
The sense that the restaurant is a people-centered enter-
prise, for both workers and customers, perhaps comes from 
Tolive’s thinking like a sociologist.  
Her minor in business administration turned out to be 
important, too.  She uses basic accounting skills daily and 
marketing routinely. The market research she did door-to-
door – including one survey for Cup-A-Soup – added to 
her understanding of people and business, too.
El Loco began as a lunch cart at the Capitol building; after 
a season, Tolive and her business (and romantic) partner 
looked for an indoor location. Using money she’d saved up 
to backpack around Europe, they opened the restaurant.  
“I said I’d do it for a year,” she laughed. When the year was 
up, her mate was gone, but she and the business stayed put. 
Eventually, she traveled around Europe with her daughters.
When she celebrated El Loco’s 20th anniversary, former 
staff came from all over – even Alaska.  
Tolive is happiest “when I bring people together. Whether 
it’s bringing together people who are eating and having a 
good time, or whether it’s my staff, the restaurant’s a nexus, 
and I think that’s my importance in life.”   
Marcia Tolive, B.A. ’81
Bringing People Together
By Amy Halloran, B.A.’90
What’s Cookin’?
Marcia Tolive opened El Loco Restaurant on Madison Avenue in Albany in 1983. The  
Westchester native went to UAlbany to study business but switched to sociology after  
two years. Her education, however, has applied to her career more than you might think.
Mark McCarty
Mark McCarty
“
32
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
S
wearing up and down that we wouldn’t get back in the 
industry, we ended up doing so.  We wanted to have a 
business of our own, and it was something that we knew, 
so we find ourselves doing it,” said Martin.  
There are four Butera’s restaurants, located in Seaford, 
Woodbury, Sayville and Smithtown, N.Y. Each seats  
90-95 people. 
After graduating from UAlbany 
with a degree in business, Mar-
tin took a job with Federated 
Department Stores as database 
administrator. He got his master’s 
in history at SUNY Stony Brook, 
thinking he wanted to teach,  
until the restaurant business  
lured him back.
Laurie, who also majored in busi-
ness administration, took a job 
with a precious-metals company 
following graduation, working 
“with commodities and rare coins. 
I had a lot of customers,” she recalled. “It was a  
great job.”
The market was doing really well, but when the oppor-
tunity arose, Laurie decided to open the restaurant with 
Martin and Gary. As a restaurant owner, Laurie noted, 
“you really need to be proficient in accounting, finance, 
personal communications – pretty much everything.”
“We all realized there’s something to be said about 
making for yourself and doing your own thing,” added 
Martin, who liked – and still likes – cooking. Martin and 
Gary are executive chefs. They wear whites and work on 
the line in the kitchens, preparing regional Italian dishes. 
Laurie manages the front of the house, where she sees 
lots of friends from UAlbany. They see a lot of alumni 
elsewhere, too.  
“I never knew Albany was so 
close to the Island,” quipped 
Martin.
Many of the restaurant staff 
worked their way through high 
school, then college, with the 
Buteras accommodating sched-
ules so employees could pri-
oritize education. Connections 
with clientele allowed the couple 
to introduce staff to employers 
beyond the world of food.  
Such connections have served the Butera family well, 
too. A customer told a colleague at Good Housekeeping 
that they must have Butera’s recipe for chicken meatballs. 
The recipe was made three times in the magazine’s test 
kitchen, determined good enough to run and featured in 
the October 2004 issue. 
What’s Cookin’?
Martin Butera, B.S.’85, and  
Laurie (Novack) Butera, B.S.’86
Mangia!
By Amy Halloran, B.A.’90
Martin Butera and Laurie (Novack) Butera operate four restaurants on Long Island with  
Martin’s brother, Gary, and other partners. The brothers worked during college and high 
school for the family pizza business but did not plan on careers in food service.  
“
www.albany.edu
33
Butera’s Chicken Meatballs  Prep Time: 20 minutes ~ Roasting Time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients
Directions
• Pre-heat oven to 450o. 
• Combine chicken, eggs, onion, garlic, water, bread crumbs, parsley, cheese, salt and pepper.  
Blend together.
• Pour oil onto a plate. Dip hands in oil, then shape (roll) into 2-inch meatballs, oiling hands,  
as needed, to prevent sticking.
• Transfer meatballs to 2 15 ½” x 10 ½” jelly roll pans.
• Place pans on 2 oven racks, and then pour 2 cups of water into each pan.
• Roast approximately 20-25 minutes or until the meatballs lose their pink color throughout  
and are just golden brown.
Enjoy!
2 pounds ground chicken
2 large fresh eggs
1 small onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cup plain dried  
bread crumbs
1/2  cup fresh chopped parsley
 
1/2 cup freshly grated  
Romano cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Mike Tritchonis
Erica Morris, B.A.’92
A Passion for Food
By Amy Halloran, B.A.’90
34
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Erica Morris is director of Special Events at Marcus Samuelsson Group  
(marcussamuelsson.com and foodrepublic.com). Samuelsson is a chef known  
for his restaurants and cookbooks, and for promoting healthy eating. 
www.albany.edu
35
Mike Tritchonis
A
s a communication major at the University    
 at Albany, Morris found that her minor in  
    theatre helped break her out of her shell, 
allowing her to take on different roles. “When 
you’re in the restaurant business, or any business 
where you’re dealing with clients, it helps to 
know that sometimes there’s a persona you  
have to put on, and that’s okay,” said Morris.   
A class in mediation and arbitration was another 
good tool for Morris as her professional life 
evolved from waiting tables to her current  
high-profile post, thanks to her insatiable  
curiosity and a passion for food.
While managing the front of the house for a 
restaurant with an open kitchen, she spent a 
lot of time surveying the dining room from the 
kitchen. Morris quizzed the chefs about what 
they were doing, and one of them suggested 
she attended the Culinary Institute of America. 
Once she graduated, she helped launch a res-
taurant, then talked her way into doing special 
events for People magazine. Her lack of maga-
zine experience was seen as a potential deficit, 
but, she told her interviewers: “I’ve been  
running a restaurant where the kitchen could 
be on fire, and I’m out on the floor, looking at 
guests and saying, ‘Hi; how are you?’ Just  
doing the magic show every night.” 
After four years at Time, Inc., Morris took a 
job in special events with New York Magazine. 
Two years later, she directed special events at 
Gourmet, the definitive food magazine. After the 
magazine’s surprising end, she joined Marcus 
Samuelsson Group, where she’s arranged events 
that allowed her to meet President Obama and 
former President Clinton.  
“I’m on the other side of it now,” she said, ex-
plaining that the events department was always 
part of marketing in the media world. “While 
working at the magazine, I was constantly 
 
 
creat-
ing and 
creating and executing sponsor opportunities, 
so there’s a lot of crossover in that way. I know 
what sponsors are looking for. I know the lan-
guage and the way things are approached.”
Her career is full of highlights. When the Dem-
ocratic National Convention held a fundraising 
dinner at Red Rooster in March, Morris served 
President Obama his dinner. Two months later, 
she met former President Clinton when the 
Clinton Foundation held an event there.  
One of her favorite events, however, was helping 
a mother prepare her son’s graduation party. As 
“amazing” as the big-name events are, Morris 
noted, “when you do an event for the everyday 
person who is so appreciative of everything, you 
feel really good at the end of the day.” 
 In the course of 
her career, Morris 
has waited tables, 
run restaurants 
and planned  
special events.
What’s Cookin’?
36
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Great Danes defensive end  
Eddie Delaney
www.albany.edu
37
M
ight as well let the offensive line know. See if they 
can stop him. Good luck. They haven’t thus far.
“One hand or two hands, it comes down to whether you 
can play,” Delaney said.
Since joining the UAlbany football program in 2007, 
Delaney’s contributions have been steady and sig-
nificant. As a freshman, he caught the attention of his 
coaches and teammates with his passion and perfor-
mance on the scout team. Practices were his games, and 
his intensity was contagious.
The following year, Delaney became a starter at left 
defensive end and made the All-Northeast Conference 
second team. Last season, he made the conference’s first 
team after recording 41 tackles, includ-
ing 4.5 for a loss. 
“He has great quickness, tremendous 
strength, and an intense desire to excel,” 
Ford said. “Those things are more im-
portant than playing with two hands.”
Delaney finished his undergraduate 
work last spring but has one season of 
eligibility left because he redshirted his 
freshman season. This year, he will take 
graduate courses in communications. 
He has had to overcome more than just 
playing with one hand. He’s also a dia-
betic who wears an insulin pump. At the start of his col-
lege career, Delaney would often need to take a break to 
correct his blood-sugar levels, but he and medical staff 
have kept the situation under control. 
Delaney’s close monitoring of his body has also helped 
him reshape it. When he arrived at UAlbany, he was just 
over 210 pounds. He expects to play his senior season at 
250, the result of intense weight lifting. Delaney bench-
presses 360 pounds by balancing half the weight against 
his arm.
“Watching him lift is quite a sight,” Ford said. “It is 
truly unbelievable.”
While he would like to play football as long as he can, 
mentioning a possible post-college ca-
reer in Canada or the United Football 
League as possibilities, Delaney said 
he also is considering trying to build a 
career that combines his communica-
tions degree and his expert workout-
room knowledge into helping design 
equipment for people with disabilities.
“I’d love to share what I’ve learned, 
and some of my methods, with people 
throughout the world,” Delaney said. 
They would hear that message from a 
person who has a history of success and 
inspiration.
THE UNSTOPPABLE  
Eddie Delaney
 BY JEFF GOLD
If Great Danes defensive end Eddie Delaney has a  
long-sleeved shirt in his locker, University at Albany Head 
Coach Bob Ford hasn’t seen him put it on.  
All long sleeves would do is disguise the truth:  
Delaney was born without a left hand.
UAlbany Athletics
Ask Geoff
By Geoff Williams, University Archivist 
F
or me, until very recently, much of 
the art has been backdrop. I have 
given guided tours for alumni classes 
and outside groups of the historical art 
on the downtown campus for many 
years, and I thought it might be inter-
esting to let a wider audience know 
about the downtown art – and to take a 
closer look at it myself. 
In researching this article, I came to 
realize that the art collections there 
are much more varied than I thought 
they were. There are two types of art 
representing two different periods of 
the University’s history. The first, cre-
ated from 1910 through the 1940s, is 
very traditional and celebrates classical, 
historical or literary themes. All of the 
early 20th-century art was purchased 
with funds from alumni or graduating 
classes, and most of it has been restored 
by alumni. The second, 81 items in all 
– far more than I had imagined – is art 
from the University’s contemporary art 
collections, most installed during the 
last 10 years and representing student 
art works, and/or art given to or loaned 
to the University. These pieces repre-
sent a conscious effort by the Univer-
sity Art Museum to display works that 
would ordinarily be stored. 
Our earliest collections of art date from 
the construction of the Willett Street 
building in the 1880s. A prominent 
feature of that building was a massive 
stained-glass window 
depicting classical Greek 
and Roman themes 
related to education, 
and reputed to be the 
largest such window in 
the United States at the 
time. Located in the 
Assembly Hall of the 
State Normal School, 
which became the State 
Normal College in 1890, the window 
was paid for by the Alumni Association, 
designed by Ezra Treadwell of Boston, 
and possibly completed by Tiffany & 
Co. Unfortunately, no color image of it 
exists. When the Willett Street build-
ing burned in 1906, the Alumni Win-
dow was completely destroyed, along 
with oil paintings of the school’s early 
leaders. The only item saved from the 
fire was the plaster statue of Minerva, 
the Roman goddess of wisdom and 
UAlbany’s symbol. (For more about 
Minerva, please see “Ask Geoff” in  
the Fall 2007 UAlbany, which is  
available online.) 
Graduating classes soon decided that a 
stained-glass window for the new audi-
torium – the first floor of what is now 
Hawley Hall, or the Dewey Library 
– would be an ideal gift to the school. 
From 1910 through 1926, graduat-
ing classes and student groups from 
the State Normal College, and after 
1914, the New York State College for 
Teachers, donated funds to install in 
the auditorium stained-glass windows 
portraying classical Greek or Roman 
themes, and occasionally historical 
themes tied to the immediate past. 
The latter included the Class of 1920 
gift, a window depicting the World 
War I cemetery at Flanders Field in 
Belgium, and the 1926 Spanish Club’s 
gift memorializing Francesca Martinez, 
a beloved French and Spanish teacher 
who died in 1925. Between 1980 and 
The classical stained-glass window at right was lost  
in 1906 when the Willett Street building burned.  
The building is pictured above after the fire.   
Have you ever looked closely  
at the walls of UAlbany’s  
downtown campus? 
Or are they just backdrops for studying or for moving  
from one room or building to another?
38
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
1986, the Hawley windows were restored 
by the Chapman Studio in Albany, which 
is credited with designing many of the 
windows originally. The classes of 1927, 
1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 
1934 and 1952 paid for the restorations.
Not to be outdone by State College for 
Teachers classes, Milne High School stu-
dents embarked on their own campaign 
to beautify Milne Hall, which opened 
in1929. They raised funds to reproduce 
the 115-foot-long by 11-inch-high frieze 
of “Alexander the Great’s Entrance into 
Babylon” around the top of the library in 
Milne 200. The frieze was copied from 
the one created for the Quirinal Palace 
in Rome by the Danish sculptor Bertel 
Thorvaldsen and com-
missioned by Napoleon 
in 1815 to celebrate his 
conquest of Italy. 
Milne students also deco-
rated the walls of their  
library with the first 
murals on the downtown 
campus. During the early 1930s and 
’40s, at the suggestion of Milne School 
Principal John Sayles, the students 
commissioned Albany artist David 
Lithgow to create murals represent-
ing the Leather Stocking Tales and the 
histories of Albany and the State Col-
lege for Teachers. Others depict Albany 
as a trading post, the Anti-Rent riots of 
1838, the Anti-Ratification riots of 1788, 
Governor Dongan signing the Albany 
Charter, the courtship of Alexander 
Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, and 
the state office building near the Capitol, 
to name a few. The Lithgow series was 
incomplete, however; the planned mural 
of the Albany skyline on the north wall 
was never painted.
All of the Milne 200 murals have just 
been restored by Milne alumni. These 
and other images of the murals and 
friezes can be seen online.
An even larger set of murals graces  
Hawley Hall. In 1932, then-Gov. 
Franklin Roosevelt approved funds 
to transform the Hawley auditorium 
into a library for the State College for 
Teachers. Later, as president during the 
Depression, Roosevelt supported hiring 
artists with federal funds to create art in 
public spaces – and, for the first time, art 
on the downtown campus was not paid 
for by students or graduates.  
In the next “Ask Geoff,” I’ll continue 
our look at the downtown campus as 
art gallery and provide an itinerary  
for a self-guided tour.
In this 1940 shot of Hawley  
Library, several murals are 
partially visible. A stained-glass 
representation of Flanders Field, 
far right, is also displayed there. 
Milne School students raised funds for a frieze depicting 
“Alexander the Great’s Entrance into Babylon,” top,  
and a mural portraying the arrival of Henry Hudson’s  
Half Moon in Albany, bottom.
www.albany.edu
39
Gary Gold ’70
Judy Madnick ’65, ’66
34 Dorothy Griffin celebrated her 97th 
birthday in July in good health, although she 
is very lame. Dorothy is president and still very 
active in her family-owned business, Varflex 
Corp., along with her younger brother, 86. She 
gets to the office almost every day! 
41  A note from your class councilor: Sadly, 
Shirley Callahan Dillon’s husband, John, 
died in January after a long struggle. Glen Clark 
recently was honored by the French government’s 
Legion of Honor for his work in liberating 
France in 1944. He was a superintendent in 
the Oswego school district and president of 
the retired teachers association. Glen retired 
from educational work after 35 years and then 
became a banker. He is now fully retired and 
lives in an assisted-living facility in Oswego next 
door to his wife, Eleanor, who lives in a nursing 
home. Glen’s address is: Glen & Eleanor Clark, 4 
Burkle St., Apartment 218, Oswego, NY 13126. 
Herb Oksala and his wife, Ruth, live at 1361 E. 
Boot Rd., Apt. 213, West Chester, PA 19380. In 
December 2010, they moved there from Pittsford, 
Mass., to be closer to their son. Both are doing 
well. Herb was a member of Kappa Delta Rho 
and lived at the Kappa Delta Rho house on South 
Lake Avenue. He spent his pre-retirement years 
with GE. 
Class councilor: Vince Gillen,  
vpgillen@yahoo.com
48 A note from your class councilor: 
The majority of our classmates report that they 
have no significant news but are mostly focused 
on keeping well in spite of numerous physical 
ailments, and many have curtailed their travels. 
Eleanor Alland has chatted with Ruth Doran, 
Jane O’Brien and Mary Emmett Foster. 
Mary has moved to the Kingsway retirement 
community in Schenectady, N.Y., and is very 
happy there. Her husband, Bill, has passed 
on. Mary keeps in touch with Peggy Eggert 
Richardson and Julia Genovesi Fassett, 
who are both well. Gari Paticopoulos keeps 
well and is happy to be involved with her church, 
St. Demetrios. Eleanor attended the Albany 
Volunteer Council luncheon April 30 and enjoyed 
talking with class councilors from ’42, ’44 and 
’46. Eleanor traveled to Italy with members of 
her church, St. Lucy’s/St. Bernadette’s, in April 
of this year. The group stayed in Rome, Florence 
and Venice, and Eleanor says they enjoyed every 
minute.    
Class notes councilor: Eleanor Alland, 
ealland214b@nycap.rr.com
49  A note from your class councilor: 
Bonnie Totten Adkins and husband Lee 
traveled many miles in June, as they hosted 
a dear friend from Mozambique, Jeremias 
Franca, who spoke to Methodist church 
congregations in five cities, as well as to 
members of the annual Methodist conference 
meeting in the Boston area. On the weekend 
of June 3-5, the Class of 1949 made history: It 
was the first class in the annals of SUNY Albany 
to hold a 62nd reunion. Congratulations to us! 
There were 19 registered classmates and, with 
guests, the total was 28. Everyone who attended 
seemed to have a very enjoyable time. There was 
plenty of time to chat (24 attendees for three 
hours in the hospitality room Friday evening 
and 17 for three hours after the luncheon on 
Saturday). The bus tour of all four campuses 
including a well-received guided tour, narrated 
by University at Albany Archivist Geoff Williams. 
The luncheon program on Saturday included 1) 
a beautiful remembrance by Bonnie Adkins of 
our deceased classmates; 2) a reading by Ellen 
Fay Harmon of Don Dickinson’s poem “All Hail 
’49ers on Their 62nd;” 3) a hilarious monologue 
(a parody of Hamlet) by Ellen Fay Harmon; 
4) a tribute paid to the nine class members 
who have received Alumni Association Awards; 
5) a rousing song fest led by Betsy Franks 
Schuhle; and 6) recollections of our college 
experiences. Our planning committee was so 
grateful for the tremendous assistance from the 
Alumni Office staff, particularly Loida Vera Cruz. 
Loida and Geoff Williams were our guests at the 
luncheon. All in all, a grand time was enjoyed by 
the
Carillon
Alumni News & Notes
40
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Eleanor Alland
www.albany.edu
41
Alumni News & Notes
all! On to the 65th! Note: Copies of 
the reunion program, the tribute to 
our nine award recipients, and Don 
Dickinson’s poem are available upon 
request to Joe Zanchelli (e-mail 
address below, or phone 518-587-
4581). Some sad news to report: Kay 
Grant Baird passed away Dec. 11, 
2010. By June 2011, Jack Brophy 
and Mary Sue Dunning had also 
passed away. There is good news, 
too: Our class has reconnected with 
Jerry Dunn, Class of 1951. Jerry 
and his wife, Shirley Wiltse ’50, 
were guests at our 62nd reunion. He 
started with our class in September 
1945 and was elected freshman 
class president. In October, he was 
called into service, returned two years 
later to join the Class of 1951 and 
was again elected freshman class 
president. Most of Jerry’s working 
career has been with various New York 
State departments, with the most time 
spent at the Department of Labor. He 
also served as president of the Alumni 
Association for several years. Bob 
Donnelly ’52 reports that his nephew 
Martin, eldest son of his sister, Kocky 
Donnelly Macy, retired from the U.S. 
Navy with the rank of rear admiral 
after 39 years of service. Richard 
Foster, who lives in Sarasota, Fla., 
sings in a 16-member group called 
the Glenridge Harmonaires. He has 
one grandson in the Army in Korea 
and also is very much enjoying his 
two great-grandchildren. Dolores 
Stocker Eklund was planning a 
cruise in September to Canada and 
New England. One of the highlights 
of the year for Ellen Fay Harmon 
was attending our 62nd reunion 
and having the opportunity to revive 
an old ’40’s monologue, a parody 
of Hamlet. (She did a terrific job, 
too!) Ellen and Tom celebrated their 
59th wedding anniversary in August. 
Gloria Maistelman Herkowitz 
and her husband celebrated the birth 
of their second great-grandchild – a 
boy! Bob Kittredge and his wife, 
Diana, attended the wedding of their 
granddaughter in May. Also in May, 
they started their 16-day journey 
through the eastern United States by 
visiting Bob’s brother in Illinois, his 
97-year-old aunt in Connecticut, then 
the Zanchellis in Saratoga Springs, 
and finally Albany for the reunion. No 
rest for Bob and Diana because, on 
their return to California, they traveled 
to the San Diego area to attend 
their granddaughter’s high school 
graduation. Elfrieda “Freddy” 
Laemmerzahl Miller went to 
Wales in June with the Oklahoma 
Native Plant Society. Jake and Betsy 
Schuhle are rejoicing this year in the 
birth of their first great-grandchild. 
Wilma Whitney Saunders attended 
the wedding of her granddaughter 
June 4. Horty Zeilengold 
Schmierer’s granddaughter Rachel 
received her master’s degree with 
honors from Columbia University. 
Another granddaughter, Jaime, 
graduated from SUNY Binghamton and 
has started her master’s in speech 
therapy at New York Medical College.  
The Class of 1949 celebrates another grand reunion, its 62nd, June 3, 
with 17 alumni attending from as far away as California and Oklahoma.
42
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
A trip to Italy was planned in October 
to celebrate Horty’s birthday. Abe 
Trop had one granddaughter graduate 
from St. John’s College in Annapolis 
and another from Emma Willard 
School in Troy, both with honors. 
Abe had a reunion in the spring 
with a few World War II buddies who 
were with him on D-Day on Utah 
Beach, Normandy. Barbara Houck 
VanTilburg and her husband, Gerry, 
attended an awards assembly in 
Woodstock, Ga., where their 17-year-
old grandson received the Spirit of 
the Eagle award in recognition of his 
leadership, academic achievement, 
athletic skills and community service. 
In June, they traveled to State 
College, Pa., to attend the local ballet 
company’s production, “The Snow 
Queen,” in which their 17-year-old 
granddaughter performed. Joe 
Zanchelli and wife Joyce, Class of 
’52, enjoyed a wonderful river cruise 
in Belgium and The Netherlands, 
where the tulips were in full bloom. A 
highlight of the trip was meeting their 
grandson, Greg, in Amsterdam. Greg 
was traveling on his spring break from 
his junior-year-abroad semester and 
just happened to be in Amsterdam 
that same time – serendipity!! In June, 
Joe and Joyce planned to celebrate 
their 60th wedding anniversary by 
vacationing for a week on the Jersey 
Shore with their entire family. Thanks, 
49’ers, for keeping the news coming.
Class councilor: Joseph Zanchelli, 
jjzanch@yahoo.com 
50  A note from your class 
councilor: Joan Peterson 
Englebosch took a world cruise 
on the Queen Mary 2 in April. Joan 
enjoyed going to the Great Wall of 
China and visiting Dubai, UAE. She 
was unable to visit New Zealand and 
Japan due to the earthquakes. Joan 
also experienced a “Pirate Drill” and 
had to black out her windows with 
the curtains after dusk. Ken George 
keeps active by playing recreational 
tennis. He still sings in the choir 
and with a barbershop quartet; their 
highlight of the year was singing “The 
Star Spangled Banner” at the local 
high school football game. Lila Lee 
Harrington left her beloved log home 
in the Adirondacks and relocated to 
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Lila was ill 
when she moved to Prestwick Chase 
independent living, but after several 
hospitalizations to correct dehydration, 
the problem was solved. She is very 
grateful that she can drive short trips 
around Saratoga, to Glens Falls and 
to Ballston Lake, where her son, Todd, 
and his family live. Since regaining 
her health, Lila has become active 
in Book Chat Club. She was also 
elected to the board of directors for 
her in-house newspaper, The Chase, 
and participates in aerobics classes 
four days a week. Marjorie Lyons 
will be directing a production of T.S. 
Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral” for 
performances Feb. 25-26, 2012, at 
All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort 
Lauderdale, Fla. She attends the 
playwrights’ and actors’ groups and 
is still in love with drama, as she 
was when she attended State and 
studied under the marvelous Agnes 
Futterer. Marjorie also is launching a 
series of business seminars to train 
Alumni News & Notes
In the spring issue, I asked that  
you share your words of wisdom  
with your fellow alumni. We had  
some fantastic submissions,  
which you can find here:
W.O.W.
www.facebook.com/UAlbanyAlumni
Lee Serravillo 
Executive Director
UAlbany Alumni 
Association
In the beautiful Dewey Library, the Class of 1956 observes its milestone 55th reunion June 11.  
Seated, left to right: Jane Ide Hutchins and Joyce Tannata Keating. Standing, left to right:  
Annick Loehr Belleville, Marvin Goldstein, Joan Wilkinson Arnold and Arnold Newman.
Alumni News & Notes
participants how to set up and operate 
a book-producing business (www.
telling-your-story.com). Malcolm 
Slater is enjoying life with his wife 
and soul mate, Dr. Nancy Suzuki-
Slater, in Honolulu, Hawaii. After 
corresponding all of the years since 
graduation and becoming widowed, 
Irwin Baumel and Elise de Seve 
Brown decided to do some traveling 
together. In Fall 2010, they went to 
Argentina, Brazil and Chile, followed 
by a three-week trip to northern Italy 
in May 2011. On the Italian trip they 
met with Harold (Sparky) Vaughn 
in Florence after having renewed 
their acquaintance in Washington, 
D.C., where Elise and Harold both 
reside. Harold had announced that 
he was planning to be at his condo in 
Florence during the time of their visit. 
It was a treasured evening; the former 
classmates shared unusual historical 
tidbits about Firenze (Florence), fine 
food and wine at a special “local” 
restaurant, and gelato for dessert. 
Unfortunately, Harold’s wife recently 
passed away. A memorial Mass for her 
in the village outside Florence where 
she spent her childhood drew about a 
hundred dear friends from Quarrata, 
Pistoia and Firenze. 
Class notes councilor: Harold Vaughn, 
vaughnha@aol.com 
51  A note from your class 
councilor: Our 60th Reunion will 
be held Oct. 1, 2011. Earl Sipe 
from Ocoee, Fla., sent along a 
clipping about the Orlando “Harvey 
Milk Day” celebrations. A recently 
elected gay member of the Orlando 
City Council, Earl attributes the city’s 
recent uncontroversial passage of a 
domestic partner’s ordinance to the 
influence of Milk’s social networking 
methods for effecting change. 
Marilyn Allen Ochs, Joyce 
Barringer Soule, Marie Thurlow 
Gunn, Jackie Mann Gavryck, 
and  ex-’51 Dorothy Bens Langr 
met in Cobleskill in June for lunch. 
Marie brought many photos from 
their college days to add to the fun. 
Jerry Dunn (ex-military) recently 
brought us up to date about his life 
and career. Jerry was our freshman 
class president; later, he was president 
of the Alumni Association and served 
on the board of the Benevolent 
Association. In 1950, he married 
Shirley Wiltsie ’50. He obtained 
a master’s in public administration 
from a joint Syracuse/NYU program 
and worked in the public sector most 
of his life. Jerry started his career 
with the University of the State of 
New York, and over the years he 
worked for several New York State 
departments. At one point, he served 
a year with the United Nations as a 
budget management advisor to the 
Venezuelan government. When he 
retired in 1987, he was director of 
Unemployment Insurance with the 
Department of Labor. Jerry’s hobbies 
are golf and volunteering with his 
church.
Class notes councilor: Jacqueline 
Mann Gavryck, jgavryck@nycap.rr.com
52  A note from your class 
councilor: Dave Manly and his 
wife, Jean, will be attending their 17th 
Road Scholar program in July. They 
also enjoy going to plays at Niagara-
on-the-Lake and spending the winter 
months at “Triple M” (Manly’s Modest 
Manor) in Hilton Head, S.C. Helen 
Pilcher Terrill is on the road more 
than she is at home at her daughter 
Ann’s. She was in Indiana enjoying 
grandson Will, who just graduated 
from Rose-Hulman Institute of 
Technology and who will be starting 
med school at North-East Ohio Med 
School. From there, Helen went to 
Akron for the high school graduation of 
granddaughter Helen and had a nice 
visit with her brother and his wife. The 
next stop was Kitty Hawk, where she 
was going to be vacationing with Ann’s 
family. Jane Minckler Jennings 
attended her granddaughter’s 
graduation from Sweet Brier, where 
she received an engineering degree. 
Another granddaughter had a garden 
wedding a week later. Jane spends 
her summers (11 weeks’ worth) on 
Block Island, where she plans to 
see Mimi Gorskie Blake a few 
times. Nancy Frey Pettinelli has 
happy news. In order to celebrate 
anniversaries, birthdays and other 
occasions, all 14 of the family will be 
going to the Cayman Islands for some 
R and R. Nancy and her husband, 
Lou, will be celebrating their 50th 
wedding anniversary. Kitty Kloser 
Irons is still busy with her bridge 
club, church choir, parish council, 
quilt guild meetings and going to a 
Broadway play in New York City once 
a month. Kitty and Marty spent three 
www.albany.edu
43
Income for life, 
Outcome forever!
A Charitable Gift Annuity is a wonderful way to meet 
two objectives. It can provide you an assured lifetime 
income and, importantly, the proceeds can eventually 
provide a scholarship to a worthy student. In these 
days of low interest rates and uncertainty in financial 
markets, receiving a reliable income at a good rate is 
worth considering.
Here’s how it works:
1) You make a contribution to The University at Albany 
Foundation and receive a fixed income for one or 
two lives, with payments partially tax-free;
2) You receive a charitable tax deduction for a  
portion of the gift;
3) You direct how the proceeds will eventually  
be used – for a scholarship, award or other  
educational purpose.
For more information and sample annuity  
rates based on your age, please go to 
www.albany.edu/giving/giftplanning.shtml.
Office of Gift Planning, (518) 437-5090 or (888) 226-5600 toll-free. 
44
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
days in Philadelphia sight-seeing; their 
trip included a visit to the beautiful 
Longwood Gardens. Tom Holman 
has extended an invitation to any of 
you on a cruise ship which stops at St. 
Maarten, where he stays from mid-
January until the first week in March. 
He stays at the Pasanggraham Royale 
Guest House, where he says Janet the 
bartender would be happy to find him 
so that he could buy you a drink. Book 
your cruise now. Kathleen Cody 
Sengle retired from being a school 
counselor in 1992. Kathleen and her 
husband traveled and were involved in 
the grandchildren’s growing up until 
he passed away from leukemia last 
year. She keeps busy volunteering at 
her local library and historical society. 
She has lived for 56 years in a very 
active community in the Poconos. 
Kathleen has five grandchildren. Glad 
to hear she’s in touch with Jane 
Hatt LaDuke, Barbara Anderson 
Hadden and Viola Myles Folks. 
Vickie Eade Eddy divides her time 
between Yuma, Ariz., in the winter 
and Olean, N.Y., in the summer. Her 
five children and 12 grandchildren 
are an accomplished bunch. Herb 
and Marilyn Holland have been 
presented the 2011 Circle of Humanity 
Award by the congregation of Temple 
Israel in recognition of all the volunteer 
charity work they have done and 
continue to do. They have been 
involved in this kind of work for 40 
years. Congratulations, Marilyn and 
Herb. Joyce Leavitt Zanchelli has 
just returned with husband Joe (’49) 
from a riverboat cruise of Belgium and 
The Netherlands. The tulips were in 
full bloom and a gorgeous sight, but 
the best part of the trip was meeting 
their grandson, who was on spring 
break in Amsterdam. Serendipity!  
They celebrated their 60th wedding 
anniversary with a weeklong  
vacation with their entire family on  
the Jersey Shore. We have begun  
After School Special:  
The 2011 Alumni Show
Alumni Exhibition Opening  
Reception and Wine Tasting
October 14, 5-7 p.m.
University Museum 
This exhibition, curated by New York Times  
freelance critic Ken Johnson ’76, highlights indi-
vidual accomplishments of working alumni artists. 
Stop by the museum to take in the many works 
by talented UAlbany alumni, meet the artists, and 
connect with alumni while enjoying a sample  
     
of New York wines and cheeses.  
Register online for this event.
This exhibition is supported by a generous 
grant from the University at Albany  
Alumni Association. 
Alumni News & Notes
Congratulations 
to Mary B. Mullin, B.S.’80, who was 
honored in the June 6 issue of Bar-
ron’s magazine as one of “America’s 
Top 100 Women Financial Advisors.” 
 Throughout her 30 years with Merrill Lynch, 
the Boston-based Mullin, managing direc-
tor of Investments and a wealth management 
advisor and portfolio manager, has provided 
investment advice to affluent families and busi-
ness owners and offered them a comprehen-
sive approach to financial planning. In keeping 
with Merrill Lynch’s belief that training and 
enrichment opportunities enable its staff to 
better serve clients, she has also pursued many 
advanced designations and certifications in her 
fields of expertise. On the home front, Mullin, 
a proud mother of four, spends her free time 
on the lacrosse field, cheering on her kids.
& Fall Festival 
Homecoming Weekend 
2012
Alumni News & Notes
planning our 60th reunion, which will take place April 28-
29, 2012, in Albany. We do not have a program in place yet 
but would like you to mark your calendar so you don’t miss 
this momentous occasion. You will be receiving particulars 
of the weekend sometime in October, but don’t wait until 
then to cross off those dates on your calendar. One other 
reminder: If you want to earmark any contributions to the 
Class of ’52 scholarship fund, please write “UAlbany Class 
of ’52 Scholarship Fund Program Fund” on your check. We 
continue to award scholarships honoring our professors in a 
different department every year.
Class notes councilor: Joyce Zanchelli, jjzanch@yahoo.com
54  Sadly, we report the death of Shirley Callahan 
Dillon’s husband, John, in January 2011. Before coming to 
the United States in 1950, Naoshi Koriyama taught at a 
junior high school on his home island, Kikai Island. He also 
attended Okinawa Foreign Language School and worked 
as interpreter at Kadena Air Base, a United States air base 
in Okinawa. This coming November, Naoshi will be 85. For 
the past several years, he has been working on translating 
a huge 12th-century collection of medieval tales of Japan. 
Now, he has been revising and improving the translations 
for possible publication in the United States. Naoshi also 
regularly submits his poetry to Poems of the World, based 
in Palatine, Ill. His poems “Unfolding Bud” and “A Loaf of 
Poetry” are quite popular. Art Stone is still heavily involved 
with his costume company, Art Stone/The Competitor; his 
dance convention business, Dance Olympus; his dance 
competition business, Danceamerica; and Statler music 
(music for dance studios). Art and his family travel frequently 
around the country to dance conventions and travel to 
China twice a year. He enjoys being busy and is looking 
forward to seeing everyone at the reunion. Gerry Holzman 
recently wrote a book, The Empire State Carousel. This 
past Memorial Day, the New York State Historical Association 
celebrated the fifth anniversary of the carousel’s opening 
at Cooperstown by releasing his book and holding a book 
signing. Gerry’s days are also busy with carving and writing. 
He recently reconnected with his neighbor, Nancy (Sue) 
Whittle Mitchell, and the two reminisce about their 
UAlbany days quite often. Jim Finnen will not be making 
the 57th reunion since he will be serving as the public 
address announcer for Lafayette College football, a night 
game against Yale Oct. 15. Jim has enjoyed this part-time 
job for 47 years. John Centra took a relaxing and enjoyable 
vacation with his family to Bermuda. After many trips all over 
the world, this one was very special to John and his family. 
Rose Mary Zongrove’s daughter, Amy, had her second set 
of twins. Rose and John have been the extra pair of hands 
and are keeping busy. Jim Thompson still enjoys going all 
around the country visiting grandchildren and attending high 
school and college graduations. Jim and Carol will spend 
much of the summer at their travel trailer near Tupper Lake, 
N.Y. John and Dolores White Granito have been traveling. 
Thanksgiving week, they went with their family on a cruise 
on the Rhine from Basel, Switzerland, to Amsterdam, The 
Volunteering on the  
Rise at UAlbany
Volunteering is an important component of the UAlbany student culture. 
It’s a tradition that doesn’t end at graduation, though. From class-reunion 
planning, to mentoring students, to providing career assistance, thousands 
of alumni volunteers play a key role in the University’s day-to-day life.
Brian Fessler ’06, ’07 is chair of GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade), 
which provides services specifically for recent grads, and is a member of 
the Alumni Association board. Fessler says volunteering has enabled him 
to make many new personal and professional connections while helping 
other alums stay connected with one another and their alma mater.  
He’s committed to ensuring that current students have as productive  
an experience at UAlbany as he did.
Michael Borys ’78, ’79, a vice president with Goldman Sachs, enjoys 
sharing his industry knowledge and experiences with students, helping 
them through the transition from college to the workforce. Borys says he 
enjoys keeping up with the progress at the University, as well as meeting 
and mentoring new students. 
Like Borys, Jane Hutchins ’56 is a committed volunteer, although her 
focus is more on reunion planning. She finds that volunteering provides 
her with the rewarding feeling of having assisted someone, or a group, in 
a positive way. 
Brian Straughter, vice president for Turf Hotels, is a member of the 
UAlbany Foundation board. This past year, Straughter and his colleagues 
helped incoming freshmen move into their dorms. Having benefited from 
the participation of volunteer coaches as a child, he says it feels good to be 
on the other side of the equation now – giving back and being part of the 
important work the University does for the community. 
Volunteer opportunities with UAlbany can be local, regional – even 
virtual. To learn more about how you can help strengthen the UAlbany 
community as a volunteer, visit our Web site.
Alumni volunteers enjoy a light moment with Damien after handing out ice cream to 
students during freshmen orientation. Pictured left to right: Patrick Romain ’86;  
Rick Corcione ’72; Gary Farkas ’85, ’00; and Audrey Seidman ’75.
www.albany.edu
45
46
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Netherlands. In April, they went on a 
four-masted sailboat along the French 
and Italian Riviera, Monaco, Corsica 
and Sardinia, ending in Rome after 16 
days. The couple is in good health and 
continues to live on Pine Island, Fla., 
for eight months of the year and in 
Penn Yan, N.Y., the other four months. 
Stephanie Manning still takes a trip 
to Italy every year and also spends 
a couple of days in New York City, 
visiting museums and enjoying theatre 
and dance. Stephanie still volunteers 
two mornings a week at a nursery/
daycare school and is doing “Soothing 
Touch” with Hospice patients in 
their homes. She is training to be a 
eucharistic minister for her church, 
Light of Christ, at a local nursing 
home. Stephanie is still reading like 
mad, and still writing reviews of 
children’s science and history books 
for School Library Journal. Sadly, we 
report Barb Decker’s husband, Walt, 
died in June.
Class co-councilors: Bernice Shoobe, 
bshoobe@pol.net; Joan Bolz Paul, 
fpaul1@nycap.rr.com
55  A note from your class 
councilor: Hannah Banks Best 
recently was awarded the Lifetime 
Achievement Award from the 
New Mexico Commission on the 
Status of Women for her numerous 
accomplishments in both the legal 
and women’s communities. Hannah 
is a founder of the New Mexico 
Black Lawyers Association, the state 
chapter of the National Employment 
Law Association and the state 
Planned Parenthood and is the former 
president of the state chapter of the 
NAACP. Wilma Thornton joined 
a land and sea tour of the eastern 
Mediterranean. Starting in Dubai and 
ending in Italy, the journey included 
stops in the United Arab Emirates, 
Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Naples and 
Capri. Among the highlights were a 
Jeep and camel safari in Egypt and 
a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage 
site of Petra in Jordan. Elizabeth 
Comstock is the 2011 recipient of the 
Class of 1955 Award. Ms. Comstock, a 
magna cum laude graduate in Spanish 
from SUNY Geneseo, is enrolled in 
UAlbany’s master’s program in general 
education studies. During April, John 
Orser took a week’s trip through 
Saxony on the Elbe River. Included 
were tours of the former Eastern Bloc 
cities of Prague, Dresden, Wittenberg, 
Meissen, Magdeburg, Berlin and 
Potsdam.
Class councilor: John Orser,  
jorser@stny.rr.com
56  A note from your class 
councilor: Those of us who attended 
our 55th Class Reunion June 10-
12 had a wonderful time, thanks, 
in part, to support from Loida Vera 
The Alumni Association was a proud sponsor of the  
School of Public Health’s 25th Anniversary Gala, held May 7.
WELCOME 
New Alumni Association Board Members!
Matthew Antalek,  
D.O., ’81 
Senior Partner, Internal  
Med ID Associates, LLC
Assistant Professor and  
Director of Graduate 
Studies, Physician  
Assistant Department, 
D’Youville College
Peter Brusoe ’03, ’04 
Campaign Finance  
Research Analyst,  
Campaign Finance Institute
Philip B.H. Kelly ’96, ’98 
Director of Personnel,  
New York State Office 
for the Aging
Matthew J. LaRoche 
’05, ’07 
Associate, Milbank, 
Tweed, Hadley  
and McCloy
www.albany.edu
47
& Fall Festival 
Homecoming Weekend 
2012
Cruz, assistant director of Alumni 
Programs. Jane Ide Hutchins spoke 
convincingly at the reunion dinner 
of the importance of supporting one 
or two outstanding students who 
are financially needy and preparing 
to be teachers through the Class 
of 1956 Scholarship Fund. Please 
send contributions for the fund to 
The University at Albany Foundation, 
University at Albany, 1400 Washington 
Ave., UAB 226, Albany, NY 12222, 
and make certain that the check is 
earmarked for the Class of 1956 
Scholarship Fund. You can also donate 
online at www.albany.edu/giving.
Class councilor: Arnold Newman, 
fish7hill@aol.com
57  Dr. Emil Polak spent January 
and February in Rome and Naples on 
his last research trip, ending with 871 
libraries.
59  A note from your class 
councilor: On Oct. 11, 2009, the 
Class of 1959 members attending 
their 50th reunion farewell breakfast 
voted to donate $1,700 from our class 
account to the School of Education 
Mentoring Program. The class has 
a Facebook page; after signing in, 
search for Green Gremlins of Albany 
State, Class of 1959. Please post 
news and comments. Bill Spence 
is retired from two years’ teaching 
high school science and a 38-year 
career as a global researcher on major 
earthquakes for the U.S. Geological 
Survey. Bill received his Ph.D. in 
geophysics from Penn State in 1973. 
He and his wife spent the past seven 
years in the beautiful Roaring Fork 
Valley of eastern Colorado. After 
a couple of medical incidents, he 
happily reports the wonders of modern 
medicine. Bill and Sue have traveled 
much of the world and are very 
active physically, traveling with their 
camper and enjoying the available 
music and lecture scene, along with 
tons of voluntarism. Valerie Burns 
McDonald and Joan Anderson 
Haught travel together. Last summer, 
they did a Road Scholar program, 
modeled after the Chautauqua 
experience in Virginia at the Natural 
Bridge Area. Valerie spends winters 
in the West Palm area and Joan is in 
the Daytona area. They both teach 
line dance. Valerie, who also teaches 
clogging and runs the local monthly, 
Chatterbox, also plays bridge and golf. 
This summer, Valerie is back in New 
York with children, grandchildren 
and great-grandchildren. Lynn 
Schmidt still spends summers 
in the Adirondack Mountains and 
winters in The Villages in Florida. 
Bill Hershfield and wife Myra 
have been married 51 years. They 
live in Port Orange, Fla. Rosemary 
(Raymie) Neilson will be recording/
producing another CD in July. The 
previous one, Tenderly, is still available 
at CDBaby.com if anyone’s interested.  
Ron Short and his wife are excited 
about an upcoming trip to see their 
son and family in Nova Scotia. Ron 
expects to do another skydive before 
the year is out. Annie Macintyre 
finds herself heading for the 30th-year 
reunion of her advisor class of 1981. 
Herb Piper has been retired from 
working as an aerospace engineer on 
the Eastern Missile Range for over 10 
years. Presently a docent at the Harry 
P. Leu Museum House at Leu Gardens 
in Orlando, Fla., he conducts tours 
several days each month. Photography 
is his main hobby. A member of the 
Cypress Cove Camera Club, Herb 
has won many awards in the juried 
competitions held twice each year. 
He is now considered one of the top 
artistic nude photographers in the 
State of Florida. Some of his work can 
be seen at www.onemodelplace.com, 
member ID #159478. Pete Engel 
is still working full time at NASA. 
Susan Thompson lives in St. Louis. 
She retired from the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch as an editor and reporter and 
is now a freelance journalist, writing 
for, among others, publications of the 
Catholic Health Association and the 
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. 
Dick (Richard) Herodes received 
his master’s in mathematics in 1961 
Alumni News & Notes
Memories + Classmates = Reunion ’11 
Is your class hosting a reunion Homecoming 
Weekend ’11? Visit our Web site for the latest  
details on reunion plans for the classes of 
1954, 1961, 1971, 1986 and 2001! 
Don’t miss this opportunity to  
connect with old friends and relive 
some great memories.
Robert Paeglow ’76, recipient of the Excellence in Community Service Award, chats with  
Purple & Gold Student Ambassador Chris Onourah at the Excellence Awards Gala in April. 
48
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
from SUNY Albany while teaching math 
at Scotia-Glenville High School. Dick 
married Constance Dorland ’61 in 
1960, joined IBM in 1963 and retired 
in 1993 after many years in executive 
management. Dick retired as European 
director of Quality and Customer 
Satisfaction, having spent over six 
years in Paris on two assignments. 
Since retiring, Dick has spent time 
volunteering and sitting on a number 
of boards; he is also involved in the 
Marist College-sponsored CLS adult 
education program. The Herodes 
spent their 50th wedding celebration 
with their whole family in Costa 
Rica. Miriam Sanderson Russell 
is serving as writing coach and 
part-time faculty for SUNY Empire 
State College’s Center for Distance 
Learning. Miriam’s personal essays 
have appeared in the Albany Times 
Union and have been broadcast on the 
Capital Region’s NPR station, WAMC. 
Search Google to read her latest: 
Zenyatta and Me. Now living near her 
two sons in Troy, N.Y., Miriam enjoys 
the music, art and lectures abundant 
all year in the Capital Region. Harold 
(Jim) Owen recently retired as 
president from Piedmont Community 
College in Roxboro, N.C. The College 
Board of Trustees recognized his 22 
years of service by awarding Jim 
the title of President Emeritus. The 
governor inducted Jim into the Order 
of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest 
recognition given to citizens of  
North Carolina. 
Class notes councilor: Miriam 
Sanderson Russell,  
Miriam38@hotmail.com
60  Lore Howard Scurrah has 
moved to Albany, N.Y., after living in 
Florida for 25 years. John and Nancy 
Lou Ryan Gnan celebrated their 50th 
wedding anniversary in June.
61  John Abrams and wife 
Catherine, who live in Orange Park, 
Fla., have two children and one 
grandchild. John is retired from his 
career as a database administrator. 
John is interested in contacting Barry 
Nadler and Dave Donley. Carol 
Mardigan Carlson is a retired school 
E
ver since he was “old enough to pick up a pair of binoculars and scan the 
lake,” Whitehall, N.Y., native Robert Bartholomew has been interested in 
“Champ,” the Lake Champlain monster. Early next year, with the publication  
of The Untold Story of Champ: An Unauthorized Biography of America’s Loch Ness 
Monster (SUNY Press), which he describes as “both a history and an exposé,”  
Bartholomew will “present the Champlain Monster like people have never  
seen him before.”
Bartholomew himself has never seen Champ, “or ‘Champy,’  depending on where 
you live.” However, “I learned that there is a great deal of misinformation about 
Champ. The book separates fact from speculation. Also, virtually none of the 
19th-century history of Champ has ever been published before. I believe that  
local residents deserve to know the full story.”
Bartholomew promises “many surprises. It is a ‘warts-and-all’ biography that takes 
journalists to task for sloppy reporting over the years and examines the antics 
of modern-day Champ hunters: their egos, obsessions and behind-the-scenes 
squabbles. Also examined is whether the famous Mansi photo is a hoax.”
For The Untold Story of Champ, Bartholomew interviewed several people, including 
a retired SUNY Plattsburgh communications professor, Philip Reines, who began 
researching the monster in the mid-1960s. The book includes a preface by UAlba-
ny journalism adjunct professor Ronald Kermani, “a brilliant writer and a legend 
in Albany for his penetrating investigative reporting for the Times Union. He also 
had a sighting of Champ,” notes Bartholomew, who earned a master’s in sociology 
from UAlbany and recalls the University as “an important part of my life.” 
So, what is Champ? “Local icon, environmental symbol, tourist draw, and per-
haps a new or long-extinct species,” muses Bartholomew, now a history teacher at 
Botany Downs Secondary College in South Auckland, New Zealand. “Ultimately, 
the history of Champ reveals more about us than it does about him.”
Another book by Bartholomew, The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media-
Driven Panics and Hoaxes (co-authored with Benjamin Radford), will be released  
by McFarland Publishing in October.
– By Carol Olechowski 
Robert Bartholomew, M.A.’84
Champ’s Biographer
Jamilah Bartholomew
www.albany.edu
49
Alumni News & Notes
superintendent. She and husband Bob, 
who live in Watervliet, N.Y., recently 
spent a month visiting South Africa. 
They have five children and nine 
grandchildren. Elizabeth Drumm 
Demski and her husband, Edward 
’58, celebrated their 50th wedding 
anniversary recently. They both 
retired 10 years ago, and Ed is a new 
member of the UAlbany Foundation. 
Tony and Gail Kasparian 
D’Onofrio visited Egypt this past 
January. They both look forward to 
seeing their classmates and friends at 
the reunion. Josephine Montarello 
Egan retired after 33 years as both a 
teacher and administrator. She enjoys 
visiting family and grandchildren, 
and thoroughly enjoyed her Alaskan 
cruise. Josephine lives in Phoenix, 
Ariz. Elaine Frankonis lives in 
East Longmeadow, Mass., with 
her daughter, son-in-law, and only 
grandson. Elaine had several poems 
published in the Ballard Street Poetry 
Journal last summer and still blogs at 
www.kalilily.net, which she began a 
decade ago. Mel Horowitz still lives 
in the Capital District. Unfortunately, 
he was diagnosed with incurable but 
treatable blood cancer in 1995. June 
DeVore Hunter and her husband, 
Kenneth, interview veterans for the 
New York State Military Museum 
Archives, do volunteer work, and 
have traveled extensively. Rosemary 
Kverek moved to Boston, Mass., 
after she retired from teaching in 
1985. From 1990 to 1997, she was 
co-owner of a real estate office in 
Charlestown, Mass., where she still 
resides. She has taken two major 
bicycle trips: in 2009 to Spain and in 
2010 to Slovenia, Austria and Italy. 
Gloria Laynor retired after teaching 
business and math for 30 years. 
Gloria is the president of the Laynor 
Foundation Musuem, a nonprofit 
organization awarding scholarships to 
college students in the visual arts. The 
museum was established in honor of 
her late husband, Dr. Harold Laynor, 
a well-known artist who received 
his doctorate from UAlbany in 1966. 
Gloria lives in Phoenix, Ariz. Bradford 
Mundy is retired and continues to 
do professional writing. He taught at 
Montana State University, starting out 
as an assistant professor and working 
his way up to assistant department 
head. He also was the chemistry 
chair at Colby College. Bradford’s 
favorite hobbies are gardening, 
fishing, boating and writing. Janice 
Goodermote married Richard 
Newport and recently celebrated 47 
years of marriage. She taught seventh-
grade social studies at Bethlehem 
Central Schools in Delmar, N.Y., from 
1961-1964. Janice also substituted 
in area schools while her children 
were younger. She retired from full-
time teaching in 1995 and went on 
to become the coordinator of the 
JOBBS (Joint Opportunities between 
Businesses and Berlin Schools) 
Program at Berlin Central. Janice 
enjoys traveling with her husband, 
as well as cooking and entertaining. 
Roger Quackenbush is enjoying 
life in Florida, after retiring in 1995 
from Bethlehem Central High School 
in Delmar, N.Y. Besides teaching 
high school biology, Roger taught a 
course in marine mammals at SUNY 
Albany. Roger has been written up in 
Who’s Who in American Education 
and was presented with the Tandy 
Prize as one of the 10 outstanding 
technology teachers in the United 
States. In retirement, Roger enjoys 
researching his genealogy. Angela 
Theodore is enjoying retirement after 
working as an alcohol and other drug 
counselor for 20 years. She spends 
her time reading, drafting and relishing 
the company of family and friends. 
Sharon Wenzel Miller and husband 
Merle continue to enjoy retirement on 
the “Crystal Coast” of North Carolina. 
Alumni Association Board member Patrick Romain ’86, ’88,  
and assistant dean Maritza Martinez present a computer  
to Monette Fils ’05, right, who is now teaching in Haiti. In May,  
a group of UAlbany students, faculty and staff traveled to the  
devastated nation to teach in area schools and to help plant  
hundreds of trees that will aid the country’s continuing  
recovery from the January 2010 earthquake. The trip was  
sponsored, in part, by the UAlbany Alumni Association.
Touchdown Tailgate
October 15 
11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Back lawn of Science Library
Get into the spirit and enjoy food, fellowship 
and fun with other Great Danes fans under 
the big top. All alumni who preregister  
receive free food, drink vouchers and a 
free gift. Free parking in the 
Dutch Quad lot; $5 in the SE-
FCU lot. Registration required. 
& Fall Festival 
Homecoming Weekend 
2012
50
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
They are active in many volunteer 
activities, such as Master Gardeners 
and the North Carolina Maritime 
Museum. They have enjoyed cruises to 
Alaska and many other exotic places. 
Robert Sands is married and has 
three children and two grandchildren. 
He has been a visiting scholar at 
Harvard and an editor of the Journal of 
Management Educators, and also was 
on the Advisory Council for Business 
at Hudson Valley Community College. 
Last year, Robert won three gold 
medals at the New York State Senior 
Games in Cortland. He currently is in 
Tunis finishing up a Fulbright. Joan 
Heywood Valesente and husband 
Robert are spending time in Germany 
until October while Robert coaches 
in the German football league. They 
currently live in South Carolina. 
Class notes councilor: Mel Horowitz, 
melandsis@yahoo.com
62  Helen Arcuri Stoloff’s son, 
Stephen, threw out the first pitch 
at a Padres game: a strike from 
the pitcher’s mound. He is the CEO 
of Vavi Sports Club in San Diego. 
Rochelle Gruber Karp winters with 
Doris Edelstein Hirschorn, Linda 
Levinson Kessler and Susan 
Byron Wallace at Hunter’s Run in 
Boynton Beach, Fla. Within walking 
distance of one another, they meet 
daily for mah jongg, bridge, golf and 
sharing the good life. Our 50th reunion 
is approaching. If you can help plan, 
coordinate or somehow be a part  
of making it all happen, please  
contact Robert Sweeney at  
lakeerie8@yahoo.com. 
Class notes councilor:  
Sheril Joan McCormack, 
vanillastar202@yahoo.com
67  Kathleen Tanner has 
been appointed executive director 
of Equinox Inc., a large community 
service agency serving the Capital 
District.
69  Charles Lindemann is a full-
time professor of biology at Oakland 
University in Rochester, Mich. 
72  Ijuka Kabumka recently 
gave an inaugural lecture at Nkumba 
University near Entebbe, Uganda. 
73  Charlotte Biblow recently 
was appointed to the board of 
directors of Unisphere, a private 
non-profit corporation formed to 
transform Flushing Meadows Park into 
a model for urban parks nationwide. 
Charlotte, a resident of Bayside, N.Y., 
is also on the boards of the Long 
Island Fund for Women and Girls, 
Sustainable Long Island 
and the Queensborough 
Community College 
Fund. Stephen 
Goldstein was one 
of three men and 13 
women who became 
b’nai mitzvah during 
services Feb. 11-12 at Temple Rodef 
Shalom, Falls Church, Va. Rod Fortran 
recently retired as chief of the Bureau 
of Labor Market Information of the 
New York State Department of Labor in 
Albany. He resides in Voorheesville, N.Y., 
with his wife, Julie-Ann. 
74  Gregor Macmillan has 
joined Hiscock & Barclay’s 
Albany office as of 
counsel. Gregor is the 
former director of the 
Bureau of Health Insurance 
Programs in the Division of 
Legal Affairs for the New 
York State Department  
of Health. 
75  Robert Schwartz is partner 
of Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto in 
the New York office. Scott Waldman 
has received the prestigious Award in 
Excellence in Clinical Pharmacology 
for work that includes discoveries 
that hold promise for diagnosing, 
treating and even preventing colorectal 
cancer. Scott is director of the GI 
malignancies program at the world-
renowned Kimmel Cancer Center 
in Philadelphia and also is director 
of Thomas Jefferson University’s 
postdoctoral training program in 
clinical pharmacology. He also has 
Gregor  
Macmillan
 
Alumni News & Notes
Invest in  
Futures…theirs 
and yours!
Bequests are one of the most common ways to 
make a gift to The University at Albany Founda-
tion. They can be easy to do and they have no 
immediate impact on either your income or your 
assets because a bequest is simply a statement of 
your plan – indeed, your wish – to make a chari-
table gift that extends beyond your lifetime.
If you already have a will, you can simply make a 
codicil – an addition to your will – which directs a 
gift – in dollars or a percentage of your estate – to 
The Foundation for use by the University. And, 
you can specify how you would like your bequest 
to be used.
Please consider a bequest – your legacy to your 
college – to The University at Albany Foundation. 
For more information and sample  
bequest wording, please go to  
www.albany.edu/giving/giftplanning.shtml.
Office of Gift Planning, (518) 437-5090 or (888) 226-5600 toll-free. 
Stephen 
Goldstein
www.albany.edu
51
Alumni News & Notes
received the Award in Excellence from 
the PhRMA Foundation. 
77  Cynthia Vroom is associate 
vice president for 
Recruitment at 
Quinnipiac University. 
President Barack Obama 
nominated Major 
David McNulty, a state 
trooper since 1978, 
to become the next U.S. Marshal for 
the Northern District of New York. 
David currently heads the State Police 
Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the 
department’s plainclothes detective 
branch. Stuart Gelberg was selected 
for inclusion in the Long Island Pulse 
Magazine’s feature article “LI’s 2011 
Top Legal Eagles.”
79  Robert Sampson has been 
elected as a member of the American 
Philosophical Society. The society, the 
oldest learned society in the United 
States, was founded in 1743 by 
Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of 
“promoting useful knowledge.”  
80  Russell Marnell was named 
in Long Island Pulse Magazine as one 
of Long Island’s top “Legal Eagles” in 
the area of Divorce Law in the March 
2011 issue.
81  Former United 
States Congressman 
Michael Arcuri has 
joined Hancock  
Estabrook, LLP, located  
in Syracuse, N.Y.
82  Jerry Pradier recently was 
chosen CEO of EnviroTextiles in 
Glenwood Springs, Colo. 
83  John Nielsen is president 
of PERMA, based in Latham, N.Y. 
Glenn Bieler has been 
appointed vice president 
for Communications 
and Public Affairs at 
The Johns Hopkins 
University. 
84  Alan Schacter has joined 
Allen & Overy LLP’s New York office as 
senior counsel in its U.S. Real Estate 
practice. 
85  Earlier this year, Gerard 
D’Aversa of Ophthalmic Consultants 
of Long Island, along with his daughter 
Jaclyn, a junior at Barnard College of 
Columbia University, traveled to Accra, 
Ghana, to work in the North Western 
Eye Clinic. They provided clinical care 
and conducted screenings for eye 
disease on children and adults and 
implemented education programs. 
Gerard performed sight-restoring 
surgery on a large number of adult 
patients.
87  Stacey Ramis 
Nigro was named partner 
at Certilman Balin Adler 
& Hyman LLP in East 
Meadow, N.Y. Darlene 
Delancey has been 
named deputy network 
director for VA Health Care Upstate 
New York, including VA Medical 
Centers and 29 community-based 
Cynthia 
Vroom
Michael  
Arcuri
John  
Nielsen
86  On May, 19, 2011, two Albany alumni became graduate nurses 
after receiving their RN degrees from SUNY Westchester Community 
College. Valerie Carducci ’07 and Elizabeth McGrath Belitz ’86 
have spent the past two years as classmates after each decided to return 
to college to become registered nurses. Elizabeth decided to become 
a nurse after spending time in the hospital with her college roommate, 
Mary-Jo Tout Rosenblatt ’87, who she says taught her many lessons, 
the last of which was the importance of kindness and compassion in the 
face of illness. “The value 
of our UAlbany education is 
incomparable, but the 
friendships of classmates and 
alumni are priceless,” said 
Belitz, whose son, Jeffrey, 
is already building lasting 
friendships with his roommates 
at UAlbany, where he is a 
sophomore. 
Valerie Carducci ’07, left, and 
Elizabeth McGrath Belitz ’86,  
right, receive their nursing 
degrees together.
Stacey  
Ramis Nigro
Calendar of Events
October
	 14-15 – 	Homecoming/Fall Festival
	 14-15 – 	GOLD Reunion, Albany
	
20 – 	School of Business Alumni Networking 
Event, Hard Rock Café, Times Square
	
26 – 	UAlbany Lecture Series – “How Cancer 
Research Can Save Your Life,” NYC
November
	
11 – 	Capital Region Chapter  
Annual Luncheon
December 
	
3 – 	UAlbany vs. Siena Basketball Game 
and Alumni Holiday Reception
For additional events and details,  
visit www.albany.edu/alumni. 
52
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
outpatient clinics. Susan 
O’Hern is vice president 
for Information Technology 
of Excelsior College in 
Albany, N.Y.
88  Paul Linzer 
has been named partner 
in Labor Relations and 
Criminal Law Practice 
Groups at Certilman Balin.
89  Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés 
won the 2010 Longleaf Press Poetry 
Prize leading to the publication of her 
collection Everyday Chica. A spoken 
word CD, Everyday Chica, Music and 
More, including the poems from the 
book and other selections set to Cuban 
music, was released by Longleaf Audio 
Book (2011). When she needs a break 
from the world of high finance, 
Kimberly Welsh hits the road on her 
bright white motorcycle. Decked out 
in a matching suit and helmet, the 
managing director of Municipal Capital 
Markets at Janney Montgomery Scott 
is pictured recently, ready to set off on 
an adventure. Her itinerary? “Boston 
to West Virginia and back in five days 
– yeeehaw!”
90  Evan Kaplan, an employee 
of the Major League Baseball 
Players Association and Trading 
Cards/Collectibles/New Business 
Development, is taking on the role 
of director, Licensing and Business 
Development, overseeing all of the 
MLBPA’s core licensing categories, 
including trading cards and apparel. 
91  Keith Murphy recently 
was elected to the 
partnership of Baker & 
Hostetler LLP, located 
in New York. Anthony 
Rini was awarded a 
doctorate in higher 
education from the Graduate School 
of Education at the University of 
Pennsylvania in May. Anthony began 
his career in higher education 20 
years ago as a graduate assistant in 
the Office of the Vice President for 
Academic Affairs at UAlbany. Luke 
Bierman, former general counsel 
to the New York State comptroller, 
has been named associate dean 
for experiential education and 
Distinguished Professor of the Practice 
of Law at Northeastern University 
School of Law.
94  Meredith Celentano, Hofstra 
University’s assistant vice president 
for Development and Alumni Affairs, 
has been named one of Long Island 
Business News’ “40 under 40” for 
2011. Meredith has served as a 
member of the board of directors of 
the National Association for Mother’s 
Centers and as a member of the  
 
corporate development 
committee for the 2010 Walk-A-Thon 
for Girl Scouts of Nassau County. 
She is a member of the board of 
the Association of Fundraising 
Professionals of Long Island and 
was recognized with the first-ever 
Generation Award for advancing 
ethical and effective fundraising 
practices across 
generations. Laura 
Mann is program director 
of Business Growth 
Services for The Center 
for Economic Growth in 
Albany, N.Y.
95  Jill Traverso Vogel has been 
appointed associate administrator of 
the Adirondack Community College 
Foundation.
96  The American School 
Counselor Association 
has named Suffolk 
University Professor 
Timothy Poynton 
the 2011 Counselor 
Educator of the Year. 
Timothy, an assistant professor of 
education and human services, directs 
the School Counseling Program in 
the university’s College of Arts and 
Sciences. 
Build new connections 
with the UAlbany  
Alumni Group on
Through this free network of UAlbany alumni, you’ll 
find inside connections to jobs, industry experts and 
business partners. Use it to:
• Leverage the power of the UAlbany alumni  
network to connect with other alums and  
their non-alumni contacts.
• Present yourself and your professional  
capabilities. 
• Search LinkedIn’s job database and connect with 
UAlbany alumni at companies around the world.
• Accelerate your career through referrals  
from UAlbany alumni.
To register, visit www.linkedin.com  
  and search for “UAlbany Alumni.”
Alumni News & Notes
Who Do  
you know?
Find out who’s been doing what,  
where and when through  
the Alumni Photo Gallery.
Visit 
www.flickr.com/photos/ualbanyalumni/
Tim Poynton
Laura Mann
Keith Murphy
Paul Linzer
Susan  
O’Hern
www.albany.edu
53
98  Patti Cellery-McCall is the 
head of Public Services at the Pratt 
Institute Library in Brooklyn.
01  Jonathan Sumber, a veteran 
of key digital sales positions within 
units of Time Inc. and Gannett, is 
joining Hearst Television as director of 
Digital Sales based at the company’s 
New York City headquarters. Phoenix 
Business Journal has named Brett 
Mecum one of their “40-Under-40” 
for 2011. Additionally, Campaigns & 
Elections Magazine has named Brett a 
Rising Star for 2011. 
02  Captain Sean Piccirilli is 
stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 
at the Kandahar Intelligence Fusion 
Center. 
Captain Sean Piccirilli ’02, left, and 
Sergeant Richard McVinney ’06, right, 
are pictured in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  
03  John Smith, 
associate professor 
of history at Texas 
A&M University-
Commerce, was 
awarded the Paul W. 
Barrus Distinguished 
Faculty Award for 
Teaching by the 
university in April. The 
award is given annually to 
an instructor nominated by  
colleagues and students for 
outstanding teaching and mentorship.
04  Dorothy Santos has joined 
Smith, Gambrell & Russell’s Estate 
Planning and Wealth Protection 
Practice in New York City. She 
previously was with the law firm of 
Abrams Fensterman. Mike Neppl, 
director of the Correspondence Unit at 
the Office of the Attorney General in 
Young Alums – Don’t Miss  
the Fourth Annual GOLD Reunion. 
Good friends, free food and free beer.  
It doesn’t get better than that!
Join hundreds of other recent graduates, meet up with old friends  
and see what’s new on campus at the fourth GOLD (Graduates  
of the Last Decade) Reunion, Oct. 14-15.
Check out some of the exciting events:
   • GOLD Friday night get-together at Jillian’s 
   • GOLD Tailgate Party with free beer, food and live music 
   • Great Danes Football vs. Robert Morris University 
   • Great Danes Great Bash at WT’s, with free food and  
drinks for all alumni
   • Nanotech and Weather Center tours, academic presentations and  
student group demonstrations
Check the Web for all the details.
John Smith
Alumni News & Notes
Students brave a cold March night to cheer on the men’s lacrosse team at the annual Spring 
Stomp, sponsored by the Alumni Association. Students were rewarded with  
giveaways, free food and a chance  
to win a flip camera.
& Fall Festival 
Homecoming Weekend 
2012
54
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Alumni News & Notes
Albany, N.Y., has been named to The 
Capitol’s “40 Under 40 Rising Stars in 
Politics” list.
05  Ann McGrath recently passed 
the New York State Bar examination. 
Melissa Martin Crocetta was 
married July 9, 2010, and moved 
from Troy, N.Y., to Amsterdam, N.Y. 
She is a senior education specialist 
with the Professional Development 
Program at UAlbany. Charles Moore 
was featured in a story in the Albany 
diocesan newspaper, The Evangelist.
06  Jeffrey Fiut of Hodgson Russ 
in Buffalo, N.Y., has 
been admitted to the 
New York State Bar. Sgt. 
Richard McVinney 
is currently stationed 
in Afghanistan (See 
photo in Class of 2002 
section) at the Kandahar Intelligence 
Fusion Center, along with Capt. 
Sean Piccirilli ’02. Janelle Bechol 
participated in the eighth season of 
“American Idol,” survived the early 
rounds of auditions and went on to 
Hollywood. Although she was cut well 
before the final rounds, she continues 
to perform and inspire through her 
music. Janelle plans to launch a 
series of concerts for high school and 
middle school students; she hopes it 
will go national. Richard Cupolo’s 
band, the american dollar, has scored 
music to the viral video manhattan 
in motion, www.youtube.com/
watch?v=0SsSAaJ6BII. The american 
dollar went to St. Petersburg and 
Moscow to play an all-expenses-paid 
musical tour. The band’s music can be 
found on facebook, as well as online at 
http://theamericandollar.info/. 
07  Peter Faherty and David 
Rozen recently passed the New York 
State Bar examination. David, admitted 
to the state bar in June, is working 
as a legislative Fellow for New York 
State Senate Deputy Minority Leader 
Neil D. Breslin. Matthew Rozea 
was admitted to the New York State 
Bar last January. He is working as 
an assistant town attorney for the 
Town of Oyster Bay, N.Y. Michael 
Landsman is a project manager/
business systems analyst at 
the Juvenile Diabetes Research 
Foundation in Manhattan. 
08  Raymie Wayne has 
been promoted to 
associate professor 
of social work/Latino 
community practice 
with tenure at Saint 
Joseph College in 
West Hartford, Conn. 
Kenneth Long, a professor of 
history/political science at Saint 
Joseph College in West Hartford, 
Conn., will serve as a Fulbright 
Visiting Professor at Johannes 
Kepler University of Linz, Austria, 
during the Spring 2012 semester. 
Melissa Ann Little graduated 
from the University of Akron Law 
School in Ohio in June. Stephen 
Murphy, a financial representative 
for Northwestern Mutual in New York 
City, will chair a fundraiser, The Hunt, 
on Long Island Sept. 24 to benefit the 
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 
10  Danielle Wohlenberg and a 
team of 10 other AmeriCorps National 
Civilian Community Corps members 
arrived in Little Rock, Ark., in March to 
begin an eight-week service project 
at Ferncliff Camp and Conference 
Center. Danielle’s team worked on 
outdoor maintenance and construction 
projects aimed at making the 1,200-
acre camp more sustainable. Arielle 
Krasner is a volunteer coordinator for 
Community of Hope in Washington, 
D.C., after spending two years in 
AmeriCorps, including one on the Gulf 
Coast building homes and responding 
to hurricanes Gustav and Ike. 
11  Leslie Wood 
is chief research officer 
of Nielsen Catalina 
Solutions in Cincinnati, 
Ohio. Mike Wolf recently graduated 
cum laude from UAlbany’s School of 
Business. He served on the Albany 
Student Dining Advisory Committee 
board, was active in the intramural 
sports community, and was a principal 
actor in many theatre productions. 
After graduating, Mike has decided 
to become a professional poker 
player. He also writes a monthly 
strategy and lifestyle column in Ante 
Up poker magazine and has signed 
with Surebetpoker.net to be a team 
professional.
UAlbany Lecture Series  
to Hit NYC
Events planned highlight UAlbany’s work on 
cancer research, alumni in fashion and a pro-
gram in partnership with Judaic Studies. 
For more details,  
visit our Web site.
Raymie  
Wayne
Jeffrey Fiut
Casey Crandall ’07, right, a member of the Alumni Association’s  
GOLD Committee, welcomes a new graduate to GOLD  
(Graduates of the Last Decade) at the Commencement Picnic.
Leslie Wood
Weddings & Births
Weddings
1995 – Patrick Flandreau and Elizabeth Martin, 
Sept. 4, 2010
2005 – Melissa Crocetta and James Martin,  
July 9, 2010
2006 – Jeannine Sikora and Daniel Robertello,  
May 15, 2010
Births
1985 – Jonathan Green and Hilary Thomas,  
a son, Devon Adam, Jan. 12, 2011
1991 – Michael Gutter and wife Emily, daughters 
Maya and Elana, Dec. 6, 2010
1992 – Jennifer Acerra-Markey and husband John, 
a son, John Thomas Markey V, Nov. 24, 2009 
1997 – Sommer Jones Riolo and husband Mark,  
a son, Joshua Lyndon, June 3, 2011
www.albany.edu
55
At left, Melissa Crocetta and James Martin 
Above, Patrick Flandrea and Elizabeth Martin
Joshua Riolo
Maya and Elana Gutter
Gerry Holzman, B.A.’54, has published 
The Empire State Carousel, a compelling 
story of a 25-year labor of love by nearly 
1,000 gifted artisans from all across New 
York State. This tantalizing tale is told by 
its head carver and is illustrated by con-
temporary and archival photographs. In 
it, the reader will also find some fascinat-
ing behind-the-scenes anecdotes about 
the carousel and its creators. Holzman is 
the carver/historian who originated, de-
signed and directed the carousel project. 
Richard Londraville, B.A.’58, 
Ph.D.’70, has co-authored Corbino: 
From Rubens to Ringling, a biography of 
Jon Corbino. A Sicilian immigrant who 
trained at the Art Students League in 
New York, Corbino (1905-1964) was one 
of the most influential members of the 
Sarasota School of art, a group of painters 
and artists, many of them expatriate New 
Yorkers, who came to the west coast of 
Florida for its natural beauty, the quality 
of its light, and the open-aired freedom 
to explore their art. Londraville also has 
co-authored The Most Beautiful Man in the 
World: Paul Swan, from Wilde to Warhol; 
John Quinn: Selected Irish Writers from His 
Library; and Dear Yeats, Dear Ford, Dear 
Pound: Jeanne Robert Foster and Her Circle 
of Friends. Richard is a professor emeritus 
of literature at the State University of 
New York at Potsdam. 
Richard Morgan, B.S.’69, has published 
his first book, I AM SEA GLASS, A Col-
lection of Poetic Pieces 
combining his poetry 
with watercolors by 
his artist wife, Pat. 
They live on Long 
Beach Island, N.J., 
where the wind and 
the waves fight for 
their attention. Mor-
gan is a member of 
the LBI Writers’ Group. His poetry has 
appeared in the 15th anniversary issue of 
Poetry Ink 2011 and the latest editions of 
Echoes of LBI. Morgan has read his poetry 
at Robin’s Bookstore in Philadelphia, 
Tuckerton Seaport’s “PoeTrio” and the 
LBI Writers’ Open Mic. 
Mary Fremont Schonecker, M.S.’70, 
has released the third book of her Maine 
Shore Chronicles series, Promise Keeper. 
Her previous novels from the series are 
Finding Fiona and Moonglade. She retired as 
associate professor of education at SUNY 
Oneonta and began writing in 2003.
Peter Pollak, M.A.’70, Ph.D.’78, has 
published his debut novel, The Expendable 
Man. Hero Nick Grocchi is thankful for 
the experimental treatment 
he receives in a fictitious 
Albany medical center, but 
recovering from a near-fatal 
case of melanoma is not the 
only obstacle he faces. A po-
litical thriller, The Expendable 
Man is the story of one man’s 
efforts to overcome seemingly 
insurmountable odds. Pollak 
retired from readMedia (formerly Empire 
Information Services), the company he 
founded, and currently splits his time 
among Hamilton County in the Adiron-
dacks, Maryland and Arizona. Details: 
www.expendable-man.com. 
Charles Howlett, Ph.D.’74, is co-author 
of Books, Not Bombs: Teaching Peace Since 
the Dawn of the Republic. This is the first 
comprehensive study of the evolution of 
peace education from the creation of the 
new nation to the beginning of the 21st 
century. Howlett says that while so many 
scholarly studies tell the story of our na-
tion’s past through the lens of war, Books, 
Not Bombs uncovers the many attempts 
made on behalf of world peace. Among 
the intellectuals and activists covered in 
this book are Elihu Burritt, Jane Addams, 
John Dewey, Fannie Fern Andrews, An-
drew Carnegie, Nicholas Murray Butler, 
the student workers at Brookwood Labor 
College, the World Peace Foundation, 
and Elise Boulding. Howlett teaches at 
Molloy College in Rockville Centre, N.Y.
Authors & Editors
56
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Authors & Editors
The latest book by Michelle Edwards, 
B.A.’76, is A Knitter’s Home Companion, 
an illustrated collection of stories, pat-
terns and recipes. 
Edward Moser, B.A.’77, has written A 
Patriot’s A to Z of America: 76 Things Every 
Good American Should Know. The book 
features 76 heroic events and creative 
individuals who surmounted great dif-
ficulties to achieve great things: going to 
the moon, wiring the planet, defeating 
the Nazis, setting up the first large demo-
cratic republic, and largely banishing 
starvation overseas. Moser has served as a 
speechwriter to President George H. W. 
Bush and a writer for Jay Leno’s The To-
night Show. The author of the Politically 
Correct Guide to … series, Moser has co-
written seven other books, and his articles 
have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, 
The Washington Post, USA Triathlon Life 
and the Boston Globe. 
David Van Slyke, M.S.’93, Ph.D.’99, 
and Soonhee Kim, M.P.A.’95, 
Ph.D.’99, have co-edited The Future of 
Public Administration around the World: 
The Minnowbrook Perspective, along 
with Rosemary O’Leary. A once-in-a-
generation event held every 20 years, the 
Minnowbrook conference brings together 
the top scholars in public administration 
and public management to reflect on 
the state of the field and its future. This 
unique volume brings together a group 
of distinguished authors — both seasoned 
and new — for a rare critical examina-
tion of the field of public administration 
yesterday, today and tomorrow. 
Andrew Brezak, B.A.’95, has written a 
novel, The Perfect Answer, which depicts 
the story of a teacher and his fight against 
cancer. At the same time, the book fol-
lows his student, Derrick, and his stint in 
the Marines. The story demonstrates that 
you don’t have to leave the classroom to 
become an American hero, after all.
Kim Taylor-DiLeva, M.L.S.’02, has 
written Once Upon a Sign: Using American 
Sign Language to Engage, Entertain, and 
Teach All Children. This book shows how 
integrating American Sign Language 
into story time and other educational 
programs can benefit and entertain all 
children by improving communication, 
enhancing verbal skills and increasing 
interest in learning. Taylor-DiLeva is  
an educational trainer, teacher, and  
owner of Kim’s Signing Solutions and  
www.babysignlanguageonline.com. She  
also conducts workshops for parents,  
teachers and librarians throughout  
the United States.
Walter Ellison, Ph.D.’01, has pub-
lished Second Atlas of the Breeding Birds 
of Maryland and the District of Columbia. 
Despite their small sizes, Maryland and 
Washington, D.C., possess a vast range 
of environments – from the high peaks of 
the Allegheny Ridges to the low marshes 
of the Chesapeake Bay. Home to 200 
nesting bird species, these habitats are 
under constant threat from urban sprawl, 
changing farming practices and the  
degradation of coastal wetlands. The 
book documents the impact of these  
environmental changes on the region’s 
bird population and discusses the  
recovery of the endangered Bald Eagle 
and the new confirmation of breeding by 
three species – the Common Merganser, 
the Ruddy Duck and the Double-crested 
Cormorant.
www.albany.edu
57
58
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Alumni News & Notes
Deaths
1930s
Dorothy James Olson ’31,  
Dec. 27, 2009
Dorothy Gray Blizzard ’32,  
April 11, 2011
Virginia Abajian Chalison ’34,  
Feb. 6, 2006
Evelyn Anderson Darrow ’35,  
June 24, 2005
Edith Estabrooks Wilson ’35,  
Dec. 8, 2008
Ruth Duffy Logan ’36, Aug. 20, 2010
Evelyn O’Brien Rose ’36, May 1, 2011
Eunice Brooks ’37, Nov. 11, 2009
Edmond F. Erwin ’37, Nov. 17, 2010
Marian Shultes Freihofer ’37,  
June 7, 2011
Marion Lampman Luke ’37,  
Dec. 13, 2010
Bertha Bond Emerson ’38, Dec. 28, 2010
Eleanor Jones Clapp ’39, May 4, 2011
Catharine Molony Fogarty ’39,  
July 26, 2008
Clara Metcalf Houck ’39, Feb. 2, 2011
Mary Margaret Pappa Schwerzmann 
’39, July 27, 2010
1940s
Robert P. Anibal ’40, Dec. 4, 2007
Helen Blake Brophy ’40, Sept. 7, 2004
Marion McKee Cook ’40, Dec. 14, 2010
Philomena Iannotti Ellrod ’40,  
May 10, 2010
Doris Brooks Faulkner ’40,  
March 19, 2005
Janet Ellis Green ’40, Sept. 12, 2010
Violet Ray Hughes ’40, Nov. 3, 2006
Mildred Pangburn Johansson ’40,  
April 4, 2008
Esther Kramer ’40, Jan. 15, 2007
Ellen Best Lamb ’40, Feb. 22, 2006
Irene McCambridge Maguire ’40,  
Oct. 21, 2001
Betty Denmark Morris ’40, April 15, 
2007
Emanuel Prymas ’40, Sept. 9, 2000
Isabelle Ramel ’40, April 23, 2011
Mary Breslin Strevy ’40, June 30, 2007
Helen Lannen Taylor ’40, Oct. 17, 2008
Arlie Baker Terrell ’40, March 20, 2001
Charlotte Mummery Verplank ’40,  
May 31, 2009
Frederic A. Weed II ’40, Nov. 21, 2010
Dorothy Anderson Wemple ’40, Nov. 
18, 2007
Anna Prahler Wilcox ’40, March 4, 2010
Lucy King Goodman ’41, June 24, 2010
John P. McAuliff ’41, Feb. 22, 2011
Hyman Meltz ’41, Feb. 1, 2011
Wilford J. Thomas ’41, Nov. 4, 2010
Lois Hafley Hinds ’43, March 23, 2009
Sonya Kadish Edleson ’45,  
March 24, 2009
Jane Cheney Stevens ’45, Dec. 23, 2010
Adele Kasper Orick ’46, June 25, 2009
Gertrude Kasper Hayford ’47,  
Oct. 4, 2010
Rosalie Pooler Stage ’47, Dec. 31, 2009
Florence MacE Powell ’48, Oct. 25, 
2010
Anna L. Jones Tucker ’48, May 30, 2007
Catherine Grant Baird ’49, Dec. 11, 2010
John J. Brophy, Jr. ’49, Feb. 19, 2011
V
incent O’Leary, who served as the University at Albany’s 15th 
president, passed away April 22, 2011, in Maryland. He was 86.
A California native educated at San Francisco State College and the 
University of Washington, O’Leary was widely respected for his 
expertise in probation and parole. His career included service as as-
sistant director of the National Crime Commission under President 
Lyndon Johnson; director of Research and Policy for the National 
Council on Crime and Delinquency; director of parole supervision 
for the State of Texas; and chief 
probation and parole officer for 
the State of Washington.
O’Leary joined the University 
at Albany’s School of Criminal 
Justice in 1968, later serving as 
dean. He became president of the 
University in 1977 and, for the 
next 13 years, oversaw remark-
able growth in both programs 
and facilities. Ph.D. programs 
restored and created through the 
Nelson A. Rockefeller College of 
Public Affairs and Policy attained 
national recognition. The Univer-
sity’s School of Public Health, which observed its 25th anniversary 
this year, was founded in partnership with David Axelrod, M.D., then 
New York State’s health commissioner. Under O’Leary’s leadership, 
the University launched its first international exchange efforts; ex-
panded student housing; planned for the construction of the athletics 
facility now known as SEFCU Arena and of the Science Library, 
both located on the uptown campus; and significantly increased the 
amount of external research funding its programs attracted.   
O’Leary advanced the University in other ways, as well, particularly 
with regard to improving diversity. Programs set in place to promote 
understanding and ease tensions also attracted more people of color 
to the ranks of faculty, students and staff. 
In The Improbable President, his 2004 memoir, O’Leary recounted his 
years at the helm of the University at Albany.  
After completing his tenure as 
president in 1990, O’Leary returned 
to the School of Criminal Justice 
faculty. He taught there until  
retiring to California with his wife, 
Lihua Yu O’Leary.  
O’Leary is survived by his wife; 
daughters Beth O’Leary and Cathy 
Goldwyn; stepchildren Lena, Eugene 
and Anna Sun; and 10 grandchildren.
The family requests that gifts in Vin-
cent O’Leary’s name be made to the 
University he loved so much. Checks 
payable to The University at Albany 
Foundation may be directed to The Foundation’s office at: Univer-
sity at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., UAB 226, Albany, NY 12222. 
A memorial service for former President O’Leary will be 
held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, in the SEFCU Arena’s 
Hall of Fame Room. 
Vincent O’Leary
www.albany.edu
59
Mary O’Neil Francello ’49, Sept. 29, 2007
Robert L. French ’49, April 3, 2011
Robert L. Tucker ’49, June 12, 2007
1950s
Martha Murphy Williams ’50,  
Oct. 26, 2010
Francis P. Casella ’51, May 22, 2008
Jennie Siy ’51, May 11, 2011
Virginia Norton Wilkins ’51,  
March 2, 2011
Joan Reilley Lane ’53, Dec. 26, 2010
William D. McCormick ’53, May 9, 2011
Joan E. Pearson ’53, Jan. 3, 2011
Walter Rehder ’54, Jan. 20, 2011
Neil N. Whitehurst ’56, July 3, 2010
Robert E. Burns ’57, April 9, 2011
Nancy Louprette Knowlton ’57,  
Jan. 7, 2011
Anthony L. Oliviero ’57, Feb. 15, 2011
Margaret Rochford Bradlee ’58,  
March 21, 2011
Jacob I. Hotchkiss ’58, April 3, 2011
James A. Linderman ’58, Dec. 5, 2010
Lloyd Seymour ’58, Dec. 4, 2009
Barbara Dressler ’59, June 29, 2010
Paula Hyman Gold ’59, April 4, 2011
1960s
Dennis T. Johnson ’60, July 8, 2010
Thomas E. Davis, Jr. ’61, April 15, 2011
Maurice Flasterstein ’61, July 29, 2006
Virgil Provost ’61, April 26, 2011
Evelyn Hoxie Sarno ’61, June 9, 2010
Joseph F. Aliberti ’63, May 18, 2011
Norman P. Kiner ’64, Jan. 14, 2011
Beatrice Moses ’66, Feb. 3, 2011
Richard P. Biondi ’67, Aug. 28, 2008
Christine W. Crouch ’67, June 19, 2000
Fred R. Ficorelli ’67, March 2, 2011
Nicholas F. Morano ’60, April 7, 2011
Barry Weinberg ’67, Jan. 30, 2011
Phyllis Romano Mason ’68,  
May 19, 2011
Peter P. Seidner ’68, Dec. 29, 2009
James R. Winter ’69, Dec. 15, 2010
1970s
Arthur L. Dunning ’70, April 6, 2008
Robert T. Harrison ’71, Nov. 5, 2010
Mary J. Hynes ’71, Feb. 19, 2008
Jane Moynihan Kelley ’71, Jan. 13, 2011
Maureen M. Eadry ’72, June 10, 2011
Michael T. McAllister ’72, Jan. 27, 2011
Stephen L. Morris ’72, May 27, 2009
Charles R. Paul ’72, March 1, 2011
Alan L. Roth ’72, Sept. 13, 2010
Marsha Saperstein Stout ’72,  
Feb. 17, 2006
Joan F. Williams ’72, Oct. 6, 2010
Jill L. Elfenbein ’73, May 6, 2010
Kenneth Hill ’73, Jan. 14, 2011
Robert H. Magley ’73, March 15, 2006
Carole Naumowitz ’70, Oct. 23, 2009
James N. Sutherland ’73, April 30, 2011
Robert E. Hathaway ’74, March 28, 2010
Cynthia L. Randolph ’74, April 17, 2011
Michael P. Wallis ’74, Feb. 11, 2011
John Yuhas ’74, July 1, 2010
James A. Blessing ’75, Jan. 27, 2011
Susanne S. Filkins ’76, March 17, 2005
Janet M. Fish ’76, Dec. 8, 2010
James W. Lenigan ’76, Feb. 14, 2006
Lawrence P. Mannion ’76, Oct. 9, 2010
Peter Neary ’76, May 22, 1011
Lenore Y. Barr ’77, Feb. 21, 2011
Jack A. Singer ’77, Jan. 6, 2011
Cheryl G. Demagistris ’78,  
March 13, 2010
1980s
Walter P. Guenther ’80, Feb. 7, 2011
Carol E. Bartlett ’81, Oct. 28, 2009
Joseph J. Cillis ’81, Dec. 15, 2008
Marilyn T. Riecke ’81, Jan. 31, 2011
Stephanie Glazer Rosenstrauch ’81,  
Jan. 2, 2011
Lance J. Jacobson ’82, Oct. 2, 2009
Karen Conciatori Lewis ’82,  
Sept. 13, 2010
John J. Mikulik ’82, Jan. 4, 2011
Spero Theofilatos ’83, ’87, Oct. 23, 2010
Catherine Pirri Cavallero ’84,  
March 15, 2010
Margaret McFarlane Guccione ’85,  
Oct. 8, 2010
Barbara Gokey Perkins ’85, May 6, 2008
John P. Cassidy ’86, Feb. 28, 2007
Robert V. Oswain ’89, May 15, 2010
1990s
Paul B. Katz ’91, Oct. 25, 2008
Noreen M. Normile ’93, April 28, 2011
2000s
Vincent W. Capuano ’01, Aug. 6, 2010
Brendon G. Kristie ’07, June 13, 2011
Tiffany M. Gallo ’09, June 25, 2011
David G. Mark ’09, March 9, 2011
Faculty
Walter Balk, Associate Professor of Public 
Administration, 1966-1991, July 24, 2008
Ulrich F. Mache, Professor of German 
1967-1994, April 30, 2011
Joseph L. Norton, Professor of Counseling 
Psychology, 1963-1983, May 18, 2011
Vincent O’Leary, President of the University, 
1977-1990; Dean of the School of Criminal 
Justice; Professor of the School of Criminal 
Justice 1968 -1996, April 22, 2011
Anna Z. Radkowski-Lee, Library Personnel 
Officer, 1997-2006, Nov. 1, 2010
UAlbany
Here are the best ways to reach us!
ADDRESS, E-MAIL, PHONE  
OR JOB CHANGES
E-mail: proyce@albany.edu
Mail: Pushpa Royce  
Office of Development Services, UAB 209 
University at Albany
1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
ALUMNI NEWS AND NOTES
E-mail: alumniassociation@albany.edu
Lee Serravillo, Executive Director
Mail: Alumni Association
Alumni House
University at Albany
1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
Ph: (518) 442-3080 
Fax: (518) 442-3207
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
E-mail: colechowski@albany.edu
Mail: Carol Olechowski
Editor, UAlbany Magazine
University Development, UAB 214
University at Albany
1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
Ph: (518) 437-4992 
Fax: (518) 437-4957
60
UAlbany Magazine  •  Fall 2011
Out and About
By Kelsey M. O’Brien
Photos by Mark Schmidt
Spring Commencement 
Roughly 2,000 undergraduate and 875 graduate candi-
dates participated in UAlbany’s Spring 2011 Commence-
ment ceremonies May 14 and 15. The undergraduate 
class continues to reflect the rich diversity of the UAlbany 
student body: 
• Degrees were conferred in 50 majors, including busi-
ness, psychology, communications, accounting, English, 
sociology, political science, history and biology. 
• Students represented 20 states and 54 countries, includ-
ing China, the Republic of Korea, Afghanistan, Belarus, 
Ecuador, Ghana, Haiti, Italy, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, 
Trinidad, Tobago, Togo and Vietnam.  
Above left, no amount of rain could stop undergraduates,  
their families and friends from celebrating!
Above right, student speaker Cameron Waldman spoke about the 
bonds he and his classmates formed at UAlbany, and the strength  
that students and alumni alike should find in them.
John E. Burton Lecture 
Rep. Paul Tonko delivered the 27th annual John E. Burton Lecture at Page Hall on the downtown campus before an 
audience of 125. A highlight of the April 27 event was a ceremony honoring six Distinguished Public Service Awards 
recipients for their service to the citizens of New York.  
Left to right: Pictured after the annual Burton 
Lecture are Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & 
Policy Dean Jeffrey Straussman; award recipient 
Pete Grannis; UAlbany President George Philip; 
Rep. Paul Tonko; School of Criminal Justice Dean 
Alan Lizotte; Deborah Campbell (accepting on 
behalf of Thomas A. Constantine); award recipi-
ent William B. Hedberg; School of Education 
Dean Robert Bangert-Drowns; School of Social 
Welfare Dean Katharine Briar-Lawson; award 
recipient Michael J. Castellana; award recipient 
Kathleen Tanner; School of Public Health Dean 
Philip Nasca; and College of Computing and 
Information Dean Peter Bloniarz.
TD Bank Sponsors Entrepreneurship  
Opportunities 
More than 100 local business leaders from the Capital 
Region attended a networking breakfast sponsored 
by TD Bank. The June 7 program included insights 
from a panel of successful business leaders: Carolyn 
Jones, publisher of The Business Review; Elizabeth Coco, 
founder of MicroKnowledge; Michael Hoffman, presi-
dent of Turf Hotels; Hamdi Ulukaya, president and 
CEO of Argo Farms/Chobani; and School of Business 
Dean Donald Siegel. 
www.albany.edu/giving
October 14-15
Stay connected. Make UAlbany Stronger.
We’re just a month away from the biggest annual gathering at UAlbany! 
Bring your Great Danes spirit, and we’ll do the rest. Take in the vibrant 
autumn colors as you enjoy the weekend’s festivities:
For a detailed list of activities  
and registration, visit our Web site.
• Alumni Art Exhibition
• Wine Tasting Reception
• Class Reunions
• Farmers’ Market
• 5K Race
• GOLD Reunion
• Alumni Breakfast
• Touchdown Tailgate with Food and Entertainment
• Football vs. Robert Morris Colonials
• Sorority Coffee Hours
• Campus Tours
• Legacy Reception
• Great Danes Great Bash at WT’s
• Student Performances
& Fall Festival 
Homecoming Weekend 
2012