ALUMNIFall 2016/Winter 2017 THE
MAGAZINE OF BARUCH COLLEGE
The Man Behind the Largest Gift in
Baruch College History
And Learn How Baruch’s Renamed Marxe School of Public and International Affairs
Is Primed for Greatness
Meet
AUSTIN W. MARXE (’65)
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PRESIDENT AND DJ: President Wallerstein (shown) and Undergraduate Student Government
(USG) President Daniel Dornbaum (’17) are hosting a new monthly talk show on WBMB Baruch
College Radio (wbmbbiz.com). Billed as “covering all things Baruch,” Park Bench Philosophers honors
the College’s namesake, Bernard M. Baruch, who met people on park benches in Central Park and Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., to discuss
matters of the day. The show airs the first Thursday of every month from 3 to 4 pm.
ALUMNI: Tune in to Park Bench Philosophers live or visit wbmbbiz.com/show/park-bench-
philosophers for past shows.
MessageFromThePresident
A high school senior loaded with entrepreneurial promise. A twentysomething with a bachelor’s
in economics who is looking to get ahead. A high-achieving MBA executive who wants to move further up the corporate ladder. And a junior from Chengdu, China, who came to Baruch to complete a BBA in accounting.
Diverse and seemingly limitless, our students—like the readers of this magazine—nonetheless share an affinity for New York and the opportunity it represents, along with an appreciation for the ways in which a Baruch education can help them realize their dreams.
In fact, your and their energy inspired a new tagline for the Zicklin School of Business: New York Smart. World-Class Ready®. Launched in the summer under the direction of Dr. H. Fenwick Huss, Zicklin’s Willem Kooyker Dean, this concept is central not only to the school’s marketing campaign but to the enduring appeal and value of this institution.
One of the student profiles above—the MBA executive—also represents a different type of student for Baruch: seasoned business leaders for our new, three-year Executive Doctorate in Business (EDB). EDB candidates will be working professionals with 8 to 10 years’ experience, a master’s degree, and the drive to advance their research and analytical skills and their knowledge of emerging business trends.
The junior from Chengdu is also part of a relatively new cohort of Baruch students—one that represents the College’s deepening relationship with China. Last year I visited Chengdu’s Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, and earlier this fall, I traveled to the Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) and to Peking University’s business campus. At SISU, I signed an agreement to jointly develop a Confucius Institute at Baruch that will focus on
entrepreneurship. All of these activities support Baruch’s strategic goal to Deepen Engagement with the World Outside the Campus.
Globalization efforts are also key at the College’s Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs (this issue’s cover story). Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Austin Marxe (’65), the school will be able to expand internship, study abroad, and study away opportunities and support faculty in their research and teaching. Dr. David Birdsell—now the Marxe Dean and professor—has begun recruiting students for Fall 2017 to our new Master of International Affairs program.
At the George and Mildred Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Dean Aldemaro Romero Jr. has launched several initiatives—including a video blog and podcast—to engage the world at large in the faculty’s outstanding work and the acclaimed offerings at the Sidney Mishkin Gallery and BPAC (Baruch Performing Arts Center). Begun in Spring 2016, monthly Weissman Global Seminars invite audiences to events focused on world-relevant topics.
This semester the College has also connected with alumni across California and in international venues, including Lima, Bogota, Mexico City, London, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Shanghai—where I had the pleasure of meeting a group of alumni for a traditional Chinese lunch.
I hope to connect with you soon, and thank you for all you do for your alma mater.
Sincerely,MITCHEL B. WALLERSTEINPresident
Please check the alumni website for events near you. If you are interested in getting involved—locally, nationally, or internationally—with your Baruch community, please contact Janet B. Rossbach, director of alumni relations and volunteer engagement, at [email protected].
IN THIS ISSUE
Baruch College Alumni Magazine
Cheryl de Jong–Lambert Director of Communications
EDITOR IN CHIEF: Diane Harrigan
SENIOR EDITOR: Gregory M. Leporati
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Tom Dolle Design
OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS
Janet B. Rossbach, Director of Alumni Relations and Volunteer Engagement
David Shanton, Vice President of College Advancement
Baruch College Alumni Magazine © 2016 by Baruch College The City University of New York
Please address all editorial correspondence to: Baruch College Alumni Magazine Office of Communications, Marketing & Public Affairs One Bernard Baruch Way, Box A-1503 New York, NY 10010-5585 email: [email protected]
Please send all inquiries about the Baruch College Fund, as well as address changes, to:
The Baruch College Fund Office of College Advancement One Bernard Baruch Way, Box A-1603 New York, NY 10010-5585 phone: 646-660-6060 email: [email protected]
For information about alumni programs and activities, please contact:
Baruch College Office of Alumni Relations One Bernard Baruch Way, Box A-1603 New York, NY 10010-5585 phone: 646-660-6097 email: [email protected] online: alumni.baruch.cuny.edu
Baruch College Alumni Magazine online baruch.cuny.edu/bcam
Fall 2016/Winter 2017
ON THE COVER: Like so many Baruch students, Bronx native Austin Marxe (’65) came from a family of modest means. Now after a tremendously successful career, the founder of AWM Investment Company, Inc., is giving back to his alma mater. “Clearly without the credentials and education I got at Baruch I wouldn’t have been able to follow this career path,” he says. His giving philosophy is simple: “Greed puzzles me... If you’ve been successful, why not give back to society?” Photo by Mathieu Asselin.
FALL 2016 / WINTER 2017 1
ALSO INSIDE
16 CLASS NOTES Accountant-turned-entrepreneur Michele Ware (’94, MBA ’15) opens escape room Hoodwinked in Harlem.
2 NEWS & NOTESNew online journal Refract showcases student writing on media, culture, and politics thanks to Weissman School faculty and a gift from the family of Harold Berlfein (’39) (above).
15 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Assemblyman Ronald Kim (MPA ’06)For Flushing’s Ronald Kim, politics is personal. The first Korean American to be elected to the NYS Legislature strives to “empower the next generation of leaders to take ownership of local issues.”
8 SCHOLARSHIPS
How Scholarships Change Donors’ Lives When scholarship recipients and donors meet, it’s more than putting a face to a name. Read about the unexpected impact that endowing a Baruch scholarship has had on four donors, including Baruch College Fund Trustee Debra Bernstein (center right), who calls the experience “more rewarding than I could have imagined.”
6 COVER STORY
Meet Austin W. Marxe (’65): The Man Behind the Largest Gift in Baruch College HistoryAlumni continue to make an extraordinary difference in the College’s ability to transform students’ lives and shape institutions
well beyond our campus and city. Austin W. Marxe (’65), above left with Marxe Dean David Birdsell, is a perfect example. Mr. Marxe’s $30 million gift to Baruch’s School of Public and International Affairs will help it challenge the status quo and provide solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
PLUS Preview how Baruch’s renamed Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs (MSPIA) is preparing to become one of the top-ranked schools in the nation.
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News&Notes
COLLEGE CELEBRATES HIS 80TH AND HIS VALUES:
Lawrence Zicklin (’57)Where would you expect to find Baruch business school namesake Lawrence Zicklin on his 80th birthday? Probably not
where he was, at his alma mater teaching his Current Topics in Business Ethics class. The professor-alumnus expected April 21 to be like any other class day, but his students had another plan entirely.
They had parlayed their insider information into a surprise party for the former board chair-man of investment management firm Neuberger Berman. “A birthday party was nowhere in my consciousness,” Mr. Zicklin admits.
But there was more. The students teamed up to create a gift that reflected the esteem in which they hold Zicklin. The nine-point “Zicklin Business Oath,” which they signed, framed, and presented, signaled to this professor that his students understood and own his core message: “I always tell them: ‘Good ethics is good business in the long run.’”
Today their plaque has a place of honor on the wall of Zicklin’s study, alongside pictures of his wife, children, and grandchildren. “I absolutely cherish it,” he says. “I can’t think of any gift that I’ve received in all these 80 years
that means more to me than the confidence those Baruch students placed in my hands. I take it seriously, as I take them seriously. They are special.”
“‘GREAT WRITING’ ISN’T THE FIRST PHRASE that comes to mind when a person thinks of Baruch College. One is more apt to think of ‘business’ or ‘Wall Street,’” wrote the 2016–17 student editors of Baruch’s newest magazine, Refract. They aim to amend that perception. “Among our peers hide many talented writers. We want to foster that com-munity and show off its writing to the world.”
The new online intellectual journal dedicated to exemplary student nonfic-tion was the idea of English department faculty members Dr. Timothy Aubry and Dr. Lisa Blankenship, who, along with the College’s Center for Teaching and Learning, helped students launch the digital platform. Refract showcases
students’ critical essays on media, culture, and politics—what Dr. Aubry describes as “the kind of pieces students produce in our composition and literature courses but which rarely reach an audience beyond the
individual professor.”Adds Dr. Aldemaro
Romero Jr., dean of Baruch’s Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, “Refract joins the undergraduate
newspaper The Ticker, the online business review Dollars & Sense, and fiction-focused Encounters magazine as platforms that encourage thoughtful expression and hone students’ writing and overall communica-tions skills.”
Refract’s day-to-day operations, as well as three annual best-essay prizes, are made possible by a gift from the daughters of the late Harold Berlfein (’39). “My dad would be thrilled to be part of this new student endeavor,” says daughter Davia Rivka. “He loved to learn and ask questions about anything and everything.”
Lawrence Zicklin (’57), holding up the student-penned “Zicklin Business Oath” plaque, presented to him at his surprise 80th birthday party at the College last April. Of the ethics-based oath, he says, “It gives me hope.”
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THE WRITE STUFF
New Journal Showcases Student Nonfiction
re•fract (v.): To deflect a ray of light through a prism at a certain angle. More specifi-cally—and abstractly—to break open.
The new student magazine Refract is made possible by a gift from the four daughters of 1939 accountancy graduate Harold Berlfein (1918–2014), shown left, in the late 1960s riding out of his office’s elevator. “My dad rode his bike to work every day,” recalls daughter Davia Rivka of her adventure-loving dad.
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“It was part serendipity, part strategy,” explains Dr. Terrence Martell, Saxe Distinguished Professor of Finance
and director of Baruch’s Weissman Center for International Business (WCIB), of the develop-ment of Baruch College’s partnership with the Southwestern University of Economics and Finance (SWUFE) in Chengdu, China.
Serendipitously, 15 years ago WCIB hosted SWUFE student Dan Yang, who eventually became dean of SWUFE’s School of Business Administration and then university vice president for international activities, all the while maintaining a fondness for and con-nection to Baruch.
Strategically, SWUFE proved to be an ideal partner for Baruch from the twin standpoints of curricula and location. SWUFE is a top-tier institution that prepares students primarily for careers in business and the administrative sci-ences, and the city of Chengdu is significant in its own right, considered the political, financial, and educational hub of western China. For SWUFE, Baruch’s business orientation and NYC location were extremely attractive.
The Baruch-SWUFE connection manifested itself modestly at first: Baruch welcomed visiting
scholars and graduated a number of business PhD students who became SWUFE faculty mem-bers. From there, ongoing research collaboration developed into a research consortium, which gave the relationship roots, eventually sprouting two undergraduate joint-degree programs.
In its fifth year, the 2+2 undergraduate degree program (two years in Chengdu, two in NYC) is what WCIB calls a “transfer program on steroids,” referencing the special academic sup-port measures taken to ensure student success. The joint venture has worked out so well that many SWUFE-Baruch 2+2 alumni have gone on to earn a Baruch MS degree in accountancy.
The second joint offering, the 3+1 under-graduate program (three years at SWUFE, one at Baruch), is still new, entering its second year this fall. Unlike the 2+2 transfer program, the 3+1 program enjoys formal, institutionalized status from the Chinese Ministry of Education and is so elite that prospective students must apply directly to it. Baruch expects to welcome the first cohort of 3+1-ers in Fall 2018.
“As today’s twentysomethings move through their career,” notes Dr. Martell, “the business relationship between the U.S. and China will be one of the driving forces behind
the success of this city and this country.”Zicklin School Dean H. Fenwick Huss whole-
heartedly agrees. “Programs like these add to the international experience of our domestic students, and Baruch will continue to develop its partnerships with universities around the world. We look forward to announcing addi-tional ventures soon.”
Business Bells Are RingingDean Huss Helps Celebrate Milestone at NYSEOver the summer—with a ringing of the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange—AACSB (aka the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International) celebrated its centennial.
Among the dignitaries and influencers on the podium was Dr. H. Fenwick Huss, Willem Kooyker Dean of the Zicklin School of Business. “AACSB accreditation is the highest standard of quality in business education in the world,” says Dean Huss. “I was honored to represent Baruch and Zicklin at this momentous event.”
The longest-serving global association dedicated to advancing management education excellence worldwide, AACSB accredits more than 775 of the world’s finest business schools in 52 countries and territories.
Far right: Zicklin’s Dean H. Fenwick Huss at the New York Stock Exchange on June 13. As part of the podium party, he helped AACSB International usher in its second century. Wielding the gavel was Thomas R. Robinson, AACSB president and CEO (center).
Key administrators supporting the College’s global strategic initiatives include (clockwise from top left): Dr. H. Fenwick Huss, Willem Kooyker Dean of the Zicklin School; Dr. Qing Hu, associate dean of strate-gic initiatives and innovation at the Zicklin School; Dr. Terrence Martell, director of the Weissman Center for International Business; and Dr. Myung-Soo Lee, vice provost for global strategies.
Global Connectivity and CooperationBARUCH PARTNERS WITH CHINA’S SWUFE
News&Notes
4 BARUCH COLLEGE ALUMNI MAGAZINE baruch.cuny.edu/bcam
A League of Her Own: Heather MacCulloch
When Heather MacCulloch—the College’s new director of athletics and recreation—arrived at Baruch in
August, she hit the ground running, which is something she’s used to doing.
Ms. MacCulloch is not only an accom-plished administrator with more than 20 years’ higher education experience (most recently as director of athletics at SUNY Maritime College), she’s an accomplished multisport athlete.
She began playing softball in 8th grade. Success on the diamond translated into a four-year scholarship at Concordia College and an eight-year pitching gig with the Class A league N.Y. Raiders. The new director has also competed in field hockey, volleyball, and track. Today she’s a recreational runner, swimmer, and cyclist who enjoys “watching most any sporting event.”
And although MacCulloch’s primary focus will be on current students and student-athletes, she is quick to add, “I look forward to working with the entire College community, especially our alumni athletes.”
ALUMNI: Come out and support the Bearcats. Schedules and directions are available at BaruchAthletics.com.
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FIRST WOMAN TO LEAD BARUCH ATHLETICS IN 48-YEAR PROGRAM HISTORY: Heather MacCulloch is committed to maintaining the integrity and enhancing the competitiveness of Baruch athletics. “For the more than 200 Baruch student-athletes—not to mention the hundreds of gym-going students and fans—the Athletics Department plays a critical role in the overall intercollegiate experience.”
SOMETHING OLD IS SOMETHING NEWHistoric House Enhances D.C. Cohort ExperienceTHE NEWEST BARUCH ADDRESS is not in NYC but rather in D.C. This fall seven lucky gradu-ate students in the Washington Semester program—offered through Baruch’s Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs (MSPIA)—call the elegant, turreted Victorian mansion at 301 Maryland Avenue NE home.
Two blocks from the Capitol, the Baruch House offers each stu-dent a private bedroom and shared kitchens, living rooms, dining room, and laundry room. There’s even a piano. More important than the gracious setting, though, is the opportunity for daily intellectual and social camaraderie, for a true Baruch student support system.
Although MSPIA has covered participants’ housing costs since the program launched in 2012, several past cohorts had to make do with less-than-optimal accommodations (e.g., dormlike condi-tions shared with students from various universities). Of the new living quarters, Dr. David Birdsell, Marxe Dean, says, “First-rate accommodations now match the overall excellence of the program.”
No more than 14 high-achieving students are accepted each year to this exclusive program. Cohorts include students from MSPIA’s master’s programs in public administration and higher education administration but will welcome students from its newest degree program in international affairs soon.
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HIGH FIVE: RANKINGS HIGHLIGHTSBaruch continues to rise in national prominence. Here are five rankings, among dozens, that place the College in the upper echelons of institutions of higher education for fall 2016. We lead with Baruch’s highest-ever placement on the U.S. News & World Report list.
#5 “Top Public Institution” among Regional Universities in the North and
#20 best regional university overall. Other regional honors: #2 for “Least Debt,” #2 for “Most Selective,” #3 for “Freshman Retention,” and #5 for “Campus Ethnic Diversity.” (U.S. News & World Report, 2017)
“Outstanding Institution”: Named one of the country’s best undergradu-
ate colleges for the ninth consecutive year plus #6 for undergraduate program in entrepreneurship and #14 for best location (Princeton Review’s Best 381 Colleges, 2017)
#2 “Top College in the Nation for Business, Management, and
Marketing Majors” with individual top 10 rankings for public administration (#4), entre-preneurial studies (#7), and finance (#8) (College Factual, 2016)
#3 “Best Value College,” ahead of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill and the University of California Berkeley (Value Colleges, 2017—with high marks for R.O.I. and social mobility)
#7 “Best College for a Job on Wall Street,” ahead of MIT, Rutgers, and the
University of Michigan (Business Insider, 2016)
FOR THE LATEST RANKINGS NEWS, VISIT THE COLLEGE’S WEBSITE AT BARUCH.CUNY.EDU!
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Ribbon-Cutting Marks Opening of Modernized Financial Services Center
When the Wasserman Trading Floor/Subotnick Financial Services Center (SFSC) opened in 2000 with the generous support of Stuart Subotnick (’62) and Bert W. (’54) and Sandra K. (’55) Wasserman, it was state of the art. With an LED ticker
and wall boards, it was an exciting instructional facility that integrated hands-on financial services practice into the business curriculum. Its technology was so advanced that two financial firms used the trading floor when they were displaced from their offices following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Sixteen years later, cap-ital funding of $159,000 from Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer enabled much-needed upgrades, most of which focused on display tech-nology. The SFSC now features energy-efficient LCD technologies that display graphical content in flexible, customizable, interactive formats.
Since its inception, the SFSC has been a hub of cross-disciplinary experien-tial learning and a bridge to the world of finance. It features multiple real-time market data feeds and financial analysis tools, dozens of high-end operating workstations, and sophisticated technology capable of simulating a real-life trading environment. Earlier this year, the center was pivotal to the success of Baruch’s six-member Master of Financial Engineering student team, which logged many hours there preparing for the prestigious Rotman International Trading Competition, which they won, besting teams from 52 uni-
versities worldwide. To celebrate the center’s reopening and to
thank Borough President Brewer, the College hosted a ribbon-cutting event on September 15. Both Sandra Wasserman and Stuart Subotnick attended. In a Ticker article, Mr. Subotnick lauded the financial support that
made the enhancements possible. “Seeing the government pay attention to one of the best institutions is positive for both them and the school. It is our job to make sure that the center keeps going and at a very high level.”
The SFSC hosts more than 200 class sessions, offers dozens of free workshops, and serves as an open lab to thousands of Baruch students every semester.
ANNIVERSARY, WITH HONORSOn June 10, William E. Macaulay (’66), philanthropist and CUNY Honors College namesake, found himself on the receiving end of honors. At his 50th Reunion, Baruch College presented the chairman, co-CEO, and co-founder of private equity firm First Reserve—one of the 10 largest private equity firms in the world—with an Alumni Achievement Award. In 2006 the alumnus gave the University-wide honors college a $30 million gift to support its endowment and purchase a permanent home.
Ten years later, the soft-spoken billionaire and Bronx native couldn’t be more delighted by the accomplishments of the Macaulay Honors College (MHC), some of which he shared with his fellow Reunion attendees. Points of pride included the entering class’s composition (half are immigrants or children of immigrants); the accessibility and social mobility MHC fosters (half of the entering class are the first in their family to attend college); and the students’ academic excellence (the entering class has a mean SAT score in the 1400s, and to date, students have won more than 260 scholarships and awards). Baruch’s 2016 valedictorian and salutatorian were both MHC students.
Of his generosity, Macaulay modestly says, “I want to help ensure that young people today can get a high-quality education just as I received five decades ago. It’s that simple.”
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BARUCH SALUTES GOVERNMENT AND ALUMNI PARTNERS: On September 15, Stuart Subotnick (’62) and Sandra K. Wasserman (’55), original benefac-tors of the College’s Wasserman Trading Floor/Subotnick Financial Services Center, gathered with dignitaries to celebrate the center’s modernization. Also on hand was Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, whose office provided the funding. From left, Subotnick, Wasserman, Brewer, and College President Mitchel Wallerstein.
Alumni Access: Did you know that Baruch alumni have access to the SFSC? To learn more and make a reservation, email the Office of Alumni Relations at [email protected].
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William E. Macaulay (’66) at a recent visit to the CUNY Honors College that bears his name.
6 BARUCH COLLEGE ALUMNI MAGAZINE baruch.cuny.edu/bcam
L ike so many Baruch students, Bronx native Austin Marxe came from a family of modest means. His father
struggled professionally and financially, sometimes working two jobs. “We didn’t have a lot of money,” recalls Marxe. “So when it came to going to college, it was sim-ple: Get a scholarship. Get into City College. Or don’t go. Fortunately I got into City.”
At first Marxe attended City College uptown, majoring in chemical engineer-ing, which he quickly realized wasn’t for him. He transferred downtown (to today’s Baruch) with the idea of one day going into business for himself. “Of course, I had no concept of how to go about that,” he says. His only plan: majoring in accoun-tancy. “I thought that if I were an accoun-tant, I would get to see the inner workings of many businesses and maybe then figure
out how to start my own.” During his college years, Marxe worked
various full-time jobs by day and took a full course load at night. Sometimes he would do homework on the subway. “It wasn’t easy,” he states.
His busy schedule didn’t allow much time for extracurricular activities either, and
The Man Behind the Largest Gift in Baruch College History
Meet
AUSTIN W. MARXE (’65)
Support for faculty research and expanded global reach will be one of the key benefits of the Marxe gift. Pictured (from left): The alumnus-benefactor with MSPIA faculty Dr. Anna D’Souza and Dr. Na Yin.
His gift is nothing short of transformational. “Austin Marxe has propelled forward the ambitions of an entire school of
thousands of students for generations to come,” says Dr. David S. Birdsell, longtime dean of the newly named Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs (MSPIA). “Through
those students and graduates, Mr. Marxe will have changed the way that we steward the fortunes of government agencies, of
nonprofit organizations, of hospitals. It’s awe-inspiring.”
Meet the very private man who has ventured forth to endow such an ambitious undertaking for the public benefit. Says Marxe,
“The objective is to put the money where it does some special good, where it can make a positive difference in the world.”
often he found himself just getting by aca-demically. “To start with, I was never a great student—not because I couldn’t learn, but because I wasn’t interested. If a class inter-ested me, then I’d get an A. I was immature and rebellious,” he concludes. But there’s no getting around Marxe’s talent for numbers, his ambition, and his stick-to-itiveness.
Finding His NicheWhen he graduated in 1965, Marxe began working for small accounting firms. A couple of years later, he was hired by the prestigious firm of Anchin, Block & Anchin, where he started in accountancy and transitioned to management services, on track for a partnership. “Very smart people, very quality firm. I learned a lot there,” he says.
Always interested in the market, Marxe began investing as a hobby. “Totally unsuc-cessfully at first,” he recalls. “I managed to consistently lose money.” Undeterred, he ditched his broker, began teaching himself about the market, and started to get good at picking stocks. “I realized that investing is
MAVERICK INVESTOR: Long before Steve Jobs made wearing jeans to the boardroom cool, Austin Marxe (’65) embraced a business-casual dress code. “I did it before any of them,” says the founder, president, and managing director of AWM Investment Company, Inc., seen here being interviewed.
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what I love,” says Marxe, who in his thirties took on the challenge of a new career.
Success as a broker came quickly. With the backing of his new employer, Prudential Bache, Marxe founded Special Situations Funds in 1985. As this company grew, in 1991 he brought in a partner and bought out Prudential’s interest, naming the new endeavor AWM Investment Company, Inc. Looking back, Marxe concedes that he’s blessed with the right temperament for invest-ing: a high tolerance for risk and a low level of anxiety (“I never worry about business”).
His dispassionate approach keeps life balanced for this husband of 53 years, father of two, and grandfather of four. “I can have a terrible day in the market, come home, have dinner, and not think about it until the next day.” This outlook won’t guarantee success. “But,” he says, “if you’re right 60 percent of the time, you’re doing very well.”
20/20 HindsightThe maverick businessman doesn’t discount Baruch’s impact, saying, “Clearly with-out the credentials and education I got at
BIG FISHIf there is anything—apart from his family and traveling the world—that gets Marxe up in the morning, it’s fish-ing. “I feel better when I hear the tuna are biting,” he admits. The alumnus first fished on his fifth birthday from a rowboat in Rockaway with a home-made pole. “We ended up catching 47 porgies that day. I was hooked,” he says of that outing more than 70 years ago. Today Marxe generally operates from his boat offshore, sport-fishing tuna, swordfish, and marlin. Marxe isn’t sure that fishing inspires more wisdom than any other endeavor.
“Anything you do offers life lessons, if you’re willing to listen to
them and learn from them,” he says.
Baruch I wouldn’t have been able to follow this career path. And although I didn’t recognize it at the time, the accounting and economics background was invaluable. Bottom line: I got an excellent education.” Marxe also fondly remembers professors who managed to make challenging, precise material fun, like Irving Chaykin (’32). “I was a reluctant student, but he got me to do what I should do,” says Marxe of the beloved accountancy professor.
Inspiration and MotivationAlso formative for Marxe was the relation-ship he shared with his maternal grandfather, a progressive Russian émigré who instilled in his grandson that “you have to have a moral conscience to be a good person.” The two spent Sundays together taking car trips from the Bronx to Westchester (“he was the only one in the family who had a car; my parents couldn’t afford one”). Topics of conversation included the meaning of life and the impor-tance of doing the right thing, serious stuff for an 11-year-old. “He was a major influence on me,” says Baruch’s benefactor.
WATCH FOR THESE DEVELOPMENTS AT MSPIA:
ENHANCED STUDENT SUPPORT: Now twice the number of MSPIA students will receive scholarships, graduate assis-tantships, and support for research, internships, and travel.
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT: Additional faculty chairs and resources will support the School’s ability to attract, retain, and empower one of the best and most active groups of scholars and practitioners in the world, with special attention paid to building faculty for MSPIA’s new Master of International Affairs program.
CAPACITY TO BUILD: The Marxe gift improves MSPIA’s ability to form effective partnerships and seek addi-tional support from foundations, governments, and other philanthropists.
INCREASED VISIBILITY: The Marxe endowment—the sixth largest to a school of public and international affairs since the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard—makes a powerful statement about MSPIA’s accomplishments, reach, and potential.
Be inspired and learn more about this historic gift at baruch.cuny.edu/MSPIA-gift.html.
THE NAME GAME: The Real Power of the Marxe Gift
With an eye toward giving back, in 2007 Marxe made a contribution to the
Baruch College Fund for Bloomberg terminals. In 2011 he supported schol-arships, and in 2015 he endowed the Austin Marxe Scholarship as part of the College’s Scholarship Campaign (see pages 8–9). His motivation is simple: “I’m trying to give back to a society that’s given me a lot,” he says.
Private Gift in the Public GoodMarxe describes himself as “waiting in the background for an opportunity to do something that would have a meaningful impact. Naming the School of Public and International Affairs was a great opportunity.”
So what impact does Marxe hope his gift will have? He’d like to see MSPIA become one of the top nationally ranked schools of this type, educating leagues of committed professionals who will make a positive dif-ference in the world. “We’ve accomplished something very substantial if that happens,” he says. “I can only finance it. Baruch can make it happen.” —DIANE HARRIGANPh
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It’s an exciting time to be a student at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. Says Nara Santhil (MPA ’18), “Mr. Marxe’s generous gift demonstrates Baruch’s commitment to educating students to go out in the world and make a difference.” Daniel Muiz (MPA ’18) agrees, “This gift benefits both the university and the students. More doors will be opened because of it.”
8 BARUCH COLLEGE ALUMNI MAGAZINE baruch.cuny.edu/bcam
An Unexpected LegacyWhen New York attorney Joan Lieberman was a girl, she heard stories from her mother, Ruth Rubin Wiesen, about her career as an administrative assistant to famous financier Bernard Baruch in the 1940s and 1950s. It was a life-changing job for Ruth, who was by her boss’s side not only in the office but also at Congressional hearings, White House meetings with President Franklin and
Eleanor Roosevelt, and the 1953 renaming of City College’s business school as the Bernard M. Baruch School of Business and Public Administration.
So when Ruth passed away in 2010, Ms. Lieberman decided to donate the documents and photos her mother had saved from her time with the legend-ary Mr. Baruch to the institution that bears his name. Meeting with Baruch College staff led to an epiphany. “I was so impressed with the energy at the school and with the great mix of students of many races and nationalities,” she recalls, “that I knew I wanted to donate more than the memora-bilia. Suddenly, funding a scholar-ship just made sense.”
Lieberman knew her Ruth Rubin Wiesen Scholarship would benefit deserving students, but what she didn’t anticipate was the bond that her gift would create. “My husband and I have met every student that our scholarship goes to,” she says. “We’ve been amazed at their determination.”
One of those students is finance major Jeffrey Romano (’16), whose résumé is already impressive. The Brooklyn native has completed three internships; cofounded start-up Intern Action, a sort of Yelp for students to review internships; and secured a job at Merrill-Lynch.
Of her gift to Baruch, Lieberman says, “Fate pushed me in this direction, and it has been a great confluence. My mother would approve 100 percent.”
Mutual MentorsGrowing up in the Bronx is a bond between business consultant and former Pathmark CEO Kenneth Peskin (’62) and accountancy major Yancy Victoriano (’16), a Kenneth Peskin Scholarship recipient. So is the importance of having (and being) a mentor.
While at Baruch, where he studied accountancy and became president of the Intrafraternity Activities Council, Mr. Peskin benefited from the mentorship of two professors. “Irving Greger, the faculty
HOW SCHOLARSHIPS
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Scholarships are a door to opportunity—and one that
opens in both directions. When scholarship recipients and donors
meet, it’s more than putting a face to a name; there’s a personal connection that touches giver and
receiver, enriching both. Here are a few of their stories.
Bernard Baruch’s legacy continues. The daughter of his administrative assistant Joan Lieberman (shown here with the College’s namesake in 1946) recently funded a scholarship in her mom’s memory. “My mother would approve 100 percent,” says the donor. Co
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advisor to Lamport Leaders Society, helped me develop real leadership skills,” he says. “And History Professor Fred Israel encouraged me to get my MBA, even when I had doubts about my abilities.” Now Peskin is passing their legacy on.
“When I decided to go to Baruch, it was looking really bleak, because my family couldn’t make it financially,” says Mr. Victoriano. “Mr. Peskin’s scholarship came through in the ninth inning.” Peskin has come through in other ways as well, mentoring the student on various facets of accountancy and helping him network.
Of his scholarship recipients, Peskin says, “Baruch students work extremely hard. But we find time to sit and have coffee, talk about their families and their studies. For me, this personal connection is the real pleasure of giving.”
Family ValuesPhilanthropy may be genetic for Debra Bernstein, marketing pro, Baruch College Fund Trustee, and scholarship donor. Even
a quick look around the Baruch campus offers evidence of the incredible generos-ity of her parents, William (’47) and Anita Newman: A world-class library and the Vertical Campus building bear their names.
“My parents instilled in me the impor-tance of giving back. For me that’s about meeting students and making a connec-tion,” says Ms. Bernstein. “Their stories are beautiful and heartwarming, and I’m grateful that they share them with me. Being able to go to college has had such an impact on their families.”
The students feel this connection as strongly as she does. Stelios (Steven) Giannoulis (’18), who has received a Bernstein Scholarship for the past two years, says, “She’s motivated all of us with her own stories and inspired us to work hard, be kind, and enjoy life.” The human resources management/music double major credits Bernstein with his becoming more involved in student life. “I joined the Baruch College Choir and the A Cappella group, which I’m helping to grow. It means a lot to me to know Debbie believes in me.”
For Bernstein, that belief is the essence of what a scholarship can be. “Having these relationships with students is more rewarding than I could have imagined. It’s like family.”
Promises KeptWhen attorney Sol Freedman (’49) came to Baruch at the end of World War II, money was tight. So to earn much-needed income, he worked for an accountant while completing his degree. Says Mr. Freedman, “When I graduated, I made a promise to myself to help future genera-tions earn their Baruch degree.”
The alumnus was as good as his word and in 1999 endowed the Solomon J. Freedman Scholarship for accounting stu-dents. He knew he’d found a kindred spirit when he met his first scholarship recipient, Martine Israel (’04), who had emigrated from Haiti in 1998. “I was working for Jewish organizations, and Martine was a
bookkeeper for her church,” Freedman says. “We had the same attitude about helping other people.”
“We bonded,” agrees Ms. Israel, who describes her benefactor as “humble, open, and wise” and “more interested in learn-ing about us scholarship recipients than boasting about his accomplish-ments.”
The two remain in touch. After Israel obtained an MS in international relations, she was recruited by the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees. Her Baruch course work helps her daily in her cur-rent position as a regional supply officer based in Dakar, Senegal, providing delivery logistics support to refugees in nine countries.
For Freedman, her important work is what it’s all about. “When a student says, ‘I am doing something with what I’ve learned, and I’m passing it on,’ that’s the greatest joy. Through Martine, my gift will continue to impact so many people around the world. This scholarship created a chain reaction for good I never could have imagined.”
It’s also created a friendship. “In my office in Senegal,” says Israel, “I have a special wall with pictures of family and my closest friends. A recent photo of Mr. Freedman is on that wall.” —NANETTE MAXIM
Be in the Life-Changing Business: To support the Baruch College Scholarship Fund, contact Jessica Leitner at 646-660-6074 or [email protected]. You can learn more about the campaign at baruch.cuny.edu/scholarshipcampaign.
With his scholarship, Kenneth Peskin (’62) hopes to pay forward the mentoring he received from Baruchians Dr. Irving Greger (left) and Dr. Fred Israel (right).
Debra Bernstein with her scholarship students (from left) Danny Acosta Jr. and Stelios Giannoulis (’18). “It’s like family,” she says of their strong connection.
Sol Freedman (’49): His scholarship “created a chain reaction for good I never could have imagined.”
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MORE ONLINE For more Class Notes, please read our online magazine at baruch.cuny.edu/bcam.
40s Neal Florman (’48) (Lexicon
photo left) celebrated his 90th birthday in August. Now a Colorado resident, Florman looks back fondly
on his time at Baruch, especially his required public-speaking courses, which he cites as having had a major impact on his career and personal life.
50s In June friends and classmates Stuart Gray (’56), Irving
Lichtman (’56), and Otto Salamon (’56) celebrated their first visit to Baruch’s Newman Vertical Campus (NVC). Lichtman is a retired Billboard magazine deputy editor. Salamon is the author of Dodging Death: A Family on the Run (CreateSpace, 2013), a personal memoir
REUNION 2016: HONORING AN EAGLE
For Sidney Eagle (’56), Reunion Luncheon 2016 turned into a family reunion, of sorts. Eagle, the founder of law firm Eagle & Fein, was joined by his granddaughter, Stephanie Eagle (’16) (above), who had graduated from Baruch just two weeks earlier.
Mr. Eagle was proud to receive an Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award. It wasn’t the first time that his dedication to family and Baruch overlapped: In 1992 he created and endowed the Herman and Mollie Eagle Scholarship, named in honor of his parents. —GREGORY M. LEPORATI
Editor’s note: As we went to press, we learned the sad news of Mr. Eagle’s passing. Baruch College endeavors to continue his legacy and will very much miss his warm presence and unfailing support.
about his family’s harrowing experiences during the Holocaust. Joel G. Samit (’59) retired in April after 57 years as a CPA. Previously a senior managing partner with Jacques M. Levy & Co. in NYC, he lives in New Jersey with his wife, Rise.
60s Lawrence Balter (’60) co-edited the third edition of Child
Psychology: A Handbook of Contemporary Issues (Psychology Press, 2016), which showcases cutting-edge research in the
field of developmental sci-ence. Last summer Bill
Aiken (’63, MBA ’70) (left) performed in The Band Room, a play about the power of
music education, part of Lehman College’s Urban
Theatre Initiative. Steven B. Morris (’65) retired from his CPA practice in June 2016 and now divides his time between his home in Georgia and a retirement community in Sun City Center, Fla. UniQure, a leader in gene therapy treat-ment and research, named Jack L. Kaye (’67) to its board of directors. Chemical engineer J. Burton Anderson (’68) has written Marijuana: The Wonder Weed, Everything You Need to Know and Why It Must Be Legalized (Lions Pride Publishing, 2016), a scientific argu-ment in favor of legalizing marijuana, especially for medical use. Jaime M. Weiss (’69) (above) celebrated his 50th year in commercial real estate. He leads Weiss Realty, which has leased or sold property with a total aggregate value exceeding $1 billion.
70s As part of a Class Act gift by Gary Tannenbaum (’70) and
wife Helen Mills (below), Room 11-140 in the NVC was officially named the Miriam and Charles Tannenbaum Classroom, in honor of the alumnus’s parents. Howard S. Wolkowitz (’74) joined the MetLife Premier Client Group of Florida as a financial services representative. Keith J. Anzel (’76), a managing director of corporate tax and chief tax officer for Citigroup’s Institutional Client Group, has been named to the Baruch College Fund’s Board of Trustees. Jesse Benson (’77) hopes that former Baruch classmates with whom he has lost contact will reach out to him at [email protected]. Karen Gens (MBA ’77) has authored her first children’s book, Marcello Wonders, Gilly Discovers (Mascot, 2015), the story of two anthropomorphized piglets. Gens’s career
baruch.cuny.edu/bcam FALL 2016/WINTER 2017 11
WE WELCOME YOUR SUBMISSIONS! Contact: Office of Alumni Relations, Baruch College/CUNY, One Bernard Baruch Way, Box A-1603, New York, NY 10010-5585. Or email [email protected].
has focused on employee benefits and healthcare programs in large insurance companies. Psychoanalyst and family therapist Lisa Ruimy Holzkenner (’78) (right) expresses her artistic side through photography and writ-ing, with a poem recently published in the Chelsea Now newspaper and her photography appearing in exhibi-tions and various publications.
80s Integrity Applications, Inc., appointed Leslie S. Seff
(MBA ’80) to its board of directors. Seff is founder and COO of AIMPaaS LLC, a technology firm, and president of the consulting firm Matthew B. Management, Inc. Jose Manuel Almira (’81) was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Florida Custom Brokers & Forwarders Association. Fairfield County Bank appointed George Bossis (MBA ’82) executive VP of retail lending. Richard M. Levychin (’82) was honored for contributions to his community at the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health Sports Ball. He is a managing partner with KBL, LLP. Joseph C. Cappelleri (’84, MS ’86) (right) celebrated his 20th anniversary with Pfizer Inc. in June. Dr. Cappelleri, a senior director of biostatistics, is—with more than 350 publications—the most published author in Pfizer’s history. Gerard Rudolph Volel (’84) was named managing director at StarBridge Commercial LLC, a lead-ing NYC commercial real estate invest-ment and advisory firm. Avison Young Commercial Real Estate named George S. Gnad (’85) principal, leading Avison Young’s debt and equity efforts across the New Jersey tri-state region. Robert T. MacGowan (’85), a PASS specialist for the Social Security Administration,
was named president of the Baruch College Alumni Association. Jeffrey H. Konis (MBA ’87) authored The Conversations We Never Had (Outskirts Press, 2016), an exploration of his family’s history through a series of imagined conversations with his late grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. In June Digital Journal featured an interview with Steven Bitterman (MBA ’88), a tax manager known to many in his neighbor-hood as the “Karaoke King of Queens.”
90s In June Brooklyn Daily featured Sybil DeVeaux (’90) as one of
its “Women of Distinction.” DeVeaux is a business management professor at Empire State College. Witfield A. Felix (’90) was appointed director of academic support and disability services at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Kai-Hsiang Lin (MBA ’91) became president of finance at Naked Brand Group, which creates sleep-wear and lounge apparel. Albany Medical Center named Steven Roth (MBA ’92) its senior VP for information services. The 88th precinct in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, promoted Scott M. Henderson (’93) to full inspector. Henderson has served in the NYPD since 1995. Joseph M. Sanches (MBA ’93) became president of D. Stephenson Construction, Inc., the largest African American–owned general contracting firm in Florida. Rabbi Gideon I. Shloush (MBA ’96) was named the 63rd president of the New York Board
of Rabbis. John V. Amodeo (MSEd ’97) published his sixth book, The Sharecropper’s Son (Archway, 2016), the fictional story of a black WWI draftee from the Mississippi
Delta. Amodeo is an adjunct professor of political science and American history Ea
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BEST IN THE WEST: Alumnus Named One of California’s Top Lawyers
Daniel Clivner (’85) was named by the Daily Journal, California’s largest legal news provider, to
its 2016 list of “Top 100 Lawyers in California.” Mr. Clivner, Baruch College Fund Vice President and one of the benefactors of the College’s new Clivner=Field Plaza, is a partner in the law firm Sidley Austin LLP. Since joining Sidley Austin in 2015, the alumnus has advised clients on $15 billion in trans-actions while overseeing huge growth as co-managing partner of the firm’s L.A. operations and co-head of its pri-vate equity practice. The annual list recognizes lawyers of outstand-ing achievement in the state’s legal community.
Congratulations, Dan!
at Mercy College. Ericka M. Pittman (’98) was profiled in The Source maga-zine for her role as VP of Blue Flame, a subsidiary of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s Sean Combs Enterprises. SunEdison, a global renewable energy development company, named Ilan Daskal (EMS ’99) its CFO designee and executive VP. Carlos dos Santos (EMBA ’99) currently serves as Mozambique’s ambassador to the U.S. David I. Steingard (’99) (right) partnered with Academy Award–nominated actor Hugh Jackman to open Laughing Man Coffee in
12 BARUCH COLLEGE ALUMNI MAGAZINE baruch.cuny.edu/bcam
ClassNotes
NYC. Profits from the coffee shop go to the Laughing Man Foundation, which supports education, community develop-ment, and social entrepreneurs worldwide. Jack Stoddard (MBA ’99), a general partner at Denville Web Associates LLC, has been conducting research on Cuba’s IT readiness and assisting Cuban software developers.
00s Baruch College Fund Trustee Christine S.
Li-Auyeung (’00, ’02, MS ’09) (right) was awarded the Oxford EMBA Women’s Scholarship, allowing her to study in England as part of the 21-month Oxford Executive MBA program. Yevgeniya A. Turanova (MBA ’00) became chief investment strategist for The Daily Paycheck, a retirement plan newsletter by StreetAuthority. Alina Moran (MPA ’01) was named CEO at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan in August. She has served in the health system for 17 years. The Robert Toigo Foundation named Nogiomwan Udevbulu (’01) to its “40 Under 40” list of financial professionals. She is a director in global portfolio trading at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Vanessa Verduga (’01) wrote the play Implications of Cohabitation, an exploration of an Ecuadorian family’s broken family ties and the generation gap, which ran in August at the Clurman Theatre in NYC. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Raisa E. Cohen (’02) an immigration judge within the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The New York Daily News featured John B. Gomes (MBA ’02), a top broker for Douglas Elliman, in a May article about the rise of NYC’s latest skyscrapers. Gay City News honored Wendy Stark (MBA ’02) with its Impact Award, recogniz-ing her dedication to professionalizing LGBTQ healthcare infrastructure. Stark is executive director of Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in NYC. NY Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed
DREAM BIG, DON’T SETTLE—A&J ’13
Jasmine Chung (’13)
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Mark Gibbel, former Baruch VP of College Advancement, thanking plaza-namesake alumni Lawrence N. Field (’52) and Daniel Clivner (’85)
THANKS LARRY=DAN ❤ MARK GIBBEL
Yasmine D. Anavi (’80)
LET’S RESPECT AND CELEBRATE OUR DIFFERENCES
Francis J. Greenburger (’74)
I ❤ BARUCH.
Konstantinos Alafoyiannis (’01)
TRY TILL SUCCESS STRIKES
Ramil L. Cabela RN (MBA ’01)
BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT.
Irene N. Lau (’09)
GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE ❤ INL
Baruch Provost David Christy
STOP READING THE PAVERS! GO STUDY!
STORIES & HISTORIES
PERSONALIZING THE PLAZABaruch’s dedicated outdoor space—the Clivner=Field Plaza on 25th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues—is advancing toward permanent construc-tion, tentatively scheduled for completion in 2018. As part of the beautification process, alumni and friends of the College are able to purchase paver stones personalized with a unique message. Here are some of our favorites so far:
For more information about purchasing a paver of your own, visit baruch.cuny.edu/pavers.
baruch.cuny.edu/bcam FALL 2016/WINTER 2017 13
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Fernando A. Ferrer (MPA ’04) (left) to the CUNY Board of Trustees. Ferrer is cur-rently vice chairman of the MTA and previ-ously served as Bronx
borough president from 1987 to 2001. Adriane C. Hirsch (MS ’04) was named the Greenwich Public School District’s PreK–12 English Language Learning coordinator. Gennadiy (Gene) Barskiy (’05) was named executive VP of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society for Information Management, which con-nects senior-level IT leaders with peers in their communities. Jim M. O’Shea (MS ’07) was named chief ethics and compli-ance officer of Skanska USA, one of the
WELCOME TO THE BARUCH FAMILY: BABY BEARCATSPeter Salzman (MFE ’10) and his wife, Evelyn, welcomed daughter Hannah on January 8, 2015. Says the proud father, “Every milestone is special for us because Hannah was a six-month micro-preemie. So having a healthy, smart, strong baby is still a miracle.” The alumnus recently joined State Street as a quantitative analyst at the AVP level.
Ilya Bratman (EMPA ’13) and his wife, Sonya, welcomed daughter Miriam on May 23, 2016. Bratman is the executive director of Hillel at Baruch. Hillel is the largest Jewish campus orga-nization in the world.
Please share news of your Bearcat kids and
grandkids with BCAM.
For many, the medical profession can seem complicated and even a bit scary, but Dr. Brian Sheets hopes to change that.
“All through my training, including pre-med at Baruch, I was always fascinated by how these Greek and Latin medical terms seem so spooky and intimidating,” explains Dr. Sheets, who specializes in obstetrics/gynecology. “But often these terms mean exactly what we think they mean—and I love to peel back that mystery.”
That’s precisely what Sheets does on his TV show, Give It To Me Straight, Doc, which airs on Cablevision Channel 88 in Connecticut. In each episode, Sheets chats with medical experts to elucidate such complex topics as genetics, heart health, and
endocrinology. And he makes sure to mix in some humor, like hilari-ous man-on-the-street segments in which he asks Times Square tourists about medical topics.
Originally from Detroit, Sheets arrived in Manhattan in his early
twenties to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. In between modeling gigs, he worked odd jobs to make ends meet and eventually enrolled at Baruch, seeking a solid undergradu-ate education.
“If you had tapped me on the shoulder back then and told me I’d one day become a gyne-cologist,” Sheets jokes, “I would have laughed in your face.”
But his undergraduate experience proved life alter-ing—in particular, the influ-ence of Baruch’s Dr. John H. Wahlert, professor and chair of the Department of Natural Sciences, among other mentors. Sheets majored in biology, leading him later to medical school, a residency at Brooklyn’s Methodist Hospital, and a successful private practice, launched in 1997.
Now, with Give It To Me Straight, Doc, Sheets has come full circle, combining his medical career with his longtime passion for the entertainment industry. “I’m just blessed to be able to do what I love,” he says. “And I look back to my mentors at Baruch as having really set me on this path.” —GREGORY M. LEPORATI
Above: Peter Salzman (MFE ’10) and Hannah. Right, Miriam Bratman.
THE DOCTOR IS IN:
Check It Out: Episodes and clips of Dr. Sheets’s show can also be viewed on the YouTube channel Give It To Me Straight, Doc.
Dr. Brian Sheets (’89) Offers Medical Insight on TV
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IN MEMORIAM
Victor Palumbo ’30
*Sidney Fields ’39
Jack Goldin ’39
Richard S. Perman ’39
Jerome B. Hayflich ’40
Anne L. Hochberg ’40
Elliot Resnick ’43
Barbara S. (Penenberg) Kanner ’45, PhD ’72
Gerald Cohn ’47
Leo Goldenberg ’47
Herbert Harwood ’48
Stanley S. Paseornek ’48
Milton Blackman ’49
Robert C. Ratner ’49
Lloyd Ginsberg ’50
Zachary C. Goldman ’50
Lewis Koh ’50
Paul Segal ’50
Alfred S. Yatkowitz ’50
William Iulo ’51
David Kuriloff ’51
Stanley M. Sterling ’51
Joseph Albinder ’52
Harvey W. Cohen ’52
Fred Lonner ’53
David H. Olin ’53, MBA ’59
George H. McIndoe ’54
Donald S. Pitkof ’55
Chester Shure ’55
*Sidney Eagle ’56
Daniel A. D’Agostino ’57
Theodore G. Jacobs ’57
William Walcoff ’57
Richard E. MacFadden ’59
Raymond G. Meyerson ’59
Saul Weidler ’59
Norman Rosenman ’60
Michael Biglow ’63
Irving C. Jacobson MBA ’65
Neal J. Robustelli ’66
Ira Fischer ’67
Walter G. Maerz ’67, MBA ’71
Franklin H. Bromberg ’69
Seymour L. Eisenman MBA ’69, PhD ’75
Leonard H. Yablon MBA ’69
Ross M. Branca ’70
Gerard S. Gryski ’70
Gerard Newman ’71
Jeffrey Sunshine ’71
Louis J. Veltri ’71
Richard Organisciak ’73, MS ’77
Dorothy L. Lakritz ’74
Albert W. Ford ’78
Thomas Kerr ’78
Saundra M. Colon-Williams ’82, MS ’91
Harold C. Hubschman ’82
Anne S. Louison MS ’84
Sandra J. (Drenz) Zendek ’89
Francis G. Baumann MBA ’92
Rosemarie (Defreitas) Montalvo ’92
Shawnya L. Shamsideen ’92
Gloria R. Thordsen ’94
Sebastian Benjamin ’95
Patrick J. Eves ’98
Gary Leung ’11
John Nreca ’12
*Benchmark Society member
ALLEN G. AARONSON (’48)Allen G. Aaronson, whose generosity endowed the Allen G. Aaronson Department of Marketing and International Business, who established the Aaronson Democracy Project, whose Aaronson Challenge in 2012 resulted in the most donors to the Baruch College Fund (BCF) in its history, and whose most recent gift will name the College’s new Allen G. and Mary E. Aaronson Student Center, died on September 18. He was 90 years old.
Aaronson, who called Baruch College his “first allegiance” and “the cornerstone of my education,” arrived at City College Downtown (today’s Baruch) as a 16-year-old eager to engage in the life of the College. Like many of his generation, his education was put on hold to serve in WWII, where he flew on B-29s with the famed Twentieth Air Force. Upon his return, the management major and now member of the class of 1948 immersed himself in student life and quickly became a star in what his yearbook accurately described as “a class to be reckoned with.” Aaronson held leadership roles on, among others, the Interclub Board, Student Council,
Centennial Fund, and Alumni Board of Trustees, and he wrote a popular weekly column for The Ticker. The alumnus memorably summed up the impact of hours spent in campus activities as “experiences key to my maturation and educational development, serving me well for the rest of my life.”
The engaged student became an engaged alumnus. Most recently the president and CEO of management company AVRS Inc., Aaronson was an advisory board member of the Weissman Center for International Business and a member of the 17 Lex Society and the Benchmark Society. In appreciation of his dedication to his alma mater, Baruch honored him with the Bernard Baruch Medal for Business and Civic Leadership in 2013.
BCF chairman Lawrence Zicklin (‘57) calls Aaronson “ahead of his time” and “one of the smartest people I’ve ever known. His passion for the things he believed in was extraordinary.” Dr. Kapil Bawa, professor of marketing and chair of the Department of Marketing and International Business in 2011 when the alumnus made his transformational gift, agrees. “His gift powerfully impacted our students and
faculty and enhanced the reputation of the department and its visibility in the business world.” On a personal note, Dr. Bawa adds, “It was a pleasure and a privilege to have known him and to help him build the kind of institution he had envisioned.”
AMY HAGEDORN (’58)The College was saddened by the passing of Amy Hagedorn on September 8. The alumna was one of the first and among the most significant benefactors to Baruch’s Marxe School of Public and International Affairs (MSPIA). She was 79 years old.
Known to her classmates as Amelia Valentine, Mrs. Hagedorn gave a record-setting $1 million to MSPIA (then the School of Public Affairs) in 2014. Her generosity was recognized by the Wall Street Journal, who named her “donor of the day” on June 30, 2014. To the WSJ, she praised Baruch’s students as “hardworking and earnest,” essentially unchanged from her classmates of the fifties.
The alumna was an ardent believer in
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ClassNotes
Please consider including Baruch College in your estate planning.
Your support secures the Baruch experience for future generations
of students and creates lasting opportunities at your alma mater.
To learn how to use creative giving to achieve your own finan-
cial goals, please contact David Shanton at 646-660-6065 or
Leave a Legacy
BARUCH MEANS THE G IFT OF A L I FET IME
opening doors for young people with academic potential but little means. As a college student, the Queens native—the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants—bought used books and brown-bagged her lunch. She often noted that, had tuition not been free in her day, she would not have been able to attend college.
Later in life, she and husband Horace Hagedorn, founder of Miracle-Gro®, became well-known philanthropists, dedicated to supporting education, the environment, economic development, and social equality. After his death in 2005, she led their Long Island–based Hagedorn Foundation.
As her engagement with Baruch College grew, so too did her generosity. She followed up her initial million-dollar gift with a second gift, which included an ongoing, five-year matching component, raising her contributions to Baruch College to $2 million.
Remembering her and her enduring spirit, her fellow Baruch College Fund Trustee Helen Mills says, “Amy Hagedorn was a great role model and influence on me and many others. She was a quiet, caring, and powerfully effective person. We will all miss her very much.”
HOMETOWN HEROASSEMBLYMAN RONALD KIM (MPA ’06) MAKES AN IMPACT IN QUEENS, N.Y.
F or Ronald Kim, politics is personal. This energetic second-term assemblyman—representing his hometown, Flushing, as well as Whitestone and Murray Hill—was always inspired by “the idea of coming back to the neighborhood I grew up
in, not only to help people but also to empower the next generation of leaders to take ownership of local issues.”
And he’s no stranger to hard work, having honed his craft at Baruch as part of the National Urban Fellows program. Through the fellowship, Mr. Kim earned a master’s degree in public administration while simultaneously serving as an advisor to the chief education officer of the Chicago Public Schools—no easy feat.
“It was one of the most challenging few months of my life so far,” Kim recalls, “with many ups and downs. But every time I fell short or felt defeated, there was always a pro-fessor or a classmate at Baruch who took the time to lift me up.”
One of those professors was Baruch College Fund Trustee Dr. Lewis Friedman, whose profes-sional development class greatly influenced Kim. A journaling assignment required Kim to document his processes at work, an exercise that taught him “the importance of self-reflection and having a growth mindset.” Another takeaway from the class: “You must learn from your failures and setbacks instead of letting them invalidate who you are.”
Kim put these lessons into practice after graduating, becoming the first Korean American elected to the New York State Legislature in 2012. His accomplishments include working to establish Lunar New Year as a school holiday and supporting legisla-tion to empower small business owners. “There’s nothing more gratifying than resolving an important issue, whether small or large,” he explains.
Kim is also proud to see the enhanced emphasis on international studies at the College’s newly named Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. “I’m excited to see the School’s global partnerships lead to even more diversity in the classrooms.”—GREGORY M. LEPORATI
“… every time I fell short or felt defeated, there was always a professor or a classmate at Baruch who took the time to lift me up.”
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16 BARUCH COLLEGE ALUMNI MAGAZINE baruch.cuny.edu/bcam
ClassNotes
Class Notes are provided to our readers on an “AS IS” basis. Baruch College/The City University of New York does not make any warranties, express or implied, regarding the items included and disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for the content thereof and any direct, indirect, or consequential damages related to, or arising from, the use of the information.
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world’s leading construction groups. In July Black Enterprise named Nnamdi B. Ejiogu (’08) one of its tech innovators of the week. Ejiogu is the founder of Tammah, a content company geared toward millennials of the African diaspora. Avid world traveler Rosa Lopez (’08) visited Cuba this year, sharing her experiences on her personal blog. A full-time administrator in an insurance and legal company, Lopez also has been active in such local volunteer organizations as New York Cares. Nicole Y. (Tertulien) Maldonado (’08) was appointed assis-tant principal at Key Elementary School in Virginia. Stephanie Roth (MPA ’08) works for the NYC Economic Development Corporation, managing the citywide graf-fiti removal programs Graffiti-Free NYC and CleaNYC.
10s Techbridge Girls, a nonprofit organization that encourages
women to pursue STEM careers, named Nikole Collins-Puri (MPA ’10) its new CEO/executive director. Baruch College named Michele Doney (MSEd ’11) direc-tor of the Student Academic Consulting
Center and Immersion Program. In May Allen Ko (’13)
(left) received a Jonas E. Salk Scholarship to study medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
The Salk Scholarships are awarded annually to
only eight graduates of CUNY senior col-leges. Daniel S. Landesberg (EMBA ’14) was promoted to administrative director at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical
Center, Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre, and Women’s Health in northeast Pennsylvania. Ryan H. Chang (’15) opened a Kung Fu Tea franchise in Tribeca. As a Baruch stu-dent, he worked in Kung Fu Tea’s corporate offices. Halli Razon (’15) married Andrew Feingold in September. Amanda Anderson (MSN/MPA ’16) was made a contributing editor and editorial board member of The American Journal of Nursing. A sales and trading analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Sanjit Gil (’16) has been named to the Baruch College Fund Board of Trustees.
ALUMNA OPENS ESCAPE ROOM
Imagine a handful of friends locked in an abandoned asylum with only 60 minutes to escape. They search for clues scattered around the room, solving puzzles and overcoming brainteasers as they look for the key. Their search turns frantic as the timer winds down, until, finally, the clock strikes zero and the buzzer sounds. “Sometimes you escape, and sometimes you get hoodwinked!” laughs Michele Ware (’94, MBA ’15), creator/CEO of Harlem’s
Hoodwinked Escape, a recent entry in the growing craze of NYC “escape rooms.” Hoodwinked offers four distinct scenarios that test problem-solving skills and collaboration—perfect for team building, parties, or just a fun night out with friends.
The double alumna first discovered escape rooms in 2014 when, as the head of accounting at the World Economic Forum, she brought her staff to one as a team-building exercise. “I was immediately struck by what an amazing business idea it was,” she recalls. “Three months later, I decided to quit my job, work on my business plan, and here we are!”
Ms. Ware quickly secured 2,500 square feet in one of Harlem’s historic buildings and flew in an expert European “escape consultant” to help her devise each room. “Our escape rate is about 35 to 40 percent,” she explains. “It’s challenging yet doable. No phones or tech-nology are allowed, so it encourages real commu-nication between teammates.”
Though without formal entrepreneurial training (her degrees are in accountancy), Ware discovered that her Baruch years had provided her with the tools she needed to launch her
business. She cites leadership roles in Baruch student clubs, especially in the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), as the most important part of her education and essential to her ability to succeed.
Ware remains committed to her alma mater, donating time to the SEEK Program and serving as board president of NABA’s Pat Johnson Scholarship Program. “My career started at Baruch,” she notes. “Quite simply, NABA prepared me for the boardroom.” —GREGORY M. LEPORATI
HOODWINKED IN HARLEM:
COME BACK TO BARUCH
…OR BRING BARUCH BACK TO YOU
LEARN MORE AND REQUEST INFORMATIONInterested in coming back to campus or staying connected through affinity groups? Contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 646-660-6097 or [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
Stay connected with fellow alumni through regional and industry groups:
➤ Check out our regional clubs across the country and around the world—you’ll find us in California, D.C., Florida, Texas, China, Turkey, and numerous other locations.
➤ Join industry groups and expand your Baruch networks in entrepreneurship, international business, real estate, and more.
Help the next generation of students through our on-campus volunteer opportunities:
➤ Mentor a student through the Executives on Campus program.
➤ Speak to prospective and/or incoming students as an Alumni Ambassador.
➤ Share your experience and stories with students on campus through student clubs and other Baruch and Beyond programs.
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