2009 Alumni Award Recipients

The Distinguished Achievement Award

Honors one alumna/us graduated at least ten years who has translated her or his Skidmore experience into distinguished achievement through professional work and/or community service.
 

A critic remarked that new media entrepreneur Steve Rosenbaum ’83 is “a sort of Margaret Mead for digital natives”—technorati who are adept at personal branding and continuous marketing of their work among their peers. Steve, he says, “is not a guy to be taken lightly.” Indeed, the co-founder and CEO of Magnify.net has forged a career based on innovation and creativity.

A digital pioneer, Steve is renowned worldwide as a compelling and passionate storyteller. His award-winning television, Internet, and film projects cover the gamut from reality-based documentary and hard news coverage to narrative fiction.

He says his interest in listening to a broad array of voices began at WSPN, the Skidmore College radio station, where he served as news director and then general manager. He oversaw the expansion of the station and the inclusion of community members in the daily broadcast schedule, a format that places WSPN at the top of college radio stations nationwide. It was in the basement of Jonsson Tower, he recalls, “that I got my first taste of the true power of ‘community’ media.”

The young entrepreneur launched his first company in Saratoga Springs, OurTown TV, essentially WSPN for video and local cable stations, and in many ways the prototype for his current Web-based media enterprise, Magnify.net. The company provides a video 2.0 platform for both startup content providers and larger- scale media outlets, in all powering more than 53,000 Web video channels. Magnify.net serves the Weather Channel, New York magazine, Reader’s Digest, Zappos.tv, and the Skidmore video channel. The enterprise, he says, is “wonderfully organic—who better to make and watch a Skidmore video channel than members of the Skidmore community?”

By the time he came up with the idea for Magnify.net, he was already a veteran media groundbreaker. He transformed the boundaries of conventional television, founding the Broadcast News Network, New York’s first statewide syndicated hard news program, and subsequently expanded with Broadcast: New York and Broadcast: New England.

He went on to produce hundreds of hours of primetime television for such outlets as A&E, CourtTV, Animal Planet, MSNBC, the History Channel, TLC, BBC, CBS, and CNN. He soon earned a worldwide reputation as an early innovator in video journalism, the process where journalists are deeply immersed in the stories they report, using a handheld video camera to capture the pictures. The network partnered with Mark Cuban’s HDNet and broadcast the first-ever war coverage in high-definition television, reported by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett.

Reaching beyond television, he expanded his directorial resumé into documentary features, utilizing the extraordinary work of amateur and professional witnesses to direct 7 Days in September, a documentary that chronicled the events of 9/11 and the week that followed. From the material gathered from 7 Days in September, Rosenbaum curated the CameraPlanet 9/11 Archive, today widely regarded as the most comprehensive archive of amateur footage from 9/11 and its aftermath.

Steve’s work has been recognized for excellence with two Emmy Awards, six New York Festival World Medals, four CINE Golden Eagles, and six Telly Awards. In 1998, he created and funded a video-journalism program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and founded the BNN Scholarship. He has served on the Board of Governors of the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America East. In addition to being a member of the Board of Advisors of ClassWish, he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.

Steve often lends his creative talents to Skidmore as well, producing a DVD for his 20th reunion and partnering with the College’s Office of Communications to create a Skidmore video channel on Magnify.net. He and his wife, Pamela, are the proud parents of Max Rosenbaum ’12, and Murray, age 11.

Steve credits Skidmore’s rigor and flexibility in helping to incorporate his academic interests and passion for his work at WSPN into a self-styled dual major (English/radio): “As a self-started entrepreneur and deeply curious individual, I can say that Skidmore supported those characteristics in ways both large and small.”

Despite his extraordinary successes, Steve says that being honored by Skidmore is “kind of daunting. I find that my fellow classmates and alumni are doing such important and groundbreaking work that I often marvel that I went to school with them. Now, with this honor, I feel like I’m under some pressure to make sure that Magnify.net achieves my highest expectations and really gives new voices and new storytellers access to the tools and technology to build their own television channels. Video has the power to truly change the world and I hope we’re playing a part by giving people these powerful publishing tools.”
 

The Creative Thought Matters Award of Distinction

Recognizes an alumna/us who has made a demonstrated contribution through innovation and/or creation of a fresh approach that inspires or enlightens the lives of others and contributes to the greater good.  This contribution may have been made in the scope of the award winner’s career, community work, government or volunteer service.  Throughout Skidmore’s history, the College has challenged itself to make no small plans — to make no ordinary choices — and this award recognizes an alumna/us who purposely demonstrates this belief in his or her life and work.

Patricia McAuley Kolff ’64 credits her Skidmore education with giving her the confidence and background “to adapt to and meet any challenge.” The nursing major spent two years in Skidmore’s New York City nursing program, traveled with the Sonneteers, and took full advantage of liberal arts courses.

After graduation, she began her nursing career working with adults at General Rose Memorial Hospital in Denver, CO, and then in the adolescent intensive care unit at the University of Colorado Medical Center. She later became an intensive care recovery cardiac nurse at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. There, she met husband Jack and left nursing to raise three children.

In 1983, Jack started the first heart transplant program in Philadelphia, the 11th in the country. Although the program offered hope for patients in need of transplant surgery, Pat and Jack soon learned that those who were underinsured, uninsured, or had other financial challenges were excluded. Galvanized by the unfairness of this situation, Pat began research to see what, if any, organizations offered support to patients in need, and found that none existed.

As a result, she and Jack established the National Heart Assist and Transplant Fund, the mission of which is to provide financial, social, and emotional support to transplant candidates and their families.

Says Pat, “I saw a possible solution to a very serious problem and attempted to address it since no one else had. I had no idea where to begin or how to proceed.” Through trial and error and plenty of on-the-job learning, the Fund, which was all of $1,000 the first year,  remained viable.

Although NHATF was organized to help the heart transplant community, Pat soon realized that it must remain flexible enough to respond to the needs of the entire transplant population, especially considering the rapid expansion of technology and opportunities in the field of organ transplantation.

With that in mind, Pat and Jack changed the name of the organization to the National Transplant Assistance Fund.  NTAF works with the public and professional community and with both solid organ and bone marrow/stem cell transplant patients. It helps patients and their families organize, launch, and sustain grassroots fundraising campaigns, providing fiscal accountability for the funds raised and weekly disbursements for life-saving and life-sustaining medical care.

Pat served as the director of the foundation from its inception in 1983 until her retirement in 2004. 

 In 2000, NTAF was featured in a PBS program entitled Visionaries. In 2007, the Fund was named Non-Profit of the Year by the Main Line Chamber of Commerce in Wayne, PA.

Twenty-five years after its start, NTAF has helped families raise more than $57 million for critical but uninsured medical expenses related to transplantation and catastrophic injury.

Pat credits her Skidmore experience for equipping her with the skills to navigate this enormous undertaking: “My outstanding preparation from Skidmore, combining an excellent nursing background with a liberal arts education, has given me the confidence and flexibility to embark on new challenges throughout my career.”

Pat’s professional affiliations are many. Among them are the Oncology Nursing Society, the Society of Heart and Lung Transplant Social Workers, the Clinical Network for Transplant Social Workers, the National Association for Transplant Coordinators, the Coalition on Donation, the United Network for Organ Sharing, and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. She is a past board member of Temple University Hospital, the American Council of Transplantation, and the board of directors for NTAF.

A longtime class agent, Pat served as a volunteer for the Wide Horizons Campaign and for her 20th reunion. She was the nursing chair for her 40th reunion and reprised that role for her 45th.

Her Skidmore nursing degree, she says, gave her “the necessary credibility to speak with both the transplant patients, their families, and medical professionals.”

Pat was genuinely surprised when she learned she had received this award: “Once it sunk in, I was thoroughly touched and honored to be chosen for this award. I will accept it with thoughts of the many patients who have received the gift of life through transplantation.”

50^th Reunion Golden Service Award

Honors one member of the 50^th Reunion Class (Class of 1958) who has demonstrated outstanding service to the College.

As a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, Evalyn Zoda Shippee ’59 found herself drawn to Skidmore for a broad liberal arts curriculum that was “both creative and practical, inspiring and fun.” She transferred to Skidmore as a sophomore in 1956. By taking extra courses, she completed her three years at Skidmore with almost four years of credit, earning a B.S. in business (retailing), with undeclared minors in English and art.

Immediately after graduation, Evy and two classmates opened a manufacturer’s retail outlet store in Lake George, NY (one of the first in the country). This pioneering effort continued with other students running the store for several summers. Evy then went to New York City to work at a major advertising agency. Shortly after she and husband Bob wed, she went to work for the Providence Journal, the largest newspaper in Rhode Island.

Her diverse Skidmore curriculum, she says, “played a major role in each career effort,” particularly as an entrepreneur, owning and running the Jolly Tar gift shop in Bay Head, NJ, for the past 30 years: “As I have told any willing listener over the years, I have used and continue to use on an almost daily basis every course taken at Skidmore. While my Skidmore curriculum has proven essential throughout my life’s journey, the other side of the Skidmore experience for me was the awareness that creativity counts and that strategic problem-solving with focused follow-through can end in positive results.”

These skills helped Evy to launch a career as an alumna volunteer. She focused on giving back to Skidmore in return for broadening her horizons both professionally and personally.

Evy has served the College in myriad roles. Signing on as class president several years after graduation, she added on service as a class officer for the Skidmore Central Jersey Alumni Club, branching out to class agent and, most important to her, reunion chair. She has held that position for almost every 1959 class reunion since, including its 50th, and has traveled to campus to lead planning and fundraising weekends for five decades.

Beyond her alma mater, Evy continues to draw upon her boundless energy to advocate for the business community in Bay Head. As past president and current director of the Bay Head Business Association, she helps to write and change laws affecting the business community. She is also a licensed real estate agent.

In her remarkable array of civic service positions, Evy has been recreation director for the Borough of Bay Head, member of the Bay Head School Foundation, and founder and current trustee for the Bay Head Historical Society. Her proudest achievements, she says, are creating a museum, which is an educational and social center, and taking the steps to get Bay Head placed on the state and national registers of historic places.

A Skidmore legacy family, four of Evy’s five children are Skidmore graduates: Robert Shippee ’86, Laura Shippee Hart ’87, T. Scott Shippee ’90, and Maria Shippee Jimenez ’92.  Her husband, Bob, she says, “wears his Skidmore watch proudly.” She hopes some of her 13 grandchildren find their way to Skidmore.

Says Evy, “I am very happy to accept this award for recognition of a job well done, but I must say that I have enjoyed the journey and, with thanks to Skidmore, it has been all that I had hoped for—creative, practical, inspiring, and fun—with very successful and positive results.”

The Outstanding Service Award

Honors up to five members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated outstanding service to the College.  Each recipient must have served Skidmore for at least ten years as an alumna/alumnus, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend. Alumni recipients must be members of a celebrating reunion class

Educator and civic volunteer Martha “Dunk” Dunkel Chilcott ’49 is no stranger to leadership—in her professional and civic life, and as an alumna volunteer.

She cites her Skidmore experience as a huge influence on her life: “When I arrived, sight unseen and knowing absolutely no one, I realized that here was my chance to reinvent myself. It was a heady experience and Skidmore was behind me, pushing all the way, and sometimes leading me into totally unexplored territory. This was the first educational and social arena in which questioning was valued. A liberal arts education (while not ‘preparing me for a job’ as my father liked to point out) allowed me to sample areas in which I had no skill or background, and walk away richer for the experience.”

The psychology major began an unplanned career in teaching, something she had vowed not to do, starting off in Massachusetts public schools before heading west with her husband, Jack (Harvard ’46), never to return. They covered Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Northern California, Southern California, and finally Arizona in 13 years that included some teaching, Jack’s Ph.D., and raising three children. After earning a master’s in education, she embarked on a 25-year career teaching eighth graders creative problem-solving, active community responsibility, and social studies based on real-life situations. She was one of the first teachers to require community service of her students as part of the regular curriculum: “My Skidmore education was responsible for all of this as well as preparing me for a fascinating life filled with unimaginable adventures as the wife of a cultural anthropologist.” 

In each community her family called home, Dunk immersed herself as a volunteer in church and civic life. From volunteering for the United Way to teaching Sunday school, she was president of the Catalina Foothills Education Association, Arizona Amateur Athletic Union, and the Faculty Women’s Club. All the while, her connection to Skidmore continued through her classmates and good friends Ann Lilley Smith, Claire Schreiber Pittman, and the late Evelyn “Evie” Mitchell Blackhall (all ’49ers), among others. While attending her 25th reunion, she became “instantly hooked”on reconnecting with old friends and surveying the new campus. “I was impressed with the way Skidmore rolled out the red carpet for the alumni and I wanted to be part of it.” Following Evie’s example, she signed on as a class agent and “things just grew from there.”

Dunk served her class and the College in many roles. The two-time class president has been a force in class fundraising for years. Although she did not consider it her strength or interest, she nonetheless helped the Class of 1949 build a reputation for great success in percentage of participation, for which it has received numerous awards and accolades. The perennial class agent chaired her 35th, 45th, 55th, and now her 60th reunion. She also helped a core group start a Skidmore College Alumni Club in Tucson, AZ, and faithfully attends its events. Today, she takes the stage to accept an Outstanding Service Award in recognition of a truly remarkable career as an alumna volunteer.  

This award, she says, is for her entire class: “It is for their friendship, enthusiasm, and never-say-die attitude, just like those gold rush prospectors. Above all, our class accentuates the positive and eliminates the negative.”

And that spirit extends beyond her alma mater. Directress of the Altar Guild at the largest Episcopal church in the west and church volunteer, she also was a court-appointed children’s special advocate for 10 years. A breast cancer survivor, she has organized teams for the Susan G. Komen 5K Race for the Cure for several years. Dunk volunteers at an inner-city, Episcopal private school for underprivileged children and, for the past eight years, has mentored students in a worldwide theology program. She rescues Irish Terriers and has adopted many rescue dogs, including her current pair, Piper and Ladd, with whom she lives (along with two cats) on five acres of desert north of Tucson. She also enjoys gardening and swimming.

When Ann Ballinger  “Balli“ Wilcox ’54 arrived at Skidmore, the influence of World War II and its effects on the status of women were keenly felt. She recalls, “We were all inspired by Rosie the Riveter and her example of stepping outside the kitchen to meet the world.” Balli considered her life prior to college to be somewhat sheltered: “Skidmore was a shining threshold to a new world of possibilities. I explored new horizons and followed new paths just as any student does—it was a very heady time for all of us.”

The connections she formed were deep and long lasting and the sense of community strong. “Everyone was included in the school-wide events such as Sunday evening chapel, song contests, and the Junior Show production,” she observes. Over the years, Balli has continued to cultivate many Skidmore friendships and a strong relationship with the College as an alumna volunteer.

A devoted advocate for her class and Skidmore, she has served as a longtime reunion volunteer and class agent,  former class president, past class fund chair, and former president of the College’s Philadelphia Alumni Club. Balli was also a key volunteer during the Celebration Campaign. As class secretary, she continues to faithfully keep classmates in touch with one another and the College. In addition, she currently serves as class agent and co-chair of her 55th reunion.

Balli has attended presidential tours, Friends of the Presidents, and club events. She has also participated in leadership weekends, the Junior Admissions Workshop, and Sonneteer reunions.

Learning that she had received this award, she says, left her “breathless. I am both honored and humbled. I know that so many of my classmates have worked tirelessly for our class and the College as class officers, fundraising volunteers, and committee members. So, in a sense, I share this honor with them.” She considers serving Skidmore a privilege that all of her classmates share, because, “as we used to sing, ‘Skidmore we love you, present and past; our loyal love for you will ever last.’”

 In terms of her professional life, Balli retired after a long career at Villanova University, where she spent the first eight years as assistant to the chair of the theater department and the next nine years as assistant to the director of international studies. She and husband Bruce are the parents of three grown children, Jane, Craig, and Claire, and enjoy their seven grandchildren. Among Balli’s many interests is professional acting. In addition to stage and television work, she was cast in a 1989 PBS American Playhouse film, The Silence at Bethany, about a Mennonite community in World War II.
 

Steffenie Oliver Kirkpatrick ’74 credits Skidmore with helping her develop a level of confidence that has served her well both personally and professionally. She recalls the thoughtful guidance of faculty and staff during a transition to a new major in geology and preparation for graduate school. Says Steffenie, “Yes, I am who I am, personally and professionally, because of my four years at Skidmore. I came out of Skidmore feeling much more finished than when I went in. Perhaps most significant was the level of confidence I felt. The friends I made there helped me find my way and figure out what kind of person I wanted to be.” There is no doubt in her mind, she says, that she was molded by her Skidmore experience.

She went on to earn a master’s in geology from Duke University in 1977. A sense of obligation to pass along the same opportunity to others inspired her to begin serving as an alumna volunteer in the mid-1980s, writing notes and making calls as a class agent.

In 1998, Steffenie’s involvement deepened with a nudge from the late Steve Clark, then director of the Annual Fund. She partnered with class fund chair Patti Brennan ’74 to assist the Annual Fund staff in the final push to meet end-of-year goals. Her dedication didn’t go unnoticed. She recalls, “One thing led to another, and before I knew how it happened, Steve had convinced me to become fund co-chair for my 25th reunion in 1999.” Steve, she remembers, “was a pretty hard guy to say no to.” Shortly after that, she and Patti recruited Wendy Bailey Hamilton ’74 to complete a “formidable team of three.”

Steffenie says her fate as a lifetime Skidmore volunteer was “sealed” during a presentation on the College’s history by then Dean of Special Programs Don McCormack. Learning the full gravity of the financial challenges faced by Skidmore in her student days in the early 1970s and the monumental efforts of President Joe Palamountain and staff to keep the doors from closing was “electrifying.” It was evident that alumni support played a critical role in those efforts. On that day Steffenie committed herself to helping current students as a way to pay back those who preserved Skidmore for her.

And she means business: she is class Friends of the Presidents chair and fund chair as well as an active member of the National FOP Committee.

Steffenie’s service to others extends beyond her alma mater.  When her daughter Fiona was young, she was active in her elementary school parent-teacher organization and ran several fundraisers for the school. She was a Girl Scout leader for many years, and a volunteer Girl Scout camp counselor. She was an active volunteer in the garden program at her daughter’s middle school. In 2005, Steffenie was named to the East Brandywine Township Historical Commission in Chester County, PA.  In 2007, she was asked to serve on the township committee charged with planning and developing a community park on a historic mill property. And for the past six years, she has volunteered in the school library one day a week. 

Says Steffenie, “Earning this award demonstrates how much the College values the efforts of our volunteer team. I am just one ant in a large colony of hard workers, volunteers, and staff alike, and this award would not have happened if it weren’t for all of them. Seeing people do their best to work at what is often a challenging task keeps me sane. I appreciate them immensely and they in turn appreciate me.”

Lisa Lavieri ’79 believes that volunteering is a “demonstration of commitment and passion.” Since the moment she left campus, Lisa began doing just that, much to the benefit of Skidmore. It was no surprise that the English major, who served as a head resident, member of student government, and coordinator of student activities, has continued cultivating a strong and life-long relationship with her alma mater.

Her volunteer career is framed by an intuitive belief in “giving back to a place that helped shape my future and placed trust in my decisions as a student. There were virtually no boundaries to where my interests would lead me.” And those untethered curiosities did, in fact, launch Lisa’s rich and varied career path.

She spent a year teaching English in the Saratoga Springs City School District before returning to campus to work as coordinator of student housing and later as assistant director of residential life. After earning an M.B.A. in computer-based management systems from Clarkson University in 1985, Lisa entered the field of software engineering at GTECH Corporation, a leading lottery and gaming technology and services company. There, she held the positions of director of technology in software for training and communications, director of software project management, and director of software services, where she managed new project implementations and ongoing customer service for customers in Europe, Latin America, the Far East, and Australia.

With the birth of her second child in 1998, Lisa decided to leave GTECH and transition to part-time consulting. She also started her own jewelry business, regularly donating pieces to Skidmore’s Palamountain Scholarship Benefit auction and selling them in the Frances Young Tang ’61 Teaching Museum and Art Gallery store. She is currently a substitute teacher and tutor for the Hingham, MA, Public School System.

Lisa’s volunteer career with Skidmore has been rich and varied. The longtime class and reunion volunteer is former chair of annual giving on the alumni association board of directors, former chair of the National Annual Fund Advisory Committee, and a former member of the Reunion Giving Program Advisory Council. She also served on the Longitudinal Constituent Panel. Lisa reprises her role as class president, having faithfully held that position from 1980-1999. She has served as either a chair or co-chair for all of her class’s reunions.

Says Lisa, “My husband supports my commitment to Skidmore as I tend to treat it as ‘my other child,’ and my children, Suzanne, 17, and Christopher, 11, often feel the presence of this unique sibling.” The metaphor is apt: “Clearly, they see and feel my passion for continuing to support Skidmore’s goals as a leading liberal arts institution and all of the exciting creativity and talent within its diverse faculty and student population. I suppose my relationship with Skidmore is not much different than parents nurturing their own child towards success and reaching his or her goals and dreams—an exciting process. I received that kind of support from the faculty and staff when I was a student, and a commitment from the College to help me reach my own goals.”

Lisa is motivated by the desire to give back to Skidmore, and encouraged other Skidmore alumni to enjoy that same experience of staying connected and joining the ranks of dedicated volunteers.
 

E. Frits Abell ’94 believes in the power of cultivating relationships as a springboard to collaboration, innovation, and success—for both individuals and organizations.

This spirit guided the economics major—he also studied international political economy and trade at the Institut D’Etude Des Relations Internationales in Paris—to forge a career in marketing, business development, and operations for startup ventures.  He credits his Skidmore education for helping him to “think outside the box,”and pursue his academic interests (economics and languages), participate in theater, and play varsity squash.

As former president and chief operating officer of GFN Financial, Inc., a New York City financial services firm founded by Walter Schubert ’79, Frits oversaw the marketing, public relations, investor relations, sales, and editorial departments. He subsequently cofounded and served as managing director of marketing and business development for Velocity Holdings, a consulting firm targeting small-to-medium-sized businesses. Frits later formed Longbank Corporate Restructuring, Inc., an alternative investment firm focusing on distressed assets. 

Now managing director at Progress Partners, a Boston- and New York-based investment bank founded by Nick MacShane ’91, Frits works with owners and management of emerging growth companies to plan for, build, and realize business value. He was recruited by MacShane after the two met to discuss creating the Boston chapter of the Skidmore Business Network, an emerging professional networking group for alumni working in finance and other business-related professions. Frits and co-founders Cassandra Bolz ’95,  Gregg Nicoll ’90, Angelo Rufino ’03, and Kim Youngstrom ’02 launched the network in New York City in 2005.

Frits had been quick to identify the need for a robust, targeted networking platform for Skidmore alumni to exchange ideas, share opportunities, and build professional partnerships. He had participated in a national networking group but found it lacking: “I did not feel any affinity with the other participants and felt that a new alumni-driven model could be created.” In his view, Skidmore did not offer a venue to foster networking among its professional alumni. Says Frits, “I saw SBN as a win-win for Skidmore and its alumni base.” An initiative driven by and exclusively serving the needs of alumni, the network “is about giving back to alumni, and expecting little in return.”

His instincts, along with countless hours of cultivation, marketing, and execution by him and the other coordinators paid off: in just two years, membership swelled to over a 1,000 alumni and SBN chapters were launched in Boston and San Francisco. More recently, a fourth chapter was launched in New Haven, CT, and others are planned for Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and South Florida. There are currently over 2,200 SBN members nationwide and growing.

SBN chapters meet quarterly. Members are encouraged to attend to increase networking contacts, meet fellow alumni in complementary professions, and learn about and secure new job opportunities. The network brings high-level, compelling speakers in the fields of marketing, law, finance, and related professions to enhance the events. The organization developed “Gold Dinners,” a more intimate setting for seasoned professionals, and has partnered with the College to implement “Fastrack,” a program designed to help a select group of Skidmore students in the latter half of their senior year to navigate the business environment. SBN has launched online networking groups on LinkedIn to supplement in-person networking meetings.

Indeed, the Skidmore Business Network has been instrumental in the success of many Skidmore alumni—and is still evolving. Says Frits, “It is a different, better model than the one originally created. There is still room for growth, and I hope that more alumni leverage what we have built.” Being recognized for this award, he says, “is a wonderful accolade to all of the coordinators who have spent years working on this initiative.”

In addition to SBN, Frits has served on the Junior Board of the Caron Foundation/Renaissance Institute and is a former U.S. delegate to the Young Leaders Forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. He currently sits on the Progress Partners Board of Directors.

The David H. Porter Young Alumni Service Award

Honors one alumna/us graduated one to ten years and who has demonstrated outstanding service to the College.  Service may be evidenced through a variety of forms.

Emily Rover ’99 is vice president at Bernstein Global Wealth Management in New York City, a subsidiary of Alliance Bernstein L.P. The company manages approximately $85 billion for a private clientele that includes some of the nation’s most prominent families and individuals. She was formerly a financial consultant with Navigant Consulting.

The management and business major initially entered Skidmore to pursue a degree in psychology. In the process of fulfilling her liberal arts requirements, however, she signed up for an introduction to business class, found her true calling, and “never looked back.” In her senior year, she was awarded Skidmore’s Jefferson Huff ’88 Prize in Business. Finance and Accounting Professor Paul Corr referred her to her first job as a financial consultant, which launched a career in finance. Recalls Emily, “Without those requirements and that stepping stone, I don’t know that I would be where I am today.”

Emily’s business acumen is matched by her commitment to service, and Skidmore has benefited from that commitment. Currently class Friends of the Presidents chair, she is a long-standing member of the National FOP Committee and also serves on its Executive Committee. In 2008, she signed on as a member of the FOP and Young Alumni task forces, and has helped craft strategies to engage young alumni with the College. She also joined the board of trustees that year as the Agnes Gelinas Young Alumna Trustee, serving on the Infrastructure, Advancement, and Student Life committees. As class FOP chair for her 10th reunion, she is spearheading its fundraising efforts. She is a regular attendee at Skidmore New York City Alumni Club and Skidmore Business Network events.

Emily’s volunteerism extends beyond her alma mater. She sits on the advisory board of the Grosvenor Neighborhood House and serves on the Fund Development Committee of the West Side YMCA and the Junior Board of the Reading Team in Harlem. She also served on the Benefit Committee for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Young Friends Benefit. Emily says her parents definitely played a key role in her decision to volunteer: “They have always led by example through active involvement with various organizations in many different capacities. To me, not supporting Skidmore just wasn’t an option—it was the natural next step after graduation. I consider myself fortunate to be the beneficiary of such a wonderful education and unique experience; I want to do everything possible to make these opportunities available to others. So, whether it’s fundraising, attending strategy sessions, interviewing high school seniors, participating in informational sessions, joining the board of trustees, or giving financially, I want to do everything possible to help Skidmore, its community, and its future students.”

Emily admits to being a bit overwhelmed by this award but hopes it will encourage other alumni to volunteer in whatever way they can: “There are so many amazing ways to contribute. The quality of the College is really a direct result of the combined influence and support of its students, faculty, staff, and volunteers.”
 

The Palamountain Award for Young Alumni

Honors one alumna/us graduated one to ten years who has utilized her or his Skidmore education in a quest for excellence demonstrated by personal achievement.  The recipient must have a continuing concern for the Skidmore community.

Amanda Larson ’99 has already earned a national reputation as a distinguished philanthropist. Growing up on a dairy farm in Central New York, the role is something she could scarcely have envisioned. The business-government major is president and chief operating officer of the Gorman Foundation, which was established in 2003 by the estate of her great-aunt, Alice M. Gorman. One of the stipulations was that Amanda create and manage the foundation. The Gorman Foundation supports the arts, education, healthcare, and religious organizations serving communities in New York State. Grants awarded include: the purchase of new community cancer screening and early detection technology for Cooperstown’s Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, the establishment of the new Alice M. Gorman Imaging Center at Oneida Healthcare Center, campus theatre renovations and a memorial scholarship at Cazenovia College, renovation and expansion of Oneida County’s Stanley Theater, a community action partnership to establish a homeless youth shelter, the creation of the Great Swamp Conservancy Museum of Natural History and Sciences in Canastota, and a $2 million grant to build the Owen Gorman Moot Courtroom at Fordham Law School.

The Gorman Foundation’s giving reflects the organization’s general mission and, more specifically, Amanda’s own thoughtfully placed philanthropy. Managing the foundation with extraordinary skill and sensitivity, she carefully considers each request but ultimately, her decisions come straight from the heart. She admits that at first, the responsibility was daunting. She had to hire an attorney, accountants, and a financial management team. She developed bylaws, grant-making guidelines, an application process, and Web site content. Although she has learned that giving money away can be hard work, with some experience under her belt, she now considers it “the fun stuff.” 

She is a former trustee of the Oneida Community Mansion House, the greater Oneida Rotary Club, and Cazenovia College, where she served on a search committee for a campaign consultant and counsel. She is currently a trustee of the Oneida Healthcare Center and a member of the greater Oneida Chamber of Commerce, which honored the Gorman Foundation with a Community Service Award in 2006.

Amanda’s expertise and commitment to community extends to her alma mater. She began her involvement with Skidmore serving as a Student Government Association student senator and later as SGA VP of communications. After graduating, she signed on as a reunion volunteer. The recipient of financial aid at Skidmore, she established the Gorman Foundation Scholarship Fund, which was first awarded to a Skidmore student in 2003. Two years later, she joined the Skidmore Board of Trustees as the Henry C. Galant Young Alumna Trustee, serving on the Long-Range Planning, Infrastructure, Student Life, and Advancement committees. Of all the boards she serves, she says, “Skidmore’s is most important to me.” Currently a member of the Council of 100, she is a perennial participant in the Palamountain Scholarship Benefit and a frequent attendee at regional club events and scholarship dinners.

In July, Amanda will head to Estonia and Latvia to study grassroots solutions to poverty in developing countries with Heifer International.

Honorary Alumna Award

This award is presented from time to time to honor and acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of a non-alumna/us to promote the success of Skidmore College. The honoree also demonstrates through professional, personal, civic or philanthropic pursuits the values that the Alumni Association and Skidmore promote.