Class Notes: Coordinator Page

Welcome! We are so excited about the changes that have been set into motion, and we would like to thank our Coordinators for volunteering their time. 
 
Below is some information on our Coordinators; peruse the biographies and take note of the contact information for your class.  Please start to converse directly with your Class Coordinator; all of the listed contact information is at your disposal.  If a Coordinator is not listed for your class, that means that we're still looking for someone to fill the spot! 

Please continue submitting Class Notes information to alumni@siena.edu if there is not a Coordinator for you class.  Remember: the more you contribute the better your class column will be.

Thank you again to our Coordinators!


2005
            Sabra-joi Dingman
            Dingman@bard.edu
            Residence Director
            30 Campus Road
            Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
            845-758-7692

Hello Class of 2005! How’s everyone doing? I’m pleased to be heading up our Class Notes section!

I was pretty busy at Siena, serving on Student Senate, Ryan and Padua Hall Councils, Ambassadors, HEOP Tutor and Mentor, Poli Sci Society, Middle States, and St. Mary of the Angels Chapel Choir. One of my fondest memories was having classes with Dr. Vera Eccarius-Kelly. She not only helped me to determine what my major was going to be, but also convinced me to go outside of campus boarders and travel to Latin America. Having professors like Vera, who truly cared, gave me the strength to do better and become more than I could have ever dreamed. Another great memory was when I first joined Student Senate my freshman year, we went camping in Vermont. It was here that I met people who are still my closest friends. There is nothing like getting to get to know everyone over a campfire and under the stars. That was also when I first learned how to play Pitch (card game) and learn that by going to Siena, I was going to gain more than a college education. I would also learn how valuable friendships are. It was a fast four years! I graduated from Siena with a Political Science Degree.

I’m currently a Residence Director at Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. After working in Higher Education for a little while, I have realized that I really love working with undergrads and helping them have just as an exciting time in college as I did. I enjoy snowboarding, road biking, and singing. The best way to get in touch with me is to either email at Dingman@bard.edu, snail mail, or feel free to call me in my office at 845-758-7692.

Let’s make this a great column! Send me your news!


2004
            Jolleen Wagner
            jwagner@sanmiguelchicago.org

Hey Class of 2004 from Chicago! I’m geographically far away from Siena, but I still feel that connection. I may never shake it!

A little about myself: I grew up in Green Island, NY (all of maybe twenty minutes from campus). I graduated from Siena with a major in English and writing minor. I stayed pretty busy at school dividing my time amongst the Rowing Club, The Promethean, Relay For Life, Residential Life (RA), The Pendragon, Chaplain’s Office Retreat Team and Eucharistic Ministry. Out here in Chicago I still find ways to do Siena things, as I help to organize Chicago Alumni Club functions!

I’m currently a 7th Grade Language Arts Teacher at San Miguel Schools Chicago – Gary Comer Campus (as a Lasallian Volunteer). Aside from my family at home, I currently have a family (my community) in Chicago, which I would have never imagined myself with. I live with two Lasallian Brothers, one other Lasallian Volunteer, and a community director. It is amazing to see how and who God partners us up with.

Please help me make this a great Class Column, by sending me your Class Notes information! Don’t be shy, drop me a line!


2003
             Gina Gizzi
             nyginamarie52@yahoo.com
             P.O. Box 5133
             Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
             (518) 421-4316
             www.myspace.com/nyginamarie

Class of 2003, meet your class coordinator! As a Psychology major with a Sociology minor, Gina was involved in Class Council, Student Events Board, Ambassadors Club, Student Senate, Student Affairs Advisory Committee, Blood Drive Committee, and was a Eucharistic Minister while at Siena.

Gina hails from Saratoga Spring, NY and lays proud claim to a 5 and 7 year old half sisters who are the loves of her life. She is currently employed in the field of education.

When asked about her favorite Siena memory Gina replied: “It's really hard to choose just one significant event from the best 4 years of your life, but there is one night I can recall very clearly, as a time I know I will never forget.  During my junior year, on a cold winter night, there was to be a meteor shower occurring around 2:30am. Since it was a Saturday night, most of the campus would still be awake, including my regular weekend crew of friends (Christina Sudano '03, Kate Healey '03, Vince Pasqualino '03, Kevin Kraus '03, Mark Carroll '04, Sean Kennedy '03, Laura Feeser '03.)

We started off the evening with dinner at Applebee's, where we sent for the staff to sing “Happy Birthday” my freshman year roommate—whose actual birthday was in May. (Needless to say, she was not quite amused.) Then, we proceeded back to campus. At around 2:00 am, we decided to bundle up and head outside for the meteor shower. We walked around for a bit, deciding on an ideal location for prime meteor viewing. Somehow, we ended up lying on the bleachers next to the baseball field. Each of us had our own bleacher of tingly, frozen metal. As we lay down, one my friends announced to us: “Okay, everyone get in supreme star-gazing position!” (Mark Carroll '04). Kevin Kraus '03 reminded us, “These are the nights that define friendships.” No one could have said it better. We all laughed in constant hysterics throughout the entire meteor shower due to our uncontrollably random remarks. When it was over, we headed out to the 76 diner around 4am for some hot cocoa and, you guessed it, fried calamari!”

Make sure to send all information, anecdotes, stories and whatever else you would like your fellow Alumni to know to Gina, via any of the above listed contact information, for the next quarterly.


2002
            Christine Cinnamond
            christine.cinnamond@gmail.com
            (646) 942-0970

Hey class of 2002! It feels just like yesterday that we walked across that stage!
A little about myself: I grew up in Williston Park, NY (that’s Long Island for all of the upstaters!). I graduated Siena with a Marketing/ Management major and minor in Computer Science. At Siena I had a great time doing nothing and everything! I currently live in New York City where I do Cable Television Marketing/ Research, currently at Tribune Broadcasting’s Superstation WGN.

Please help me make this class column great! The best way to contact me is by email, Christine.cinnamond@gmail.com, or by phone at (646) 942-0970. Send me your news!


2001
            Maura Mack
            sienanotes01@gmail.com
            340 California St.
            Newton, MA 02458

Hello Class of 2001! I’m excited that more of us will be in touch now and I hope that you can send me all of your news! Let’s work together to make this a great column!

For those of you who don’t know me, I grew up in West Plattsburgh, NY. At Siena I was involved with a lot of activities: SEB, soccer and volleyball intramurals, and Study Abroad in Dublin, Ireland. I graduated with a major in English and a minor in Political Science. I have so many memories from Siena, but the best parts were the people and friendships I have made that are still going strong!

I live in Newton, MA with my husband, Bill (Hisgen ’01) and work in Higher Education, in the Alumni Relations Department at Harvard Business School.
I’m looking forward to the opportunity to keep the Class of 2001 connected to each other and the Siena Community!
 

2000
            Shaymus R. Schweitzer
            SienaSaints2000@hotmail.com
            103 Sherman Ave.
            Troy, New York  12180
             518-727-3392 

Hello Class of 2000!  To me, our years attending Siena flew by - and the years since then seem to be moving even faster.  For many of us the Siena years were “the times of our lives”.  I hope for most of us the good times are still rolling.  This is where I’ll try to come in… 

We all make promises to keep in touch with the people that formed who we are – grade school and high school friends, influential coaches and teachers, and those unique friends and relationships forged in college, to name a few.  

Rather than just thinking about it, let’s really try to stay connected!  Where in the world are you living?  Who married who?  Do you have children?  Did you somehow go from class clown/partier to influential mover-and-shaker?  Do you have a fascinating story about your work, studies, or volunteer activities?  Would you like help from fellow alumni on a project or cause?  Are there professional networking opportunities among us that we don’t even know about? – LET’S FIND OUT!  I am truly looking forward to helping our class dialogue.   

Treat this forum as if you were in a townhouse living room, hanging out on the old grassy knoll, or relaxing on a Saturday night at Dapps.   

As for me, I still live in the Capital District with my wonderful wife Kristina (Turley) Schweitzer (’00) – who’d have known we would get married???…  Professionally, I worked in marketing for the first five years out of Siena as a Marketing Communications Manager for FairPoint Communications, and later as a European Marketing Manager for Amsterdam Printing and Litho.  Most recently I hung up my marketing boots and took a position as a Budget Analyst with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.    

For those who didn’t know me at Siena, I graduated with a B.S. in Marketing / Management and was active in Student Senate and SEB.  I toyed around with Club Rugby for about a year-and-a-half, but eventually couldn’t keep up with the social and athletic traditions of that sport ;-)   I lived on campus during all four years I attended Siena.  Hopefully, I will hear from some of you soon.
 

1999           

             Brendan Fitzgerald
             nyfitzgerald@yahoo.com
             fitzgeb@assembly.state.ny.us
             518-258-9272 

Hey Class of ’99, it’s 2006!  Think about that for a minute.  Can you believe we’re three years away from our tenth reunion?   

The other day I got a parking ticket in lovely downtown Albany, and for some reason it got me thinking about the old priority point system.  I remember those days of scrambling to make my three priority point meetings, sweating it out in the Hennepin study lounge with 60 other procrastinators learning about animal rights and the negative effects of alcohol.  You had to get your bonus points, or make up for lost priority points because you carried a beer into the hallway.  And these meetings were a must, or else you’d be living in sixth-floor Hennepin instead of Townhouse 13.   

Anyways, I hope the Class of ’99 is fine.  (Sorry…)  I’m happy to have signed on as your class notes coordinator.  I think by now you know the drill, and I’m sure many of you flip right to the back of the Siena Alumni magazine to see where your old friends – or flames – are nowadays.  Well, rest assured, they’re looking for you too.  So why not help them out, and keep us updated on what’s happening in your life?   

Promotions, marriages, babies, or general good news all are welcome.  I’ll do my best to keep it interesting.  When you send me your stuff, by all means give me some background – whatever you think will help make it personal.  Also, I’d like some of your Siena anecdotes to help jog your classmates’ memories, and inspire them to contribute! 

As for me, I’m living in the Capital Region, working for the New York State Assembly.  I know there are a lot of Siena grads running around the Capitol – I work with some of you.  I’m newly married to Lauren Denison, Class of 2001, and loving every minute of it.   

I graduated Siena with a B.A. Arts, achieving credits for majors in English and Philosophy.  I lived in Hennepin for three years – blasted priority points! – then Townhouse 131 for my senior year.  

I look forward to hearing from all of you soon!

1997
            Selena Dutcher
            selena.dutcher@regentcomm.com
            bronx_bombers25@yahoo.com
            (518) 265-2127

A big hello from Albany, NY to my fellow 1997 Siena College Alumni. It’s Selena Dutcher, and I am proud to be the Class Coordinator for the Class of ’97 for Siena News. Can you believe that it’s been eight years since we raised havoc on campus? For me, time seems to have flown by, so I thought that I would begin by updating you on where I am now.

After graduation, I chose to accept a position with PYX 106—a Classic Rock radio station as Promotions Assistant. During the past eight years I have continued to work in radio and have climbed the corporate ladder. I am proud to say that I am the Marketing Director for Regent Communications of Albany which is the owner of WGNA (Country 107.7 FM), Q103 (Album Rock), 104.5 The Buzz (Hot Adult Contemporary) and 1300AM ESPN Radio (Sports Talk).

To narrow down my favorite Siena memory is asking a lot! Just like all of you, I have a ton of them. My favorite times revolve around the fall and spring at Siena, and hanging out in the Townhouse areas. Whether it was sitting and chatting with the neighbors or throwing the football it was the time in our life when nothing else mattered and we did not have a care the in the world (to only get back to those days!)
I am originally from Mayfield, NY (a small town Northwest of Albany), and I now live in downtown Albany with my English Bulldog Cecilia. I still follow the Siena Men and Women basketball teams and attempt to make it to as many games as my schedule allows. Due to the nature of my job I have had the opportunity to meet many famous people including Page and Plant (of Led Zeppelin), Aerosmith, Godsmack, Disturbed, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Melissa Etheridge, Creed, Montgomery Gentry and many more! I have had the pleasure of broadcasting live from the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas with the radio station and twenty listeners and have had the task of putting together Edgefest (over 10,000 people) and Countryfest (over 27,000 people).

I am excited to be the coordinator for the class and look forward to hearing from all of you. To make a submission for the newsletter, please contact me by email at selena.dutcher@regentcomm.com or bronx_bombers25@yahoo.com . If you want to touch base and chat for a while give me a call at 518-265-2127. Do not forget to start sending all anecdotes, stories, announcements and etcetera to me via any of the above listed information. I look forward to hearing from you!
 

1993
             Susan Hannon
             shannon@ryeneck.k12.ny.us
             213 W. 252^nd Street
             Riverdale, NY 10471
             917-796-2085

1990
            Stephen Leavenworth
            stephen.leavenworth@cit.com
            (212) 382-6975

Stephen Leavenworth is a Senior Vice President with the Commercial Services unit of the CIT Group where he leads the new business development effort for the Northeastern United States and Canada.  CIT Commercial Services is a leading provider of factoring, accounts receivable management, and lending services.

Mr. Leavenworth is a graduate (M.B.A.) of the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and is currently a doctoral candidate in economics at Pace University.  After serving as an adjunct professor in the City University of New York (CUNY) system for six years, Mr. Leavenworth is currently the Chairman of the CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise.  He is also a member of the Board of Associate Trustees at Siena College, the Board of Directors of the Long Island Turnaround Management Association, and a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Institute of Credit.

Mr. Leavenworth has written a number of articles and case studies, some of which have been published in Southern Journal of Economics, Academy Management Journal, and Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies.

1985
            Catherine & Ron Bjorklund
            bjork90@comcast.net
            14 Stevens Ln.
            Tabernacle, NJ 08088-9744


1983
            Elvira Altimari-Jaeger 
            60 Wyatt Rd
            Garden City, NY  11530
            516-747-3040
            eaj6@optonline.net

Hello to all the Alumni from the class of '83. 

I am so excited to coordinate the class notes section of the Alumni News. 

For those of you who don’t know me.  I grew up and still live on Long Island Or Long Giland, as I was teased my freshman year.   I graduated in 1983 with a BS in Marketing and Management.  I tried several careers after graduating until I landed on Wall Street where I worked in various capacities on a Municipal Bond Trading Desk for 10 years.  In 1995 I retired to be home with my two daughters (now 8 and 11).  While at home I did a lot of volunteer work in my local community.  Currently, I work part time and am thinking about taking the plunge into the full time working world again (hey, how else am I going to pay tuition at Siena?).   

While at Siena I was very involved, mostly in student government.  I could usually be seen at any event with a camera and I have quite a few photos to prove it.  My fondest memories are of Tee Pee Rowdies pre-game parties in the Rat, Sombrero night at Sebastian’s, Iced Teas at Barclays, Rafters, Ladies night at Muddy’s, The Juke Box at Dappers, Spring Weekend, The Senior Class Beach Party, The Olympic Torch, The Toga Party, Campus Ministry, the Lakeshore Bus, Wing Party Weekend, Senior Week, CaCa- Chin-Gook, working Sunday Brunch at the Café, Price Chopper, Katmandu Parties and of course most recently the 20^th Class Reunion.  I so enjoyed seeing many of my fellow classmates come together for such a great weekend.  It seemed like old times and I can’t wait for the 25^th.  I lived at the Lakeshore Apartments for most of my four years with the same roommates and friends who I still see on a regular basis.  They and many others are why I agreed to be the class notes coordinator.  Siena, for me, is and always will be about the people.  I made a lifelong connection to my friends and the place we met.  I must confess the bells from Siena Hall still give me goose bumps when I hear them. 

Feel free to email or call me with any news or just drop a line to say Hi.

1982
            Becky Simbari/ Almstead
            PO Box 496
            Newtonville, NY  12128
            almstead@msn.com

Hi Class of 1982!  Wow, it seems like yesterday! 

I graduated from Siena in 1982 with a BBA in Accounting. I lived in Hennepin for 3 years (when it was only 4 floors) and then at Lakeshore Apartments (!) my senior year. I am originally from Utica, New York but stayed in the Albany area after graduation.  I currently live in Newtonville, New York, down the street from Siena.  I am married to Jeff Almstead. We have 2 dogs, no children.  I currently work for the State University Construction Fund in Albany as a financial analyst. I also assist my husband in his construction business.  We are active sponsors of the Siena Saints basketball teams (men and women) and enjoy attending the games.  We also sponsor other Siena events such as Festa Vino and Siena Day at the Races in Saratoga. I have kept in touch with numerous friends made at Siena. And, I am constantly meeting Siena alumni in the area.  I have so many memories of Siena that I wouldn’t know where to begin! I can’t believe how much the campus has changed!  I look forward to serving as Class Coordinator and connecting with old friends. Send me an email with announcements, stories, etc. so we can make an exceptional contribution to the Class Notes of 1982.    

1979
            Sue Reilly/ Hayes
            CLIFTON522@aol.com
            522 Chili-Riga Town Line Road
            Churchville, NY 14428
            (585) 889-2072

I graduated from Siena in 1979 with a B.A. in Psychology. I lived in Hennepin Hall all four years (3W, 1S, and 2W) and have many wonderful memories of campus life…line dancing to Boz Scaggs, grog parties, Christmas lists, and mixers at the Rat…to name just a few.

I worked on the campus newspaper (then called “The Indian”) throughout college, serving as Editor my senior year. I love newsgathering and writing so I welcome the chance to serve as our class coordinator.

I reside in the Rochester, New York area with my husband Chris and our two children, Matthew, 10 and Erin, 9. I’m self-employed as an Ebay sales consultant, fulfilling my dual loves of bargain-hunting and writing!

One of my favorite things about the 2005 Christmas season was reconnecting with Siena friends through cards, notes, and photos. Now we have a way to keep in touch all year long…let’s work together to make our ’79 column great…can’t wait to hear from all of you!


1977
            Linda Fitzsimmons
            lfitzsimmons@hvc.rr.com
 

1968
            Bill McGoldrick
            16 Carriage Hill
             Latham, NY 12110
             bmcgoldrick@wash-mcg.com

Congratulations to the Alumni Relations office for expanding this section of the Alumni Magazine. Great way to improve communications!

Several of us from the class were together this fall and Mark Keogh said, “How the hell did we get to be 60?”  I reminded him that not all of us have yet reached that milestone…but we‘re getting there.

Send news to my e-mail address about your life.  Include news of your job (or retirement activities), your spouse, your kids and grandkids.  Unabashed bragging will be edited for the sake of decorum.   If you don’t do technology, the mailman still delivers at my house.

As for me, Betsi and I are avid Siena basketball fans and go to every home game.  After 16 years at RPI as VP running their development, public relations and alumni relations offices, I launched a consulting firm with a friend in 1995.  We work with educational institutions in this country and internationally helping organize communications and development programs and implement major fund raising campaigns.  Betsi continues successfully in real estate and our daughter, Meg, is living in Maine, working for the Falmouth School District.

The next column will be all about you.  Send your information today.

1959
            Frank Martin
            (Francis, Fran)
            ftmartin@earthlink.net
            3 Newburry Court
            Clifton Park, NY 12065