Author Archive for Staff Report
PHOTO: School of Business Alumni Symposium
The Fund for Oswego National Chair Jennifer Shropshire ’86 speaks in a class as part of the School of Business Alumni Symposium Nov. 8 and 9. The Oswego Alumni Association co-sponsors the annual symposium, where accomplished professionals return to campus to interact with students and faculty.
Mentor-Scholar Program
ABOVE, ALEX PARSONS ’15, second from right, a technology education major, works with Oswego Middle School eighth-graders Nov. 30 on an activity requiring coordination and teamwork.
At right, he is joined by technology education major Rachel Edic ’16, second from left. The exercise was part of a campus visit of Mentor-Scholar Program participants and their families — more than 150 in all — featuring interactive presentations and dinner. Scott Ball ’09, M ’11, assistant coordinator of the Mentor-Scholar Program, said members of the Oswego Technology Educators Association as well as Penfield librarians organized the presentations. The program partners SUNY Oswego undergraduates with Oswego Middle School students in an effort to create enthusiasm for academics and an increase in high school graduation rates.
PHOTO: Sheldon Hall Restoration
BRIAN POTH OF AUBURN CRANE AND RIGGING inspects the rebuilt mast and weather vane atop the newly refurbished Sheldon Hall cupola Nov. 12. Bob Lloyd ’81, the facilities design and construction liaison to contractors on the $10 million renovation, said the mast assembly includes some original, century-old parts. The working weather vane joins the cupola’s restored clocks.
New Giving Societies Launch July 1
NEW PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE GIVING SOCIETIES will go into effect after June 30 of this year. Membership in the entry level of The President’s Circle will increase on July 1 from $250 to $1,000.
It is the first time since their establishment in 1984 that giving society levels will increase.
“Increasing the minimum donation for participation in The President’s Circle from $250 to $1,000 overcomes the inflationary forces that have eroded the real value of gift levels which have not changed for nearly three decades,” said Joy Westerberg Knopp ’92, director of annual giving. “Due to inflation, a $500 gift 28 years ago would be the equivalent of $1,070 today to make the same impact.”
See the chart at right for the new societies.
Also changing are the recognition levels for gifts from $250 to $999. Gifts from $250 to $499 will provide admission to the Green Club level, and gifts of $500 to $999 will designate members of the Gold Club level.
Donors wishing to stretch their giving to the next level so they continue to be a member of The President’s Circle will be able to make their gifts in installments.
Donors may make their gifts to be used in areas of greatest need or priority, or designate their gifts to support scholarships, one of the college’s four schools, an academic department, or a specific organization or program.
For more information on joining Oswego’s philanthropic leaders, call 315-312-3003 or visit alumni.oswego.edu/presidentscircle
New Giving Societies
(effective July 1, 2013)
THE PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE
$25,000 + Medallion Society
$10,000 – $24,999 Torchbearer Society
$5,000 – $9,999 Ambassador Society
$2,500 – $4,999 Ontarian Society
$1,861 – $2,499 1861 Founder’s Society
$1,000 – $1,860 Pillar Society
GREEN AND GOLD CLUB:
$500 – $999 Gold member
$250 – $499 Green member
Photo: Sherman Scholarship Recipient
SHERMAN SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT JENNIFER XU ’13, center, poses with Ken ’54 and Anne MacDonald Sherman ’53. Friends and family established the Sherman Scholarship as a gift for the couple’s 60th wedding anniversary. Visit oswego.edu/magazine/sherman to see the impact of scholarships on deserving students like Xu.
Love Inspires Special Reunion Gift
THEY MET WHILE WAITING IN LINE AT THE DEAN’S OFFICE IN SHELDON HALL and fell in love at Oswego. Now, decades after that meeting and after 50 years of marriage, Ed ’62 and Janet Albreght Heinrich ’63 have made a special Reunion gift that will endow a scholarship fund for education majors.
Ed ’62 and Janet Albreght Heinrich ’63 made a special reunion gift to endow a scholarship for future teachers. Here, they stand outside the door in Sheldon Hall where they met more than half a century ago.
“I started talking to Janet and cut the line,” Ed said. They dated a few times, but no real sparks until senior year when Ed asked Janet to iron a white shirt for him. He was desperate for help, so Janet ironed that shirt and the couple warmed to their new love.
Ed was president of the Class of 1962 and of Delta Kappa Kappa, and worked as a bus driver for the athletic teams. Janet was a member of Alpha Sigma Chi and the Catalina Club. Both went on to become teachers, and Ed spent 14 years in administration.
Along with Col. Jack James ’62 USMC (Ret.), Ed co-chaired the Class of 1962 Reunion giving committee. The 50th Anniversary Class of 1962 won the 2012 Reunion Participation Cup for a record-setting percentage of donors, with 147 donors or 48.5 percent of the class chipping in to raise $37,620.23.
Ed and Janet made a special Reunion gift to endow a scholarship for elementary education or technology education majors. Because Ed attended Oswego on the G. I. Bill, they would like the recipient to be a veteran.
“It is essential that we get the best into the classroom,” they said. The generous support of Ed and Janet Heinrich means that generations of the very best students will have the opportunity to become the best teachers of tomorrow.
To make a gift in honor of your special Reunion, contact the Oswego College Foundation in 215 Sheldon Hall or call 315-312-3003.
Borden is born to run
You might say Miles B. Borden ’50 is on the right track. Some 63 years after setting Oswego State records for speed, Miles is still putting on miles.
As a member of the Laker track team, Miles crossed the finish line in the record-breaking mile-long relay race at Cortland State in May 1949. The invitational track meet brought together college track teams from Hamilton College, Hartwick, Brockport, Rochester, Cortland and Oswego.
Miles Borden ’50 carries the baton across the finish line for Oswego State in the record-breaking mile relay race May 1949 at Cortland State. Borden placed first in the mile race earlier in the meet.
Miles continues to run five days a week with his wife, Leona. Miles and Leona have been cross-country skiing for about 40 years and often head north instead of south for the winter. When he’s not on the road, track or trails, Miles enjoys studying local history with middle school and high school students.
Miles has written five local history books, his latest being The History of Kings Park.
He was president of the Kings Park Fire Department for six years and chaired the committee which established the department’s ambulance squad. Miles has since retired after serving as a volunteer trustee of the Smithsonian Library Board of Trustees for 20 years.
At Oswego, Miles was the student body president for the 1949-50 academic year and a member of Beta Tau Epsilon.
Alumnus is World Geographer, Traveler
GARY FULLER ’64 LIKES TO say that geography is the glue that ties the world (and several academic disciplines) together. He should know – he wrote the book on it!
The Trivia Lover’s Guide to the World: Geography for the Lost and Found is derived from an Oswego legacy of geography. In fact, Oswego itself is featured in the last chapter.
Gary ’64 and Barbara Bruton Fuller ’64 live in Hawaii and love traveling the world sharing Gary’s knowledge of geography.
After graduating from Oswego, Gary went on to earn his doctorate in geography from Penn State. He retired after 34 years as professor of geography and population studies at the University of Hawaii, where he taught more than 10,000 undergraduates and supervised 13 doctoral dissertations and 44 master’s theses. (His first doctoral candidate, Larry Travers, became a faculty member at Oswego).
He was senior class president in 1964, and in 1994, Gary was awarded the Anniversary Class Award of Merit from the Oswego Alumni Association.
Gary’s wife, Barbara Bruton Fuller ’64, retired from the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility school, after almost 30 years, where she was a teacher and then the teacher-in-charge. They have lived in Hawaii since 1970.
“The education, history and geography courses I took at Oswego were the impetus for my life as an educator and now as an author,” wrote Gary, who names as his influences Oswego geography legends Judy Johnsrud and the late Professor Emeritus Girgis Ghobrial.
In retirement, Gary lectures on cruise ships all over the world, talking about world affairs, tying in geography, history and the cultures of the places the tours visit, as well as the current events occurring there.
“Oswego certainly formed the basis for the lives in education — writing and disseminating information— that we’ve led and now lead,” Gary wrote.
“Our lives were definitely shaped by our four years at Oswego. They have been very fruitful and hopefully, have impacted many of the students we’ve taught, as well as our own four children, in positive ways.”
Alumni Bookshelf
This column celebrates the publishing success of Oswego alumni authors, illustrators and recording artists. Please keep us informed about new books and audio recordings by requesting that your publisher or distributor send a copy for the Oswego Alumni Bookshelf at King Alumni Hall.
Joseph Hilko ’65 tells the story of one man’s dedication to fishing in the early 20th century in his biography The Life and Legend of Sheridan R. Jones: America’s Pioneering Outdoor Writer & His Search for the Perfect Fishing Lure. M.E. Sharp Inc., 2011.
Ray Peterson ’78 tells the story of a man who set out to deliver the answer that could help his town’s mill from closing in rural upstate New York in his novel The Middle of Everywhere. State University of New York Press, 2012.
Michael Barry ’77 vibrantly illustrates the short story Where Rainbows are Born written by his brother, John Barry. The short story tells how the Menehune people of Hawai’i created the natural phenomenon we know as rainbows. Xlibris, 2012.
Wendy Ellin ’78 teaches women techniques to help get their lives organized with her motivational self help book called Enough is Enough, Get Control of Your Stuff! BookLogix, 2012.
Joe Lawlor ’94 tells the story of a bright seventh grader and the difficulty he faces when being accused of cyber-bullying in the fast-paced debut novel BULLY.COM. Eerdmans Book for Young Readers, 2013.
Deirdre Maloney ’95 features lessons about leadership that often go unnoticed in her mini-book Tough Truth: The Ten Leadership Lessons We Don’t Talk About. Business Solutions Press, 2012.
FROM OUR EMERITI
Luciano Iorizzo, Professor Emeritus of History, contributed to the book Immigrant Struggles, Immigrant Gifts, which discusses the history of various immigrant groups in American history. GMU Press, 2012.