Matthew Pond ’08 and Kristin Amone ’09 were married in October in Rochester. Alumni in attendance included, from left: Jimmy Lacagnina ’10, Joe Ferrari ’10, Nicole Lafe ’09, Chris Caputo ’09, the bride, the bridegroom, Don Heagle ’09 and Kelley Kowalczyk ’12. Matthew is earning his MBA and currently works for Enterprise Holdings. Kristin recently earned her master’s in school psychology and works as behavioral specialist for Hillside Children’s Center. The couple resides in Rochester.

OSWEGO’s website, launched in spring 2011, was among seven Awards of Excellence winners in the “Magazines and Journals: Electronic and Web” category. APEX had honored the print edition the previous six years.

The college’s latest annual report, “A Tradition of Learning in the World,” was among seven honored. The Office of Public Affairs produced the winning “Grease” video, one of seven winners in the YouTube category.

“They’re local, so their forecasts are a little more accurate, a little more specific,“ Jamerson said. “They are really good at pinpointing the very time a storm will go through. Like we’ll be thinking of dismissing at noon, but they’ll say, ‘No. It will be worse at noon than at your regular dismissal time.’”

The student-staffed Lake Effect Storm Prediction and Research Center opens for business at 4 a.m., serving mostly school districts from November through March.

Ten meteorology students run the Lake Effect Storm Prediction and Research Center. They use what they’re being taught in the college’s meteorology department and the latest weather models on sophisticated computer software to forecast what is going to happen in Oswego hour by hour for the next day.

From this information, superintendents and transportation supervisors can decide whether they should open schools on time, later than normal or close for the day.

Working out of Oswego’s meteorology lab in Hewitt Union, the Lake Effect Storm Prediction and Research Center opens for business at 4 a.m., when the student meteorologist on call checks the equipment to see if anything mean-looking is heading across Lake Ontario.

“Lake effect snow is very unpredictable — it’s a challenge,” said student Ben Noll ’13. “We utilize forecast models that don’t always put the (lake effect) bands in the right place.”

“We have to learn more about all the different models so we can better anticipate where the snow bands will go, “ said Jordan Rabinowitz ’13.

The Lake Effect Storm Prediction and Research Center was the brainchild of Scott Steiger ’99, an associate professor of meteorology at Oswego. He oversees the development and operations of the center, including recruiting students to do forecasting, leading planning meetings, developing research goals and scheduling forecasters. The number of student participants varies depending on current research objectives and the number of forecast clients.

So far this year, the Oswego City School District and Oswego County BOCES have contracts with the center, which began about five years ago. Others may sign up as the season progresses. Districts pay $400 a month, money that’s used to buy equipment.

“I thought it would be a big help to school districts and others to get personalized forecasts and have a meteorologist they can call at any time, “ Steiger said. “And this is a great opportunity for the students to apply what they learned.”

Robert Peters, Liverpool school district transportation director, said Liverpool used the center a few years ago, but doesn’t now. He said the
students’ forecasts were accurate
and helpful.

“We could find out what they think, is a storm coming our way, “ Peters said. “They’d provide us with information regarding storms that we were able to use to keep the kids safe.”

Brian Donegan ’13 and Tara Heck ’13 direct the center. “We do forecasts for the schools, we update forecasts throughout the day and we’re on call 24 hours a day seven days a week, “ Donegan said. “We also update our website at 4 a.m., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
each day.

“The most difficult thing about forecasting lake effect storms is their isolated nature,“ Donegan said. “It completely depends on the wind direction about a mile above the ground as to where the band will set up. Once that wind direction shifts, it shifts the band, so you really have to pay attention to the wind direction.”

The center’s service for school districts runs the winter season, Nov. 1 through the end of March.

— Debra J. Groom
Syracuse Post-Standard

From top: Nermine Atteya, Modern Academy for Computer Science and Management Technology, Egypt; Nergis Aziz, Suleyman Sah University, Istanbul, Turkey; Shusheng Sun, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, China; Honglin Yang, Hunan University, China; and Jun Ma, Shenyang University of Technology, China

This past academic year, five visiting scholars brought their unique insights to business classes, giving students a world-class opportunity. “This increases international exposure for our students,” said Dean Richard Skolnik. “It prepares them for the workforce of the 21st century.”

The program extends the reach and enriches the reputation of the business school, which also has an agreement to offer degrees in three courses of study to students from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in Hangzhou, China.

“Oswego’s business school is one of the best in the SUNY system,” said Shusheng Sun, visiting from the Wuhan University of Science and Technology. “[It] is relatively small compared to many other schools, but students and faculty have a very close and harmonious relationship.”

Nergis Aziz of Suleyman Sah University in Istanbul, Turkey, said she intends to continue work with Oswego faculty when she returns home.

“[I came to Oswego] for the teaching experience, but also for the research,” said Honglin Yang, an associate professor at Hunan University in China.

The school welcomed another Chinese scholar, Jun Ma from the Shenyang University of Technology, and Nermine Atteya from the Modern Academy for Computer Science and Management Technology in Cairo.

Atteya said leadership, motivation, mutual respect, cooperation and collaboration were paramount to her experience.

“SUNY Oswego has a lot of privileges in addition to its uniqueness. It is characterized by the diversity of professors, staff and visiting scholars,” she said. “The work climate is healthy, positive and focuses on interpersonal relationships.”

Yang praised the care put into making students successful.

“Using the heart to teach each student impresses me so much,” said Yang. “All faculty and staff devote their time and energy to developing students’ abilities and skills.”

By all counts, time spent at Oswego left a major impression on these scholars, but for reasons beyond complex subjects like organizational structure studies and quantitative analysis for management.

“It was an unforgettable experience for me,” said Ma. In addition to his teaching and presenting at Quest, he also organized student badminton and pool tournaments.

“I think it is significant to value people regardless of their ethnicities, religious preferences, lifestyles and points of view … Diversity just enriches mutual understanding,” said Aziz. “It is a great opportunity to live all together in the colorful world where each color contributes to peace and friendship.”

Since 2007, Oswego has hosted more than 60 students from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. A recently inked two-plus-two agreement allows ZSTU students to finish degrees in business administration, human resource management and marketing at Oswego.

Bob Moritz ’85

Here are four keys to developing your own personal brand:

* Tell your story.  Effective personal branding is based in authenticity. You need to know who you are and what makes you exceptional before you start to build and express your brand. Think about what makes you stand out: Which of your skills motivate you? Which get others excited about you? What do you want to be known for?

* Value your passions. To me, this is essential. In fact, I’d say that the “passion quotient” — or PQ — is just as important to me as the “intelligence quotient” — or IQ. It’s important that I surround myself with smart and interesting people who integrate their passions into what they do. For example, you wouldn’t know it to look at them, but two members of my leadership team make time for music. In fact, they perform publicly on the weekends — and we’ve even had them perform internally at large firm events. Another is a board member and extremely active in fundraising for a charity personally important to her. Another is an avid runner, who runs marathons. The list goes on. When you’re living in alignment with your values and integrating your passions into what you do, you inspire others to action.

* Give back. By contributing to a cause, especially when you give your time, you get to showcase your strengths and demonstrate your values. Giving to others can also provide you with new skills, new network connections and a true sense of fulfillment.

* Stand out online.  You use social media in your personal life, but you need to make sure the social media tools you use, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, are also helping you express your brand appropriately beyond your friends to a much larger audience. It’s important that when a potential employer or client “Googles” you, the search reflects the value you want them to see.  We encourage people to do an “online audit” and adjust their online brand to best reflect their value.

Finally, it’s important to remember that brands are not stagnant. They require care and feeding.

Whether you’re a student, a young professional, or an established pro, it’s never too early or too late to assess the status of your personal brand and focus on what you can do to continually enhance it.

— Bob Moritz ’85, Chairman and Senior U.S. Partner, PwC

Members of the 2012 School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board are, from left, Diane Cooper-Currier, Dean Richard Skolnik, Michael Durney ’83, John Wooley ’78, Patrick Murphy ’74, Jeff Gibbs ’80, Jocelyn Sokolski Egan ’84, Jeff Grimshaw, Kevin Bryans ’89, Tom Schneider, Greg Suarez ’09 and Curt Schultzberg ’87. Absent from the photo are: Joe Chemotti ’90, Russ Findlay ’89, Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham ’86, Matt Jenal ’78, Matt Labovich ’94, Michael Lisson ’94, Michael Paez ’80, Bob Pagano ’84, Lisa Tamilia ’89, Tim Thomas ’04, Mary Krakowiak Vanouse ’78 and Jackie Wilbur ’82.

Patrick Murphy ’74, the first chair of the advisory board, said the group “holds a lot of passion for the school.”

He praised the board’s work over the years, especially in the first AACSB accreditation process and the work to upgrade Rich Hall as the School of Business. “There was a dedicated campaign by the advisory board to create engagement and high levels of support and involvement,” Murphy said.

Current Advisory Board Chair Michael Durney ’83 agreed that the philanthropic contributions of alumni elevated the Rich Hall project from a building to enhancing the school.

“We put our stamp on the School of Business, giving it a home,” he said.

He is proud of alumni involvement in mentoring students, participating in the School of Business Alumni Symposium and speaking in classes, and hopes the board can foster more such
involvement in the future.

“I would like to find ways to enhance the preparedness of students whether by mentoring or classroom participation,” he added.

“The strength of the alumni network and where our people ended up — from a success standpoint — is a real testament to the school,” Durney said.

Marcia Belmar Willock ’50 gave $1 million to fund Oswego’s first endowed professorship.

In 2006, Willock made a five-year campaign pledge to Oswego for $1 million to create the Marcia Belmar Willock ’50 Endowed Visiting Assistant Professorship of Finance. It was the largest gift, exclusive of bequests, in the school’s history and its first endowed professorship. With the fund now fully endowed, the School of Business is pleased to announce the first Willock scholar.

Mary Tone Rodgers arrives this month to take on duties of teaching, advising and mentoring the next generation of financial experts.

“What I hope to do is impart to students the willingness to question the models — all the financial predictive models that we use on Wall Street that we took as bible. Those models don’t work in times of crisis nearly the way we relied on them to work,” Rodgers said.

“I want to impart to the next generation a sense of humility rather than arrogance — willingness to question our behaviors and reliance on computers,” Rodgers added.

“I am so delighted,” Willock said of Rodgers’ appointment, during a phone interview from her home in Maine. “She has done a great deal and her experience sounds tremendous.”

Speaking of the difference this professorship will make in students’ education about financial matters, Willock added, “I see this as opening
up a new door to the future.”

“We are thrilled to have Mary Tone Rodgers join our faculty,” said Dean Richard Skolnik. “She brings the best of both worlds — solid research background and experience in the field to benefit our students.”

Rodgers was a financial services executive with Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner and Smith for 30 years, rising to the rank of vice president of asset management. A Chartered Financial Analyst, she earned her doctorate in professional business studies from Pace University, and holds an MBA in finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Carleton College. She still maintains a private consulting business, managing $20 million in assets for individuals and nonprofits.

Mary Tone Rodgers is the first Marcia Belmar Willock ’50 Endowed Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance.

When the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, Rodgers became fascinated with what earlier crashes in history can teach investors today. Her studies led to J. Pierpont Morgan, and creation of the corporate bond market.

Rodgers is excited to be teaching in New York state where there are treasure troves of historical documents related to the world of finance, including records of local institutions like Pathfinder Bank. “I want to talk with community leaders … bridging what our university can accomplish and community needs,” Rodgers said. “I want to get our students jobs – not just jobs [but] great jobs.

“I want to open up some great pathways for them. I have contacts down in Manhattan and I want to cultivate long-term relationships with financial colleagues in our region too.”

Her enthusiasm for her field and her new position is contagious.

“I’m excited and humbled by this position,” Rodgers said. “I want to make sure that Oswego’s reputation and [Marcia Belmar Willock’s] reputation are only enhanced by the kinds of work we can do with this extraordinary gift to the university.

“I think she’s a woman who understands the power of the financial markets. But she’s also a woman who understands there have been holes in the way financial education is delivered — in those two things she and I are on the same page.”

At the national Beta Alpha Psi conference in Denver, SUNY Oswego students, from left, Michael Kohn ’12, Gary Gregory ’12, Bryant Tyler ’12 and Lindsay Martell ’11 accepted a $5,000 ethics award on behalf of the college’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, which is supported by CARE.

The center, which aims to financially support student and faculty development within the five-year accounting/MBA program, received a huge boost recently with an extremely generous gift to the program from PwC’s U.S. chairman and senior partner, Bob Moritz ’85.

Moritz’s donation will enhance CARE’s mission to support faculty research, diversity initiatives, continuing professional education, community outreach, social responsibility and ethical training in the accounting field.

Fostering diversity is important to Moritz, who makes that a focus of his leadership at PwC.

CARE funds enable high school seniors from underserved populations to explore possible careers in accounting at a four-day summer residency program Oswego sponsors in collaboration with the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

The program, in its third year, has already inspired some students to enroll at Oswego to pursue an accounting degree, said Dean Richard Skolnik.

CARE funds the participation of underrepresented students in a summer math camp on campus, which sets the stage for future success by giving them a head start on math skills so important to the profession.

CARE also supports a workshop for community college faculty and advisers to improve the transfer of underrepresented students to Oswego.

Jeff Gibbs ’80, vice president of Biogen Idec, was an early supporter of the CARE program.

“I think Oswego provided me with an excellent education and as a result I feel I’ve had a good career,” he said at the time. “I wanted to give back.”

With accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the School of Business supports an award-winning chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, a national accounting honor society for seniors and graduate students. A major CARE initiative helps send students to the Beta Alpha Psi national conference each year.

Donations to support CARE may be made to the Oswego College Foundation, 215 Sheldon Hall, Oswego, NY 13126 or at oswego.edu/givenow.

Gordon A. Lenz ’58 and his wife, Carol, visit Rich Hall, home to Oswego’s School of Business and the Gordon A. Lenz ’58 Center for Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, which he founded in 2010.

It’s an adventurous endeavor for a school of Oswego’s size, one undertaken with a portion of the generous gift of Gordon A. Lenz ’58. The longtime insurance executive endowed a fund to begin the SUNY Oswego Investment Club.

The roughly 20-member club plans to put forth 10 to 12 investment proposals this coming semester, incoming President Matt Hausman ’13 said. The club was finalizing its structure and by-laws for most of 2011-12, its first full year of operation.

The club, sponsored by the School of Business and using funds provided via the Oswego College Foundation, includes a faculty advisor, the school dean and an advisory board with two seats reserved for experts, preferably alumni.

“The alumni give us a lot of different perspectives,” Hausman said. “They’re able to guide us in the right directions.”

“I think just getting familiar with what the stock market is all about is a big benefit of the program,” Lenz said. “They’re learning what to stay away from and what to invest in.

“It’s not easy to make money,” he added, a lesson that club members will be able to learn with minimized risk.

“Learning those lessons early is going to help them in their lives,”
Lenz said. “As long as you learn from your mistakes, it’s OK to make [them] . . . as long as you don’t make the same mistake twice.”

In addition to the advisory board and heavy faculty involvement, the operating agreement includes
safeguards that help reduce the risk of loss. For example, no one investment can exceed 4 percent of the total investment fund.

“A lot of other schools have funds set up or use foundation money to invest,” Hausman said. “I don’t think a lot of people had the chance to build it from the ground up like we did.”

Hausman, who hopes to grow the group to 40 members in its second year, said the club brings priceless real world experience that gives students the edge in competitive industries. The intangibles have great value as well.

“We have full faculty involvement,” he said. “It’s not like they’re standing in the classroom speaking to us, they’re sitting among us … It’s like they are each one of the members.

“We’re both showing the effort and we’re all in it together.”

Based upon the Oswego College Foundation’s spending policy, a percentage of annual income will go to support the School of Business’s Finance, Insurance and Risk Management program and any remainder will be reinvested.

New York State Assemblyman William Barclay presents President Deborah F. Stanley with a State Assembly legislative proclamation recognizing SUNY Oswego’s Sesquicentennial anniversary.