Josephine Tamilia

So when Lisa Tamilia ’89 looked out over a sea of faces as she gave the keynote address at Honors Convocation in April 2010, she knew in an instant how she could best honor the memory of her mother, who had passed away in 2001.

As she addressed the hundreds of students being recognized for their academic achievements alongside their supportive parents, Tamilia was inspired to endow a scholarship for an Oswego student in memory of her mother.

“She was always encouraging … always there to believe in you,” Tamilia said of her mother.

An avid Syracuse University basketball fan, Josephine Tamilia was full of “happy energy,” according to her daughter.

A very sociable person, she loved cooking great Italian meals for family occassions. She enjoyed international travel, and Lisa Tamilia cherishes memories of family trips to Italy when she was just 3 years old and Argentina when she was 5.

The Lisa Tamilia ’89 Alumni Scholarship in Memory of Josephine Tamilia benefits a School of Business student with financial need, who has overcome some obstacle or challenge on the way to a degree. Rather than tying the scholarship to a grade point average, Tamilia sought a student who was focused on achieving outside the classroom, giving back to the campus and community.

She feels the college found a worthy first recipient in Trevor Bacon ’15, a business administration major.

He is president of the Seneca Hall Council and a member of the new SUNY Oswego Investment Club, created with an endowment from Gordon Lenz ’58. Bacon was elected vice president of the Residence Hall Advisory Board and officiates at sporting events for Campus Recreation.

Lisa Tamilia ’89, left, endowed a scholarship in memory of her mother, Josephine Tamilia, with Trevor Bacon ’15, right, as the first recipient.

The son of a commercial loan officer, Bacon aims to follow in his father’s footsteps with a career in banking. He embarked on the road toward that career this summer, working over the break as a bank teller.

“I chose the right university and the right major,” Bacon wrote in his scholarship application. “The great community of friends I have and the relationship with my professors are a big part of my current and future success at Oswego.”

Tamilia credits Oswego with a role in her own success. Currently senior district sales manager for Erie Insurance Group, she is an active and generous alumna.

Tamilia is a member of the School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board and Alumni Sharing Knowledge program. She also has students shadow her on the job to gain important experience and networking opportunities, and serves as a trainer and mentor to the Students in Free Enterprise organization at Oswego. She was a 2006 recipient of Central New York 40 Under 40 and now serves as a judge for the competition.

Through her daughter’s generous gift of an endowed scholarship, Josephine Tamilia will be able to support generations of Oswego students on the way to their academic dreams.

But the numbers she is proudest of add up to one huge accomplishment — 320 miles walked by Patti and 500 miles by Noreen Moloney ’90 and more than $500,000 raised for breast cancer research.

Patti Fennessy Novy ’89, at left, and Noreen Moloney ’90, right, lead a team that has raised more than half a million dollars for breast cancer research.

The Alpha Sigma Chi sisters have led a team in the New York City Avon Breast Cancer Walk since 2004, the year after the disease claimed the life of Michele, the sister of Patti’s husband, David Novy ’89.

Little by little, their team — the Wellness Warriors — grew in numbers and fundraising prowess. At the October 2011 walk, they passed a landmark. Their eight-year team total is $582,824. They placed third for fundraising the last two years, out of more than 300 teams.

Patti and Noreen are proudest that their team, which numbers between 30 and 40 walkers each year, raised their money without any corporate sponsorships. They work all year to accomplish their goal, with fundraisers at a local bowling alley, a Super Bowl pool, a comedy show and a bartending night at a local establishment.

When walk weekend comes each fall, they join 4,000 other participants for a two-day 40-mile trek through New York City.

“We walk because we can,” says Patti. “A lot of people can’t.”

“A walk is easy compared to what a cancer patient has to go through,” says Noreen, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor. “It’s my way of giving back and helping others — just a chance to make a difference.”

The friends realize that finding the cure to one cancer is the key to curing all cancers. And having reached a half-million dollar milestone, Patti has another goal. “I don’t want to walk forever,” she says. “I would love it if I never had to do again, because that would mean we have a cure.”

For 15 years, Bill followed the wild chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, capturing the intimate details of their daily lives for the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which is led by renowned primatologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall.

Psychology major Nikki Packard ’11, left, talks with the wife-and-husband team of Kristin Mosher ’89, center, a much-published wildlife photographer, and Bill Wallauer, videographer for the Jane Goodall Institute, Feb. 10 during a visit to Distinguished Service Professor Paul Voninski’s Anthropology 280 class in Mahar Hall.

He has videotaped chimpanzee births, dominance displays, infanticide attempts, encounters with snakes and “rain dances.” Much of his footage is unprecedented — including capturing a live birth on tape.

Kristin is a professional wildlife photographer and sound recordist. She previously worked as a Jane Goodall Institute staff member, and continues to partner with Bill on production work for JGI. The alumna’s photographic work has appeared in many publications, including National Geographic, BBC Wildlife Magazine and numerous books.

Currently, the couple is working on a three-year project with Disneynature documenting the behavior of chimpanzees for an upcoming major motion picture.