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.

The Princeton Review cited the School of Business for small class sizes, professor-student interaction, team activities, knowledgeable faculty and engaged alumni, among other measures.

“It’s a testament to the dedication of our faculty, the engagement of our students and the active involvement of our alumni,” said School of Business Dean Richard Skolnik, who pointed out the school has made the list each year since it began as the “Best 143” MBA-awarding schools in 2005.

Pathange M ’02 of UBS Securities talks with Brian Gambardella ’12 at last fall’s Alumni Business Symposium.

The dean noted that campus-community-alumni interaction is crucial to School of Business value and achievement. The Oswego Alumni Association co-sponsors the annual Alumni Business Symposium, where accomplished professionals return to campus to interact with students and faculty.

“There is a triangulation of contact that is established among students, faculty and alumni,” Skolnik said. “It’s that culture of engagement that is passed on from one class year of students to another.”

As a recent example, the Gordon A. Lenz ’58 Family Foundation Center for Finance, Insurance and Risk Management in the School of Business, established by a major gift from Gordon A. Lenz ’58, will support the first dedicated four-year program to focus on insurance and risk management studies in the SUNY system, one of only a handful of college centers for a discipline that has increased in prominence and importance as the nation seeks solutions to health care issues.

— Jeff Rea ’71

Gordon Lenz ’58 was a young teacher just a year out of Oswego when his infant daughter became ill. In order to supplement his starting teacher’s salary to pay medical bills, Lenz went to work selling insurance part time.

He had such a talent for it that by his second year, he owned the agency and had 55 employees. So he left the classroom and embarked on a lifetime in business that would see him rise to the top of the insurance profession in New York state, own two banks, and even invest in a cement factory in Abu Dhabi.

Gordon Lenz ’58, left, with his grandson, Raymond Collins ’11, and wife, Carol, in the Gordon A. Lenz Center in Rich Hall.

Now Lenz has generously endowed a new educational center at his alma mater, the Gordon A. Lenz Center for Finance, Insurance and Risk Management in the School of Business.

The Lenz Center will support the first dedicated four-year program to focus on insurance and risk management studies in the SUNY system. It will become one of only a handful of college centers for a discipline that has increased in prominence and importance as the nation seeks solutions to current health care issues.

It’s a logical outlet for his philanthropy. Lenz, a member of the Oswego College Foundation board of directors, is a widely known and respected insurance industry innovator, recognized for having created affordable, comprehensive insurance products for small businesses in New York state.

He decided to fund the unique center because of his concern about the future of his profession.

Companies used to train agents not only to sell their products but also to advise clients, offer estate planning and evaluate businesses or property in order to insure it properly, he noted.

“With the demise of high quality insurance companies came a corresponding drop in the level of training provided to agents,” he said on a recent visit to campus with his wife, Carol.

The former president of the Life Insurance Association of New York State who taught insurance for 16 years, Lenz has another reason for supporting business education at Oswego. His grandson, Raymond Collins ’11, hopes to enter the family business. “I’d like him to be well prepared when he walks through the front door,” Lenz said.

“Gordon Lenz’s very generous support for SUNY Oswego in endowing the Gordon A. Lenz Family Foundation Center for Finance, Insurance and Risk Management in the School of Business is a concrete expression of his commitment to visionary leadership in the industry, now and long into the future,” SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley said. “Generations of students will be inspired to embark — as he once did — on a meaningful journey to pursue a career in insurance adhering to ethical and socially responsible standards. His name will be an honored legacy at SUNY Oswego.”

The new Lenz Center will support a wide variety of potential areas, such as student education, continuing professional education, faculty research, diversity initiatives, community outreach, and social responsibility and ethical training in risk management and insurance.

Lenz is chairman and chief executive officer of Conference  Associates Inc., which provides group health insurance to more than 150,000 small businesses throughout New York state, and its affiliate, the New York State Business Group. He is also a founder and member of the board of directors of Gold Coast Bank.

The chairman and CEO of Cue Brokerage Corp., a commercial property and casualty insurance agency, Lenz has been actively involved in the Professional Insurance Marketing Association and the Long Island Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

— Michele Reed