Out and About

By Christy Doyle, M.B.A.'04

Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson Inspires

Photos: Mark Schmidt

About 3,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends attended the Oct. 15 World Within Reach Speaker Series talk by basketball legend, entrepreneur and philanthropist Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson.

Above, left, Student Association President Zaffir Uddin chats with Johnson prior to the talk. SA sponsored the event, which also afforded the sports legend the opportunity to greet other admirers, above, right.

UAlbany Visits the Big Apple

Photos: Marty Heitner

Manhattan’s Hard Rock Café was the setting Oct. 27 for the Metro New York alumni event. Guests included Purple and Gold Student Ambassador Ian Ellis-Jones and Elda Di Re ’83, and Stacy Kanter ’79 and Howard Cohen ’77.

Citizen Laureate Awards Dinner Honors Altes, Curley, Balint

Photo: Joan Heffler

The 32nd annual Citizen Laureate Dinner, held at the Hall of Springs in Saratoga Springs Nov. 16, honored three civic leaders and grossed more than $110,000 to support University at Albany Foundation scholarship initiatives. Pictured, from left, are University President George M. Philip; Community Laureates Wallace W. Altes and Robert M. Curley; Academic Laureate John Balint, M.D.; and UAlbany Foundation President George R. Hearst III.

Winter Commencement Celebrates Achievement

Photo: Island Photography

UAlbany’s Winter Commencement Ceremony, held Dec. 4 at SEFCU Arena, celebrated the accomplishments of more than 1,000 graduates. Of that number:

• 577 students earned undergraduate degrees in 50 different majors and represented seven countries, including Korea, China and Jamaica. Ages ranged from 19 to 52. Fifty-four percent were women; the class also included nine military veterans.
• 463 students earned graduate degrees; they came from sixteen states and 23 countries, including China, Korea, India, Canada and Morocco. Ages ranged from 22 to 60. Sixty percent of the graduate students were women.