Alumni News & Notes
1980
Jacqueline LaMar retired from the federal government and relocated to coastal North Carolina. She has been renovating her home and was fortunate to suffer minimal damage from Hurricane Florence. Jacqueline serves as president of the New Club at Brunswick Forest, is yearbook chair of the Daughters of the American Revolution Stamp Defiance Chapter, and is active in the Cape Fear River Watch. Her youngest daughter graduated from George Mason University in December.
1981
Bill Newman was recognized as a top national financial representative by Northwestern Mutual for the fifth time. He is affiliated with the Tronco Network Office, based in Latham, N.Y. Bill received the UAlbany Alumni Association’s Excellence in Business Award in 2018.
Sharon Potoker Liese is the creator and executive producer of the CBS true-crime series “Pink Collar Crimes.”
1982
Peter Weinstock was named to the National Law Journal’s list of Mergers & Acquisitions and Antitrust Trailblazers for 2018.
1984
Tracy Nimmo Zaweski is a franchise owner of Home Instead Senior Care in Hampton Bays, N.Y. Her daughter, Drew, is a junior accounting major at UAlbany.
Richard Joslin was named a 2019 Best Lawyer in America. He is an attorney at Collins Einhorn Farrell PC in Southfield, Mich.
Wendy Kalman was promoted from Willis Re’s Production Services unit to Knowledge Management Leader for the Investment, Risk and Reinsurance (IRR) segment of the parent company, Willis Towers Watson. She has been with the company since 2006 and resides in Marietta, Ga. Wendy blogs weekly for Atlanta Jewish Times/Times of Israel.
Joan Phillips was named dean of Barry University Andreas School of Business. She began her career as a marketing professor, then served as department chair, associate dean, and special assistant to the president. She also served as a fellow for the American Council on Education in 2015-2016.
1985
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos appointed Paul Gasparini secondary-school principal. He chairs the Central New York High School Principals Consortium and was named state high-school principal of the year by the School Administrators Association of New York State. Paul has served as principal of Jamesville-DeWitt High School in Dewitt for 17 years.
Gary Farkas joined the UAlbany Department of Information Technology as a senior solutions analyst. He and fellow Telethon alumni celebrated the group’s 50th anniversary during Homecoming 2018.
Gerard Campione was elected second vice president of the Edison Township Education Association. He teaches sixth grade English at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Edison, N.J.
Mark Gesner is the executive director of The Stritch Hub for Innovation and Community Engaged Learning at Cardinal Stritch University. He recently completed a manuscript and is marketing his work to publishers.
1986
Deirdre Sanders of Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds in Concord, Mass., was sworn in as president of the Boston Patent Law Association in December.
Steve Gawley was named a 2018 top music lawyer by Billboard magazine. He is executive VP, Business and Legal Affairs, at Universal Music Group.
Jennifer Manner, senior vice president of Regulatory Affairs at EchoStar/Hughes, was named one of the most powerful women in the world in telecommunications and media by CableFax.
1987
Cheryl Dessen Korman received a Leadership in Law award from Long Island Business News. She is an appellate lawyer at Rivkin Radler Attorneys at Law in Uniondale, N.Y.
1989
Sharyn Potter discussed individual and societal economic and human capital losses attributed to sexual violence in her TEDx Talk, “Why Society Can’t Afford Campus Sexual Violence.” The talk can be streamed at http://bit.ly/campusviolencecosts.
1991
Erika Irish Brown was included in Worth magazine’s list of the top 100 most powerful men and women in finance for the second consecutive year. She was named chief diversity officer at Goldman Sachs in July.
Michael Balch joined Saiber LLC as partner in the Insurance and Reinsurance practice group in the Florham Park, N.J. office.
Adam Cotumaccio became the executive vice president, chief impact and philanthropy officer for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
In Jan., Stephen H. Soucy was the recipient of the LA Theatre Alliance 2019 Ovation Award for Best Production of a Musical for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
1993
John M. Bagyi was named a Best Lawyer in America for the 13th consecutive year. He also was named a 2018 Upstate New York Super Lawyer.
New York Life Senior Vice President Carla Rutigliano recently was appointed to the executive management committee. She will become head of Human Resources in July 2019 while retaining oversight of Corporate Communications, Corporate Responsibility and Events Management.
1995
Rosa Clemente was featured in the News Beat Podcast “The Truth About Puerto Rico: A U.S. Colony.”
Michael Tobman of Tobman Strategies in Brooklyn recently purchased Queens Tribune. He is counsel to Ocean Gold Media. Michael serves on the Rockefeller College Board of Advisors.
Chermia Smith-Hoeffner was named VP of Human Resources at the National Audubon Society.
1996
Jason Samuels of Farrell Fritz in Uniondale, N.Y., was named a 2018 New York Metro Super Lawyer.
Jonathan Temps serves as counsel in the North America banking, finance and major projects practice at Baker McKenzie in Chicago.
1997
Jennifer Riekert was named one of Westchester County’s most impressive female leaders of 2018 by 914INC. magazine. She is the first female named vice president of Communications and Strategic Initiatives at New York Medical College and is the only female member of NYMC’s senior leadership.
1999
Melanie Kadlic Meren completed the Political Leaders Program at the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. She is running for the Fairfax County School Board in November 2019.