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Arthur, Chester Alan (1829-1881)
Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont. In 1839 his family moved to Union Village (now Greenwich), New York, where his father, William Arthur, was a Baptist minister and co-founder of the New York Anti-Slavery Society. He attended Union College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1848, and then taught at academies in North Pownel, VT and Cohoes, NY, and studied law at the State and National Law School in Ballston Spa, NY. In 1854, he was admitted to the New York State bar and began practicing law in New York City. Influenced by the strong anti-slavery views of his father, and those of Union College President Eliphalet Nott, Arthur worked on several important anti-slavery and discrimination cases, including the Lemmon Slave case in which slaves traveling through New York State from one slave state to another were granted their freedom. In 1855, Arthur also won the case that integrated New York City’s public transportation system. At the start of the Civil War, Arthur was assigned to the Quartermaster General’s office, quickly proving to be an excellent administrator. By July 1862, Arthur had been promoted to Quartermaster General, and during his time in that post he far exceeded New York’s quota of troops – at a critical time for President Lincoln. In 1871, Arthur was nominated to be the Collector of the New York Customhouse. The Customhouse handled millions of dollars of the nation’s customs receipts and the collector was responsible for managing the patronage system that was the basis for hiring and firing employees. The popular Arthur was re-nominated for a second term in 1875, but in 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes ousted Arthur from the Customhouse after a lengthy struggle over civil service reform. Working tirelessly for the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party, Arthur was nominated to be James Garfield’s Vice-President at the 1880 Republican National Convention. Shot after only four months in office, Garfield lived for eighty days, then died on September 19, 1881. On September 20, Chester Alan Arthur was sworn in as the twenty-first President of the United States. As President, Arthur took a generally progressive stand, signing and vigorously implementing the 1883 Pendleton Act, or civil service reform bill. He was also responsible for rebuilding and modernizing the U.S. Navy. Some of Arthur’s other executive actions remain more controversial: after vetoing a first version, he signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first legislation of its kind to restrict immigration to the United States. Although pressed by some members of the Republican party to continue his public service, Arthur retired from politics after serving his one term as President. Arthur was passionate about the finer things in life – good food and wine, elegant clothes, and fashionable surroundings. When he moved into the White House he had many of the rooms redecorated by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his firm Associated Artists, the most fashionable interior designers of the time. Perhaps the most magnificent of these spaces was a stained glass screen in red, white, and blue created for the entry hall. Robust and healthy all his life, Chester Arthur began to suffer chronic pain and illness shortly after becoming president and in March of 1882 the Surgeon General diagnosed him with Bright’s Disease, a terminal kidney ailment. He died on November 18, 1886, only a year-and-a-half after leaving office.
Barrett, Andrea
Born in Boston on November 16, 1954, Andrea Barrett grew up on Cape Cod and came to Union College to major in Biology. Studying extensively with Professors Carl George and Peter Tobiessen, she earned a B.S. in Biology in 1974. Thus, she did not start her acclaimed writing career with a focus on literature; instead, with her background in biology, and interests in zoology and history, she translated a love of the natural world and the past into the world of fiction. Barrett has published six novels, including Lucid Stars (1988), Secret Harmonies (1989), The Middle Kingdom (1991), Forms of Water (1993), The Voyage of the Narwhal (1998), and The Air We Breathe: A Novel (2007). She has co-edited two anthologies on writing and has published two collections of short stories: Ship Fever (1996) which won the National Book Award in 1996, and Servants of the Map (2002) which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2003. In her writing, Barrett brings together her passions for science, history, and literature, exploring the work and lives of scientists, and compellingly merging the seemingly separate disciplines of literature and science. Her books and characters are living things, subject to the same natural laws as the scientific world they describe. Putting the natural world into literature, Barrett has dramatized to countless readers the often overlooked similarities between science and art. Barrett’s many prestigious awards attest to her ability to enliven literary and scientific culture. In addition to receiving the 1996 National Book Award, and to being a finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, her book prizes include two O. Henry Awards; three awards for Best American Short Story; and a Pushcart Prize. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship (1997), a MacArthur Fellowship (2001), an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2003), and a Fellowship from the Center for Writers and Scholars from the New York Public Library (2003). In 1996, she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Union College; in 1997 she delivered an address as Union College’s distinguished Minerva Speaker; and in 2006, she was featured in Union’s Homecoming Alumni Writers Series. She has taught at numerous institutions, including Williams College, Warren Wilson College, the New York State Summer Writer’s Institute at Skidmore College, and at the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference at Middlebury College. Andrea Barrett’s previous and ongoing work show her commitment to illustrating the exciting links between literature and science; and her readers continue to appreciate her passionate commitment to the rigor of science and the art of fiction.
Berger, Theodore R.
Ted Berger is in the business of engineering replacement parts for the brain. His work on developing implantable neural prostheses is helping to move the fields of bioengineering, neuroscience, and medicine to a whole new level. In his own words, "We are on the brink of stretching the capabilities of the human race." Dr. Theodore W. Berger is the David Packard Professor of Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurobiology, and Director of the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California. In 1972, Berger graduated summa cum laude from Union College after majoring in math and psychology and taking the Catlin Prize for best scholastic record. He went on to Harvard University to study the relationships between brain function and behavior. Soon after arriving, he and another graduate student made a discovery on the brain basis of classical conditioning; their paper was published in Science. By the time he finished graduate school, Berger had already published ten papers and had won the James McKeen Cattell Award from the New York Academy of Sciences for his thesis research. While at USC, Dr. Berger has received an National Institute of Mental Health Senior Scientist Award; was awarded the Lockheed Senior Research Award in 1997; was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 1998; received a Person of the Year "Impact Award" by the AARP for his work in neural prostheses; was a National Academy of Sciences International Scientist Lecturer in 2003; and was an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Distinguished Lecturer in 2004-2005. Dr. Berger was elected a Senior Member of the IEEE in 2005, receiving a “Great Minds, Great Ideas” award from the Electrical Engineering Times in the same year, and in 2006 was awarded USC’s Associates Award for Creativity in Research and Scholarship. In 1997, Dr. Berger became Director of the Center for Neural Engineering at USC, an organization that helps to unite faculty with cross-disciplinary interests in neuroscience, engineering, and medicine. He has published over 170 journal articles and book chapters, and is co-editor of the book Toward Replacement Parts for the Brain: Implantable Biomimetic Electronics as Neural Prostheses, published by MIT Press. That volume “outlines current advances in research on the intracranial implantation of devices that can communicate with the brain in order to restore sensory, motor, or cognitive functions.” Dr. Berger’s research involves experimental and theoretical approaches to developing biologically constrained mathematical models of neural systems. Much of his current research is focused on the hippocampus, a neural system essential for learning and memory functions. In the process of doing this work, Berger has become a vocal advocate for interdisciplinary research. One member of Berger’s research team is his wife, Roberta Diaz Brinton, professor of molecular pharmacology at the USC School of Pharmacy. Says Brinton, "There is a grander vision, and to realize that grander vision requires a team of people to work together. Instead of each of us making bricks, we are all building the pyramid together… We will certainly see the application of this technology within our careers."
Beuth, Philip R.
Philip Beuth was a producer and president of various television and radio programs including the top rated Good Morning America and the groundbreaking TV series In A New Light that rose the awareness of AIDS from 1992 - 1995. When he was young, Philip R. Beuth ’54 took a paper route in his native Staten Island to help his widowed mother raise him and his brother. He never thought he could afford Union College until he met Frank Bailey, Class of 1885. Referred by a family friend, this promising young man met Bailey in his cavernous New York City office, heavily adorned with Union paraphernalia. The trustee and longtime treasurer of the College welcomed Beuth with an unabashed enthusiasm for Union. After a brief meeting, the financier shook Beuth’s hand and promised that he would provide a scholarship to augment what Beuth would earn by working. It was a gesture Beuth would recall for the rest of this life. Finding success as a television executive, he has followed Bailey’s philanthropic example, aiding organizations ranging from Union College to UNICEF and more recently to the Guadalupe Center in Immokalee, Fla. “As our company began to do well, we wanted to give back,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that for some time and I’ve been urging others to do the same.” While a student at Union, Beuth took a job as a page at WRGB television and WGY radio, gaining experience by observation in everything from camera operation to directing. The experience also connected him with executives who recognized his potential and cultivated his career. When he graduated from Union as an English major, WRGB underwrote his tuition to what would become the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. Beuth earned a Master of Science degree in television production, producing a documentary on football player Jim Brown, which he sold to a Syracuse TV station. Beuth continued in television production as a producer and director at a fledgling Albany television station, now WTEN, the original station of the newly formed Capital Cities Communications. He went on to manage company stations in West Virginia, California and Buffalo, making each an audience leader in its market. Capital Cities steadily grew its holdings by adding television and radio stations, newspapers and cable outlets. In 1985, when Capital Cities purchased the ABC TV network, the Wall Street Journal called the company “the minnow that swallowed the whale.” Beuth joined the ABC Network in 1986 as vice president for early morning programming. After a 40-year career, he retired as president of CapCities/ABC’s top-rated Good Morning America in 1995. Among the other highlights of his career, Beuth was responsible for the groundbreaking In A New Light, a TV series of five three-hour specials on AIDS that ran between 1992 and 1995. He initiated a prime time ABC series that featured the Beatles. He also served on the boards of UNICEF and DIFFA, the Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS. In 1997, he and his family established the Beuth Foundation with a mission to provide “support for the medical sciences, educational opportunities, and the elevation of the human spirit.” To date, the Beuth Foundation has provided grants to more than 200 institutions. For the past seven years, Beuth has been a board member for a non-profit daycare center in the immigrant farming community of Immokalee in Southwest Florida. He and his wife, Mary, have been active in the Guadalupe Center, which operates two dawn-to-dusk schools and has placed more than 80 students in American colleges in recent years. Beuth is a Trustee Emeritus of Union. In 2004, one of Union’s seven Minerva Houses was named in his honor. Beuth House is the former home of Psi Upsilon, of which Beuth was president his senior year. In 1995, he received the College’s Eliphalet Nott Medal, awarded to alumni who through perseverance have attained distinction in their fields.
Bigelow, John
John Bigelow was born in Malden, New York in 1817. He began college at the tender age of thirteen at Washington (now Trinity) College in Hartford, Connecticut. Bigelow pursued a broad course of study at Washington College, yet when he failed to attain Junior honors, he engaged in protracted arguments with some of the faculty. During this time his brother David, a Union College student (Class of 1835), wrote and urged him to transfer to Union. Dissatisfied with several aspects of Washington College, John transferred to Union in the spring of 1834 as a third term Junior, and graduated in July 1835. At Union, Bigelow was a serious student who pursued his interest in books and reading by spending long hours in the library. He was also a member of the Sigma Phi and Philomathean Societies. In spite of his respect for the faculty and President Nott, Bigelow left Union with strong feelings of hostility. He didn’t receive any honors at Commencement and argued vehemently with Professor Alonzo Potter that he should have. In spite of his negative feelings at graduation, in 1869 Bigelow spoke in New York to Union alumni and made several positive references to his time at Union. In the years after graduation Bigelow moved to New York City to read for the bar examination. He also began to write political essays and articles for newspapers and became involved in Democratic Party politics. In 1849 he became managing editor and co-owner of the New York Evening Post with the poet William Cullen Bryant. Bigelow was strongly opposed to slavery and in 1855 he broke with the Democratic Party and joined the Republicans because the former party supported the extension of slavery into Kansas while the latter did not. After Bigelow retired from the Post in 1861, President Lincoln appointed him as consul-general and later minister (1865-66) to France. While serving in that capacity, Bigelow worked to insure that various European countries, including France, would not support the Confederates in the Civil War. He was also instrumental in encouraging the French to support the Union blockade of Confederate ports. While serving as a diplomat in Paris, Bigelow discovered the manuscript of Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. He edited and published Franklin’s work in 1868. In 1866 John Bigelow resigned as minister to France and returned to the United States. He once again became active in politics and worked to assist his friend Samuel Tilden in his successful campaign for the governorship of New York. Among Bigelow’s many literary accomplishments, in addition to the Franklin Autobiography, are his five volume memoir Retrospections of an Active Life, The Bible that was Lost and is Found, Jamaica in 1850, and The Mystery of Sleep. A number of Bigelow’s writings reflect his interest in the philosophy of Emmanuel Swedenborg. Perhaps the most important event in Bigelow’s public life was his involvement in the establishment of the New York Public Library. Using monies from the estate of his close friend Samuel Tilden, Bigelow and others were able to establish a public library in New York City which they believed would help to create an informed citizenry. The main branch of the library was opened in 1911 only a few months before John Bigelow’s death. Today, Schaffer Library at Union College houses John Bigelow’s personal library which numbers several thousand volumes. In addition, a large volume of his correspondence is housed in the Special Collections department of the library, as well as some personal artifacts, such as his typewriter and his death mask, given to the College by his family in 1958.
Binder, Helena
Helena Binder has distinguished herself as an actor, director of plays and musicals, and director of opera. Born in Schenectady, she entered Union College in the Class of 1976, choosing to live all four years in North College rather than at home. Her career in the theatre business seems destined from the start of her collegiate career, as she missed most of Freshmen Orientation to take part in the on-campus filming of The Way We Were. While at Union, Ms. Binder was a Fine Arts major, which included courses in art, music, and drama. In later years, when she turned her attention to opera, she found having a background in all three disciplines during her college years to have been an advantage. She went on to earn a Master’s degree in Educational Theatre from NYU. In the early 1970s there was no Department of Theatre at Union. Nonetheless, Ms. Binder did get to act in productions of Moonchildren, Tartuffe, and Arsenic and Old Lace, which were put on by the student group, Montebanks. In the 1990s she was invited back to Union College as a guest director for Ten Little Indians and Equus and she choreographed a production of When Black Patent Leather Shoes Reflect Up. She has maintained other professional connections with the College. She has, for instance, collaborated with Bob Bernhardt ’73, Music Director of Chattanooga Opera, on four opera productions. Professor Charles Steckler has designed the sets for Ms. Binder’s productions of The Rothchilds and A Little Night Music. Her interest in education has led her to work with the young artist programs of Minnesota, Portland, Saratoga, and Glimmerglass Operas and to a position as Lecturer in Acting in the Opera Institute of Boston University’s School of Fine Arts. She is also a guest teacher in Improv at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering. A list of her opera productions includes opera companies across the country. A selected list of these companies and some of the works she has directed include: New York City Opera: Ermione, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse, and Madame Butterfly; Minnesota Opera: L’italiana in Algeri and The Tales of Hoffmann; Dallas Opera: The Barber of Seville; Pittsburgh Opera: Fidelio; Opera Toledo:Madame Butterfly; Opera Saratoga: L’italiana in Algeri, La Bohème and Madame Butterfly; Chattanooga Symphony and Opera: Madame Butterfly, The Magic Flute and La Bohème; Opera Roanoke: La Traviata and Hänsel and Gretel; and the Portland Opera: Rodelinda and Fidelio. Ms. Binder has the distinction of being the director of the oldest political satire revue in the country, namely the New York State Legislative Correspondents Association Show, which she has directed for almost three decades. As an actor, she has performed in the United States and abroad in roles ranging from Peter Pan to Shakespeare’s Juliet. When asked her philosophy about opera production, Ms. Binder wrote: “I regard myself as a storyteller. I approach each opera as new material that has never been seen before, striving to connect with the story personally and find what is real and what is truly in the text as well as the music, rather than just doing what is expected. What is being said and how is it meaningful to today’s audience? How do I connect with it? And I’m always looking at the big picture. What is the story I want to tell?” Ms. Binder’s career offers today’s Union College students a wonderful example of what can happen when one combines talent with a strong liberal arts education. Ms. Binder has developed skills in a variety of artistic disciplines and uses them in both the professional and educational realms.
Blumberg, Baruch Samuel
Baruch Samuel Blumberg, M.D., an internationally renowned physician, researcher, and scholar, is best known for his discovery of the “Australian antigen,” a human antigen that provokes antibody response against hepatitis B. His discovery led to the development of a successful vaccine against hepatitis B, a disease associated with liver cancer. This vaccine was the first developed against a major form of cancer and has been administered to millions of people worldwide. Blumberg was the co-recipient with D. Carlton Gajdusek, M.D. of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1976 for "discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases" and specifically, for the discovery of the hepatitis B virus. The discovery of the hepatitis B virus is considered one of the greatest medical achievements of the 20th century. Blumberg and his colleagues discovered the virus in 1967, developed the blood test that is used to detect the virus, and invented the first hepatitis B vaccine in 1969. These outstanding accomplishments have contributed significantly towards making the world a much healthier place to live. Blumberg was born in New York in 1925, earned his bachelor’s degree with honors in physics at Union College in 1946, and received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Union in 1977. He had joined the U.S. Navy in 1943 and was a landing ship commanding officer when he finished college in 1946. In 1951 Blumberg received his M.D. from Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, and he earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Balliol College, Oxford in 1957. In 1960, he was appointed chief of the Geographic Medicine and Genetics Section of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He is a Distinguished Scientist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia where he has worked since 1964. In 1977 he was appointed Professor of Medicine, Human Genetics, and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. From 1989–1994, Blumberg was Master of Balliol, Oxford University. From 1999–2002 he was Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrobiology Institute. The American Philosophical Society elected him President in 2005. In 2002, Blumberg published the scientific memoir Hepatitis B: The Hunt for a Killer Virus, describing his work to discover the hepatitis B antigen. He has taught medical anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and has been a visiting professor in India (Bangalore); Singapore; University of Kentucky (Lexington); Indiana University (Bloomington); the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; and Stanford University. In 2004 Blumberg helped to establish the Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research. The Lewis and Clark provides funding for field studies by young scientists in disciplines ranging from geology to anthropology to epidemiology. Blumberg balances his intense professional life with a love of nature, taking time to run, hike, canoe, and work on his farm. He says, “shoveling manure for a day on my farm is an excellent counterbalance to intellectual work.”
Butterfield, Daniel
His services to the country in the Civil War, which raised him to the rank of Major General of U.S. Volunteers, are held in proud remembrance by all Union men, and his career as a public-spirited citizen is an illustrious example of the civic virtue which his Alma Mater inculcates. - Union College Board of Trustees Born on October 31st, 1831, in Utica, New York, Daniel Butterfield attended Utica Academy, and then graduated from Union College. While at Union he was a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity. After graduating in 1849 at the age of eighteen, he studied law but was too young to take the New York bar exam, so he toured the country instead. The country was moving towards war, and wishing to do his part for the abolition of slavery, he joined the Utica Citizen’s Corps as a private. In 1849, his father founded the express company of Butterfield, Wasson, and Co., which later became the American Express Company. Serving as superintendent of the company’s eastern division, Butterfield went to New York City, where he joined the Seventy-First regiment of New York militia as a captain. In 1859 he was elected Colonel of the Twelfth Regiment. A week after the United States troops surrendered Fort Sumter, Butterfield led the Twelfth to Washington, D.C.; it was the first Union regiment to cross into Virginia. Observers in the nation’s capital complimented the Twelfth: “their fine appearance and splendid marching won the admiration of the same army officers who had ridiculed them before… the perfect drill and efficiency of the regiment attracted a great deal of attention in Washington.” Butterfield’s commander, General Fitz-John Porter, wrote of him, “He was certainly a splendid commander and a good model for any one: quick, brave, and his men had perfect confidence in him.” During the spring of 1862, Butterfield wrote Camp and Outpost Duty a training manual for new officers, selling over ten thousand copies. His brigade was attacked by the Confederates at Gaines Mill on June 27, and although Butterfield was wounded in battle, he seized the flag of the 83rd Pennsylvania to rally his troops. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1892 for this courageous act. As the army recovered from the Seven Days battles, Butterfield summoned his bugler and composed the enduring the lights-out call, “Taps.” Selected to serve as chief of staff for Joseph Hooker, and then George Meade, Butterfield greatly increased morale and improved efficiency. He developed the army’s system of corps badges, which later spread to other Union armies and continues in a modified form today. During the Confederate bombardment before Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, he was again wounded. After recovering, Butterfield rejoined Hooker in the West and fought at Chattanooga. He commanded a division in the Atlanta campaign, but hampered by his Gettysburg wound, he returned to New York in July 1864. In 1869 he became head of the U.S. Sub-Treasury in New York City, resigning this post a few months later due to the plunging price of gold and stocks on Black Friday. Butterfield remained involved with Union College for the rest of his life and established a course of thirty lectures given by many notables of the day, including Andrew Carnegie, General P.S. Michie, and his classmate Frederick Seward (son of William Henry Seward). He presented the commencement address in 1895 when was appointed honorary chancellor of Union University. Elected president of the Alumni Association in 1895, he later became a Trustee. He died July 17, 1901 in Cold Spring, and was buried at West Point, despite having never attended that institution. His monument is arguably the most ornate in the West Point Cemetery.
Chandler, Charles F.
Charles F. Chandler came to Union College in 1857, a twenty-three year old Harvard grad with a Ph.D. from Gottingen at age nineteen. He would go on to become one of the leading chemists of his generation. He had been hired at Union in the dual role of assistant professor and janitor - because there were insufficient funds for an academic appointment only. Indeed, Chandler's janitorial duties, which included the building of six anthracite coal fires every morning, may have been his most important contribution since the temperature that winter in Schenectady dipped to minus twenty-nine degrees. Within a year, Charles Joy, who was the professor of chemistry, left Union for Columbia, and Chandler was promoted to professor; moreover, his janitorial duties were eliminated. By 1861, he was named the Nott Professor of Chemistry, thereby rising from janitor to professor to endowed chair in four years. Despite the fact that many of his students were older than him, Chandler quickly became a student favorite because of his elegant and clear lectures, his charismatic personality and his enthusiasm for and knowledge of chemistry. Over next few years, Chandler became increasingly disenchanted with the worsening financial situation at the College. At Joy's urging, Chandler decided to accept an offer from Columbia University and left Schenectady on election day in 1864, just after casting his ballot for Abraham Lincoln. By the end of the nineteenth century, Chandler was considered by many to be the dean of American chemistry, primarily through his contributions to industrial chemistry and to the improvement of public health in New York City. One newspaper, at the time of his death, gushed that Chandler became the apostle of chemical science in New York City and compared his preaching of salvation through science with the apostolic missions of St. Paul in Athens and St. Peter in Rome. Chandler is also given credit for being the most influential founder of the American Chemical Society, the largest professional organization in this country. He received numerous honorary degrees during his career, including ones from Union and Oxford. Chandler is so revered at Columbia University that the building housing the chemistry department is called Chandler Laboratories. Near the end of Chandler's life, he sent Union President Raymond a photograph of himself. Across the bottom of the photograph, this dean of American chemistry, this apostle of science, this father of the American Chemical Society, this patron saint of the Columbia chemistry department, wrote the following: "I owe everything to Union."
Cooke-Sampson, Estelle
Dr. Estelle Cooke-Sampson, Union College class of 1974 - physician, humanitarian, officer - was one of the one hundred women in Union's first coed class. She, along with her late brother Gerald, class of 1973, and her brother Lawrence, class of 1977, attended Union on loans, grants, and scholarships, not to mention numerous part-time jobs. At Union she majored in Biology, and then went on to Georgetown University, earning an M.D. in 1978. Dr. Cooke-Sampson served as a medical officer with the U.S. Public Health Service and worked in rural Delaware providing primary health care. After her residency and fellowship in radiology, she worked at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. as a partner with Metropolitan Radiology Associates for fourteen years. She then joined Howard University Hospital in 1999 where she is an associate professor of diagnostic radiology. She was Associate Chief of Saint Mary's Hospital, Department of Radiology, in Leonardtown, Maryland for two years. She served on the board of Medicine in Washington, D.C. for over four years and is a full partner with Radiology Associates in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Cooke-Sampson is a full Colonel and State Surgeon for the District of Columbia Army National Guard where she has served for over twenty-five years. She was called to active duty during Operation Desert Storm and participated in many state, national and international missions, and duties. These include several humanitarian missions and presidential inaugurations. She has made many lasting and meaningful contributions to Union College. In 1977 she and her siblings established the Cooke Family Scholarship which supports students with the greatest financial need from underserved backgrounds. As an outstanding and dedicated alumna to Union College, the College has bestowed on her several awards. In 1995 Dr. Cooke-Sampson was awarded Union's Eliphalet Nott Medal which recognizes the perseverance of alumni who have attained great distinction in his or her field. She is one of the first recipients of this award, which was established in 1995. In 2004, at her 30th ReUnion, the Alumni Council awarded her the Alumni Gold Medal for her many years of distinguished service to the College. The Unitas Meritorious Diversity Award was presented to her in 2008 for her work in promoting diversity on campus. Dr. Cooke-Sampson is a highly respected and admired member of the medical and academic communities and international agencies. Throughout her career, public service has been a hallmark of her life. At Union College, she was a volunteer with Big Sisters in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood, and she has continued to hold a lifelong passion for mentoring, civic service, and volunteerism. She currently works with and serves on the Board of the Mary Center on Ontario Road in Washington D.C. This Center provides social, dental, and health care for the underserved. Estelle Cooke-Sampson is an African American-Korean War orphan who was born in South Korea and came to the United States when she was six years old. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. with her two daughters, Simone, Union College class of 2010, and Stacie, a senior at Kent School in Connecticut. She is an avid art collector and enjoys travel, gardening, reading and walking.
Davenport, Lee Losee
Dr. Lee Losee Davenport, '31, was a physicist best known for his development of anti-aircraft radar that was instrumental in the Allied victory in World War II. Davenport was born on Dec. 31, 1915, in Schenectady. His father, Harry L. Davenport, '13, was a high school mathematics teacher and assistant principal of Schenectady High School. Davenport was interested in science from an early age, building motors and a crystal radio set. After being offered scholarships at Union, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Rochester, he choose Union, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather Frank E. Davenport, Class of 1880, and grand-uncle Charles P. Sanders, Class of 1878. Davenport majored in physics at Union. He credited Physics Chair Peter Wold for a defining impact on his career. Wold hired Davenport to make drawings for his college physics textbook. Wold also recommended that Davenport apply for a graduate assistantship to attend graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh, where Davenport completed a master’s in ultraviolet spectroscopy in 1940. He began a Ph.D. study of x-ray diffraction, but was recruited in 1941 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Radiation Laboratory to develop a top-secret anti-aircraft radar system. The system was known as microwave radar or Signal Corp Radio #584. It was able to track enemy planes and determine the angle needed to shoot them down with anti-aircraft guns, a significant improvement over existing radar systems. The system aided European invasion forces by damaging German airpower. It was used in the D-Day landings (Davenport waterproofed the system for this purpose), against German V-1 buzz bombs launched against Britain in 1944, and in the Pacific theater. Davenport developed the device into the first radar-controlled or guided missile, the predecessor to drones. After the war, the University of Pittsburgh granted Davenport a Ph.D. in 1946 based on his classified work at MIT. After the war, Harvard University hired Davenport to build a 92-inch cyclotron, the second largest in the world, and a nuclear laboratory. He also taught physics at Radcliffe College. In 1950 he was hired by Perkin-Elmer to build a computerized B-47 bombsight and eventually became executive director of the company. He later became vice-president, director and chief engineer of Sylvania Corporation and finally the president of General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) Laboratories. One GTE accomplishment during Davenport's leadership was the creation of bright red phosphor used in color TVs. He was also involved in the development of fiber optics and the internet. Davenport was honored in 1973 by election to the National Academy of Engineers, who cited his “original contributions to the development of radar, infrared analytical instrumentation, and leadership in development of communications technology.” He retired from GTE in 1980 as vice president and chief scientist. In his retirement, he served as communications and advanced technology consultant, and pursued his hobby of restoring antique cars. As a life trustee of Union, Davenport was active, devoted and articulate in charting the future of the College. His special insights were borne of his appreciation of education and his affection for Union. Davenport died September 30, 2011 at the age of 95.
DiSorbo, Philip G.
In many ways, Phil DiSorbo’s career embodies Eliphalet Nott’s advice to “Carry your humanity with you.” A psychology major, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude in 1971, DiSorbo became the first employee of Hospice of Schenectady, which was founded at Union College in 1980. His work with the New York State legislature and the federal government was instrumental in enabling Hospice of Schenectady to be the first hospice in the United States eligible for funding through Medicare. As Executive Director of an expanded hospice network known as Community Hospice, DiSorbo was eventually responsible for hospice services in eight counties – with 400 employees and more than one thousand trained volunteers. More than 600 patients received palliative care each day. For his ground-breaking efforts with hospice he received the “Heart of Hospice” award from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. This was fitting recognition for one who played such a key role in one of the greatest social inventions of the 20th century. While at Community Hospice, he instituted cooperative arrangements with a number of hospices in Africa in order to pursue a goal of ameliorating the suffering caused by the world-wide AIDS epidemic. AIDS has had an especially devastating effect on sub-Saharan Africa, claiming over 7,000 lives each day. Over time, this project drew DiSorbo into a broader initiative that would lead to a coordinated and well-funded effort to partner with, and assist, hospices all across sub-Saharan Africa. After leaving Community Hospice, he co-founded the Foundation for Hospice in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA) in1999 and became that organization’s first Executive Director in 2006. Under his leadership, FHSSA created the Diana Legacy Fund, named in memory of the first high-profile, western figure to go to Africa to assist in the anti-AIDS campaign. Bishop Tutu himself opened the Fund’s $10 million campaign in Los Angeles in the spring of 2007. Inspired and assisted by DiSorbo, the Union College community, led by Unitas and the Minerva Council, has partnered with FHSSA and the Diana Legacy Fund for a fundraising effort involving an annual campus-wide ball. In 2008 it raised $6,000, and coupled with the receipt of a foundation grant, provided the money required for the purchase of a Toyota Land Cruiser to help transport and deliver medicines and health care workers to those suffering in outlying areas in Tanzania. The “Union College” van enables the hospice to reach 5,500 patients each year, 4,000 more than could be reached without the van. Fundraising efforts for a second van are under way. In addition, two students went to work in a hospice in South Africa and to do research while there, opening the way for possible future service for other Union students. Truly, Phil DiSorbo’s career has been one that demonstrates the power of “carrying your humanity with you.” And, he has helped make it possible for many of Union’s current students to “carry their humanity” with them by their efforts at fundraising and volunteering in Africa. In 2006 the College awarded him its Eliphalet Nott medal, a most appropriate recognition of Phil DiSorbo’s humanitarian efforts.
Duvilaire, Nadia
Nadia Duvilaire was the first woman of color to win the Daggett Prize. The Daggett prize was established in 1897 by Josephine E. Daggett and is awarded annually to a senior for "conduct and character".
Evans, Ruth Anne
Ruth Anne Evans was the first female faculty member to be named full professor in 1973, Ms. Evans worked as a librarian at the Schaffer Library from 1952-1989. Ruth Anne Evans was by all accounts one of the most accomplished librarians and one of the most knowledgeable college historians ever to work at Union College. As a librarian at the College for thirty-seven years, Evans earned a reputation by helping hundreds of students research topics from protozoa to the history of World War II. To many students and faculty, however, she was best known as the principal reference for anyone wanting to know anything about Union's history. As a colleague once said, "If Ruth Anne doesn't know it, it didn't happen."
Feigenbaum, Armand and Donald
When Armand Feigenbaum expressed his desire to become an engineer, his father advised him to first learn how to make things by hand. Therefore, after graduating from high school in 1937, he started in his native Pittsfield as a General Electric toolmaker apprentice. He attended Union College, where he studied engineering and was editor of Concordiensis, graduating in 1942. Following in his footsteps, his brother, Donald Feigenbaum graduated from Union in 1946 after serving in the United States Navy. Armand went on to earn a Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while on the General Electric payroll as its director of quality for the entire GE operation in Schenectady. From 1958 to 1968, Armand served as GE's Director of worldwide manufacturing operations and quality, while Donald, who was rapidly promoted to manager in GE's jet engine business, left the company in 1961 to become general manager of International Systems Company. In 1968, the brothers founded General Systems Company, an engineering firm that designs and helps implement operational systems for corporations worldwide. Armand Feigenbaum's global reputation as a thinker and leader in the field of quality control was cemented with the publication of his seminal book Quality Control: Principles, Practice, and Administration in 1951. Called "a landmark in the history of the theory of quality," this foundational work, translated into twenty languages including Japanese and Chinese, has been a main source for anyone working in quality management. The book has been republished several times and honored with a 40th anniversary edition under the title Total Quality Control. Armand Feigenbaum recognized that if a company is to survive and thrive, quality must be everybody's job and not restricted just to quality control departments as had been past practice. He also quantified for the first time what it costs to achieve quality, and the cost of failure due to lack of quality control. His fundamental insights and detailed expositions continue to affect the way companies approach quality management throughout the world. Armand has received hundreds of awards and recognition from all corners of the world. Within the United States he served the American Society for Quality (ASQ) as President for two consecutive terms. In 1965, he received its Edwards Medal for "his origination and implementation of basic foundations for modern quality control" and was the first recipient of its Lancaster Award. He is one of a handful of Honorary Members of ASQ. Union College honored him with its Founders Medal and an honorary doctorate in 1992. He has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. He was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the University of Massachusetts. He received the 2007 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest American honor for technological achievement. The award was presented by President Bush at the White House. The ultimate honor, however, is that others are honored in his name: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has established the MassExcellence Feigenbaum Award, and ASQ annually presents the Feigenbaum Medal to a young quality professional who has displayed outstanding characteristics of leadership, professionalism, and potential. Donald Feigenbaum's work and publications in the field of systems technology have profoundly influenced the origin and application of systems engineering principles, principles that have fundamentally impacted modern management practices. His approach has consistently increased customer value, lowered operating costs, and improved innovations at many major companies throughout America and the world. A Business Week article summarizes this approach as "pragmatic and saving big bucks." Union College honored Donald's achievements with an honorary doctorate in 1996. In 2003 he was awarded the "Outstanding Engineering Alumnus" award. He has been awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the University of Massachusetts. He has been awarded the degree of Doctor of Science by the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Donald and Armand have co-authored several books. Their 2003 The Power of Management Capital is in essence "a rule book for management and leadership innovation in the 21st century." The book looks at the basic drivers of productivity and profitability and integrates tested management concepts into a single holistic approach. In 2009 the brothers built upon their earlier books and put together a roadmap to promote constant innovation and growth called The Power of Management Innovation. Throughout the world, the Feigenbaums continue to successfully implement their fundamental principle, that "management is not an art, it is a science." Both Armand V. and Donald S. Feigenbaum are engaged in many charitable causes, especially for the benefit of their hometown, Pittsfield, and Union College. Union College's administration building was dedicated in their honor in 1996.
Giddings, Frank Henry
The life of Frank Henry Giddings exemplified three characteristics that still live at Union. First, although he majored in civil engineering, he went on to a career in sociology, where he often used the engineer’s tools to develop his thinking about social issues. Second, Giddings was always both intellectually active and civically engaged, taking his academic work out into the world for the betterment of both. Finally, his pioneering contributions to American sociology exemplify Union’s continuing commitment to intellectual excellence. Giddings, the son of a well-known Congregational minister from Connecticut, entered Union in 1873. He withdrew from the College in 1875 to go to work, completing his degree in 1878. His early experience writing for newspapers in Springfield, Massachusetts, and in Connecticut, stimulated his study of economics and social issues. His extensive articles were well-received. His reputation grew and Bryn Mawr College hired him to teach political science in 1888. Columbia University hired him away in 1897 to be the first Professor of Sociology in the United States. He remained there until his retirement in 1928. An engaging lecturer, Giddings often challenged students to discuss important issues. His courses were among the most popular on campus, although some students were frustrated by his penchant for straying from the syllabus to discuss current affairs. Giddings wrote the first sociology textbook in the United States. Its numerous editions were translated into many languages. Giddings was appointed Professor Emeritus in Residence at Columbia, a position created to encourage the continued interaction with colleagues and students. Giddings believed that the findings of sociology must be applied to the solving of social problems, to the improvement of the human condition. He was active in numerous professional and civic societies, both in the United States and internationally, and he lectured at colleges and civic groups around the country. From 1915-1917, Giddings served on the New York City school board, and he was encouraged, but declined, to run for mayor of New York. His advice was often sought by individuals throughout the community. He served as third president of the American Sociological Society. Giddings’ take on sociology centered on his concept of consciousness of kind: the recognition that other humans are similar beings to ourselves. He believed that this capacity was most developed in humans and, therefore, it formed the basis for our complex social life. Giddings is perhaps most remembered for his passionate belief that sociology must become an ‘exact science’ based on empirical observations of phenomena to which statistical analysis, a not yet fully developed approach to research should be applied. Giddings himself did not conduct extensive quantitative research, but many of his more than 4,000 undergraduate and 50 graduate students did. Giddings would be pleased to see that quantitative analysis has become a core part of sociology today. Throughout his life, Giddings remained involved at Union, serving as an Alumni Trustee for 25 years. He returned to Union to present a guest lecture series. The College gave him an honorary Ph.D. in 1897 in recognition of the scientific contribution of his Principles of Sociology. An L.L.D. followed in 1900. In 1926, he spoke at Commencement and was made honorary Chancellor. Giddings always was a sociologist and an educator. ‘How did they get that way’ and ‘where do we go from here?’ This was what was on the mind of Giddings the poet, philosopher, and sociologist who delighted in thinking of life as an adventure filled with romance. - Herbert N. Shenton
Goldie, Sue J.
Life’s epiphanies often rely on serendipity. So it was for Dr. Sue J. Goldie. While at a Faculty Development Program in 1995, she was required to learn and then teach a course. The only available section was in “Decision Science,” an area of study which utilizes methods of evidence synthesis and mathematical models to analyze the consequences—benefits, risks, harms, costs—of different approaches to tackle complex problems. She found herself passionately drawn to this scientific discipline she had never encountered in college or medical school. Now well known for bringing together a wide variety of disciplinary approaches to critical global health challenges, her application of Decision Science methods to public health resulted in her being named a MacArthur Fellow in 2005. After graduating from Union College in 1984, Goldie earned her MD from Albany Medical College (’88) and completed her residency in internal medicine at Yale (’88-91). She spent several years teaching medical residents and caring for patients whose health problems were born largely out of poverty and limited access to care. It was the realization that public health approaches could have greater impact on the health of the poor, and the unexpected introduction to the field of Decision Science, that conspired to shift her career direction. She received her master’s degree in Decision Science and Health Policy from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1997 and joined the faculty the following year. She now directs the Program in Health Decision Science as the Roger Lee Irving Professor of Public Health. Goldie develops and validates computer-based models linking the basic biology of a disease and its epidemiology to outcomes in large populations. She uses these models to synthesize data, identify key knowledge gaps, and evaluate the public health impact and cost-effectiveness of alternative preventive and treatment interventions. Much of her energy has been spent on three viruses of major public health importance: HIV, hepatitis, and human papilloma virus (HPV). Collectively, these three viruses—together with the conditions they lead to (AIDS, liver disease, and cervical cancer, respectively)—are responsible for tremendous morbidity and mortality worldwide. Two recent papers highlight how she applies model-based tools to questions in different parts of the world. She recently conducted an analysis that quantified the expected public health benefits of HPV vaccination in the 72 poorest countries, showing that nearly ~10 million lives would be saved by vaccinating young adolescents in the next two decades. Simultaneously, she published a policy analysis of the HPV vaccine in the U.S., identifying the optimal target age for vaccination, assessing the impact of scientific uncertainties, and delineating modifications needed for cervical cancer screening to ensure an efficient, safe, and cost effective prevention program. Her passion for teaching has remained a constant. With several mentorship awards from Yale and Harvard, her Decision Science class has grown to over 150 students. While identifying herself as both a physician who is passionate about individuals, and a public health scientist who is deeply committed to the health of populations, she emphasizes to her students what is different about a Decision Scientist: “like others, we use the best available scientific evidence, and like others we acknowledge and characterize the impact of uncertainty; but we are driven fundamentally by the question ‘what can we do right now?’” Along with the demands of her teaching, research, and policy work, she finds time to continue her practice of Tae Kwon Do, the Korean martial art. She has earned three black belts, was nationally ranked, and at one point had to decide whether to try out for the Olympics or go to medical school. Goldie has joked that her proficiency with Tae Kwon Do has helped her immensely in raising her two teenage sons.
Gould, Gordon
Known best for his invention of the LASER, a term that he coined, and for his thirty-year struggle for patent rights, Gordon Gould was born in New York City in 1920 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Union College in 1941. He completed a Master’s degree at Yale University, and then went to work on the Manhattan project in New York. In 1949 he returned to his studies, attending Columbia University under Polykarp Kusch (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1955), while also teaching at City College of New York in the early 1950s. At Columbia, Gould worked on optical pumping (an essential component of many lasers) for his Ph.D. dissertation and had all but completed writing the thesis by 1957. Beginning in the fall of that year, Gould worked on the concept design of the laser. He had some interactions with Charles Townes (who shared the 1964 physics Nobel Prize with Arthur Schawlow, and who invented the maser – a microwave predecessor of the laser), and Gould realized that Townes was also working on the design of a laser. He decided to write up his ideas so he could apply for a patent; the heading in his notebook was: “Some rough calculations on the feasibility of a LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” There were nine pages of description and figures that he had the prescience to get notarized. Gould also anticipated a variety of laser applications in industry and medicine. Due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the patent process, Gould thought he needed to build a working model before applying for a patent. He left Columbia and got a job at a private research lab where he spent a year refining his designs. He applied for a first patent in 1959, but was denied because Townes and Schawlow had applied a year earlier. Thus began the thirty-year struggle to get patent rights and recognition for his early work. It was not until 1977 that Gould obtained a first patent on laser optical pumping. By this time the laser industry was worth $400 million a year, while optical pumping was used in about 80% of all lasers. It would take another eleven years before he would win enforcement rights, but despite having signed away 80% of his patent rights for legal fees, he quickly became a multi-millionaire. By 1988 he had four laser patents, as well as forty-four other patents from his industrial work, and had taught for six years at the (now) Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. He started his own fiber optics communication company, Optelecom, and in 1991 he was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Union College awarded Gould an honorary Doctor of Sciences in 1978 and the Eliphalet Nott Medal in 1995. In 1995 Gould established an endowed chair in physics at Union in honor of Professor Frank Studer, who inspired him to pursue optics as a career. Gordon Gould died in 2005 at the age of 85.
Hartranft, John
Civil War hero, governor of Pennsylvania, presidential candidate and key figure in the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination: all of these terms apply to John Hartranft of Union’s Class of 1853. Hartranft was born December 16, 1830, in Pennsylvania and briefly attended Marshall College before entering Union in September, 1850, where he joined Sigma Phi. He finished his coursework in civil engineering in the fall of 1852, and graduated the following spring. Hartranft worked as a railroad engineer before switching to law and politics. His first political post was deputy sheriff of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which he won in 1854, the year he married Sallie Sebring. He joined the Norris Rifles militia company in 1857 and was elected lieutenant, and later captain. In 1859, Hartranft was appointed lieutenant colonel in the state militia. With the onset of the Civil War, after Fort Sumter, Hartranft responded to Lincoln’s call for ninety day troops by raising the 4th Pennsylvania, which elected him colonel. The regiment’s term ended on July 20, 1861, one day before the battle of First Bull Run. He pleaded with his regiment to fight, but to no avail. Instead, Hartranft volunteered as a staff officer for General William B. Franklin, fighting the battle in that capacity. Franklin wrote of Hartranft, “His services were exceedingly valuable to me, and he distinguished himself in his attempts to rally the regiments which had been thrown into confusion.” For this he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The following year, in 1862, Hartranft raised a new three-year regiment for service, the 51st Pennsylvania, and fought at Roanoke Island, Second Bull Run, and South Mountain. At Antietam, after three earlier charges had failed, Hartranft and the 51st stormed the Burnside Bridge, with the 51st New York under Colonel Robert B. Potter, a member of the Union Class of 1849, taking it from defenders commanded by Robert Toombs, Class of 1828. Promoted to brigade and division command, Hartranft fought at Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Knoxville, and the 1864 campaign in Virginia. On March 25 1865, his division retook Fort Stedman, after a Confederate attack captured it and threatened to lift the Siege of Petersburg. His commander wrote, “Great praise is due to Hartranft for the skill displayed in handling his division, which behaved with great gallantry.” After Appomattox he was appointed provost marshal of Washington D.C. and supervised the trial of the conspirators in the assassination of President Lincoln, giving the command to execute the four who received death sentences, including one woman, Mary Surratt. After the war, Hartranft was elected auditor general of Pennsylvania in 1865, and re-elected in 1868. He was then nominated for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1872 and won a close race, in which his opponents tried to tar him as a “hangman” and “woman-killer” for his role in the execution of Surratt, though he had been known for treating her kindly while she was in his custody. Hartranft was re-elected to a second term in 1875. He supported giving African Americans voting rights and fought special interests in state politics. Nominated for President as a favorite son candidate in 1876, Hartranft received seventy-one votes on the fourth ballot at the Republican convention before fading. He supported working class rights but opposed violence; after the Molly Maguire disturbances in the state’s coal mines, he refused to pardon twenty Mollies who had been sentenced to death. He called out troops to put down riots after a railroad strike in 1877. He later served as postmaster of Philadelphia and as a member of the Cherokee Indian Commission. Outside of politics, he was commander-in-chief (per the Smithsonian)of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1875 until his death, represented Pennsylvania at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1889, and was President of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. Hartranft died on October 17, 1889. A statue of him stands in front of the Pennsylvania state capital building. His eulogist said of him, “Great in warfare, he also excelled in civil life. He was not rich, but no temptations of opportunity or necessity could swerve him from his high integrity.”
Holland Jr., Robert
Robert Holland Jr. was born in 1940, and grew up in segregated Albion, Michigan. He attended Union College, and was President of his class from 1959-1962. He was awarded the prestigious Daggett Prize, given each year to a senior of exemplary “conduct and character.” After receiving a B.S. from Union in 1962 in mechanical engineering, he earned an M.B.A. from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College (CUNY). Holland is currently a General Partner with Williams Capital Partners, a first-time private equity fund, and with the West Africa Fund, a mid-cap fund for investing in West African businesses. Throughout his career he has brought his expertise in corporate governance, marketing, and business development to numerous national companies and not-for-profits, achieving dramatic performance turn-around and long-term growth for these organizations. He has compiled an impressive record of improving the fortunes of companies while developing and supporting a range of community programs, particularly those that enhance opportunities for minorities. In the mid-1990s, Holland was President and CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, where he greatly improved manufacturing efficiencies and oversaw an 8% increase in sales. Ben & Jerry’s had run a national search for a new CEO by hiring a search firm, and by holding a “YO! I’m Your CEO!” contest, inviting 100 word applications from anyone interested in the job. Although Holland was discovered by the search firm, he nevertheless joined the spirit of the contest by submitting a poem called “Time, Values, and Ice Cream.” Before Ben & Jerry’s he was the Chairman and CEO of Rokher-J Inc. (1991 – 1995, 1981-1984), Chairman of Gilreath Manufacturing, Inc. (1987-1991), Chairman and CEO of City Marketing (1984-1987), and Associate and Partner with McKinsey & Company, Inc. (1968-1981). He is a director of Carver Bank Corp., Lexmark International, Inc., Neptune Orient Lines, YUM Brands, and is on the Advisory Board of PepsiCo. While at Union College, and after his graduation, Holland was a volunteer at Children’s Hospital, NY and the St. John’s Camp, for children in the social services system. Public/Community service has continued to play an important role in Bob Holland’s life ever since. He founded the Make-A-Difference Dropout Prevention Program in Detroit, MI, and has served on a great many boards, including the Advisory Board to the NCAA, the Board of the Harlem Junior Tennis Program, and the Board of the Research Corporation, the New York City Board of Children’s Aid Society, and the Lincoln Center Theater. He is a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Spellman College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as a trustee for twenty-five years. He holds honorary degrees from Union University, the University of Vermont, and Bryant College in Providence, RI. In 2008 he was one of six recipients of the UNITAS Alumni and Diversity Award from Union College. In 1997 he gave a Commencement speech at Union College and he focused that speech on making a difference. He told seniors that economic deprivation anywhere is a threat to economic stability everywhere, and that each person can make a difference. “If you decide to have a positive impact on one poverty-stricken child’s life, one each year until you come back for your thirty-fifth reunion, you will have a meaningful impact on a body of people the size of New York City.” He then added, “You can check my math, or you can get busy making a difference.”
Horn, Alan F.
As President and Chief Operating Officer of Warner Bros. since 1999, it was Alan Horn who brought the unforgettable characters of the Harry Potter series from the pages of J. K. Rowling’s novels to the “big screen.” After graduating from Union College in 1964 with a degree in economics, Horn served nearly five years in the U.S. Air Force, achieving the rank of Captain. Following that, he received his Master of Business Administration – awarded with distinction – from Harvard Business School and then spent two years in brand management with Procter & Gamble. Horn has enjoyed a very successful career as a hands-on executive with experience in film and television in both the business and creative areas. Horn served as Chairman and CEO of Embassy Communications, a company co-owned by legendary producer Norman Lear. In 1987, he co-founded Castle Rock Entertainment, where he served as Chairman and CEO until taking on his current role. During his tenure, Castle Rock attained worldwide recognition for the most successful series in television history, Seinfeld, and for such Best Picture Oscar nominees as A Few Good Men, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, as well as other hit films including When Harry Met Sally and In the Line of Fire. In 1993, Castle Rock Entertainment was sold to Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., and, with the merger of TBS and Time Warner Inc. in October of 1996, Castle Rock became part of the Warner Bros. family, with the Studio taking over Castle Rock’s worldwide film and television distribution in 1998. Under Horn’s leadership, Warner Bros.’ theatrical and home entertainment divisions have flourished. Among the films produced under Horn’s aegis are some of the Studio’s most popular and profitable, including the six films in the Harry Potter series to date, which in September 2007 became the most successful motion picture franchise in history. Others include The Dark Knight, I Am Legend, Get Smart, 300, Happy Feet, The Departed, Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ocean’s 11 and its two sequels, the second and third Matrix films, The Last Samurai, The Polar Express, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, Watchmen, and Sherlock Holmes. Horn is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Radio and Television Society and the Museum of Broadcasting. In 2004, he received the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s Pioneer of the Year Award, and in 2007 he was honored with the Harvard Business School’s Leadership Award. Most recently, Horn was the recipient of the Producers Guild America’s 2008 Milestone Award. Horn serves on the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute; as a Vice Chairman of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); on the Board of Trustees for the Autry National Center in Los Angeles; and on the board of Harvard-Westlake School. He is also a member of the Harvard Business School Dean’s Board of Advisors, and a founding Board Member of the Environmental Media Association. Horn and his wife, Cindy, have two daughters, Cody and Cassidy. His outside interests include a collection of Western art and Indian artifacts, tennis, bicycling, and chess. He also holds a 3rd degree black belt in taekwondo. The featured speaker at Union’s 2010 commencement ceremonies, where he received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree, Horn told his audience to “Be a person of character. Integrity and honor are everything. Actions define your character, and your character will define the kind of life you have.”
Hough, Franklin B.
Franklin B. Hough (Union, 1843) is remembered as the “Father of American Forestry.” Hough (pronounced “Huff”) was born in 1822 in Martinsburg, just outside the western edge of the Adirondacks. As a boy, he had a strong interest in natural science and the outdoors and collected plants and rocks whenever he could. He entered Union College in 1840 and arranged his studies so that he could spend as much time as possible in the field, continuing his collections. A few years later, a new mineral he collected was named after him: “houghite.” After graduating from Union, he taught school for three years, eventually becoming principal at an academy in Ohio. He continued his field collections, and his first publication, A Catalog of the Plants Growing without Cultivation in Lewis County, New York, was published in 1847. He published 77 more articles, books and major reports before his death in 1885. In 1846 Hough entered medical school in Cleveland, and upon graduation two years later he returned to upstate New York not far from his birthplace. His rural medical practice did not interfere with his continued study of local natural and human history, and he published local histories of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties (1853), Jefferson County (1854) and Lewis County (1862). His meticulous collection and analysis of data in these publications was noted in Albany, and Hough was appointed as superintendent of the New York State censuses of 1855 and 1865. He modernized the state census to conform to the format of the US census by including information on land use and industrial statistics. After the 1865 census, Hough noticed a dramatic decrease in the production of lumber as well as forested acreage during that decade, and he became concerned that the current forestry practices were not sustainable. He had read Marsh’s 1864 book, Man and Nature, in which Marsh suggested a connection between the demise of ancient Mediterranean civilizations with the devastation of their forests and agricultural resources by non-sustainable intensive harvesting. As a result, Hough became a strong advocate of sustained forestry techniques and the conservation of forest resources. In 1873, he presented a paper to a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In this paper, On the Duty of Governments in the Preservation of Forests, he used the concepts developed by Marsh to argue that governments must take on the responsibility of forest conservation if they are to remain viable over the long term. The AAAS then petitioned Congress to fund a federal position to look into this matter further. Congress soon approved a salary for this position, and Hough was appointed as the nation’s first Special Forestry Agent. In this role, he continued collecting data and published the massive Report on Forestry (1877) and in 1881 he was named head of the US Division of Forestry. In 1885, Hough presenting a plan to the New York state senate to form a commission to establish a state forest preserve. The state approved the Forest Commission Act later that year and established the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. Hough died a few months after the passage in 1885. The state named a 4,400 ft peak in the Adirondacks “Hough Peak” in his honor.
Jackson, LeAta R.
LeAta R. Jackson was the first woman of color to receive Union College's Bailey Cup award. The Bailey cup was established in 1912 and is awarded to a member of the senior class who has rendered the greatest service to the College in any field.
Kane, Edward R.
“My Union experience and education gave me the skills I needed to be an innovative thinker and doer, and a lifelong learner, who could thrive in the competitive, challenging environment of DuPont,” said Kane, who received a Steinmetz Scholarship and played varsity tennis as a student. After Commencement, Kane left his hometown of Schenectady and enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1943. He joined DuPont the same year as a research chemist in the nylon section of the textile fibers department. He rose quickly through the ranks, taking on more responsibility and earning a reputation as a hard-working and fair manager who inspired others to do their best. During the early 1950s, Kane supervised research and development of Fiber V (Dacron) in Seaford, Delaware, and at the nylon plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Dacron is a polyester fiber with far-reaching uses and importance due to its extreme strength, resistance to stretching, and resistance to bleaching or abrasion. Throughout the mid-1960's, he worked to develop new textile fibers and improved processes for existing products. In 1967, he became general manager of DuPont’s industrial and biochemicals department. In 1969, Kane was promoted to vice president and became a member of the executive committee. By January 1972, he was senior vice president. In September of this same year, he was elected to a six-year term as a Union College trustee. Named president and chief operating officer of DuPont in 1973, Kane and company chairman Irving Shapiro steered DuPont safely through the 1970's energy crisis. Together, they refocused the company on non-petroleum products, including electronics, agricultural chemicals and pharmaceuticals. This assured DuPont’s continued success in an increasingly competitive global market. Kane is a past member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Mr. Kane has served as the head of the Mechanical Engineering Visiting Committee for MIT and as a member of the Corporation Development Committee for MIT. Mr. Kane has also served as trustee for MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, and is Board Chairman Emeriti for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. In 1979, the year he retired from DuPont, he was honored with the prestigious Palladium Medal. This distinguished international award, given by the American Section of Societe de Chimie Industrielle, was presented to Kane for his lifelong contributions to the furtherance of understanding and cooperation within the chemical professions, the worldwide chemical industry, and society in general. Since retiring, Kane has spent a lot of time on the tennis courts, and he and his wife Doris have traveled extensively around the world, often with the MIT Alumni travel program. Today, he and Doris live in Greenville, Delaware.