Table of Contents
Six(ty) Degrees of
St. Lawrence
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Six(ty) Degrees of St. Lawrence (Part 2)
Zhihong “Hook” Huang ’02, who hails from the People’s Republic of China. Hook realized in his first few months at St. Lawrence what he wanted to get out of life: “I want to be constantly challenged,” he says. St. Lawrence has made it possible for that to be the case. Hook has taken on various independent studies in addition to his regular class work, and he spent a semester at the University of Toronto in order to further his study of computer science. Based on his exemplary academic achievements, Hook, an economics and math/computer science combined double major, was approved to graduate in three years. So, last April at Moving-Up Day ceremonies he received the award for top scholarship for sophomores, and moments later the same award for juniors. Hook has maintained the same stellar academic momentum as a senior, taking on not one but two honors theses, “The Optimal Level of Capital Market Fragmentation” and “Using XML to Implement Advanced Graph Models in Web Browsing.” Hook’s economics advisor is
Dana Professor David Richardson, who was away from his native North Country for several years until coming to St. Lawrence in 1979. He calls coming home and joining a small faculty a “career change” after teaching at the University of Kansas and the University of Kentucky. A former delegate to the Board of Trustees, he says staying in touch with the trustees is an enjoyable part of his job, but he also likes the contact he has with students such as….
Shauna Duquette ’02, an economics major with a minor in sports studies and exercise science, who took her senior seminar with Professor Richardson. “Here you really get to know the people you work with,” comments Shauna, who serves on the Student Athletic Advisory Council, an organization designed to help student athletes with their needs. “Making a difference for the teams is great, but it’s also a lot of fun,” she says. During four years on the women’s soccer team, the current captain has interacted almost daily with…
Head Athletic Trainer Ron Waske '69, who played hockey at St. Lawrence, was head trainer for the NHL’s New York Islanders, and then returned to his alma mater. “The connections started right after I graduated, when I was traveling around the NHL,” he says. “I was always running into people who had graduated from St. Lawrence, or classmates, or athletes from my era. After I came back to St. Lawrence, the connections just kept growing. We develop a pretty close relationship with the students who work as trainers. A lot of them stay in touch with us after they graduate.” Ron has gotten to know hundreds of St. Lawrence athletes, one of whom is now colleague…
Chris Wells ’90, who played on the men’s hockey team from 1986 to 1990. Chris has reconnected with the team by coming home to both his alma mater and his hometown as assistant coach. “It’s energizing to see how alumni connect with St. Lawrence when they cheer us on,” he notes. A dozen years removed from his student days, he still hears “That’s Professor Wells’s son!” from time to time. But he says that more and more the now-retired professor hears “That’s Chris Wells’s dad!” Dad is…
Bob Wells, Munsil professor emeritus of government. Bob taught probably thousands of students over the years. “When I retired from teaching, I got lots of letters from former students, and every one of them remembered some little vignette, some little moment in time from my career,” he says. “I can't think of any profession that's more satisfying than teaching--you get to see how your students grow and progress over the years. We always think that we touch their lives, but in fact, more often they touch our lives. That's the secret – that's what it's all about,” he asserts. Bob, elected mayor of Canton in November 2001, maintains scholarly interests in such diverse topics as Native American education, New York State history and the United Nations, a focus of interest for
Tzveta Raynova ’02, who is active with the Model U.N., a simulation of the United Nations. She calls it “A great way to meet people from institutions all around the world and learn about them.” This year her Model U.N. team, for which she is treasurer, represented Kyrgyzstan in Boston in mid-February. She says being in the Model U.N. and representing different nations “puts you in the frame of mind of other people and where they are coming from.” An economics major from Sophia, Bulgaria, Tzveta landed a job with Morgan Stanley early in her senior year. The job came after two 10-week summer internships with Deutsche Banc Alex.com that came from an alumni connection. Tzveta is also the treasurer of Thelmo’s Student Activities Fund and a member of the Investment Club, whose advisor is…
Professor of Economics Peter FitzRandolph. But investing is just one of FitzRandolph’s interests. Exploring the economic history of the North Country is a fascinating experience for him and his students. “The great energy with which our students approach learning about their surroundings is a signature of their intellectual curiosity and excitement,” says FitzRandolph, who since accepting a teaching position in 1973 has become an active participant in local government, serving for a number of years as a village trustee and now on the county legislature. He’s now a St. Lawrence parent; his son Colin is a first-year student at St. Lawrence. Colin’s uncle, Peter’s brother, is current Brewer Bookstore manager
Bob FitzRandolph ’70, who says that “bookstores today are more of a destination than the mere functional service” that they were when he started in 1976. The Caribou Coffee shop in the new Brewer Bookstore—the first one in any college bookstore--represents that change, he says. “Students requested something along those lines, and the design process was fun,” he recalls. “We moved from self-serve carafes on a counter to a more elaborate concept that required us to change the plan of the whole project at the last minute.” That was partly due to the enthusiastic involvement of Caribou’s founder, who got involved in the planning and brought bookstore staff to her headquarters for training. That founder is…
Kim Whitehead Puckett ’86, who credits a course from Peter FitzRandolph as “life-changing. He knew I had the ability to do A work. He taught me the lesson of focusing, which is something I’ve used throughout my life.” Good grades qualified Kim to enroll in the Vienna program, which in turn ignited her passion for the taste of European coffee. After graduation, she attended the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration and worked for Chase Manhattan, General Mills and Dunkin’ Donuts. Her ideas for promoting espresso coffee inspired her to launch Caribou with her husband, John. For her entrepreneurial spirit and success, Kim received an Alumni Citation in 2000; her selection as a recipient of this award is the responsibility of the Alumni Executive Council’s Membership and Honors Committee, which is chaired by…
John Callahan ’78, who says that the committee “creates windows to observe fellow Laurentians who are leaders in their fields. It’s an eye-opener to see what Laurentians have accomplished, and that makes me proud,” he says. John, a partner at Bond, Shoeneck and King, a law firm in Syracuse, also connects to Laurentians via regional alumni events. And he frequently talks to students and young alumni about the legal profession. “The younger Laurentians seem generally enthused,” he says. “I suspect that’s a result of the spirit on campus.” Through these interlocking connections, “I’ve come to see that “’Laurentian for Life’ is not an overstatement.” One of John’s clients is the 500-student Wells College, of which his wife Patricia is an alumna, a classmate, in fact, of …
Lisa Cania M’82, associate vice president for University relations, staff liaison to the Alumni Council and recording secretary to the Board of Trustees. Lisa attended the tiny women’s college and appreciated the personal attention she received. When she opted for getting her master’s at St. Lawrence, she knew that it would become “one of the best decisions of my life, because the faculty allowed me to explore my own academic and professional interests in higher education administration. I try to perpetuate the personal attention to students, and now to alumni friends, that I received.” Lisa sponsors as many as five interns each academic year and as secretary to the campus chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, she helps celebrate students’ academic achievements. She loves her job because it keeps her intellectually fresh and she gets to learn and share with others every day. Being the secretary to the Board keeps Lisa current on University policies and decisions, while working with the Alumni Council lets her promote the University through its strong alumni body as well as develop cherished friendships. It also gives her the opportunity to work with…
Tom Murphy ’02, who is a student delegate to the Council. Tom, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., recalls lighting a candle at the Quad Experience during his freshman orientation as a first connection to the St. Lawrence community. “Everyone was there: new students, upperclassmen, faculty, administrators,” he recalls fondly. “You could see that this was a supportive family.” A member of the government and philosophy honoraries, his majors, Tom has enjoyed making a difference on campus through representing the student body before the Board of Trustees as well as the Alumni Council. Pursuing a career in the New York State legislature, Tom has every intention of keeping his close ties with the University. “I will definitely be one to come back to every reunion!” he vows. His predecessor as a delegate to the Board was…
Katie Fitzgibbons ’02, who participated in student government through all four years of college. She says that giving presentations to the trustees was daunting at first, “But then I realized how down-to-earth everyone is, and how much they care about the school and the students.” Katie, who like Murphy is from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has chaired Thelmo’s Priorities and Planning Committee. A physics major and mathematics minor, she plans to go into environmental engineering after graduation. One of the trustees who understands that physics majors can have unlimited possibilities is…
Chair Emeritus of the Board Al Viebranz ’42, a person whose life represents the values of a liberal education. “I graduated as a physics major, and went directly into World War II,” Viebranz says. “When the war ended, I found a technical job for two years, and I was not very good at it.” So he switched careers, putting to use the writing skills and experience he had gained as a student. Over the years, he worked in advertising and corporate communication, as a speechwriter and as an oral historian for the National Gallery of art in Washington, D.C.
“When I was a student, all the University publicity was produced by the St. Lawrence News Bureau, which was run by students and had a faculty mentor, Richard Ellsworth,” Viebranz says. In his sophomore year, he headed the news bureau. As a junior, he was a stringer for the United Press. By the time Viebranz graduated, he had been a reporter for the Watertown Daily Times and managing editor of the Hill News. “These experiences served me well, because one of the most important abilities you can have is to write clearly, intelligently and interestingly,” Viebranz says. No doubt in a few years those words will be echoed by…