Alumni Accomplishments
The
State University of New York Board of Trustees has appointed Gerald
Benjamin ’65, dean of SUNY New Paltz's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences and professor of political science, to the position
of Distinguished Professor, the university's highest faculty designation,
conferred on individuals who have achieved national or international
prominence in a chosen field.
Benjamin, who joined the faculty at New Paltz as assistant
professor of political science in 1968, is considered the pre-eminent
scholar on New York State and local government. He has written, co-written
or edited 14 books on topics such as regionalism, term limits, state
legislatures, city government and municipal reform, New York City and
New York State governments, race relations and the New York City Commission
on Human Rights, and a biography of former Governor Nelson Rockefeller.
He has had lectureships or fellowships in Japan, Israel, Italy and Taiwan,
and, closer to home, has served his county as a legislator and his state
as research director of New York's Temporary State Commission on Constitutional
Revision. He is pictured with Lori Oakes Thompson ’95, director
of international partnerships in the SUNY Office of International Programs,
with whom he traveled to Turkey to develop joint degree programs for
the SUNY system.
A
Family Tradition Continues: When Christine Clark Collins ’92
and John Collins ’92 (standing, left and center) were
children growing up in Canton, they were in the playgroup organized
by Professor of Psychology Jim Wallace, right, in large part for observation
by his Developmental Psychology students. The two students went to St.
Lawrence, married, settled in Canton (he is a lawyer and she is a teacher)
and started a family—which last spring was in Prof. Wallace’s
playgroup. The younger generation are, from left, John, 6 months when
the photo was taken in April; Emma, 4; and Elizabeth, 2.
Mark
Isaacs ’93 is the new weekend morning “Eyewitness
Weather” reporter for TV station KTRK, an ABC affiliate, in Houston.
He is also the producer of a talk show, “Debra Duncan,”
at the station. A speech and theatre and English double major, he was
active in drama at St. Lawrence.
Mark
Klett ’74 has been named a Regents Professor at Arizona
State University, where he is a professor in the School of Art. The
designation is the highest honor offered to ASU faculty. A photographer,
he has transformed the practice of landscape photography over the last
20 years, and is being compared by some to Ansel Adams. His work addresses
vital sociological, technological, visual and ecological values in the
intersection of land and community in the West through his creation
of photographs that map the region’s temporal and spatial transformations
over the last 100 years. In a new book, View Finder: Mark Klett, Photography
and the Reinvention of Landscape (University of New Mexico Press, 2001),
author William L. Fox notes how Klett, a geology major, was able to
blend art and science at St. Lawrence.
credit: Tim Trumble/ASU
Frank
McCullough Jr. ’65 has been elected vice chair of the
New York Power Authority (NYPA), the nation’s largest state-owned
electric utility. A NYPA trustee since 1997, he is a senior partner
in the law firm of McCullough, Goldberger & Staudt, LLP with offices
in White Plains, N.Y. The primary focus of his practice has been in
administrative law in the land use and development field. He has been
extensively involved in applications dealing with the state Environmental
Quality Review Act. A resident of Rye, N.Y., he is active in numerous
civic and volunteer associations; he and his wife, Coralene Fellows
’65, have three children, including Tres ’93.
Sauereisen
Inc., a Pittsburgh-based manufacturer of specialty cements and corrosion-resistant
products, announces the appointment of J. Eric Sauereisen ’85
as president, the fifth in the company’s 103-year history. In
his 12 years with the family business, he has progressed through several
positions including inside sales, advertising, international sales and
vice president - finance. As president he will concentrate on financial
management, sales development and research administration. He holds
an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Business School.
Lifelong Learner
Frederick
A. Zito ’47 received two doctorates during the same week
in May 2002, obtaining a Ph.D. from NYU on the 16th (one inset) and
an Ed.D. from Dowling College (he’s pictured with Dowling President
Albert E. Donor) on the 19th. When asked, “Why two doctorates,”
he replied, “To round off my education.” He continued, “People
like me used to be called perpetual students. Now there is kinder, more
understanding term, lifelong learners. One must keep using the brain
as well as the muscles.” Dr. Zito also has an MS from the Polytechnic
Institute of Brooklyn and an MBA from NYU.
Fred Zito joined the U.S. Navy in 1943 as a tail gunner and radioman
on a torpedo bomber. He came to St. Lawrence as part of the Navy’s
V-12 training program (other insert), then pursued a technical career,
working for NASA on the Lunar Module portion of Project Apollo, the
1969 moon landing and return. He also worked on a high-energy physics
particle accelerator at Brookhaven National Laboratory, on a synthetic
fuel plant for the U.S. Department of Energy, and for the Federal Aviation
Administration, and he has taught at Naval Reserve Officers School,
Baruch College of Business Administration, Fordham University and others.
He saw active duty in the Korean War, as executive officer of a guided
missile unit, and later retired from the Navy at the rank of Commander.
He holds two U.S. Patents.
“Everything about my time at SLU was pleasant, and endures in
my memory,” he says. He cites in particular “The wonderful
people who lived in Canton, my skilled and dedicated teachers, the helpful
University personnel, my fellow students, the campus, the countryside
and even the winter weather.” He was a math major and member of
SAE fraternity.
Having successfully completed doctoral studies—twice—at
the age of 78, Dr. Zito has some advice for those pursuing graduate
study: “Don’t work into the early hours of the morning;
enough sleep is more important. Be prepared to write or do research
every day, and to say no to many requests (that interfere). Pay meticulous
attention to detail, keep precise records, and find a systematic way
to review your data.” Having prepared survey questionnaires in
his doctoral work, he says, “Keep it simple, explain the reasons,
be clear about the return date, don’t ask for information you
don’t need, promise confidentiality and anonymity, and offer something
in return.”
Finally, Dr. Zito says, “Ignore those who say you shouldn’t
or can’t.” He adds, “The most important reason for
my success has been my understanding wife of 52 years.” He and
Marie are the parents of a son and four daughters, one of whom is deceased,
and the grandparents of eight; they live in Babylon, N.Y.
