Alumni Accomplishments
Ben Warner ’88 has been named Ski Press Media's
vice president of global business development and publisher of Ski Press
USA. Warner, identified in a company announcement as a “longtime
publishing executive and snowsports industry expert, will oversee all the
day-to-day business dealings of Ski Press USA, www.Skipressworld.com, www.SkipressTV.com and
the Snow Press Show Daily from the company’s new U.S. head offices
in southern California. He has more than 16 years of experience building
media business in the action sports and outdoor lifestyle markets. He was
previously with niche publishing leader Fancy Publications, and before
that was senior group publisher and vice president of sales for Primedia’s
Action Sports Group (including POWDER and BIKE magazines). He is experienced
in integrated media programs, custom published products, and advertising
sales. He joins a management team that includes U.S. Editorial Director
Peter Kray ’89.
 |
| Several Laurentians got together in June to say good-bye
to Minerva Arias ’03 (third from
right in the front), just prior to her departure for Zambia,
where she will serve with the Peace Corps. |
Morgan “Mo” Cassara ’97 has
been named assistant men's basketball coach at Boston College,
according to an announcement made by head coach Al
Skinner. He had been head coach at Clark (Mass.) University
for two years, and before that an assistant coach at the University
of Dayton. He was also a collegiate assistant coach at two
other institutions, Washington & Lee and The Citadel, and
head boys’ coach at Worcester (Mass.) Academy, where
he compiled a 90-21 record. He was the Saints’ men’s
basketball captain in his senior season. He earned his master's
degree in high education and administration from Boston College
in 2002.
David J. Miller ’81, executive director of Audubon New
York, was presented with the National Audubon Society’s highest award
for excellence, the Charles H. Callison Award, at a national meeting in Vail,
Col. on May 19. The award is given annually to an Audubon professional
who has made remarkable contributions to conservation through creativity, coalition-building
outreach, perseverance, patience and a positive attitude. Having served
with the National Audubon Society since 1988, Mr. Miller was nominated for
this prestigious award by the Board of Directors of Audubon New York and the
Audubon Council of New York State.
“David is a spectacular individual and administrator,” said Gladys
Goldmann, chair of the Audubon Council of New York State. “He enjoys
a reputation as a relentless, fair and knowledgeable advocate for conservation
issues who is not only incredibly hard-working but is also well received and
appreciated at the highest levels of federal, state and local government.” He
serves on dozens of boards and commissions at every level of government and
is actively engaged in his community; he was also an organizer of his 25th
reunion at St. Lawrence in June.
Class Reporter Ken Polk '91, Williamsville,
N.Y., has been promoted to major accounts sales manager for
the Western NewYork mid-market team at Automatic Data Processing
(ADP) in Buffalo. He began his ADP career in 1995 as district
manager in the SBS sales division. Polk's seven years with
SBS included five years as a district manager and two years
as a sales manager. In 2002, he was promoted to major account
sales. A Dana Scholar and psychology major,
Polk studied in London and was editor of The Hill News,
as well as a member of the Jewish Student Union, ODK,
Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Phi Kappa Sigma. He is vice president
of the Alumni
Executive Council.
The Pittsburgh Penguins of the Nationla Hockey League have
signed Rejean “Ray” Shero ’84 to
a five-year contract as their new general manager. Shero had
been assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators for
the past eight seasons. Before joining the Predators organization,
he spent six seasons as assistant general manager of the Ottawa
Senators, joining the club in its second year of existence
as an expansion team.
A native of St. Paul, Minn., Shero was
a two-year captain of the Saints men’s team, and was
drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1982. He worked as a player
agent for seven years before entering NHL management. “He
has earned great respect in the hockey world and comes extremely
well-recommended,” said
team president and CEO Ken Sawyer. Shero and his wife, Karen,
have two sons, Christopher and Kyle.
Alex Kirby Taylor '89 has been named Distinguished
Performance Award Winner of the Year at The Hartford, in New
York City. Taylor is an expert in The Hartford's group retiree
health products. A release from the firm states, "Her
knowledge, experience and customer focus are invaluable to
clients as they make decisions regarding their retiree medical
insurance needs." At St. Lawrence, Taylor majored in economics,
with minors in speech
and theatre and psychology.
She served on the yearbook senior class committee and worked
in the speech and theatre department. After graduation, she
spent a year in Europe studying French and then began her career
in insurance in New York City. She is the new president of
St. Lawrence's Alumni
Executive Council.
Two Laurentians were among those honored at a reunion of the
first of the NHL’s New York Islanders’ four consecutive
Stanley Cup championship teams (the 1979-80 squad), held on
March 4, 2006, at the Nassau Coliseum. The current Islanders’ competition
that day was the Philadelphia Flyers, the team the Islanders
beat to win the trophy in 1980. The president of the organization
was William A. Torrey ’57, shown with
the cup at his side. Torrey is currently an alternative governor
of the Florida Panthers Hockey Club. Also recognized was the
team’s trainer and current University athletic trainer Ron
Waske ’69. In June, Waske was further honored
with induction into the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers
Association/Society of Professional Hockey Equipment Managers
Hall of Fame. Waske was also the athletic trainer for two NHL
All-Star games and served as vice president of the PHATS.
Shane Loonan Williams-Ness ’93 has
been named vice president of Sawchuk, Brown Associates, an
Albany-N.Y., based public relations/public affairs firm. She
will focus on new business development, providing senior-level
marketing counsel and strategic planning for select clients
and managing the firm’s Saratoga Springs office, which
was her own marketing communications firm before merging with
Sawchuk, Brown. Her specialty areas are strategic marketing,
public relations, market entry and customer strategies, e-business
solutions and event management and planning; she has experience
in Chinese, Indonesian, South Korean and Russian language and
business practices. In the Capital Region, she has been coordinator
of a $150,000 Department of Health bioterrorism and emergency
preparedness plan for the Home Care Association of New York
State, and director of external affairs for the Universal
Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, responsible for fundraising,
marketing and public relations efforts.
