1. In our lifetime we end up acquiring an affinity and passion for certain brands. I have had three in my life. There were two companies I worked for (Mapinfo and AlliedSignal, now part of Honeywell) where I was proud to wear the brand and logo. The third is Siena College. As both an alumnus and employee, I am proud to be member of this special community. It extends into my family as well. There is my wife Dana ’91, my brother Kevin ’89, my sister-in-law Tracey ’89, my daughter Meaghan ’11, my son Evan ’26, and two cousins.
2. My path in life almost turned in a completely different direction. Which, as I reflect on that possibility, would have completely changed my life. Ever since I was young I had an interest in law enforcement. At the age of 22 I decided to become a NYS Trooper. I passed the entrance exam with a perfect score, went through the extensive background check and passed the physical qualifying tests. On the day I was supposed to report to the police academy, I didn’t show up. When I went to resign my position at my company, they offered me a promotion to stay. As I look back, I am actually glad I made the decision I did.
3. I am a sports fanatic! I love baseball, basketball and football. I lettered in all three in high school and was captain of my high school baseball and basketball teams. I played softball and basketball into my late 40s and now enjoy playing fantasy sports and watching games on TV. I originally planned to go to college and major in sports broadcasting, but after a high school weekend job shadowing local sports anchor Bob McNamara, I decided that career wasn’t for me. I enrolled in marketing and management at Siena instead.
4. My wife and I both have a passion for the salt air and the feel of sand in between our toes. We have the luxury of traveling and of owning a beach home and several timeshare weeks. Some of our favorite places we keep going back to are Newport CA, Maui, Aruba and Singer Island/Palm Beach, FL. We used to own a beach house in Kennebunk, ME, but back in 2009 we bought in Long Beach Island, NJ. We get there as much as we can and enjoy having family and friends visit.
5. I enjoy coaching youth sports and have coached softball, baseball, soccer, football and basketball over the years. I was most serious coaching basketball. I started my basketball coaching career my senior year at Siena when I coached a girls high school basketball team. I was fortunate to go to the NYS Class C semifinals that year. I then switched over to boys high school basketball. I just recently decided to hang up the whistle after an undefeated ’21-’22 High School travel season and fourth championship in five years.
6. I was fortunate enough to serve as COO and President at Mapinfo and work within the most amazing corporate culture with some of the best people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. I spent 12 years there until we were acquired by Pitney Bowes in 2008. I spent two years running Pitney Bowes global software operations as President of the division. It was from that position I decided to walk away and begin a new stage of my life at Siena. In the fall of 2010, I started at Siena and soon after, with several colleagues (Chery Buff, Chuck Rancourt, Ken Williams and Sharon Small), we started Siena’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. I am proud to say that during my time at Mapinfo I was part of a leadership team that grew the business over 1,200% to $400 million in sales.
7. Earlier in my career I was also fortunate enough to work at Allied Signal in their Friction Materials Division. I had been an intern there for two years while at Siena and really enjoyed the corporate atmosphere. After being out of school for three years, a fulltime position opened up and I went back as a Manager of Business Planning. I spent nine years at Allied Signal which was under Larry Bossidy’s leadership and had the most amazing training. During that time I became a certified Total Quality Master and besides my regular job would get dropped into other Allied Signal businesses to re-engineer key business processes. I learned so many great tools and methodologies that I used regularly the rest of my career.
8. Because of my passion for sports, I had on my bucket list that I wanted to attend the Super Bowl, World Series and NBA Championship. I so far have knocked off two with NBA championship still open. I do try to wait until one of my teams are in which I was able to accomplish with my Rams and Yankees but not my Lakers. My wife and I spent one of the best weekends of our life at the Rams vs. Patriots Super Bowl in 2018. As Fox Sports VIP guests, we spent the entire weekend partying with Fox sports and TV celebrities. The game, not so fun.
9. Through my corporate and economic development activities – I have served on the Albany Chamber of Commerce board as chairman, the Center for Economic Growth as chairman and now on the Executive Committee of the NYS Regional Economic Council where I chair several committees – I have met with and shook hands with two different U.S. Presidents, numerous members of Congress, senators and governors. All those experiences have convinced me not to scratch the itch of a political career. I felt like there was a lot of meeting and talking, but not so much getting things done, at least not at the pace I had grown accustomed.
10. Besides my passion for sports I am also a big WWII buff. Almost all the reading I do for pleasure is related to this subject. There are so many unbelievable true stories of both triumph and tragedy to fill a lifetime of reading. There probably isn’t a movie I haven’t seen. Certainly, Band of Brothers is my favorite. In another life I could have been a history teacher.
