Stephen Casscles’s book, Grapes of the Hudson Valley and Other Cool Climate Regions of the United States and Canada (2nd Edition) includes two new chapters on rarely covered 19th century heritage grape varieties developed in New England. The book is available at www.flintminepress.com.
Christine Galvin works through the Legal Project in Albany, an organization created in 1995 by the Capital District Women’s Bar Association to assist those with civil legal needs who cannot afford legal services. Christine is currently volunteering to help abused and neglected children who have fled their homelands in hopes of building a better life in the United States.
Curt Spalding is a senior consultant at GZA GeoEnvironmental. He previously served as regional administrator of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency New England, as executive director of Providence-based environmental advocacy organization Save the Bay and as a Professor of the Practice at the Institute at Brown University for Environment and Society. As the owner and principal consultant for a private consulting firm since 2017, Spalding also served as founding organizer of the Brown-based Providence Resilience Partnership.
Jennifer Manner produced and directed the documentary, “When Wire Was King: The Transformation of Telecommunications,” syndicated by American Public Television for PBS. Jennifer began serving on the Alumni Association Board of Directors in April 2023.
Deirdre Sanders, principal at Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds, was elected to serve on the advisory board for the newly established chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) at Northeastern University.
Geoffrey Stein was the 2022-23 Artist-in-Residence at the Elizabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. He holds an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, London and lives and paints in New York City and Westport, Conn.
William J. Cea of Palm City, Fla., retired after 30 years of practicing law at his prior firm. He co-founded Inked Mediation, LLC and will be working as a mediator full time.
Mitchel Levy received a master’s degree in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Maryland in College Park in 1988. Since then, he has been teaching mathematics at Broward College in Davie, Fla. He will retire in June.
Howard Krooks was elected chair of the Elder Law Section of the Florida Bar. He is partner at Cozen O’Connor in Boca Raton.
Keith Brennan joined Barclay Damon’s Health & Human Services Providers and Health Care Controversies Teams in the firm’s Albany office.
The U.S.Department of Transportation named Gloria Shepherd the executive director of the Federal Highway Administration.
George Serrano was elected town supervisor of the Town of Wallkill in 2021.
Last updated July 14, 2022.
Anne Case was made a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association. She is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University.
Heidi Amsterdam welcomed her first grandchild.
J. Stephen Casscles retired after serving as counsel in the New York State Senate for 33 years and the NYS Department of Health for three years. He recently joined Milea Estate Vineyards of Staatsburg, N.Y. as project manager of the Hudson Valley Heritage Grape/Wine Project, where he will be responsible for growing 19th century heritage grape varieties developed in the Hudson Valley and Boston's North Shore and making wine from them. Stephen is the author of Grapes of the Hudson Valley and Other Cool Climate Regions of the US and Canada.
Arnold Fischler welcomed his first grandchild.
Evan Zahn, mission lead and member of the Mending Kids Board of Directors, was honored for his work with the organization last spring. Mending Kids provides critical surgical care for sick children. Evan is director of the Congenital Heart Program at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
Michael Ridgeway is president of MKS Inc., a software company in King of Prussia, Penn.
Mitchel Levy received a masters degree in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Maryland in 1988. He has taught mathematics at Broward College in Davie, Fl. for the past 34 years and will retire in June 2023.
Patricia Salkin earned a PhD in Creativity from the University of the Arts.
Richie Vais retired after 33 years as a social studies and special education teacher in Westchester County, N.Y.
Don Winslow was accepted into the Finger Lakes Region New York State Master Teacher Program for STEM educators. He is currently a teacher in the Lyons Central School District.
Paul Turner started a new career in voiceover acting. He is a video narrator and podcast announcer for a well-being series on YouTube.
Deborah Y. Cohn, PhD, was appointed interim dean of the School of Management at New York Institute of Technology.
John Friedman was named managing director in Grant Thornton LLP’s Environmental, Social and Governance and Sustainability practice, based in the firm’s Arlington, Va. office.
Elizabeth Chilton, Washington State University’s provost and executive vice president, will also become the first chancellor of WSU’s flagship Pullman campus in July 2022.
Patrick McCullough is a founding member of the Executive Council Network, a platform that hosts world-class summits and events and creates opportunities for corporate leaders to connect and drive their impact beyond corporate walls. Patrick is senior vice president of NCR Corporation and serves on the MyVenue board of directors. He played football under Coach Bob Ford 1982-85 and is a member of the UAlbany Athletics Hall of Fame.
After years of being encouraged by friends to write a Star Trek book, entertainment journalist Ian Spelling co-authored Star Trek: The Original Series – A Celebration, published in September 2021 by Hero Collector/Penguin Random House. Ian has written for New York Times Syndicate, Troy Record, Reader’s Digest, Bergen Record, (201) Magazine, Fatherly.com and more. He was the editor of StarTrek.com, the official Star Trek site, 2010-2019. Ian has written for various official Star Trek magazines and has penned the weekly syndicated column, “Inside Trek & Sci-Fi, ”for more than 20 years. He also was an extra on “Voyager” and “Deep Space Nine”. Ian was the Associate Aspects editor for The ASP and covered movies, UAlbany events, and productions at Proctors Theater.
Ted Anderson was named director of North Sea Maritime Center at Conscience Point in Southampton, N.Y. Ted chairs the development committee and raises funding for childrens’ and senior citizens’ programming at the Tupper Boat House.
Frank Hoare was appointed general counsel for the New York State Thruway Authority. He retired from the United States Army Reserve in December 2019 after 28 years of combined active and reserve service.
James Hayes’ daughter carried on the family tradition when she began her studies as a freshman at UAlbany this fall. Welcome to the Great Dane family, Cecilia!
Bill McCann and Cheryl Couser ’02 were appointed co-directors of the New York State Public Campaign Finance Board. Bill is a former president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and the host of the Saturday Morning Edition of Jazz on WCDB, 90.9 FM, Albany.
