1) I am the oldest of six children and spent most of my growing up years in Lafayette, NY, a small town south of Syracuse. I have a number of family members including my dad who graduated from Syracuse University and are big “Orange” fans. I spent most of my summers at a family camp in the beautiful Thousand Islands, where I most likely obtained a strong affinity for being on the water. I was blessed with a wonderful, supportive family and while growing up in our modest, rural town, I played sports year-round and enjoyed our very snowy winters.

2) During high school, I decided that I wanted to attend one of our nation’s service academies and was fortunate to receive an appointment to U.S. Coast Guard Academy (CGA), where I majored in civil engineering. After graduating from CGA as a commissioned officer, I was on active duty for 23 years. I moved around the country with my family nine times and had a very rewarding career. Early in my CG career I was fortunate to be selected for post-graduate school and graduated from the University of Illinois with an M.S. degree in civil engineering. 

3) I met my lovely wife, Marie, after her family relocated to my hometown while she was a senior at SUNY Oneonta and I was a senior at CGA. We were engaged after dating for around six months and were married in Syracuse a year later. This coming May we will be celebrating our 44th wedding anniversary.

4) My wife and I have three children. Our oldest and only daughter, Katie (who graduated from Cazenovia College which is slated to close this year), has been married for 15 years and she and her husband, Derek, have three of our beautiful grandchildren. Our older son Patrick graduated from CGA. He’s on his 14th year of active duty and has been married to his wife Freya for over five years. They have our other two beautiful grandchildren. Our younger son Daniel graduated from SUNY Cortland, and while working two jobs is finding time to train as a volunteer fireman.

5) I had two tours of duty in Alaska – four years in Juneau and three years in Kodiak. My family and I had a fantastic experience living in Alaska, and we always encourage others to visit/cruise the Last Frontier. While stationed there, I worked toward obtaining a professional engineer’s (PE) license and after completing the requisite work requirements and passing the national professional engineer’s exam, I was registered as a PE in civil engineering. I continue to take continuing education classes to keep my PE current.   

6) When I made the decision to retire from the Coast Guard, I was very fortunate to land a job as the Physical Plant Director at RPI. I worked with a great group of facilities professionals for over eight years and during my tenure, RPI went through a major capital campaign which included construction of their EMPAC facility and a new athletic complex.

7) I am a life-time Roman Catholic and my wife and I have been blessed to be members of so many faithful parish communities during our time living in various parts of our nation including our current parish family of St. Henry’s in Averill Park. I have been a member of the Knights of Columbus for over 25 years and have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Catholic fraternal order that strives to do so much good for others across our nation and the world who are less fortunate, vulnerable or suffering.  

8) Following the teachings of our Catholic faith, there is one ministry of many faith traditions that I have a particularly strong interest in, and that is the ministry focused on preserving life at all stages. A couple of highlights from my participation in this ministry include attending “pro-life” events through the Knights of Columbus and attending the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. with some of our Siena students.

9) My wife Marie and I love to travel. One highlight was our Siena sponsored pilgrimage to Italy back in 2016. We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our pilgrimage and would encourage other members of the Siena community to participate in future pilgrimages.  We also enjoy visiting historic sites with our favorite site being the Civil War battlefields at Gettysburg National Park. In addition to traveling, I enjoy woodworking, gardening, reading up on American history, boating and visiting our children and grandchildren in Ohio and Louisiana.

10) I have now been working at Siena for over 13 years, and I take great pride in all of the work that my Facilities team and I have been able to accomplish during these productive years. We will continue our ongoing efforts and focus on keeping our campus safe, preserving the physical plant, improving our campus through capital investments and helping to prepare our campus for the next generations of students/alumni.