Think Alumni Achievement

Binghamton alumni are prominent in their communities and professions. They are also loyal to their alma mater, actively supporting it with donations of time, knowledge and funds.

• Today, approximately 50,000 Binghamton University alumni live and work in the state of New York, playing leading roles in business, medicine, law, education and politics and generating about $135 million in income and sales taxes each year. More than 1,500 alumni are involved in the investment and securities industry, playing a prominent role in the state’s economy. Some 2,300 others work in the legal profession, 1,474 are CPAs and 808 hold “CEO,” “president” or other top management titles in their companies. Eighty-six percent of graduating seniors who apply to law school are accepted, compared to the national-average acceptance rate of 71 percent. Sixty-five percent who apply to medical school are accepted, compared with 46 percent nationally. All told, two-thirds of alumni eventually pursue a graduate or professional degree, destined to assume leadership positions in their respective fields and to become the knowledge-creators of tomorrow.
• Binghamton engineering students claim the highest pass rate for professional exams in New York. Our nursing graduates have the highest pass rate — 98.1 percent — in the state on their national certification exams. Our Graduate School of Education graduate programs attract the very brightest future teachers and educational leaders in the state.

Binghamton alumni are standouts. Included among them are:

• Leaders in medicine.

  Dr. Joseph Eron ’80 pioneered the “cocktail” therapy combination of drugs that gave hope and extended life to thousands of AIDS patients.

  Dr. Andrew Siedman ’81, a breast cancer physician, teacher and researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, has been honored for his work to advance treatment, compassionate care and communications about breast cancer.

  Christina Gerardi ’85 is chief executive officer of the New York State Nurses Association, the largest union for registered nurses in the Northeast, serving more than 34,000 members. Gerardi’s work gives nurses a collective voice in the legislature and state regulatory agencies; she also focuses on advocating standards of care for patients.

• Leaders in business.

  Mark S. Newman '71 is board chair, president and chief executive officer of DRS Technologies Inc. in Parsippany, N.J., a defense technology company named one of America's best-managed companies by Forbes in 2006.

  David Gdovin ’77, CEO of Diamond Visionics, partners with Binghamton University on business solutions and employs Binghamton engineering graduates to build a successful high-technology business that creates innovative aircraft simulators for the military, Lockheed Martin, BAE and others.

  Anthony Kendall ’83, MBA ’85 is CEO of Mitchell & Titus LLP, the most successful minority-owned accounting firm in the United States. Kendall is on the board of Project Renewal Inc., which helps homeless people overcome drug and alcohol addiction so they can re-enter the workforce. He is also president of the board of directors of the University’s Alumni Association.

  After 18 years with Goldman Sachs, Mark Zurack ’78 retired as managing director and now serves as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and Cornell University. A strong Binghamton supporter, Zurack endowed our first joint distinguished professorship and helped establish the Binghamton University Equity Fund and Trading Room, a hands-on program where students function as real investment analysts.

  Cathleen Laporte ’94, president of Athletes for Charity, brings professional athletes to children’s services agencies in New York City to provide children positive role models. Co-founded by Laporte and pro football player Carlos Emmons, the organization helps athletes establish charities and participate in other philanthropic efforts. Laporte also serves as case manager for Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP, a New York securities litigation firm.

• Prominent leaders in law and government.

  City councilman John Liu ’88 made history in 2001 when he became the first Asian American to win election to a major New York City office.

  Eric Schwartz '79 served as the U.N. Secretary-General's Deputy Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery and is now executive director of ConnectUS, an organization that works to enhance U.S. engagement in world affairs.

  Three alumni currently serve as representatives in the New York State Assembly: Michele R. Titus '90 (D-31), since 2002; Donna Lupardo '83 (D-126), since 2004; and Hakeem S. Jeffries '92 (D-57), since 2006.

  Lawyer Owen Pell ’80, a partner in the Manhattan office of White & Case LLP, specializes in public international law and as a volunteer has helped recover priceless art looted during the Holocaust.

• Donors and supporters of Binghamton University.

  8,288 alumni donated funds as well as significant in-kind gifts to the University in 2006-07. These funds support 103 scholarships. Almost 1,700 alumni volunteered to assist with other admissions efforts. More than 150 served on Alumni Association boards and committees, and 3,163 gave thousands of hours to the Alumni Career Network to help students and alumni with their careers.