Class notes by the Decade

Person to Person

1960s

Randall Eng, BA 1969, joined Meyer Suozzi as counsel in the litigation department, including the appellate practice and criminal defense groups. He will also act as referee, receiver and arbitrator within the firm’s alternative dispute resolution practice. Justice Eng previously served as presiding justice of the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, the largest judicial department in the State of New York. He lives in Manhasset, N.Y.

1970s

Jay Harolds, MD 1971, was named a lifetime achiever by Marquis Who’s Who. Harolds is a radiologist and nuclear medicine physician who works as a residency director, medical student clerkship director and professor of radiology at Michigan State University and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Mich. He lives in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Allen Wright, BA 1971, retired as a regional corrections manager for adult parole from the Maine Department of Corrections after more than 38 years of service. He resides in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, and works as a part-time cashier for a local supermarket.

Peter vom Scheidt, BS 1972, associate principal at the architecture and engineering firm Wendel, was elected president of the board of directors of the Cantalician Center for Learning. He resides in East Amherst, N.Y.

Louis Mendelsohn, MSW 1973, was awarded the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who. Mendelsohn has worked as president and chief executive officer with Market Technologies since 1979, and as chief executive officer with his research team, Predictive Technologies Group, since 2004. With nearly 50 years of industry experience, Mendelsohn has acquired numerous achievements, credentials and other honors. He lives in Wesley Chapel, Fla.

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1980s

Barbara Howe, JD 1980, former New York State Surrogate Judge for Erie County, recently joined Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP as senior counsel. Howe was a faculty member of UB’s Department of Sociology from 1974 to 1987. She resides in Buffalo, N.Y.

James Olchawski, BA 1980, was promoted to vice president, thermal management—sales and marketing for Unifrax. Olchawski will be responsible for leading the company’s thermal management sales and marketing efforts, including strategy development and execution, and customer service. He lives in Corfu, N.Y.

Margaret McGlynn, MBA 1983, BS 1982, was recognized as an influential leader in the global fight against disease by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Recently, McGlynn founded the Hempling Foundation for Homocystinuria Research to fund researchers developing treatments for the rare disorder that claimed her two sisters’ lives as young children. She’s also a member of the Orphan Technologies board of directors, president of the HCU Network America, and a board director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Amicus Therapeutics and Air Products. McGlynn lives in Flourtown, Pa.

Dan Southwick, BS 1986, was promoted to president of the design-build practice for Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm. He will also maintain his leadership responsibility as the telecommunications market segment leader. Southwick is based in the firm’s Raleigh, N.C., office and lives in Apex, N.C.

Gary Goodman, BA 1989, was recognized as a 2017 Top Doctor, emergency medicine, by Orlando magazine. Goodman is an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine and is an attending physician at the Central Florida Regional Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine. He lives in Lake Mary, Fla.

1990s

Valerie Tan, BA 1992, was appointed associate chair for the Department of Allied Health Sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tan began her career at UB’s Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering in Administration. She resides in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Joseph Pizzurro, BS 1995, was named HNTB’s transit and rail practice leader, a newly created position for the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area. Pizzurro, who is based in the architecture and engineering firm’s Empire State Building office, is tasked with managing and growing HNTB’s transit and rail operations in the region. He resides in Larchmont, N.Y.

Deborah A. Silverman, PhD 1996, associate professor of communication at SUNY Buffalo State, was elected to a three-year term as chair of the communication department. She also serves as coordinator for the department’s new online MS in public relations program and was chair of the Public Relations Society of America’s Northeast District Conference held in Buffalo in June 2018. Silverman lives in Hamburg, N.Y.

Mark Noonan, BA 1998, was appointed as vicar general and moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Buffalo. Ordained in 2007, the Rev. Noonan has been pastor of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Holley, N.Y., and St. Mark Roman Catholic Church in Kendall, N.Y., since 2010 after serving as parochial vicar at St. Amelia Roman Catholic Church in Tonawanda, N.Y. He resides in Buffalo, N.Y.

2000s

Jennifer Redding, MBA 2001, BA 1998, joined Liberty Home Care as vice president. In her spare time, Redding enjoys spending time with her children, volunteering as a triathlon coach, and participating in triathlon and cycling races. She lives in Amherst, N.Y.  

Lee Magpili, BS 2003, is making a name for himself in the world of Lego designs and robotics at the toy giant’s headquarters in Billund, Denmark. Magpili’s robot, EV-AN, captivated guests of all ages at the Lego World 2018 exhibition in Copenhagen, and the duo has been touring internationally to demonstrate the Lego Mindstorms EV3 platform for building programmable robot toys. Magpili, a native of Baguio City, Philippines, has designed models and robots for Lego since 2010. He lives in Billund, Denmark.

Terrance McCarthy, PMCert 2004, BA 1995, completed his dissertation, “A Qualitative Study of the Implementation of an Evidence-Based Program in a K-12 Setting,” and earned a doctorate in education in executive leadership from St. John Fisher College. McCarthy is the K-12 director of humanities for the Webster Central School District and lives in Webster, N.Y.

Eric Hepkins, PMBA 2004, is chief executive officer for the Cornerstone Community Federal Credit Union. Hepkins comes to the credit union from HSBC Bank, where he was senior vice president, U.S. head of retail transformation and streamlining. Before that, he served as head of retail banking for Evans Bank, as well as in various retail and administrative positions within HSBC. Hepkins resides in Buffalo, N.Y.

Michael Mancini, EdM 2006, was named chief of staff and secretary to the Board of Trustees of Thomas Edison State University in Trenton, N.J. He’ll become the primary adviser to the president and work across divisions to help set and implement the institution’s strategic direction. Mancini lives in Gansevoort, N.Y.

Michael Tyrpak, BA 2006, was awarded the Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies. The designation signifies specialized knowledge of fiduciary responsibility and ability to implement policies and procedures that meet a defined standard of care. Tyrpak resides in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

John Castanaro, DDS 2007, MS 2002, was named a 2018 Top Doctor in Yonkers, N.Y., for demonstrating clinical excellence and delivering the highest standards of patient care. Castanaro is a cosmetic and family dentist with his own practice and is affiliated with the Mount Sinai Hospital Family Health Center. He lives in Yonkers, N.Y.

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2010s

Jess Ettell Irvine, EdM 2011, was appointed director of student conduct and community standards at Ohio Wesleyan University. She is responsible for creating and enforcing community standards as well as overseeing the student conduct process to assure fairness. Ettell Irvine is a former program coordinator for student activities at UB. She currently lives in Lewis Center, Ohio.

Joshua Erni, BS 2016, is an architectural designer at CPL, a full-service design firm. Before CPL, Erni completed an internship at Kideney Architects. Erni resides in Buffalo, N.Y.

Edward Schneider, BS 2016, joined the engineering group for Foit-Albert Associates as junior engineer. In this position, he assists with environmental research and performs stormwater pollution prevention plan inspections. Schneider resides in Eden, N.Y.

Screenshots of the "Spot Swapper" app.

Andrew Mingola, BS 2017, created a free app, Spot Swapper, which connects UB students looking for a parking place on the North or South campus with students who are leaving the spot. The app launched in April. Mingola currently lives in Pleasant Valley, N.Y.

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