You might think that a man who donated $1.5 million to restore the ice rink at Union would be a hockey fan first and foremost, but Frank Messa '73 is an even bigger booster of the college that gave him lifelong friends, memorable mentors, and communications and leadership skills he considers indispensable to his success in the business world.
“Union is my favorite school in the whole world,” Messa says.
He adds, “I want Union to be an even better school than it was when I was there. I feel more than a sense of pride; I genuinely feel I owe the school something for the experience I had.
“I give my time, my energy and my money to Union because it's earned that loyalty.”
FIRST PERIOD: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
The man who recently got the red carpet treatment at the new Frank L. Messa Rink at Achilles Center – center ice with his wife, Colleen, for the puck drop during the dedication ceremony – graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Union in 1973.
The Hicksville, Long Island, native, the first in his family to attend college, applied Early Decision after one visit. “I fell in love with the school and never looked back,” he says. “I walked on that
beautiful campus and knew, 'This is where I want to go.'”
In his Albany office at The Ayco Co., the 52-year-old tax attorney takes time from his work as CEO of Estate Financial Services to describe his days at Union. “Being a Union student was extraordinary,” he says. “My experience was phenomenal.”
He remains close friends with former roommates Tom Morante of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Chris Cernik of Clifton Park, N.Y., and Frank Gaynor of Norfolk, Mass., all political science majors who became lawyers. And he speaks with unabashed admiration of the close-knit political science faculty of the early '70s: Byron Nichols, Jim Underwood, the late P. Frederick Hartwig and the late Charles Tidmarch.
“Fred was my thesis advisor. I can't tell you how many times I was at his house,” Messa recalls, “sitting on the living room floor working on my thesis paper about voting behavior analysis while he and his wife, Johanna, were flipping burgers in the backyard.
“We still talk about these people to this day. That's the kind of atmosphere you get at Union. It's the environment of being around committed, bright people who help you learn and think.”
SECOND PERIOD: RECONNECTING
Following Union, Messa graduated from Albany Law School in 1976 and joined Ayco, the nation's largest fee-based financial counseling firm. Ayco recently was acquired by Goldman Sachs, one
of the world's oldest and largest investment banking firms.
Messa opened a regional Ayco office in Dallas in 1982 and later was promoted to CEO of Ayco's new wealth management division, Encompass. With the promotion came a transfer back to the Capital Region – just in time for fellow classmate Tim McCabe to tap him as Leadership Gifts Chair for their 15th ReUnion in 1988.
“It was exciting to get reacquainted with my classmates,” Messa remembers. “We set an all-time fund-raising record for the school for a 15th ReUnion.”
THIRD PERIOD: A TRADITION OF GIVING
Sparked by his success, Messa served as chairman of the Upstate New York Region for Terrace Council, then chair of Terrace Council. He chaired the Annual Fund from 1994-97 and received the Alumni Gold Medal from the College's Alumni Council last May.
Currently, he is a Term Trustee of the Board of Trustees and vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of the independent Graduate College of Union University.
Reconnected with his alma mater, Messa is full of energy, plans and goals – which brings us back to hockey.
But don't expect to see him edging the ice in a pair of Bauer blades anytime soon. Messa says he's never been on skates in his life, and none of his children has ever played hockey, either.
So what motivated the Messas to finance the Union arena's overhaul?
“It's something the school very much needs, and it also enhances the College's prestige,” Messa says, recalling the time Union almost had to call off a game against Cornell because the ice was meltingdue to the rink's aging infrastructure.
Home to Union's NCAA Division I / ECAC men's and women's ice hockey teams, the rink now has a new ice refrigeration system, expanded ice surface, better seating, new boards and glass, and refurbished lobby.
“These improvements especially will help promote women's sports by jump-starting our move to Division I in women's hockey,” Messa proudly notes.
“Hockey is the one sport in which we compete in Division I, against teams like Harvard,” he says. “Being in a very prestigious league among other prestigious schools enhances our ability to compete and recruit.”
Rink renovations also mean it can now operate year-round, making it available for local hockey and figure skating programs as well as various non-athletic events – a plus, Messa notes, for Union's relationship with the community.
He believes the best gifts further the College's broadest goals. So while the rink provides more than a level (ice) playing field, the Frank Messa '73 Endowed Scholarship also went beyond the immediate benefits of an endowment with its focus on bringing more students to Union from Texas and the Southwest.
“One of the incentives was to become a national college and attract students from other parts of the country,” he said of the scholarship, now in its fourth year.
“Our College has been around for more than 200 years. For the next 200 years, people like me have to start thinking about our obligation to the College. That's our challenge, and I take it very seriously,” Messa says.
“We're all, to a certain extent, subsidized by the people who came before us and who contributed money to the endowment,” he muses. “Because of the generosity of others, of people like Bob Abbe (Class of 1949), for instance, I feel an obligation to future students.
“Winston Churchill, one of my heroes, said, 'The price of greatness is responsibility.' I feel the same way about Union College. If we want the school to remain great, it won't happen by accident. You have to build it into your daily life.”
Frank Messa
WORK: Senior vice president and a senior partner, The Ayco Co; CEO of Ayco's Estate Financial Services, a new survivor counseling division (Ayco recently was acquired by Goldman Sachs.)
FAMILY: Married to Colleen Ann Koetzner; two sons, 23 and 21, and a daughter, 18
HOME: Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
DEGREES: B.A., political science, Union, 1973; J.D., Albany Law School, 1976
INTERESTS: Classical music, reading, wine collecting, golf, tennis, skiing
ALUMNI ACTIVITIES: Term Trustee and General Counsel of the Board of Trustees; class president and Alumni Council Rep since 1993; former chairman, the Upstate New York Region for Terrace Council; Terrace Council chairman (1993-94) and national chairman of the Annual Fund (1994-96); ReUnion co-chairman (1988). Currently vice chairman, the Graduate College of Union University Board of Trustees
UNION HONORS: Phi Beta Kappa; magna cum laude; finalist, Albert Ingham Prize; Alumni Gold Medal, 2003