Stephen Ainlay was filled with pride when he told his mother in Indiana that he'd been named the new president of Union College.
But Ainlay's 15 minutes of familial fame vanished when his younger brother, Chuck, a music producer and recording engineer, called mom to announce he'd just won a Grammy Award. (It was for Best Surround Sound Album of 2006 for Dire Straits' “Brothers in Arms” 20th anniversary edition.)
“My kids say Chuck's the fun uncle,” Ainlay joked.
Ainlay, a sociologist and former administrator from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., spoke Wednesday morning with reporters for the first time during a 90-minute, freewheeling interview that mixed the academic with the personal as he discussed goals and initial reactions after his first few days on the job as Union's 18th president.
“I'm extraordinarily excited. This is an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Ainlay, 54. He intends to strike a balance between retaining the college's rich history and shaping an institution that will graduate innovative thinkers to compete in the global economy in an ever-shifting technological landscape.
Union was founded in 1795. The independent, liberal arts school known for a strong engineering program was the first college chartered by the Board of Regents of New York. Its classical campus is notable as the earliest example of an architecturally designed campus in America.
On the thorny issues surrounding an occasionally contentious town-gown relationship with Schenectady, Ainlay seemed poised to carry on positions staked out by his predecessor, Roger Hull, who stepped down as president last spring after 15 years.
“I plan to follow President Hull's lead in building good relationships,” Ainlay said. “The futures of Union and Schenectady are tied together.”
Ainlay stopped short of saying he backed a proposal for Union to offer the city payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs. Some residents have suggested PILOTs since Union is a major landowner with about $100 million in tax-exempt land and buildings.
“I don't believe PILOTs are the most effective way,” said Ainlay, who argued that Union represents a $200 million annual economic impact for Schenectady. “We will work with the city to attract new businesses and to work on other collaborations.”
Ainlay also declined to make any new changes to Union's fraternity and sorority life, which has been criticized in the past for fueling loud parties and underage drinking. He pledged to continue to foster the restructured living and learning communities of the Minerva houses.
“I'm not entertaining any ban on Greek life at this point,” Ainlay said. “Union is the birthplace of several fraternities. We have an obligation to learn to do Greek life right.”
One of Ainlay's most immediate tasks will be to re-energize Union's $200 million capital campaign, which is nearing the halfway mark. He was instrumental in achieving a $200 million fundraising goal at Holy Cross, where he was an administrator.
“You can't simply be on the road raising money all the time as president,” Ainlay said. “I am committed to being a presence on Union's campus.”
Ainlay spent his entire academic career at Holy Cross, where he rose from assistant professor of sociology to vice president for academic affairs during 24 years.
“I'd gone as high as I could at Holy Cross without becoming a Jesuit,” Ainlay quipped. He said he wasn't looking to become a president when a search firm hired by Union contacted him.
Ainlay has written scholarly articles and books on the Mennonites, who grew out of the Anabaptist movement in Europe beginning in the 16th century when a small group of believers split from Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation.
Mennonites practice adult baptism and closely follow the example of Christ, particularly as pacifists. Ainlay, who was raised in the Lutheran Church, became interested in Mennonites while growing up in Goshen, Ind. and attending Goshen College, a Mennonite school.
His father attended Goshen College on a scholarship and lived at the house of a professor who was a Mennonite. It was the only way his dad could afford a college education, Ainlay recalled, because his father's father died young and left his widowed mother to raise six kids on a limited income.
After World War II service, Ainlay's father earned a law degree at the University of Notre Dame and settled in Goshen, where he practiced law and was active as a trustee at his alma mater.
“I have nothing but admiration for the Mennonites,” Ainlay said. “Growing up, they were my friends. The only other Yankees fan in my school was a Mennonite.”
Ainlay's scholarly style and calm demeanor were on display in the interview, even when he had to field a question requiring utmost sports diplomacy: Red Sox or Yankees?
“My dad took me to Comiskey Park as a kid to see the Yankees and I fell in love with Mantle and Maris,” Ainlay said.
He and his wife, Judith, raised their two sons in Worcester, and they grew up as avid Red Sox fans. Ainlay coached his boys' baseball teams and took them to Red Sox games. “I can't root against my kids,” he said.
His son, Jesse, who graduated from Holy Cross last year, is a legal assistant at a New York City law firm and plans to apply to law school. Jonathan is a student at the University of Arizona and has not yet chosen a major.
His wife formerly directed the gerontology studies program for a consortium of colleges in the Worcester area. She also was managing editor of a gerontology and geriatric journal.
The Ainlays have moved into President's House in the heart of the Union campus.
“We're looking forward to it, but it's new to us,” Ainlay said of the president's residence. “I can tell there are advantages to having a short commute, but you can never really get away from work.”
Ainlay stays in shape by working out on an elliptical trainer at home. His hobbies include sailing a Lightning-class sailboat.
Having a brother in the music industry has its perks. Chuck Ainlay recently sent comp tickets to the Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler concert at Radio City Music Hall.
Courtesy of the fun uncle.