Posted on Jan 10, 2005

Union College President Roger Hull
announced Jan. 10 that he plans to step down in June 2005 as he completes his 15th
year as head of the College. He told the trustees of his plans over the
weekend.

Hull described his decision as
a difficult one. “As an educational entrepreneur, I feel that the decisions
that we have made together have now been implemented. With an incredibly
dedicated faculty and staff, enrollment and student quality at all-time highs,
balanced budgets and an endowment that has more than tripled since 1990,
innovative programs and first-rate facilities, a campus recognized as one of
the most beautiful in America, and town-gown relations that are a national
model, Union's next leader will find a college poised to move to the next level
of excellence. Now, though, it is time to take on a new challenge and 'to pass
the baton.'”

Hull,
the 17th president of Union, also announced that he plans to create
a charitable foundation, based on the work he did before coming to Union. It will focus on at-risk grade-school students and
how colleges and universities can change their lives.

“Roger Hull has made a lasting positive
impression upon Union
College during his 15
years as president, and his contributions are greatly appreciated by the Union
community. The college has never been stronger in its 210-year history. Roger
leaves Union in terrific condition and poised
for a dynamic new chapter in its illustrious history. We know that Roger will
do well in his exciting new venture. He will always remain a great friend of
the College,” said Stephen Ciesinski, chair of the Union College
board of trustees. Ciesinski, a graduate of Union, class of 1970, is CEO of
Laszlo Systems, Inc. of San Mateo,
CA.

Albany
business executive and co-chair of Union's “You are Union” Campaign Frank Messa
said, “As an alumnus and as part of the regional business arena, I have watched
Union grow and thrive under Roger's guidance.
He has done great things here, and will be missed.” Messa, a graduate of Union,
class of 1973, is a senior vice president of The Ayco Co., Albany.

Schenectady
business executive and Union trustee Neil Golub said, “The city of Schenectady is a better
place for Roger's leadership. All Schenectadians particularly – as well as
others in Tech Valley and beyond – look forward to
continuing the momentum he created.” Golub is President and CEO of Price
Chopper Supermarkets of Schenectady.

The Board of Trustees will create
a search committee and begin efforts immediately to find his successor. Board
Chair Ciesinski commented, “It will be a very difficult task to fill Roger's
shoes. With the College community's help, we will establish a committee to find
the best possible candidates to consider. Leading Union
as it enters its next phase is a tremendous opportunity. We expect to meet some
extraordinary men and women who want to take the helm of this great
institution.”

The trustees will announce the
composition of the search committee shortly. That committee will develop
communications programs to keep all members of the College community updated on
the search and succession process. According to Board Chair Ciesinski, “We
take this aspect of the search very seriously and plan to share our progress
and our thinking as we go forward.”

Hull is the fourth-longest serving president in the College's
210-year history, surpassed only by Presidents Carter Davidson (1946-1965),
Charles Richmond (1909-1928) and Eliphalet Nott (1804-1866).

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Posted on Jan 10, 2005

After 15 years as president of Union College, Roger Hull will be stepping down in June. No, not to retire or to make a ton of money in the private sector – two common reasons why successful executives leave their jobs – but to start a national charitable foundation that will create academies on college campuses for at-risk grade school children. In other words, to do good works. Good for him.

Hull brought energy, idealism and commitment – not just to the college but to the community. For instance, he strongly believes in public service, and he showed it by making a day of service a requirement for freshmen. And by getting involved himself, helping found Schenectady 2000 to beautify the city and the Metroplex Development Authority to revitalize it.

He also physically extended the college into the community – controversially on the east side with lawsuits over Lenox Road, and to universal acclaim on the west side with a neighborhood renewal project on Seward Place. As part of that project, there is a community center where Union students tutor and otherwise work with local children. The academies that Hull envisions – a successful model for which exists at Beloit College in Wisconsin, started by him when he was president there before coming to Union – will make use of college students as well.

Hull has also excelled in another area that college presidents are usually measured by: fund-raising. His prowess there has led to the construction or renovation of many buildings on campus, including the beautifully restored Nott Memorial.

President Hull, with his love for the liberal arts and interest in international education, will move on. But his impact on the college and community will continue to be felt for many years to come.

 

 

 

 

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Posted on Jan 9, 2005

SCHENECTADY – Union College President Roger Hull, who led efforts to integrate the 210-year-old institution into the city's social and economic tapestry, will step down June 30. He intends to start a nationwide foundation to help grade-school children prepare for college, outside normal channels. Hull, 62, the college's 17th president, has served for 15 years. Before joining Union in 1990, he served for nine years as president of Beloit College in Wisconsin.

He told Union's board of trustees over the weekend that he planned to step down.

“I've been a college president for 24 years. I've had as good a run as I possibly could,” he said during a Monday afternoon news conference at the college.

The board will immediately create a search committee to find his successor, said Frank Messa, co-chair of the college's “You Are Union” campaign.

“We are very sad to see him go. He has accomplished so much for the college,” Messa said. Hull will remain president through the end of the current academic year. His salary was reported at $290,000 annually. He lives on campus with his two high school-age children.

Hull plans to remain in the area but is interested in establishing a charitable foundation that will serve at-risk students across the country. He started a similar program while president of Beloit.

Town – gown catalyst

Union spokesman Bill Schwarz said, “It's fair to say that when Roger arrived, Union was very much the ivory tower. He will be most remembered for bringing the college into the community and for bringing the community into the college.”

In a phone interview, Union trustee Neil Golub said Hull “made some major changes in the quality of the college's education, in how it's run, in how it interacts with the community, in expanding its facilities and in bringing new students to the college.”

“He brought a process of change,” Golub said.

Hull integrated the college's liberal arts program with its technology program; increased the college's efforts to help students study abroad; and boosted undergraduate research.

Hull's strength is in the area of fund raising, Messa said. During Hull's tenure, the college's endowment tripled to $250 million; the college is in the midst of a $250 million campaign.

“With that endowment, Roger and the board have been able to accomplish many of the objectives he and the board set,” Messa said.

Seward Place effort

One objective was to spur renewal on the periphery of the campus. Through the Union-Schenectady Initiative he launched in 1998, the college pumped more than $26 million into Seward Place, Huron Street and Nott Street, neighborhoods west of the college.

The college bought and renovated more than three dozen buildings, converting most into student housing. The area is known as College Park.

The initiative also offers free tuition to the children of homeowners in the area, provided they keep their homes in good condition and the children meet academic standards. It also subsidizes mortgages of Union faculty who buy houses there.

The college last year also purchased the former Ramada Inn on Nott Street and transformed it into a residence hall for 230 students. Behind it sits a new lighted athletic field, which is open to the community. The rebuilding work made major improvements in an area on the rim of the campus that was once blighted and trouble-prone.

Hull launched the U-Start business incubator project in 1998. The project allows Union students to become entrepreneurs and test their business concepts in the academic environment.

Almost upon his arrival to Union as president Hull launched a community service program for incoming freshmen. Schwarz jokingly called it “mandatory volunteerism.”

The program exposes students to the community and “is a wonderful statement because so many students continue their service in the community,” Schwarz said.

Messa said fully 50 percent of the college's 2,100 students participate in community service projects.

In 1993, Hull and Golub formed Schenectady 2000. Its goal was to attract companies, create jobs and help revitalize the city.

Schenectady 2000 never reached its full promise, but it did help spur the creation of something far bigger: the Metroplex Development Authority. Along the lines Hull and Golub envisioned, the county Legislature petitioned the state government to create the local authority to float bonds for downtown projects. That was in 1998.

Metroplex has since served to attract more than $100 million in investment in the county, $70 million of that in downtown.

“What's going on today with Metroplex and [Chairman] Ray Gillen is the result of Schenectady 2000. This community has taken a big step forward,” Golub said.

Hull is reluctant to take sole credit for any of these initiatives. “We've done it,” he said, placing emphasis on “we.”

“We have a track record recognized around the world,” Hull said. “We've been able to build the institution but not on the backs of the staff. This was all done without layoffs.”

Hull made some enemies among alumni of the college's Greek-letter organizations in recent years as his administration took over several fraternity houses on campus for use as offices and dormitories.

During Hull's tenure, Union has taken steps to limit the influence of fraternities on campus social life, despite their unique place in the college's history. Union is known as “The Mother of Fraternities” because the first three – Kappa Alpha, Delta Phi and Sigma Phi – were founded at the college in the 1820s.

Foundation vision

Hull said the foundation which he plans to create will provide seed money to colleges and universities that want to establish an educational program for at-risk students. The program would use college students to teach fourth-graders a Latin-based curriculum in an after-school setting.

“I have the vision but I have no money,” he said. His Wisconsin program obtained outstanding results, he said, and he hopes to duplicate it nationwide.

He wants to establish the program on a small number of college campuses initially and then broaden the effort each year.

“The point is to take this and go national. It's the right idea at the right time. There's nothing like it in the United States,” Hull said.

Hull leaves Union with the distinction of serving the fourth-longest term of any president in the college's history.

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Posted on Jan 9, 2005

SCHENECTADY –(Jan. 11, 2005) Union College President Roger Hull will leave the school at the end of June, ending a 15-year tenure in which the college almost tripled its endowment and led the rehabilitation of an adjacent neighborhood.

Hull, 62, wants to start a charitable foundation that will inspire disadvantaged grade school students to seek college educations.

“It's been a great run,” Hull said. “I've had a lot of fun doing a wide range of things.”

Trustees of the college credited Hull with improving both the school and its home city.

Hull's 15-year run was problematic at the beginning. There were 107 empty dormbeds in his first academic year, enrollment was 63 students below the budgeted figure and the school's $50 million budget was $2 million in the red. The student speaker at Hull's first commencement said Union trustees “made a mistake” in hiring him.

“It was not the most fun I've had as a president, that first year,” Hull said.

But he turned it around, ultimately lasting about nine years longer than the average university president does.

Hull said he was proudest of not having to lay anybody off during his time at Union. “We have not moved this place forward on the backs of the people that work here,” he said.

Cliff Brown, a political science professor and chairman of Union's faculty executive committee, said he was sorry to see Hull go.

Brown, who has been at Union for 25 years, said Hull was able to overcome his rocky start by bringing in good people and raising the quality of students who attended the school.

Looking back, Brown pointed to several Hull initiatives as successes. The creation of a new house system that will foster a greater sense of community; the $11 million restoration of the 16-sided Nott Memorial, a campus showpiece now far removed from the broken-windowed eyesore it had become; and the school's investment in Seward Place are among his legacies, he said.

Since 1998, Union has spent more than $26 million in that neighborhood on the western edge of campus. Last fall, the school opened a new dormitory in a former Ramada Inn.

While it is de rigueur for schools to invest in surrounding neighborhoods around them — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Russell Sage College are among the local institutions participating in the trend — Hull has been credited for bringing the concept to the Capital Region.

Schenectady Mayor Brian U. Stratton said Hull's work on the Seward Place project has created a model for other city neighborhoods to emulate.

Hull was appointed Union's 17th president in 1990 after serving as president of Beloit College in Wisconsin for nine years.

Hull said there is a “90 percent chance” that he will remain in the Capital Region as he starts his foundation, which currently has no home and no backing.

His goal is to start with a network of about a half-dozen colleges across the country that will open their doors to low-income grade schoolers to come twice a week after school and once a month on Saturdays. Those students would then attend the program until they graduate high school.

A similar program Hull helped start at Beloit has helped 275 pupils — 95 percent of whom have gone on to college.

The best part about it, he said, is that “you're changing people's lives.”

But while he has an idea, he's going to hold off on building it up until he's left the school.

“I've got six months to go and I just want to make sure I keep my streak of balanced budgets and full enrollments going,” he said.

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Posted on Jan 9, 2005

Former Union College basketball player David Viniar gave his alma mater an unforgettable present.

Now the college wants to give him one in return.

The new $3.2 million between Saturday's men's/ women's double-header with Vassar. The women play at 2 p.m., and the men will play at 4.

The day's celebration will begin at 11 a.m. with the annual men's alumni game. A private luncheon and recognition ceremony will take place at 12:30, followed by the D u t c h w o – men's game. Dedication of the Viniar Athletic Center will be held on the court at roughly 3:30, just before the men's game.

“The players and coaches have quickly assimilated into, and have assumed ownership of our new home,” said Union head men's basketball coach Bob Montana. “For the first time in my 22 seasons associated with men's basketball at Union, I feel we finally have a facility that is built with basketball as a priority. I cannot offer enough thanks to David Viniar and his family for the support they have shown men's basketball at Union College with the gift of this facility.

“We will continue to work hard to attract quality studentathletes to Union College that will represent our basketball program, alumni, and the institution in a quality manner on and off the court,” Montana continued. “We now have a facility that will be a positive resource in the very competitive arena of college basketball recruiting. As a former Union basketball player, Dave unders t a n d s t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f recruiting college basketball players today, and he and his family have stepped forward in a very big way to support our efforts. ”

Union women's head coach Mary Ellen Burt is just as excited about the Dutchwomen's new home court.

“Words simply cannot describe the level of energy and excitement we feel every time we take the court,” Burt said. “The tingling sense of pride and the adrenaline rush that each and everyone of us feels is something that truly has to be experienced.

“Many of the parents have come up to me after a practice or a scrimmage and talked about feeling the same kind of sensation. Everyone associated with the women's team owes a great deal of thanks to Dave Viniar and his family because this would not have been possible without their generous gift.”

Viniar graduated summa cum laude from Union College in 1976 and earned a bachelor's degree in economics. He was a member of Union's varsity basketball team, which in 1974-75 compiled a 20-4 record and captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference' s Upstate New York championship. He continues to serve as a member of Union's Board of Trustees.

After Union, Viniar went on to graduate school at Harvard, where he received his master's in business administration in 1980. Upon graduation, Viniar joined the investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs & Co., where he became a partner in 1992 and chief financial officer in 1999.

An active alumnus, Viniar has volunteered with the Career Development Center, served as admissions representative, and participated as a member of Friends of Union Athletics. In 1997, he established the Leo and Evelyn Viniar Scholarship at Union in honor of his parents.

“Through the generosity of David Viniar and his family, Union College now has a facility, which was long overdue, that will be commensurate with the level of our men's and women's basketball programs,” said Union President Roger Hull. “We are grateful that David chose to honor his own experiences as an exceptional student-athlete this way.”

COLLEGE NOTEBOOK

Viniar Athletic Center dedication set Saturday

By BOB WEINER Gazette Sportswriter

Reach Gazette sportswriter Bob Weiner at 395-3147 or wein@dailygazette.com.

Former Union College basketball player David Viniar gave his alma mater an unforgettable present.

Now the college wants to give him one in return.

The new $3.2 million Viniar Sports Complex will be dedicated with a special ceremony between Saturday's men's/ women's double-header with Vassar. The women play at 2 p.m., and the men will play at 4.

The day's celebration will begin at 11 a.m. with the annual men's alumni game. A private luncheon and recognition ceremony will take place at 12:30, followed by the D u t c h w o – men's game. Dedication of the Viniar Athletic Center will be held on the court at roughly 3:30, just before the men's game.

“The players and coaches have quickly assimilated into, and have assumed ownership of our new home,” said Union head men's basketball coach Bob Montana. “For the first time in my 22 seasons associated with men's basketball at Union, I feel we finally have a facility that is built with basketball as a priority. I cannot offer enough thanks to David Viniar and his family for the support they have shown men's basketball at Union College with the gift of this facility.

“We will continue to work hard to attract quality studentathletes to Union College that will represent our basketball program, alumni, and the institution in a quality manner on and off the court,” Montana continued. “We now have a facility that will be a positive resource in the very competitive arena of college basketball recruiting. As a former Union basketball player, Dave unders t a n d s t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f recruiting college basketball players today, and he and his family have stepped forward in a very big way to support our efforts. ”

Union women's head coach Mary Ellen Burt is just as excited about the Dutchwomen's new home court.

“Words simply cannot describe the level of energy and excitement we feel every time we take the court,” Burt said. “The tingling sense of pride and the adrenaline rush that each and everyone of us feels is something that truly has to be experienced.

“Many of the parents have come up to me after a practice or a scrimmage and talked about feeling the same kind of sensation. Everyone associated with the women's team owes a great deal of thanks to Dave Viniar and his family because this would not have been possible without their generous gift.”

Viniar graduated summa cum laude from Union College in 1976 and earned a bachelor's degree in economics. He was a member of Union's varsity basketball team, which in 1974-75 compiled a 20-4 record and captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference' s Upstate New York championship. He continues to serve as a member of Union's Board of Trustees.

After Union, Viniar went on to graduate school at Harvard, where he received his master's in business administration in 1980. Upon graduation, Viniar joined the investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs & Co., where he became a partner in 1992 and chief financial officer in 1999.

An active alumnus, Viniar has volunteered with the Career Development Center, served as admissions representative, and participated as a member of Friends of Union Athletics. In 1997, he established the Leo and Evelyn Viniar Scholarship at Union in honor of his parents.

“Through the generosity of David Viniar and his family, Union College now has a facility, which was long overdue, that will be commensurate with the level of our men's and women's basketball programs,” said Union President Roger Hull. “We are grateful that David chose to honor his own experiences as an exceptional student-athlete this way.”

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Posted on Jan 9, 2005

When Roger Hull became president of Schenectady's Union College in 1990, surveys showed more than 60 percent of students thought being in Schenectady was a “high negative.” The city was in serious decline and there were few signs that it was going to get better.

“From an aesthetic standpoint, Union was not the beautiful campus it is today,” said Bill Schwarz, director of corporate and government relations at Union.  The Nott Memorial, held together by railroad ties, was crumbling. But all that changed due in large part to Hull's initiatives.

Hull invested $100 million in infrastructure and built 20 new buildings on campus. Union also acquired or renovated around 50 buildings in the college neighborhood. More than 4.000 students apply for the college's 520 freshman slots, and almost two-thirds of the students come from out of state.  “Now we trumpet the fact that we're in Schenectady and Tech Valley,” Schwarz said.

Hull said this week he will resign as president of Union in June after holding the post for 15 years. His decision saddened many business leaders, who say Hull helped attract more people and commerce to Schenectady by using the college as a lifeline for the city's struggling economy.

 Neil Golub, president and CEO of Golub Corp. in Rotterdam, has known Hull since 1993, when they met helping to create the master plan for Schenectady's downtown. Golub also worked with Hull that year on Schenectady 2000 a civic improvement program that gave way to the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority.

 “He recognized that Union plays a major role in bringing people to the area,” Golub said. “He saw the quality of the school as integral to the Schenectady scene.'

 George Robertson, president of the Schenectady Economic Development Corp., also co-founded Schenectady 2000 with Hull. He said Hull's work indirectly helped create Metroplex, which has awarded $65 million to Schenectady businesses. Most of that money has gone to the city's downtown.

“He [Hull] used the presidency at Union as a bully pulpit for pushing Schenectady 2000,” Robertson said. “Now, downtown is coming back.”

 Hull oversaw more than $20 million worth of revitalization efforts for neighborhoods surrounding Union.  The college renovated the Ramada Inn on Nott Terrace into a dorm, and restored homes in the Seward Place neighborhood just west of Union's campus. “The streetscape dramatically improved and made it an attractive area, rather than a blighted area,” Golub said.

One renovated property near Seward Place became home to the U-Start business incubator program, which Hull co-founded with former GE executive Walter Robb in 1998.

“We saw startups spinning off from GE always going to Albany or Rensselaer County,” Robb said. “We felt one way to help Schenectady was to get some of these startups in an incubator and get Union mentors to work with the startups.” Interns from Union work for the six companies currently in the incubator.

Hull, a graduate of Yale Law School, gave up a lucrative career as an attorney to enter higher education in 1970, but considered resigning for the last year. He finalized the decision within the past six weeks and informed the college's board of trustees on the morning of Jan. 10.

“Fifteen years is an incredibly long run for a college president,” he said. “I think we've tackled all the tough issues and turned things around, so I think it's a good time to hand the reins to someone else.”

Now in his early 60s, Hull plans to create a charitable foundation that will start academies on college and university campuses for at-risk grade-school children.  The charity is based on a similar program Hull started when he was president of Beloit College in Beloit, Wis. in the mid- 1930s. There, Hull's program had a 95 percent success rate, with students going on to college.

Hull, originally from New York City, said there's a 90 percent chance he'll stay in the Capital Region. He's confident Schenectady will keep progressing, if leaders put politics aside.  “I think things are on a good course,” he said. “But one has to stay the course. One needs to shunt aside the personal and petty political things that tend to take place. This is a great community and we have a lot of talent, but we don't have so much that we can engage in political bickering and succeed at the same time.”

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