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as a French tutor for the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. He cites Bernie Kastory, then the F. William Harder Professor of Business Administration, as “the most infuential” among many strong academic fgures he encountered at Skidmore. “Not only was he one of the nicest human beings I have ever met, but he also approached teaching in such a patient, humble manner for someone of his stature in the international business community. He imparted real-world wisdom and even brought in CEOs of global frms to speak to us.” All the while, Patrick was able to stay in touch with his affnity for science. “I was lucky to have extremely smart, patient, and selfess classmates who would coax me through diffcult biology and psychology labs,” he says. As a senior, he served on the Student Government Association’s Financial Oversight Committee.

His fellow students were just as “amazing and inspiring” as the faculty. One of his friends, an All-American lacrosse player and honors student studying business and economics, was also a gifted ceramist. Another was a feld hockey captain, English major, and talented writer who sang beautifully in her spare time. “Skidmore was never about producing cookie-cutter students; it is about cultivating talented, complex, and well-rounded people.” Patrick credits the robust interdisciplinary foundation he received at Skidmore as the reason that “I almost never approach my work in fnance with a strictly ‘business mentality’; I like to think I exercise my creative mind in this way, which is fairly uncommon in my feld.” He is delighted to report that he continues to observe a “broad shift” in the type of academic backgrounds that fnancial institutions

are seeking in their employees, one that is leaning increasingly toward liberal arts graduates.

Patrick was equally engaged in athletics. After playing ice hockey in his freshman year, he was recruited by exercise science professor and men’s tennis coach Paul Arciero to join the tennis team, where he fourished both personally and athletically. A team captain and MVP during his senior year, Patrick helped the Thoroughbreds win two consecutive Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association tournament championships. “The times I shared with my tennis teammates were some of the happiest and most demanding I have ever known in my life,” he says, adding that participating in athletics taught him how to “really listen” to others. “It’s one of the most essential skills that I rely upon today.” Arciero continues to be a mentor and close friend; he and his family were part of a Skidmore network that included then-athletics director Jeff Segrave and countless students and faculty who were there to support Patrick and sister Ashley when their mother was diagnosed with and later passed away from breast cancer in 2007. Patrick refects, “It was one of the most amazing displays of compassion I have ever experienced. I will feel forever indebted to the Skidmore community for helping me, my sister, and my father during an agonizing period.” A memorial bench in Nancy’s name, dedicated by Patrick and his extended family, was placed near the tennis courts where she had so often sat to watch Patrick and then Ashley play.

Patrick’s drive to give back to the College propelled him to join the Friends of Skidmore Athletics in 2003, when he helped to raise funds to reinstate men’s ice hockey and establish FOSA

D A V I D H . P O R T E R A W A R D F O R Y O U N G A L U M N I S E R V I C E

“What I love about Skidmore is that it was never about pigeon-holing students. Skidmore is about exploration, pushing the limits of academic disciplines, thriving on the court or playing feld or stage, and it always will be.”