Alumni Association Award Recipients
Our 2024 award recipients were recognized at the Alumni Awards & Recognition Ceremony at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 1 in the Arthur Zankel Music Center, Helen Filene Ladd '22 Concert Hall.
Nominations for alumni awards are collected each fall and reviewed by members of the Alumni Awards Committee for presentation each spring. If you know a Skidmore alumna/us who meets the criteria for one of these awards, visit the Annual Alumni Awards page to learn more and fill out a nomination.
Reunion 2024 - Alumni Awards Recipients
Honors one alumna/us, graduated at least 10 years, who has translated her or his Skidmore experience into distinguished achievement through professional work and/or community service.
Susan Marsh Elliott ’74, a highly accomplished diplomat, is president and CEO of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, an organization dedicated to the resolution of international conflicts.
During her 27-year career as a U.S. diplomat, Susan held many leadership positions, including as U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan (2012-2015). Before she retired in 2017, she served as civilian deputy and political advisor to the U.S. European Command, a unified combatant command headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
Susan, who grew up in Hoosick Falls, New York, graduated from Skidmore’s nursing program. She chose the College because of financial aid support and the hands-on medical training she knew she would receive at New York University Hospital as part of the academic program. She worked in coronary care at a Vermont hospital before earning a master’s degree from Russell Sage College and a doctoral degree in nursing science and administration from Indiana University. For nearly 10 years, she taught nursing at Ball State University in Indiana and the University of Virginia.
Susan transitioned from a career in nursing and academia to become a significant figure in U.S. diplomacy in 1990. “I was 38 years old, and I decided to switch careers,” says Susan, who also speaks Russian, Greek, Spanish, and Tajik. “What has helped me be successful is my undergraduate education at Skidmore, because it demonstrated that if you have a strong liberal arts education and you’re motivated, you can do anything. Diplomacy is all about written and verbal communication skills, and a lot of what we learned in the nursing program was how to effectively communicate.”
In one notable experience during her time as ambassador, President Barack Obama asked all U.S. ambassadors to encourage their respective host country governments to sign the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, she developed a plan to better enable the Tajik government to address the rights and needs of disabled citizens.
“Tajik officials were shocked that I would want to directly interact with children who had disabilities,” Susan says. “But this was especially important to me, partly because of my healthcare background and also because my brother has developmental disabilities.”
Prior to her ambassadorship in Tajikistan, Susan served as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. In this role, she contributed to U.S. policy in South and Central Asia and coordinated with the U.S. military to establish supply routes in support of military operations during the U.S. War in Afghanistan.
Susan was also minister-counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow (2009-2010) and consul general at the U.S. Consulate General in Belfast (2007-2009). In Belfast, she directed relations with Northern Ireland, assisting with the peace process, economic development, and cross-community projects. Her overseas assignments also included Athens, Greece, and Lima, Peru.
Honors an alumna/us whose innovative, creative contributions to the greater good inspire or enlighten the lives of others. Throughout Skidmore’s history, the College has challenged itself to make no small plans, and this award recognizes an individual who demonstrates this enthusiastic spirit, whether through career, community service, or volunteerism.
Gregory Kahn Melitonov ’04, an architect, designer, and creative director, is the founding partner of Taller KEN, an architecture and design firm based in New York City and Costa Rica.
Taller KEN builds vibrant and engaging spaces that center on playful design with social relevance. Committed to building partnerships by incorporating a multitude of voices to create architecture with broad appeal, the firm often works in developing countries and urban areas defined by an imbalance of growth and social inequities.
In 2016, the firm launched the FUNdaMENTAL Design Build Initiative to work more closely with local communities. In the three-month-long internship program, 10 to 12 early-career or student architects and designers collaborate in all phases of realizing a public urban intervention project.
Gregory, a studio art major at Skidmore with a master’s degree in architecture from Yale University, grew up between Chelsea and Greenwich Village in New York City, where he was immersed in a vibrant art and academic community. Both his parents had careers in the arts, and the private school he attended exposed him to art, art history, and architecture, with trips to Europe. At 16, he ran the school’s life-drawing club.
At Skidmore, Gregory studied abroad in Rome and Paris. “To experience and study in new places and then return to campus with new insight and use all the facilities in Skidmore’s art program helped me to define what I wanted academically by refreshing my perspective,” Gregory says. “That’s something I carry with me today.”
One Taller KEN project that remains a favorite is a 4,500-square-foot café and event space located on the most heavily trafficked highway in Guatemala. The exterior, conceived as a four-sided billboard, features a 50-foot-tall cube studded with colorful car chassis. The café’s interior comprises an exposed steel structure, skylights, and louvers. Rainwater is collected in bright blue tanks to water the palm trees that partition the open floor plan.
“The entire space was conceived to reflect a playful yet critical approach to urban sprawl and sustainability,” Gregory says.
A more recent favorite is Bright Stripes, a public art installation in Brooklyn that features color-blocked stripes cascading down scaffolding and into the street. “This was a private commission for a social activation space that blended my background in studio art, community engagement, and my roots as a New Yorker into one project,” Gregory says.
Taller KEN — a mashup of the Spanish word for “workshop” and an English word meaning “knowledge” — has received numerous awards, including the Architecture League Prize and the AIA New York, New Practices Award.
Gregory is also an instructor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation and at Parsons School of Design - The New School. Prior to establishing Taller KEN, he was an intermediate architect for Pritzker Prize laureate Renzo Piano as part of the design team for the Whitney Museum of American Art and the headquarters building for the High Line public park.
“I’m honored to receive the Creative Thought Matters Award of Distinction,” Gregory says. “It is gratifying to look back over 20 years and see how foundational my time at Skidmore has been to the artistic side of my practice.”
Honors a member of the Skidmore community who has, through exemplary personal and/or professional leadership, demonstrated a commitment to the values of a diverse and inclusive world.
During her senior year at Skidmore, Dr. Diana V. Perry, MD, MPH ’89 traveled to South Africa on a research fellowship funded anonymously by a trustee, with the goal of experiencing apartheid firsthand. Deeply affected by the trip, Diana, who majored in sociology, used the experience as the central theme of her senior thesis that compared the anti-apartheid movement to the American civil rights movement.
“Going to South Africa for six weeks as a person of color in those days is something I will never forget,” she says. “The government ruled with an iron fist, and many people lost their lives trying to end apartheid.”
“It was also like stepping back in time,” Diana adds, recalling how both her parents — her biggest role models — endured racism to become physicians. “I realized firsthand what my parents experienced living through the terror of Jim Crow laws.”
Her mother, Dr. Eula Faye Perry, became a pediatrician, and her father, Dr. Levi V. Perry, became a cardiologist and is a Skidmore life trustee. Diana grew up in Houston, Texas, the ninth of 10 children, and followed in her parents’ footsteps in the medical field. Today, she is an associate physician in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and a senior neonatologist in South Shore Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She is also a part-time instructor at Harvard Medical School.
Diana joined the Skidmore College Board of Trustees as an alumna trustee in 2015. Her term expired in May 2019, but she agreed to extend her service as a full Board member until 2023. She has served on the Academic Affairs, Advancement, and Student Life committees. During the Creating Our Future Campaign (2013-2020), she joined forces with former trustee Dr. Josh Boyce ’81 to promote fundraising for science initiatives and the construction of the Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences.
As a founding member of the Alumni Association Board’s Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee, Diana participated in efforts to formalize D&I volunteer engagement. As a trustee, she was involved in the presidential search process that in 2020 ushered in Marc C. Conner as Skidmore’s eighth president. “I knew we needed a leader well-versed in D&I issues,” she says. “After I read his book, ‘The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison,’ I was convinced that he would be our next president.”
As a longtime mentor, Diana continues to sponsor interns and provide shadowing opportunities to Skidmore students interested in the health professions, hoping to inspire future medical professionals, particularly girls and others from underrepresented backgrounds. Her mentoring efforts have impacted students like Kasia Dillon ’19, a neuroscience major who is now a medical student at the University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine.
Diana, who has participated in races across the country, recently completed her 19th marathon. Her Skidmore family legacy includes two brothers, Dr. Victor Perry ’88 and Christopher Perry ’90, and a niece, Lauren Michelle ’20.
Honors one alumna/us, graduated one to 10 years, who has used her or his Skidmore education in a quest for excellence demonstrated by personal achievement. The recipient must have a continuing concern for the Skidmore community.
Dr. Alina Bazarian, MD ’14, a resident physician in Saratoga Springs, embodies the essence of young alumni achievement. Her story is marked by a series of firsts — the first in her family to attend college, earn master’s and doctoral degrees, and become a physician. These milestones are not just personal achievements but also a tribute to her parents, Armenian immigrants who became successful small-business owners and instilled in her the values of hard work, education, and community service.
“I could not be where I am today without the love and unwavering support from my family,” Alina says. “I am proud and honored to share in this achievement with them.”
Alina attained her medical degree from Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in New Jersey in 2023 and began her three-year residency training shortly after through the Saratoga Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. She was chosen as one of six residents from more than 1,500 applicants to enter the new program, a collaboration between Albany Medical Center and Hudson Headwaters Health Network. The program provides clinical training in both hospital and ambulatory medicine, with special emphasis on behavioral health, addiction treatment, population and community health, and rural health.
Alina grew up in Watertown, Massachusetts, a small suburb outside of Boston. A neuroscience major on the pre-med track, she chose Skidmore College for its intimate learning environment and robust liberal arts curriculum. “Skidmore provided me with a well-rounded education in the humanities and sciences that has served me well as a resident physician delivering holistic, patient-centered care,” she says.
During her time on campus, Alina was fully involved with the Skidmore community, beginning as a resident assistant and then a unit assistant. In her senior year, she became head resident.
“This experience was invaluable in shaping the type of physician I would hope to become as a leader and a teammate,” says Alina, who was also a teacher's assistant for the Introduction to Neuroscience course and completed an internship at Saratoga Bridges, which serves individuals with disabilities.
After earning her master’s degree in medical sciences from Boston University School of Medicine, Alina was a scribe for an internal medicine physician at a satellite outpatient clinic in Chelsea, Massachusetts. She also volunteered for six months in Armenia through Birthright Armenia, a program that provides young Armenians from around the world with the opportunity to connect to their ancestral homeland. There, she conducted public health research and worked with the only pediatric interventional cardiologist in the country.
Receiving the Joseph C. Palamountain Award for Young Alumni Achievement is a full-circle moment for Alina, whose Skidmore education was made possible through a Joseph C. and Anne T. Palamountain Scholarship.
“I am forever grateful and indebted to the Palamountain family. Without their support, I would not have been able to attend Skidmore,” says Alina, who met Anne Palamountain at two scholarship benefits. “She had such a wonderful personality and made a strong impression on me. I aspire to be as generous as her someday.”
Alina also received a merit-based Porter/Wachenheim Presidential Scholarship in Science and Mathematics (S3M). She was inducted into the National Residence Hall Honorary and Psi Chi, the International Honors Society for Psychology.
Honoring one or more members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated exceptional service to the College for at least 25 years as an alumna/us, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend.
In 1971, at age 28, Judith Pick Eissner ’64 became the youngest member to join the Skidmore College Board of Trustees — at a time when few women were appointed to the Board and the bylaws had to be changed to allow trustees to join five years out of college rather than 10. Then-President Joseph Palamountain and the Board saw an enduring Skidmore supporter and leader, and for more than 50 years, Judy has delivered.
She has served in every Skidmore volunteer role possible, including as the first-ever alumna to chair the Board of Trustees (1986-1992); member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors; and fund chair, class president, reunion volunteer, and class agent. As a life trustee, she continues to support her alma mater as a member of the Board’s Advancement Committee and the Tang National Advisory Council. Judy and her husband, Bruce, were inducted into the Parnassus Society in 2014.
In the 1970s, Judy helped steer Skidmore through many daunting challenges and toward remarkable evolution and growth, particularly during the transition to the new North Broadway campus and the move from a women’s college to a coeducational institution.
“Skidmore was struggling with admissions, finances, low endowment, and a two-campus operation,” Judy says. “In thinking about how to recruit top students and increase Skidmore’s reputation, there were no easy answers.”
As Board chair, Judy led the search committee that appointed David Porter as Skidmore’s fifth president in 1987. That same year, the College kicked off its $25 million Celebration Campaign. The campus landscape was transformed as Skidmore renovated and expanded the Lucy Scribner Library, upgraded computer and telecommunications capabilities, and built an addition to the Williamson Sports Center, among other capital projects.
She also helped the College define and achieve its curricular priorities, including increasing diversity and scholarships and enhancing the sciences and collaborative research. She played a key role in shaping The Skidmore Journey: A Campaign for Our Second Century. Launched in 1993, the campaign raised $86.5 million, enabling Skidmore to substantially increase its endowment and fund the construction of the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery.
Judy came to Skidmore from the Chicago area to study social work. Before attending college, her mother died, and tragedy struck again when her father passed away during her junior year, prompting her to return home to care for a younger brother. She completed her studies at Skidmore with a renewed appreciation for the small, close-knit campus community after briefly attending Northwestern University..
Judy, who earned a master’s degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago, has had a distinguished career, including as director of social services for the Chicago chapter of Planned Parenthood and a field instructor for University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. In Massachusetts, where she raised a family, she was director of development for Northeast Health Foundation, director of development for CAB Health and Recovery Services, and senior development officer for Northeast Health Foundation. Her Skidmore awards over the years include a 50th Reunion Service Award (2014), Denis Kemball-Cook Award (1992), and Outstanding Service Award (1984). She accepted an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Skidmore in 1995, and the Judith Pick Eissner Admissions building is named in her honor.
“I am extremely honored to receive this award,” Judy says. “Volunteering has always been an element in my life. Skidmore also gave me the opportunity to be a leader. It’s what Skidmore continues to ask of me, and as long as I can do it, I will.”
Honoring one or more members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated exceptional service to the College for at least 25 years as an alumna/us, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend.
Beverly Fuhrmann Gregory ’64 has been a tireless lifetime volunteer for Skidmore, serving her class and the College. She continues to be an active volunteer as longtime class fund chair, President’s Society chair, and class agent. She has been on the President’s Society Advancement Council Executive Committee, Reunion Giving Program Advisory Committee, and the Alumni Association Board of Directors. She also has served as class president.
“I’m shocked and honored to receive this award, and it’s wonderful to be appreciated,” Bev says. “I have stayed connected and continue to see what a great place Skidmore is.”
As a strong ambassador for Skidmore, Bev has played a pivotal role in inspiring her peers to enhance their contributions and actively participate in reunions. Becoming a volunteer a few years after she graduated, she remembers sitting in her kitchen in a tiny apartment in Charleston, South Carolina, making phone call after phone call to her classmates. Many times over, she has followed up with notes of appreciation for their support — a personal touch that she believes makes all the difference. “Making sure they feel appreciated is very important,” she says.
Constantly doing more than asked, she has stepped in for other classmate volunteers who have had to take time off due to illness or another extenuating circumstance. She always looks forward to her interactions with students and other alumni, and she especially enjoys attending student performances.
Bev, who grew up on Long Island, was a standout field hockey player in high school. During the summers, she was a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons. At Skidmore, she majored in physical education, married a Navy officer, and taught as a K-12 physical education teacher in Connecticut, Hawaii, and Virginia.
As a Skidmore student, she focused largely on her studies but found time to learn how to ski and ride horseback. Bev attended the College during a time of great expansion and transition. She fondly remembers then-President Val Wilson with a shovel in hand, along with a group of trustees, during the groundbreaking ceremony in 1963 that launched the construction of a new campus.
“Today’s campus is nothing like the old one, which I loved. But I knew things had to change for the College to grow, and the campus has grown into a remarkable place for today’s students,” she says.
In addition to her volunteerism, Bev has contributed to various Skidmore initiatives, particularly scholarships. “Education is the key to America’s future, and I want today’s students to have opportunities to attend Skidmore,” she says.
Outside of Skidmore, Bev has been a philanthropist to organizations such as Tunnel to Towers and Habitat for Humanity.
Avid travelers, she and her late husband, Robert, visited six continents. Her Skidmore family legacy includes cousin Thomas Butts ’82 and stepdaughter Kathryn Gregory ’77.
Honors one member of the 50th reunion class (Class of 1974) who has demonstrated outstanding service to the College.
Working for a book publisher shortly after graduation, Denise Marcil ’74 was invited to a nearby New York City Alumni Club meeting. She decided to “just show up.” That initial step into volunteering has evolved into nearly five decades of indefatigable service to Skidmore College.
Denise, who became alumni club president, has since served as a volunteer in nearly every capacity, including as an alumna trustee (1986-1989), a vice president on the Alumni Association Board of Directors (2004-2007), and class president. She hosted a mini-reunion in 1991 at her New York City home for the classes of 1973, 1974, and 1975.
“I’ve grown and benefitted so much from participating as a volunteer, making many valuable connections and friendships and developing leadership and interpersonal skills along the way. So, honestly, I’ve received more than I’ve given back,” she says.
She continues to support Skidmore with her gifts of time and talent, mentoring students as a Career Development Center volunteer. She is also a member of the President’s Society. For her 50th reunion, she is a Legacy Gift planning chair for her class and a reunion volunteer. Denise received the Outstanding Service Award in 1989.
She was on the Board of Trustees when David Porter was appointed as Skidmore’s fifth president in 1987, and early on, he established a commission to chart a new course into the 21st century. As a member of the commission, Denise played an integral role in developing recommendations for a campuswide strategic plan that emphasized academic excellence, long-term financial stability, and greater diversity within the campus community and curriculum. In the early 1990s, Denise chaired the Friends of the Scribner Library Committee during the renovation and expansion of the library.
“My time on the Board was an extraordinary experience. I learned how a multi-million-dollar organization is run, working with brilliant people on the board who were business and academic leaders,” she says.
Denise recently retired from a distinguished career in the publishing industry. An English major at Skidmore, she started her career as an editorial assistant and assistant editor at Avon Books and Simon & Schuster. She worked as a literary agent at the Bobbe Siegel Agency before founding her own company, Denise Marcil Literary Agency Inc., which specialized in discovering and cultivating new authors. In 2008, Denise co-founded the Marcil-O’Farrell Literary Agency LLC with partner Anne Marie O’Farrell.
For 44 years, she represented an eclectic range of commercial fiction and nonfiction, from suspense, thrillers, and contemporary women’s fiction to practical nonfiction and business books. Many of the books have appeared on national bestseller lists, including The New York Times’. She built the brands of writers, including New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods, whose Sweet Magnolias novels were turned into a hit Netflix television series of the same name.
Outside of Skidmore, Denise is on the Friends of the Ferguson Library Board in Stamford, Connecticut. In 2011, she created an authors’ series as a fundraiser, with Kathryn Stockett of The Help featured as the first author. Most recently, in light of book bans in schools and libraries across the United States, Denise initiated the Freedom to Read Committee, which has developed programming around challenges to intellectual freedom. Among her many other honors, Denise was voted one of the 10 Outstanding Working Women by Glamour magazine in 1985 and met President Ronald Reagan at the White House.
Honors up to five members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated outstanding service to the College for at least 10 years as an alumna/us, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend. Alumni recipients must be members of a celebrating reunion class.
For Carol Bogardus ’69, attending Skidmore College was a liberating experience that has reverberated through her entire career and life’s journey.
“At the time, Skidmore was an all-women’s college, and I found that I tried things I would have never done in a co-ed setting, and I was successful,” says Carol, who ran for student government positions and took the most advanced math classes. “Skidmore was fertile ground to operate competitively and dynamically. It was life-altering and enabled me to spread my wings and inform what came next.”
“I also made friendships at Skidmore that have endured throughout my lifetime,” adds Carol, who still regularly hosts and meets with fellow classmates at her home in the San Francisco Bay Area. “My time at Skidmore is a significant part of my life story and journey.”
To pay it forward, Carol continues to serve as a class correspondent, class fund chair, and class agent. Perhaps her most pronounced role — and certainly a highlight of her volunteerism — was as an admissions volunteer for nearly 20 years, attending college nights at local high schools to promote Skidmore and interviewing high school students as part of the meet-and-greet admissions process.
When her youngest son was applying to East Coast colleges, he interviewed locally with alumni prior to onsite campus visits. “He so looked forward to these interviews that I decided to volunteer as an alumni admissions contact for Skidmore,” Carol says. “I felt good about Skidmore and I loved talking to young people, so that got the volunteer ball rolling for me.”
Carol, a math major who grew up on Long Island, pursued graduate studies in biostatistics at Stanford University and attained a master’s degree in organization development from the University of San Francisco. Her interest in math extended to computer programming, and she has had a distinguished career in the biotech industry, specializing in clinical trial management, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
Before retiring in 2016, she was a consultant for Invitae, which provides advanced genetic testing. She also held directorship positions for a variety of life sciences companies, including Genomic Health, Amgen, and Genentech. Earlier in her career, she spent 14 years working at pharmaceutical company Syntex in various positions in development, research, and human resources.
Outside of Skidmore, Carol is an officer for a local chapter of P.E.O. International, a philanthropic organization that helps women around the world advance through education. She contributes to The Global Uplift Project’s Save a Girl!, which provides adolescent girls in the developing world with washable, reusable sanitary kits to manage their period so they can stay in school.
Carol is also a community volunteer for Stanford Healthcare and works part-time for Asian Americans for Community Involvement. In both capacities, she teaches evidence-based classes to improve balance, strength, coordination, flexibility, and endurance for adults ages 55 and older in an effort to reduce falls and enhance physical and mental health.
Honors up to five members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated outstanding service to the College for at least 10 years as an alumna/us, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend. Alumni recipients must be members of a celebrating reunion class.
Harold Herz ’89 has been a longtime committed volunteer, leader, and advocate for Skidmore College, known for his unwavering optimism and drive for positive change. His approach to volunteerism and leadership is characterized by a passion for doing the right thing, a willingness to take the initiative, and an unparalleled ability to bring people together for a common cause.
As vice president for strategic communications on the Alumni Association Board of Directors for six years (2016-2022), as well as serving on the Awards and Nominating committees, Harold played an integral role in steering the Board’s goals and achievements and reshaping membership roles and responsibilities. After completing two terms, he has continued to actively support regional planning.
One of Harold’s most impactful, longstanding efforts has been the development of the Charlottesville and greater Virginia regional alumni club, building energy and camaraderie among Skidmore alumni. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his efforts were instrumental in fostering connectivity among alumni through class-based virtual events. As an entrepreneur, he generously devoted his time to helping students navigate their post-Skidmore journeys. An admissions volunteer early on, he served as a liaison between prospective students in the greater Virginia area and Skidmore. Harold is a reunion volunteer for his class this year and a Loyalty Circle member.
Most recently, Harold and Anne Margiloff Wargo ’89 partnered with the Office of Advancement to establish a collective Alumni Memorial Scholarship, which provides students with financial aid in honor of a friend or classmate who has departed. This kind of scholarship is meaningful to Harold, who with his family established the Dr. Matthew and Elise Herz Scholarship Fund more than 20 years ago to honor his parents. The fund provides science scholarships to students at Framingham High School in Massachusetts.
Growing up in Framingham, just outside of Boston, Harold comes from a family of scientists, including his father, who was a chemist, and mother, a pediatric nurse and social worker. Inspired by numerous Skidmore faculty, Harold majored in biology before studying and working as a research associate in the Neurology Department at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
“There were so many great professors at Skidmore — biology professors Bernard Possidente and Roy Meyers, as well as psychology professors Gus Lumia and Bill Lefurgy — and many of them were ahead of their time,” he says.
Harold’s interests would eventually turn toward entrepreneurship, and in 1992, he moved to Charlottesville, where he and his college roommate, Mike Lane ’89, co-founded the Outback Lodge, a popular restaurant and pub that remained open until 2002. Since 1994, he has owned and operated HKH Properties, a residential real estate company with 50,000 square feet of premium properties in Charlottesville and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Harold’s Skidmore family legacy includes his sister, Ellen Herz ’92.
“I’m truly honored to receive the Outstanding Service Award. I’ve never looked at my volunteering as work,” Harold says. “My goal has been to strengthen the bond between the College and alumni, and to encourage more alumni to get involved with their alma mater. Skidmore is an amazing place, and the quality and diversity of students just keep growing.”
Honors up to five members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated outstanding service to the College for at least 10 years as an alumna/us, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend. Alumni recipients must be members of a celebrating reunion class.
Amy M. Munichiello ’94 is Americas technology, media and communications, and telecom talent leader at Ernst & Young (EY), one of the largest professional services firms in the world. As a strategic human resources executive, she is passionate in the belief that investing in the next generation of leaders will result in high-performing teams and business success. She has tirelessly leveraged her leadership position to nurture deep coaching relationships with Skidmore students to create a recruiting pathway for internships and entry-level consulting opportunities. Dozens of alumni — including many still with EY — owe their early successes to Amy.
For 30 years, Amy has been engaged with Skidmore students, alumni, faculty, and staff as a career advisor, sponsor, and advocate in various roles. She has remained connected to the Career Development Center (CDC), helping students develop networking and job-seeking skills and participating in multiple alumni and student programs over the years. She served for six years on the Alumni Association Board of Directors as the chair of career and professional development (2017-2022) and still returns often to campus as a guest lecturer.
Amy is also a coach for the widely known MB107 (Business and Organization Management) course, the cornerstone of the management and business major and minor. She has been integrally involved in Professor Colleen Burke’s Skidmore-Saratoga Consulting Partnership, an advanced seminar that enables students to gain hands-on consulting experience in the local public and private sectors.
The eldest of three children and the only daughter, Amy grew up in an environment where she seldom saw women transcend traditional gender roles. “Having access to role models and mentors has played a pivotal role in shaping my career journey, not only creating awareness of what is possible but also helping me to understand the paths to get there.”
When Amy arrived at Skidmore, she was recovering from knee surgery due to a soccer injury and was unable to perform the traditional work-study job in the dining hall. Instead, she took a job at the CDC, which became a game-changing experience that spanned all four years. While organizing career workshops and employer visits, she met Mairead Jacoby ’89, who introduced her to consulting careers in the professional services firm Accenture. Mairead mentored Amy for two years, guiding her through course selections and the job search process, culminating in Amy’s first job as a change management consultant at Accenture.
Professor Jeannette Oppedisano also served as a role model as a businesswoman and educator, shaping Amy’s understanding of how prioritizing and investing in human capital can impact business success. Amy’s role as head resident stands out as another defining experience in her leadership growth. Amy lives in Boston with husband Tony Reidy '94 and their two children. She is a certified leadership and team coach and is on The Conference Board’s Learning, Development & Organization Performance Executive Council.
“The Outstanding Service Award underscores the profound chain reaction of meaningful connections and nurturing relationships. Skidmore has enriched my life with invaluable experiences, and it’s deeply fulfilling to offer these life-changing opportunities to other students,” she says. “Through each small act of guidance, just as others have provided me, we spark a chain reaction of growth — what starts here can indeed lead to giant impacts in the world.”
Honors up to five members of the Skidmore community who have demonstrated outstanding service to the College for at least 10 years as an alumna/us, trustee, faculty member, administrator, staff member, parent or friend. Alumni recipients must be members of a celebrating reunion class.
Aaron A. Prills ’99 has been a pillar of support through his continuous volunteer work and fundraising efforts for nearly 25 years. His dedication in championing Skidmore began shortly after graduation as a class agent before he became a class fund chair for many years. He currently serves as a President’s Society chair for his class and is a longstanding Loyalty Circle member. Known for his hands-on approach, Aaron handwrote more than 20 personal appeals to his classmates this year. He continues to encourage financial participation at all levels.
“Being involved as a fundraising volunteer has allowed me to keep up with all that is new and changing at Skidmore, and it is a chance to give back,” Aaron says, pointing to some of the latest campus additions, such as the Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences and the McCaffery-Wagman Tennis and Wellness Center, which is under construction. When the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery was completed in 2000, “I felt such pride for the campus,” he adds.
Carving out a successful career that has spanned marketing and finance, Aaron is a director of marketing at Mastercard. Prior to this, he was a director of marketing for First Data. He held various leadership roles at General Electric and has had extensive leadership training through GE’s premier sales and marketing leadership program. Aaron earned his MBA at the University of Michigan, graduating with distinction.
Aaron was also a founding member and chief technology officer of Casey Quirk, which provides strategy-driven consulting services to investment and wealth managers. Established in 2002, the company was sold in 2016 to Deloitte, a leading global provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and related services.
Aaron grew up in Glastonbury, Connecticut, where he learned the value of volunteering from his grandmother, an Irish immigrant, who emphasized education and community involvement. A business major at Skidmore, he was drawn to the small, personalized classes and the “creative thought matters” mindset.
Aaron was influenced by many of his business professors, especially Bill Edwards, who shed light on the possibilities in business consulting, which became the initial path Aaron pursued after graduation.
“It is wonderful to be recognized, but I never expected to receive an Outstanding Service Award,” he says. “I look forward to my kids being a part of the ceremony and hope it helps them understand the importance of giving back.”
Aaron lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut, with his wife, Melinda Prills ’99, and their two children. A favorite place when they return to campus is the Skidmore Community Garden, which wasn’t there when he and his wife were students. The garden, managed through the Sustainability Office, supports Murray-Aikins Dining Hall with organic produce and is used as an educational resource. It especially makes them smile when a few students stop what they’re doing to chat with the family.
“Skidmore still feels like my campus home did 25 years ago, with a nice community feel to it,” he says. “But it has also evolved and grown, and I think that is exciting.”
Honors one alumna/us, graduated one to 10 years, who has demonstrated outstanding service to the College.
In his alumni message to Student Government Association members a few years ago as they were gearing up for elections, Nigel Smith ’19 shared what he learned about leadership as class president during all four years at Skidmore: be authentic, become a student of the people (in his case, a student of the students), and practice humility to build a strong team.
Nigel has exemplified these leadership qualities and much more in his continued support for the College and as he elevates his career, intellect, and passion for positive change. He has served Skidmore in many capacities, continuing a tradition of service that began as a student. In addition to class president, he was a member of the Senior Gift Executive Committee, student representative on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, and student representative on the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee.
A young alumni member of the Board of Trustees, Nigel has served on the Student Life and Communications committees and is currently on the Advancement, Audit/Risk Management, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committees. He continues to serve as class president and class agent.
“To receive the David H. Porter Award for Young Alumni Service at this stage of my career and time in life is a loud voice telling me to keep going, do the work, and reinvest in the next generation,” Nigel says.
In the five years since graduation, Nigel, who lives in metropolitan Atlanta, has had an impressive career. He was recently appointed vice president for compliance strategy and integration manager in the Compliance Risk Management Non-BSA Division of M&T Bank. Last year, he was appointed vice president and environmental finance asset manager for M&T’s Community Banking Division, a newly created position focused in part on the portfolio of existing renewable energy investments. Before that, he was vice president and consumer protection office compliance consultant.
In between his rising leadership roles at the bank, Nigel earned his MBA from the University of Georgia in 2023. He also completed M&T’s two-year EquityOne program, created for unseen and highly talented leaders within the bank.
A political science major, Nigel began his M&T career as a management development program associate, specializing in compliance risk management. After the death of George Floyd in 2020, Nigel created a small-group discussion model for crucial conversations with DEI themes. The effort has since evolved into a nine-member team and been adopted as a tool by several business lines, including the bank’s DEI Office. He also played a pivotal role as one of the project managers responsible for integrating personnel, systems, and risk infrastructure during M&T’s largest acquisition deal to date in 2022.
Nigel was exposed to various facets of Atlanta and surrounding areas in Georgia as a result of his father’s service in the Air Force and family background, providing him with a diverse and enriching upbringing that laid the foundation for his appreciation of different cultures and perspectives.
“I would not be where I am and who I am today if my parents, family, mentors, key teachers, and professors did not invest in my future and believe in my potential during my academic journey and professional career,” he says. “So, my continued ‘yes’ to Skidmore is because Skidmore said yes to me.”