The Daily Bulletin Archive

From the Interim President
I am pleased to announce that Howard Zemsky, vice chair of the Buffalo State College Council, will be presented with the President’s Distinguished Service Award at the Faculty and Staff Spring Celebration on May 7.

Zemsky is managing partner of Larkin Development Co., a firm that has developed 800,000 square feet of commercial office space in Buffalo since 2000, including rehabilitation of the former Larkin Terminal Warehouse building. He is also managing partner of Niagara’s Finest Inns, a group of boutique hotels and restaurants in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and managing partner of Taurus Partners LLC, a private equity firm in Buffalo. This year he served Buffalo State as chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee and co-chair of the Buffalo State College Foundation Scholarship Gala.

This award recognizes individuals or groups who have made significant, sustained contributions to Buffalo State College or the larger community. Award recipients are selected by the president upon recommendation of a review committee that considers the following criteria:

• Educating the Individual
• Serving the Public
• Enriching the Community

This year’s committee was chaired by Edward O. Smith Jr., SUNY Distinguished Service Professor of history, and comprised James Brandys, member of the Buffalo State College Council; Claire Collier, director of special projects, Institutional Advancement; Charlene Fontana, assistant to the director of student life; Dan Kushel, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of art conservation; and Aimable Twagilimana, professor of English.

The following statement, which was included in the nomination materials, best describes why this recognition is so appropriate:

“Howard Zemsky’s fresh enthusiasm lets him be leader, colleague, supporter, or fan—because his positive energy can fit whatever role the project needs. His leadership is always collegial, because he always approaches the task as the work of the community. That’s why his leadership always generates more than he alone gives. He affirms this place, and this community, and asks of us that we work as hopefully and as energetically and as positively as does he. That is his achievement and the pathway to ours.”

I hope you will join me in congratulating Howard Zemsky and in thanking him for his exceptional service to Buffalo State and the Buffalo community.