2008 Woodie Awards
Alum donates $1.5 million to endow Dean of Faculty position
Erika Schnitzer
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Stephen Ciesinski, '70, has donated $1.5 million to endow the Stephen J. Ciesinski Dean of the Faculty position.
Ciesinski, explaining what he sees as the importance of the position, stated, "to me, the head of academic affairs is important in setting a standard for intellectual life on campus, for hard and tenacious studying, and for also balancing their lives so that [students are] not just doing a lot of book work but also learning from fellow students inside the classroom and outside the classroom…whether it be on the fields…or the different Minervas and clubs."
Originally from Schenectady, Ciesinski has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1993 and served as Chair of the Trustees from 2002-2007. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an A.B. in Modern Languages from Union. He also holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
After Stanford, Ciesinski began work at a number of large market businesses. His work at Applied Materials helped the company become a leader in the production of computer chips. At Octel Communications, now Lucent Technologies, Ciesinski, as Executive Vice President, helped to develop voice mail. He then became the CEO of Resumix, Inc., the nation's top computer-generated resume evaluation system. In 2001, Ciesinski became a partner of Earlybird, a venture capital firm, and he is currently Chairman, CEO, and President of Laszlo Systems, a web design company.
Ciesinski provided the endowment in honor of three men at Union College who most shaped his life: Dean of Engineering emeritus Edward J. Craig, Professor of German emeritus Frederick A. Clemm, and Chris Schmid, a basketball, football, and lacrosse coach at Union in the 1970s.
"The three people that I selected are really pretty upstanding individuals who taught and coached at Union for a long time and have stayed very committed and loyal to Union even though they retired," Ciesinski stated.
"I was quite influenced by…how much they cared for me as an individual and all the students they taught, coached, and mentored," he added.
Ciesinski, explaining what he sees as the importance of the position, stated, "to me, the head of academic affairs is important in setting a standard for intellectual life on campus, for hard and tenacious studying, and for also balancing their lives so that [students are] not just doing a lot of book work but also learning from fellow students inside the classroom and outside the classroom…whether it be on the fields…or the different Minervas and clubs."
Originally from Schenectady, Ciesinski has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1993 and served as Chair of the Trustees from 2002-2007. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an A.B. in Modern Languages from Union. He also holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
After Stanford, Ciesinski began work at a number of large market businesses. His work at Applied Materials helped the company become a leader in the production of computer chips. At Octel Communications, now Lucent Technologies, Ciesinski, as Executive Vice President, helped to develop voice mail. He then became the CEO of Resumix, Inc., the nation's top computer-generated resume evaluation system. In 2001, Ciesinski became a partner of Earlybird, a venture capital firm, and he is currently Chairman, CEO, and President of Laszlo Systems, a web design company.
Ciesinski provided the endowment in honor of three men at Union College who most shaped his life: Dean of Engineering emeritus Edward J. Craig, Professor of German emeritus Frederick A. Clemm, and Chris Schmid, a basketball, football, and lacrosse coach at Union in the 1970s.
"The three people that I selected are really pretty upstanding individuals who taught and coached at Union for a long time and have stayed very committed and loyal to Union even though they retired," Ciesinski stated.
"I was quite influenced by…how much they cared for me as an individual and all the students they taught, coached, and mentored," he added.
Be the first to comment on this story