Our Newest Member in the Spotlight

AA graduate gives UV light therapy presentation

Albany Medical College student Christopher Macomber '01 (known to his peers as the "Renaissance Man" and "Medical Student extraordinaire") gave a UV light therapy presentation on Thursday, November 29 in Huyck Auditorium at Albany Medical Center.

He presented clinical information about the use of UV light as a therapy for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus as well as other opportunities for UV light. In addition to being a student, Chris is an entrepreneur and recently started a company called Opthera, Inc. with a business partner.

Chris has a bachelor's degree in both biology and music (double major) from Union College, and a master's degree in health care administration from Union Graduate College. He is President of his class at Albany Medical College (Class of 2009) and is a member of The Albany Academy Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Alumni/ae like Chris make all of us proud to be members of the Academies family.

Gen E: the X appeal of being an Entrepreneur

by Catherine M. Hedgeman

I “Live” New York. That is what the audience at the “I ‘Live’ New York” summit hosted by New York’s First Lady, Silda Spitzer were chanting. Hundreds of young professionals, government officials, business and community leaders, and representatives from higher education attended the first ever “I ‘Live’ New York Summit where they discussed New York’s problem with attracting and retaining talent. Having taken the plunge to become an entrepreneur myself, I was particularly interested in the Keynote speaker Martin Babinec founder of TriNet, who spoke about Entrepreneurship and job opportunity. The topic was extremely timely as many of my Gen X and Y friends have either started their own business or intend to. For Generation X creating your own business has become a calling, a vocation, even a mission. As such, Generation X is changing the business world as we now know it as they create their own workplace. Creating a new workplace will bring with it a new set of workplace issues to resolve.

Generation X also known as the “latchkey” kids, often left alone by two working parents, saw their parents get downsized, and thus do not readily trust the corporate model to sustain them or provide a pension. In the age of telecommuting Gen Xers often draw no line between work and personal time as they seek flexibility and balance in their lives. Despite the burning desire to be entrepreneurs, New York is infused with far less angel investing and venture capital then Silicon Valley. Furthermore, New York Gen X and Y entrepreneurs will find it difficult to connect with angel investors or venture capitalists simply because the entrepreneur may not know where to look. Connecting the Gen X Entrepreneur with investors will be crucial not only in retaining talent in New York, but is critical if New York is to attract new talent and business.

Lack of funding is a huge barrier to success for many Gen X and Y Entrepreneurs. At times, your start-up is so small that a Small Business Administration Loan or a loan from a bank is not an option due to lack of substantial revenue or individual creditworthiness. Fortunately there are other programs available that offer smaller amounts of seed money for a small start-up, such as micro enterprise or community loans. You might also want to consider finding another small business owner and trade services to help each other grow. More importantly though, New York Xers and Y’s should put their collective entrepreneurial minds together and design a program to attract new capital to New York and for connecting young entrepreneurs with potential investors. Perhaps a conference for young entrepreneurs and potential investors that would serve to connect the two, followed by the creation of a web portal which would serve the same purpose. Perhaps young professionals should ban together and volunteer their time and services to assist young entrepreneurs in setting up the legal structure, financing, and marketing plan in an incubator setting. These types of initiatives would surely attract and retain a new Generation E. Generation Excelsior.

"Creating Companies: Entrepreneurship from the South Pacific to Washington, D.C.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Homecoming and Family Weekend
4:00 – 6:00 pm (Post-Football Game)

Burns Arts Atrium, North Colonnade, Union College

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres ► Casual attire ► Business conversations


Stephen W. Ritterbush ‘68

"Creating Companies: Entrepreneurship from the South Pacific to Washington, D.C.
(And a Few Stops In Between)"

Ritterbush is a Managing Partner of Fairfax Partners. Over the last 18 years, He has founded, or co-founded more than 25 companies. With Johnson & Johnson, Ritterbush formed two investment partnerships that nurtured the growth of medical device and drug technology companies.

Ritterbush served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Arthur D. Little Far East, Inc. in Singapore. While in the Far East and later in Washington, DC he worked with Advent International to establish and develop venture capital funds in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

Stephen Ritterbush earned bachelor's degrees in civil engineering and political science from Union in 1968, and was an active member in the College Council and captain of the Lacrosse team. He is currently a member of Union College’s Board of Trustees and chair of the Administration and Finance Committee.

Ritterbush also earned a master's of science degree in oceanography from the Department of Geophysics at the University of Hawaii, and a master's degree in law and diplomacy and a Ph.D. in international economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University. Ritterbush was also a Rockefeller Foundation fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.


RSVP to Mike O’Hara, College Relations, 807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY 12308 or via fax 518.388.6060, phone 518.388-6166 or email oharam@union.edu.

Stone Newman '97 to Present to ENS June 27th in NYC

Stone Newman '97, President, Sababa Toys, will be presenting at the Business Forum and Reception in New York City sponsored by Union’s entrepreneur network – The Eliphalet Nott Society. This is an excellent opportunity for business leaders, professionals and current / prospective entrepreneurs to gather and network in a comfortable setting.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 6:00 – 9:00 pm - The Cornell Club - 6 East 44th Street
New York City

http://www.cornellclubnyc.com/about_directions.html

The title of his presentation is “Not just Kidding Around”

The Story of Sababa Toys and Next Steps in Their Meteoric Rise

Now in its sixth year, Sababa Toys is enjoying success rarely seen outside of the handful of toy giants. Sababa, which is Hebrew slang for cool, is a term Newman picked up while studying in Israel during his junior year in college. "I thought it would be a great, fun way to say that we make cool, innovative toys," he said. Sababa Toys product line includes a rapidly expanding line up of toys and games based on a number of popular licenses like MLB, NBA, Fisher-Price, Peanuts and Shrek, to name just a few.


Stone Newman is the founder and president of Sababa Toys, a New York City toy company that specializes in licensing classic games such as Uno and Etch-a-Sketch. Newman got his start in the toy business during college, when he interned at FAO Schwartz as a toy demonstrator and later with Tyco Toys. After college, Newman went to work for Hasbro, a toy company based in Pawtucket, R.I. Three years later, he found himself at the helm of Sababa Toys. A native of New Hartford, NY, Stone Newman majored in economics at Union College and is a member of the class of 1997.

Warren Bagatelle ’60, ardent Union supporter, dies

Warren D. Bagatelle ’60, a well-known investment banker, ardent supporter of Union College for more than three decades and founding member of Union’s Eliphalet Nott Society, died May 31. He was 69.

Bagatelle, a CPA, was a partner at Loeb Partners Corporation and served on many corporate and not-for-profit boards. Before joining Loeb, he ran the NYSE member firm of Rosenkrantz Ehrenkrantz Lyon & Ross. Prior to his Wall Street career, he ran several publicly traded and privately held companies.

He earned an MBA in accounting from Rutgers University in 1961 and began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co.

“Warren was a very social, active, successful, fair and honest man, with a lot of integrity,” said Charles Roden ’60. “He and I were frat brothers and classmates, and we’ve had an investment partnership together, HSB (named for his beloved wife, Hedy Bagatelle), for at least 25 years. In business, he was a tiger. He was also very helpful to Union graduates, hiring many students over the years. Warren was passionate about Union.”

As an undergraduate, Bagatelle was a member of Phi Sigma Delta and an accomplished athlete involved in football, wrestling and lacrosse.

“Warren was at Union when I played for the junior varsity lacrosse team,” remembered Stephen Zuckerman ’62. “Warren sagaciously advised me that when chasing a loose ball, first go after the opposing player, and once he was out of the way, then go after the ball. When we would meet in later years, he still had the same attitude toward me and others; that he was your big brother here to help you.”

As an alumnus, Bagatelle was chairman and member of the Graduate Management Institute Advisory Council, an Admissions representative and a Friend of Union Athletics. He helped launch ENS more than a decade ago to foster entrepreneurship through the Union community.

A native of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Bagatelle lived with his wife of more than 44 years, Hedy (Schwartz), in Wayne and then South Orange, N.J. He also is survived by a son, David; daughters Tracy Bagatelle-Black ’89, who earned a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy, and Adrien ’92, who holds a B.A. in Psychology; and four grandchildren. A funeral service was held Sunday in New Jersey.

Donations to the Warren D. Bagatelle Scholarship Fund may be sent to the Union Graduate College, Lamont House, 807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY 12308.

Devin Wenig '88 to Present

On February 7, 2007 at 6pm, Devin Wenig, a 1988 graduate of Union College and the Chief Operating Officer of Reuters Group PLC will present: 2007: The Media and the New Media Revolution Continues at the Cornell Club in New York City.

Since 1993, Devin has held a number of senior management positions in Reuters, and been a Director of several Reuters subsidiaries. Devin joined Reuters from the law firm of Cravath, Swaine and Moore. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Nastech Pharmaceutical Co., a publicly traded biotechnology company and has been a Director for the past fourteen years.

Devin is married and has two children. He is a member of the Young Global Leaders section of the World Economic Forum and is active in a number of charitable endeavors.