SUNY Oswego - Alumni Association - August E-Newsletter

August 2010 • Vol 6 No 5

Business School Center Named for Alumnus

SUNY Oswego has announced the founding of a new endowed educational center, the Gordon A. Lenz ’58 Center for Finance, Insurance and Risk Management in the School of Business.

Gordon A. Lenz '58 recently created the Center for Finance, Insurance and Risk Management in the School of Business The Lenz Center will support the first dedicated four-year program to focus on insurance and risk management studies in the SUNY system. It will become one of only a handful of college centers for a discipline that has increased in prominence and importance as the nation seeks solutions to current health care issues.

Lenz is a widely known and respected insurance industry innovator, recognized for having created affordable, comprehensive insurance products for small businesses in New York state.

Lenz serves as chairman and chief executive officer of both Conference Associates, a full-service provider of group health insurance to more than 150,000 small businesses throughout New York, and its affiliate, the New York State Business Group, a statewide membership association of small-business owners offering insurance and other discount benefits. Both are based in Patchogue, Long Island.

He is also a founder and member of the board of directors of Gold Coast Bank, headquartered in Islandia, Long Island. He is a sought-after speaker and has written extensively on health care issues for a variety of publications.

“It is a great privilege to support my alma mater and my profession at the same time,” said Lenz, who has served in numerous leadership positions in the insurance industry, including as president of the New York State Chapter of the National Association of Health Underwriters. “Insurance, and especially health insurance, is a critical issue in this nation at this very moment. By raising the level of expertise of professionals in the field, and training the next generation of financial and insurance leaders, I hope to make a lasting improvement to my industry and everyone who is affected by it.”

Setting standards
SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley expressed the college’s appreciation. “Gordon Lenz’s very generous support of SUNY Oswego in endowing the Gordon A. Lenz ’58 Center for Finance, Insurance and Risk Management in the School of Business is a concrete expression of his commitment to visionary leadership in the industry, now and long into the future,” Stanley said. “Generations of students will be inspired to embark—as he once did—on a meaningful journey to pursue a career in insurance adhering to ethical and socially responsible standards. His name will be an honored legacy at SUNY Oswego.”

Dr. Richard Skolnik, dean of Oswego’s School of Business, said the Lenz Center will support a wide variety of potential areas, such as student education, continuing professional education, faculty research, diversity initiatives, community outreach, and social responsibility and ethical training in risk management and insurance. The risk management and insurance major at Oswego was established in 2009.

“We are truly grateful not only for Mr. Lenz’s generosity and support for SUNY Oswego’s outstanding business program, but also for his commitment to improving the performance of our students, who are increasingly called on to understand the complexities of insurance in the workplace,” Skolnik said. “We are proud to offer the first baccalaureate program in risk management and insurance in the SUNY system and now the first named center in our highly regarded business school.”

In addition to founding Conference Associates and New York State Business Group, Lenz serves as chairman and CEO of Cue Brokerage Corp., a commercial property and casualty insurance agency. Lenz has been actively involved in many industry groups, including the Professional Insurance Marketing Association and the Long Island Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, which in 2008 recognized him with the prestigious Rudy R. Stegemann Award.

He is on the board of directors of Gold Coast Bank, the Thomas Hartman Foundation for Parkinson Research, the Insignia Insurance Co. and the Digital Stone Fabrication Co. He previously served as president of the Suffolk County Life Underwriters and on the board of the American Medical Insurance Co.

PHOTO CAPTION:
Gordon A. Lenz ’58

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Oswego Alumni Association, Inc. • King Alumni Hall - SUNY Oswego • Oswego, NY 13126
315-312-2258 • 315-312-5570 (fax) • E-mail: alumni@oswego.edu • Web site: oswego.edu/alumni

Who doesn’t want to save the world? Michael Kite ’02 does that for a living through World Wildlife Fund.

As marketing specialist for one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, Kite and his team of three work to raise more than $5 million each year. The majority of that money comes from licensing partnerships and promotions with the likes of Barnes & Noble, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, Dial and Coinstar.

Retail partnerships help WWF spread its message to the general public and raise funds for its conservation work around the globe. For example, Bank of America contributes $100 for every special Visa account opened and Nabisco is supporting WWF’s “Year of the Tiger” initiative with special packaging and a $100,000 donation. The new CVS Green Bag Tag program rewards reusable bag-toting customers, and generates five cents for WWF for each tag sold.

All support WWF’s mission of protecting the future of nature, down to the finest details, Kite said.

“We like to see that the product is made from recycled material and is recyclable itself, and somehow ties into our mission,” Kite said. The Green Bag Tag, for instance, is made from a corn-based material and features a 100 percent recycled silicone lanyard.

As a broadcasting major at Oswego, Kite got involved with WRVO-FM and WNYO-FM.

“I think it gave me a lot more confidence in talking to people,” he said. It was an important part of his early career in broadcast sales and remains an important piece in the message he “sells” today.

“The best part of my job is seeing a product in the store with the WWF logo after months of working with a company to launch it,” said Kite, who joined the organization in 2006. “It’s rewarding to give people a fun, unique way to protect our planet.”

— Shane M. Liebler