Luncheon Recognizes Employee Service Milestones

During a luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 9, St. John Fisher University recognized 70 employees for milestone years of service.

Collectively, these employees have logged 1,065 years of service to the institution.

When Mark Polimeni joined Fisher in 1980—45 years ago—Fr. Braden had recently succeeded Fr. Lavery as Fisher’s third president and Fr. Lavery became chancellor. The Student Life Center, known today as the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Athletic Center Fieldhouse, was also built. There were 25 academic majors, 85 full-time faculty, and enrollment was just over 2,200 students. Fast forward to the “youngest” honorees, who joined Fisher in 2020, many amid the pandemic. Despite that disruption, the work continued, and Fisher would go on to open to the DePeters Family Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence and enroll several of the largest classes in institutional history.

“The work that each of you do day in and day out ensures that Fisher remains true to its mission and history, while remaining student-focused in our efforts to best serve those we have the privilege of serving,” said Dr. Gerard J. Rooney, president of the University. “Your dedication to our campus community, to our students, and to each other has allowed Fisher to grow into the outstanding university that it is today.”

Complete List of Honorees:

45 Years of Service: Mark Polimeni (Facilities Services)

35 Years of Service: Lorenzo Morrison (Facilities Services), Bob Simms (Athletics), and Deborah VanderBilt (English)

30 Years of Service: Stacy Ledermann (Office of Admissions) and Jose Perales (Enrollment Management)

25 Years of Service: Allison Bosworth (Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education), Tim Franz (School of Arts and Sciences), Mary McGowan (Office of the President), Jennifer Pluretti (Center for Career and Academic Planning); Mark Rice (School of Arts and Sciences), and Holly Smith (Office of Admissions)

20 Years of Service: Katrina Arndt (Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education), Melissa Bissonette (School of Arts and Sciences), Chenno Bowens (Student Affairs), Ed Freeman (School of Arts and Sciences), Chinwe Ikpeze (Provost Office), John Lacek (Facilities Services), Ed Langdon (Facilities Services), Carolyn Martin (Wegmans School of Nursing), Penny Myler (Registrar’s Office), Libby Pinti (Office of Admissions), Diane Reed (Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education), and Jeremy Sarachan (School of Arts and Sciences)

15 Years of Service: Kourtney Blackburn (Lavery Library), Melissa Bourne (Wegmans School of Nursing), Ed Brockhuizen (Facilities Services), Keith DelMonte (Wegmans School of Pharmacy), Nicola Leifker (School of Business), Saysanom Phonharath (Facilities Services), Brandon Potter (Athletics), Kerry Prutzman (School of Arts and Sciences), Marta Rodriguez-Galan (School of Arts and Sciences), Ramil Sapinoro (Wegmans School of Pharmacy), Kathleen Savage (School of Arts and Sciences), Art Smith (Print Center), Clair Smith (School of Arts and Sciences), Jill Swiencicki (School of Arts and Sciences), Kate Torok (Marketing and Communications), and Amy Willmes (Student Financial Services)

10 Years of Service: Jillian Anzalone-Burgette (Health and Wellness Center), Brenda Baker (Facilities Services), Joy Breeden (Student Accessibility Services), Andy Brolsma (Institutional Research), Kevin Cook (OIT), Melissa Greco Lopes (Marketing and Communications), Misho Ilijeski (Facilities Services), Paul Lazenby (Facilities Services), Alex Liebowitz (OIT), Jonathan Millen (School of Arts and Sciences), Ed Moody (Athletics), Russ Reynolds (Safety & Security), Pat Starks (Human Resources), Stephen West (School of Arts and Sciences), Brittany Zeager (HEOP)

5 Years of Service: Valerie Benjamin (Human Resources), Chris Biehn (Institutional Advancement), Jack Burgasser (Athletics), Brian Cizenski (OIT), Emily Colliss, (Institute for Civic and Community Engagement), Gregory Drake (School of Arts and Sciences), Bob Enck (School of Arts and Sciences), Eric Evankovich (Facilities Services), Scott Fitch (Safety and Security), Patricia Gatlin (Wegmans School of Nursing), Amy Jerum (Wegmans School of Nursing), Zachary Murphy (School of Arts and Sciences), Liudmyla Sivetska (Facilities Services), Jason Welch (Registrar’s Office), and Olga Yatsushkevech (Facilities Services)