Ralph W. Blum ’54, retired partner, Blum Enterprises LLC, served as a trustee for 20 years (1988 to 2008) and became Trustee Emeriti in 2010.  In addition to his commitment as a trustee, he served on the Distinguished Alumni Task Force and is a member of the Phelps Smith Society and the Alumni Council.  He and his wife, Audrey served as Co-Chairs, for the Summer Celebrations that were held in 2008 and 2009.

Over the years, Ralph and Audrey have generously contributed significant financial support for many different PSC projects and needs, including ​a $400,000 restoration project of the “Baker House” in 1998, which was ​appropriately renamed Blum House. ​Blum recognized the building’s historic significance and wanted to help the College restore it as quickly as possible.

Ralph initiated annual student scholarship funding from the International Association of Holiday Inns. ​He also initiated contact and follow up with the Statler Foundation in Buffalo for funding of the Statler Green Facility at Paul Smith’s College, contributed furniture, fixtures and equipment for the Hotel Saranac and provided scholarship funding for students during his tenure with the Belz organization. 

 He also organized alumni activities in Buffalo and later became president of the Paul Smith’s College Alumni Association of Western New York.

Robert M. “Bob” Brhel ’80 graduated from Paul Smith’s College in 1980 with an A.A.S. degree in Forest Technology/Surveying and in 2009 with a B.S. degree in Forest Ecology and Forest Management. Bob returned to the college in 1986 as an employee and became a faculty member in 1988 teaching forestry classes and also served at the Barn Manager/Teamster.  He held both positions until his retirement, after 31 years, in 2017.

During his tenure, Bob had an impact on hundreds of PSC students, both academically and through the sports he coached: women’s soccer assistant coach (1988-1992), men’s soccer head coach (1992-1997) and rugby head coach 1998 to 2010.  Bob started his coaching career at PSC as a student, when he landed the head coach position for the PSC Soccer team when the college couldn’t recruit a faculty or staff coach.  Despite not having played organized soccer, he led the Bobcats to a 6-5 seasonal record.

Bob established the sport of intercollegiate rugby at PSC in 1998 Under his leadership, and after only two years, the team had won the NYS Division 3 Championship, and in 2005, they had their first undefeated regular season, finishing 5-0, going on to win their regional championship, but were defeated in the final minutes of the State championship.

Bob is one of Paul Smith’s College’s most beloved and respected coaches and teachers. He was awarded the 2012 Alumni Association Faculty Award and the 2017 PSC Student Government Award.

Bob’s involvement with the college’s draft horses began in 1988 when he took over the reins as Barn Manager and Teamster from retired professor emeritus Gould Hoyt. Bob also was the longtime advisor to the draft horse club.

Bob is also a multi-talented athlete, with many outstanding achievements and experiences:

• Rugby from 1975-2016
  • Empire State Summer Games Silver medalist and team captain (1979)
  • Represented the US at the World Sevens Tournament in Sydney Australia (1992, 1993)
  • Team manager at the World Sevens Tournament in Sydney Australia (1995)
  • Empire State Summer Games – coached both the Men’s and Women’s Seven’s teams to two (2) gold medals, two (2) silver medals and one (1) bronze medal (2001-2004)
  • He continued to coach rugby after leaving PSC in 2017 for the Rochester Aardvarks and the Binghamton Barbarians
•  Bobsledding USA National Bobsled Team from 1979-1984
  • World Championship Team Member (1981, 1982)
  • Set Four (4) push (start) record on both two- and four-man sleds (1981 & 1982)
  • World Championship team – team captain (1982)
  • Bobsledder of the Year (1982),
  • Empire State Winter Games Silver medalist (1983).
• Semi Pro Football
  • Triple Cities Jets (1973)
  • Wilkes Barre Bullets (1974)

In the book, “Timber: The Story of the Lumberjack World of Champions”  (published in 2011) the author,  Lew Freedman, writes that Matt is a “two-time single buck winner in Hayward. He has shared three double buck titles and won the coveted all-around best lumberjack trophy three times in a row from 1996 to 1998.”

A 1998 Sequel article announces Matt’s third consecutive world title at the 39^th World Championships and notes that he is seen frequently on ESPN’s Stihl Timbersports series stating, “Bush has been a dominant force in events that include the one-man cross­ cut, the springboard chop, the standing chop block, and the power saw event, in which he used a chain saw powered by a 250cc Yamaha motorcycle engine to set a new world record.”

Matt has also been featured in a December 2005 ESPN article titled “US Lumberjack on top of the World”. The article writes that the “timber-sports giant Matt Bush capped his legendary career recently by capturing the first world title awarded in the sport” by defeating competitors from 14 nations at the inaugural Stihl Timbersports World Championships.  He earned first-place finishes in the Springboard, Stock Saw and Hot Saw competitions.  It lists some of his career records, including the 1995 Stihl Timbersports Series championship, a 2004 ESPN Great Outdoors Games gold medal in the Hot Saw event and the 2002 Great Outdoors Games gold in the Timber Endurance event.

Matt’s remarkable timbersport success spanned 27 years, from 1986 through 2013 with many amazing achievements, records and “firsts” including:

• winner of the first Stihl Timbersport’s World Championship in 2005
• first inductee into the inaugural class of Stihl’s Timbersports Hall of Fame in 2015, described as a three-time US Champion, and winner of the first Stihl Timbersport’s World Championship in 2005
• the top ranked US axeman and team captain of the US National Team competing against Australia and New Zealand at the Olympic venue in Sydney, Australia
• winner of the NYS Open Lumberjack Championships in Boonville, NY 13 times and was the first person from New York State to ever win the Championship.
• Matt was the only American to ever win ESPN’s Great Outdoor Games Endurance Event.
• Matt has held world titles in the following events: Hot Saw, Bow Saw, Tree Felling, Springboard chopping, Standing Block chopping, Underhand chopping, One Man Crosscut sawing, 2 Man Crosscut sawing (with his long time partner Mike Slingerland) and Jack and Jill Crosscut sawing (with his wife Jill).
• Matt has won many Hot Saw competitions and set many world records with a chainsaw he built with D&D Racing Cycles in Castorland, NY.

John M. Cantwell, Sr. (1867-1937) gained his early education in Franklin academy and was graduated from Union college in 1888. His father and brother Thomas were prominent local attorneys and after his admission to the bar, he became a member of the firm. After his father’s death, he and his brother formed a partnership under the firm name of Cantwell & Cantwell. His brother died in 1918. In 1927, he admitted his son, John M. Cantwell, Jr., into the firm. In 1934, Attorney Cantwell, a prominent local Democrat, was appointed Franklin County judge by Governor Lehman to succeed Ellsworth C. Lawrence, who was elected to the supreme court bench. He filled the office for a year. Mr. Cantwell was an organizer and was president of the Citizens National Bank. He was also an officer of J. O. Ballard & Company, was ​an attorney for the Paul Smiths Hotel company and was one of the executors of the estate of the late Phelps Smith, who left millions to ​fund ​what is now Paul Smith’s College.  He was a member of the board of education, Malone Lodge of Elks and the Masonic fraternity as well as the Franklin County bar.

John Miles Cantwell, Jr. (1901-1962) served as secretary of the board from 1937, when the college was founded​, until February 1960 when he then served as president of the Board of Trustees until his sudden death, at the age of 60, on March 28, 1962. He was also a director and Vice President of the Paul Smith’s College Electric Company.  As a prominent attorney and businessman, his guiding hand served to help his fellow men.

Paul Munger Cantwell, Sr. (1909-1972) served for many years ​as a member of the board of trustees of Paul Smith’s College, ​in the role of treasurer. Mr. Cantwell was not only a strong supporter of the college but a close personal friend of many board members, staff and faculty. Mr. Cantwell, born in Malone was a leader in civic affairs there. He was president of the Citizens Bank, and for many years was a member ​and served as treasurer of the Franklin Academy Academic Board. ​Paul also served on the Malone Board of Education as well as the Alice Hyde Hospital Board. His law firm, Cantwell and Cantwell, is one of the leading law firms in the north country ​and among its clients is Paul Smith’s College. Paul graduated from Franklin Academy, Union College and Harvard Law school.  In 1939 he married Elisabeth Mae Bellows of Saranac Lake, and had two sons, Paul, Jr. and James. 

Paul M. Cantwell, Jr. (1942-2021) served on the board of trustees from 1993 until his passing on May 10, 2021. Paul Jr. holds a Juris Doctorate and was the principal attorney for Cantwell & Cantwell which has been in existence since 1853. Alongside Paul Smith’s College, Paul served on numerous boards in the area including the Adirondack Foundation, Adirondack North Country Association, Franklin Academy, Malone Cemetery Association and Life Flight. He was also affiliated with the Franklin County IDA and was the retired Chairman of the board for Community Bank System, Inc. Paul and his wife Susanna (Suzy) have been strong supporters of the college’s annual fund and of our various galas and summer celebrations. Cantwell Hall was named after the family in 1963.

Dick and his wife Nardyne were the 2005 Gala honorees and Adirondack Medal recipients. He is a member of the Distinguished Alumni Task Force and the Alumni Council.  Dick is responsible for the funding from the Partridge Scholarship. Dick’s portrait hangs in the lobby of the Phelps Smith Administration Building.  Dick manage​d all of the food and beverage for the PSC Gala’s in NYC through Restaurant Associates.  He also has hosted many other PSC events for the college over the years, often picking up the event tab. ​

Dick started with Restaurant Associates right out of college as back of the house steward. He eventually became General Manager of the famous “Newarker Restaurant” at Newark Airport. Over the years, Dick has held many regional and corporate operating positions. He became President of Restaurant Associates in 2003 and, under his leadership, grew the company three-fold in ten states. Currently, he serves as Chief Executive Officer of Restaurant Associates (a premiere division within Compass Group, the nation’s leading foodservice company), with a total volume for 2015 that exceeded 1 billion dollars.

In 2002 Dick oversaw all of the Compass food service operations at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The massive effort comprised fifteen venues spread over 5,000 square miles and served 150,000 meals per day for seventeen days. It was the first time in Olympic history that one organization was responsible for hospitality catering, concessions and athlete feeding. The following summer Dick was responsible for feeding the young Pilgrims assembled during the 2003 World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada where 200,000 meals per day were served for seven days during the visit of Pope John Paul II.

Dick was born and raised in New York City and comes from a long family tradition in the hospitality business – his father owned a hotel in Monticello, New York and his grandfather was an executive chef in New York City.

He has been the recipient of many awards, including the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association 2005 Silver Plate Award and ​was honored by the Society for Food Service Management with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Alfred W. Currier gave generously, both financially and morally, to the college over the many years ​he was associated with the college.  He passed away at the age of 90, known as a prominent businessman in the area​. He founded Currier Press in 1913 after coming to the area to be cured from tuberculosis. He had been the president of the Adirondack National Bank before his retirement and director of the Saranac Lake Savings and Loan Association since 1933. With a group of local investors, he helped in the founding of the local savings and loan after he left the printing business only a few years he began it.  He resigned as chairman of the board of the Savings and Loan to become president of the Adirondack National Bank in 1958.

Mr. Currier joined the PSC Board of Trustees in 1961 and served as a trustee until 1976. A 1962 Post Script article stated that “As a hobby Mr. Currier has for many years done valuable research in forestry.  We are now working with him in an attempt to perpetuate this work and he has made arrangements to leave an experimental forest for this purpose.” In 1968, he provided the log farm home and the 385 acres of forest preserve in Franklin Falls, which was named the Currier Experimental Forest. The property was a significant part of the college’s holdings and educational training laboratories. ​Following this grant, the trustees, at President Dr. Buxton’s recommendation, named a large dormitory unit after Mr. Currier. 

In 1977 Mr. Currier further made available to the College a $75,000 cash grant to assist in its continuing development efforts. At his request​, this was never publicly ac­knowledged during his lifetime by the College. 

In 1979, the college learned that they were a major beneficiary of the substantial Alfred W. Currier estate. College president Thomas Stainback​’s announcement in­dicated that it would include stocks, bonds, cash, furnishings and real estate, including a nine-apartment three-story, plus basement building at 12 Main Street in the Village of Saranac Lake where Mr. Currier had made his home after leaving his home in Franklin Falls.

 C. Convers Goddard, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said, “This is the largest and most significant do­nation made to Paul Smith’s College since its founding in 1937. It is not of a nature that it will affect our income-expense statement during the current year but rather it will, because of its concentration in stocks and bonds, form an endowment of long-term benefit to the College.”

Mr. Currier was the author of a philosophical novella entitled, “The Great Tree”, which is the story of the Adirondack White Pine.  

Among his activities in the area, he was a village trustee, a charter member and trustee for 25 years of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks Lodge in Saranac Lake, a treasurer of the Rehabilitation Guild, a leader in the Boy Scouts and Red Cross, and president of Deerwood Summer School.

Mary Beth Dooley graduated in 1974 with a degree in Forestry.  Mary certainly made her mark on Paul Smith’s College, as demonstrated by her 30+ years of achievements documented in our yearbooks, the PostScript and the Sequel.   During Mary’s first semester, she and fellow classmate Liz Pope ‘74 joined the college’s Woodsmen’s Team, and within the year the first all-women team was formed at the college and in North America.  During one of her first competitions on the men’s team, Mary won the coveted “Brown Bull Award” for telling the “tallest tale” about the girl’s (Liz and Mary) first night at woodsmen’s practice and their fascinating introduction by Coach Gould Hoyt. Mary went on to captain the first all-women team in North America and at the college, which dominated the eastern collegiate circuit.  Mary continued competing long after college, and is a two-time Overall Women’s World Champion, Four-time New York State Overall Champion and holds five world records in sawing.  She represented the USA in the following arenas:

• Seven (7) Women’s National Teams that compete in Australia and New Zealand
• Participated on the team that won the USA vs Canada Race

Peter Dorn ’70 (1949-2018) graduated from Paul Smith’s College in 1970 with a degree in Hospitality Management. After graduating, he went on to Stout State University, Menomonie, WI.

In 1976, Peter became co-owner of one of the world’s most legendary nightclubs “The Copacabana” in New York City. That first year he began a tradition of hosting our students and alumni at the Copa every year during the International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show. An article about the 1982 Copa event, shows that 525 people attended the event with more than 200 of them being alumni. There were a couple of years, that the NYC party could not be held at the Copa as it was moving locations, but it was back in full swing in 2002 at the newly relocated and remodeled Copacabana with more than 220 alumni and students attending.  Many times, Mr. Dorn covered the cost of the event, or a partial cost of the event, and gave a gift to the college from the bar receipts.

At the 1979 Alumni Reunion, Thomas Red McGraw presented Peter with an “Outstanding Alumnus Award” for arranging the highly successful Alumni Dinner at the Copacabana in New York City which is owned and operated by Mr. Dorn and his partner Mr. Ron Hollick, also an alumnus of the class of ’70.  He served on the Paul Smith’s College Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2006.  In 2013, he was awarded an Honorary Degree – Doctor of Commercial Sciences at the 2013 NYC Copa event.Peter’s 19 year battle with Parkinson’s Disease led him to become very involved with the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (PDF).  The PDF put out a publication in 2006, titled “CARNIVAL AT THE COPA”- which stated the event was the brainchild and gift of Peter Dorn, a co-owner of the Copacabana nightclub and a PDF Board Member, and stated that over the past three years, the event had raised more than $650,000 for PDF’s research programs.

For more than 50 years, the famed restaurateur served as co-chairman and co-owner of The Palm Restaurants and Palm Restaurant Group, which operated 30+ fine-dining national and international fine dining establishments. Throughout this time, he remained closely connected to the college, recruiting top graduates for The Palm, speaking to classes and at hospitality symposiums and events.

He is the namesake of the “Wally Ganzi Jr. Restaurant Training Center”, now called “The Ganzi” on the Paul Smith’s campus.  It opened in 2005 and was outfitted with a kitchen equipped to Palm specifications and offered a 40-seat restaurant to provide culinary and hospitality students the opportunity to train in a white-tablecloth environment without leaving campus.

In February 2006, Ganzi was the honoree at the college’s fifth Annual Gala in New York City.  He was awarded the Adirondack Medal for his passion for Paul Smith’s, its students and the Adirondacks.  New York Governor George Pataki opened the event honoring his friend, with an announcement to commit $1.5 million in the upcoming state budget to PSC.  Two-time Tony award winning actor and long-time friend of Ganzi, Brian Dennehy served as the keynote speaker and “roasted” the honoree while more than 200 guests enjoyed a delectable Palm-inspired meal. The event raised more than $400,000 in support of Paul Smith’s programs and scholarships.

He was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree during the 2013 commencement ceremony, at which he also served as the commencement speaker.  He also was the commencement speaker in 1990.

In the late 1970s, Mr. Ganzi served as a regular guest-host on the Dinah Shore Show, performing cooking demonstrations and showing Dinah’s audience how to select and prepare steak. In 2013, he appeared on the CBS reality television show “The Job,” interviewing applicants to work at The Palm.

Mr. Ganzi also received a degree in hotel and restaurant management from Denver University.  He was inducted into Nation’s Restaurant News – Fine Dining Hall of Fame.

Peggy was a lifelong resident of the area. She also worked at the Marjorie Merriweather Post Camp, now Camp Topridge, on Upper St. Regis Lake, prior to starting her career at Paul Smiths College in 1972.  She retired, but continued to work part time in the cafeteria until May 2019. She was an avid knitter and member of the Monday night ladies group at the Brighton Town Hall, and participated in the water aerobics class. She received the Student Government Staff Award at Commencement 2015.

A native of Rochester, New York, he entered Dartmouth College in 1940 and left to serve in World War II with the Navy’s Amphibious Force and Submarine Units.  He returned to Dartmouth following his discharge and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1947.  He then returned to Rochester where he worked as the Assistant to the Sales Manager at the Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, publishers of law materials. He worked his way up the ranks to the position of Vice President where he remained until his retirement in 1989. [Bill’s great grandfather Ezra R. Andrews was one of the founders of both the Lawyers Co-Operative Publishing Company (1882) and the Mechanics Institute (1885). In 1891, it the Mechanics Institute merged with the Rochester Athenaeum to form the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute. In 1944 it was renamed the Rochester Institute of Technology.

He was introduced to the Adirondacks in the summer of 1934 when he and his parents were guests at the Lake Clear Inn. He later spent summer vacations with his own family at the Inn and eventually bought a couple of cabins “The Taj MaHale” on the lakeshore where he spent summers ever since.In 1990 he joined the board of Trustees where he was actively involved in the areas of student life and development. It was not uncommon to catch a glimpse of him on campus talking to students, eating in Buxton, or on the sidelines of an athletic event. The needs of Paul Smith’s College students, be it scholarship. assistance or new canoes, were always his highest priority. Hale established the Hale Faculty development Fund with a gift of $500,000 in 2008.  He said that he wanted to help the college build upon its successes as a four-year school by helping the people who teach its students.  The fund was established to help faculty pursue terminal degrees, such as doctorates, as well as additional credentials.

Linda W. Kirstein retired from the college in 2001 as the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Mathematics. During her 28 years at Paul Smith’s College (PSC) she held a variety of positions, starting with her appointment in 1973 as an instructor in the Math Department.  She was named chairman of the math department in 1980 and promoted to associate professor in 1981.  In 1982, the Board of Trustees appointed her as Acting Dean of the college for the 1982-1983 academic year and the Chairman of the Middle States Association Self-Study.  The interim position was planned to end by June 1983 while a search for the permanent chief academic officer was conducted.  She served in that position until 1987.  She also served as the campus representative to the New York State Association of Junior Colleges and was a member of the New York State Mathematics Association of Two-Year Col­leges.

In honor and memory of Brian W. Smith, and the way he led his life, Kirstein, along with a network of friends and family, established a scholarship in his name in 1999 to help other HEOP students attain their goals.  Brian W. Smith ‘95 attended PSC through the New York State Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP.) He accepted a position at the Hotel Kitano in Manhattan after graduating.  In December of 1998, he died, the victim of urban violence.

In the community, Kirstein was involved in the startup of the local Fresh Air program and chaired the committee for many years.  She also was involved with the United Way and the Women’s College Scholarship Committee.

She is a native of Presque Isle, Maine, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Bates College, and her Master of Arts in Teaching degree by The Johns Hopkins University. She taught mathematics on the secondary school level in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts before coming to Paul Smith’s. Her undergraduate alma mater elected her a member of the Bates Key, the college’s honorary society of women graduates. She is married to David Kirstein, Honorary Trustee and Retired Chief Administrative Office of Trudeau Institute

Professor Emeritus Michael Kudish, affectionately known as “Doc” Kudish came to Paul Smith’s College in 1971, just after finishing his Ph.D. at New York State College of Forestry in Syracuse (now known as ESF.). His introduction as a new faculty member noted his interests in “plant life, forest ecology in eastern North America, geology, meteorology, astronomy, music especially Baroque, New York State local history, railroads and transit systems, hiking and maps.”  He retired 34 years later, in 2005, having taught Dendrology, Forest History, Forest Soils, and Forest Ecology, and concluded his career teaching Special Topics in Natural Resources, where students mapped, for the first time, the first growth forests of the Adirondacks.  An article in the 1984 Sequel states  that few faculty members have as full a schedule of off-campus lectures and field trips then Professor Kudish.  A quick google, and you can find that Doc Kudish is still leading lectures and hikes, like the two-day “Landscape Shaped by Fire” held last September, in which he lectured on the first day, and then lead a hike on the escarpment trail of burned forest composition.

The 1995 yearbook Dedication is for Doc Kudish. The dedication, written by Eric Vogel ‘95:  “Is that bluish-green or Kudish-green?” Dr. Michael “Doc” Kudish has enlightened his classes and students with jokes, imitations of trees, and his puns about every major of the college. This has made “ Doc” one of the most distinguished personalities here at Paul Smith’s College. Behind this comic forest historian is a very educated and devoted professor.  His major study at ESF was of the Catskills, which he considers a “life­ long study”. After graduating from ESF in 1971, “Doc” Kudish started working here at Paul Smith’s College, his first full-time teaching job, and has remained here ever since. At PSC he teaches Forest Ecology, Dendrology, and Forest Soils.

“Doc” does not limit himself to teaching; he is always reading, researching, or writing to keep himself busy. He has four research books available to the pub­lic, with two more in the works, including “Where did the Tracks Go?”, “Paul Smith’s Flora I and II”, and “Adirondack Upland Flora”. Some future projects include a second edition of “ Where did the Tracks Go?” and a published version of his doctoral thesis on the Catskills. Still, after all this, “Doc” still fits in approximately fifteen extra lectures a year for various clubs and organizations. When he does have spare time, he spends it listening to classical music from the Baroque and Renaissance periods and likes to study astronomy, climatology, and the history of railroads. He is also always researching and studying the Adirondacks. This man is not only devoted to his studies, but to his classwork and students as well. “Doc” Kudish has always been well liked by previous students, and will surely be liked by future students as well. He will always be a part of the college, and if not, “Doc” has mentioned once in lecture that he would like to be reincarnated as a Liverwort. Good luck, “Doc”!

Through the years, he wrote several articles in the alumni newspapers, including a regular section titled “That’s the way It was” on various topics, like “A Catalogue of Cottages” which listed the cottages names and info, like “Turner and Morgan Cottages were removed and replaced by Dormitory VIII in 1960” and “The Bluebird Cabins, also abandoned, are located along the shore of Lower St. Regis Lake southeast of the Forestry Club Cabin across Weller (Easy Street) Brook Inlet.” In another  “That’s the way it was” article in April 1977 he wrote about what the dorms were originally, like Dorm II which he wrote was originally built in 1915 as a garage for automobiles. He has written many books including Adirondack Upland Flora (1992), the Catskill Forest – A History (2000), Where Did The Tracks Go?(1985), Railroads of the Adirondacks: A History (1996) for a long time considered the definitive work on the subject and a four-volume set on the Mountain Railroads of New York State (Where Did the Tracks Go in the Western Adirondacks (2002), Where Did the Tracks Go in the Central Adirondacks (2007), Where Did the Tracks Go in the Eastern Adirondacks (2009), Where Did the Tracks Go in the Catskills (2011), Addendum: Where Did the Tracks Go in the Catskills? (2017). Most recently, the “Doc Kudish Natural Forest” at Paul Smith’s College was formally inducted into the Old-Growth Forest Network on October 23, 2021.  The forest was formerly known as the “Tongue Tract 1, Stand 105.”  It was renamed to honor Dr. Michael Kudish, author, botanist, forest historian, railroad historian and retired professor emeritus in the Division of Forestry at Paul Smith’s College.  The Michael Kudish Natural History Preserve in Stamford, New York is also named for him.

In 1951, he enlisted in the Air Force, and was honorably discharged in 1954 after completing his tour of duty in Japan. He continued his education at Cornell, earning a degree in Hotel Administration in 1957.

Charles has the distinction of being the longest owner/proprietor of the landmark Beekman Arms Inn, having purchased it in 1958 and selling it in 2002.  The Beekman Arms, formerly known as the Traphagen Tavern, Bogardus Tavern and Potters Tavern, and currently known as the Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn is the oldest continuously operated hotel in America and was constructed during the American Revolution. It is said to have been host to revolutionists like George Washington and Benedict Arnold.  It is said that it was here that rivals Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton first argued which led to their infamous duel and Hamilton’s death.

Charles served as Director of the New York State Hotel Association and the National Hotel and Motel Exposition in 1966.  He was elected Secretary of the NY Hotel and Motel Association in 1968.  He formed Wayfarer Inn in 1958 with a partner. He bought out his partner’s interest in 1967 and decided to operate hotels only by ownership.  Besides the Beekman Arms, he owned the Johnstown Motor Inn in Johnstown, NY, and he ran the Governor Clinton (Kingston, NY) Poughkeepsie Inn (Poughkeepsie, NY).

Charles was made Director of the New York State Hotel Association and the National Hotel and Motel Exposition in 1966. He was also elected Secretary of the N.Y. Hotel and Motel Association in 1968.

In 1981, he served on the Board of Trustees of The Culinary Institute and served as acting President during their search for a new President.

He has generously hosted several college events at his family’s 100+ year-old “castle” at Litchfield Park, near Tupper Lake.  Pieter holds an MBA from SUNY Albany and is the president of Litchfield Park Corporation in Tupper Lake.  Litchfield Park is one of the largest privately held forest properties in the Adirondacks.

In 2007, he was the Gala Honoree and the Adirondack Medal Recipient. The Gala raised a remarkable $503K and netted $388K.  Jon also arranged for Rachael Ray to be the Key Note Speaker.  Ms. Ray at that time was the face of the “America Runs on Dunkin‘” campaign.

He is a member of Paul’s Club, the Alumni Council and has served on the Distinguished Alumni Task Force. In 2012, he established the Jon and Sharon Luther Hospitality and Restaurant Management Scholarship and the Lyle Luther Natural Resource Management and Ecology Scholarship.  Jon arranged Buffalo Sabers and Massachusetts Scholarships. He has hosted several Florida events over the past few years.

Brothers Alvie, class of ’63, and Earl, class of ’64, Marcellus, timbersport extraordinaires, entered the PSC Woodsmen’s arena with hands on timber experience and set the bar for all woodsmen team athletes that followed. They traveled with Gould Hoyt to the 1964-65 Flushing Meadows NY World’s Fair where they displayed their skills at the Oregon State pavilion. They went on to become Masters in the Sport and inspired three more Marcellus generations to follow suit.

Together, they won the 1970 World Crosscut Sawing Championship, defeating many who had held the title for several years.   While at Paul Smith’s they competed on the Forestry Club’s Woodsmen’s Team. Their efforts contributed greatly to our victories during those years. In professional competition in and around the United States and Can­ada the boys made quite a name for themselves. They won crosscut sawing events at Lake Dunmore, Vermont, and have placed second two different years in the Northeastern Championship, once behind Forest and Arden Corey, two other Paul Smith’s alumni. Crosscut sawing isn’t their only specialty. Competing as indi­viduals the boys have excelled in other events. Alvie placed second in the one-man crosscut at the 1969 North American Championship at Vancouver with Earl placing fourth. Earl travelled to Australia as the Unit­ed States representative in the 150th Anniversary of Woodchopping Competition which is the National pastime Down-Under. Earl placed first in the Underhand Chopping, Third Division, winning not only a cash award but the highly coveted sash.

The Marcellus family has been organizing the International Lumberjack Festival at the Evergreen State Fair Grounds in Monroe, WA for over 40 years.

Brothers Alvie, class of ’63, and Earl, class of ’64, Marcellus, timbersport extraordinaires, entered the PSC Woodsmen’s arena with hands on timber experience and set the bar for all woodsmen team athletes that followed. They traveled with Gould Hoyt to the 1964-65 Flushing Meadows NY World’s Fair where they displayed their skills at the Oregon State pavilion. They went on to become Masters in the Sport and inspired three more Marcellus generations to follow suit.

Together, they won the 1970 World Crosscut Sawing Championship, defeating many who had held the title for several years.   While at Paul Smith’s they competed on the Forestry Club’s Woodsmen’s Team. Their efforts contributed greatly to our victories during those years. In professional competition in and around the United States and Can­ada the boys made quite a name for themselves. They won crosscut sawing events at Lake Dunmore, Vermont, and have placed second two different years in the Northeastern Championship, once behind Forest and Arden Corey, two other Paul Smith’s alumni. Crosscut sawing isn’t their only specialty. Competing as indi­viduals the boys have excelled in other events. Alvie placed second in the one-man crosscut at the 1969 North American Championship at Vancouver with Earl placing fourth. Earl travelled to Australia as the Unit­ed States representative in the 150th Anniversary of Woodchopping Competition which is the National pastime Down-Under. Earl placed first in the Underhand Chopping, Third Division, winning not only a cash award but the highly coveted sash.

The Marcellus family has been organizing the International Lumberjack Festival at the Evergreen State Fair Grounds in Monroe, WA for over 40 years.

​Fred graduated in 1963 from Paul Smith’s College. After graduating, he became a mortician and served on the Funeral Services Boards of the United States. He attended Syracuse University to further his education but left to serve in the Vietnam war. He was awarded two purple hearts for his service in the US Army during the war.

 After his discharge, he continued his education at SUNY Plattsburgh and began his teaching career in the Saranac Lake School district, teaching English for a year, math for two years and Science for 26 years. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in education from SUNY Plattsburgh and did graduate work at Syracuse. Antioch and Boston Universities.

He has served as a member of the Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) and was credited for his dedication and work and awarded the section service award twice. He served on the STANYS Board of Directors for many years, including as president and secretary. In 1998 he served as the Director at Large for retirees and became chairman of the Conference Evaluation Committee in 2000.  

He also served as a member of the NYS Science Education Leadership Association (NYSELA), including having served as the president.  He received the Oustanding Leadership Award in 2000.  

Sadly, Fred’s wife Linda, also a school teacher for the Saranac Lake Centrals School District, passed away after a long illness in 2005. This lead Fred to get involved with High Peaks Hospice, where he also served as a member of the Board of Directors.  

Fred has been a highly active volunteer for many civic and community organizations including the American Cancer Society, Red Cross, Elks and the Catholic Church. He was ordained as a deacon in 1980 and has served in that capacity for over 40 years. He and his wife, Linda, were instrumental in starting “Guggenheim Camp for children”, a property owned by the Catholic Church, which is still in operation today.  

 Fred has served as a volunteer for the college for many, many years. He has been involved as a lead phonathon volunteer, served on many committees and began as an active director of the alumni association in 1993. He has been described as a valuable member of the development and Special project, and student affairs committees. At one point, he chaired the Bylaws Committee. Fred was the Alumnus of the Year in 2011 and again in 2013. 

Fred has an amazing inspirational story, demonstrated through all of his volunteer work, as a teacher, overcoming his disability and his enthusiasm and dedication to help Paul Smith’s College reach its potential.  

Harry Purchase (1924-2011) 

Purchase saw to it that students got an experience here that mirrored what they’d find in the real world: He established the practicum at the Hotel Saranac, orchestrated more than 300 students who worked at the 1980 Winter Olympics and shipped Paul Smith’s students to work at the Kentucky Derby and Walt Disney World. His industry connections were legendary, too: When he picked up the phone on behalf of a student, good things would happen. “He kept very close track of the alumni that he knew, and he would funnel employees to them,” said Donald O. Benjamin ’56, an emeritus trustee of Paul Smith’s. He represented the industry well – his manners, his dress, his professionalism. He never showed a weak side. He was always professional. He set the standard.”

Purchase earned his BS from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and his MEA from the Univ. of New Hampshire. He served as a Navy Officer in WWII. As entrepreneur, he and his wife Terry owned and operated the Wawbeek Resort Hotel on beautiful Upper Saranac Lake, NY. As professor, besides his work at Paul Smith’s College, he directed the Hotel Management Programs at the University of Wisconsin, Stout, and Saint Leo University, Florida. His students, employees and all who knew him can attest that Harry Purchase was a professional and a gentleman.

Ken has had a successful career in real estate, finance and hospitality for over forty years. He is the founder and CEO of Prime Companies and he has owned and managed Holiday Inn Expresses, Hilton Homewood Suites, Hotel Indigo, and The Pavilion Grand Hotel. Prime Companies also develops land for residential sub-divisions and commercial buildings.

While they attend Paul Smith’s years apart and didn’t know each other during their college years, Ken married  Pat ’75, who was also a Hotel and Restaurant Management major. She worked for years in the hotel business, as well, before she became an event manager at SUNY Albany. Pat works with Ken at Prime Companies. Together, they are giving back to the institution that helped launch their careers.

Ken credits Paul Smith’s College for his successful career.  “The college helped me get my foot in the door,” “The school developed a reputation for graduates who were going to accomplish something great. We were highly trained to work in the industry right out of college, and employers wanted to hire you because of it. They used to come to campus every week to interview prospective employees.”

Ken joined the Paul Smith’s College Board of Trustees in August 2016 and currently serves on the Development, Enrollment/student Affairs and Governance committees.

He also serves on the board of Siena College, the American Cancer Society (he is a 2-time Cancer survivor), Catholic Charities, St. Gregory’s School for Boys, Coaches v. Cancer, Friends of Adoption and NBT Bank.

Brian Winfield Smith

Brian loved basketball and enjoyed the game with some of his closest friends here at Paul Smith’s.  He was a consistent player; typically scoring 12-14 points a game, quick on the court, generous with his teammates.

After graduating in May ‘95, Brian accepted a position with the Hotel Kitano in Manhattan, beginning as a bell-hop, advancing to the front desk, and earning a promotion to Reservations Manager in December ‘98.  Brian lived with his wife, Charlotte, and his two sons, in the same building as his mother and sister.

Brian was killed by gunfire on December 22, 1998 outside of his home in Brooklyn.  He left behind his wife Charlotte; sons Romey and Devon; his mother, Louise; his sisters, Kimberly and Charlene; his brothers, Evan and Michael; his father, Rowland; and many friends.

Brian was 24 years old.

In honor of Brian, of the way he led his life and of the person he was, the Brian W. Smith ‘95 Memorial Scholarship was established at Paul Smith’s College, to assist other HEOP students in reaching their goals.

Charlie was born and raised in Saranac Lake, graduated from Paul Smith’s College, and went on to earn a degree from Cornell University as a mechanical engineer, and went to work for General Electric Corporation. It was a conventional beginning to a career that took a dramatic turn when Sporck responded to a recruiting ad placed in the Wall Street Journal by a startup semiconductor company in faraway Mountain View, California.

Charlie Sporck distinguished himself as a production manager, was rapidly promoted to operations manager, and then became vice president and general manager of Fairchild Semiconductor during a period when sales grew from a few hundred thousand dollars a year to hundreds of millions. Then, when the opportunity presented itself, he took over management of National Semiconductor, a small company struggling to stay in business. Under Charlie’s leadership, National became a multibillion dollar giant.

Concerned about the health of the American semiconductor industry in the face of cutthroat competition from the government-supported Japanese semiconductor industry, Sporck was instrumental in the formation of trade and research organizations that have proved to be valuable industrial resources.

Known to his contemporaries as a tough-minded manufacturing specialist with a special flair for corporate economics, Sporck now reveals himself as a philosopher and historian. He traces the history of the semiconductor industry in California’s Silicon Valley and supplements the facts with countless observations about the personalities, the technologies, the financial underpinnings and the marketing innovations that led to today’s digital computing and communications environment.

He has written articles on Adirondack history for Adirondack Life, New York Alive and Adirondac magazines and compiled the index to Adirondack Life magazine from 1970 to 1990.

He has lectured on Adirondack history and politics for 36 years.

In 1983, he published “Brandon: Boom Town to Nature Preserve,” which is currently used as a textbook at Yale University Graduate School of Forestry.

He served as the Librarian for the XIII Olympic Winter Games, Lake Placid, 1980, Library Consultant for the US Department of Energy and the National Park Service including Dinosaur National Monument, Mt. Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park and Redwood National and State Parks

His publications include:

“Paul Smith: A Biography”, Adirondack Life July-August, 1979
Adirondack Life: An Index to Vol.I – Vol.X 1970-1979. Canton, New York, North Country Reference and Research Resources Council, 1980
Brandon: Boom Town to Nature Preserve. Regis Press, 1983.
Adirondack Life: An Index to Vol.I – Vol.XV 1970 – 1984. Jay, New York, Adirondack Life, 1985
“Ben Muncil: Builder of Great Camps”, Adirondac May-June, 1986
“Adirondack Whitehouse: Calvin Coolidge at White Pine Camp” New York Alive May-June, 1986
“High Peaks Journal 1934-1935”, Adirondac-Oct., 1986
“The Great Camp No One Knows”, Adirondac May-June, 1989
Checklist of 16: Environmental Law and the Bonneville Power Administration. Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Oregon, 1990.
“Civilian Conservation Corps Index.” Compiled by Neil Surprenant. Ashford, WA, Mt. Rainier National Park, 2004
Paul Smiths Adirondack Hotel and College. Chicago, IL, Arcadia Publishing, 2009
Saranac Lake: A History. Charleston, SC, Arcadia Publishing, 2014
He has been involved with other Adirondack Research projects such as:

Arts and Entertainment Network: interviewed on-air for biography of Marjorie Meriwether Post. Show aired 2003
Research Consultant, Home and Garden Network program on Great Camps of the Adirondacks – 2004
Consulted for WNED TV on PBS documentary on Adirondack Park – 2006