Alumni Association Board Welcomes New President and Directors
The Syracuse University Alumni Association (SUAA) Board of Directors is welcoming a new president and a diverse group of five new directors to its board this summer. After serving as the SUAA board’s president-elect for the past year, Peter Gianesini ’94 stepped into the role of president on July 1. Lauren Appelbaum G’06, Scott Greene ’93, Wilder Leavitt ’86, Alison Murray ’01 and Parrish Smith ’14 began their terms as directors on the same day.
Gianesini became president as Ryan McNaughton ’96, a member of the alumni board since 2014, concluded his two-year term. Gianesini spent more than two decades as a producer and executive at ESPN before leaving the company this spring and is looking forward to serving the University and Orange alumni family in this volunteer leadership role.
“It’s an incredible honor to have worked with the leaders that came before us, the ones that currently make up our board and, perhaps most of all, the student leaders that are just scratching the surface of their potential,” Gianesini says. “It doesn’t get much more exciting than that!”
Lauren Appelbaum earned a master’s degree from the Newhouse School after finishing her undergraduate studies at Columbia University. She is a vice president for RespectAbility, a nonprofit that works to fight stigmas and advance opportunities for people with disabilities. She is an award-winning consultant for accessibility and inclusion and the author of the Hollywood Disability Inclusion Toolkit. Appelbaum has been active with the University’s Alumni Club of Washington D.C., serving as the club’s president for one term.
Scott Greene was instrumental in the development of the University’s Alumni Club of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts and has served as the club’s co-leader (with new SUAA President Pete Gianesini). Greene is the advertising sales manager at Reminder Publishing and the president of Prospects1500, a website covering baseball’s future stars.
Joining the SUAA Board is the next step in Maryland-based attorney Wilder Leavitt’s commitment to giving back to his alma mater. He says receiving a “life-changing” Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship during his freshman year allowed him to earn his degree and begin a successful career. That has driven him to be an active donor to the University’s Veteran’s Legacy Fund and, with his wife, to create the Wilder J. Leavitt and Mary P. Morningstar Scholarship for Military-Connected Students. Leavitt is an Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (OVMA) Connect mentor for military-connected students and alumni.
As a student, Alison Murray was an ROTC cadet and cheerleader. As an alumna, she is a 20-year Army veteran who has continued to be a cheerleader for Syracuse University in each of the half dozen cities where she has lived. Since graduating, she’s been active with the Office of Multicultural Advancement, OVMA and the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families. She is an experienced digital health and virtual nursing provider and the president and CEO of In2uitive Solutions LLC.
Parrish Smith is a vice president at Neuberger Berman, a private investment firm in New York City. Smith calls his time on campus “well-rounded.” He was involved in Greek life, served as an orientation leader, studied abroad and was active in several student organizations. Since graduating, he has served on the University’s Generation Orange Leadership Council, something he considers a return on the investment Syracuse made in him.
