The Monroe Community College Foundation’s Alumni Committee has selected four outstanding alumni to be inducted into the MCC Alumni Hall of Fame. Cerri Banks ’97, Richard Brienzi ’79, Peter Monacelli ’73 and James Sydor ’71 will be honored at the MCC Foundation’s 23rd annual Salute to Excellence dinner on Thursday, November 15, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Please join the MCC Foundation in congratulating and highlighting the achievements of our newest class of inductees.
An author and educator, Cerri Banks, is Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College, Mount Holyoke College. Cerri is convinced that her success in the field of education is a direct result of beginning her academic career at MCC. Cerri began her journey as a non-traditional student at MCC’s Damon City Campus. Following MCC, she pursued advanced studies in elementary and special education, cultural foundations of education and women’s studies at Syracuse University. Prior to Mount Holyoke, Cerri served as dean at William Smith College and as an education professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She has authored two books, Black Woman Undergraduates, Cultural Capital and College Success and Teaching, Learning and Intersecting Identities in Higher Education. In 2011, Cerri served as the keynote speaker at the MCC Empire State Diversity Scholars reception and is a role model for MCC students and our community.
Rick Brienzi is a local business executive who brings leadership, clarity and integrity to his role as executive vice president and CFO of Ovation Payroll. A Rochester Top 100 company since 2006, Ovation Payroll is among the fastest growing private companies in the United States. Rick has worked for several well-known companies including LeChase Construction Services, LLC, Essex Investment Group, The DiMarco Group, the Cabot Group and Coopers & Lybrand. After earning his associate degree in business administration from MCC, Rick earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from St. John Fisher College. Rick gives back to Greater Rochester as a director of the St. John Fisher College Accounting and Management Advisory Board, the Oak Hill Country Club Board and the MCC Foundation Board. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Peter Monacelli is President and CEO of Monacelli Enterprises, Inc. and an adjunct assistant professor in the Visual and Performing Arts department at MCC. Peter was a 26-year-old life insurance salesman when he decided to take art history classes at MCC’s Alexander Street Campus. He credits the college with changing his life and shaping the person he is today: a skilled craftsman, artist, musician and educator. Through his company, Pete has been involved with many downtown Rochester renovations including the Little Theater and the rehearsal space for the Bucket Dance Theater. In his early days as a business owner, Pete would get up every morning at 5 a.m. to paint for a few hours before going to work and then teaching at MCC until 10 at night. After earning his associate degree from MCC, he earned a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in studio arts from Empire State College. His wife, son, grandson and granddaughter have followed in his footsteps by attending MCC.
As president and owner of Stefan Sydor Optics, Jim Sydor will tell you that “Our world is flat.” That’s because he has helped carve a unique niche in the fabrication of precision quality, flat-surfaced parallel and wedged optics. His business is considered key to our economic recovery—both locally and nationally. His clients include the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense and NASA as well as the motion picture industry. Jim earned his associate degree in optical technology from MCC and attended Trinity Western University. Prior to joining his father at Sydor Optics in 1978, Jim worked at American Optical and American Cystoscope Makers. Jim serves on the board of directors of the American Precision Optics Manufacturers Association and the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster. In addition to hiring MCC graduates, he gives back generously by helping the college promote and grow its optics technology program through support of innovative programs such as the optics summer camp for city high school students.
Karen Shaw
MCC Foundation
11/08/2012 |