The Syracuse University Alumni Association (SUAA) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the addition of five new directors. Scott Bellin ’90, Andrew Brown ’16, Katherine McCormick G’20, Patty Mieth ’86, G'88 and Allison D. Mitchell ’08, G'09 became directors on the SUAA Board on July 1, 2022.
The SUAA Board also has a new president-elect, Peter Gianesini ’94, a senior executive at ESPN. Prior to joining the SUAA Board in 2019, Gianesini spent several years as a volunteer leader of the Syracuse University Alumni Club of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts.
The SUAA Board also elected a pair of new vice presidents, Elisabeth Dwyer ’06 and Carey W. Ng G’02, L’02, who began their terms on July 1. Dwyer, a board member since 2019 who chairs the Board’s diversity + inclusion committee, works for National Debt Relief, LLC as People Experience Director. Ng is an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office who joined the SUAA Board in 2020.
Ryan McNaughton ’96, a member of the SUAA Board since July 2014, is beginning his second and final year as SUAA president.
The SUAA Board of Directors guides the SUAA in establishing priorities for alumni engagement consistent with University goals. Board members have distinguished themselves as leaders within the alumni community while demonstrating a personal commitment to the University. They are ambassadors who have great knowledge of Syracuse University’s history, traditions and activities.
The board’s mission is to create an environment in which Syracuse University alumni, students, parents and friends develop lifelong connections to the University and support it with their work, wisdom and wealth.
Orange runs deep for Scott Bellin ’90. His youngest son, who graduated in 2022, joins six other members of the family as Syracuse University graduates. Bellin, a senior account executive with Alliant Employee Benefits, joins the SUAA Board after several years as co-chair of the Syracuse University Alumni Club of Westchester (NY)/Fairfield (CT) Counties.
“I have enjoyed my involvement in our alumni club and look forward to being able to share my experiences with others as a member of the SUAA Board,” said Bellin.
Andrew Brown ’16 joins the SUAA Board after serving as co-executive director of the Generation Orange Leadership Council (GOLC), Syracuse University’s young alumni board on which he has served since his graduation. As a student, Brown was a member of the Forever Orange Student Alumni Council (FOSAC). He has been actively engaged with Syracuse University as a member of the College of Engineering and Computer Science Emerging Leaders Board, which he joined in 2019. Brown is project manager for the HYM Investment Group, LLC.
Katherine McCormick G’20 is head of data insights strategy at BNY Mellon Wealth Management and the daughter of Syracuse University Trustee Christine Larsen G’84. Joining the SUAA Board represents a special homecoming for McCormick, who spent four years working in Syracuse University’s Office of Admissions where she managed the University 100 (U100) program, hiring and training the team of student tour guides.
“I see great hope and potential in a future for Syracuse University that involves distance learning,” said McCormick, who completed her MS in Applied Data Science online after beginning her classwork while an employee in the Office of Admissions. “I recognize there is work to be done on connecting those students to campus and deepening their relationship as alumni and I hope to engage in these conversations with the SUAA Board.”
When Patty Mieth ’86, G'88 was a student, she was a member of Syracuse University’s inaugural U100 group. That experience has led to a lifetime of engagement for Mieth, who is proud of her longtime role as an Orange ambassador, speaking to prospective students and families while representing the University at college fairs at high schools across the country. Mieth has also served as a volunteer leader with alumni clubs in Buffalo and Arizona, her home since 1998.
Allison D. Mitchell ’08, G'09 brings several years of experience as a volunteer leader with the Syracuse University Alumni Club of Atlanta to her new role as a director on the SUAA Board. Mitchell, senior director of content marketing at DecisionLink, looks forward to being a role model for alumni of color.
“My goal is to be an inspiration to current and future alumni to have a voice and make an impact, especially those alumni and students who are in underrepresented groups,” said Mitchell.
The SUAA Board of Directors will hold its fall meeting on Friday, September 30 during Orange Central 2022, Syracuse University’s annual homecoming and reunion weekend.