Five New Members Join Scholarship Organization
4 December 2018 Five New Members Join Scholarship Organization
Geneva Scholarship Associates, a civic organization that has provided scholarship assistancehelping Geneva students to attend Hobart and William Smith Colleges since 1968, has announced the appointment of five new members. Anne Buckley P15, Mike Cutillo, Kate Ferguson-Schmidl, Steve Muzzi and Robert Schick have joined the collaborative group, a partnership between HWS and the local business community.
Buckley is a partner in Park House Geneva LLC, a boutique hospitality business with properties in Genevas Historic District, and is an owner of Beach Filter Products in Hanover, Pa. She is the mother of four grown children, including Madeline, a 2015 graduate of William Smith.I know from my experience as a parent of a graduate how transformative the HWS education can be and I want to help more Geneva students have access to the Colleges, she says.
Cutillo has been an award-winning journalist for more than three decades. At the Finger Lakes Times, he has served as executive editor since 2011. He also has worked for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and the Canandaigua Daily Messenger. Other boards he has served on include the Geneva Family YMCA, the Geneva Theatre Guild, Geneva Sons of Italy Lodge, the Geneva Center of Concern, the United Way of Ontario County and the Geneva Salvation Army.
Ferguson-Schmidl, a graduate of Geneva High School and Ithaca College, is a realtor with Century 21, Sbarra & Wells who has experience teaching, in office administration and as a vocalist at venues throughout the Finger Lakes area. Her father, Bill McGowan, has been a member of GSA since 1968. The opportunity to serve alongside my father is extremely fulfilling, she says.
Muzzi retired last year after a 43-year teaching career at DeSales High School and Geneva High School. He is a graduate of St. John Fisher College and Nazareth College, where he earned a masters degree in education. I think the work that the Geneva Scholarship Associates does in providing the opportunity for Geneva students to attend HWS is tremendous, he says. Now that I am retired, I feel this will be a great way to continue helping students through the GSA.
Schick is the board chairman and chief executive officer of Lyons Bancorp, Inc. and The Lyons National Bank. Lyons is a $1 billion community bank with 15 branch offices throughout seven Finger Lakes counties Wayne, Onondaga, Ontario, Yates, Seneca, Monroe and Cayuga. The Banks operations center is also located in Geneva. Schick, a native of Buffalo and a50-year banking veteran, has been with Lyons since 1994.
Since its inception 50 years ago, Geneva Scholarship Associates has provided assistance to more than 200 Geneva students. This academic year, 24 scholars are receiving more than $1.4 million in combined financial aid at the Colleges.