Business School Gift Honors Carl Sgrecci

9/27/2007

Steve '74 and Kim '74 McCluski

Thanks to a $250,000 gift from Steve McCluski ’74 and Kim Joslyn McCluski ’74, a classroom in the new School of Business building will be dedicated to Carl Sgrecci ’69 in recognition of his longstanding service to the College.

It's not every IC grad who would remember an 8:00 a.m. accounting class fondly. But for Steve and Kim McCluski, it's where they first met. It's also where they first came to know Ithaca's current vice president for finance and administration Carl Sgrecci, who was the class's instructor and is, to this day, a good friend.

“We met in Carl’s Intermediate Accounting class, at 8:00 in the morning. Carl will tell you I fell asleep in that class,” says Steve, who recently retired from his job as senior vice president and chief financial office for Bausch & Lomb in Rochester.

“Carl told me he didn’t know what I saw in that guy,” Kim says.

The McCluskis agree that Carl was an excellent teacher. “He was very engaging and took a real interest in the students,” Steve says. “If you showed an interest, he was willing to spend time helping you.”

Kim spent two years as Carl’s teaching assistant, and Carl attended the McCluskis’ wedding with his wife, Marilyn.

It seemed only fitting that when the McCluskis decided to make a $250,000 gift to the new School of Business building, they would choose to honor Carl, who in September will be entering his 39th year serving Ithaca College. “We were at the point in our lives where we had the ability to give back,” Steve says. “The business school has turned the corner in the past three to four years, and we believe in the school’s leadership. We thought the best way to make a gift was to honor Carl, who has dedicated most of his life to the College.”

The McCluskis announced their intention to name a ground-floor classroom in the new building in honor of Carl at a May dinner held for Ithaca College trustees. “I knew by the look on his face that [Carl] was totally shocked,” Steve says.

Steve served as an Ithaca trustee from 1995 to 2006. “I was there when we named Peggy Williams as the new president—and there’s nothing more important you can do for a college,” he says, adding, “It was a delight to learn that Ithaca was such a well-run school."