Alumni Gazette

Donald Boomgaarden ’85E (PhD) took office July 1 as president of St. Joseph’s College in New York. The 101-year-old liberal arts college has campuses in Brooklyn and in Patchogue, Long Island. He’ll divide his time between both campuses.

A historian of 18th-century opera, music aesthetics, and harmonic theory, he received his doctorate from Eastman in musicology.

The author of a book, Musical Thought in Britain and Germany during the Early 18th Century (Peter Lang, 1989), as well as other scholarly writings, he also studied as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Vienna in Austria.

Boomgaarden most recently served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Boomgaarden has also held academic and leadership positions at Loyola University New Orleans, Loyola University Maryland, and other institutions over the course of a 30-year career.

He is a graduate of Harvard’s Institute for Management and Leadership in Education program.

Former Yellowjacket Scores Honors as Basketball MVP

During his first season in Israeli pro basketball, guard John DiBartolomeo ’13 led his team, Maccabi Haifa, to a league championship, where they fell just short of the title. Along the way, Maccabi Haifa eliminated the most successful team in the history of Israeli pro basketball, Maccabi Tel Aviv.

In June, Maccabi Tel Aviv signed the former Yellowjacket men’s basketball star to a three-year contract.

There is no Israeli team whose record approaches that of Maccabi Tel Aviv; the team has won the Israel Basketball Super League title 51 times, whereas the most any other team has won it is five.

DiBartolomeo launched his professional career in Spain, where he played for two seasons before moving to Israel to join Maccabi Haifa for the 2015–16 season.

At Rochester, the guard from Westport, Connecticut, was one of the most decorated athletes in the history of Yellowjacket men’s basketball. A three-time All-American, he finished his career third in school history in scoring (1,779), second in assists (533), second in steals (201), and second in free throws made (520). The financial economics graduate was named the NCAA Division III National Player of the Year by D3hoops.com and DIIINews.

Before signing with Maccabi Tel Aviv, DiBartolomeo was named Israel Basketball Super League Most Valuable Player.

Simon Graduate Recognized as Leader in Digital Banking

Michelle Calarco Moore ’99S (MBA), head of digital banking at Bank of America, has been named 2017 Digital Banker of the Year by American Banker magazine.

Digital (or online) banking is a complex and fast growing technology that’s been called a “do-or-die challenge” to banks. American Banker cited Moore’s overarching focus on customer experience; development of an industry-leading mobile app, available in English and Spanish editions, that enables customers to carry out a full range of banking functions securely on mobile devices; and planned rollout of a new digital assistant, “erica,” as elements transforming Bank of America from an “also-ran” to a leader in digital banking.

Moore joined Bank of America as a senior vice president in commercial banking in 2003.