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Johnson Alumni Club of Rochester, NY
Johnson Club of Rochester

Board of Directors

In alphabetical order:

•  James P. Alsina, MBA 2002     Director

Email: jpa23@cornell.edu

Jim is the happy Marketing & Sales Manager at Hunt Country Vineyards, a sixth-generation family farm and winery on the western flank of Keuka Lake.

Jim's early career consisted of 20 very challenging and mainly wonderful years at Eastman Kodak in a variety of operations, marketing and general management positions in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, with a focus on the Health Imaging business.  After taking a full year off to spend with family and friends, he completed the Johnson School's Executive MBA program, "a fantastic, incomparable experience."  He then spent two fascinating, but spectacularly unsuccessful years (financially) as an independent consultant to start-up ventures, before finally finding true happiness in the wine business.

Jim holds a BA in mathematics from Middlebury College.  Besides working with the Johnson Club, he especially enjoys playing tennis and hiking in the Adirondacks with his family.  His wife, Cecilia, is a native of Buenos Aires and an agronomist specializing in remote sensing, and son Marc is an 8th grader at Allendale Columbia School, where Jim serves as trustee.

•  Anissa J. Buckley, MBA 1998     Director

Anissa Buckley is a Holistic Nutritionist, Health & Wellness Consultant and Founder of No Excuse Nutrition.

Anissa's personal passion for wellness originated at Cornell University, where she studied Food Marketing, and Spa and Wellness management, eventually gaining a BS and an MBA.  From there, she managed several national brands for Fortune 500 companies such as Procter & Gamble, Birds Eye Foods, Sprint, and Reebok.  She also spent five years in the foodservice industry working closely with Sysco Corporation.

Anissa continues to speak publicly and has held seminars with Young Presidents Organization, Girl Scouts of America, Cornell Alumni Groups and others.  She is a Board Certified Holistic Nutritionist by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP).  She is also a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City.

In her personal time, Anissa enjoys adventure-fitness activities.  She most recently completed a hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, as well as the 2005 Chicago Marathon.

•  Alex Chernavsky, MBA 1995   Webmaster

E-mail: ac29@cornell.edu      Phone: 585.217.2539

Alex received his BS degree in 1987 in computer science from the State University of New York at Binghamton.  Two years later, he earned a Master's degree in neurobiology from Yale University.  After working in biomedical research for a few years, he decided to change career paths and enrolled in the Johnson School.  After earning his MBA, Alex worked in the pharmaceutical industry.

Alex now works in the administration of the Humane Society of Rochester and Monroe County, also known as the Humane Society at Lollypop Farm.  He splits his time between doing IT work and helping to coordinate the volunteer program.  Alex has also started a business called Smarty Pants Admissions Consulting.

Alex is a native of Irondequoit.  He enjoys entertaining his nephews and dabbling in web-page design.  Alex is the webmaster of the Johnson Club website.  He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Yale University Alumni Club in Rochester, and on the Board of the Cornell Club of Rochester.  He recently assisted with animal-rescue efforts following Hurricane Katrina.

•  Linda Hunt, MBA 1979   Membership Director and Treasurer

A graduate of SUNY Oneonta's English Education program and a general management graduate of the Johnson School, Linda came to Rochester with her husband, Will, to be a financial analyst at Xerox Corporation.  After several years in Reprographic Manufacturing Finance, Linda initiated the stay-at-home-mom phase of her life.

While parenting two children, Linda's passion for volunteering became apparent.  She is an elected trustee of the Honeoye Falls-Lima School Board, serving three years as President.  She is also an active participant in Positive Youth Development and PTA.  A certified public school teacher, she is frequently employed as a substitute teacher.

Her home is often the site of the annual club picnic.  Linda is currently the Treasurer for the Johnson Club of Rochester.

•  Ross Lanzafame, MPS 1979   Vice President of Communications

A partner at Harter, Secrest, and Emery, Ross earned a JD cum laude in '86 at SUNY Buffalo, a BS at Cornell in '77, and an MPS in Hospital and Health services at the Johnson School in '79.  Prior to his law degree, Ross managed the neonatal intensive care unit and all surgical units at Strong Memorial Hospital for four years.  Ross currently counsels long-term and acute health care providers and professionals with regard to business, corporate and government regulatory matters.

Admitted to the Bar in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Ross is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the National Association of Chiropractic Attorneys, and is Chair Elect of the New York State Bar Association's Health Law Section.  Ross's community involvement also includes a position as Chair of the American Lung Association of New York State, Inc., Board Chair of Community Place of Greater Rochester, Inc., Treasurer of The Rochester Friendly Home, Inc. and membership on the boards of the American Lung Association, Inc. and of Families and Friends of Murdered Children and Victims of Violence, Inc.  Ross is also a board member of the Cornell Club of Rochester, the Cornell University Council and is a Vice President of the Cornell Alumni Federation.  An avid photographer, he has won several local art awards. Other interests are travel, bicycling and hiking.

•  Eliza L. Moore, MBA 2001     Director

•  Madelynn Mueller, MBA 1986     Director

•  Lois Niland, MBA 1978   Director

Lois majored in finance at the Johnson School.  Immediately after graduation, she joined IBM, where she moved from finance into planning and then forecasting.  Looking for an opportunity to migrate into marketing, she joined Xerox in 1989 as manager of market research.  A native of Ithaca, Lois now lives in Pittsford.  In addition to her activities with the Johnson Club, Lois serves as Vice President of the Arts and Cultural Council of Rochester.  Her interests include skiing and cycling, and she has recently returned from a cycling tour of southern Bohemia.

•  Bill Scheuerman, MBA 1985     Director

•  Donna Spinella, AB 1978, MBA 1986     President

Donna Spinella was the director of alumni & international relations at the Johnson School from 1993 to 1999.  Prior to that, she marketed lots of tasty beverages for Seagrams in NYC and Tetley (those tea folks) in CT.  In her altruistic pre-MBA days, she was a special education teacher.  Donna left the alumni relations position at Cornell for one of those offers you just can't refuse from Duke University.  There she developed a new executive MBA program with major international and on-line components.  But the North Carolina weather was just too pleasant, so she packed her bags in 2003 and returned to upstate NY for a position at University of Rochester.  Although the job there didn't stick, Rochester did, so she's here for the long haul.  Of late, she's been making up for all those 70 hour work-weeks when she had no time to volunteer by devoting her time to a gamut of organizations and activities including hospice, political action and church when she's not at a Cornell event or caring for her 91-year old Mom.  She and her husband, Jeff Burns, are self-employed, which has led their dogs Bryce and Squirt to believe that they have round-the-clock doormen, waiters, etc., which is, of course, largely true.

•  Diane Wyant, MBA 1977     Vice President, Programs

Diane is currently Programs VP in the Johnson Club.  Her 14-year involvement with the local alumni clubs has included stints as President and Secretary of the Johnson Club, and Secretary, Treasurer, and President of the Cornell Alumni Association of Greater Rochester.

After a corporation-free hiatus to bring son Max to school age, Diane spent seven years as a Personal Financial Advisor at American Express, and two years as a higher-education retirement plan participant consultant at TIAA-CREF.  Diane earned certification in Human Resources Studies through Cornell's ILR School and moved on to group health and welfare plan benefit administration.  Currently, she is employed at KAFL, Inc., a local insurance General Agency with special risk underwriting expertise, as a Case Manager.  Diane's personal enthusiasms include English novels, supporting local wineries, antiquing, art glass, and gardening.

© 2008 Johnson Club of Rochester    Contact the webmaster: ac29@cornell.edu