Alumni Sweethearts

For many alumni, the University at Albany was not just the institution where they earned degrees and got started on their careers. It was also the place where they met the loves of their lives.

For Nolan Altman and Susan Diamond Altman, both B.S. ’77, a lifelong love story began at Albany. The two, residents of Dutch Quad during their junior year, met through a mutual friend and got further acquainted through the Student Association. “Susan was a transfer student from Delhi,” remembers Nolan, now chief financial officer for Tiger Management LLC, a New York City investment management firm. “She worked in the SA office. I majored in accounting and was the Association’s controller.”

Their first “official” date was an SA group outing to Saratoga Raceway to watch the races and have dinner. Although Nolan laughingly admits that he did not win any bets on the horses that night, he was on his way to winning a far more valuable prize: Susan’s heart. A few years later, “I proposed to her through a poem, and I made reference to that night at the races.”

Following a yearlong engagement, the Altmans married in July 1979. They have two daughters, 14-year-old Jessica and 11-year-old Stephanie. Susan, who majored in business at Albany, “is a domestic engineer and is very involved with the PTAs at our girls’ schools.” The Altman family is committed to education—and to Albany: Nolan, a University at Albany Foundation board member, also established the Martha Bealler Altman Scholarship Fund in memory of his mother. “She taught at a vocational high school in a poor area of Brooklyn, and she made a significant difference in a lot of people’s lives,” he explains. “I felt that the scholarship fund was the most fitting way to honor her.” Each year, an award from the fund benefits a School of Business student.

Over the years, the Altmans have made the drive from their home in Oceanside, N.Y., to Albany on several occasions so that their daughters could see the campus. Says Nolan: “They enjoyed visiting. They were very impressed with the size of the place.” He admits, though, that it was a little disconcerting for him and Susan to note that “what used to be the Rathskeller is now a food court.”

Sandra Ancowitz Philip, B.A.’68, M.A.’72, remembers the “Rat,” too. It was a place where friends could relax, chat, and just “spend time.” The Dutch Quad cafeteria, however, was where she first encountered her future husband, history major George Philip, B.A.’69, M.A.’73. Although it was not love at first sight, the pair began dating several months later. They saw the film “Georgy Girl” on their first date.

While they enjoyed each other’s company, neither was looking for romance. Says Sandra Philip: “I thought I had met a good friend. He was a very comfortable person to spend time with. He would pass through as I was studying, put his books down, and find a reason to stay and talk for a while. It was the way a relationship should go.”

Romance blossomed, and the couple married in 1970. George received his law degree from Western New England College. He now chairs Albany’s University Council and is CEO of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System. Sandra, who majored in French and French education, put her teaching career on hold to raise a family. Their sons—Robert, a senior human biology major at the University; Albany graduate Michael, B.A.’97; and Matthew, a University of Chicago M.B.A. candidate—range in age from 22 to 26. Sandra is now a full-time French teacher for the Galway Central School District. She and her husband live in Burnt Hills.

Like the Philips and the Altmans, Michelle Gaspard Henny, B.S. ’73, and her future husband, SONY Corporation Executive Vice President and CFO Marinus “Nick” Henny, B.S.’73, met at Albany. As a freshman enrolled in the nursing program, Michelle remembers being “upset” when she learned she would be living at Alden Hall; she feared the location would be “too far away” from classes and extracurricular activities. She adjusted, however, coming to appreciate the downtown campus as “a fabulous place for freshmen. Our freshman year was the first time there were coed dorms, so we got used to living in that type of situation. It was really nice. We felt as if we were in a little cocoon. I met many nice people, and we bonded. Traveling back and forth on the bus, we used to commiserate about the weather.”

One of the people Michelle met was her future husband, who was majoring in accounting: “I lived on the third floor of Alden Hall, and he lived on the first floor. My roommate knew him and introduced us.” They began to date during their sophomore year; “we used to take rides to Vermont on his motorcycle,” she says.

After graduation, Nick—a Holland native who emigrated to the United States at age six—returned to New York City. Michelle, originally from Newburgh, remained in the Capital Region because “I really loved the area.” She worked as a nurse at Albany Medical Center, then relocated downstate a year later, taking a similar job at New York University Hospital.

Wed in 1974, the Hennys celebrated their silver wedding anniversary last summer. The New Jersey residents are the parents of four: Marc, 22; Kristin, 19; Catherine, 15; and Gregory, 13.

So—was the University at Albany the perfect place to meet a mate?

“Certainly!” Nolan Altman observes. “In fact, we know other people from Dutch Quad who met at Albany and married. We still keep in touch with a number of them.”

Adds Sandra Philip: “For me it was, obviously. It was for my brother, too.” Allen Ancowitz ’68 met his future spouse, history major Leslie Jacobi Ancowitz, B.A. ’68, at Albany.