University at Albany Foundation Announces 2026 Citizen Laureates
By Amy Geduldig
ALBANY, N.Y. (June 11, 2026) — The University at Albany Foundation will celebrate four Capital Region leaders whose work has helped shape the region’s civic, cultural, academic and community life at its 2026 Citizen Laureate Awards this October.
Donna and Yono Purnomo and Tom Putnam were named Community Laureates for their contributions to the community. Paul Grondahl was named Academic Laureate for his achievements in academic scholarship and public service.
The honorees will be celebrated at a dinner held in their honor on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Broadview Center on UAlbany’s Uptown Campus.
“The Citizen Laureate Awards are a powerful reflection of the strong ties between UAlbany and the broader community,” said Fardin Sanai, vice president for university advancement and executive director of The University at Albany Foundation. “Yono and Donna Purnomo, Tom Putnam and Paul Grondahl have each made lasting contributions that reach far beyond their professions. Their leadership, generosity and service embody the spirit of the awards, which honor the past while investing in our future and supporting great opportunities for our Great Danes.”
Since its inception in 1977, the Foundation’s Citizen Laureate Awards has recognized more than 100 leaders and stands as a cornerstone fundraising event supporting student scholarships at UAlbany. In the last decade, the Citizen Laureate event has provided $500,000 in scholarship support for UAlbany students. The program has successfully brought together the academic and business communities of the Capital Region, and the proceeds from the dinner fund the Citizen Laureate Endowment for Excellence, which has grown to over $3.25 million.
For more information about the event and sponsorship opportunities, visit Citizen Laureate or contact UAlbany’s Office of University Events at (518) 442-5310.
Meet the 2026 Citizen Laureates
Community Laureates: Yono and Donna Purnomo
Yono and Donna Purnomo helped shape the Capital Region’s dining and hospitality scene as the founders of Yono’s, the longtime Albany fine dining restaurant they led from 1983 to 2022. The restaurant began as Twenty-One in downtown Albany before moving and becoming Yono’s, which grew into the region’s longest-tenured four-star restaurant.
Their impact extends well beyond the dining room. Through the Yono’s Scholarship Foundation, they have supported culinary students in Indonesia and the United States, and as co-founders of the Albany Chefs’ Food & Wine Festival: Wine & Dine for the Arts, they helped raise more than $1 million for local arts organizations.
Community Laureate: Tom Putnam
Tom Putnam is the founder and executive chairman of Fenimore Asset Management, which he established in 1974 after his family sold Fenimore Fabrics, an upstate New York textile company. What began as a way to manage family money grew into an investment firm that now manages more than $5 billion in assets with investors in every state.
Putnam’s commitment to community service also includes his leadership of the Putnam Family Foundation and service on nonprofit and civic boards supporting education, health care, economic development, human services and the arts.
Academic Laureate: Paul Grondahl
Paul Grondahl is the Opalka Endowed Director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany, where he has led one of the nation’s most visible literary organizations since 2017. An author and award-winning journalist, Grondahl spent 32 years at the Albany Times Union and continues to write a weekly column for the newspaper.
His books include Mayor Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma, I Rose Like a Rocket: The Political Education of Theodore Roosevelt, and Bootlegger of the Soul: The Literary Legacy of William Kennedy, which he co-edited with Suzanne Lance. A UAlbany alumnus, Grondahl earned a master’s degree in English from the University in 1984 and was honored as a distinguished alumnus in arts and letters in 2005.