Alumni Recognized for Achievements, Contributions to Alma Mater at Homecoming/Family Weekend

The Plattsburgh Alumni Association recently recognized the outstanding accomplishments of three SUNY Plattsburgh graduates during Homecoming and Family Weekend.

Dr. Brian Freed ’76 G’78, Brandon Mitchell ’17 and Kim Scalzo ’89 received the association’s Distinguished Alumni Award, Off to a Good Start Alumni Award and Robert M. Garrow ’52 Alumni Service Award, respectively, during a dinner in the university’s Warren Ballrooms Sept. 26.

Dr. Brian Freed ’76 G’78 — Distinguished Alumni Award

The Distinguished Alumnus or Alumna Award is presented by the university and the Plattsburgh Alumni Association Board of Directors to honor graduates for their professional achievements or contributions to society.

After graduating from SUNY Plattsburgh in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts in biology, Freed continued his studies at the university, completing a Master of Arts in virology in 1978. He then went on to earn a master’s and doctorate in immunology from Albany Medical College.

“Since graduation, Dr. Freed has built an impressive list of professional accomplishments — all resulting in the advancement of medicine and contributing to the betterment of the lives of individuals and society as a whole,” said Plattsburgh Alumni Association President Matt Veitch '94 during the award presentation.

Now a professor of medicine and immunology and executive director of the ClinImmune Center for Clinical Immunology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Freed has two FDA-licensed cell therapies and is founder and chief scientific officer of Rheumagen, which is conducting the first-ever clinical trial of gene therapy to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

With a 40-year history in transplantation immunology, he has facilitated more than 10,000 transplants and has more than 100 publications in the field. Freed is also the recipient of the 2024 Bernard Amos Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics and was awarded the first international patent to treat autoimmune diseases with gene therapy.

“Dr. Freed has remained both involved and supportive of SUNY Plattsburgh through the years,” Veitch said. “He returned to campus in 2002 as a visiting scientist and in 2016 as an Alumni in the Classroom visitor hosted by the biology department. During his second visit to campus, Dr. Freed spoke with many students, including a student to whom he offered a position at ClinImmune Labs.

“That student graduated and is now employed at Dr. Freed’s lab in Aurora, Colorado. Dr. Freed has also been philanthropically generous — he is a leadership donor, supporting both the Plattsburgh Fund and biology department as a long-standing member of the Redcay Society,” he said.

In a separate statement, Freed, who was nominated for the Distinguished Alumni Award by Faith Leach G’01, thanked the Alumni Association for the honor and credited Plattsburgh with equipping him with valuable knowledge that would serve him well in his career.

“I came here to study biology, but, apparently, the deal was that to get a biology degree, you also had to take chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, physics and calculus. It sounds like an academic Ironman triathlon,” he said. “But I ended up using every one of those subjects over the next 50 years, so I guess the faculty knew what they were doing. Thank you to the Plattsburgh faculty for teaching me not only what I came here to learn, but also what I needed to know.”

Brandon Mitchell ’17 — Off to a Good Start Alumni Award

This award is presented to an alumnus or alumna within the first 10 years after graduation, who is off to a good start in a career, who is demonstrating a sense of responsibility within his or her community, and who continues to have a relationship with SUNY Plattsburgh.

Nominated by Plattsburgh Alumni Association First Vice President Marcia (Rollins) Cognetta ’98, who called him a “shining example for all Cardinals,” Mitchell is an alum of SUNY Plattsburgh’s finance and economics programs.

By the time he graduated from the university in 2017, Mitchell had already launched his first business, Ideayet Corporation, and completed several internships. He had also become actively involved in the campus community as a member of the National Association of Black Accountants, the Student Managed Investment Portfolio, the Economics Club and the Accounting and Finance Association, as well as a founding member of the university’s Chapter of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.

After completing his degree, Mitchell was hired as an investment technology consultant at the global accounting and professional services firm PWC, where he advised asset- and wealth-management companies such as Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and KKR on their complex technology issues.

After two years with the company, he left to focus on growing his resume and career coaching business, BrandResumes, and launch WriteSea, a technology operations platform that helps employment coaching companies optimize and automate business operations, which maximizes scalability.

“Brandon has become a successful technology entrepreneur, career coach, resume writer, speaker and influencer. He has worked passionately and tirelessly on his goals, which has helped thousands of others reach their own goals, including landing interviews at some of the top and most notable companies in the country,” Cognetta said at the awards dinner.

“In July 2020, Brandon was featured by Yahoo Finance as ‘One of the Top Black Entrepreneurs You Need to Follow This Summer’ and has been featured in a number of other publications. Brandon is a true inspiration and should be recognized for achieving such great success in just a few years after graduation,” he said.

Though not in attendance at the awards dinner, Mitchell expressed his gratitude to the Alumni Association and the university in a separate statement:

“Thank you so much for honoring me with this award,” he said. “Plattsburgh shaped me in ways that molded my intellect, entrepreneurial drive, and, ultimately, set me up for lifelong success. As an alum who’s focused on ensuring that every single college student in America has access to the magic that Plattsburgh instilled in me, I am truly grateful for my experience.

“I’m excited to continue to grow and impact the world in meaningful ways while repping my Cardinal pride. Thank you to the faculty that shaped me, such as my finance adviser Dr. Stephen Henry, Dr. Nancy Church, Dr. (Mohamed) Gaber, Dr. Michael Morgan and many others. I hope to continue to exemplify what it means to be a Cardinal,” he said.

Kim Scalzo ’89 — Robert M. Garrow ’52 Alumni Service Award

Named in honor of Robert M. Garrow ’52, the Alumni Service Award recognizes an alumnus or alumna who has demonstrated outstanding service to the alma mater and has done so in keeping with the traditions of SUNY Plattsburgh.

While studying computer science at the university, Scalzo was actively involved in campus life and served as a resident assistant.

After graduating in 1989, she went on to earn a Master of Science in Education in college student personnel and embarked on a career in higher education. Scalzo worked for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for approximately 12 years before accepting a position with SUNY System Administration in 2009. She has since served SUNY in several positions of increasing responsibility, including her current role as senior associate provost for digital innovation and academic services.

In addition to receiving the Distinguished Service Award from the Continuing Professional Development Division of the American Society for Engineering Education and the Leadership Award from the National University Technology Network, Scalzo was named a fellow of the International Association for Continuing Engineering Education.

“Kim has committed her professional life to higher education, much of it specifically in the service of the SUNY system, but the SUNY campus that means the most to her is in Plattsburgh,” Diane Austin ’73 G’76 wrote in nominating Scalzo for the award. “She loved her undergraduate experience at Plattsburgh and has given back to the institution in many ways over many years.”

Scalzo served on the board of the Plattsburgh Alumni Association from 2001 to 2015, during which she sat on various committees and developed an orientation for new board members. She also served on the Plattsburgh College Foundation Board of Directors from 2002 to 2009; as a class reunion volunteer; and as a member of the Capital District Golf Tournament Committee, raising money to support scholarships for SUNY Plattsburgh students from the Capital District.

In addition to hosting an annual summer event at her home that raises money for the Paul Lamond Scholarship, Scalzo has also coordinated alumni service programs with Habitat for Humanity and alumni bus trips to Yankees games. She has been a longtime leadership donor to the Plattsburgh College Foundation and member of the Amell Society.

“Receiving the Robert M. Garrow ’52 Alumni Service Award is a profound honor,” Scalzo said in a separate statement. “My SUNY Plattsburgh education, the lifelong friends and mentors I found there, and the experiences that shaped my life and career have made giving back a genuine pleasure.

“Being recognized by the alumni board and joining the ranks of alumni I have long admired and respected means more than I can express,” she said. “And having my parents here to share in this weekend’s celebration made the honor especially meaningful because their support made it possible for me to attend college and set me on the path that brought me here today.”

— Story by Ashleigh Livingston, Institutional Advancement; Photos Provided