Alumni at Large

Colby Magazine Volume 101 Issue 3 Fall 2012 Article 11 September 2012 Alumni at Large Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine Recommended Citation (2012) "Alumni at Large," Colby Magazine: Vol. 101 : Iss. 3 , Article 11. Available at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine/vol101/iss3/11 This Contents is brought to you for free and open access by the Colby College Archives at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Magazine by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. alumni at large 50 COLBY / FALL 2012 Homecoming Weekend: A bench on the academic quad provided a respite during Family Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 5-7. Parents and alumni enjoyed a cappella concerts, a jazz show, and athletic contests, among other events. Photo by Farabee Chowdhury ’16 COLBY / FALL 2012 51 CATCHING UP | ALUMNI Profiles A Matter of Trust | ole Amunsen ’90 Ole Amundsen ’90 ics, now emeritus. “It was then asked to rewrite the guide for has good reason to really opened my eyes general use. He did, using a draft version love his work as in the to how one could ac- to work with land trusts while he waited field of conservation. tually use the power for its publication as part of a series. Stra- “There’s nothing like of the free market to tegic Conservation Planning was published being involved in a provide solutions and by Land Trust Alliance in 2011 and now project and at the end furnish public ben- is used by conservation organizations of of that project you look efits,” Amundsen said. all types, from all-volunteer local groups out at a hundred-acre He recalls his first to multistate trusts with multimillion- farm field that you job interview with a top dollar budgets. helped conserve or a economist at the Envi- “The real challenge was to craft one thousand acres you ronmental Protection planning process that would be appropri- added to a state forest,” Agency, who said, “Oh, ate for these land trusts that have different he said. “That’s a very Colby. That’s where missions,” Amundsen said. concrete and reward- Tom teaches.” With The missions can range from preserv- ing feeling.” that, Amundsen was off ing thousands of acres of wildlife habitat These days, though, and running: two years to protecting a cave used for spelunking, Amundsen would have at the EPA, four years he said. But no matter what the scope, Ole Amunsen ’90 to log some serious at the Department of organizations benefit from strategic and miles to see all of the land he’s helped preserve. Energy working on nuclear-weapons site careful planning. As the author of Strategic Conservation cleanup. He paused to get a master’s degree The land trusts that have formal plans Planning, he’s worked with more than 400 in planning at MIT, then was assistant conserved twice as much land as the land land trusts, helping them navigate the director for land policy for Massachusetts. trusts that don’t have plans, Amundsen complex world of land conservation. And as He also taught at Cornell University for said. “There’s fairly ample evidence that a planner for the New York-based Conser- four years. these plans do help organizations become vation Fund, he’s helped select and finance Amundsen was consulting for land more effective, more efficient, and create dozens of conservation-related projects trusts when he was hired by the National more compelling materials for attracting around the country. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration donors for doing projects.” He says his career path was sparked to write a guide that would help organi- “I think there’s a real hunger out there for by taking Environmental Economics, a zations navigate the planning process. something that gives that big picture view course taught by Thomas Tietenberg, That pilot project was for a Maine coast in terms of a planning process.” Mitchell Family Professor of Econom- conservation organization, but Amundsen —Gerry Boyle ’78 The Buddy System | susan Zimmermann ’88 Three years ago, Susan Zimmermann ’88 came away inspired to improve lives. received an invitation from classmate Amy A Concord, N.H., resident and mother Lumbard Holbrook ’88 to participate in a of a 10-year-old boy with Down syndrome, Massachusetts cycling trek fundraiser for Zimmermann co-chairs a board that is seek- Best Buddies International, a nonprofit that ing to expand Best Buddies International in fosters one-to-one friendships, employment, her home state. and leadership development for people with Founded by Kennedy cousin Anthony intellectual and developmental disabilities. Shriver in 1989, Best Buddies has programs Although she detests biking, Zimmer- that pair disabled youngsters with middle mann borrowed a neighbor’s cycle, joined school, high school, and college volunteers Holbrook’s Audi Best Buddies Challenge in about 1,500 schools worldwide, including team for the 20-mile route on Cape Cod—and through a chapter at Colby. But only three are Susan Zimmermann ’88 and her son Oliver 52 COLBY / FALL 2012 Life After the Celtics | Jan Volk ’68 Since leaving his post as general man- tions I have with the students,” said Volk. ager of the Boston Celtics in 1997, Jan “It challenges me every time I’m there, Volk ’68 has become an everyman in the because they are so knowledgeable about world of sports. what’s going on and they really keep me He spends his days as the CEO of on my feet.” SportsPix, a company he founded that Volk brings in guest lecturers, from agents photographs sporting events throughout to members of the media, providing different the region. Until last year, he had worked as perspectives on the evolving world of sports a consultant for multiple NBA teams. And business. “I really like making my classes for over a decade he’s been on the faculty at interactive,” he said. “I want a lot of discus- Tufts University, teaching about the busi- sion and analysis of hypothetical situations.” ness of sports. After leaving the Celtics, Volk spent time How is Volk able to balance all of these as a consultant in the NBA, working for the different ventures? “It’s a labor of love,” Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks. Now he said. based in suburban Boston, Volk still keeps It wasn’t long after his nearly three- close tabs on the Celtics. But these days, Volk decade career with the Celtics that Volk Jan Volk ’68 watches the team’s from a fan’s perspective. jumped back into athletics. He first took a and they won’t get a second chance to get “Like any other fan, I was surprised role consulting in the NBA. Sports photog- pictures of their kids playing sports.” and disappointed to see Ray Allen go,” he raphy quickly followed. It’s a seven-day-a-week job, Volk says, as said. “And now he goes to their archrival Throughout his life Volk has had a keen he and his staff cover anything from youth [Miami] and will compete against them. interest in photography. He took pictures sports to college athletics. Yet despite the But the team had done a nice job retool- at his son’s high school football games, and demanding, nontraditional nature of his ing their roster. I really think they will be though Volk says he didn’t always get the work, Volk couldn’t be happier. contenders next year.” best shots of his own kid, other parents were “It’s really a combination of a job and a He should know. Basketball legend Red impressed by the photos he took of their passion,” he said. Auerbach named Volk his successor in 1984, children. The idea for a business was born. Around the same time that he started a life-changing event. “On a daily basis, “I played soccer in college and three dif- SportsPix, Volk began a longstanding re- Red would push you to see what your limits ferent sports in high school, yet I don’t have lationship with Tufts, where he teaches a were. He wanted to see how much he could any pictures of me,” said Volk, a grandfather popular course called The Business of Sports, get out of you. Red was always testing me. of two who lives in suburban Boston. “These bringing his experience as an NBA executive Thankfully, I ended up passing.” are special times in the lives of parents, into the classroom. “I really love the interac- —Andrew Clark in New Hampshire. By leading a $250,000 Miami headquarters. “He said to me, ‘I members of New Hampshire’s congressional fundraising campaign, Zimmermann and her hear you’re having a buddy,’” Zimmermann delegation in Washington to advocate legisla- fellow board members are striving to open recalled. “He was so happy for me, and I so tion supporting those with intellectual and de- a Best Buddies New Hampshire office that needed that at that moment.” velopmental disabilities as part of Capitol Hill would launch chapters in schools statewide. Wylie later helped make the connections Day, an annual collaboration between Best Although Zimmermann’s son, Oliver that led to a Best Buddies New Hampshire Buddies International and Special Olympics. Laidlaw, motivated her to expand an organi- board. “She’s paving the way for her child and zation that combats the social isolation many “I think Best Buddies will benefit kids like making sure that his future is all-inclusive,” disabled youngsters experience, another Oliver tremendously,” Zimmermann said. Wylie said. “She’s not just letting things Colby classmate was instrumental in intro- “But I also think it’s great for the typical kids happen as they may come, but she’s actually ducing Zimmermann to Best Buddies.

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