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Purchase College Graduates To Take Part In Clinton Initiative

HARRISON, N.Y. -- Purchase College graduates will be among President Barack Obama, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and a dozen other notable names at the Clinton Global Initiative that kicks off this week in New York City. 

Nearly two dozen graduates from Purchase College will be a part of this week's Clinton Global Initiative in New York City.

Nearly two dozen graduates from Purchase College will be a part of this week's Clinton Global Initiative in New York City.

Photo Credit: File Photo

A few of the top experts from Purchase College helping manage the event are 1986 graduate Dave Grill, who is the Lighting Designer and Creative Director; 1991 graduate Patrick Fahey who is the Scenic Designer; and 1984 graduate Jeffrey Markowitz, who is the Production Stage Manager, according to a press release from Purchase College.

"Grill’s work on this event comes on the heels of his just winning his second Emmy Award, this one for Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special for his work as Lighting Director on the Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show Starring Beyoncé," representatives said in the release. 

“This is one of the most important meetings in the world geared toward philanthropic endeavors. It is vitally important to make sure the event’s environment conveys the message of the organization’s mission and allows participants—some of the most notable anywhere—to be as effective as possible,” said Dan Hanessian, an associate professor of Theatre Design/Technology at Purchase College and a scenic design technical liaison for the CGI event, in the press release. “It’s great to be able to work on a project like this with so many former and current students from the Design/Technology Program. It reminds me just how lucky we are to have such a successful program and so many talented folks who have gone through it.”

Markowitz said it was an honor to lead the Stage Management team for the ninth year. 

“We bring together an exceptional group to do our best to shepherd an exceptional event with the highest-profile participants and attendees with courtesy, punctuality and technical excellence through an arduous climate of security, expectations and endless changes, all leading to a successful conclusion," said Markowitz in the release. "Those of us fortunate to have years at SUNY Purchase in the Design/Technology program in our background are well prepared from the outset of our careers to develop the energy, diplomacy, technical skills and care to play our part.”

Nearly 20 other graduates from Purchase College are also involved in the CGI event, according to the release. Those include Associate Scenic Designers Corey Atwood (2005), Jennifer Colombo (2005), Robert John Andrusko (1990), Veronica Kimmel (2008), Danielle Shultz (2013), and Chris Thompson (2010); Stage Manager Meghan VonVett (2007); Assistant Stage Manager Jason Quinn (2001); Production Crew members Niklas Anderson (2002) and Steven Loehle (1985); Stage Management student interns Peter Chang (2014) and Natalie Price (2014); Lighting Director Jay Woods (2001); and Lighting Design student interns Nathan Avakian (2014), Catherine Clark (2014), Kelley Finn (2014), Rebekah Gould (2014), Dana Ioppolo (2014), Laura Panno (2014), Christina Robinson (2014) and Emily Rodriguez (2014), according to the release. 

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