Alumni

Jade Thomas, ’17, Recognized as Outstanding Educator

January 9, 2025

Jade Thomas, ’17, is one of the outstanding educators being considered as Georgia’s Teacher of the Year. She was recently recognized as the 2024-2025 Houston County Teacher of the Year for her dedication to enabling her students to reach their greatest potential.

Dr. Robert Wylie, ’74,with the Niagara University women's golf team.

Niagara University Alumnus Establishes Pioneering Gift for Athletics

January 9, 2025

Dr. Robert Wylie, ’74, has made a transformative gift to establish an endowed fund for the women’s golf program at Niagara University. This gift will support the team—which has recently seen a season of new program records and personal bests—well into the future.

Tony Brigano with members of Team Michelle.

Inmates Join Former Warden to Walk for MS

December 17, 2024

Over the past seven years, Tony Brigano, ’73, has raised nearly $180,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. And he’s done it with hundreds of inmates from the Ohio State Correctional Facilities by his side.

It’s All About the People for Tom Sacco, ’75

December 2, 2024

For the past four years, Tom Sacco has been chief happiness officer, CEO, and presidentat Dynamic Restaurant Holdings, owner/operators of Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor and Tony Sacco’s Coal Oven Pizza. It’s a role he seemingly has been preparing for his whole life, beginning at the restaurant and hotel his Italian grandparents owned on Wasaga Beach, just north of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.

A Passion for Math and ASL Lead to a Career for Catherine Gibbons, ’14

November 21, 2024

Teaching math can be a challenging profession, especially when you are teaching it in a language that is not your first. But Cathie Gibbons, ’14, the middle and high school math teacher at St. Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo, N.Y., embraces this challenge because of her love for math and her passion for American Sign Language.

Two Niagara University Alumni Among Buffalo Business First’s 40 Under 40

November 18, 2024

Two Niagara University alumni were among the “40 Under 40” up-and-coming leaders who were honored by Buffalo Business First for their professional success and service to their communities.

NU Alumna Named a Power 100 Business Leader of Color

November 12, 2024

Joanne Rickard Israel, '06, general manager at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, was recognized by Buffalo Business First as one of the “Power 100 Business Leaders of Color.”

Two Niagara University Alumni Named to the Upstate Power 100 List

November 12, 2024

Congressman Nick Langworthy, ’03, who represents Western New York and the Southern Tier, and Maryalice Demler, ’86, news anchor and reporter at Buffalo, N.Y., NBC affiliate WGRZ-TV and a member of Niagara University’s Board of Trustees, are included in the 2024 Upstate Power 100, a list of the New York state leaders who are revitalizing Rust Belt cities and reimagining rural regions.

Caden Johnson, ’23, was one of three alumni who returned to their alma mater on Nov. 6, 2024, to present mini professional development sessions for undergraduate education students.

NU Education and Counseling Alumni Speak at Professional Development edCamp

November 8, 2024

New and veteran counselors and teachers, including alumni Caden Johnson, ’23, Laura Feind, M.S.Ed. ’19, and Jenna Patterson, ’22, presented mini professional development sessions for undergraduate education students in Kadie Beamer and Rich Vittoria’s Elementary Methods courses on Nov. 6.

Noah Kaczmarek, ’22, on an archaeological excavation in Iceland.

Hobby Leads to Career for Noah Kaczmarek, ’22

November 4, 2024

Noah Kaczmarek, ’22, began metal detecting with his father as a teenager, motivated by his love of history and the outdoors. The two would travel to sites across New York state, where they found items including an engraved thimble made of 14k gold dating to the Victorian era, a solid gold pocket watch from the early 1900s, and numerous artifacts dating to the War of 1812.

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