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PHILANTHROPIC PROFILES

Our alumni’s generosity underwrites the College of Law’s success.

For many alumni, a tradition of lifelong giving is often tied to personal stories and fond memories of their alma mater. And what better time to reflect on their College of Law days than on the occasion of a class anniversary! Here, alums celebrating years ending in zero share their philanthropic journeys. Tell us yours by emailing us at su-law@law.syr.edu.

Golda Zimmerman is an internationally recognized expert and frequent speaker and lecturer on adoption law and family formation. She is currently retired from the active practice of law, but she continues to serve as an expert witness and consults on difficult cases nationally and internationally …

My story starts at the end of the 19th century. It begins with two left shoes. A young man is so poor that he could only afford two left shoes. He journeyed alone in steerage on a boat from his homeland. He came in search of freedoms, to worship as he desired, to have economic opportunity, and to be safe from the ongoing threat of attack and death.

He was a butcher and worked in New York City. He visited Syracuse to see some friends from his village. While in Syracuse he saw a beautiful young woman hanging clothes in her yard. So taken, he immediately asked her father if he could marry her. Her father said “no” as she was only 14 years old. He told the young butcher to come back in two years when she was 16. He did come back, and he married her. That young butcher and the beautiful young woman were my grandparents.

Perhaps this family story has been embellished over the years, but every new year for as long as I can remember we all were bought a new pair of shoes: one right and one left. The purpose of those shoes was to remind us of the wonderful opportunity and life we were blessed to have; to not forget where we came from; and most importantly to remember others and help them if we were able.

My family’s values and lifestyle have always encouraged philanthropy at whatever level is appropriate. My husband and I started to give back to the College of Law once we were somewhat established and knew that our family was secure. We began our efforts in the 1980s. (As an aside, one of my grandparent’s children and three of their grandchildren are graduates of the College of Law.)

I have always felt that my professional success started with the foundation I received at the College. Law school taught me how to ask the right questions and gave me the skills to seek out the answers. I have used these skills in my international and domestic practice.

My entire professional life has centered on children, especially international and domestic family formation. It was natural for us to support law students who were interested in pursuing the area of law most important to me.

Many of my closest friends are classmates from law school. Jeri D’Lugin L’80 and I have kept a close and important friendship these past 40 years. As we were not able to convene the celebration of our 40th reunion in person, we felt that a giving challenge might encourage our fellow classmates to remember that during these difficult times, the law school is especially in need of our financial support.

My advice to recent graduates starting their law career is simple. When the door of opportunity presents itself, have the courage to walk through it. The College of Law has well prepared you to be successful. Use what you have learned, remember your moral compass and life experiences, and be secure that you have the skills to succeed.

PHILANTHROPIC PROFILES

Our alumni’s generosity underwrites the College of Law’s success.

For many alumni, a tradition of lifelong giving is often tied to personal stories and fond memories of their alma mater. And what better time to reflect on their College of Law days than on the occasion of a class anniversary! Here, alums celebrating years ending in zero share their philanthropic journeys. Tell us yours by emailing us at su-law@law.syr.edu.

Jeri D’Lugin operates her own retirement planning practice in Greensboro, NC as the owner of a wealth management company. After beginning her law career at a large law firm in Miami, FL, she returned to North Carolina where she headed the tax division of a bank’s trust department and eventually became a regional trust officer …

D’Lugin counts herself as one of the many College of Law graduates whose law degree helped propel her career in different and unexpected ways. “A law degree is great for anything you do in life, as it provides you with a broad background of knowledge and skills. You understand liabilities, where you can make mistakes, and it provides you with the intellect to avoid making those mistakes. Being an attorney has helped me with every career move I’ve made.

It was her first position out of law school, at a large Miami law firm, that set in motion D’Lugin’s continued engagement with the College of Law in many ways. “I felt fortunate to have the position at the firm, and the blend of my College of Law, Syracuse Law Review, and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Policy experiences played a big role in getting that position. As soon as I could, I started giving back to the law school,” explains D’Lugin.

D’Lugin is a consistent supporter of the Law Annual Fund, a fund that gives the law school maximum flexibility in addressing its most pressing needs. She’s also made a gift to dedicate a room in honor of her parents in MacNaughton and White halls.

Giving back to the law school encompasses more than monetary donations for D’Lugin. She welcomes any prospective or current College of Law student in her offices for discussions about law school and legal careers. She also served on the College’s Board of Visitors (now the Board of Advisors) during Dean Daan Braveman’s tenure.

To D’Lugin, giving back is an obligation to make the world a better place, if you are fortunate enough to be in a place to give back to your community and beyond. “I’ve heard a local gentleman put it best: ‘You need to put more wood on the pile than you have taken off the pile.’”

D’Lugin believes that recent graduates should begin to give back to the College as soon as they are able. “Recent graduates have benefitted from the alumni who preceded them and have given to the College, so they could get a good education at Syracuse with the best in technology and classrooms. Continuing that cycle is critical for those who will come after you,” she says. “And all alumni have a stake in the College of Law remaining a top law school because the reputation of the school reflects on all of us.”

When thinking about the challenges recent graduates face as they begin to make career decisions, D’Lugin looks to her career and the careers of her classmates for direction. “If you start in an area of law and feel that you haven’t found your niche, don’t give up,” she observes. “There are so many opportunities in front of you because of your law degree. A law degree is a door opener, whether it’s to leadership positions in non-profits, or financial services, or whatever.”

Her classmates and their diverse career paths continue to be an inspiration and point of pride for D’Lugin. “We have alumni who have gone on to be successful in real estate and financial services, a leading adoption law expert [that is, her dear friend Golda Zimmerman L’80] to a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. There is no onesize-fits-all career path.”

To celebrate everything the Class of 1980 has accomplished and to help the next generation of Orange law students make their mark, D’Lugin and Zimmerman announced a Class of 1980 Challenge shortly after their 40th anniversary reunion over Law Alumni Weekend.

Adds D’Lugin, “After issuing the challenge in October, we quickly heard from classmates that our message encouraged them to give back to the College. I really believe we’ll have a great showing by the end of the campaign, and I thank all who give to the College.”

PHILANTHROPIC PROFILES

Our alumni’s generosity underwrites the College of Law’s success.

For many alumni, a tradition of lifelong giving is often tied to personal stories and fond memories of their alma mater. And what better time to reflect on their College of Law days than on the occasion of a class anniversary! Here, alums celebrating years ending in zero share their philanthropic journeys. Tell us yours by emailing us at su-law@law.syr.edu.

Joe Vumbacco stood down as CEO, President, Vice Chairman of Health Management Associates Inc.—a $4 billion revenue organization managing more than 60 hospitals in the southeast and southwest—in 2008. “But I don’t consider myself retired.” Since 2008, Vumbacco has learned to speak and write Italian; gained a Certificate of Finance from Harvard Business School to manage his own investment portfolio; and has turned his hand to writing novels. The Ghost of Bowdoin College was published to acclaim in 2018, and Vumbacco has completed the manuscript for his follow story of “money, murder, and the mob:” The Return of the Ghost of Bowdoin College.

What was your favorite class and professor at the College of Law?
More than one person gave me a break over the years, but I’ll never forget what Dean Robert Miller did for me. I was married in my senior year at Bowdoin and my wife, Lee, and I had our first child in 1966. I wanted to go to law school, but coming from a factory background in Meriden, CT, I had little money, just enough to get through the first year and pay rent on married student housing.

But I felt responsible for my family, so I walked into Dean Miller’s office in the summer of 1968 and asked him to save my place, so I could work to raise more funds. I thought he wouldn’t know who I was, but he said he had reviewed class grades, saw I was near the top, and offered me a full scholarship. Not only that, he called his friend Gary Axenfeld in Syracuse and I went to work as a clerk at Axenfeld, Webb, Marshall, Bersani and Scolaro. From there I became Research Editor at Syracuse Law Review and was elected to Honor Court and the Order of the Coif.

My first year at Syracuse was also Professor Emeritus Travis H.D. Lewin’s first year. He went on to have a brilliant career, and he is an outstanding teacher.

How did your SU College of Law degree help you reach your career goals?
I wanted to be one of those people who broke the ceiling of non-Ivy League law graduates getting a job with a Wall Street corporation. After graduating, I practiced law in Manhattan with Mudge Rose Guthrie & Alexander before joining the “tough and tumble” world of beer and bread as a senior vice president of the F. & M. Schaefer Corporation. I then became the Executive Vice President of the Turner Corporation—the largest general contractor in the US—before leading Health Management Associates.

When and why did you start to give back to the College of Law?
When Lee and I got to the point when we weren’t poor, we started to give to certain causes, and top of the list was Syracuse. Later, I was asked to serve on the Board of Advisors during the period when Dean Hannah Arterian was raising money for Dineen Hall.

In what other ways do you practice philanthropy?
After leaving Health Management Associates, I became a Master Mason, and I helped to revive a scholarship program here in Maine. Plus, my wife and I helped to found a non-denominational “church without walls” in southwest Florida, the Jubilee Fellowship of Naples. I also try to do a lot of counseling with high school and college students. I have a cardinal rule for them: don’t strive to be the smartest person, be the most organized. Work first, then play.

What advice can you share with recent graduates just starting their law careers?
I learned the following from Gary Axenfeld. If you want to be a successful lawyer or businessperson, there are four things you have to do—answer mail, return calls, have big ears, and a small mouth. I’ve practiced that for 50 years. I worked very hard on listening, for instance, not just listening to important things, but everything. An example of having a “small mouth” is from my Turner days when we managed top secret government contracts. I had a reputation for never breaching confidence, which goes back to growing up in a rough place.