RCNJ

Dan Fridgen announced his resignation today as head coach of the Rensselaer Men's Hockey team. Fridgen was head coach for 12 seasons, compiling a 211-193-38 overall record. He spent the previous five seasons as assistant coach to Buddy Powers.

Fridgen said, "Rensselaer has offered me a tremendous opportunity over the past 17 years. My family and I are very thankful for all the experiences we have shared with some tremendous people in the program, on the campus and in the community. I wish the team nothing but success."

Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson said, "I applaud Dan for his hard work and dedication to the Institute and for the compassion and commitment he has exhibited to his players. We wish him all the best. Rensselaer has a great hockey tradition, and we will now take the necessary steps to begin a new chapter in our program’s history."

Dan Fridgen was considered an excellent recruiter when he served as Buddy Powers' assistant. The program continued to find many excellent student athletes during his tenure as head coach, but the team never achieved the success that it had under Powers. Critics point to Fridgen's 116-116-31 overall record in ECAC/ ECACHL league play and only one league championship in 12 seasons as indications that he wasn't cut out for a head coaching role in a program like RPI's. This isn't exactly a fair criticism, since Fridgen also amassed more victories than any other hockey coach in school history.

USCHO's report on Fridgen's resignation said: "The last four years have been difficult for Fridgen as his team’s finished 11th, 5th, 11th and 6th. This past season the Engineers battled through injuries to finish in a tie for 6th place in the ECACHL, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to Quinnipiac in two games."

According to the press release issued by the Athletic Department, Assistant Coach Frank Bretti will manage day-to-day operations of the program while the search for a new head coach takes place.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dean Alan Cramb & Sandeep Nandy:
Dr. Cramb is the Clark and Crossan Professor
of Engineering and Dean of the School of
Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute. Cramb was the guest speaker
at a Rensselaer Club of New Jersey
Dinner Event at the Montclair Golf Club
on March 8, 2006.
[ Photo: Dave Aiello ]

On Wednesday March 8, 2006, the Rensselaer Club of New Jersey held a dinner to welcome Dr. Alan Cramb to Rensselaer as Dean of the School of Engineering. The dinner was held at the Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, NJ. Following a cocktail hour, RCNJ Chairman Ken DeGhetto ’50 welcomed all attendees to the Golf Club. DeGhetto then introduced RCNJ President Sandeep Nandy ’94 who gave some opening remarks regarding the accomplishments to date of the RCNJ.

Nandy then welcomed DeGhetto and RCNJ Past Presidents Phil Lurie ’74 and Dave Aiello ’89 to the podium, where a plaque was presented to DeGhetto in recognition of his contributions to both the RCNJ and Rensselaer community.

After dinner, Nandy introduced the keynote speaker, Rensselaer’s Dean of Engineering Alan Cramb. He began as Rensselaer’s new Dean of Engineering on July 1, 2005. The theme of his speech was “The Future of Rensselaer’s School of Engineering: Global Engineers and Technology Leaders". Cramb discussed the happenings within the School of Engineering, his vision for the future and fielded questions from the audience.

DeGhetto Receives Plaque for Service to RCNJ:
Ken DeGhetto '50 is presented with a plaque
in recognition of his contributions to
both the RCNJ and the Rensselaer community.
[ Photo: John Cloninger ]

The RCNJ attendees for this event were RCNJ President Sandeep Nandy ’94, Sudeshna Nandy, Mukti Nandy, RCNJ Vice President John Cloninger ’96, RCNJ Treasurer and Past President Phil Lurie ’74, Betty Lurie ‘75, RCNJ Leadership Committee Member and Past President Dave Aiello ’89, RCNJ Chairman Ken DeGhetto ’50, Helen DeGhetto, RCNJ Leadership Committee Member Henry Rosenblatt ’54, Yolanda Rosenblatt, RCNJ Leadership Committee Member Joe Pilaro ’55, RCNJ Leadership Committee Member Harry Rosenthal ’60, RCNJ Leadership Committee Member Gordon Snyder ’66, RCNJ Leadership Committee Member Steve Nudelman ’90, RCNJ Leadership Committee Member Dick Shive ’54, Pat Shive, RCNJ Leadership Committee member Dave Bressen ’56, Jennifer
Atwood ’95, Nate Atwood ’96, Vincent D’Aprile ’82, Irwin Zonis ’50, Gregory Hetzel ’50, Nancy Hetzel, Laura Nass ’82, Jay Anthony, and Jerry Vorbach ’80.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Campus.News reports that General Wesley K. Clark, former candidate for the U.S. presidency and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, will deliver the keynote address at Rensselaer's 200th Commencement. The ceremonies will begin on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 9:30am, and will take place at Harkness Field in Troy.

General Clark will receive an honorary doctorate. Others to be granted honorary degrees at the 2006 Commencement include architect Peter Bohlin ’58, architect, artist, and engineer Santiago Calatrava, and FedEx Corporation chairman, president, and CEO Frederick W. Smith.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Rensselaer Men's Hockey Team was swept by Quinnipiac in a best-of-three game series in the ECACHL playoffs last weekend. This was Quinnipiac's first playoff series victory in the ECACHL.

• Friday, March 3, Quinnipiac 2 - RPI 1: Quinnipiac Claims First ECACHL Playoff Victory with two goals in the first four and a half minutes of the game, and held off a strong challenge from Rensselaer in the third period. Oren Eizenman had the lone goal for the Engineers.
• Saturday, March 4, Quinnipiac 4 - RPI 2: Rensselaer's season ends when it fails to come from behind for the second consecutive night. Oren Eizenman picked up where he left off the night before, with a goal 0:41 into the game. This was followed by a three goal Quinnipiac barrage. Kevin Broad scored in the second period to make it close, but this was followed by a goal by John Kelly that put an end to the comeback.

Rensselaer ends the season with a 14-17-6 overall record (8-8-6 in the ECACHL).

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sandeep Nandy wrote up the meeting minutes from the February 22 meeting of the RCNJ Leadership Committee. The minutes include a review of recent RCNJ events and discussion of the status of upcoming events.

The next RCNJ Leadership Committee meeting will take place on Monday, March 20, 2006, at 7:00pm. The meeting will take place at Bill's Plaza Diner, 1262 Paterson Plank Road, Secaucus. [ directions ]

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Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)