The Campaign for Amherst

Campaign Planning Committee

John A. Armstrong
Henry L. Barr
Randolph W. "Bill" Bromery
Beth Gamel
Eugene M. "Gene" Isenberg, chair
James "Jess" Kane
Earl W. Stafford

John A. Armstrong moved to Amherst from Westchester County, N.Y., following his retirement from IBM in 1993, where during a 30-year career his positions included vice president for science and technology and IBM director of research. In 1996 he joined the Dean's Advisory Council of the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He and his wife, Elizabeth, founded the Armstrong Endowment to support a full-time professor within the College. Armstrong has served as a presidential appointee as a member of the National Science Board, and currently chairs the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Armstrong has an A.B. and a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University and was a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers from 1990 to 1996.

Henry L. Barr is a senior partner in the law firm of Barr & Cole and vice president, treasurer, and a director of the real estate investment company Duco Associates Inc. He was formerly an attorney with Looney & Grossman and the Administrator of Courts for the Trial Courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Barr is a lifetime member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and a former president of the Massachusetts Lender’s Association. He has served as chairman of the Massachusetts Interpreter Services Committee and the Massachusetts Court Clinic Services Committee and as acting chair of the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines Committee. Barr currently serves on the board of directors of the UMass Amherst Alumni Association and the advisory board of the Center for Public Policy and Administration within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He also serves on the community advisory board of the Grand Circle Foundation and is president of the West End House Boys and Girls Club in Allston, Mass. He graduated from UMass Amherst in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in Government, earned a law degree from Boston College Law School in 1972 and an M.B.A. from Suffolk University in 1978, and completed the Senior Executive Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1980. Barr lives in Framingham, Mass., with his wife, Andrea ’68.

Randolph W. "Bill" Bromery is a renowned expert in turning around troubled institutions of higher education. As chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1971 to 1979, during a period of skyrocketing growth, insufficient state funding, and student unrest, he worked tirelessly to increase minority enrollment. He was the architect behind the Committee for the Collegiate Education of Black and Other Minority Students, was instrumental in having many of the papers of W. E. B. Du Bois archived at the University, and saw the dedication of the W. E. B. Du Bois Library in 1998 as his crowning achievement. Trained as a geophysicist, Bromery earned an undergraduate degree from Howard University, an M.A. degree from American University, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. During World War II he was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

Beth C. Gamel is co-founder and executive vice president of Pillar Financial Advisors, a Waltham, Massachusetts, firm offering investment counseling and estate, income tax, and charitable giving planning to wealthy individuals. An expert in what she describes as "sudden-wealth situations," Gamel has been named by Worth magazine as one of the nation's top financial advisers. In 2002 Gamel was among 12 CPA/PFSs nationwide recognized by Accounting Today's Names to Know in Financial Planning for exceptional expertise. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina and her M.B.A. from the Isenberg School of Management. Gamel is a member of The Boston Foundation's Professional Advisors Committee, the executive committee of the Boston Estate Planning Council, and the Isenberg School of Management Business Advisory Council.

Eugene M. "Gene" Isenberg, chair, became the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the predecessor to Nabors Industries Ltd. in 1987. After reorganizing the company and leading its emergence from restructuring, he oversaw the growth of the company into an S&P 500 Index member. Isenberg is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers. He is also a member of the National Petroleum Council, which advises the US Department of Energy and was previously principal shareholder of a publicly-held steel products manufacturing company. He spent the first thirteen years of his career in various management positions with Exxon Corporation. The Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is named in recognition of his significant contributions towards new facilities, his funding of scholarships, and his endowment of three professorships. Isenberg is a principal sponsor of the Parkside School for learning disabled children in New York City. He also supports the performing arts and other various charities in Palm Beach, as well as the Disabled American Veterans for LIFE, having served as the co-chair of its recent gala. Isenberg received his B.A. in Economics from UMass Amherst in 1950 and his M.A. from Princeton University in 1952. He also completed the Senior Executive Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and from 1952 to 1955 served as an Officer in the United States Navy.

James "Jess" Kane served as president of the University of Massachusetts Alumni Association in 2002-03. A 1970 graduate of UMass Amherst, he received his D.M.D. from Tufts University in 1974. Kane is a founding partner of Kane Tesini and Soporowski and concentrates on pediatric dentistry and orthodontics for children and adults. He and Tesini co-founded Project Stretch, a program in which a volunteer cadre of dentists minister to underprivileged children in the U.S. and throughout the world. To date Project Stretch has aided more than 15,000 patients. Kane is on the teaching faculty at Tufts Dental School and received its Outstanding Alumni Award in 2002.

Earl W. Stafford is chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Systems and Technology (UNITECH), a company he founded in 1988. Based in Centreville, Virginia, UNITECH provides telecommunications systems integration for engineering, business support systems, and simulation and training services. It serves federal, state, local, and commercial customers. Stafford is a 1976 graduate of the Isenberg School of Management, received an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University, and attended the Executive Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Business. Stafford attended UMass Amherst and upon graduation served 20 years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He serves on the George Mason University Foundation, the board of directors of the Air Traffic Controllers Association, and the INOVA Health Systems Foundation.




Home Campaign Planning Committee John A. Armstrong Henry L. Barr Randolph W. "Bill" Bromery Beth Gamel Eugene M. "Gene" Isenberg, chair James "Jess" Kane Earl W. Stafford John A. Armstrong moved to Amherst from Westchester County, N.Y., following his retirement from IBM in 1993, where during a 30-year career his positions included vice president for science and technology and IBM director of research. In 1996 he joined the Dean's Advisory Council of the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He and his wife, Elizabeth, founded the Armstrong Endowment to support a full-time professor within the College. Armstrong has served as a presidential appointee as a member of the National Science Board, and currently chairs the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Armstrong has an A.B. and a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University and was a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers from 1990 to 1996. Henry L. Barr is a senior partner in the law firm of Barr & Cole and vice president, treasurer, and a director of the real estate investment company Duco Associates Inc. He was formerly an attorney with Looney & Grossman and the Administrator of Courts for the Trial Courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Barr is a lifetime member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and a former president of the Massachusetts Lender’s Association. He has served as chairman of the Massachusetts Interpreter Services Committee and the Massachusetts Court Clinic Services Committee and as acting chair of the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines Committee. Barr currently serves on the board of directors of the UMass Amherst Alumni Association and the advisory board of the Center for Public Policy and Administration within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He also serves on the community advisory board of the Grand Circle Foundation and is president of the West End House Boys and Girls Club in Allston, Mass. He graduated from UMass Amherst in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in Government, earned a law degree from Boston College Law School in 1972 and an M.B.A. from Suffolk University in 1978, and completed the Senior Executive Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1980. Barr lives in Framingham, Mass., with his wife, Andrea ’68. Randolph W. "Bill" Bromery is a renowned expert in turning around troubled institutions of higher education. As chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1971 to 1979, during a period of skyrocketing growth, insufficient state funding, and student unrest, he worked tirelessly to increase minority enrollment. He was the architect behind the Committee for the Collegiate Education of Black and Other Minority Students, was instrumental in having many of the papers of W. E. B. Du Bois archived at the University, and saw the dedication of the W. E. B. Du Bois Library in 1998 as his crowning achievement. Trained as a geophysicist, Bromery earned an undergraduate degree from Howard University, an M.A. degree from American University, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. During World War II he was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Beth C. Gamel is co-founder and executive vice president of Pillar Financial Advisors, a Waltham, Massachusetts, firm offering investment counseling and estate, income tax, and charitable giving planning to wealthy individuals. An expert in what she describes as "sudden-wealth situations," Gamel has been named by Worth magazine as one of the nation's top financial advisers. In 2002 Gamel was among 12 CPA/PFSs nationwide recognized by Accounting Today's Names to Know in Financial Planning for exceptional expertise. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina and her M.B.A. from the Isenberg School of Management. Gamel is a member of The Boston Foundation's Professional Advisors Committee, the executive committee of the Boston Estate Planning Council, and the Isenberg School of Management Business Advisory Council. Eugene M. "Gene" Isenberg, chair, became the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the predecessor to Nabors Industries Ltd. in 1987. After reorganizing the company and leading its emergence from restructuring, he oversaw the growth of the company into an S&P 500 Index member. Isenberg is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers. He is also a member of the National Petroleum Council, which advises the US Department of Energy and was previously principal shareholder of a publicly-held steel products manufacturing company. He spent the first thirteen years of his career in various management positions with Exxon Corporation. The Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is named in recognition of his significant contributions towards new facilities, his funding of scholarships, and his endowment of three professorships. Isenberg is a principal sponsor of the Parkside School for learning disabled children in New York City. He also supports the performing arts and other various charities in Palm Beach, as well as the Disabled American Veterans for LIFE, having served as the co-chair of its recent gala. Isenberg received his B.A. in Economics from UMass Amherst in 1950 and his M.A. from Princeton University in 1952. He also completed the Senior Executive Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and from 1952 to 1955 served as an Officer in the United States Navy. James "Jess" Kane served as president of the University of Massachusetts Alumni Association in 2002-03. A 1970 graduate of UMass Amherst, he received his D.M.D. from Tufts University in 1974. Kane is a founding partner of Kane Tesini and Soporowski and concentrates on pediatric dentistry and orthodontics for children and adults. He and Tesini co-founded Project Stretch, a program in which a volunteer cadre of dentists minister to underprivileged children in the U.S. and throughout the world. To date Project Stretch has aided more than 15,000 patients. Kane is on the teaching faculty at Tufts Dental School and received its Outstanding Alumni Award in 2002. Earl W. Stafford is chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Systems and Technology (UNITECH), a company he founded in 1988. Based in Centreville, Virginia, UNITECH provides telecommunications systems integration for engineering, business support systems, and simulation and training services. It serves federal, state, local, and commercial customers. Stafford is a 1976 graduate of the Isenberg School of Management, received an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University, and attended the Executive Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Business. Stafford attended UMass Amherst and upon graduation served 20 years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He serves on the George Mason University Foundation, the board of directors of the Air Traffic Controllers Association, and the INOVA Health Systems Foundation.
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