June 3, 2005: Volume 64, Number 10

Daggett winner finds support for busy students

Chris Macomber's career as one of the busiest entrepreneurs on campus may have been launched by a chance encounter with a kid wearing spiked blue hair.

Just days after arriving on campus, a blue-coiffed Geoff Bowman '04 (now assistant dean of admissions, minus the blue hair) asked Macomber if he had any interest in trying out for the Dutch Pipers, the College's male a cappella group.

Macomber's childhood was filled with music lessons in keyboards, drums and vocals. At age 9, he toured Italy for two weeks with the Atlanta Boys Choir, an ambitious schedule that included hours of rehearsals and concerts each week.

He decided to give the Pipers a try and auditioned with "Beauty School Dropout" from Grease. He was in.

Four years later, Macomber is the director, manager and sparkplug for the ensemble, organizing gigs all over campus and the region. He also produced We Did It, the Pipers' latest CD.

Macomber, who this spring won the Josephine Daggett Prize to the senior of best conduct and character, has a long list of experience in business, research, administration and leadership.

Union, Macomber says, is a place where students can make a difference and get things done. "I was surprised by how much the students can get involved with professors and the administration," he said. "It's small enough that you can work directly with the deans and the president."

In student activities, for example, the students control the budget and activities with some guidance from Director Matt Milless, he said. "There is a lot of responsibility given to students." Union, he adds, "is supportive of students who want to do a lot of things."

An interdepartmental major in music, he is finishing up his senior project with Prof. Tim Olsen, recording his original songs that he describes as jazz with a rock emphasis.

Before Union, he had planned to follow in his father's footsteps and become a pilot. But a National Youth Leadership Forum for Medicine in Washington in 10th grade caused him to "do a 180." At the conference, he correctly diagnosed a mock case as a little known disease. He said he was helped not by any background in medicine but by a broad educational background that emphasized collaboration and research. Union, he decided, would be the perfect place to pursue his new career interest in medicine. So he followed his grandfather's footsteps to Schenectady.

He is in the eight-year Leadership in Medicine program. He earns a bachelor's in biology this June, and an MBA in August from the Graduate College of Union University before going on to Albany Medical College to pursue his medical degree.

In the business arena, he is founder, CEO and president of Exousia Health Inc., a healthcare software development firm in the UStart Business Incubator. He is a member of the GenNEXT student mentorship program, and the only student member of the GenNEXT Council.

His administrative experience includes an MBA internship with the Albany Medical Center's Goldberg Alzheimer's Resource Center. He is finance chair for his Minerva House, and a member of the Minerva House Implementation Committee (now the Minerva Council). He was also a member of the College's Alcohol Policy Task Force.

His clinical and research experience includes volunteering with AMC's transportation and organ transplantation departments, research assistant for brain research with AMC's neuropharmacology department, and patient care associate with the nursing float pool.

He participated in Union's National Health Systems term abroad, comparing health care in the U.S., U.K, Netherlands and Hungary.

He is co-chair of Union's Student Alumni Association, and even worked as "Dutch," the school's mascot.

An Albany native and graduate of The Albany Academy, he is on The Albany Academy Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Looking back on his four years at Union, he says, "I wholeheartedly thank the administration and faculty for their wonderful support and encouragement, and will continue to support Union students in the future."

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