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Karen Urbanski is being inducted into the Hall of Fame for her outstanding career in the RCSD, and for her support of the Alumni Association.
Karen has been with the RCSD for 33 years, retiring this past March. Her higher education began in 1984 when she received her Bachelor of Arts in History and Social Studies from SUNYA. Her Master of Arts in Reading was completed in 1990, also from SUNYA. Her first teaching job was at St. Agnes School in Cohoes where she taught grades 6-8 Social Studies. In 1986 she joined Rensselaer Middle School teaching Social Studies for all grades and acting as team leader for the 8th grade. In 1994 she was promoted to Dean of Students for the Middle School overseeing discipline regarding the school’s Code of Conduct. In 2000 she became Middle School Principal, after completing an Educational Administrative Internship at Van Rensselaer Elementary School and obtaining her Master of Science in Educational Administration from SUNYA. After 10 years as the Middle School principal, Karen became the principal of Rensselaer Jr-Sr High School. Along this journey she completed her required certifications in Social Studies, as School Administrator/Supervisor and District Administration.
Karen received the Greater Capital Region Principals’ Center
“Principal of the Year” award in 2008 and the following year, Educator Leadership in Character Education from the Academy of Character Education at the Sage Colleges. She received two national “Promising Practices” awards for this work with the Character Education program.
Karen is a life time member of the Parent Teacher Student Association and belongs to several local, state and national Professional and Service Organizations. She initiated and supported the “Seeking Necessary Alternatives Photographically (SNAP) program and the partnership with the New Netherland Museum’s replica ship the “Half Moon” and the “Voyage of Discovery”. She also introduced the “College for Every Student (CFES)” program including student leader lunches to support scholar leaders and mentors. These are just some of her career highlights.
The Alumni Association has been fully supported through Karen’s acceptance of our goals and mission. She has never said “no” to our ideas, has given of her precious time to meet with us and to encourage us. She has attended our functions and incorporated our ideas for assisting students. The association could not have been as successful without Karen’s full support.
Karen was nominated by last year’s Hall of Fame inductee, Sally Shields, RCSD’s former Superintendent. They were a great team and will be missed. Karen lives in Albany and enjoys gardening, her camp in the Adirondacks, is an avid cyclist and enjoys the theater.
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Doris Nichols Roberts is being inducted into the Hall of Fame for her contributions to school, community and nation.
Doris is a member of the class of 1961. While in high school, she was in Theta Sigma Nu, Student Council, Tri-Hi-Y, Drama Club and the Girls’ Athletic Association. Doris graduated with a regent diploma.
The following year after high school, Doris married her high school sweetheart, Ray Roberts. She went to work for National Commercial Bank (Key Bank) in Albany. Doris left the bank in 1965 to raise her children. She went to work for Sterling Drug in 1975 working second shift light testing medication for impurities. After the Equal Rights Amendment went into place she was moved to transportation where she drove a fork lift loading. Then she drove five-ton trucks and later become a grade 2 chemical operator. She was the only woman working with 100 men on the second shift. At the end of the Vietnam War they were working 30 days on with 1day off a month. In 1984 she was laid off due to downsizing. In 1985 she went to work for Rensselaer High School working as a clerk in maintenance and as a library aide. She went on to be Secretary to Special Education for the Rensselaer City School District retiring in 2006.
Doris’ community service is extensive. She is a member and past Regent of the Fort Crailo Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, member and past Vice President and current ex-officio of the Alumni Association, and a member of the Friends of the Library.
As a member of the DAR, Doris has been chairperson of the “Good Citizen” Award program for several years. This involves coordinating with four local high schools and requires an essay scholarship contest. She also participates in many of the DAR events, such as the organization’s representative for presenting awards to students of the RPI’s ROTC at the ceremony, and fundraisers like bake sales at the yearly Crailo Faire. Doris was awarded the DAR Community Service Award in 2017.
As a member of the Friends of the Library, Doris has participated in the summer reading programs, book sales and bake sales at the Kiwanis’ Concerts in the Park and maintaining the library’s garden. She is also the Library’s Publicity Chair.
Doris has been with the Alumni Association since it’s rebirth in 2011. Doris has helped with publicity, works on the Senior Breakfast and at bake sales, the craft fair, the hall of fame dinner, school open house and the golf tournament. She has also been of great help with the membership drive and will always fill-in where needed if she’s available. Her values are meaningfully directed at bettering the youth of the city. Doris continued to volunteer at these organizations through her recent successful battle with cancer, just rolling with the punches. She is incredibly strong of body and spirit and has never-ending energy, kindness and cheerfulness.
Doris was nominated by her son Gary and daughter Denise who is also in the Hall of Fame and on the faculty at school, as well as the faculty advisor to the Alumni Association. Doris was windowed in 2006. She delights in her new grandson. Doris still resides in Rensselaer.
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Lt. Col. Ret. Thomas Mulyca is being inducted into the Hall of Fame for his career accomplishments in the Army, and his technical abilities and volunteerism in developing and maintaining the Alumni Association’s data base and website.
Tom attended Fort Crailo and Van Rensselaer HS. When his music abilities playing the trombone were discovered the band director asked him to be in the High School band, while still at Fort Crailo in Junior High. He was a band officer his junior and senior year and participated in NYSSMA competitions when the band won the highest achievement the state awards, a 6A. He was also in the Dance Band and played in the NY Student Orchestra at Union College. Tom was active in the Drama, Ski, Varsity and Key Clubs, was on the Prom Committee junior year, Intramural Bowling and was on the Volleyball team. He was Student Council Representative for 3 years and represented the school at the Mock UN Meeting at SUNY. He was also in National Honor Society. Tom has the distinction of being the school’s first student to attend the US Military Academy at West Point.
Tom graduated from West Point in 1973 and was commissioned in the army and served for 20 years. He also married that year. His first placement was as a lieutenant at Fort Bragg, NC in a field artillery unit after which he moved up to work for the elite US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center where he was a Logistics Officer and Company Commander in the Institute Battalion. While there he was awarded an Army Commendation medal for streamlining procedures, training personnel and forecasting logistics demand. Tom developed a passion for automation and attended the Finance Officers’ school in Indianapolis, IN, preparing him for his next position as Finance Officer. In 1977, Tom became a Captain and commanded the 78th Finance Office in Germany and served as Disbursing Officer as part of the US Treasury where he was responsible for $38 million. He made many changes while in this position, leading to his next position of Systems Analyst for the Communications and Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth, NJ. While there he reduced processing time by 90% and reduced the cost of accounting by 50%. Onward, Tom was promoted to Major and was assigned to work at West Point in 1984, supervising a 96-person civilian workforce. This led to a position in the Long-Range Planning team at West Point when automation and computer usage was exploding.
Always on the move, the Mulycas’ next assignment was in So. Korea as the Inspector General for the Camp Humphreys military community, where in 1988, linking the operation to the internet was vastly important, and that he did. Tom was awarded the Army’s Meritorious Service Medal for “the outstanding operational skill and insight in command, control and communications of the 18th Corps Finance Group at Fort Bragg”. This was as he was performing his role as Operations/Intelligent and Executive Officer over a two -year period associated with “Just Cause” in Panama and “Dessert Storm/Dessert Shield” in Iraq. A parachute jump injury left him managing operations in support of the deployed forces in the theater. This led to the Finance Corps selecting him to join the Department of the Army. His work was recognized by having his writings published in the Army’s Resource Management Journal. As a result of his success at Fort Bragg, Tom was promoted to Lt. Colonel and sent to Command and General Staff College to become a Resource Management Instructor and so began his teaching career. Tom retired from this position in 1993, but that was not the end of his time working with the army. Tom was hired as Director of Communications by the Association of Graduates at West Point in 1994. It only took him a year to be promoted to Vice President where he worked until 2010.
Upon his second retirement, Tom moved on to develop the Rensselaer Alumni Association’s website and data base. In addition, Tom and his wife, the former Charlene Thamsen, have established an annual scholarship which goes to a Rensselaer HS senior who exhibits a true passion and aptitude for IT. The first of this award was granted last year.