Exhibits celebrate B. Thomas Golisano’s contributions to RIT

Longtime RIT supporter B. Thomas Golisano visited the university on Oct. 11 for the opening of two campus exhibits that showcase the transformational life and work of the Paychex founder, philanthropist, and civic leader, and his friendship with Gene Polisseni.

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Traci Westcott/RIT

B. Thomas Golisano’s support for RIT has left an indelible impact on the campus.

The exhibitions celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Gene Polisseni Center and the unveiling of the new installation in the Goilsano Hall atrium. RIT students curated and designed the installations using sources from the B. Thomas Golisano Collection, housed in the RIT Archives.

The “RIT Archives Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Gene Polisseni Center” marks the first decade of RIT’s Division I hockey arena. The exhibition tells the story of RIT hockey and Golisano’s friendship with his childhood friend and Paychex colleague. The two friends shared a mutual love of sports.

The naming of the facility resulted from a $4.5 million partnership between the Polisseni Foundation and Golisano, an RIT trustee emeritus.

Polisseni served as vice president of marketing at Paychex until he died in 2001. Most of his professional life was devoted to helping build the payroll services company, but hockey remained his personal outlet. Polisseni's daughter, Valerie Wilcox, and her husband, Dave Wilcox, attended the event on behalf of the Polisseni Foundation and family.

RIT student Claire Downey, a fourth-year graphic design major from Whitehouse, N.J., designed the exhibit with an emphasis on photography, newspaper clippings, and handwritten letters to “capture the moments and memoires that make this arena so special,” she said. Using RIT colors and branding, Downey looked to sports-themed exhibits around the country for inspiration.

The concept for the exhibit was curated by Eliot Gavin, a fourth-year museum studies major from Conesus, N.Y.

The second exhibit in Golisano Hall, “<If RIT; Then Entrepreneur>,” was curated by Nic Feldman, a fourth-year museum studies student from Alexandria, Va. Graphic design majors Samantha Morgan, a fourth-year student from Webster, N.Y., and Ashley Persia, a third-year student from Pittsburgh, Penn., visualized Feldman’s concepts. Morgan, Persia, and Downey work in the Command+g Design Lab, a woman’s design group in the College of Art and Design and a collaborative partner with the RIT Archives.

Feldman, a student employee in the RIT Archives, used the idea of a motherboard to draw connections between Golisano, RIT, and the entrepreneurial spirt of RIT alumni, such as Elan Lee, Austin McCord, Nuzhat Minhaz, and Steve and Vicki Schultz, among others. The exhibit also highlights faculty, staff, and community leaders who have exhibited an entrepreneurial spirit.

Marie Golisano Graham documented her brother’s professional and public service experiences over the years and, in 2015, donated her extensive collection to the RIT Archives. Since, 2022, Landyn Hatch, the Marie Golisano Graham Outreach Archivist, has stewarded the B. Thomas Golisano Collection and outreach exhibits. She observed the confidence students gained from working with the collection and seeing their installations in public spaces.

“Marie and Tom Golisano’s support of the university has introduced unprecedented experiential learning opportunities for our students,” Hatch said.