Eileen Galinski Named to 2012 List of Forty Under 40

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Elizabeth Lamark, ETC Photography, The Wallace Center

Eileen Galinski (left) senior development officer in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering, has been recognized as one of the Rochester Business Journal’s 2012 Forty Under 40 recipients. Nominated by Craig Smith, (right) associate vice president for development, Galinski is among a select group of RIT faculty and staff who have been recognized in the past, including Lisa Cauda (center), RIT’s vice president for development and alumni relations.

Eileen Galinski, senior director of development for RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering, was recently named one of the 2012 Forty Under 40, the Rochester Business Journal’s list of young professionals making a significant impact at work and in the community.

Described as a “friend-raiser,” Galinski has been instrumental in helping the engineering college build some of its important relationships with potential donors and maintain the connections to longtime advocates.

“It’s wonderful to be among those recognized this year,” says Galinski, who began as assistant director of development and alumni relations before being promoted to her current position.

During nearly seven years at RIT, Galinski has managed several key initiatives including a gift from the Gleason Family Foundation to support faculty development to launch both the chemical and biomedical engineering degree programs, an anonymous gift to support student scholarship and educational enhancement in the college, a grant from the Toyota USA Foundation in support of Women in Engineering outreach efforts to enhance the engineering/STEM pipeline, and a donation from Harris Corp. to support scholarships for girls to attend the college’s Women in Engineering summer camps.

“An important strength of Eileen’s that cannot be reflected in the fund-raising metrics is the high level of professionalism, integrity and ethics that Eileen brings to her job each and every day,” says Harvey Palmer, dean of the engineering college. “She really cares about the people she engages in development conversations, and they respond in kind. People trust her implicitly, and for good reason.”

She uses those same qualities to build self-esteem and confidence in young women in community education programs sponsored by the Junior League of Rochester. Julie Goodsell Marsilio, past president of the organization, stated in her recommendation for Galinski: “Eileen has been a tremendous champion of the organization’s mission of promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.”

As president of the organization this year, Galinski participates in GIRLSRock!, a series that provides educational, career, health and life skills courses for middle and high school age girls in the area.

“It can be a tough world to grow up in today,” says Galinski, who has been with the Junior League for 10 years, holding several leadership positions. “The programs are a way to show the girls that they are cared for and that people support them.”

That type of support has taken on a whole new meaning for Galinski, who had a daughter a year ago. She and her husband, Mark, look at themselves as role models for Olivia, similar to their parents who were able to balance work, volunteerism and family life.

The Forty Under 40 event takes place Nov. 13 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Galinski will be recognized along with Todd Pagano, associate professor and director of Laboratory Science Technology at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, in the 2012 class of honorees.