Rochester attorney and community leader Nathan J. (Nick) Robfogel has been named vice president for Development and Government Relations at RIT, effective July 1.
Robfogel, a partner with the law firm of Harter, Secrest and Emery for 30 years, has been an RIT trustee since 1985. During his years as a trustee, he has served on the executive committee and chaired the core committee on institutional advancement, which has oversight for Development, Government Relations, Communications and Alumni Relations. He will retire from the firm and resign his RIT trusteeship as of July.
In making the appointment, President Simone said, "Nick's extensive experience in law, community service and fund raising, and knowledge of and commitment to RIT, will help us meet the next plateau as one of the nation's leading comprehensive universities. Following a national search, we are pleased to find someone of his caliber in Rochester."
Robfogel said, "Through my years as a trustee, first at Monroe Community College and later at RIT, I have developed a keen and ever-growing interest in higher education. While I am proud of my career as an attorney, I can think of no more worthy enterprise than RIT, with its focus on career education."
A graduate of Monroe High School, Robfogel earned a BA from Oberlin College in 1956 and a juris doctor from Cornell University Law School in 1959. He joined Harter, Secrest and Emery in 1966 and was managing partner from 1982 to 1984, heading the firm's business and corporate department for several years.
During the past 10 years, Robfogel has also engaged in his firm's government affairs practice, providing legislative and other representation to business clients, trade associations and others. He is a member of the American Arbitration Association, serving on its securities and large complex case panels.
W. Reynolds Bowers, managing partner of Harter, Secrest and Emery, said, "During Nick's long and distinguished career with our firm, he has been a visionary and a futurist. The focus of his professional and community activities has always been continuous improvement for the next generation. Rochester and upstate New York have benefited from his commitment to this goal. In Nick's own words-in his 'seventh decade'-he wants to help lead RIT and the greater Rochester community into the next century. No traditional retirement for this great lawyer and leader! My partners and I couldn't be more proud of him."
In 1989, Robfogel was appointed chairman of the board of the New York State Facilities Development Corporation, a public benefit corporation, serving until September 1995, when it was merged into the Dormitory Authority. He also serves on the executive committee and the board of Rochester Community Baseball, Inc., and as a director of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., headquartered in Troy, Mich. From April 1983 to May 1986, Robfogel served as chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee. For five years he served on the executive committee of the New York State Democratic Committee.
Long active as a member of the board of directors of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc., for three years Robfogel served as chairman of the board and now serves as chairman of the board of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Fund, Inc. He is a fellow of the American Bar Association and the New York Bar Foundation.
In 1992, Robfogel was presented the Americanism Award of the Anti-Defamation League and the State University of New York at Brockport College Foundation Award in 1989. He was presented the 1988 Adolph J. Rodenbeck Award by the Monroe County Bar Association for his achievement in the field of law as well as in the community at large.
Robfogel and his wife, Susan, live in Rochester. They have two sons: Jacob, living in Oakland, Calif., and Samuel, a recent graduate of Haverford College, working and living in Washington, D.C.
