Three Appointed to Buffalo State College Council
Gary Brost, Linda Dobmeier, and Mylous Hairston have been appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the newest members of the Buffalo State College Council.
“I was delighted to learn that Governor Cuomo has appointed Gary Brost, Linda Dobmeier, and Mylous Hairston to the Buffalo State College Council,” said Buffalo State president Aaron Podolefsky. “Each is an enthusiastic champion of Buffalo State’s people and programs and brings unique insight and expertise to this new leadership role. We are very fortunate to have Gary, Linda, and Mylous on the College Council.”
Brost is chairman and CEO of Strategic Investments & Holdings Inc. He is a member of the Buffalo State College Foundation’s Executive and Investment committees. He was chair of the Burchfield Penney Art Center Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2006, and was crucial to Buffalo State’s efforts to construct the museum’s current home—Buffalo’s first new freestanding museum to be built in the city in more than 100 years.
Brost holds an M.B.A. from the University at Buffalo and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development. He serves on the boards of directors of several businesses, including Microcision LLC and Merchants Mutual Insurance Company. He is a board member and past chair of the YMCA’s Camp Weona, and he serves on the board of directors for Gateway-Longview, a child and family services organization. He also serves in various volunteer capacities at his undergraduate alma mater, Allegheny College. He is currently serving on the boards of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and the Buffalo Club.
Dobmeier, ’71,is vice president of Dobmeier Janitor Supply Inc. and chair of the Buffalo State College Foundation. After earning her B.S. in elementary education at Buffalo State, she spent 11 years teaching on Grand Island and earned a master of education from the University at Buffalo and a master of business administration from Canisius College. In 1982, she joined her family’s business, Dobmeier Janitor Supply Inc., which she continues to manage today.
Dobmeier has been a major force on the Buffalo State College Foundation Board of Directors, where she has served as a member of the board, a member of the Executive Committee, and chair of the Nominating Committee. She was elected chair of the foundation in 2007. Dobmeier has also served on the board of the Burchfield Penney Art Center, is a member of the Peterson Society (Buffalo State’s planned giving society), and has generously supported the annual Scholarship Gala and the annual Golf and Tennis Scholarship Classic, the latter of which she has also chaired. She has served on the boards of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Canisius College, the Amherst Police Foundation, the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation, and the Brothers of Mercy Campus Foundation.
Hairston, ’86,is a broadcaster who was born and raised in Buffalo. He began his career at WYSL-AM and WPHD-FM in Buffalo, where he worked as a disc jockey, news reader, assistant promotions director, and public affairs program producer. He went on to serve as a reporter for WETM-TV in Elmira and WIXT-TV in Syracuse, returning to Buffalo in 1990 to accept a reporting position at WIVB-TV. Hairston anchored the top local weekend newscast at WIVB for many years, departing in 2011, and received numerous state, national, and international awards for his work, including multiple Emmy and CINE awards.
Hairston has been active in many civic and charitable organizations over the years; he has served on the board of the Alzheimer’s Association and completed a marathon as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program to raise awareness about blood cancer. He is frequently asked to serve as an emcee at events held by local organizations and schools.
As previously announced, the former College Council chair, John Hoskins, has been succeeded by Howard Zemsky. Also concluding his term of service on the College Council is Gerald Saxe.