Julie Cullinane Kinney ’90 and author Jeff Kinney take Marist alumni inside his best-selling series Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
More than 250 alumni and friends along with their families got an exclusive look inside the evolution of the best-selling book series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” thanks to the generosity of Marist alumna Julie Cullinane Kinney ’90 and her husband, Jeff, the creator of the series. In a virtual presentation Oct. 15, Julie and Jeff shared the origins of the 16-book cartoon series featuring hapless middle-schooler Greg Heffley that has become an international sensation. The ticket price to the Marist-only event included a signed copy of Jeff’s newest book, Big Shot, published in October. All proceeds from the event, organized by the Marist Alumni Relations Office, benefited the Marist Alumni Legacy Scholarship Fund, raising more than $10,000. Special thanks go to Julie and Jeff for making the event possible. Julie interviewed Jeff about the evolution of the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid in a virtual program from their bookstore, An Unlikely Story, in Plainville, MA.Since the first Wimpy Kid book made its debut in 2007, more than 250 million copies have been published in 79 editions in 65 languages. The Wimpy Kid series has been a constant on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly best-seller lists and has remained on the New York Times children’s series best-seller list for more than 657 weeks. The series has won a number of regional and national awards including two Children’s Choice Book Awards and six Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Book. Jeff Kinney was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people and is also the creator of Poptropica, named one of Time’s 50 Best Websites. The Disney+ movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid premiered in early December.Jeff and Julie took part in the Zoom program from their bookstore, An Unlikely Story, in Plainville, MA. Julie, a communications major in college and a former reporter and editor for a Massachusetts newspaper, interviewed Jeff for the Marist audience. She noted it was the first time she had interviewed him live for a virtual event. Then Jeff took live questions and gave a tour of his studio on the top floor of the bookstore, where his awards are on view.Jeff, a graduate of the University of Maryland, had been developing the book for a year when he and Julie began dating in 1999. He kept a journal jammed with notes and sketches that captured not only memories from his youth but also some of the couple’s early dating experiences. He continued writing and drawing for the next seven years as they dated, married, and had two sons, and as he worked full time as a software programmer. “It proves that you can do two things at once,” he noted, “that you can have your day job and pay your rent and you can also chase a rock-star dream in your spare time.” His dream was to be a newspaper cartoonist like Charles Schulz, the creator of Charlie Brown and "Peanuts.” For three years Jeff tried to make it happen. But “nobody liked my stuff,” he said. Then he decided to try something different. He bought a ticket to Comic Con, a comic convention in New York City, planning to show his sample packet around to editors there. But the convention had oversold its tickets and sent everyone away. While on a bus tour of New York City just for kicks, Jeff noticed that Billy Joel was playing a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden. He called Julie saying he wanted to stay overnight to go to the concert. A huge Billy Joel fan herself, she encouraged him to go for it. “Billy Joel was our thing at Marist in the ’80s,” she said.He managed to get a ticket and went to the show. The next day, he was able to get into the Comic Con. An editor who saw his work said it was exactly what he was looking for. “So it was thanks to Billy Joel that I got to be a published author,” Jeff said.Throughout the presentation the Zoom chat room bubbled over with questions for Jeff. What inspired him to write the Wimpy Kid series?“My own childhood,” he said. “I was reading Harry Potter at the time. I was like, “Man, this is really good writing, it’s a good story.” But I did think Harry was very, very different than I was as a kid. I did think there might be an appetite for a character who was not so perfect and not so heroic as Harry.”He said his newest Wimpy Kid book, Big Shot, shows what it’s like to be in athletics but not be a star athlete. “I think it’s important that a kid can see himself.”Earlier, he had elaborated on the appeal of his wimpy protagonist.“Greg is a messy character. When kids read kids’ books, the character is usually aspirational. They’re heroic. Like think of Harry Potter, characters like that. They’re the hero that we want to be. And Greg isn’t, really. You know, books can be mirrors and windows, right? Windows, you see into another world. That’s Harry Potter. Mirrors are books where you see yourself. That’s Wimpy Kid. And I think a lot of kids are messy.”Another young fan asked where Greg’s memorable nickname “Ploopy” came from.“Ploopy was a nickname that my older sister came up with for me,” Jeff explained. “And for some reason, it just got me. It made me so mad, like it would make my ears turn red.”He got over it, though. “We’ve made our peace. And I’m making money off of her calling me ‘Ploopy.’ So I think I won that situation.”
Healthcare executive Dirk McMahon ’82, entrepreneur and author Kristin Noto ’91, and technology executive Donna Dillenberger have joined the Marist College Board of Trustees.
In 2021 the Marist College Board of Trustees welcomed three new members. Dirk McMahon ’82, president and chief operating officer of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) and Donna Dillenberger, IBM Fellow at the company’s Research Center in Yorktown Heights and CTO of systems research for Hybrid Cloud, were elected to the board at its February meeting, while Kristin Noto ’91, an entrepreneur and author with extensive experience serving not-for-profit organizations, was elected at the November annual meeting. McMahon, who graduated from Marist with a BS in finance, has held senior leadership positions across both UnitedHealth Group business platforms — UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Most recently, he served as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of Optum, a global health services company, and head of airport operations worldwide for Northwest Airlines. In addition to earning his undergraduate degree from Marist, McMahon received an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. He and his family reside in Minnesota.Kristin Noto '91Noto received a BA in psychology from Marist, and her father is also an alumnus of the College. She is the author of Live E.P.I.C.: Invest in Yourself. Cultivate Character, and Embrace the 7 Moral Virtues that Lead to a Happier Life, as well as an inventor with several registered patents on houseware products. Noto also serves on the West Coast Advisory Board for the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of children, families, and communities affected by mental illness and learning disabilities. She is a former executive board member of the USA Lacrosse Foundation. Noto and her family live in Northern California. Donna DillenbergerDillenberger has had a distinguished career at IBM and currently serves as IBM Fellow at the company’s Research Center in Yorktown Heights and CTO of systems research for Hybrid Cloud. Her focus is on machine learning, counterfeit detection, cloud security and availability, and enterprise systems. In the past, Dillenberger has worked on machine learning models for the financial, insurance, retail, and healthcare industries and has designed new features for systems scalability and availability. She is the author of numerous research publications and holds multiple patents, becoming a Master Inventor at IBM. In recognition of her work, IBM’s CEO appointed her an IBM Fellow, the highest technical honor at the company. IBM Fellows are given broad latitude to identify and pursue projects. In the history of IBM, only 317 people have received such a distinction.Dillenberger received her BS in mathematics from New York University and an MS in computer science from Columbia University. She was an adjunct professor at Columbia’s Graduate School of Engineering and was a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Stanford University.
Moss and Terrence Echols ’21 Also Selected for Unique Mentorship Program
Kaylin Moss ’21 has received the 2021 Generation Google Scholarship, a Google-sponsored program. She is one of 42 college students nationwide to win the award. Moss is majoring in computer science with a concentration in software development.The Generation Google Scholarship was established to help aspiring students pursuing computer science degrees excel in technology and become leaders in the field, according to buildyourfuture.withgoogle.com. Selected students receive $10,000 USD (for those studying in the US) or $5,000 CAD (for those studying in Canada) for the 2021–2022 school year. The scholarship is awarded based on the strength of each candidate's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, demonstrated leadership, and academic performance.Moss was also one of two Marist students selected for the inaugural Gumbo Coalition University Mentorship Program. Moss and Terrence Echols ’21 each received a $1,500 scholarship from Resorts World Casino.Following a competitive application process, Echols and Moss were selected to enroll in the mentorship program sponsored by Resorts World Casino.They were two of 10 college students who earned the opportunity to participate in the intensive six-week virtual mentorship program to hear from prominent authors and speakers from all over the nation.The lecture series is based on Marc Morial’s book The Gumbo Coalition: 10 Leadership Lessons That Help You Inspire, Unite, and Achieve. Students in the program read chapters of the book and participated in virtual discussions with other leaders on the topics and lessons contained in the chapters.“Throughout history, effective leadership has guided us through the most challenging times,” said Michelle Stoddart, vice president of community development at Resorts World New York. “Now more than ever, a new generation of students must be equipped to lead boldly in the face of the medical, political, and environmental challenges we face as a country. By teaming up with the renowned civic leader and former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial, Resorts World is proud to present the Gumbo Coalition University, a virtual platform that will shape the leaders of tomorrow.”Morial, who was mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002, is president and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization. Both Marist students learned about the Gumbo Coalition University Mentorship Program from Desmond Murray, associate director for the employer experience in the Marist College Center for Career Services. Their applications included an essay discussing their professional experience and career-related goals. Candidates who advanced to the next round were invited to meet virtually with the program’s speakers and talk about what leadership meant to them.Echols majored in communications with a concentration in public relations/advertising and has already begun graduate work in Marist’s five-year dual degree program in integrated marketing communication. He was a student-athlete on the men’s basketball team and a senior researcher in Marist’s chapter of the American Advertising Federation. As an AAF member, he wrote copy and helped prepare presentations with his group for the National Student Advertising Competition. “Collaborating with everyone using online platforms like Zoom, FaceTime, and Google Meet has really helped me get comfortable having meaningful conversations in a virtual environment,” Echols said.He mentioned how joining the Marist Radio Club as a freshman inspired him to create his own podcast, which has helped him articulate his thoughts and ideas on a variety of topics. This summer he is interning with Galaxy Media, a multidimensional media company that services clients in Syracuse, NY. He has thought about owning his own advertising agency one day but definitely aspires to a leadership role in marketing or public relations. He said participating in the Gumbo Coalition University Mentorship Program aligned with these goals.“I’m learning how I can be someone who others look to for guidance, and that’s inspiring.”Moss participated in the Marist/IBM Joint Study program for one year and completed a virtual internship with IBM in the summer of 2020. “The joint study exposed me to a lot of public speaking roles and presentations,” she said. “So I felt like I had a lot to draw on from that experience when applying for the (Gumbo Coalition University Mentorship) program.”In October 2020 Moss founded a chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) at Marist. The honor society’s main goal is to create an inclusive community for Black students and other students who are interested in pursuing opportunities in technology, engineering, and other sciences. In addition, Moss was recently named the winner of the health technology company Zillion’s Women in STEM Scholarship. She was chosen for her commitment to learning, perseverance, and advocacy for women in science. Moss sees computer science as an industry where she can hone her artistic talents.“In my career, I want to focus on things like software development, web design, user interfaces, and anything else that creates new digital experiences.”
Marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, this class is unique in every way.
The Mindset List, aka the “always/never” list, is a compilation of key points about incoming college students. Created at Beloit College in 1998 to reflect the world view of entering first year students—and to help faculty understand incoming classes—the list started with the members of the class of 2002, born in 1980. In 2019, the list moved to Marist, becoming the Marist Mindset List. The list is widely considered a cultural touchstone.Read more
