ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Glenn Kaminska '93

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
by Todd Caissie '92


Glenn Kaminska '93


Glenn played lacrosse at Stony Brook from 1989-91. He is currently a lawyer and Partner with the law firm Ahmuty, Demers & McManus. Glenn currently heads the Insurance Coverage Group and was recently recognized by Long Island Business News as one of the top 40 outstanding members of the business community on Long Island who is under the age of 40. http://admlaw.com/Glenn-A-Kaminska-atty-Ahmuty-Demers-and-McManus.

Glenn received his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law in 1998 and has been published multiple times in the New York Law Journal.


Interviewed by Todd Caissie '92

TC: Hi Glenn, First of all congratulations on being named one of the top 40 business people under 40 on Long Island for 2010. Tell me about your work and family? Where are you living now?

GK: Thanks. As head of the Insurance Coverage Group I am not only litigating and providing opinions to our clients, but I also spend a fair amount of time lecturing for my firm, and for the New York State Bar Association. I am living in Port Jefferson, NY with my wife Lydia, whom I met at Stony Brook, and our two wonderful sons Connor (age 9) and Aidan (age 8). I am involved with a group of parents who have set up a youth lacrosse league in Port Jefferson. So I get a little coaching in now.

TC: How did you end up at Stony Brook?

GK: I played high school lacrosse at Niagara Wheatfield in Niagara Falls, NY. I was recruited as a goaltender, but started as a converted long stick middie. I recall assistant coach Greg Cannella (now head coach at UMass), coming to my school to recruit me and for some reason I wasn’t there when he got there. Once I finally arrived people kept coming up to me saying that my name has been blasting on the loud speaker for a long time, but I had no idea why. After speaking with coach, I decided to take a recruiting trip. I took a flight to see the school and Head Coach John Espey, who was a great guy, picked me up at MacArthur Airport in Islip. I remember that instead of going directly to the school, Coach took me to see the ocean for the first time. This was around my birthday and I remember him saying “hey Glenn, how’d you like to celebrate your birthday next year in California?” It turned out that was where the team spent the following spring break.

TC: Where did you live during school?

GK: I lived in O’Neil College.

TC: What did you study?

GK: I majored in Political Science.

TC: What are some of your best memories from playing lacrosse at Stony Brook?

GK: Well my freshman year we went on a great 12 game win streak, which was the longest in the country at that time. We ended up only losing the first and last games (Georgetown and UPenn respectively) of the year.

Another was being part of the goalie tandem that recorded a shutout. That feat wasn’t repeated in more than 20 years until Charlie Paar '10 pitched shutout last season. Rob Serratore '92 played the first half and I played the second in a 20-0 win versus Southampton.

TC: Do you recall any specific memorable games?

GK: One of my most vivid game memories was playing at Lehigh my freshman year. It was a slushy, rainy, miserable cold day (I think I ended up getting pneumonia being out there actually). It was a tough hard hitting game with broken bones on both sides. The tone was set on the opening faceoff when Ron Capri '90, who you know was a big boy, playing the wing and completely steamrolled a Lehigh middle who literally crumbled to the ground and didn’t get up for a long long time. Not to mention we won!

TC: Any road trip stories? PG ones of course.

GK: Ha! I fondly remember our road trip to California for spring break for several reasons. One was because we spent our off day in Monterey and, being an avid golfer even back then, I knew Pebble Beach was right around the corner. I was so excited to be this close to such a storied course that I had to try to get a tee time. So, I called the golf club and was told I could play! I was just getting off the phone with my mom (had to make sure she’d cover the cost on my credit card), when who did I run into? Coach Espey. When I told him I was heading off on my own to Pebble Beach to play a round he said “oh no you’re not”. I was so close.

While in California, a funny moment came right after we’d defeated Cal Berkeley (luckily, since 3 of our best players missed the team bus and showed up sometime around half-and we were losing until they showed up). As we were walking to the bus from the field the Cal players were gathered around a keg in the corner of the stadium lot. They started waving and inviting us to join them. Of course half the team started to veer away from the bus and towards the keg, until the coaches could coral all of us back onto the bus.

TC: How about practice?

GK: I remember my first day of practice at the Brook. I’d always worn a bandana under my helmet playing lacrosse in high school and had one on for my first ever practice at SBU. Practice went by without a hitch, but when we finished Coach Espey called us in for his regular end of practice chat, I took off my helmet. When Espey saw the bandana on my head he ripped me a new one!

TC: Tell me another story about some of the games.

GK: My sophomore year we had a surreal experience. We were playing at UNC (Tar Heels went on to win the National Championship that year), and lost by a good margin. However, we played hard till the end, hit a lot of posts, and kept UNC scoreless for the entire third quarter (to that point in the season I don’t think anyone had kept them off the scoreboard for an entire quarter). The funny experience happened while we were walking off the field towards the dressing room with our heads down, dejected we’d lost. The quite a few UNC fans, uncharacteristically, came up to us and thanked us. Thanked us? Yup, they thanked us for not rolling over in the second half like Villanova did the previous game. Funny.

TC: What did you take from your time at the Brook?

GK: Stony Brook most importantly gave me a sense of community. Obviously, being a part of the lacrosse team was a big part of it, but I also did an internship with the Governor's Regional Representatives. Heck I even had a part time job delivering furniture to the dorms.

TC: You’ve accomplished a lot since graduation and have had a very successful career. Did you always want to be a lawyer?

GK: I knew pretty early on that I wanted to be a lawyer. I took a year off to work before attending St John’s University School of Law, but it was always my intention to go to law school. I received my J.D. in 1998 and joined my current firm, Ahmuty Demers & McManus right after graduation and have been here ever since.

TC: Do you have any advice to current SBU players?

GK: Work hard a being a great lacrosse player (I wished I had worked harder and stayed with it) and take advantage of what Stony Brook has to offer. You are at a very prestigious institution that is highly regarded throughout the world. Check out the Staller Center, go to concerts, film festivals, etc. Take part in the community that is Stony Brook University.


By Todd Caissie '92