Clare Mayer Velepec ’90
Head of Human Resources Department at Mpower Communications in Rochester, N.Y.

Major: Psychology

Leadership roles: I participated in William Smith Congress for a few years, I was an RA in Potter and I was a William Smith Student Trustee. 

Extracurricular activities: I dove for the swim team my first year. I was in the French club for a year.

Favorite professor: I loved the courses I took with Jeffrey Greenspon. They were fascinating and stretched me in a direction I had not gone in before. He was influential to me in my senior year because of some advice he gave me about the types of jobs I should pursue (not the field but more in terms of what types of jobs would provide me with growth). That advice was important to me at several junctures in the early part of my career.

First job after college: I was a Benefits Assistant at First Federal Savings in Rochester.

On leadership
What I liked most about William Smith in relation to leadership is that in many activities, women did not have to compete with men to obtain leadership roles. Although that is not a realistic situation outside of the Colleges, in a learning environment, it gave me a chance to learn, try new things and experiment with roles that I might not have attempted if I had to outwardly compete (i.e. in an election) with the men. It prepared me to be confident and comfortable in subsequent leadership roles I have held.

On the coordinate system
I loved the coordinate system. To me, its biggest impact was in the leadership arena.