Michael Sinkus, who followed Bruce as chair of Marts and Lundy, had unlikely connections to the firm beginning with his undergraduate studies at Bucknell University. Michael explained some little-known history:
“I had a connection long before I joined Marts and Lundy. Dr. Marts was years before, president of Bucknell, where I was a scared undergraduate. Marts Hall is the administration building at Bucknell. I learned, it’s sort of part of the oral history at Bucknell, that when Dr. Marts was acting president of Bucknell, one day there was a student rally in the quad on his behalf. The demand was that when Dr. Marts drop the acting title and become full-fledged president. It was a student mandate that caused this to happen. The other thing that’s interesting is that, during this period, Dr. Marts was president of Bucknell three days a week, Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday he was chauffeured to what was then called Bucknell Junior College and is now called Wilkes University. On Friday he went and founded a junior college, and then on Monday he would go to New York and do his Marts and Lundy work. All at the same time he was an admiral in the U.S. Navy.”
Michael actually discovered his own interest in development planning as a graduate student, when his role was creating development and fundraising documents for the president of Bucknell. The development office discovered his talents and hired him for a second year, where he met Charlie Wolfe, Bucknell’s counsel from Marts and Lundy. Admiring Wolfe’s work, but with plans for a professional golf career, Michael entertained thoughts about joining a firm like Marts and Lundy many years down the road. However, rather than teeing off next to Jack Nicklaus at Pebble Beach, he headed to Yale, where he unexpectedly launched a career in philanthropic development. Read More
Michael Sinkus Chair 1999-2006
