Capital Region

More than 18,000 alumni and parents call the Capital Region their home – here’s your opportunity to connect with them!

The Rensselaer Capital Region Network Executive Council was created to better connect our Capital Region alumni to their alma mater and to each other.

Engagement in the council is designed around shared career and business interests, related topics that tie alumni back to campus through conversations and forums around pressing global challenges and opportunities that align with the Institute’s expertise in groundbreaking interdisciplinary research and innovative pedagogy. The council’s provides opportunities for engagement around business development, career advancement, graduate recruitment and student placement, and seeks to facilitate strategic partnerships among individuals, companies, foundations, government agencies and the Institute.

Capital Region Network

Alumni/Alumnae
Parents

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

The Executive Council provides guidance and advisory expertise that will further harness the strength of our alumni in the Capital Region and provides leadership in support of the Rensselaer Capital Campaign.

Council members have a front-row seat to research insights from renowned Rensselaer faculty, access to the highest levels of Institute leadership, and opportunities to foster fruitful connections with other notable alumni in the Capital Region. Member terms are for three years and there are two types of memberships available. Membership gifts support the Rensselaer Annual Fund and are fully tax deductible

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL CO-CHAIRS

  • John Bennett ’74, MD, FACC, FACP

    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Trustee and Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan, Inc.

    John D. Bennett, MD, FACC, FACP was named president and CEO of CDPHP in July of 2008 after serving more than 10 years as chair, vice chair, and board member of the Capital Region’s leading not-for-profit health plan. During this time, CDPHP has been recognized as one of the top-rated plans in the nation, has been named one of the Best Companies to Work for in New York for 11 consecutive years, and has ranked “Highest in Member Satisfaction among Commercial Health Plans in New York” in the J.D. Power Member Health Plan Study for the second consecutive year.

    Prior to joining CDPHP, Dr. Bennett served as founding member and CEO of Prime Care Physicians, PLLC. During his tenure, he co-led a team of 25 cardiologists and helped grow the practice from three employees to a 100-physician multi-specialty group.

    Dr. Bennett is board certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Internal Medicine, with subspecialties in internal medicine and cardiology. He earned his medical degree at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, and a Bachelor of Science degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Bennett completed an internship and residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Albany Medical Center. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians.

    Dr. Bennett serves on the boards of the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP), America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Center for Economic Growth, New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC), Palace Theatre, and The Sage Colleges. In 2015, Dr. Bennett was appointed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to serve as a member of the New York Public Health and Health Planning Council.

    An outspoken critic of the rising cost of health care, Dr. Bennett was awarded the 2016 Marketer/Communicator of the Year award by the Capital Region chapters of the American Marketing Association and Public Relations Society of America. That same year, Dr. Bennett was also awarded the 2016 Promoting the Advancement of Technology in Healthcare (PATH) Award from the New York e-Health Collaborative (NYeC).

  • Mark M. Little ’82 Ph.D.

    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Trustee and Former Senior Vice President and Director, GE Global Research

    Mark Little was named senior vice president and director of GE Global Research in October 2005, becoming the ninth director in the 105-year history of the organization. As such, Dr. Little is responsible for leading one of the largest and most diversified industrial research and technology organizations in the world. He also serves as chief technology officer at GE.
    At Global Research, approximately 2,600 people from virtually every major scientific and engineering discipline focus on the long-range technology needs of the company. The organization has research facilities in the United States, India, China, and Germany, working in collaboration with GE businesses around the world.
    Prior to his current role, Dr. Little was vice president of the power-generation segment of GE Energy, headquartered in Schenectady, New York. GE Energy is a world-leading supplier of power generation equipment including gas, steam, wind and hydro-turbine generators, turnkey power plant services, gasification technologies, and integrated gasification combined cycle.
    Dr. Little joined GE in 1978, starting out in the turbine business of the company. After holding several management positions in engineering, he was named product general manager for generators in 1989. In 1991, he became general manager—business development for GE Energy, responsible for strategic planning and joint venture development. In 1992, he was appointed product general manager for gas turbines and in 1994 was named vice president, power generation engineering. In 1997, Dr. Little became vice president GE power generation, responsible for the turbine, generator, and power plants business. In 2004, the hydro and wind turbine businesses were added to his portfolio.
    Dr. Little holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Tufts and Northeastern Universities, respectively, and in 1982 earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

  • Daniel T. Pickett III ’90

    Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, aptihealth and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Trustee

    Dan Pickett III is a co-founder and the President and CEO of aptihealth. Dan joined aptihealth from Hudson River Capital Holdings, an aptihealth founding investor, where he was President. Prior to Hudson River Capital Holdings, he was President of Zones, a $2.4B global IT company. Mr. Pickett joined Zones when it acquired nfrastructure, a technology company he founded and served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. Prior to nfrastructure, Mr. Pickett co-founded CIGNA Software Sciences, an expert system and decision support fintech company that was acquired by Alltel Information Services. He is a trustee of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and serves on the boards of aptihealth, The Pickett Family Foundation, Albany Medical Center and Albany Medical College.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS

  • Bob Bedard ’75

    President and CEO, deFacto Global, Inc.

    Bob Bedard ’75 is currently President and CEO of deFacto Global, Inc., a financial and operations analytics software company serving mid-market to large corporations. His career has centered on developing products, services and businesses based on emerging information technologies for IBM, The Bank of New York, Prodigy Services and CBS. He also started several technology companies including deFacto Global and holds patents in the areas of electronic payments and data analytics. Mr. Bedard is an active entrepreneur helping develop an Artificial Intelligence ecosystem throughout NYS’s Capital Region and a member of Upstate Venture Connect (UVC). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science degree in Business Administration from Columbia University.
  • Rocco Nastasia '94

    Rocco Nastasia ’94

    Software Engineer for Simmetrix, Inc.

    Rocco Nastasia is a Software Engineer for Simmetrix, Inc. of Clifton Park, a former RPI Incubator company. His expertise includes nearly 28 years of software design in the fields of automatic mesh generation, computational geometry, and simulation-based engineering. He has co-authored numerous academic papers. Rocco graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics. He lives in Rexford with his wife, Leighann (’94) and their two daughters, Twyla and Haley. In his free time, Rocco enjoys traveling, playing golf, and playing pickleball.

  • Michael Zwack 11

    Michael F. Zwack ’11

    Consultant at Clearlink Partners

    Michael F. Zwack ’11 is currently a Consultant at Clearlink Partners, which helps Managed Care Organizations across the United States optimize their clinically-focused operations. Prior to joining Clearlink, he served as a senior leader of teams in operations and business transformation roles for several regional non-profit health insurance payers in the Northeast. Previously, Michael was a Program Manager for the 3M Company, with other prior roles in health care consulting, government, and advanced manufacturing – focusing on complex, large-scale project implementations. Michael graduated from RPI’s Lally School of Management with a BS in Business and Management. As an undergraduate, Michael participated in a variety of positions within student government, serving as the 143rd Grand Marshal, and was a member and President of Phalanx.

    Following graduation, Michael became an officer in the Rensselaer Hudson Mohawk alumni chapter, focused on programming for young alumni, preservation of RPI traditions, and career networking for its 12,000 local alumni and alumnae. He was elected Trustee to the Rensselaer Alumni Association in 2022 and became its 120th President in July 2026. Michael received the Rensselaer Alumni Association Director’s Award in 2017 and the Alumni Key Award in 2024. He is a member of the Palmer C. Ricketts Society of the Patroons of Rensselaer. Michael is also a past president and ex officio director of the Troy Society of the Friends of St. Patrick, which has been celebrating Irish heritage and fostering community spirit in the Capital Region since 1906. He received an MBA from Union Graduate College and lives in Washington Park, Troy, New York.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven W. Evans
Director of Regional Development
Mid-West, Upstate NY, and Florida
(518) 276-8575
evanss6@rpi.edu