Bequest and Annuity to Fund Endowment and Scholarship

To say that Sharon Kantor and her husband, Greg van Buskirk, are busy people is an understatement. But even at a distance, the California residents support the University—most recently, through a generous bequest earmarked for the Department of Chemistry.

Their bequest will establish The Kantor and van Buskirk Chemistry Department Endowment to provide overall support and enhancement of departmental academic and research initiatives. In addition, the couple will assist undergraduate chemistry students through The Sharon R. Kantor ’73, Ph.D., J.D., and Gregory van Buskirk, Ph.D., Scholarship through remainder proceeds from a charitable gift annuity.

Kantor fondly remembers her years at UAlbany. Under the sponsorship of the late Professor of Chemistry Andrew Yencha, she participated in an air pollution research project the summer prior to her senior year. During her last semester, she worked part-time at the NYS Legislature. After earning a B.S. in chemistry, Kantor went on to complete Ph.D. studies in synthetic organometallic chemistry at UCLA; she later earned her J.D. at Golden Gate University School of Law. A patent attorney, she is a member of the Washington State Bar, both the San Francisco and the American Intellectual Property Law Associations, and the American Bar Association. Kantor founded and owns The Firenza Group, Ltd., a firm for patent prosecution that represents an international clientele.

Van Buskirk, a San Francisco native, did his undergraduate work in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and completed doctoral studies in the same field at UCLA, where he and Kantor met. After a 30-year career in product development with The Clorox Company, he founded SageWay Solutions, LLC, a consultancy focused on developing specialty cleaning products. Van Buskirk holds more than 45 patents for detergents, whitening agents, and other cleaning products.

“UAlbany holds a special place in my heart,” notes Kantor. A former class councilor, she served as a member of the UAlbany Alumni Association Board for 17 years and now serves on the board of the University at Albany Foundation. Last May, Kantor received the Alumni Association’s 2019 Excellence in Alumni Service Award.

For Kantor, supporting UAlbany is a way to “pay it forward” for the professors and friends who inspired her during her undergraduate years. “You do the things you find the most rewarding in life. My time and energy are well spent promoting the University and its students,” observes Kantor, who delivered the chemistry department’s commencement address in 2008.

Van Buskirk shares his wife’s affection for her alma mater. “There’s a special feeling about the University,” says van Buskirk, who also looks forward to visiting upstate New York each year for Homecoming.

In their free time, Kantor and van Buskirk enjoy traveling, hiking, and beekeeping, tending to some 120,000 apis mellifera (honeybees) in the bee yard at their home. Kantor, who has performed opera and classical music with choral groups in Europe and the U.S., can often be found singing and performing with regional opera groups or with community and semi-professional choral organizations in the San Francisco area. As stated very simply by her husband, “as you can see, Sharon never sits still.”