Steve Shippee (Stephen)
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Tell us about what you're doing with your life
Started my career with GE in their finance program, after 4 years there I was recruited by Lorne Michaels (who had just returned to NBC to produce Saturday Night Live) to be the CFO of his TV & motion picture production company, Broadway Video in NYC. Spent just over 10 years there and left in 1998 as his CEO in order to spend more time with my 3 kids in RI. After 6 years of being Mr. Mom, I became the Chief Strategy Officer for Velocity Technology Solutions in NYC (commuting in and out of NYC from RI every week). Spent 11 years there before I retired in 2015. During my retirement I have been managing a musician out of London (McGoozer) and traveling the world with my wife Tricia who retired in 2020.
What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?
Intro to Business Management taught by Dr. Richard Aplin (Doc Aplin)
What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?
Working with Doc Aplin and the other professors in the Agricultural Economics Department where I worked as a Grader and Administrative TA for a different class each semester during my junior and senior years. As strange as it sounds, some of my fondest memories were working with my colleagues who assisted these classes and handling office hours where I had an opportunity to teach others what I had learned and therein improved my own knowledge and confidence which would benefit me greatly in my career endeavors.
Which Cornell classmates do you keep in touch with?
Wayne Darragh, Jim Hauslein and a number of other classmates who were members of my fraternity, Seal & Serpent.
What advice would you give to a student starting at Cornell this year?
Work hard, play hard and make sure you take time to develop strong personal relationships while here. Don’t get lost in libraries studying all the time as some students are apt to do - it simply doesn’t pay off in the long run. Much more of your learning happens outside of those walls.
How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?
It’s been nearly 40 years since we graduated and I still to this day refer back to things I learned and the people I learned from (Doc Aplin, Bruce Anderson, etc) that made all the difference in my ability to excel when I entered the GE Finance program and guided the way I worked throughout my career. I was also honored to be asked to return 6 years after graduation to become a guest lecturer in the Finance Class (Ag Ec 310) for 4 years and ended up hiring one of the undergraduates I met during one of these lectures.
What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?
Friend of mine worked at one of the Finger Lakes wineries and brought back samples every weekend to teach us about wines…we did tasting often and this became a passion of mine (in addition to taking the Hotel School Wines class) and use that knowledge to this day (especially when I was ordering wines for important business meetings over the years).
If you could change anything about your Cornell experience, what would it be?
Honestly, nothing…I have no regrets and am very happy with how everything turned out.
What does being a Cornell alumnus mean to you?
It’s an honor to be amongst the talented people who have graduated from this University…I am very proud to be an alumnus and even had the honor of my son graduating from Cornell (same major as I was) in 2012.
What are you most looking forward to at Reunion 2024?
Seeing the campus again since it's been 10 years since I have been back and, of course, catching up with old friends that I haven’t seen.
Steve, great to hear your story. I remember a very focused and committed roommate in '81. Hope to reconnect and see you soon