Syracuse University Alumni Association President Brian Spector announced Tuesday he is resigning from his position, months shy of completing his two-year term.

“The decision was based on really just differences of opinion with certain actions that were taken and my belief that it was time to move on,” Spector said, declining to comment on specifics. He said he only came to the decision within the past few days.

Spector, a 1978 alumnus from the business school who took on the alumni presidency in July 2011, said he hopes to remain engaged in many aspects of the university in the future, including through the Northern New Jersey alumni club. Spector currently lives in New Jersey, where he is a senior partner at law firm Spector & Ehrenworth.

Laurie Taishoff, a 1984 alumna of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications who was elected to serve as the next president starting in July, will begin her term early in light of Spector’s departure. Taishoff was unavailable for comment.

Spector said he looks forward to Taishoff’s leadership.

“I am totally confident that she will be outstanding.”

Chancellor Nancy Cantor and Board of Trustees Chairman Richard Thompson said in a statement they valued Spector’s contributions, and looked forward to working with Taishoff.

“We very much appreciate all the important contributions SU Alumni Association (SUAA) Brian Spector made during his time as President. We wish he could have completed his term and very much value and respect the work he did to advance our alumni community,” Cantor and Thompson said in the statement.

In a separate email to the Alumni Board obtained by The Daily Orange, Thompson made similar statements and also mentioned the ongoing search for SU’s next chancellor. He reminded alumni that there was alumni representation on the search committee and there “also will be numerous other ways for alumni voices to be heard” throughout the process.

As alumni president, Spector encouraged alumni outreach through social media, including through a blog he believes Taishoff will continue to operate. He said he was grateful for his experiences, which included meeting current students, attending football and basketball games, and seeing the Dalai Lama during his visit to campus in October.

When Syracuse men’s basketball played in Pittsburgh on St. Patrick’s Day, Spector was there and was invited up to the box where fellow alumnus Vice President Joe Biden, who was in town to campaign, was watching the game. Seeing that the vice president needed some extra SU spirit, Spector said he handed him an SU pin to wear and within minutes of the vice president putting it on, television cameras zoomed in and people tweeted about Biden’s alumnus status.

“The people, places and things that I was able to experience and got to enjoy and share with others was immeasurable,” Spector said. “Just immeasurable.”

Published on January 30, 2013 at 11:19 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride