Donor Spotlight: Ellen Tattenbaum, MA ’85
In April, Binghamton University launched EXCELERATE: Moving at the Speed of Binghamton. The University’s most ambitious campaign in its history will invest in people and priorities that make Binghamton a home to excellence, leadership and innovation. Alumni, parents, students and community all have fueled our rise in enrollment and reputation. EXCELERATE is an opportunity for everyone to unite, participate and shape the University’s future. Some alumni who give back financially to the University share why this is a value they hold dear. Click here to donate.
Ellen Tattenbaum, MA ’85, jokes that she didn’t choose Watson College; it chose her. After earning her master’s degree in mathematics from Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, she worked for the University’s Center for Statistics, Quality Control and Design, then she was hired by Watson to teach continuing education courses — including Technical Mathematics — at IBM Owego, a site currently owned and operated by Lockheed Martin.
Now an assessment specialist for Educational Testing Services, and having relocated from the Binghamton area to central New Jersey, she’s still connected to Watson, consistently supporting the college financially.
As a graduate student in mathematics, Tattenbaum received a teaching assistantship that not only waived tuition but gave her a stipend for teaching and assistant teaching classes.
“I don’t think I could have attended graduate school without this financial assistance, as I was just out of college and still paying back student loans at the time,” Tattenbaum says. “After I received my master’s degree, I chose to stay in the area and was so fortunate to work at the University. Binghamton supported me financially, so I continue to want to give back now that I’m in a position to do so.”
Tattenbaum hopes her giving will inspire other alumni to do the same, saying it’s important to support students in financial need so they have opportunities to build careers and be successful: “The University shaped my career in ways that I could not have done without its support. I am forever grateful!”