Happy Holidays, everyone!

Please note: I'm interested in pursuing a career in feature film, acting, and music.

I'm currently seeking representation in the entertainment industry, venture capital to start my own creative studio or S-Corp focused on feature film and motion picture development, and hoping to be cast in feature filmwork. I have aspirations of learning Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Polish, German, Turkish, Swahili, Hindi, Korean, and Japanese. Below is a working document that showcases some of my connections to old Hollywood and the Golden Age of Jazz.

I'm open to discussing opportunities. Thank you!

Affectionately yours,

Alex Falck
afalck7988@gmail.com


Alex's Film Club

List of movies on Alex's "to watch" list because of possible connections to Alex Falck's life:

The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - Alex has been to Hobbiton Village in the Shire, Matamata, New Zealand
The Terminal (2004, Tom Hanks) and A Great Day in Harlem (1994), a 60-minute exploration into the making of probably the most famous (group) jazz photo.
Apollo 13 (1995) - Alex saw the Apollo 13 movie capsule at Universal Studios Hollywood, as well as has seen the Jack Swigert statue in the Denver Airport as well as the U.S. Capitol Building. Alex has been in the seat where Buzz Aldrin is photographed at Walt Disney Mission Space, has seen the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle in person at Smithsonian Air and Space, as well as boarded and walked through the Saturn V rocket.
Catch Me If You Can (2002), Leonardo DiCaprio - Alex grew up playing with toy Pan Am model planes purchased at the airport, and, as a child, peeled the stickers off.
Australia (2008), Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman - Alex has climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge and had photo taken where Hugh Jackman once stood
King Kong (2005) - Alex saw 50' tall King Kong movie prop at Universal Studios in Los Angeles
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - Alex has been to the Whoville set where Jim Carrey
Big (1988) Tom Hanks - Alex, as a child in New York City, walked across the Piano steps at FAO Schwartz and played a song.

Spongebob SquarePants (1999) - Alex met Spongebob at Universal Studios Hollywood. The character Spongebob and Gary the Snail is voiced by Tom Kenny from Alex's hometown. While a student at Georgetown University, Alex visited George Washington University in Foggy Bottom in Washington, DC. Tom Kenny also voiced Playstation's Spyro the Dragon that Alex grew up playing at age 7. 

Bugs Life (1998) and Honey I Shrunk The Kids (1989) large scale playgrounds - Alex and family have been to the Bugs Life and Honey I Shrunk The Kids 

The Simpsons  (1989) - Alex has seen in person The Simpsons Ride Krustyland. Kelsey Grammer, who voiced "Italian Bob", has passed through Verona, New York where Alex plays bingo at Turning Stone Casino, to advertise his Faith American beer brand. Turning Stone Casino has been host to Shania Twain, and Tiger Woods and Brad Pitt have been known to play golf there. 

Jaws (1975) - Alex has been to Jaws Lake or Amity Lake, also known as Cabot Cove from the film Casper.

Truman Show (1998) - Alex has been to the cinematic wall at Falls Lake Universal Studios 

Back to the Future (1985) - Alex has seen in person the DeLorean used for filming of the movie

The Great Outdoors (1988) - John Candy and Dan Aykroyd - Alex has a connection to Dan Aykroyd of The Blues Brothers through a high school band lesson with founding member Tom "Bones" Malone of Paul Shaffer's CBS House Band for the Late Show with David Letterman

Jurassic Park (1993) - the gate to Jurassic Park with Steven Spielberg's signature in concrete, next to "Roar", dated 1996

Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story (2001) - Alex has attended an MC Hammer concert live at Chevy Court stage, and had the chance to stand 50 feet from him

Annie Hall (1977), Woody Allen - Woody Allen was a juror at one point for Alex's Alliance of Young Artists and Writers art award (AYAW)
War of the Worlds (2005) - Alex at Universal Studios Hollywood at the site of the plane crash scene where Tom Cruise climbs through wreckage and seats of the plane.
Tanner Hall (2009) - director Tatiana Von Furstenberg on jurors panel for AYAW award that Alex received in high school art class
The Exorcist (1973) - Alex attended Georgetown University and walked  across the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Arlington to class each day, up the Exorcist steps and the Exorcist House to get to class and internships
Past Lives (2023) - Alex was on set of Greta Lee's film the day of filming at Jane's Carousel at Pebble Beach Brooklyn
Dallas Buyers Club (2013), Matthew McConaughey
The English Patient (1996) , Ralph Fiennes
Girl Rising (2013) (Anne Hathaway, director Edwidge Danticat was juror for AYAW art award)
13th (2016), Ava Duvarnay, director of Selma and Disney's A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle - Madeleine L'Engle on Alex's AYAW art award
Northern Lights (1978), Disney, Diane Keaton, Camera d'or Cannes
Wildrose (1984), Camera d'or Cannes
Shimmer (1993)
Disney's Never Cry Wolf (1983)
Over under, Sideways Down (1977)
Parasite (2019)

Five Easy Pieces (Jack Nicholson)
The Haunted (1991)
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story (2000)
Your Voice In My Head (2014), Emma Watson
Patterns, Rod Serling

The Daring Young Man on The Flying Trapeze (1934)

A Wrinkle in Time, Disney

Girl with a Pearl Earring


Things to look for and can be traced through Wikipedia for some fun reading

Connections, keywords, and famous people to look for while perusing:

How many connections does Alex have to Time and Time 100 magazine covers, or the people that have appeared in them:

-Alex has at least four connections to The Beatles, to both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr - through high school band guest lecturers John Fedchock and John Pizzarelli. Pizzarelli appeared on album recordings with Paul McCartney. Ringo Starr's stepdaughter, filmmaker Francesca Gregorini (filmed Your Voice In My Head for Emma Watson, and Tanner Hall (2009). Alex's connection to Francesca Gregorini, and ergo Ringo Starr, is from Gregorini's work on Tanner Hall (2009) with Tatiana Von Furstenberg, who appears on the Alliance for Young Writers and Scholars award that Alex received from high school art class. Photographer Richard Avedon, a juror for the award, once photographed and worked with Ringo Starr's model spouse, Barbara Bach, also known as Lady Starkey (a reminder: Ringo of The Beatles was born as Richard Starkey). Alex's final known connection to the Beatles is from John Lennon and Yoko Ono once attending Ono's art exhibit called "This Is Not Here" at Alex's local art museum, the Everson Museum of Art, designed by I.M. Pei of the Louvre, in Paris.

-Frank Sinatra and Frank Sinatra Jr. - Frank Sinatra Jr. helped his father perform his second to last concert in Syracuse, New York at the War Memorial, where Alex walked the stage for high school graduation.
-Alex Falck connections Marilyn Monroe - through connections to her husband, Arthur Miller (through photographer Mary Ellen Mark and Alex's high school art award), Joe DiMaggio playing baseball in Alex's hometown (Stars Park, P&C Stadium, NBT Bank Stadium, Syracuse Mets and Yankees AAA farm team history). Marilyn Monroe, Richard Avedon and Mary Ellen Mark jurors of Alex's art award from high school, both photographed Marilyn and her husband Arthur Miller.

-Alex Falck connections to George Clooney - through Alex's work over a four year period in concert band, concert ensemble, and Symphonic Band at Liverpool High School's band director and guest lecturers, Alex has a few connections to actor George Clooney, mostly through those that have worked directly with his aunt, a singer named Rosemary Clooney. William Sorayan, a juror on Alex's art award from art class was a songwriter for Rosemary Clooney.

-Anne Hathaway, director of Girl Rising Edwidge Danticat was juror for AYAW art award
-Photograph of Nastassja Kinski, by Richard Avedon. The photograph was taken by renowned photographer Richard Avedon on June 14, 1981, in a shoot for Vogue magazine, and became one of the best-selling posters of the decade. It subsequently inspired a host of other women to adopt similar poses, including Nastassja’s daughter, Sonia, and in a 2014 shoot for Vanity Fair, Jennifer Lawrence.

-Taylor Swift, Alex crossing paths with Taylor Swift in Washington, DC while going out to watch a Syracuse basketball game at the bar

Steve Karmen, film scores and the Superbowl King of the Jingles (connection to Alex - Vince Lombardi family lineage, high school band John Pizzarelli connection to jazz legends in the film The Terminal, Steve Karmen was composer for Tom Hank's The Terminal (2004)


Among Steve Karmen's repeat clients were Six Flags Over Texas, Hertz car rental, Budweiser, Pabst, and Michelob, Ford and other major car manufacturers. 

1957 - "She Had Wild Eyes and Tender Lips" on American Bandstand with Dick Clark, inspiration for The Poni-Tails
1966 - Girl Scouts of America commercial jingle
1968 - Pontiac, Chrysler, Plymouth,  "Breakaway In A Wide-Trackin' Pontiac", "Your Next Car Is A Chrysler", "Plymouth Makes It" 
1969 - The Hershey Company, first ever advertisement in 1970 commercial "There's Nothing Like The Face Of A Kid Eating A Hershey Bar"
1969 -  "Call Nationwide, 'Cause Nationwide Is On Your Side
1969 - Tijuana Smalls "You Know Who You Are", Salem Cigarette Company
1970 - Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser's “When You Say Bud”  1971 - Clio Award Winner for "You've Said It All" (Budweiser), Budweiser's Here Come's The King, The King of Beers (Joker soundtrack, 2019) Alex has met the Budweiser Clydesdale horses
1971 -  Michelob - "The Michelob Drinking Song", "Weekends Were Made For Michelob", Weekend Pops (instrumental) - based upon "Weekends Were Made For Michelob", "Good Taste Runs In The Family"
1971 - Pabst Brewing National Bohemian Beer Natty Bo's The Land of Pleasant Living
1971 - Salem Cigarette Company and Tijuana Smalls.
1977, 79 - Clio Award Winner "I Love New York" (New York Tourism)
1979 - "Ford, That' Incredible!" (Ford)
1986 - Doublemint Gum "Double your pleasure, double your fun." Spearmint Gum "Carry The Big Fresh Flavor."



-Sonny and Cher - connection through Steve Karmen's "When You Say Love", additional connections?

-Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. - Alex has seen the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle, and Alex walked through Saturn V.  Mary Ellen Mark photography?

-Alex connections to Judy Garland, and her daughter Liza Minelli. Research needed.

-Possible connections between Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, and her husband Prince Rainier III: Research needed.

Alex's connections to Charlie Chaplin: Alex's art award from high school - juror William Saroyan meeting Charlie Chaplin in his travels

Talk shows and Alex connections, Alex connection to Lorne Michaels and the birth of Saturday Night Live, perhaps?

Alex Falck and Audrey Hepburn connections: Research needed.

Alex Falck's connections to Sigmund Freud: Alex's psychology professor at Syracuse University claimed to have a professor of his own that was a direct pupil of Sigmund Freud. Additionally, H.D., on Alex's art award from high school, had a connection through Richard Avedon and Ezra Pound. Hilda Doolittle, in 1933, traveled to Vienna in 1933 for analysis with Sigmund Freud.

Alex's mother's connection to Oakley Cabin in Brookeville Maryland, the center of African American history post emancipation. Alex's mother, growing up, was friends with the occupant of the cabin, before it became a cultural museum. 

Alex Falck connections to Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and ties to Donald Trump's once ultimate toy, the The Trump Princess superyacht, also known as the Nabila or Kingdom 5KR. 

Alex, while at Columbia University, visited the alma mater statue, Butler Library, Havemayer Hall is the most filmed college classroom in the United States, with Ghostbusters and Spiderman both filmed in the chemistry classroom. 

Alex has at least four connections to The Beatles, to both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr - through high school band guest lecturers John Fedchock and John Pizzarelli. Pizzarelli appeared on album recordings with Paul McCartney. Ringo Starr's stepdaughter, filmmaker Francesca Gregorini (filmed Your Voice In My Head for Emma Watson, and Tanner Hall (2009). Alex's connection to Francesca Gregorini, and ergo Ringo Starr, is from Gregorini's work on Tanner Hall with Tatiana Von Furstenberg, who appears on the Alliance for Young Writers and Scholars award that Alex has from high school art class. Photographer Richard Avedon, also a juror for the award, once photographed and worked with Ringo Starr's model spouse, Barbara Bach, also known as Lady Starkey (a reminder: Ringo of The Beatles was born as Richard Starkey). Alex's final known connection to the Beatles is from John Lennon and Yoko Ono once attending Ono's art exhibition called "This Is Not Here" at Alex's local art museum, the Everson Museum of Art, designed by I.M. Pei of the Louvre in Paris. 

Keith Haring, Nat King Cole, David Bowie, Marlon Brando Streetcar Named Desire (Alex in New Orleans, seeing a train from The Heart of Louisiana, used in A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams)

Arthur Miller, playwright and author of Death of a Salesman, husband of Marilyn Monroe. Alex read Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie in middle school or high school. 

Connections to Andy Warhol (through photographer Richard Avedon...)

Alex Falck has surprisingly and incredibly direct connection to the painting American Gothic, painting of farmer and daughter (beyond Edward Sorel and Courage the cowardly dog, a show that Alex grew up watching on television), as well as the painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper (a detail that may belong in a biography for Alex). Research needed.  - Joyce Carol Oats from Alex's art award wrote interior monologues for the figures in the painting in her poem "Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, 1942.

Alex Falck and Barack Obama - Alex Falck awarded the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence from President Barack Obama in 2010. Alex, in high school art class in 2007, was tasked with painting a self portrait of oneself in the style of Kahinde Wiley, much like the portrait of Barack Obama. Kahinde Wiley is known to paint celebrities such as Questlove, LL Cool J, and Snoop Dogg. 

Models, supermodels, photographers, and fashion magnates (Helmut Newton, Georgio Armani, ...

Music: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, jazz legends, Les Paul (inventor of the Gibson guitar) .... 

Robert A. Heinlein - Jazz, precursor to Kurt Cobain's The Man Who Sold The World, Connection to Alex, if any TBD, Author of The Rolling Stones - Trouble with Tribbles, inspiration for Star Trek

Similarly to Patricia Clooney, aunt of George Clooney, Alex may also have a loose connection to Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis' aunt. Research needed.


Alex Falck connections to Presidents, dignitaries, and royalty - Alliance for Young Artists and Writers Award that Alex received for recognition of watercolor painting in high school - on the jurors panel was Tatiana Von Fursternburg, the creator of the film Tanner Hall. 

German House of Von Furstenberg - Tatiana von Furstenberg, creator of the film Tanner Hall - daughter of Diane Von Fursternberg, the Belgian fashion designer with fashion house DVF and wife of Prince Egon Von Furstenberg.

Forbes, Robert Warren Miller - via the Von Furstenberg family, Alex with a loose connection to the co-founder and duty free billionaire tycoon Duty Free Shops (DFS Group) found in airports around the world

The Miller Sisters - daughters of Robert Warren Miller - Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece and Princess of Denmark (interned with Andy Warhol in high school), Alexandra Von Fursternberg, Pia Getty (American spokeswoman for cosmetics company, Sephora). The Miller sisters grew up in with their parents in The Carlyle, owned and operated by Peter Jay Sharp (both the Sharp Foundation and the Von Furstenberg name represented on Alex's art award from high school).

Crown Prince of Jordan, Hussein bin Abdullah - Hussein was a classmate of a friend of Alex's at Georgetown University

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - Alex had the pleasure to be in his presence at a healthcare symposium at the French embassy in Washington, DC

Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush - Alex received awards for academic excellence from each president while in middle school and high school. 

President Richard Nixon - At Georgetown University, Alex had a human resources professor that was a Chief Nursing Officer at Inova Fairfax Hospital, that once received a direct call from President Richard Nixon while he was in office, thanking her for her work in mending and healing an airline pilot, a Captain Hupe, that was subject of a hijacking attack.

President Jimmy Carter - Alex's mother met President Jimmy Carter after winning a bubble gum eating contest, much like the Ovaltine contest in A Christmas Story, which Alex's mother also consumed in her childhood.

Queen Elizabeth II, through dairy farmer Don Ferguson - trusted supplier of Guernsey cow cream  for her majesty's tea time. Alex spent an evening at their farmhouse home in New Zealand, and Don Ferguson's wife treated Alex to Pavlova cake, named after ballerina Anna Pavlova, and provided a meal of salmon for breakfast. Hanging on the wall of their home was a photograph of the Queen with Don and his wife, taken on the front porch. While there, Alex snapped a photograph of Alex's sister, then, just 13, standing on the porch in the same spot, also pictured with Don and his wife at the farm. Both Alex and sister were given opportunities to hand feed, or bottle feed, the calves that were offspring to the cows that produced the milk product sent over to England for the Queen. 

Alex may have a connection to the second president of the fifth republic, former President of France, Georges Pompidou, for which Centre Pompidou is named in Paris, France. Research needed.

President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton - Alex has been in the presence of Bill Clinton twice: at the age of four, at the New York State Fairgrounds, atop the shoulders of Alex's father, who shook the hand of the president through a crowd of people that day. Alex came across Bill Clinton, a second time, pleasantly surprised to see him walk past Alex in front of M&M's World at Las Vegas Boulevard. Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, at the time, was present on the campus of Syracuse University while Alex was enjoying a day as student there, studying on the quad. 

Alex shook Senator Chuck Schumer's hand at the New York State Fairgrounds historic train display, outside the petting zoo, around the time of his visit to Ithaca's Cinemapolis, where Alex goes to the movies, on occasion. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was there to promote the Save Our Screens program through the Save Our Stages Act,  a grant program for venue operators of historic movie theaters, at a time when Alex began to consider a career transition to entertainment. Alex's best friend and VP running mate for class president in high school that always had a fascination with trains, grew up to be the Communications Director for Pete Buttigieg, his number one aide for his 2020 presidential run. Oddly enough, Buttigieg now serves as U.S. Secretary for Transportation, and has worked with Senator Chuck Schumer on the Hudson River $16B Gateway Project, designed to implement train stations and better connect New Jersey with New York City. Although Alex dropped out of the race upon graduation, Alexander Falck was voted by peers in high school as most likely to become President of the United States of America (1 in class of 1,152 students).



Alexander Falck

Personal life

Alex's family origin or heritage comes from Bohemia or Czechia (formerly the Czech Republic), Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia), Germany and Pennsylvania Dutch, and Italy.

In Alex's free time, Alex immensely enjoys painting landscapes, cooking, mountain biking, and playing outdoor basketball. 


A Summary

Connections to historic figures, presidents, actors, musicians, and more:

Connection to Sir Edmund Hillary-
While visiting New Zealand in Alex's youth, Alex found a statue dedicated to world explorer Sir Edmund Hillary (one of only 2, featured at the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, NZ), for which the Hillary Step is named north of 8000m, having climbed the peak of Everest in Nepal in 1953. Alex has dreams of accomplishing a triple crown climb, in the style of Everest sprinter Marc Batard, up the rock face of Nuptse, over Lohtse, and a climb of Mt. Everest's peak from base camp. 

Connections to goddess of Victory Nike, and the Nike clothing brand

Winged Victory of Somathrace, replica of statue in the Louvre Daru Staircase

Ephesus, Nike statue at Library of Celsus

David B. Falk and Michael Jordan


Benny Golson - saxophonist, Terminal1 album, cameo appearance in movie The Terminal, starring actor Tom Hanks

Thelonius Monk - photograph, along with autograph "T. Monk" can be seen in a Planters peanuts can in the film The Terminal, with actor Tom Hanks

Dizzy Gillespie

Coleman Hawkins

Lester Young

Charles Mingus

Oscar Pettiford

Gerry Mulligan

Count Basie


Red Allen - was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been claimed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong. Short stint with Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and joined Pee Wee Russell on the television program Sound of Jazz and led the house band at Metropole Cafe in New York.

Buster Bailey - was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been claimed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong, having played with him in 1923 in King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. Buster Bailey gained his start in W.C. Handy's Orchestra, Handy being one of the most influential songwriters in the United States, often referred to as The Father of The Blues, and is in the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.

Count Basie (individual) - was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. Count Basie was the first African-American man to receive a Grammy Award, in 1959.


Under the direction of jazz trombonist William Henry "Bill" Hughes, at the Liverpool High School auditorium, while Alex was a 1st trombone player under the direction of James Spadafore for the LHS Symphonic Band, Alex had the pleasure of hearing the Count Basie Orchestra. Bill Hughes has contributed to fifteen of the Count Basie Orchestra Grammy award-winning recordings.

Alex's band performed at the 12th annual LHS Jumpin' Jazz Jam in New York with the Count Basie Orchestra and Chalmette High School of New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2009, as part of Operation Southern Comfort for Hurricane Katrina relief. In exchange, Alex and the band then traveled to New Orleans to play with Wynton Marsalis at Chalmette, with the Count Basie Orchestra in tow to provide an atelier. 


Emmett Berry - He became a member of Fletcher Henderson's band and later replaced Roy Eldridge as soloist. In the 1940s, he worked in Eldridge's Little Jazz Trumpet Ensemble. He also played in Count Basie's band. He is known as an accompanist for Billie Holiday and being on television's Sound of Jazz.

Art Blakey - Art Blakey - drummer and band leader

Blakey was a mentor to Chuck Mangione and made a name for himself in the 1940s in the big bands of Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine. He then worked with bebop musicians Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. In the mid-1950s, Horace Silver and Blakey formed the Jazz Messengers, a group which he led for the next 35 years. Blakey was an incubator of young talent, with Wynton Marsalis among his students.

Alex Falck has two loose connections to Les Paul -
Lester William Polsfuss, known as Les Paul, was an inventor and pioneer of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, that served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul guitar. At Liverpool High School concert band and jazz ensemble, Alex played trombone with guest conductor John Pizzarelli, who played alongside Les Paul. Art Blakey, drummer, band leader, incubator of young talent, and of the 57 musicians from the Golden Age of Jazz in the photograph "A Great Day in Harlem"(1958), of which Alex has connections to some of the players through John Pizzarelli and others. Art Blakey's student Chuck Mangione, who had a voiceover role on the television show King of The Hill and a jazz-pop single "Feels So Good" that a 1980 issue of Current Biography called the most recognized tune since "Michelle" by The Beatles. In 1997, Mangione did a session with Les Paul in which he was told of how he beat out Paul for the 'Album of the Year' award. The photograph "A Great Day in Harlem"  also serves as inspiration for "A Great Day in Hip Hop," featuring Shaquille O'Neal, Busta Rhymes, Common, CeeLo Green, and Mos Def from the movie Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Alex has seen Shaquille O'Neal play against Carmelo Anthony and Steve Nash, and heard CeeLo Green perform on a parade float in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade alongside Neil Diamond).


Lawrence Brown - was an American jazz trombonist from California best remembered for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra. He was a session musician throughout his career, and also recorded albums under his own name.

Scoville Browne - saxophone and clarinetist

Buck Clayton - was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra, that moved to Shanghai to escape racism in the 1930's to become bandleader of the "Harlem Gentlemen" in Shanghai. Clayton is credited for helping to close the gap between traditional Chinese music and shidaiqu/mandopop. Shidaiqu is a type of Chinese popular music that is a fusion of Chinese folk, American jazz, and Hollywood film music that originated in Shanghai in the 1920s, and mandopop being Mandarin popular music. The story of Buck Clayton and his Harlem Gentlemen is  interesting, and the legendary fight with Jack Riley (Pittsburgh Penguins coach) at the Canidrome Ballroom, is a fascinating one and is part of the lore and legend of Shanghai’s Jazz Age in the 1930s. Buck Clayton was perhaps the most famous American jazz musician to have played in Shanghai during the city’s “golden age”. A trumpeter hailing from Kansas, Clayton and his band were recruited by another legendary figure, stride pianist Teddy Weatherford, to sail to Shanghai from Los Angeles, and to play at the Canidrome Ballroom in 1934. The gig lasted around six months, until a fracas with the equally legendary American Jack Riley (coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins) who got Buck and his band booted from the ballroom. The China Press in 1934 labeled Teddy Weatherford one of the greatest and most popular musicians ever to appear in Shanghai. 


Bill Crump

Vic Dickenson

Roy Eldridge

Art Farmer

Bud Freeman

Dizzy Gillespie

Tyree Glenn

Benny Golson

Sonny Greer

Johnny Griffin

Gigi Gryce

Coleman Hawkins

J. C. Heard

Jay C. Higginbotham

Milt Hinton

Chubby Jackson

Hilton Jefferson

Osie Johnson

Hank Jones

Jo Jones

Jimmy Jones

Taft Jordan

Max Kaminsky

Gene Krupa

Eddie Locke

Marian McPartland

Charles Mingus

Miff Mole

Thelonious Monk

Gerry Mulligan

Oscar Pettiford

Rudy Powell

Luckey Roberts

Sonny Rollins

Jimmy Rushing

Pee Wee Russell

Sahib Shihab

Horace Silver

Zutty Singleton

Stuff Smith

Rex Stewart

Maxine Sullivan

Joe Thomas

Wilbur Ware

Dicky Wells

George Wettling

Ernie Wilkins

Mary Lou Williams

Lester Young


A Great Day in Harlem

The group included Dizzy Gillespie (for which the jazz lounge at Lincoln Center in NYC is named), Art Blakey, Thelonius Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charles Mingus, Oscar Pettiford, Gerry Mulligan and Count Basie. Alex would like to learn the alto saxophone and dreams of playing Dizzy's Club, the Appel Lounge, and Rose Theater in New York)

The only remaining member from the group photo is Sonny Rollins, who is known for playing with Miles Davis and saxophonist John Coltrane. 

Connections to Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra Jr, Dean Martin



Early life

Alex as a child was a webelo cub scout, and participated in camping and pinewood derby car races. 

Attending church services each Sunday, Alex was an altar boy for preparation of the Eucharist, and volunteered to play tenor trombone to accompany the church choir. As one of six people in the church band that played to an audience of roughly 120 patrons each Sunday, this helped Alex become more comfortable playing in front of audiences. Alex's style of play was not improvisational, however,  school assignments requiring occasional sight-reading of sheet music, and the concert band at school prioritized classical music arrangements for recitals. 

Once a year, a treat from Alex's mother was a birthday lunch at Johnny Rockets, for a tuna melt and a heath bar milkshake at Destiny USA Shopping Mall, formerly Carousel Center Shopping Mall. The mall opened on October 15, 1990, as Carousel Center, named for the 1908 Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) carousel, from the same manufacturer of Jane's Carousel at Pebble Beach, in DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. PTC carousel #18, still operating within the mall, Alex enjoyed as a child in the early 1990's for which a quarter was exchanged for a "good for one ride" wooden token. 

While in line for Johnny Rockets, Alex once overheard two women discussing the release of an upcoming film, Titanic (1997), featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. The conversation, as Alex remembers it, held next to the Johnny Rockets "wait here to be seated sign": a woman in conversation with her friend, "I hear there's a new film featuring an up-and-coming actor named Leonardo DiCaprio," with the second replying "Oh, I haven't heard of them," before DiCaprio reached global prominence. On the third floor, the shopping mall contains a 19-screen Regal Cinemas, and June 14, 2013, opened IMAX and RPX screens that feature a separate entrance and concession stand, which now have 4DX capabilities as of 2024.

Trips to Universal Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles - Alex saw the movie prop from Apollo 11 (featuring Tom Hanks and crew), King Kong (2005), the log cabin from The Great Outdoors (1988), starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd, the gate to Jurassic Park with Steven Spielberg's "Roar" signature dated 1996, the pink Whoville set from Jim Carrey's How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Alex was on set where Tom Cruise filmed the plane crash scene from War of The Worlds, the Falls Lake climactic wall from The Truman Show, Jaws Lake or Amity Lake, also known as Cabot Cove from the film Casper. 

Disney World in Orlando - Space mountain, etc.

Las Vegas, and Ocean City, Maryland.


Las Vegas

Alex's grandfather, Charles, after his divorce, moved out to Las Vegas and remarried his wife, Virginia, with Alex as a ringbearer at the wedding. Virginia worked as a blackjack dealer at The Mint and Palace Station casinos, and her favorite drink was a tonic and gin. Over the years,  Alex has been to the Bellagio, the Venetian (Alex has ridden the gondala), Treasure Island, The Excalibur, The Stratosphere,  Caesar's Palace, Planet Hollywood, MGM Grand, Paris Las Vegas, Luxor, New York New York Hotel and Casino (has ridden the rollercoaster), the Golden Nugget, The Tropicana, the Silverton, Trump International, and Fremont Street Experience. Alex has seen the Stardust, Algiers Alladin hotel and casino sign, and the old Sahara sign at the Las Vegas Neon Museum, where they housed discarded, and yet treasured, signs from Las Vegas' heyday.

Alex has come across Dolly Parton and Will Smith at baggage claim at McCarran airport, in Las Vegas, and walked past Hugh Jackman in the Atlanta airport.

Shows Alex has attended in Las Vegas: Wayne Newton, Criss Angel Mindfreak, David Copperfield, Blue Man Group,  Donny and Marie Osmond, Cirque du Soleil, Barry Manilow, Penn & Teller,  Carrot Top,  Jersey Boys.

Alex has been to the Las Vegas sign, circa 2005 found a roadside sign advertising the pianist Liberace (an artifact from what appeared to be left behind from the 50's, still advertising his concert show) and inspiration for Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. 

Alex was in Las Vegas the day that Roy Horn was critically injured by Mantacore, the white tiger, and was at the glass window of the tiger exhibit at The Mirage at the time of the attack.  Alex was on a duck boat tour in Boston, Massachusetts at the time of Michael Jackson's death in 2009. The following week, Alex was visiting Alex's grandfather, Charles, in Las Vegas, and noticed that the hotel was still advertising Jackson's Las Vegas residency concert scheduled that week. To be clear, Michael Jackson had just passed the week beforehand, and this was before the tribute shows could come anywhere close to being scheduled. 

Nina Davaluri, Miss America, now actress, first Indian American contestant to win both the Miss New York followed by the Miss America Competition, and was present at Alex's high school graduation party. Both Alex and Alex's mother worked with Nina's father, before his passing.

Alex's best friend's brother attended New York University (one of the first people to own the Apple ipod Classic), and had a roommate that was friends with Stephani Germanotta, later taking on the stage name Lady Gaga.


Interest in Aerospace and Space Exploration

As a child, Alex grew up playing with Pan Am toy planes, much like from the bathtub scene with Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Catch Me If You Can, Alex at an airport duty free shop, that was founded by Robert Warren Miller. 

Alex kept maps of constellations in the bedroom that sparked an interest in air travel and space exploration. While visiting grandparents that lived in the DMV area, Alex's favorite place to visit was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. At the Air and Space Museum, Alex has seen Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle, walked aboard the Saturn V, seen Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis plane. Alex in elementary school was tasked with completing a book report, and chose to create a photo book of The Spirit of St. Louis, the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in history.

In college, Alex made it a point to visit the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex at the Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia to see the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Wright Brothers planes under renovation (both planes 1 and 2), the Concorde, the SR-71 Blackbird, and Disney Star Wars X - wing starfighters. 

Alex has boarded a double decker Boeing while on vacation, has been inside a decommisioned B-29 Boeing superfortress, and of a Guppy transport plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. 

While a student at Syracuse University, Alex attended a lecture by Eileen Collins, the first female to command a NASA shuttle. She flew the space shuttle as pilot in 1995 aboard Discovery, Atlantis in 1997 that docked with the  Russian Space Station MIR, became the first woman commander of a U.S. spacecraft with shuttle mission Columbia in 1999 for the deployment of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Her final space flight was as commander of Discovery in 2005, the "Return to flight mission" after the tragic loss of Columbia.

Alex, as a child, witnessed a shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. 


Education

Syracuse University, David B. Falk School of Sport and Human Dynamics, formerly the College of Ecology, B.Sc. in Public Health
Georgetown University, School of Nursing and Health Studies, St Mary's Hall, Master of Health Systems Administration
Liverpool High School, graduated with honors


Liverpool High School (2006 - 2010)

In secondary school, Alex was active in the art club, ultimate frisbee club, rugby club, recruited to junior varsity basketball (opted out to prioritize studies), engaged in night skiing at ski club, snowboarding, presented for news crew announcements each morning, science olympiad, placing first in national competition at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was a book drive organizer, and as an honors student was recognized for academic excellence in junior and national honor societies.

Alex was an emergency department volunteer and enrolled in an extra curricular program for those interested in working in the medical sciences, often skipping lunch periods to shadow angioplasty and stent insertion surgeries at the local hospital, in preparation to apply to pre-medical programs. 

Alex was especially active in the Liverpool Central School District Fine Arts Department, taking music theory, was a member of Concert Band, Liverpool Central School District Honor Band, Concert Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Stage Band, the middle school marching band, Brass Quartet, Jazz Ensemble, New York State Honor Band, Symphonic Band, and was asked to accompany the stringed instruments of the Symphonic Orchestra with six other peers. Alex played fourth, third, second, and 1st seat tenor trombone, and paid one's dues in Concert Band in ninth grade, advanced through Concert Ensemble sophomore year, and landed in both Symphonic Band and Symphonic Orchestra in junior and senior years of high school, instructed by director James Spadafore. 

While Alex didn't take many advanced placement courses in high school, AP Macroeconomics being the exception, Alex enrolled in American History from a local university called SUNY Cortland (of the public State University of New York system) Alex, visited the Chittenango Boat Landing Museum and the Erie Canal, as well as enrolled in Psychology from Syracuse University. Alex, effectively, took Psychology twice: once in high school that Alex could then transfer for college credit, and again, upon matriculation. This provided exposure to university level teaching at an earlier age, Alex with university professors as early as 10th grade of high school. 

Alex took honors Biology, Chemistry, Health, Anatomy, Biotechnology, Earth Science, English & Writing, Spanish, Public Speaking, Global History, Home and Careers, Algebra I & II, Geometry & Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Studio Art I & II, Drawing and Painting I & II, Ceramics. In Earth Science, Alex was invited on field trips to Cayuga Lake to test water quality and salinity levels, as well as to the Liverpool Cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places to take soil samples for soil studies. In Physical Education class, topics covered included archery, bowling, swimming, weightlifting, track & field, and ballroom dancing taught by U.S. Ballroom Dancing Championship medalist, Otis Jennings. 

At the end of each semester, Alex's mother would drive Alex to the area Krispy Kreme donut shop for their regular promotion of each "A" gets you a free donut. Alex credits Krispy Kreme for incentivizing hard work throughout high school, with Alex cashing in a report card for six complementary donuts each semester. 


Rowing

Alex was first introduced to the sport of rowing by a friend in middle school through the Syracuse Chargers Club learn-to-row at the Syracuse University Ten Eyck Road Boathouse, Seneca River, and Onondaga Lake. While Alex remained interested in the sport while entering freshman year, Alex was hesitant to sign up for the crew team. Alex waited to apply until 11th grade, joined the novice team with freshman, but was quickly recognized by the head coach as having potential and promoted to varsity mid-year. Alex learned quickly, was placed in a leadership position and rowed port side stroke seat (eighth seat), setting the pace and rhythm for a Vespoli varsity eight,  and was a two seat in a heavyweight varsity senior four that placed fifth in state competition in Saratoga Springs, New York. Alex was unique in that over the course of two years developed an affinity for both the bow and stern of the boat, in other words, being placed at either the one seat or eight seat, able to row double scull, and had a unique finesse and talent required to row alternating, either port or starboard, as one pleased. Alex competed in the Syracuse Chargers Invitational, Ithaca Invitational at Cornell University, Saratoga Springs Invitational, SRAA New York State Championship, and attended the Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) National Championship to support the lightweight eight. Alex joined the team at winter training at A.V. Zogg Middle School, or Liverpool Community Church, where the team set aside church pews to exercise in the frigid abandoned building's basement, able to see your breath from the cold. Ergometer training was done to reduce split time (Alex's personal record settled around 1:42), they completed superman and wall-sit plyometrics, ran stairs, and completed timed mile runs in ice and snow. A varsity letter was awarded for rowing at Liverpool High School in 2010, and at the Liverpool High School rowing coach's recommendation, was a Syracuse University rowing scouting prospect upon graduation. Alex trained at Archbold Gymnasium Tank, the first indoor rowing tank in the United States, installed in 1909.

Basketball

Alex worked very hard academically, and to balance out the stress of homework and workload from high school, was often found practicing basketball in the driveway. A classmate and good friend persuaded Alex to attend junior varsity basketball tryouts with him because he lacked the confidence, and Alex obliged to provide moral support. At the day of tryouts, Alex received word that Alex's friend had broken his arm and couldn't attend tryouts that day. At that point, Alex wanted to return home, but decided to finish tryouts anyway. Fairly tall, slender, and lengthy, at 6'1", Alex was the third tallest student present that day, and "accidentally" made the team. Alex broke news to the coach a week later, deciding to forgo the opportunity to prioritize classwork, instead. In older age, Alex regretted this decision. Alex had friends that played on the varsity basketball team that, at only 5'9", routinely dunked over Alex in driveway play and liked to tease Alex by breakdancing like Eddie Gordo from Tekken 3, while maintaining their basketball dribble. 

In elementary school, the evening of the 2003 NCAA National Championship game, a storm left behind a power outage and Alex in the dark with no choice but to listen to the game through a battery-powered radio. Wrapped in a blanket beside the wood fireplace, Alex heard Hakeem Warrick's block that left Kirk Hinrich of the University of Kansas staring on as Syracuse secured the title win. Over the years, between games attended in elementary and middle school to see Jim Boeheim coach Carmelo Anthony, season tickets in junior and senior years of high school, student season tickets in freshman and sophomore years, combined with two years in the NCAA Division I basketball pep-band, Sour Citrus Society, in junior and senior years at university, it totaled to more than 100 games attended. While in the crowd, family and friends could spot Alex on television for ESPNU College Gameday, often hosted by commentators Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas.


Football

While Alex enjoyed tossing around footballs with the neighbor and attending varsity football games at Liverpool High School, Alex did not play the game outside of occasion flag football. Alex's grandfather had season tickets to the Washington Redskins, where Alex first learned the rules of football from Alex's grandfather, Charles, at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. Alex's maternal grandmother claims a bloodline connection with Vince Lombardi. Outside of American History class, Alex flirted with and held friendly banter with the daughter of NFL tight end Pete Holohan, who competed against Joe Montana and 11 other quarterbacks for the top spot for Notre Dame University. Holohan then went on to help Joe Montana contribute to Notre Dame's 1977 national title-winning team.

Awards and accolades: President's Award for Academic Excellence and Physical Fitness, Scholastic Art and Writing Award (Visual Arts, Watercolor Painting), Citation for Excellence in Musical Performance, Varsity Letter for Academic Excellence, Varsity Athletic Award for Rowing, 

Alex Falck was recognized by The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and their Scholastic Art and Writing Award in 2009 - sponsored by the New York Times, Accenture, IBM, Maurice R. Robinson Fund (founder and Chairman of Scholastic Magazines), Jack Kent Cooke Foundation (former Washington Redskins owner), The Lehman Brothers Foundation, Oracle Corporation, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, Anonymous, AXA Foundation, Bank of America, Dell, HarperCollins publishers, the Jean and Louis Dreyfus Foundation (Chairman Gérard Louis Dreyfus, father of actress Julia Louis Dreyfus), and the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Trust (world-renowned twentieth century art collectors). The Scholastic Art and Writing Award is considered to be the nation's longest running and most prestigious recognition program for young teens and creative minds in the United States, U.S. territories, and Canada. Alex's art teacher, Stacey Pope, nominated Alex's watercolor painting for recognition. Alumni of the program and jurors on the panel have included Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, David Sedaris, Judy Blume, Bill Murray, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Avedon, Ken Burns, Stephen King, Truman Capote, Robert Redford, and Andy Warhol.


Andy Warhol's The Factory:

George Abagnalo



Past jurors of Alliance for Young Artists and Writers:

Philip-Lorca diCorcia (Sigourney Weaver with chicken, Dolce and Gabbana, 1996), Mary Ellen Mark (movie set photographer, Nicole Kidman, Australia 2007, Dustin Hoffman on Tootsie,1982, Eddie Murphy from Trading Places,1983, Mother Theresa feeding a man at the Home for the Dying, 1980, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on location at the Oregon State Hospital, 1974, Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen takes Charlie McCarthy out of his suitcase, 1978, Lisa Marie with chihuahua from Mar's Attacks!, 2001, Ralph Machio, 2009, Clayton Moore - The Lone Ranger, 1992, Patrick Swayze in a dress, 1995, author Danielle Steel, 1981, Christopher Reeve in wheelchair, 1999, Arthur Miller, 1996, Maya Lin,1994), William Saroyan (short stories, The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1941)), Sergio Troncoso, Frank McCourt (Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Angela's Ashes), Kiki Smith (American artist), George Plimpton (writer), Esmeralda Santiago (author of When I Was Puerto Rican), Tatiana von Fürstenberg (filmmaker, Tanner Hall, 2009), Madeleine L’Engle (author of A Winkle in Time, twice adapted by Walt Disney), Faith Ringgold (American painter, childhood friend of saxophonist Sonny Rollins), Billy Collins (poet laureate of the United States of America), Edward Sorel (cartoonist), Edwidge Danticat (Girl Rising with Anne Hathaway), Donald Lipski, Carolyn Forché, Ned Vizzini, and Michael Bierut.

Alumni and past winners, various categories:


Amanda Gorman


Hockey

Over the years, Alex has been in the presence of Wayne Gretzy, Alexander Ovechkin, and Sidney Crosby. 

Baseball

Players Alex has seen play: Ichiro Suzuki (Yankees), Max Scherzer (Nationals), Robert Clemens (Yankees, Cy Young), Stephen Strasburg (Nationals), Curt Schilling (Red Sox), Boog Powell (Orioles), Bryce Harper (Nationals). Alex was in attendance at Camden Yards for Cal Ripken Jr.'s final game (Orioles), and Alex's family happened to be driving past the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame the moment of Ripken's induction ceremony.

Syracuse Baseball

Stars Park

P&C Stadium

Syracuse Mets - history with the Yankees


Jackie Robinson

Babe Ruth

Lou Gehrig

Joe DiMaggio, husband to Marilyn Monroe


Richard Avedon, a portrait photographer and, in 1992, became the first staff photographer of The New Yorker. He worked for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Elle, specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater, and dance. He proceeded to become the lead photographer at Vogue and photographed most of the covers from 1973 until Anna Wintour became editor in chief in late 1988. Alex's grandfather had a Kodak Box Brownie camera, a similar camera to that used by Richard Avedon to take portraits of many famous people. Connection to Alex - Richard Avedon was among the panelists of The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, from which Alex received an award for a watercolor painting in high school, a painting that Alex drew with one's eyes closed.


Avedon with 12 American Vogue covers


Photographs Richard Avedon is known for:

Dior's Dovima with Elephants, 1955
Gianni Versace Pile of beautiful people, Versace campaign, 1982
Photographed the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign featuring a fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields
Ronald Fischer, beekeeper, 1981, inspiration for Angelina Jolie's 60,000 bees photograph
Whitney Houston (cover of Whitney), 1987
Hikaru Utada (cover of Addicted to You), 1999
Marilyn Monroe, actress, photographed in a sequin dress in 1957 for a promotion her film The Prince and The Showgirl
Tom Ford, 2002
Andy Warhol, painter, Alex has seen some of his best-known works including the silkscreen paintings Campbell's Soup Cans (1962) and Marilyn Diptych (1962). Andy Warhol and Members of the Factory, New York, 1969
Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, 1981
Charlize Theron, nude, 2004
John F. Kennedy, 1960, before his presidential term
Christopher Reeve, in his wheelchair
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor), athlete 1963
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1964, 34th President of the United States of America, 13th President of Columbia University. In 1957, following the Soviet launch of Sputnik (Alex has seen it with one's own eyes, in the night sky above), Eisenhower led the American response which included the creation of NASA.
Ezra Pound, who helped discover and shape the work of contemporaries such as H. D., Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce. Alex's grandmother, while traveling across Ireland, stumbled upon the tombstone of poet W.B. Yeats.
The Beatles, 1967
Countess Christina Bellin of Rome, socialite that held parties with Andy Warhol, Jacob Javits, Zsa Zsa Gabor
Homage to Munkacsi, Carmen, coat by Pierre Cardin, Paris, 1957
Audrey Hepburn, actress
Brigitte Bardot, actress, 1959
Karen Blixen - author of Out of Africa (1937), pen names Isak Dinesen, Tania Blixen.
Marian Anderson, singer for First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Lincoln Memorial concert
The Chicago Seven, anti-Vietnam war protesters
Sly Stone (cover of the album Fresh), 1973
Asha Puthli, (She Loves to Hear the Music Album back cover), 1974
Muddy Waters, cover of Hard Again, 1977
The Vicomtesse Jacqueline de Ribes and Raymundo de Larrain, 1961
Buster Keaton, silent film actor
Nadja Auermann, German model
Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey, is an American actress and former model photographed by Richard Avedon. She played the Bond girl Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), with Roger Moore. She is married to former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.
Avedon created two well known sets of portraits of The Beatles, including The Beatles LP, referred to colloquially as the White Album, is the ninth studio album and only double album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968.

Alex's grandmother's ex-fiance, while working in the Washington, DC area, was approached by Maya Lin. Lin had requested of him black granite source material for a new project, what would later become the Vietnam War Memorial. 


Baseball

While Alex only played for the YMCA "Toronto Blue Jays" t-ball team, there is an abundance of baseball history that has passed through Alex's hometown of Syracuse, New York.


---

Syracuse University (2010 - 2014)

Syracuse University, David B. Falk School of Sport and Human Dynamics, formerly the College of Ecology, B.Sc. in Public Health

Alex Falck was accepted into the pre-medical sciences program and matriculated to the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University in 2010, with fervent aspirations of becoming a physician.

Basketball

The basketball shot clock was invented in Alex's hometown of Syracuse, New York, and there is a statue commemorating the implementation of this technology downtown at Armory Square. 

While Alex considers oneself a novice basketball player, in Archbold Gymnasium. while practicing with club ball at Syracuse University, Alex once dropped thirteen consecutive back to back three point shots while running full court with friends setting pick and pop, or pick and roll ball screens (a full 39 points), reminiscent of Tracy McGrady scoring thirteen points in thirty-five seconds. Alex will always remember the day of the pick-up game that started with two people waiting to sub-in on the sidelines, and ended with people running through the door and telling friends "you have to see Alex!" More than forty people crowded around to see Alex from the sidelines that day, chanting and praising Alex for a game well played. 


Pre-med program

Alex's coursework in freshman and sophomore years were quite rigorous and, frankly,  Alex became overwhelmed and had difficulty adjusting. Alex felt lonely, and earned lower grades than those to which one was accustomed. By junior year, Alex had grown tired of the science curriculum required for entry into medical school and became a transfer student to The College of Ecology to join their public health department, soon renamed the College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

Alex's course of study included: Genetics, Molecular & Cell Biology, Biopsychology, Life Sciences Calculus I & II, Psychology & Foundations of Human Behavior, Philosophy & Human Nature, Academic Writing & Critical Research, General Biology and Chemistry Lectures I & II, with Laboratory, Organic Chemistry Lecture I & II, with Laboratory, Personal and Social Health, Health Promotion Across Lifespan, Influencing Healthy Behavior, Community and Environmental Health, Community Health Education, Community-Based Health Policy & Research, Health Disparities and Vulnerable Populations, Health Literacy, Implementation and Evaluation of Health Programs, Hinduism, Physics, Art and Architecture, Epidemiology, Nutrition, Public Health Admin Systems, Public Health Ethics, Sport Management, and completed a capstone internship in primary care and physician practice management.

While at Syracuse, Alex took communications at S.I. Newhouse, widely regarded as the top school for public communications in the country, at the time. The communications school was named in 1964, after a donation from American publisher Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. He was the founder of Advance Publications and father of Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., the Chairman of Condé Nast known to have worked closely with Anna Wintour of Vogue magazine. After graduating, Alex has visited the production facilities dedicated as Dick Clark Studios, that had Oprah Winfrey at the ribbon cutting in 2014. I.M. Pei, architect of the Louvre Museum in Paris, designed the Syracuse University Newhouse Communications Center 1 and, in brutalist fashion, The Everson Museum of Art in downtown Syracuse, New York. Born in China in 1917, Pei traveled to the U.S. in 1935 and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before creating his architectural firm, I.M. Pei & Associates, in 1955. Pei was commissioned to design Alex's Everson Museum in 1961, the first of many museums to bear the architect’s style, and opened in 1968. Alex, as a toddler, grew up going downtown to watch outdoor movies projected onto the facade of the brutalist style building. In addition to his work for Boston’s John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Pei also designed Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


Public health program

healthcare, public health, and an interest in specializing in hospital administration

Alex's courses in the life sciences, for the most part, were held at the Syracuse Life Sciences Complex, newly constructed in 2008, and in the Hall of Languages (1871), that housed the College of Arts and Sciences, at the time of its dedication was referred to "as fine a structure as the American college world could boast."

Alex studied molecular and cellular biology at an interesting time, post President Bill Clinton announcing initiatives involving the sequencing of DNA for next generation cures. American-born biochemist-geneticist J. Craig Venter is acknowledged, along with geneticist Francis Sellers Collins, as being a primary force behind the Human Genome Project. Venter, with private funding, and Collins, with public funding, independently mapped and sequenced human DNA. Interestingly enough, both President Bill Clinton, as well as J. Craig Venter, separately, have presented commencement speeches at Alex's alma mater, with Alex owning Francis Collins book, titled Language of God.  Collins has served as the director of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where Alex held public trust security clearances and worked in government contracting with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the United States Postal Service (USPS). Alex, growing up, had a fascination with Collins as one of the few devout followers of the Christian faith in the scientific community, and owned his book, The Language of God. Alex's mother, a devout Catholic, and Alex's father, in a very juxtaposed manner, was not. Alex was left sandwiched in the middle, attending church services each Sunday, was an altar boy for preparation of the Eucharist, and volunteered playing tenor trombone to accompany the church choir. Conflicted about one's own faith while entering university, Alex carried Collins' book everywhere, much like a bible. Oddly enough, the book, The Language of God, was the first to introduce Alex to the concept of agnosticism. Alex carried forward with studies in the pre-medical scientific community with such a stance for much of young adulthood.

Alex volunteered as an emergency medical technician - basic (EMT-B) for the student-run ambulance corps, Syracuse University Ambulance (SUA), for which Alex twice received the Chancellor's Award for Public Engagement and Scholarship that recognizes students who, in partnership with organizations and citizens in the community, have made significant contributions to the public good through innovative scholarship and community engagement. Alex was recognized for four years of volunteer service, for coursework contributing to on-campus alcohol poisoning prevention campaigns, as well as to HIV reduction strategies and sexual health education for communities in Grahamstown, South Africa, utilized and implemented by other students in Syracuse study abroad. While volunteering as an EMT-basic and ambulance driver at SUA, Alex worked alongside the granddaughter of the inventor of the Twinkie, James A. Dewar, and, presumably, heiress to the Twinkie fortune. One of the more intriguing emergency calls that Alex responded to as an ambulance driver during four years on campus included a response to a young man having fallen over a top-floor railing of , down to the basement, more than fifty feet or roughly five full floors, requiring c-spine immobilization. 

Alex took Psychology at White Hall, taught by Dr. Tibor Palfai, Professor Emeritus and psychologist at Boston Medical Center (BMC), who claimed to be a direct student of a pupil of Sigmund Freud. Presumably, also where Alex took chemistry finals, this was in the very same auditorium that United States President Joseph R. Biden studied law at Syracuse in 1968.

Ivan Mestrovic  - Regrettably, while Alex's friends planned for a study abroad option, Alex remained at the university all four years. In older age, however, Alex traveled to Croatia with Alex's grandmother to see where their family was from. Alex's travels to Croatia - Gregory of Nin
Nike, Winged Victory of Samothrace - Louvres connection


Commencement and convocation 2014

Michael Jordan and his agent David B. Falk present, Alex's family seated not far from them


People Alex was in the presence of on or near campus, at lectures or otherwise:

Roz Savage, National Geographic Explorer of the Year, other awardees include primatologist Jane Goodall
Stephen Pinker, Harvard linguistics and semantics lecturer
Col Eileen Collins, first female to command space shuttle, also an alumnus of Syracuse.
Michael Jordan, NBA basketball star, alongside David B. Falk, college benefactor and sports agent responsible for negotiating his Nike shoe deal
Comedians: Seth Myers, Aziz Ansari, Jerry Seinfeld, John Pinette
Apolo Ohno, Olympic speedskater
Jim Boeheim, Carmelo Anthony, Basketball legends 
Oprah Winfrey, ribbon cutting of Dick Clark Studios at #1 ranked Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University
Alec Baldwin and Stephen Baldwin, actors
John Berman, CNN, Alex was presented the Chancellor's Award for Public Engagement and Scholarship at Syracuse University from Berman in 2014, for Alex's time volunteering with the Syracuse University Ambulance Corps.
Bill Clinton, 42nd President of The United States of America
Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, at the time

Notable alumni recognized as having graduated from Syracuse University: President Joe Biden (46th President of the United States of America), David Bing (former Mayor of Detroit, NBA Hall of Fame), David Muir (ABC World News), Bob Costas (sportscaster), Ted Koppel (ABC News Nightline, The New York Times), Katherine Switzer (first woman to run the Boston Marathon), Cornelia Maria Clapp (first woman to earn a Ph.D in biology in the United States from Syracuse University in 1889, second Ph.D from University of Chicago in 1896), Joyce Carol Oates (author), Hilton Kramer (New York Times art critic), Mike Tirico (NBC broadcaster, Olympics announcers), Vanessa Williams (first African American to win Miss America), Robert Jarvik (inventor of the artificial heart), Warren Kimble (painter), Bill Viola (video artist), Betsey Johnson (fashion), Larry Kramer (playwright and AIDS activist), Floyd Little (NFL football), Donovan McNabb (NFL Football), Steven Barnes (Managing Director, Bain Capital), Joseph Anis (CEO of Middle East, North Africa & South Asia for GE Gas & Power, Joanna Geraghty (CEO & COO of JetBlue Airways), Michel A. Khalef (President and CEO of MetLife Inc), Kitty Lun (Creative Shop at Facebook), Megyn Kelly (Fox News), Jennifer Spaulding (youngest ever buyer at Macy's East Herald Square), John Sykes (President of network development, MTV Network), Donna Shalala, (former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, former President of the University of Miami, President of The Clinton Foundation), John Tsebe (first black National Librarian of South Africa), Sarah Logan Fraser (fourth African American female physician in the United States), Col. Eileen Collins (first female space shuttle pilot and commander for NASA), Story Musgrave (NASA, physician, consultant to Disney Imagineering group), Sultan bin Salman Al Saud (first Saudi Arabian citizen, first member of a royal family in space), and Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (grandson of Abdulaziz, the first King of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon's first Prime Minister).

Alumni working in the entertainment industry include: Dick Clark (television icon and producer of American Bandstand, host of New Year's Eve ball drop), Suzanne de Passe (credited with discovering The Jackson 5), Jerry Stiller (Seinfeld, King of Queens, father of actor Ben Stiller), Vera Farmiga (Oscar-nominated actress), Taye Diggs (actor), Samantha Brown (Travel Channel), Frank Langella (film actor), Tom Everett Scott (NBC's ER), Aaron Sorkin (creator of The West Wing, screenplays for The Social Network and Moneyball), Craig Borten (Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Dallas Buyers Club), Arielle Tepper (film producer of Monty Python's Spamalot, and Frost/Nixon), Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Dr Seuss' The Lorax), Dwight Caines (Co-president of Universal Pictures), Jim Morris (President of Pixar Animation Studios), Rani Raad (President of CNN Worldwide Commercial), Chris Licht (executive producer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), Carmelo Anthony (NBA basketball), Rony Seikaly (NBA basketball), Brad Anderson (creator of the comic strip Marmaduke), Ina Garten (Food Network), Peter Falk (actor, Columbo), John C. McGinley and Sam Lloyd (actors, Scrubs and Office Space), Robb Armstrong (creator of Jump Start comic strip), Jim Morrin (Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist, Miami Herald), Weijia Jiang (CBS News White House Correspondent), Steve Kroft (CBS, 60 Minutes), Eli Sasow (Pulitzer prize winning reporter, The Washington Post), Belva Lockwood (first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court), Elliot Portnoy (CEO of Dentons, largest law firm in the world), Terry Jones (Stephen Crane (author, Red Badge of Courage), Dorothy Thompson (anti-fascism activist in WWII, first female to run a foreign news bureau), Robin Toner (first woman to be national political correspondent for the New York Times), Lou Reed (The Velvet Underground), Charles J. Strock (Mint Talent Group, clients including The Allman Brothers Band, Art Garfunkel), Drew Taggert (Grammy winner, The Chainsmokers).

While he did not attend Syracuse University, actor Adam Sandler likes to sport Syracuse clothing in his feature films. Alex hopes to one day own Sonny Koufax's SoHo apartment from the film Big Daddy. 


Georgetown University (2014 - 2016)

Georgetown University, School of Nursing and Health Studies, St Mary's Hall, Master of Health Systems Administration

Contingent upon completion of prerequisite accounting courses, Alex was accepted to Georgetown University's residential Master of Health Systems Administration program. Subsequently, Alex enrolled locally at SUNY Onondaga for one accounting course in the summer of 2010 before moving to Washington, District of Columbia. At the time of matriculation, Alex was selected as one of seventeen students to a program that was ranked eighteenth across the nation, with the university, overall, recognized as 22nd on US News and World Report.

Coursework detail. 

Healthcare Executives of Georgetown University, Society for International Development - Washington DC Chapter, American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress Chicago 2016 - Management Track, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Radiation Oncology Internship, Capstone Administrative Internship at Virginia Hospital Center, nominated to Arlington Leadership Center for Excellence by VHC hospital C-Suite, observation of Quintuple Bypass Open Heart Surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital


People on campus: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Hussein bin Abdullah (Crown Prince of Jordan), Coach John Thompson III, David Rubenstein (Major General, US Army - Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Center, AMEDD, and Commanding General of the Army’s Europe Regional Medical Command), Margaret Chan (Director General of WHO), and Rajiv Shah of the Rockefeller Foundation, Atul Gawande (physician)

Epidemiology and Population Health | Organizational Leadership | Accounting I & II | Financial Management in Health Systems I & II | Paying for Healthcare | Human Resource Management | Health Economics | Quality and Performance Improvement Methods | Healthcare Strategic Planning and Marketing | Health Law | Healthcare Management Statistics | Disruptive Innovation | Healthcare Informatics | Healthcare Information Technology | Management of Healthcare Organizations | Hospital Management | Healthcare Managerial Ethics | Health Policy and Systems | Healthcare Management Consulting | Integrative Case Study

As a component of Georgetown University's health systems administration experiential curriculum, Alex shadowed laparoscopic gastric bypasses and observed a quintuple bypass heart surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Alex's grandmother, Dolores, worked as a Senior Budget Analyst at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the entirety of her career, more or less in the same capacity that Alex was employed in at the finance and accounting department after graduation from Georgetown University, at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia. Walter Reed was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to it's closure in 2011. Walter Reed Army Medical Center relocated to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, just seven miles or so outside of the old site near Washington, DC. Alex walked around the Walter Reed Army Medical Center before it was handed over to the Navy, and recognized that President Dwight Eisenhower perhaps could have had a better hospital to go to, as well as the need for updated services for the military and veterans.

At a rooftop party in downtown Washington, DC, Alex watched on as a friend flirted with the grand-daughter of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, just before Stevens' passing. Alex's mother also worked with a relative of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center. Alex may have a more direct connection with Ruth Bader Ginsburg than you would imagine (?).

In graduate school, Alex spent a fair amount of time at DC Improv, seeing comedian Tom Papa (The Marriage Ref with Jerry Seinfeld), and Marina Franklin (HBO’s Crashing, Trainwreck with Amy Schumer and Bill Hader, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, John Oliver's New York Standup show, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, Conan O'Brien, FX’s Louie, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Showtime’s Women Who Kill and David Chappelle's Comedy Central Chappelle’s Show), and Tony Rock (Chris Rock's brother). While Alex did not enroll in standup or improv courses at DC Improv necessarily, Alex did, however, on occassion, attend comedy school sessions that were typically not attended with an audience. Alex, more or less, snuck in and sat in the dark receive a free lesson in comedy and simply to observe or study human behavior from the back row.  Arlington

In 2021, Alex drove past the Duke Ellington School of Music on Alex's way home from work (having played trombone with his grandson, Paul Mercer Ellington in high school), around the time of Dave Chappelle's visit. Not long after, on vacation, Alex walked past Dave Chappelle while he was enjoying his day out in New York City.

Alex's human resources professor, Mary Jane Mastorovich, Chief Nursing Officer at Inova Health System was once called on the telephone by President Nixon to thank the nurse for caring for Captain Hupe, a pilot injured in preventing a TWA Airline hijacking. Mary Jane Mastorovich was the nurse working in the intensive care unit, at the time of the incident.