It was 17 years ago today that then-senior Stu Abelson ’97 donned the Bobcat costume and waterskied across Lake Andrews.

Looking back, Abelson says that “my strongest memory is that it was such a team effort.”

The feat, occuring on the Friday of that year’s Senior Week, wasn’t a renegade stunt under the cover of darkness but a well-planned campus event by Abelson and members of the waterskiing club.

In fact, Abelson sought and got full buy-in from various campus offices, including the 1997 equivalents of Facilities Services, Security and Campus Safety and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Communications. “And the President’s Office, including [then-President] Don Harward,” Abelson says. “It was Don who sent out the campus-wide email announcing it.”

Hundreds flocked to the shores of Lake Andrews to watch. (The full backstory is explained in this “This Month in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ History” installment, including the semi-heroics of the SUV driver, Caleb Goodrich ’99.)

Video coverage of the 1997 event by the local ABC affiliate, WMTW:

In one sense, it was a 15-second stunt. In another, Abelson believes, it tells something about the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community.

To this day, Abelson remains impressed that no one put roadblocks in front of what must’ve seemed like a really idiotic complex idea. On the contrary, there was full support. “ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ people like to figure out how to get something done, pull together to make it happen and not find excuses why things can’t happen.”

The waterskiing ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Bobcat (Stu Abelson ’97) ends his trek across Lake Andrews on May 23, 1997. (Jose Leiva)

Abelson points to Edgar Shein, the organizational theorist, who calls events like this “artifacts” of an organization, those visible elements that members of the organization see and say, “Yes! That is so us!”

“Teammwork and creativity,” says Abelson. “That’s what ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is all about.”

Abelson, today a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ trustee, is president and CEO President of Ora, the world’s leading ophthalmic product development firm and .

“That’s why Ora goes to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Those talents are nurtured at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, and when students graduate they’re ready.”

Young Connelly, a Cape Elizabeth resident, has served as vice president of philanthropy for the since 2005. She oversees the foundation’s statewide advancement and donor services departments, and works directly with donors to help them pursue their philanthropic goals.

Prior to joining the Maine Community Foundation, Young Connelly worked as senior vice president and director of corporate philanthropic initiatives at , a Portland firm providing philanthropic counsel and related services to not-for-profit organizations.

Focusing on issues related to capital fundraising, she counseled such nonprofits as the Maine Central Institute, Breakwater School and Maine Public Broadcasting. Her work also included feasibility planning, volunteer coordination and client communications.

Young Connelly previously worked in fundraising for the , and as a staff member for George Mitchell during his time as U.S. Senate majority leader. She has served on the boards of the Portland Rotary, the Center for Grieving Children and the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Northern New England.

Abelson, of Gloucester, Mass., is president and CEO of , an ophthalmic drug and device development firm based in Andover, Mass. He has been a company director since 1995 and served as Ora’s chairman from 1997 until becoming president in 2007. Ora is a leading employer of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ graduates, offering career opportunities in the applied science of clinical research.

Abelson previously worked at , most recently as director of technical business development at Amphenol World Headquarters, and as general manager of Amphenol’s Fiber Optic Product Division from 1999 through 2005.

Abelson graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience from ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. While a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ student, he founded the Water Ski Team and the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Aviators, and chaired the 1997 Senior Class Gift Committee. He served as president of the College Key from 2001 to 2003.

He holds a master of business administration degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Abelson is also a trustee of the Chicago Zoological Society and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and serves on the Alumni Council of the Kellogg School.

Abelson, who founded the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ waterskiing club, has been waterskiing for more than 16 years and was the National Collegiate All-Star Trick Water Ski Champion in 1995. He also was named an All-American on the National Collegiate All-Star Water Ski Team that year.

On May 26, Abelson graduated magna cum laude with an interdisciplinary major in neuroscience. He was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, a North American honor society that recognizes excellence in scientific research. Abelson has worked as a volunteer in the emergency room at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

Located midway between the coast and the mountains in south-central Maine, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is a 142-year-old undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences and is rated among the top 25 national liberal-arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ offers majors in 23 academic departments and seven interdisciplinary programs, and encourages independent study, research with faculty members and participation in off-campus programs. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ does not require standardized-test results for admission.