Leadership
and Volunteering
Alumni Association President
Jamie McLaughlin ’76 keeps giving back
By Ron Devlin
Photography by David W. Coulter
Alumni Association President Jamie McLaughlin ’76 had an “unceremonious” beginning at Lafayette.
“I distinguished myself as a varsity starter on the soccer team in my freshman year,” recalls McLaughlin, managing director of Lydian
Wealth Management in New York, “and I nearly flunked out.”
But professors just wouldn’t give up on McLaughlin.
“I was nurtured, goaded and upbraided, and put back on the track
to developing intellectual curiosity,” he recalls. “That’s the reason I
was spared.”
McLaughlin, the son of a dentist, put aside his pre-med courses, changed his major to history, and never looked back.
He explored history with professors like Richard Welch, Robert Weiner, and Ellen Hurwitz.
“In their own ways, they said to me ‘you can contribute in this class, you’re really a smart guy, ’” McLaughlin says. “I really needed that to regain my confidence.”
The professors’ instincts were on target.
McLaughlin went on to Harvard, where he earned a master’s in
public administration from The Kennedy School of Government.
From 1981-91, he served in the Connecticut General Assembly. During a six-year term in the State Senate, he served as chairman of
the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee and was a member of
the State Bond Commission. In 1985, the Hartford Courant named
him one of Connecticut’s ten best legislators.
After working for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. and Mellon Bank,
he joined Lydian Wealth Management in 2005.
Looking back on what he calls a “variegated” career (he’s an avid gardener), McLaughlin marvels at taking on fields he hadn’t studied
in college.
“Ironically, I never took a government & law or economics course at Lafayette, and now I’m a financial adviser with a strong tax background,” he says.
The intellectual freedom he had at Lafayette, McLaughlin says, underlies his professional accomplishments.
“I studied for the sake of learning, not with a vocational path in mind,” he says. “That’s what’s so great about this place.”
McLaughlin is proud of having played soccer for Gary Williams,
now the University of Maryland’s men’s basketball coach, and the 9-2-2
season they registered in his junior year. After graduating, McLaughlin coached the team.
A member of the College’s Leadership Council, McLaughlin served
as an alumni associate to the Board of Trustees and as president of
the Maroon Club. He received the Clarence P. Mayfield ’09 Award
for distinguished service to the College.
Known in business circles as a good communicator, McLaughlin learned much in Don McCluskey’s Introduction to Writing class.
“I remember being corrected on syntax, grammar, and diction,”
he says. “I place a lot of value on using the right word.”
Believing that he would have been discarded as a freshman in a larger, less caring school, McLaughlin always makes time for Lafayette students. Hardly a day goes by, he says, when he isn’t conferring with an intern
or extern. He’s hired alumni and often offers career counseling.
“I’m a big, big, big believer that Lafayette did good by me, and I do good by Lafayette,” he said. “I feel joy when asked to give back.”
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