Gerard Monaghan

I’m now semi-retired and still traveling. My wife and I built our business (the professional association for the wedding industry) to provide excellent, honest service to our members — but also so we could travel. In the 25 years we operated the organization, it grew from one member to 4,000 in 28 countries.

And, in those 25 years we got to visit (and teach in) all 50 states and 13 other countries. Our list of countries visited now exceeds 40 and we’re working to increase that. Having also retired from the Army Reserve, we can use space-available flights, which cuts the cost.

One other note about the Bona connection: About a dozen years ago, we were pursuing intense, protracted negotiations to sell the rights to part of our education program when we finally invited our counterpart to our home. When he entered, he said he had seen an SBU license plate holder on our car and asked which of our kids attended. When I said I had, the negotiations ended and we had an agreement within a day. He said that made all the difference because he knew he could trust us.

In our spare time, when not traveling or playing with the eight grandchildren (and one more on the way), we volunteer in our parish (which is now a Franciscan one!) as a lector and part of the meals ministry.

Although there had been family vacations, SBU was the first time living alone away from Brooklyn. The values instilled there set the tone for our lives, both personal and professional. Journalism (especially under Dr. Jandoli) set the mind always searching for new and exciting adventures. And through the military (which started with ROTC), I got the travel bug, traveling to places I wanted to see — and a few I didn’t!