Bob Linden ’71 (BA), ’75 (MD)
Major: Biology
Hometown (during college): Rye, NY
Current Home: Niantic, CT
Employer: Retired physician
Career: Thirty-year career in internal medicine and geriatrics in southeastern Connecticut. Retired from the office at the end of 2007, wrote an award-winning book, The Rise & Fall of the American Medical Empire, and then was asked to join the teaching faculties of both Yale and UCONN medical schools, which I continue to do. Interestingly, 2025 brought me Yale’s Voluntary Faculty Primary Care Internal Medicine Teacher of the Year Award. Never would have won that at Cornell Med!
Family: Unfortunately, Caren, my soulmate of 47 years, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in December of 2022. Miss her so much, but I trudge on with the fantastic support of our three kids, Jeremy, Beth, and Todd, and our five grandchildren, Oliver, Lucy, Charlie, Ziggy, and Mabel.
Hobbies & Personal Interests: I stay busy teaching, trying to replace Caren as our grandkids’ super grandparent and managing our family-owned rental house in St. John, USVI. Additionally, despite a bilateral hip replacements, I still row daily in my single on our nearby river April through November and on the erg in the basement during the winter.
One Thing You Miss Most about Sigma Nu: Chilling out at the house on the weekends with kegs of beer and dancing to “Live Soul” down in the dining room.
Carl Del Balzo ’81
Major: Industrial & Labor Relations
Hometown (during college): Syracuse, NY
Current Home: Portland, OR (since graduation)
Employment: Retired after a long career in Human Resources and Labor Relations. Enjoyed working with and for people and good organizations
Hobbies & Personal Interests: Travel with my wife Mary, a onetime Sigma Nu Little Sister
One Thing You Miss Most about Sigma Nu: Loved my time at Cornell and the house living with my great friends. I keep in touch with several who have been lifelong friends, having fun and enjoying Ithaca and the Cornell community.
Jim Francese ’86
Major: Chemical Engineering
Hometown (during college): Madison, CT
Current Home: Yorba Linda, CA
Employer: Self-employed
Job Title: Owner
Job Responsibilities: After more than 30 years leading global sales and marketing teams for medical device companies, I recently started my own consulting firm to help medtech firms develop their businesses.
Most Interesting Aspect of Your Job: I’ve always enjoyed working internationally to help bring new health care technology to customers worldwide, while learning from different cultures and experiencing new places.
Hobbies & Personal Interests: Time with family, travel, horseback riding, Phillies baseball.
One Thing You Miss Most about Sigma Nu: Camaraderie with the brothers.
Alex Krakoski ’16
Major: Chemical Engineering
Hometown (during college): Miami, FL
Current Home: Chicago, IL
Employer: Health Care Service Corporation (Blue Cross Blue Shield of IL,TX, MT, NM, and OK parent company)
Job Title: Strategic Product Manager
Job Responsibilities: I manage a national cash rewards program that pays patients for choosing high-value doctors.
Most Interesting Aspect of Your Job: Making health care more intuitive and affordable.
Hobbies & Personal Interests: Playing with my dog Louie, world travel, skiing, cooking, golf, Taekwondo, VC investments with Max Tave ’15.
One Thing You Miss Most about Sigma Nu: Seeing my best friends every day!
Eric Negrin ’86
Major: Government (A&S)
Hometown (during college): New Rochelle, NY
Current Home: Bronxville, NY
Employer: CBRE
Job Title: Executive Vice President
Job Responsibilities: Negotiating and drafting documents and marketing pieces, financial analysis and devising strategies.
Most Interesting Aspect of Your Job: I work in a real estate consulting role in NYC. Real estate and its stakeholders are impacted and motivated by so many different issues, many of which seem unrelated at first. Learning about them and distilling them into a solution is never boring!
Hobbies & Personal Interests: #1 Guitar/Singing/Band (check out Station Agents on Facebook, YouTube, and WhatupCuz on Spotify)
One Thing You Miss Most about Sigma Nu: Dinners and Tube Room, intramurals, and beer truck at the Wing Ding—will never happen again!
John D. Ten Hagen ’86
Major: Ag Ec
Hometown: Pittsford, NY
Current Home: Boyds, MD
Employer: Retired, most recently at CapitalSource/Pacific Western Bank in Chevy Chase, MD.
Job Title: Commercial Banking
Job Responsibilities: Managed portfolios of healthcare and asset-based loans.
Most Interesting Aspect of Your Job: Working directly with the owners and founders of businesses in every industry imaginable, getting to know them personally, learning everything I could about their companies, and providing them with financing.
Hobbies & Personal Interests: Renovation and addition to Lewiston, NY, vacation house, coaching soccer, traveling with my wife Kelly ’86, and our daughters Katie and Jenny ’21.
One Thing You Miss Most about Sigma Nu: Hanging out on the roof on the first warm(ish) day of spring.