Governor appoints Batavian Kastenbaum to Genesee Community College Board of Trustees
Kastenbaum, chief executive officer of Pinnacle Manufacturing Co. Inc., a Batavia business for more than 45 years, was notified of the gubernatorial appointment on June 1.
She will join the Board of Trustees for the first time tonight at the college’s Annual Meeting.
“We are excited to welcome Diana Kastenbaum to our Board of Trustees," said GCC President James Sunser, Ed.D. “Diana's experience as a local business leader is vital to our goal of supporting workforce development in our community via talented GCC graduates.
“We thank Governor Andrew Cuomo for making this appointment to our Board.”
Kastenbaum said she is thrilled to have been selected and is eager to help the board advance its mission.
“I’m very honored and feel very privileged that the governor chose me,” Kastenbaum said. “I’m very excited about working on the board. It’s certainly the biggest appointment I’ve ever had.”
Kastenbaum will complete the term of Laura Bohm, who relocated to Rochester. The term ends in June 2022, and at that time she would be eligible for reappointment.
A graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where she earned her bachelor of arts degree, Kastenbaum took the helm of her family business in 2014. She is one of only a handful of women CEOs in the manufacturing field of tool and die casting in North America.
Additionally, she owned her own tech consulting company for 25 years.
Kastenbaum has been active on the political scene, including a 2016 campaign as the Democratic candidate for the 27th Congressional District seat. She also has served as vice president of the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council Board of Directors and in the same position of the Landmark Society of Genesee County.
She is married to actor and comedian Hiram Kasten. The couple has a daughter, Millicent, who is a student at Fordham University School of Law in New York City.
