New Paltz allowed Michael Boccio '83 to enter the fast lane of international business.

Boccio was a business administration major when he was prompted by professor emeritus Ronald Knapp to join the Asian Studies program.

Through his involvement with the program, Boccio was given the opportunity to explore his interests in China. He visited the country as one of the first participants in New Paltz’s exchange program with Beijing University.

"You don’t know a culture until you begin to see the variety of people that make it up," he said.

After Boccio graduated from New Paltz in 1983, he moved to China. There he represented U.S. medical and equipment companies exporting to and investing in China. In 1986, he became general manager for Continental Grain Company's China Merchant Banking operations in Beijing.

He returned to the United States in 1990 to continue his education. After receiving his Master’s of Business Administration from New York University in 1992, Boccio again headed to China. From 1992 to 1999, he served as general manager for OSI Industries Inc., a global supply partner to McDonald’s Corporation. Boccio worked with McDonald’s to build their overseas business from the ground up.

After seven years in China, Boccio transferred to Sydney, Australia, to manage McDonald’s operations in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. He returned to the United States in 2000 to work in Chicago as vice president and commercial director for OSI Industries Inc.

Boccio has become a fixture at many campus events, because he feels lucky to have found New Paltz and great professors in the Asian Studies program, including Knapp and the late Irving Barnett.

"If I can help to plant some seeds with students that helps open their minds and worlds and allows them to embark on interesting and successful life and career paths, then I will take great fulfillment from that opportunity," he said.

Boccio also donated $25,000 to the Friends of Asian Studies Endowment to be used to keep the programs growing.

"The opportunities New Paltz gave me changed my life," he said. "And I am glad that I am in a position to [be able to] give back."