Bridge (Spring 2001) - SUNY Institute of Technology

Alumni Spotlight By Ellen Portnoy
The man who “runs” the Boilermaker
Homebuilder. Student. Law
enforcement professional. Race
director. In all that he’s done,
Bob Ingalls has always been
goal-oriented.
As an 18-year-old newlywed,
Ingalls finished his newly built
house in Clinton, N.Y., doing
the plumbing, heating and
hardwood floors with help from
his in-laws and friends.
Forty-four years later, Ingalls
is still building but now his tools
are volunteers; his project is the
nation’s largest 15 kilometer
race. As director of the Boilermaker
Road Race, he is responsible
for an event that draws
10,000 runners and countless
cheering supporters to its Utica
route each year on the second
Sunday in July.
Ingalls succeeds race creator
Earle Reed, president of ECR
international formerly Utica
“Listening to people is more
“important than talking.”
Bob Ingalls, ‘77
“
Boilerworks-who started the
race in 1977. Reed knew Ingalls
was the right choice. “He has a
wealth of knowledge about the
area. He’s a fine listener and can
handle the tremendous pressure,”
explains Reed.
After high school, Ingalls
attended Mohawk Valley
Community College for one
semester, then went to work in
the Oneida County Sheriff’s
Department as a dispatcher. In
1964, he graduated from the
New York State Basic Police
Training Academy as valedictorian.
He returned to MVCC,
taking evening classes and earning
an associate’s degree cum
laude in police science.
After taking two courses at
Utica College, Ingalls transferred
to SUNYIT’s (Upper
Division College, as it was called
then) criminal justice program.
He took two or three night
classes each semester while
working road patrols midnight
to 8 a.m. and juggling two parttime
jobs during the day. How
did he manage? “I’ve always
kept that busy,” Ingalls acknowledges.
In 1977, he earned a
bachelor’s degree summa cum
laude in criminal justice.
One former SUNYIT assistant
professor, George Curtis
now a Utica College associate
professor in criminal justice has
known Ingalls for 30 years.
Curtis, who taught two constitutional
law courses, remembers
Ingalls, the student: “He was
very bright and motivated. He
often helped other students.
He’s very efficient, extremely organized
and he treats everyone
with respect,” says Curtis.
After becoming a detective in
1969, Ingalls investigated felony
cases, conducting interviews
and gathering evidence. According
to Ingalls, he was an
effective interrogator because
he’s organized and tenacious.
From 1970 to 1974, he headed
the 10-person criminal investigation
unit. This administrative
job was “a little less fun than
finding the bad guy and arresting
him,” Ingalls admits. As
captain from 1974 to 1981, he
oversaw 50 people.
On Jan. 1, 1981, Ingalls
became Oneida County Undersheriff
– 20 years to the day
after his father, Robert Ingalls
Sr., became Oneida County
Undersheriff. Ingalls wore his
father’s badge during his nine
years overseeing the 300-person
department.
In 1981, Ingalls attended a
three-month F.B.I. class in
Quantico, Virginia, earning college
credits in fingerprinting,
DNA testing and profiling. “It
was very rewarding,” he recalls.
At Quantico, Ingalls also made
some life changes. A three-pack
2 The Bridge