REDCOM founders to receive philanthropy award from RIT  

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Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology will honor the Gueldenpfennig family for their dedication as alumni and longtime RIT supporters with the 2022 Phil Saunders Cornerstone of Philanthropy Award during this year’s Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend. 

The family turned REDCOM Laboratories Inc. into one of the world’s leading suppliers of secure and reliable communications solutions. 

The late Klaus Gueldenpfennig, Brigitte Gueldenpfennig and Dinah Gueldenpfennig Weisberg will receive the award as part of Saunders College’s Recommence program honoring nine alumni altogether.  

The ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. on Oct. 15, inside the Gene Polisseni Center on the RIT campus. 

The Phil Saunders Cornerstone of Philanthropy Award is presented annually to a graduate, faculty, staff or friend of the business college who exemplifies a groundbreaking spirit and gives selflessly to Saunders College and RIT through philanthropic support. 

This year, the Gueldenpfennigs will be recognized for their significant impact on Saunders College of Business students, alumni, faculty, staff and the RIT community at large. 

“Our Recommence ceremony during Brick City Weekend is our annual celebration of Saunders College’s most significant supporters, and certainly Klaus, Brigitte and Dinah belong in that category,” said Saunders College Dean Jacqueline Mozrall in a statement. “Their impact at RIT has been immense, giving back personally, professionally and philanthropically.” 

REDCOM was founded by Klaus and Brigitte Gueldenpfennig in 1978. The business specializes in the development of advanced communications solutions with a focus on security, reliability and interoperability.  

Located in Victor, REDCOM’s serves customers in all branches of the military, in numerous government agencies, as well as private networks, integrators and commercial telecom carriers.  

The Gueldenpfennig family and REDCOM have made significant equipment and financial gifts to the university and RIT’s Saunders College of Business over the years. 

Weisberg now serves as REDCOM’s president and CEO and was appointed to the RIT Board of Trustees in 2019.  

Among a multitude of accolades Klaus and Brigitte Gueldenpfennig received throughout their careers were the NRS Award in 2014, the highest honor given by RIT’s Nathaniel Rochester Society; the Distinguished Alumni Award from Saunders College in 1988 and the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award in 1990, given annually to successful individuals who developed a business that improved the Rochester economy or who changed the course of an existing business. 

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