Wednesday, November 09, 2005

I.C. Shah, president and chief executive officer of Henrietta-based ICS Telecom Inc., has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Michigan State University Alumni Association.

Shah was honored Oct. 20 in East Lansing, Mich., with the highest award bestowed by the alumni association. It is presented to MSU graduates for outstanding volunteer service and professional accomplishments, and for demonstrating personal integrity and character.

Shah earned a master's degree in business administration at MSU in 1964. He founded ICS Telecom in 1976. The company sells telecommunications products and services such as telephone systems and voicemail service.

Shah serves on the boards of the Broadway Theatre League, Boys and Girls Clubs of Rochester and Seniorsfirst Communities and Services.

In the past, he has helped raise millions of dollars for non-profit organizations in the Rochester area.

Shah said he hopes the award inspires minority students to persevere despite obstacles they may face.

"This is a positive example for kids. Anything you want, you can do it. You can make it happen," he said.

"I hope to get this message to other minorities that this is not an award that only goes to white, Anglo-Saxon Americans. There are a lot of us who are minorities who can get an award like this," he said.

Shah was nominated for the award by Todd Plouffe, general manager of the Delmonte Lodge in Pittsford.

"He's a self-made person. It's just an example of somebody who worked hard and certainly just made a name for himself professionally and for the involvement he's had in the community," said Plouffe, a 1992 graduate of MSU.

Shah was born in Bombay, India, and earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Bombay. He came to the United States when he was 21 to attend graduate school at Michigan State. But his parents were unhappy with his marriage to an American student at MSU.

"So my family, at that time, kind of disowned me. They shut me off, all the financial support they were giving me," he said.

So he went to the chairman of the marketing department, explained his predicament and was given a fellowship so he could stay in school.

"If it wasn't for that, I don't know where the heck I would be today," Shah said.

He mended fences with his parents about two years later, when his first son, Raj was born.

An Shah later established a scholarship fund at MSU to help Indian students who get into financial difficulty.

Shah ran into financial difficulties again at MSU when his first wife also was a student there.

"We flipped a coin and I went to work and she stayed in school," he said.

Shah got a job as a salesman for Xerox Corp. in Lansing, Mich. Two years later, the company transferred him to Rochester. After being laid off by Xerox in 1976, he started ICS.

Shah and his first wife divorced. He now lives with his wife Cheryl. Raj, 39, is vice president of operations at ICS. Jon, 19, Shah's son with Cheryl, is a sophomore at the University of Rochester and plans to become a lawyer.

Shah also has received awards from the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, the Urban League of Rochester and the Small Business Administration.

He was honored as an Outstanding Asian-American of New York by former Gov. Mario Cuomo, and has received the Philanthropy Award from the Rochester Area Community Foundation.