Pino majored in political science but admits his greatest memories of his four years involved the Rugby Club. “Aside from the thrill of playing the game and experiencing the competition, I made lifelong friends,” he said. “We raised the money needed to play in England and Wales, and for many of us it was our first trip out of the U.S. To this day, we talk about our experiences on that trip.”

After graduating and marrying his high school sweetheart, MaryAnn, Pino earned his JD from New York Law School. He secured a clerkship on the recommendation of Fairfield alumnus Frank Granito Jr. ’59, a partner at a prestigious New York City law firm.

He eventually opened his own firm and travelled the world as one of only a handful of attorneys with a focus on aviation and representing insurers and manufacturers of telecommunication satellites.

Between business travels, Pino played golf, a game he’d picked up as a boy. He passed a love of the sport on to his children, Anne’01, and Rudy ’05. “Anne was on the first women’s golf team at Fairfield, and Rudy was captain of the men’s team,” boasted Pino.

He loved watching his kids play, but felt that the ragtag-looking teams needed more support: “They had no uniforms, no bags. They had to travel to New Haven to practice, and there were no facilities at all for practicing in the winter.”

Pino’s involvement started small. He secured golf team uniforms and bags through his membership at Westchester Country Club, where the head golf pro was a 1972 Fairfield alumnus. Later, he set his sight son big program improvements.

Noting that Fairfield golfers did not have access to the one thing a lot of other schools had — an indoor practice venue — scouting for usable campus space led to the basement of McAuliffe Hall. “It had the high ceilings we needed,” said Pino. “We installed HVAC and lights, and purchased and installed a Trackman Golf Simulator system, a radar enabled device that allows golfers to get instant feedback regarding their swing, ball speed, spin rate, and other metrics improve their game.”

The Pino Golf Studio opened in 2017 and has become the golf team’s clubhouse and a terrific asset for improving performance and recruitment. “Since the Studio was built, the women’s golf team has won the Mark Laesch Award, given to the Division I program with the most improved stroke average year-to-year…twice,” noted Head Golf Coach Doug Holub.

“In the fall of 2021,” he continued, “the men’s golf team achieved its highest national Golf stat ranking in program history. They earned two team wins and two individual wins in the past year and held the lead going into the final round of the MAAC last year, for the first time since 2015.”

“I saw a need,” said Pino, “and it was something that I could achieve while enhancing the performance of student-athletes. Plus, building something tangible often feels better than just writing a check.”

Pino has extended his generosity to Fairfield Athletics and the University in other ways as well: helping to organize the men’s and women’s teams’ “Golf Swing” trip to Florida over winter break, supporting the Fairfield Athletics Golf Outing and the Rugby Club, serving on the Board of Trustees Advisory Council and the Fairfield Awards Dinner Committee, and contributing to the DiMenna-Nyselius Library’s main reading room renovation. He currently serves on the Athletics Advisory Board.

“I treasure the four years I spent at Fairfield,” said Pino, now semi-retired and living in Rye, N.Y. and Jupiter, Fla. He and Mary Ann, a former teacher, recently celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary. “I attribute a great part of my success in law school and my career to both my experiences at Fairfield and the relationships formed in those days. The humanist point of view that emphasizes treating fellow students and professors equally and respectfully was reinforced at Fairfield. I strongly believe in giving back so that in a small way, I can have an impact on the institution and student experience."