RIT remembers Rich Notargiacomo

Rich Notargiacomo, a Venture Coach with RIT’s Venture Creations incubator, died May 3. The RIT flag was lowered to half-staff on Thursday, May 8, in his memory.

After a long and distinguished career at Eastman Kodak as a new products and innovation professional, Mr. Notargiacomo became an adjunct professor in Saunders College of Business in 2003, which led to his role as head of Saunders Consulting Service. He joined RIT full time in 2010 working with RIT’s Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Venture Creations incubator as an entrepreneurship coach.

In 2015, he was appointed director of Venture Creations. He stepped down as director in 2021, but continued coaching startup companies at the incubator to satisfy his passion for helping to create high-growth companies in the Rochester region and beyond and providing experiential learning in entrepreneurship to students and company founders.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that everyone in the entrepreneurial community in and around Rochester knew and loved Rich,” said Ryne Raffaelle, RIT’s vice president for Research. “He was such a nice guy with a great sense of humor and clever wit. He cared about others and was always willing to help wherever he could. In fact, he provided me with great counsel over the years.”

Mr. Notargiacomo is survived by his wife, Elaine; his children, Susan (Demetrios) Atheneos and Mark (Lauren); his grandchildren, Stella, Zoe, Leonidas, and Luke; and his brother, Robert (Sherri).