Archbishop Hughes Medal – Fordham Now https://now.fordham.edu The official news site for Fordham University. Sun, 28 Apr 2024 00:37:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://now.fordham.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/favicon.png Archbishop Hughes Medal – Fordham Now https://now.fordham.edu 32 32 232360065 Fordham Employees Celebrated for Decades of Service https://now.fordham.edu/university-news/fordham-employees-celebrated-for-decades-of-service/ Tue, 12 Mar 2024 19:05:52 +0000 https://news.fordham.sitecare.pro/?p=182839 A group of people standing on the steps of a building smile at the camera. A person smiles into the distance. A group of people smile for a group photo. A group of people smile for a group photo. A group of student singers sing together. A group of people stand together in an auditorium. A group of medals on a maroon tablecloth Their first days at Fordham took place in a vastly different world. Forty years ago, there were pay phones in the lobby of each dorm. University offices used IBM electric typewriters, and Apple had just released its first Macintosh computer. Twenty years ago, Google launched Gmail and Father McShane was serving in his first year as University president.

President Tetlow and a faculty member smile at the camera.
President Tetlow and Winnie Kung, professor of social work, who was honored for 20 years of service

On March 3, 46 employees were celebrated at present-day Fordham for 60, 40, or 20 years of service during the annual University Convocation ceremony at the Rose Hill campus.

Forty-six faculty, staff, and administrators were recognized in Keating Hall, with their family, friends, and colleagues in attendance. 

The longest-serving honoree was Constantine “Gus” N. Katsoris, a former Greek olive oil and cheese salesman turned tax law expert. Katsoris earned his bachelor’s degree from the Gabelli School of Business in 1953 and graduated first in his class from Fordham Law School in 1957. For more than three decades, he led the law school’s annual Supreme Court bar induction ceremonies, which have admitted more than 1,000 alumni and faculty. This year, he is celebrating his 60th anniversary as a faculty member at Fordham Law, where he holds the title Wilkinson Professor of Law Emeritus. 

A seated faculty member with a medal around his neck smiles.
Constantine “Gus” Katsoris, Wilkinson professor of law emeritus, who was honored for 60 years of service

Other honorees include a professor who was a Truman Scholar, a duty supervisor who shepherded the University community through the pandemic, an analyst who previously worked at several Fortune 100 companies, and a department leader who is also an award-winning filmmaker. 

The honorees’ accomplishments at Fordham are wide ranging and diverse, from directing scholarships and financial services for thousands of students to conducting research on marginalized communities and mental health data. They hail from across the world, including Italy, Ireland, and Bulgaria. All of them arrived at Fordham in the 1900s, remaining for decades at the University they now call home. 

One person smiles at another person who is smiling at someone out of frame.
Falguni Sen, president of the Faculty Senate, and Susan Perciasepe, senior executive secretary in the Department of Theology, who was honored for 20 years of service

Bene Merenti Medal | Sixty Years 

Constantine N. Katsoris

Bene Merenti Medal | Forty Years 

Esther Solomon 

Bene Merenti Medal | Twenty Years

Gregory Acevedo Ipsita A. Banerjee • Robert Henry Borrero • Melkana A. Brakalova-Trevithick • Elizabeth P. Cosenza • Anne E. Fernald • Paolo Galizzi • David D. Hamlin • Evangelos Katsamakas • Winnie W. Kung • Michael E. Lee • Sara L. Lehman Christopher R. Maginn Jennie Park-Taylor Alessandro Polcri Rosa Romeo Nina A. Rowe Mark F. Street Kelly Ann Ulto Alessia Valfredini Gary M. Weiss Akane Zusho 

Archbishop Hughes Medal | Forty Years 

John W. Buckley Frank McLaughlin 

Archbishop Hughes Medal | Twenty Years 

Dennis Cassidy Rien ChySteven M. D’Agustino Jennifer Giorgio Jaime Lyn Harkin Dean K. Mavrovitis Kevin D. Munnelly Lynn ParlimanJohn D. WilliamsTsvetelina T. Zlatareva 

1841 Award | Forty Years 

Linda M. Perri 

1841 Award | Twenty Years

Joseph J. ArenasMarie Hall Robert Heihn Robin R. Joseph Vinetu Mamudoski Susan K. Perciasepe Matthew N. Peters Maria V. Totino Michael Woods

President Tetlow hangs a medal around a colleague's neck.
President Tetlow and Matthew Peters, custodian in facilities and campus operations at Lincoln Center, who was honored for 20 years of service
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Longtime Employees Lauded at Convocation https://now.fordham.edu/university-news/longtime-employees-lauded-at-convocation/ Wed, 08 Mar 2023 18:11:12 +0000 https://news.fordham.sitecare.pro/?p=170181 A group of people in formal wear pose for a group photo. A woman in graduation robes and a man in a suit smile A family of 11 pose for a group picture. Three people take a selfie together. Two parents and their daughters smile for a posed photo. A choir wearing all black stands and sings in front of a window. A group of medals on a table. Employees who are celebrating their 40- and 20-year work anniversaries at Fordham this year were recognized at the annual Convocation ceremony at the Lincoln Center campus on March 5. This marked the first time that faculty and staff were celebrated at the same ceremony, rather than two individual ones. 

Some of them began working at Fordham in 1983, the same year that the internet was born. The smartphone had not yet been invented, and the gigantic Motorola mobile phone was still a “revolutionary new device.” Others arrived at Fordham in 2003. “The most popular song, which shows my age because I’ve never heard of it, was 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club,’” Fordham President Tania Tetlow said, to laughter from the audience.

Over the past few decades, all 65 Fordham honorees played their part in Fordham’s legacy. Faculty taught, mentored, and inspired generations of students, said Tetlow, while staff and administrators cared for the campus—the buildings, grounds, digital infrastructure, finances—and our community. In total, their years of service add up to 1,340. 

A family of four poses for a group picture.
Twenty-year Bene Merenti medalist Shirley Gatenio Gabel, professor of social work and Mary Ann Quaranta Chair for Social Justice for Children, with her family

“One of you was actually raised on this campus,” Tetlow said, referring to Robert T. Allinger, a mail clerk who is from the Bronx and is the son of longtime Fordham employee Patricia Allinger. “Many of you went to Fordham and sent your children to Fordham. You are part of a longstanding and lifelong commitment—and the work that you do is remarkable.” 

A woman wearing maroon graduation robes shakes the head of a man wearing a format outfit.
Max Rodriguez shakes hands with President Tetlow.

Max Rodriguez, a 40-year employee who was born and raised in the Bronx, started working as a stockroom clerk at the Rose Hill campus when he was 23 years old. He spent most of his time in the biological sciences department, where he became a “jack-of-all trades,” acting as the departmental receptionist, handling packages, stocking the office and labs, supporting the animal care facility, and assisting the departmental administrator and chair, said Kay Turner, vice president for human resources, reading from scripted remarks. Rodriguez said his favorite part about working here is his colleagues—the “best people he’s ever worked with.” 

Rodriguez considered retiring in 2020, but decided to stick around for a little longer. 

“Today is the best opportunity to celebrate 40 years,” said Rodriguez, who is now 63 years old. “This is my second home from home.” 

Bene Merenti Medal | Forty Years 

Nancy Busch Rossnagel Allan S. Gilbert 

Bene Merenti Medal | Twenty Years

Evelyn Bush Su-Je Cho • Ayala Fader • Shirley Gatenio Gabel • Jennifer Gordon • Frank Handelman • Harold Daly Horell • James Y. Kim • Kathryn Kueny • Rafael Lamas • Anita Lightburn • Jason Z. Morris • Guy Robinson • Patricia E. Romero • Aaron Jay Saiger • Petr V. Shibayev • Troy L. Tassier 

Archbishop Hughes Medal | Twenty Years 

James S. Cirillo • John D’Angelo • Jenny Dumet • Laura Esposito • Calvin Brian Ghanoo • Carol A. Gibney • Rosario Gil • Anthony M. Grono • Thomas M. Kaczorowski • Joanne C. Kupidlowski • Liz Manigan • John McDonagh • Lek Ndoj • Joseph J. B. Rienti • Nelson J. Roman • Yahaira Elizabeth Toribio • Johnny Torres •  Jennifer N. Trujillo • Stacey R. Vasquez • Frances Zurinaga 

1841 Award | Forty Years 

Max Rodriguez 

1841 Award | Twenty Years

Robert T. Allinger • Peggy Baratta • Susan Brucculeri • Gilberto S. Cascante Luigi A. D’Arco • Pascual Delvalle • Alexander Dourthe • Melanie Fairfax • Eve A. Foti • Ruben Gomez • Ejl Jankovic • Steve Madigan • Adriana Magnotta • Alejandro Martinez • Christopher ONeill • Deni Pichardo • Silvia Ramirez • Aleksander Rebisz • Jonathan J. Rodriguez • Charles F. Signorile • Tawanna Twine • Jean Walsh • Arthur O. Wanek • Gerard M. Woods

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Convocation Celebrates Longtime Faculty and Staff https://now.fordham.edu/university-news/convocation-celebrates-longtime-faculty-and-staff/ Wed, 09 Mar 2022 16:57:51 +0000 https://news.fordham.sitecare.pro/?p=158167 Joseph J. Lawton II Francoisline Joy Freeman James Russell Kelly Francis Petit Denise Daniel Mack Donald Clarke receives a standing ovation. John D. Feerick Convocation 2022 honorees Joe Lawton takes a shot. Janeira Farrano Martinez with her family Associate Vice Provost Ellen Fahey Smith with Joy Freeman After two years of celebrating Convocation online, Fordham honored longtime faculty, administrators, and staff in person at the University Church on Sunday, March 6. There, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, recognized employees who were marking 20 or 40 years of service at Fordham— faculty with the Bene Merenti medal and staff with the Archbishop Hughes medal. Donald D. Clarke, Ph.D., professor of chemistry, received a standing ovation for his 60 years of service. In addition, Robert F. Dineen, Verenika Lasku, and Carolyn Velazquez-Atis were given the Sursum Corda Award for their contributions to the life and mission of Fordham.

Bene Merenti Medal | Forty Years
Janis Barry • Joseph J. Lawton III  • Hans V. Minnich
Robert K. Moniot • Hrishikesh Vinod

Bene Merenti Medal | Twenty Years
Elaine Black • Andrew H. Clark  • George E. Demacopoulos
Sebastian Douglas • J. Andrew Foster • Caroline M. Gentile
Mary T. Harrington • Debra Wallace Hertz • Amir Idris
Maureen Janeski • Javier Jiménez Belmonte • Gregory Jones
James Russell Kelly • Thomas H. Lee • Damian M. Lyons
Catherine Powell • Monica Rivera Mindt • Casey Ruble
Booi Themeli • Karen E. Williams

Archbishop Hughes Medal | Forty Years 
Anna Maria Conte • Carol Murabito

Archbishop Hughes Medal | Twenty Years 
Renaldo D. Alba • John Bach • Alan Cafferkey
Jessica Collins • Tara Czechowski • Denise Daniel-Mack
Stafford Davis • Ursula J. Duran • Janeira Farrano-Martinez
Francoisline Joy Freeman • Audrey Glassman • Raul Herrera
Patrick Holt • Claudia Mancia Parone  • Abel Ponce Montez
Darin Neely • Francis Petit • Francesca A. Riese
Gerald A. Salvador • Charles-Henri Sanson • Gil Severiano
Michael Szabo

Sursum Corda Award
Robert F. Dineen • Verenika Lasku • Carolyn Velazquez-Atis

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Convocation Marks Milestones for Faculty and Staff https://now.fordham.edu/university-news/convocation-marks-milestones-for-faculty-and-staff/ Tue, 12 Mar 2019 19:50:41 +0000 https://news.fordham.sitecare.pro/?p=116156 Faculty and staff at the 2019 spring Convocation ceremony Father McShane giving Father Lombardi his medal Shortly after the Fordham Rams women’s basketball team won the Atlantic 10 Conference championship in Pittsburgh, fellow members of the Fordham community gathered back in New York City on March 10 to celebrate the enduring contributions of long-serving University faculty, administrators, and staff.

The 2019 Convocation, held in the School of Law’s Costantino Room at the Lincoln Center Campus, paid tribute to the recipients of the Bene Merenti medal and the Archbishop Hughes medal, awarded to faculty and staff, respectively, to mark 20 and 40 years of service at Fordham.

The event also honored three recipients of the Sursum Corda award, given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the life and mission of the University: James Higgins, foreperson of facilities operations at Lincoln Center; Gregory Pappas, assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of student services; and Nancy Perri, senior executive secretary in the controller’s office.

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, prefaced his Convocation remarks by acknowledging the accomplishment the women’s basketball team—“among the most wonderful and interesting students we have”—before turning to the achievements of the day’s honorees.

“You are our treasure,” Father McShane said to the recipients. “The treasure that makes it possible for us to form young women and men to be women and men for others.”

“You make the routine miraculous, and you make everything at the University an occasion of grace because of the way in which you go about your work and the generous hearts you have,” he continued.

Nicholas J. Lombardi, S.J., adjunct instructor of computer and information science, drew a rousing cheer from his fellow Jesuit scholastics as he accepted his Bene Merenti Medal for 40 years of service. Father Lombardi first came to Fordham in 1958 as a freshman at Fordham Prep, where he later returned to teach classics before joining the University faculty in 1996.

“It’s great to see that so many of my friends are still here, alive and thriving,” Father Lombardi said.

Father McShane lauded the awardees for not only touching every aspect of life at Fordham, but for also extending their good works to the world at large.

Byron E. Shafer, Ph.D., associate professor emeritus of theology, has exemplified this commitment over his long and varied career. Shafer joined Fordham in 1968 as one of the first Protestants in his department, and later became well known to New York City radio listeners as a co-host of Religion on the Line, a program on religious and social issues featuring a priest, a rabbi, and a minister.

In addition to directing the University’s Middle East Studies program and focusing his scholarly energies on Ancient Egypt, Shafer also found time over the years to serve as pastor at Rutgers Presbyterian Church on the Upper West Side and as a visiting scholar at United Theological College in Bangalore, India.  But he always returned to Fordham, where he continues to teach senior citizens in the College at 60 program.

“Although I’ve been around more or less for 51 years, I finally made it to 40,” he said with a laugh upon receiving the Bene Merenti Medal.

Reflecting on her four decades at Fordham, Mary Chilton Callaway, associate professor of theology, observed a special quality present in both the theology department and the University as a whole. “It’s the willingness to learn and grow and change,” she said.

One change, she said, are the ever-growing challenges her students face—and not just from her lessons on the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Jeremiah. Callaway, a Bene Merenti Medalist, has cherished the opportunity “to help students with things beyond just the Old Testament—navigating their lives. For me, that’s a wonderful part about being at Fordham: when they come to my office and can open up about things,” she said.

“That’s what has kept me here for 40 years. I feel like I’m doing something helpful and worthwhile.”

Bene Merenti Medal | 40 Years
Mary Chilton Callaway
William Conlon
Celia B. Fisher
Richard Fleisher
Anne Golomb Hoffman
D. Frank Hsu
Nicholas Lombardi, S.J.
Julia H. Mueller
Byron E. Shafer
Elizabeth Stone

Bene Merenti Medal | 20 Years
Maureen P. Benej
Mary Bly
Richard S. Carnell
Martin Chase, S.J.
Christopher M. Cullen, S.J.
John Drummond
Margo A. Jackson
Duncan R. James
Gyula Klima
Ji Seon Lee
Michael W. Martin
James McCann
Marjorie R. Saltzberg
Mark S. Silver
Lyn K. Slater
Gemma Solimene

Archbishop Hughes Medal | 40 Years 
Serafina De Gregorio

Archbishop Hughes Medal | 20 Years
Maria Aponte
Jedd S. Applebaum
Marianna Balquiedra
William J. Campbell
Damarie Cardona
Jim Castillo
Vincenza Corcoran
Lois D’Amore
Fleurin Eshghi
Monica Esser
Leslie I. Gillette
Helene Jacoby Madigan
Francis C. Katai
Ruben Mendez
Stephanie Milizia
James O’Hara
Ramón Pérez
Lewis Price
Lucille I. Santos
William R. Schneider
Matthew Schottenfeld
Joanne Schwind
Michael Tavas
Timothy W. Zay

Sursum Corda Award
James Higgins
Gregory Pappas
Nancy Perri

–Michael Garofalo

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Diversity and Loyalty Celebrated at Annual Convocation https://now.fordham.edu/university-news/diversity-and-loyalty-celebrated/ Mon, 06 Mar 2017 20:30:22 +0000 http://news.fordham.sitecare.pro/?p=65257 On March 5, the diversity and loyalty that makes Fordham strong was on full display as the community came together to celebrate 59 of its longest serving members.

The gathering is an annual occasion to honor employees with Bene Merenti and Archbishop Hughes medals for 20 or 40 years of service.

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, noted that this year the celebration was taking place in a world gripped by anxiety and worry. Such uncertainties make it even more important honor the professors, lecturers, caretakers, designers, fundraisers, bursars, DJs, secretaries, managers, librarians, public safety officers, and more who help make the University function.

They’re a “paradoxical lot,” he said—wonderfully adaptive and yet unchanging, and remarkably diverse but united.

“In response to the many challenges that an accelerating, evolving world has presented to them, they have displayed a rare combination of wisdom and courage. They have brought to the University a broad array of interests and talents.  In spite of this, they are and have remain united in their devotion to the mission of the University,” he said.

“Therefore, we celebrate unity in diversity, and a constancy grounded in our history that is combined with a zest for new challenges.”

“Let us make this a moment in which we give the world the light it needs,” Father McShane said.
“Let us sweep that light into the most forgotten corners of a world and a nation that so sorely need the hope that our light can and does give.”

Many of the honorees were joined by children and grandchildren. When Aleksander Rebisz was honored with a Sursum Corda Award for outstanding contributions to the University, his son-in-law Matt Kraeger hoisted aloft Rebisz’ 2-year-old grandson Mason for a better view, to the delight of the audience.

Jonathan M. Crystal, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, associate vice president and associate chief academic officer, said that when he began his career at Fordham in 1997, his oldest son Nathan was just a year old. On Sunday, Nathan was unable to see his dad accept a Bene Merenti award because he was away at college. Crystal, who was lauded in a citation as the “keystone” of the University’s academic enterprise, said it was a little frightening how quickly time had passed.

“To be surrounded by all of my colleagues is an amazing feeling. This is one of the best days of my life,” he said.

“If you ask most people in the world, ‘do you love the place you work,’ maybe they like their job and maybe they like their colleagues,” he said. “But people who work at Fordham love Fordham.”

Georgine Barna Hoar, an adjunct professor of Spanish who was awarded a Bene Merenti medal for her four decades years of service, credited the teaching profession with having kept her young. She and her husband Leo Hoar, Ph.D., professor emeritus who retired in 2015 after teaching Spanish for 53 years, estimated that they have collectively served 12,500 students—the same number of chairs set up for Commencement Day on Edwards Parade.  Each semester on the last day of class, she said she makes a point to thank her students for all that they’ve taught her.

“In practicing a language, it helps to talk about things that interest them,” she said. “I don’t know what programs they watch and what concerts they go to, so they tell me, and it makes them feel good because they have helped me to understand what’s important to them.”

For John Platt, director of communications at WFUV (90.7), the afternoon was slightly bittersweet, as his colleague in 20 years of service and fellow honoree, Rich Conaty, the host of The Big Broadcast, died in December.

He was grateful for the stability that WFUV has provided him. In commercial radio, where he worked previously, he noted that the field is so unpredictable, time can feel as if it should be measured “in dog years.”

“If you look at my resume prior to WFUV, it’s a very checkered career. Ownership changes, management changes, program directors change,” he said. “To be at WFUV [this long]with a team of people who are all doing radio for its own sake . . . is about the most gratifying way you can make a living.”

Dominique R. Jenkins, a friend of Assistant Director of Enrollment Services Melissa L. Scriven, an Archbishop Hughes Medal winner for 20 years of service, marveled at how the awardees— though occasionally humbled to be in the spotlight—showed “pride in everything they do.”

“Why leave if you work in such a great environment, with a great group of people?” she said.


Bene Merenti
Medal | Forty Years

Bruce F. Berg | Professor of Political Science
Constance W. Hassett | Professor of English
Georgine Barna Hoar | Adjunct Professor of Spanish
Gail D. Hollister | Archibald R. Murray Professor of Law
Katherin Marton | Professor of Finance and Business Economics
E. Doyle McCarthy | Professor of Sociology and American Studies
Marie A. Sheehan | Adjunct Assistant Professor, College at 60
David P. Stuhr | Associate Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Business, Retired Faculty Advisor
Anthony Tartaglia | Adjunct Instructor of Mathematics
Frank M. Werner | Associate Professor of Finance and Business Economics

Bene Merenti Medal | Twenty Years

Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock | Artist-in-Residence
Cheryl G. Bader | Clinical Associate Professor of Law
Paul M. Bochner | Clinical Assistant Professor of Taxation
Colin M. Cathcart | Associate Professor of Visual Arts
Jeffrey E. Cohen | Professor of Political Science
Carole Beth Cox | Professor of Social Work
Jonathan M. Crystal | Associate Professor of Political Science, Associate Vice President and Associate Chief Academic Officer
Maddy Cunningham | Associate Professor of Social Work
Pearl Fisk | Adjunct Assistant Professor of Social Work
Warren Dana Holman | Clinical Professor of Social Work
Francesca Parmeggiani | Associate Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature
S. Elizabeth Penry | Assistant Professor of History
Aditya N. Saharia | Associate Professor of Information Systems
Kieran Scott | Associate Professor of Religious Education
Yvette Michelle Sealy | Associate Professor of Social Work
Daniel Soyer | Professor of History
Kirsten Swinth | Associate Professor of History and American Studies
David S.L. Wei | Professor of Computer and Information Science
Greg Winczewski | Lecturer of Economics, Director International Political Economy Program 

Archbishop Hughes Medal | Forty Years 

John M. Algieri | Director of Budget Development

Archbishop Hughes Medal | ​Twenty​ ​Years​

Bob Ahrens | Executive Sports Producer, WFUV 
Hopeton Campbell | Director of the Edward A. Walsh Digital Media Lab
Marcos Antonio Carrasco | Information Technology Analyst/Manager
Joan P. Cavanagh | Director of Interfaith Programs, Director of Campus Ministry at Westchester 
Rich Conaty | WFUV Host, The Big Broadcast
Frank A. DeOrio | Director of University Procurement
Aldo Di Vitto | Facilities Architect
Melissa D. Forston | Senior IT Business Analyst/Manager
Gloria L. Guzman | Assistant Director of Budget Operations
John C. Hurley Jr. | Technical Support Manager, University Libraries
Daniel Thomas Kiely | Director of Public Safety at Rose Hill
Michael Lambros | Caretaker, The Louis Calder Center
Yael Mandelstam | Head of Cataloging, T.J. & Nancy Maloney Law School Library
Kimberly M. McKeon | Senior Director of Development Research and Prospect Management
Jan Miner | Assistant Dean and Director of Field Instruction, Graduate School of Social Service and Adjunct Instructor of Social Work
Maureen Murray | Nurse Practitioner, University Health Services
Norma L. Pérez | Office Manager, Information Technology Department, School of Law
John Platt | Director of Communications, WFUV
Marguerite Power | Financial Aid Supervisor, Graduate School of Social Service
Eric J. Sanders | Senior Associate Academic Advisor for Student-Athletes
Michael J.K. Schiumo | Assistant Dean of Alumni Relations and Development, School of Law
Melissa L. Scriven | Assistant Director of Enrollment Services
Gilbert M. Stack | Director of Assessment and Accreditation, Gabelli School of Business
Melanie Teagle | Senior Designer, Office of Marketing and Communications
Wendy Viggiano | Enrollment Service Administrator – Technical Support
Richard A. Waite | Director of University Conference Services

Sursum Corda Award

Marc Christopher Canton | Director of University Transportation
Susan Bair Egan | Associate Dean and Director of the M.S.W. Program, Graduate School of Social Service
Aleksander Rebisz | Refrigeration Engineer

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Fordham Celebrates its Own at the 2016 Convocation https://now.fordham.edu/university-news/fordham-celebrates-its-own-at-the-2016-convocation/ Mon, 07 Mar 2016 21:07:39 +0000 http://news.fordham.sitecare.pro/?p=43617 Each year at the Fordham University convocation, the University honors its longest-serving employees with the Bene Merenti medal or the Archbishop Hughes medal, for 20 or 40 years of service.

And each year Joseph M. McShane, SJ, president of Fordham, asks the award recipients to stand and face the crowd, and asks their families to stand.

“Of course, the men and women whom we honor would remind us that they could not have served the University and transformed the world without the faith, support and love of their families,” said Father McShane.

Cammarosano
Joseph Cammarosano celebrated 75 years on campus and 60 years of teaching.

This year, from the back of the McGinley Ballroom, Kevin Mulcahy hoisted his daughter up to see her mother, Julie Fissinger, who had just received the Archbishop Hughes medal for 20 years of administrative service as the director of the President’s Council. Fissinger’s two older children tilted their heads to get a glimpse of their mom.

“We do this sort of thing for kids all the time, so it’s kind of nice to see the adults get recognized,” said Mulcahy.

Fissinger said that Fordham has been always been a “good fit” for her because she was able to leave and take care of her kids when they were young, and then come back.

“It’s allowed me to balance my career in a family-friendly place,” she said.

Dozens of relatives celebrated alongside the 49 recipients, in what Father McShane called, “a family celebration.” Many said that Fordham was a place where one could explore life beyond the University gates and still be welcomed back.

Aleksa Mardjonovic’s family also stood and waved their hands as he received the Sursum Corda award, which recognizes members of the staff who made outstanding contributions to the University. Marjonovic, an HVAC mechanic, said he started at Fordham in the early 1970s, but left during the 1980s to “try other things.” and came back in 1990s. Like Fissinger, he returned because “Fordham has been good for me,” he said.

While most recipients celebrated 20 and 40 years of service, one notable exception—at 60 years of service—was Joseph R. Cammarosano PhD, professor emeritus of economics. He came to Fordham as a freshman in 1941. He is the second person in Fordham’s history to have received the Bene Merenti medal, which recognizes faculty Cammarosano2service, three times.

And while this year marked Cammarosano’s 60th year of teaching at Fordham, it was his 75th year on campus.

“It’s been a blur,” said Cammarosano. “But after 75 years, I still feel as though I’m freshman coming up the Elm Road for the first time to see the dean.”

Cammarosano recalled a time on campus when “there were more squirrels than students” and a faculty “that was largely Jesuits.”

“There was more cohesion in those days because we all marched in step,” he said. “You had the same student sitting next to you in freshman year as you had in sophomore year. It was a good place to develop camaraderie.

“Those were great days. The landscape was such that you wouldn’t want to leave this place—and I didn’t!”

The camaraderie continues today, said Sarah Beer, the daughter of 20-year Bene Merenti awardee Robert Beer, PhD, associate professor and chair of the chemistry department.

“Everybody comes together and works hard on keeping the college a very safe and great place,” she said. “And I’m telling the complete truth—because I’ve seen how hard everybody works.”

Faculty Senate Prez

Bene Merenti Medal | Sixty Years

Joseph R. Cammarosano | Professor Emeritus of Economics

Bene Merenti Medal | Forty Years

John D. Feerick | Sidney C. Norris Professor of Public Service Law
Gerard F. Iwantsch | Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Lawrence King | Assistant Professor of Marketing
Henry Putzel III | Adjunct Professor of Law
Clara E. Rodríguez | Professor of Sociology
Allen Schiff | Professor of Accounting and Taxation
Jack Spalding | Associate Professor of Art History

Bene Merenti Medal | Twenty Years

Albert Auster | Professor of Communication and Media Studies
Robert H. Beer | Associate Professor and Chair of Chemistry
Doron Ben-Atar | Professor of History
Karen E. Brobst | Associate Professor of Education
Benjamin Crooker | Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering Physics
Hooman Estelami | Professor of Marketing
Raymond T. Franzem | Adjunct Associate Professor of Social Work
Elisabeth Frost | Professor of English and Women’s Studies
Abby Goldstein | Associate Professor of Visual Arts
Albert N. Greco | Professor of Marketing
Judith Green | Professor of Philosophy
William J. Greene III | Adjunct Associate Professor of Law and Ethics
Meredith Hanson | Professor of Social Work
Leah Aileen Hill | Associate Dean for Experiential Education, School of Law
Sharon M. Livesey | Associate Professor of Management
Dean McKay | Professor of Psychology
Dana Miller | Associate Professor of Philosophy
James McNulty Mitchell | Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Barbara E. Mundy | Professor of Art History
Harry Newman | Professor of Accounting and Taxation
Martin A. Sanzari | Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering Physics
Marcella Silverman | Clinical Associate Professor of Law
Judith R. Smith | Associate Professor of Social Work
Lawrence Michael Wolk | Visiting Instructor of Computer Science

Archbishop Hughes Medal | Twenty Years

Irene F. Badaracco | Director, Institute of American Language and Culture
Kimberly J. Carr | Assistant Director, Office of International Studies
Ann Marie Ciaramella | Assistant Dean, Graduate School of Education
Michael Considine | Director of Information Technology Services, University Libraries
Keith Eldredge | Dean of Students, Lincoln Center
Christine Engongoro | Director of Student Financial Services, Rose Hill
Angela Epstein | Assistant Director of University Procurement
George Evans | Director of Technical Operations, WFUV
Julie Fissinger | Director of the President’s Council
Eleanor McKenna | Manager, Student Financial Services
Evgheni Sandu | Systems Engineer, University Libraries
Stefano A. Terzulli | Bursar and Director of Student Accounts
Paul I. Thyagaraj | Senior Manager of Campus Operations, Lincoln Center
Rebeca Velazquez | Manager of Faculty Administration

The Sursum Corda Award

Sylvia Heichel | Executive Secretary, Office for Student Involvement
Aleksa Mardjonovic | HVAC Mechanic
Angela Van Dekker | Associate Vice President for Student Financial Services

 

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