Now, the 1992 Fordham College at Rose Hill graduate is doing his own convincing. In October, he sponsored a reception for Fordham graduates, friends, and family in Hong Kong, where he’s lived since a “short-term” assignment sent him to the country in 1996.

It wasn’t the first time he’d picked up stakes and moved across the world. After El-Omari’s family fled Lebanon in 1974, when he was just 4 years old, they moved to New York City. They lived on York Avenue in Manhattan, and he attended the nearby French school, Lycée François de New York, until 1979, when they moved to, well, France.

There, he attended Lycée Gerson, a Jesuit high school, until 1989, when, after “dreaming of going back to the U.S.,” he left to study math and economics at Fordham. His cousins had told him about finding a second home at the University, about how he’d learn to think for himself and be prepared to go out into the world to make an impact—and so he has.

After graduating, he was hired by JPMorgan Chase, where he hopped around various divisions, including telecommunications and mergers and acquisitions, trying to find the “right” one for him. Luckily, “the bank was really good at helping encourage, and constantly move, people to find their strength,” he said.

His strength, it turned out, was helping launch and lead the company’s consumer and retail group in Asia. In 2021, after more than 30 years with JPMorgan, El-Omari left the bank to co-found 6E Capital, a venture capital and private equity fund, with his wife.

“I felt like I wasn’t really growing or learning or doing anything different, and so I figured, ‘Why don’t I start something new?’” he said. “The idea was to give back to people what I learned, and so I work now with startup companies or smaller companies and leverage my network and empower the companies to use my contacts to open doors for them to get business.”

There’s another way he wants to give back: by championing the value of education and telling people about his own experiences as a student in New York.

How best to support young people in and beyond Hong Kong and connect them with opportunities—especially the opportunity to receive an “American education” as he did—is something that’s always on his mind as a father of four, but he wants to help all students.

“I think if we have the opportunity and the privilege of going and studying in the U.S., it’s something that I always advocate, particularly at the university level,” El-Omari said. “And look, to me, New York is really the best place, as a foreign student, to actually go and have an education.”

Fordham Five

What are you most passionate about?
Running: It keeps testing both my physical and mental limits. I ran the New York City Marathon last year. It’s my favorite marathon in the whole world. I think I’ve run nine marathons and one ultramarathon.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
—Winston Churchill

I ran the Marathon des Sables (MDS). It’s a 250km, seven-day, self-survival race in the Sahara desert. It was an excruciating physical and mental run. I was completely drained, but I kept going. It’s so difficult to persist when everything is telling you to stop. I still don’t know why I put myself through this ordeal. (Maybe it was part of the mid-life crisis process.) It was hell, and Churchill stuck in my mind. I bonded so much with my tent mates, and they helped me go through this struggle.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
I love the New York City Subway because it’s a representation of life. You see everything in it. It’s really a tapestry of life.

In the world, I like running across Hong Kong island. It’s breathtaking, and it’s very personal. I find it extraordinary to have urban life so closely intertwined with nature. It’s like having Manhattan and a jungle right next to each other. One minute, you’re running in the city, and a block later, you’re completely submerged in nature. I love that.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
I don’t know if you’ve read some of the passages of The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. He basically takes different themes in your life. There’s one about children, about parents and their children, that’s true: You don’t own your children. You’re just a vessel for them and a platform for them to grow. But you cannot control who they are, their thoughts, where they want to go. The only thing you can do is just kind of guide them as much as you can. But it’s their life.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
My cousin, Wassim Habre, GABELLI ‘84. My cousin was everything I wanted to be. He was like a big brother to me. He’s the one that encouraged me to go to the USA; he’s the one who [helped get]me into Fordham. He was charismatic and a natural leader. He was so successful in everything he did—generous, gifted, and loving. He accomplished so much personally and professionally. He started his company at the young age of 24 and sadly passed away at the young age of 26. He’s been in my heart, thoughts, and prayers ever since.

Each alumnus will be honored during the annual Fordham University Alumni Association Recognition (FUAA) Reception, to be held virtually on Thursday, January 21. The two award winners were nominated by their peers and selected by FUAA Advisory Board members.

Di Giorgio, so surprised he would be receiving the Ram of the Year Award—given to a graduate who has enhanced the reputation of the University through their professional achievements, personal accomplishments, and loyal service to Fordham—was convinced he’d been notified accidentally. He said he read the email three times, initially assuming he was cc’d as an alumni chapter leader and that another Mark was the winner. It wasn’t until he checked the list of email recipients that it started to sink in.

“I don’t know if I’ve been in the running before or been considered. So, it was a complete shock,” he said. Di Giorgio added that for him it was one of few “shining stars of 2020.”

Sarwar said he felt that same shock and was “extremely humbled” when he learned he’d won the Trailblazer Award, which is presented to a graduate from the past 10 years who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to Fordham and whose leadership has inspired fellow alumni.

“There are a lot of young alumni who are doing a lot of great stuff, so I definitely feel very thankful to the University for this recognition,” he said.

Building New Ties, Finding Camaraderie

Di Giorgio and Sarwar both have years of supporting Fordham under their belts, albeit in different ways.

Now a financial analyst at Bank of America, Di Giorgio initially found it hard to maintain a connection to the Fordham community after he moved from New Jersey to California in 1996, a professional move he thought would be relatively short-term—and then he found the Alumni Chapter of Northern California.

He joined the chapter’s leadership board and in just a year was nominated to serve as president, a role he’s held for almost 15 years. During that time, he has helped revamp events to engage a wider group of people, especially younger alumni. In the spirit of engaging alumni who are physically distant from Fordham but still identify as New Yorkers, he’s even created a bocce team, the Bronx Ballers, that competes in San Francisco’s Ferry Bocce league. “It turns out we get enough people to participate in the league three times a year. … People ask, ‘Are we playing again? Are we doing this again?’”

“A lot of people, they don’t get back to New York, and this was one way that they still connect with Fordham,” he said. “So, it’s the satisfaction of the alumni engaging, not necessarily [with]Fordham but [with each other]for the camaraderie.”

In a normal year, the chapter would hold a number of in-person events, from an end-of-the-year Christmas dinner to attending sports games and more. But “COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into everything,” Di Giorgio said.

“I’m optimistic that one day soon—within three months, six months—that I’ll be able to shake the hands, hug the people that I haven’t been able to in a year,” he said.

Education as ‘Silver Bullet’ for Socioeconomic Mobility

Sarwar, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan when he was in eighth grade, believes in the power of education and the opportunities it affords people. He attended Fordham thanks to the Thomas G. Labrecque Smart Start Program, which included a full four-year scholarship to the University and an internship with JPMorgan Chase while he was a student.

“My father spent most of his adult life getting the rest of his family to this country because he believed in the educational opportunities that America had to offer,” Sarwar said, adding that his own goal is to try to help provide educational opportunities to others. He sees higher education as “the silver bullet to help people transcend socioeconomic backgrounds and ensure mobility in our very fast-changing world.”

Now six years into his tenure at JPMorgan Chase as a risk associate in asset management, Sarwar is passionate about paying it forward. He’s been a member of Fordham’s Young Alumni Committee since graduating, and he’s also chaired its philanthropy subcommittee twice. He said the committee is a great way to stay in touch with recent alumni and identify ways they can give back to Fordham.

“Their time, their thoughts, their ideas, their feedback to the University [are]extremely critical, especially because it’s the most fresh batch of feedback we can get,” he said. “Relaying [that feedback]to the appropriate administrators and making sure that it’s part of what the Fordham administration considers to make changes has been very rewarding.”

Through Fordham’s Social Innovation Collaboratory, Sarwar uses his specific career experience as a risk associate to mentor current Fordham students interested in entrepreneurship. “Trying to implement that kind of thinking to entrepreneurship, I feel, is a good way I can give back.”

Mission-Motivated

Fordham’s spirit, values, and mission sit at the center of both Di Giorgio’s and Sarwar’s efforts. “Being a mission-oriented university, I think, really helps us continue to make those bonds stronger,” Sarwar said. “I got to go to the University with a scholarship. I got to meet some of the best people ever, and if I can help other people do that, that’s what [I’m] inclined to do.”

For Di Giorgio, who lives across the country from many of his family and friends, maintaining a sense of connection to his alma mater and the “Go Rams” Fordham spirit is crucial.

“What I can think of and touch and feel, it’s the friendships I have,” Di Giorgio said. “They’re lifelong friendships, and I think it’s because Fordham draws the same types of person at its core. So I’ve had friends for 50 years, but the ones I call and stay in touch with—send Christmas cards to—are my Fordham roommates.”

Typically held in person, this year’s FUAA Recognition Reception will be held virtually due to COVID-19. Sarwar and Di Giorgio will receive engraved awards ahead of the virtual reception, which will also feature a sweepstakes open to all attendees.

Visit Forever Fordham to learn more and register to attend the January 21 event.

“My whole life, I’ve been this kid who’s gone through change and challenge, and I’ve turned that into my competitive energy,” said Rainford, managing director and head of Advancing Black Leaders strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The students from the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology in the South Bronx gathered at Faber Hall on Aug. 9 to discuss Rainford’s award-winning memoir, Until the Brighter Tomorrow: One Woman’s Courageous Climb from the Projects to the Podium, part of a summer school reading program sponsored by Areté Education, a community academic initiative.

A Bronx native herself, Rainford grew up in the projects, changing homes and schools every year (“if you name a school, I probably went to it”) while her family tried to make ends meet. She endured poverty, a drug culture, domestic violence, the death of her brother, and ultimately the devastating suicide of her mother, which led to Rainford dropping out of Fordham during her sophomore year.

“I had no intention of ever coming back,” she said.  “I lost my way.”

But support from University career advisers and the encouraging words and deeds of her late mother—the daughter of South Carolina sharecroppers with only a sixth-grade education—was seared into Rainford’s consciousness and drew her back into the fold.

“When I returned to Fordham, I wanted to make my mother proud. I feel like she’s been sitting on my shoulder, encouraging me ever since.”

Rainford commuted to Rose Hill and Lincoln Center during the day, returning to the Bronx where she was a cashier and manager at Key Food at night. On her days off from school, she worked at the bank nearby. With an aptitude for numbers and money, she majored in economics and earned her degree.

After meeting with recruiters on campus at Rose Hill, Rainford accepted an offer from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, her employer for the next 21 years, where she rose to become the first black woman to be promoted to senior vice president and the most senior black woman in the Federal Reserve system. But, she said, “I was just a good worker. I wasn’t working for the title.”

At JPMorgan Chase, Rainford continues to work with businesses as they reorganize and restructure. “My sole focus is to figure out how we hire, retain, and advance people who look like you and me,” she told the students, who were of diverse backgrounds.

Rainford says the early hardships she faced provided her with the experience, tools, and tenacity for later success.

“I was good at change. We were always struggling, but I was really good at adjusting and turning personal experience into a gift that no one else around me had,” said Rainford, who joined Fordham’s Board of Trustees in July. “I can look at a situation that everyone else has been staring at for a year and see it differently.”

Rainford signed copies of her book and led roundtable discussions facilitated by Sarah Benis Scheier-Dolberg, Ed.D.; John Garibaldi; and Anthony Baez of Areté Education. At the end of the session, the group presented Rainford with a thank-you card.

One of the students, Mariyam Sumarah, asked if there ever was a time when Rainford wanted to stop trying.

“Well, sometimes you can forget that the fight is worth it,” Rainford said. “It will take a while, but you have to keep at it. People are going to close doors on you. Just never give up.”

Publishers told Rainford that her story was not believable and advised her to restructure the narrative. Rainford refused, and instead launched her own publishing company, Elloree Press, a platform for new and aspiring writers to tell their own stories.

Following the event, the students toured campus venues including Hughes Hall, the Rose Hill home of the Gabelli School of Business; Dealy Hall; and Walsh Family Library, learning about college core classes, adjunct professors, and internships.

Student Leslie Rivas is considering Fordham’s Criminal Justice program. “I would be the first in my family to go to college,” she said. “College will be hard, and I have to be prepared to achieve.”

Another student, Pedro Nunez, reflected on Rainford’s life. “It inspired me and made me want to expand my education and keep doing good,” he said.

Rainford reflected on her own life as well. “In some way, I think God made me go through all that I went through so that I could be here today,” she said. “My purpose on the planet is to be a role model for others. I walk the streets that you walk, and if I can do those things, so can you.”

—Deborah Anders

Shannon Harman graduated from the Gabelli School of Business on May 20, just like two of her sisters before her. Abigail (Abby) Harman earned her Gabelli diploma in 2016, and Emily Harman graduated from the school in 2015.

Having her two older sisters on campus with her was helpful, said Shannon, standing outside the Rose Hill Gym with her family just before the Gabelli ceremony, where Abby and Emily joined her on stage as she received her diploma.

“I got to know a lot of people over the years, especially having two sisters [here] before me,” Shannon said, adding that watching her siblings navigate Fordham’s classes and extracurriculars helped her pursue her own path toward a career in finance.

Shannon followed in her sisters’ footsteps in some key activities during her Gabelli career. She was CEO of Smart Woman Securities, where Emily had also served as CEO and Abby was chief development officer, hosting weekly seminars with finance professionals who shared advice and career perspectives. The nonprofit organization, with chapters on several college campuses, aims to educate undergraduate women on finance and investing through networking events and mentoring. Each of the Harman sisters attended the organization’s annual trip to Omaha, Nebraska, where they were among a group of students who met and dined with Warren Buffett.

“One of my favorite things here was being in Smart Woman Securities. That really helped me grow,” Shannon said. “And it actually helped me get my job, because of one of the events they helped me attend.” In July, she’ll be starting a rotational finance program at JPMorgan Chase, where she interned as a student.

All three sisters studied abroad with Gabelli at Fordham’s London Centre. Emily said that learning what it was like to work in finance in London, as well as connecting with Fordham’s alumni network there, gave them each valuable international perspective. “It had a huge impact on my Fordham experience,” she said.

Emily started her career in BNY Mellon’s Emerging Leaders Program before moving last summer to Blackstone, where she is an analyst in the Private Wealth Group. Abby is also currently at Blackstone in the rotational finance program, a position she landed after completing the summer internship there in 2015.

Though the three sisters ended up together at Fordham, they went their own ways in high school. The family lives in Brielle, New Jersey, and they each went to a different specialized high school in the Monmouth County Vocational School District. The fact that they attended separate high schools gave them a greater appreciation for the time they spent together at Fordham. Their youngest sibling, Gracie, is currently a junior in Manasquan High School, where she is part of the finance academy. The family affectionately refers to her as a potential Fordham Ram.

“I’d love to see her come to Fordham and have a great experience like we did,” Emily said.

Dr. Skorton will be awarded an honorary doctorate during the commencement ceremonies, as will eight other people who have distinguished themselves in business, law, the arts, or public service. See here for full details on Fordham’s commencement ceremonies.

Honorary doctorates of humane letters will be awarded to Dr. Skorton and to Judith Altmann, vice president of the Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut; Gregory Boyle, SJ, head of the gang-intervention group Homeboy Industries; Maurice “Mo” Cunniffe, FCRH ’54, a successful businessman and key supporter of Fordham; Patricia David, GABELLI ’81, global head of diversity for JPMorgan Chase; and Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

An honorary doctorate of laws will be awarded to Loretta A. Preska, LAW ’73, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Honorary doctorates of fine arts will be awarded to Robert Battle, artistic director for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and to Henry Cobb, founding partner at the architecture firm Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners and co-designer of Fordham Law School’s new building.

Cobb and Preska will receive their honorary doctorates at the law school’s diploma ceremony, to be held Monday, May 23, at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan. All other honorary doctorates will be awarded at the main University commencement on May 21.

Preska will speak at Fordham Law School’s diploma ceremony. David will speak at the Gabelli School of Business’ diploma ceremony for master’s degree candidates, to be held May 23 at the Beacon Theatre. Father Boyle will speak at the diploma ceremony for the Graduate School of Social Service, to be held May 23 at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.

David Skorton became the first physician to lead the Smithsonian Institution when he began his tenure in July 2015. He oversees 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoo, and various research centers devoted to astrophysics, tropical research, the natural environment, and other areas.

During his tenure, Dr. Skorton has made arts programming a priority at the Smithsonian, and he continues to advocate for a greater national commitment to arts and humanities education. In an address at the National Press Club in December, he called for reversing what he called our nation’s “disinterest and disinvestment in the arts and humanities” while also preserving the nation’s commitment to science.

As he put it, “This commitment must be based on an understanding that the arts and humanities complement science and that together they us make better thinkers, better decision makers, and better citizens.”

Dr. Skorton earned both his bachelor’s degree in psychology and his medical degree from Northwestern University before completing his residency and fellowship in cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1979. He then joined the faculty of the University of Iowa, where he held professorships in internal medicine, biomedical engineering, and other fields before serving as the university’s president from 2003 to 2006.

In 2006 he was named president of Cornell University, where under his leadership the university joined with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to win a competition to develop a new campus, Cornell Tech, on New York City’s Roosevelt Island. He also won praise as a highly effective fundraising at both Cornell and the University of Iowa.

Dr. Skorton has also served as a professor in Cornell’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and in the departments of medicine and pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is a pioneer in applying computer analysis and processing to improve cardiac imaging, and has published two major texts and numerous other writings on cardiac imaging and image processing.

He is also an amateur flute and saxophone player who once co-hosted a weekly Latin jazz program on the University of Iowa’s public radio station.

Other Honorary Degree Recipients:

Judith Altmann is a Holocaust survivor who shares her story widely in Connecticut and Westchester County schools as a way of encouraging young people to make a better world. Born in 1924 in Jasina, Czechoslovakia, she was confined in Nazi camps at Auschwitz, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, and Bergen Belsen in 1944 and 1945. She is a vice president of the Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut and recipient of the Anti-Defamation League’s Daniel R. Ginsberg Humanitarian Award for 2013.

Robert Battle is artistic director for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which offers a BFA in dance in conjunction with Fordham. Renowned for his challenging, athletic, and lyrical choreography, Battle was named one of the Masters of African American Choreography by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2005, among his other honors. He established the Ailey company’s New Directions Choreography Lab to nurture emerging talents, and continues to expand the company’s community outreach and education programs.

Gregory Boyle, SJ, is executive director of Homeboy Industries, one of the nation’s largest gang-intervention organizations. Hundreds of former gang members have changed their lives by taking advantage of the organization’s work program and its services including education, legal help, and substance abuse counseling. Father Boyle is an internationally recognized expert on gang intervention approaches and author of The New York Times bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion (Free Press, 2011).

Henry N. Cobb is a founding partner at the award-winning architecture firm Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners. Along with his colleague Yvonne Szeto, he designed the new 22-story Fordham Law School and McKeon Residence Hall building at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. His many other distinctive projects include the iconic John Hancock Tower over Boston’s historic Copley Square, which earned the prestigious Twenty-Five-Year Award from the American Institute of Architects.

Maurice “Mo” Cunniffe, FCRH ’54, chairman and CEO of Vista Capital, is a successful engineer, businessman, entrepreneur, and Fordham trustee emeritus who is one of the University community’s most vital and longstanding supporters. He played a pivotal role in the expansion of Fordham Prep as one of its trustees from 1983 to 1995, and his extraordinary financial support for Fordham was recognized in 2013 with the renaming of the Administration Building at the Rose Hill campus in his honor. He served on the Fordham University Board of Trustees from 1995 to 2003.

Patricia David, GABELLI ’81, managing director and global head of diversity for JP Morgan Chase, has been widely recognized for integrating diversity efforts throughout the company over the past 15 years. With her help, the company was named to Black Enterprise’s 2015 list of the most diverse companies, and she herself has received honors including the YMCA’s Black Achievers in Industry award. She serves on the advisory board for the Gabelli School of Business and was named the school’s Alumna of the Year for 2015.

Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, is a passionate advocate for expanding health care access. Sister Carol was recognized by President Obama for helping to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, and Pope Benedict XVI bestowed on her the Cross for the Church and Pontiff to honor her humanitarian efforts. Since 2005 she has been president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, a membership organization comprising more than 600 Catholic hospitals and 1,400 other health ministries.

Loretta A. Preska, LAW ’73, is chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In more than two decades as a judge she has ruled on many high-profile cases, such as those involving computer hacking, sentencing of a Somali pirate involved in hijacking a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, and the parody of an Annie Leibovitz photograph. She is a steadfast and generous supporter of Fordham who received Fordham Law School’s Louis J. Lefkowitz Public Service Award and the Fordham Law Alumni Association’s Medal of Achievement. A member of the Fordham University Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2013, she is now a trustee fellow.