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. 

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. 

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 Chy • Steven M. D’Agustino • Jennifer Giorgio • Jaime Lyn Harkin • Dean K. Mavrovitis • Kevin D. Munnelly • Lynn Parliman • John D. Williams • Tsvetelina T. Zlatareva 

1841 Award | Forty Years 

Linda M. Perri 

1841 Award | Twenty Years

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

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. 

“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.” 

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

Hinkle began at Fordham in 1986 as a shelver, but ultimately spent the majority of his Fordham career as manager of the photocopy and scan center, first in Duane Library and then Walsh Library.

“Bob Hinkle was a particularly beloved member of the library staff,” said Linda LoSchiavo, director of libraries. “A gentle, friendly man, Bob was our resident sage and savant on any number of subjects. His love for Fordham was deep and genuine. We will truly miss this gentleman extraordinaire.”

A wake and funeral Mass will be held Friday, Feb. 27, at Our Lady of Refuge Church (290 East 196th Street, Bronx, NY 10458). Visitation will begin at 10:30 a.m. and Mass will follow at 11:30 a.m.

A reception in the O’Hare Special Collections Room in the Walsh Library will be held following the Mass.

Before coming to Fordham, Hinkle worked at the Firestone Library at Princeton, the Movielab film library in New York City, and the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He received a bachelor’s degree from St. Peter’s College and a master’s degree from Queens College, and had also pursued graduate studies at SUNY Binghamton.

In 2006 he received Fordham University’s 1841 Award, which is given to Fordham staff members who have served the University for 20 years.

“I was on the subway searching for a job when someone flashed a Fordham University book cover,” Hinkle wrote in his award citation regarding his beginnings at the University. “It was a cold day in January of 1986. I had just been laid off as a circulation clerk at the Borough of Manhattan Community College Library… I called the Fordham personnel office and they said come on up. I have been here ever since.”

In addition to his work in the library, Hinkle was an avid painter (he was featured several years ago in an exhibit at The Art Students League in Manhattan) and an aficionado of French language, striped bass fishing, and history. He also had a deep interest in politics—national and international alike—and possessed an almost encyclopedic knowledge of local politics, LoSchiavo said.

“Bob’s greatest impact was in his individual interactions with students and faculty in the library,” she said. “Always ready to help, always eager to discuss whatever subject a student or faculty member was working on, and always cheerful, Bob was considered a friend to decades of library users.”

Cards may be sent to the family via a memorial page created for Robert through Gleason Funeral Home.

Linda Popovic beamed at her husband Paule, a Rose Hill custodian, as Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, ribbed him for rooting for New York’s underdog teams: the Jets, the Nets, and the Mets.

She nodded knowingly when Marco Valera, vice president for Facilities Management, said that in Paule’s 20-years at Fordham he never once called in sick or was late.

Paule was one of 14 Fordham employees recognized on Dec. 11 at the 32^nd 1841 Awards ceremony, honoring contributions of workers from facilities and custodial operations and the support staff on the occasion of their 20^th and 40^th anniversaries.

“You make the place run,” Father McShane said to Paule and the other honorees. “You do it with grace, humor, quiet strength, and staunch devotion to your colleagues. You make us a true family.”

For Popovic, his time at Rose Hill began after his arrival from Montenegro. Linda joined him shortly thereafter, leaving the then war-torn Albania. Together the couple raised two children. Their son is now a Rose Hill campus freshman and they hope to send their daughter to Fordham in 2016.

“You can’t beat that,” said Paule.

The personal journeys of the 14 honorees, many of who came from other nations, could likely fill several books. But when asked for specifics, discretion wins the day. Custodian Jorge Yanez deflected the question.

“It’s like a family,” he said.

Indeed, family was a word repeated throughout the ceremony. Several of the honorees raised their kids on campus—many of whom were at the ceremony.

“When I started here my daughter was nine months old,” said Rosa Giglio, an executive secretary in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “Who would’ve thought I’d last here long enough to see her become a senior here?”

For Ruth Gibson, the lone 40-year medalist, both her daughter and granddaughter have fond memories of playing on Eddies Parade. As a switchboard operator, Gibson has been the first point of contact for anyone calling the University for the past four decades. One could say she is, essentially, the voice of Fordham.

Her daughter Melissa Hill said she remembers sitting on her mom’s lap learning how to plug in switchboard cords, while her granddaughter Jazmin Sheppard said she remembers pushing buttons. Today, Gibson uses a computer system.

But besides taking adept leaps in technology, Gibson said she has also calmed parental jitters over the decades. More than once she’s left the office to comfort a student when a worried parent called the University. And more than once she’s handed out change from her purse when a student’s “meal swipe” didn’t work.

“After all, a child has to eat!” she said.

For some honorees, Fordham students become their charge—and the students return the honor. For Melba Diaz, a senior secretary for the ROTC, yesterday was an honorary Mother’s Day, as dozens of cadets turned out to recognize the woman fondly known as “The General.”

“I haven’t always been at ROTC, but for the last eight years the reward for me has been for me to see these men and women become responsible soldiers,” she said, her eyes welling up. “At their commissioning I always cry, because I feel like they’re my children.”