9th Annual David Awards

Click on a portrait to read about that David Honoree

All Biographies by Maureen Traxler

ANTONY A. ALBANESE
Chairman and Co-Founder Albanese Organization, Inc.

Chairman and co-founder of The Albanese Organization, Anthony A. Albanese has successfully led the company for 60 years, infusing projects of ever-ambitious scope with his innovative spirit, vision and creativity. “With my brothers Vincent and Joseph, who have been with me every step of the way, I borrowed $1,000 to buy a vacant parcel of land down the street from where we grew up in South Ozone Park, Queens. We started building one house, then two,” Albanese recalls. “We built homes in Jamaica, Queens Village, Bellerose and our first six-story apartment house in Jamaica Estates.” Their sister, Mary, has added her expertise as an interior designer to many of her brothers’ projects.

But what makes Albanese special is that his goal has never been solely developing buildings. Where others see a static edifice, he envisions an organic structure that affects the people within the building and interacts with the surrounding community.

“When designing our commercial buildings, we look to utilize space wisely, maximizing window areas. It’s good for the occupants, creating more productive workplaces, and it’s good for business. In our residential projects we constantly seek to do something that provides more comfort for the people living there,” says Albanese. “In all our projects we want the building to be a positive addition to the community, strengthening the fabric of the neighborhood.”

This enlightened view of real estate development has guided the company through many market cycles. Albanese expanded onto Long Island in the 1960s, began investing in Manhattan real estate in the following decade, and in the 1980s, transformed 12 underutilized and marginal parcels on Manhattan’s eastside into the iconic, 52-story pyramid-topped condominium known as 100 United Nations Plaza. The genesis of the design reflects his bold thinking. “During the design process the idea of the pyramid crown started with my desire to create multiple apartments with roof-top penthouse terraces,” he notes. “A rough sketch of mine during a family vacation was transformed into a sleek, modern form by our architect,” greatly enhancing the building’s value and the residents’ living experience.

With its forward looking philosophy, AO took this concern for environment to the next level, becoming pioneers in sustainable (“green”) development. Russell Albanese, Anthony’s son and AO President, who has grown with the firm’s ethos for the last 30 years, embraced the green approach. In an effort led by Russell and Albanese’s nephew Christopher, the fourth AO principal, the firm competed for and won development rights for a sustainable residence in Manhattan’s Battery Park City. The result was The Solaire, America’s first environmentally responsible residential tower, which in 2004 received the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold rating and the AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects Award. In 2007, the company was awarded the “Designing the Sustainable and Secure World” Building Green Award by Global Green USA.

Also in Battery Park City, the firm’s second residential tower, The Verdesian, completed in 2006, was awarded LEED Platinum, the USGBC’s highest designation and the nation’s first award to a structure of its kind. The Visionaire, a luxury “green” condominium achieved LEED Platinum, received the AIA New York Committee’s “2009 Award for Outstanding Green Project” and was awarded the Grand Prize of the “Green Building Competition” held jointly by the US EPA and NYC Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability.

When AO went “green,” development carried a significant cost penalty. Reflecting his father’s holistic view of development, Russell states, “Although it was more costly to build, we knew it was the right thing to do. The final product is healthier for residents and, over the life cycle of the building, reduces impacts on the environment, making it a better global neighbor. It’s the way all buildings should be developed today.” As more green buildings are built and more experience is gained by the industry, the incremental cost is coming down every year.

The Albanese Organization believes its advocacy and leadership in green building development is helping accelerate the pace at which green building practices are becoming the acceptable standards for the industry. As part of his commitment to be a change agent, Albanese encourages employees and executives to participate actively in professional and trade associations, speaking at conferences and supporting green movements. Leading by example, Russell serves on the Boards of Sustainable Long Island and The Nature Conservancy, Long Island Chapter, and was a founding member of the USGBC’s New York Chapter, in which other employees have served.
AO and its joint venture partner, Castagna Realty Company, brought “sustainability” closer to home by transforming a 1960s vintage Garden City office building into Long Island’s first Class A “green” office building, featuring a state-of-the-art HVAC system that conserves energy and provides a high-quality filtration system to remove contaminants and other potential allergens in the air. This project continues a 10-year effort, spearheaded by Russell Matthews, Albanese’s nephew and AO Executive Vice President, and undertaken in cooperation with the Village of Garden City to revitalize the community’s commercial core.

Improving the communities in which he works, lives and develops comes naturally to Albanese, who has personally been involved in numerous community and philanthropic activities, including service on the Board of St. Francis Hospital for 20 years. Fundamentally, he’s a developer of people, not buildings. He continues to inspire, motivate and empower his associates and employees, many of whom have been with the firm for decades. Under his leadership, AO has volunteered time and talent to numerous nonprofit organizations to foster protection and preservation of the environment, support health and human services, advance educational opportunities, and promote arts and cultural programs. Through these efforts the firm has advanced the missions of the Mental Health Association of Nassau County, the Coalition Against Child Abuse and Neglect, the Interfaith Nutrition Network, New Ground, the Thomas Hartman Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Telecare, Adelphi University, the Nassau County Museum of Art, and the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts.

Family is at Albanese’s core. This February Anthony and his wife Annette will celebrate 60 years of marriage, surrounded by their four children—Deborah, Toni, Russell and Elena, together with 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A man of integrity and great achievement, Albanese says, “In many respects, my company, too, is my family. That’s why I come to work every day.”

JOHN D. CAMERON, JR., P.E.
Founder, Managing Partner, Cameron Engineering & Associates, LLP

Under John Cameron’s leadership, Cameron Engineering & Associates is celebrating its 25th year as one of Long Island’s premier consulting engineering firms. Cameron says that he began his company with a part-time secretary, Donna Sinram, now his assistant, as a vehicle to fulfill his personal dreams and goals to bring innovation to the engineering field. “While engineering is typically a very conservative profession, I wanted to develop different solutions to societal and technological challenges,” he adds.

Cameron’s love of nature and the environment started when he grew up in Long Beach, working on the beach and at beach clubs. He got his first surfboard at 14, and surfing remains a passion. An engineering graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, he spent a year in the Academy sailing around the world. “The experience exposed me to different cultures and environments in Europe, Africa and Asia and gave me a unique opportunity to see the beauty of those world environments.”

Following the Academy, Cameron worked on the construction of the upstate Indian Point nuclear power plant. Inspired by Earth Day, he become a public health and environmental engineer at the Nassau County Health Department, and earned a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Long Island University. He worked for an environmental engineering consulting firm and was a manager of a resource recovery and wastewater treatment plant complex that burned garbage and made electricity to run the plant. He also taught environmental courses at Nassau Community College.
As a licensed professional engineer, Cameron’s expertise lies in various disciplines in which the company specializes—planning, sustainable design and civil, electrical, mechanical, security and environmental engineering. His personal specialty is environmental engineering and planning, particularly wastewater treatment and solid waste management, recycling, land use planning and environmental preservation. He and his firm hold seven U.S. process and apparatus patents for recycling technologies. The firm employs 25 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professionals, facilitating the company’s prominence in green building and sustainable design.

“As engineering designs evolve,” says Cameron, “you’re always learning and working to make designs more efficient. We developed a series of designs that accomplishes recycling in a more cost-effective manner, enabling us to reduce the amount of material that is rejected for disposal and improve the quantity and quality of recaptured materials for higher levels of recycling.”
A leader in waste management, Cameron Engineering completed some large, innovative projects on Long Island. The company designed and built the Town of Islip’s Materials Recovery Facility over 20 years ago, as well as the privately-owned Omni Recycling Facility in Westbury. Fifteen years ago, the company designed and built the Sanitary District #1 Materials Recovery Facility in Inwood—their most advanced facility, processing recyclables out of mixed garbage.

“Cameron Engineering has always tried to push the envelope and stay ahead of the curve,” notes Cameron. A speaker at the 2009 Sustainable Development Conference, he says he follows a pathway in his career and business where “development on Long Island should work in consonance with the environment rather than in conflict with it.”

For over thirty years, Cameron has been an active member of the New York Water Environment Association, a member organization of the International Water Environment Federation, serving in state and local elected positions, and ultimately, State President. In recognition of his accomplishments, Cameron was inducted into the Association’s Hall Of Fame in 2007.
Cameron serves as chairman of the Long Island Regional Planning Council, a leading advocate for public policy. The Council focuses on major issues affecting sustainability—affordable housing, transportation, environment, economy and social equity—and, assisted by national, regional and local consultants, is developing a Sustainability Plan, entitled “LI 2035.” A strong supporter of non-profits, Cameron gives groups prominent exposure at Council meetings to advance their agendas.

Cameron is vice chair of the Long Island Chapter of Legatus, an organization of Catholic CEOs. He is vice chairman of the SUNY College of Old Westbury Foundation board, supporting the mission of the college, and currently exploring the creation of affordable housing on campus for young faculty and administration staff. He served as State Vice Chairman of the New York League of Conservation Voters, and board member of Sacred Heart Academy High School and the St. Agnes Cathedral parish and school. With his wife Loretta, he supports Catholic Charities (she’s a board member), Wounded Warriors for physically or psychologically wounded veterans, Erase Racism, Rockville Centre Community Fund, among others. Cameron’s company supports various charities and nonprofits, and has adopted a two-mile stretch of Peninsula Boulevard in Rockville Centre, where they have the roadway cleaned bi-weekly and plant seasonal flowers and shrubbery.

Cameron has received numerous awards and recognitions in the area of community and environmental stewardship, among them, the Catholic Charities’ Caritas Award (along with his wife), the Anne and Charles Lindbergh Award, SUNY Old Westbury’s Ellie Simpson Award and Business Person of the Year by the Long Beach Martin Luther King Center. He was selected Consulting Engineer of the Year in New York State and Entrepreneur of the Year for Long Island by Inc. magazine, Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch, and received the Alumni Outstanding Professional Achievement Award from his Alma Mater, Kings Point.

Rockville Centre residents, the Camerons have two children: Andrew and Christine. He and his wife attend concerts, visit museums and travel internationally. Cameron is “into sports big time,” recalling that at age 10 he won an NBC contest to be a Yankee Bat Boy, working along side Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and other Yankee greats for “the day of a lifetime.” He considers music and art “two of the great elements of life; they expand the human spirit.” Cameron says he has spent hours studying Michelangelo’s extraordinary work, The David, at the Academia Museum in Florence, Italy, which gives special meaning to his receipt of Networking® magazine’s 2010 David Award.

LAWRENCE E. DAVIDOW, ESQ.,
Managing Partner, Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern, LLP

When Lawrence Davidow attended Tulane University School of Law, he took every tax class possible. When he began to practice law in the 1980s, he wanted to talk to clients about taxes and estate planning, but he says, “They were asking me, what happens if I get sick and I lose my house to a nursing home? What about Medicaid?” He adds, “I didn’t know anything about that…nobody did.”
Davidow spent seven years in New Orleans, graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Tulane University School of Arts and Sciences and pursuing his law degree, but notes, “I always knew I was coming home; always knew I was going to be part of the family firm.” His grandfather founded a general practice law firm in 1913, and his father and uncle ran the company for 30 years before Davidow joined in 1986. By 1992, Davidow redirected the firm, Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern, located in Islandia, into one of the first and most successful Elder Law, Special Needs, Estate and Business Planning practices on Long Island.

“I had a passion for elder law; I love working with seniors and their families,” remarks Davidow, who traces this passion to his first job as a senior in high school. He worked as a recreational director in an adult home in his home community of Patchogue. “I worked every day, talking to the seniors and playing games with them, taking them for car rides and facilitating discussion groups.”

With these fond memories, Davidow started growing the firm, taking ads, marketing and hosting seminars. “Nobody knew what I was talking about,” he says. “When I showed up to speak, people were expecting someone with gray hair, not a kid in his twenties. But the subject was new, people were interested, and our firm started giving the answers.”

Davidow quickly immersed himself in the Long Island “senior” arena. He served as the founding president of the Suffolk Chapter of the American Parkinson’s Disease Association and partnered with the not-for-profit communities to spread the word about elder law. He joined the Alzheimer’s Association, served on its board, and was chair of the Legal Advisory Committee.

“Alzheimer’s affects so many families and is so devastating to families caring for persons who have it,” says Davidow. “It’s worth spending time with these families and raising money to get rid of this horrible disease.”

The term “elder law” was coined in the 1980s when the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys was founded by 36 attorneys around the country. Davidow was one of the first 100 members—membership now numbers about 5,000—and served as president three years ago. Elder law deals with issues of incapacity, managing assets, a person’s health condition, affordable health care, getting the best health care, deciding who takes care of the older person and where—all without losing a home that the person worked a lifetime to acquire. About half Davidow’s practice prepares people for long-term care and half deals with people in crisis in long-term care. “It’s complicated,” he says, pointing out that the Medicaid laws keep changing. “The state says one thing; the county says another. The federal government says something else. There’s no coordination between Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance. There’s not one set of laws; they’re all over the place.”
Davidow built his career and practice on his two passions: elder law and public speaking. His involvement on the national level sparked his awareness of the public’s need for Elder Law education. Now a dedicated and accomplished speaker, he says, “I try to make my presentations enjoyable and entertaining. I have lectured free of charge to senior groups, homemaker clubs, churches, temples, bar associations, accounting groups, financial planners, social workers, doctors, service clubs like Kiwanis and Rotary, unions, retired teachers, and corporation employees.”
“Elder law will probably become one of the general practice areas of the new millennium; no family is immune,” remarks Davidow. “Every family wants the best healthcare for their elders and wants to protect the assets.” He continues to speak locally and nationally informing seniors, individuals with disabilities and their families about their rights. In addition to serving on the National Academy board of directors, Davidow is a National Elder Law Foundation Certified Elder Law Attorney.

A full-time practicing lawyer, Davidow has served as past chairman of the Suffolk County Bar Association Elder Law Committee, past president of the Suffolk County Estate Planning Council, and board member of the Maryhaven Center of Hope, helping people with disabilities, youth through adults. He is also a past newsletter editor and officer of the New York State Bar Association, Elder Law Section.
Davidow says there are two nonprofits that he has “clung to over the years,” the Alzheimer’s Association and the Long Island Community Foundation, of which he serves currently as Board Chairman. He is proud of the LICF’s initiatives, including LEAP—Leadership, Effectiveness, Action and Partnership, launched as a pivotal point in the evolution of communities that have not shared Long Island’s overall prosperity—Erase Racism, Sustainable Long Island, the environment and the arts. He adds that LICF provides leadership for the philanthropic community and is “a great resource for philanthropists and grantees to help spearhead the answers to some of the Island’s problems.” He applauds its capacity to build nonprofits—all of which have “a large, long-acting impact on Long Island.” He adds, “We’re trying to be a community-wide community foundation. We help the whole community, the neediest of all of us.”

A published author on the subject of Elder Law, Davidow contributed a chapter, called “Tax Implications of Transfers of Assets,” to the Elder Law Portfolio Series (Little Brown). He also contributed to the handbook “Essential Facts, Estate Planning and Family Wealth Transfers.” He supplied various outlines for national Elder Law symposia and wrote a column for the New York Law Journal.

A native of Patchogue-Bellport, Davidow has more recently been raising his three children, Nicholas (15), Ryan (14) and Rebecca (12), in communities from Setauket to Mt. Sinai, and is engaged to Sharon Scott. An avid Yankee fan, this “Long Island guy” enjoys the beaches, theater, reading and traveling. Davidow remarks, “I’m lucky to have found an area of law that is very gratifying. I feel privileged to know that I really love what I do.”

DR. SEAN A FANELLI,
President, Nassau Community College

This month, Dr. Sean Fanelli steps down as the fourth president of Nassau Community College (NCC). During his 27-year tenure, which distinguishes him as the longest serving college president of a Long Island higher education institution, he transformed NCC from a college in turmoil with low faculty morale and a campus designed for 8,000, into a bustling, diverse campus of 21,000 full- and part-time students offering more than 65 degree and certificate programs—the largest community college in the state.

Typical of his “we-oriented” management style, Fanelli immediately established communication between the faculty and college leaders and his policy of shared governance made the difference. “I don’t think the people at Nassau recognized their own strengths and value,” he says. “I reassured people inside and outside the college that this was a good institution, could right itself and prosper.”

While community colleges have been known as colleges of last choice, Fanelli notes, “With our honors program, Nassau is the college of first choice for many students, and our hallmark liberal arts program is a stepping stone to students’ future goals. We’re always promoting the idea of transferability. 70% of our students go on to four-year institutions, without any loss of credits, and earn baccalaureate or professional degrees. We can do that because we have great relationships with these institutions; we’re head and shoulders above other community colleges.”

With many grads continuing education on the Island, Fanelli says, “That’s a distinct economic benefit and reverses what we call the brain drain. Community colleges have an important role to play with regard to affordability and accessibility. That’s what a community college should be doing, serving its residents and community by preparing enlightened persons, good citizens and skilled workers.”

NCC continues its strong developmental education program, giving students the basic skills for a successful college experience, and offers a “weekend college.” Fanelli initiated new programs in fashion, interior design, criminal justice, office technology, art and business. Nassau has an extraordinary allied science program, he adds, including radiologic technology and surgical technology (the only community college that offers these courses).

“We take ‘community’—our middle name—very seriously,” Fanelli remarks. “We reach out to businesses and industries and offer credit or non-credit programs…your place or ours.” Without profit to the college, Nassau has partnered with Geico, King Kullen, Verizon, unions, airlines and banks, bringing in workers to spend a day a week getting an associate’s degree.

His most poignant legacy, and an accomplishment of which he’s most proud, is his ability to withstand onslaughts to academic freedom and curtailment of curriculum. In recognition of his preservation of academic freedom at Nassau, Fanelli received the prestigious American Association of University Professors’ Alexander Meiklejohn Award for Academic Freedom; The Thomas Jefferson Center’s William J. Brennan, Jr. Award for great courage and clear and consistent commitment to the principles of free expression and academic freedom; and the New York Library Association/Social Issues Resources Series Intellectual Freedom Award.

Under his leadership, NCC completed the “G building,” containing classrooms for social sciences and art, and the College Center, housing a food court, meeting space, and student clubs and activities. A fully-funded, fully-designed third building for the nursing program and chemistry department is ready for bid—all without capital campaigns. Informed and articulate, Fanelli not only built bridges to lobby state and county governments for funding, but also has been a forceful advocate for the college in the private and nonprofit sector.

At commencements, Fanelli tells students: “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Following this philosophy, Nassau has a thriving Service Learning program, using student talent to improve community. NCC participates in Toys for Tots, hosts Prom Boutique to help teens get ready for their “special day,” and designed and outfitted MOMMAS House in Glen Cove to make it more attractive to mothers and children.

A St. Francis College graduate with a B.S. in chemistry, Fanelli received a National Defense Education Act Fellowship at Fordham University, going straight through to his Ph.D. in biological sciences. His dissertation was in the field of physical and chemical limnology (fresh water environment). He started as a classroom science teacher at St. Francis Prep and Bishop Ford High Schools, before joining the staff at Westchester Community College, moving up from chair of the Biological Science Department to Dean of Academic Affairs/Deputy to the President.

Fanelli contributed five biographies of Italian American scientists for “Italian American History and Culture, An Encyclopedia,” has written book chapters and papers on higher education topics, and received numerous awards. His professional affiliations include service as member and chair on evaluation teams and commissioner for the Middle States Association of Schools; member of the executive committees of the American Council of Education and the National Junior College Athletic Association; and chair of the Institute of Community College Development, Presidents of Community Colleges, and Long Island Regional Advisory Council on Higher Education. He chairs a national group that promotes leadership development for women, following his interest in women’s advancement in business.

Fanelli’s nonprofit service includes The Dante Foundation and Order Sons of Italy scholarship programs; he’s a founding member of the Cradle of Aviation Board; and, in recognition of his longtime service as a judge, the Fair Media Council named a Folio Award in his honor.

Westbury residents, Fanelli and his wife Marion, a volunteer at St. Bridget’s Church, have three grown children: Elizabeth and Thomas, both adopted from Korea, and Jim, who Fanelli says “was a very pleasant surprise.” Elizabeth and her husband adopted Tiana (3½) from Korea, and have two sons, Thomas (1½) and Zachary (6 months). Fanelli’s son Thomas manages a clothing store, and Jim is a New York Post enterprise reporter on the Sunday desk. Fanelli collects German-made Marklin model trains, and enjoys building scenery, operating his 24-foot-square computerized train display and photographing the trains for his website. In retirement, he plans to teach undergrad courses in oceanography and graduate courses in higher education administration, as he did while serving as NCC
president.

MARTIN S. KARPEH, JR., M.D.,
Chairman, Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Hospital

Nationally renowned surgical oncologist Dr. Martin Karpeh is currently serving in his third year as chairman of the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center, and as Associate Director and Director of Surgical Oncology of the Continuum Cancer Centers of New York (CCCNY), a nonprofit healthcare network comprised of five historically distinguished New York City hospitals: Beth Israel, St. Luke’s Hospital, Roosevelt Hospital, NY Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. While CCCNY is comprised of leaders in medical, radiation and surgical oncology who coordinate cancer care across the network, Karpeh’s responsibility includes recruiting top cancer surgeons into the center. At Beth Israel, he works to develop all aspect of surgery, including cardiac, plastic, pediatric, vascular, critical care, thoracic and general surgery. He maintains an active clinical practice that he limits to patients with cancer concerns.

An alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Karpeh served his internship and residency at the Hospital of the University of Penn, while conducting basic research in cancer and nutrition supported by a Fellowship in nutrition and cancer at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. After his residency, Karpeh secured a Fellowship in surgical oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), where he developed the gastric cancer database and focused his research in that area. At the time, the research into gastric cancer was changing, and researchers and physicians were seeing more gastric cancers involving the distal esophagus above the perimeter of the stomach.

Karpeh notes, “This rising cancer seems to affect males in their most-productive years (50-60), and those in the higher socio-economic class. While the causes are still unknown, there is a known correlation with esophageal reflux disease and obesity. Some studies have explored a possible connection to consumption of preservatives in food.” Karpeh has lectured extensively to increase awareness of gastro-esophageal cancer. Following the Fellowship, Karpeh joined the staff of MSKCC on the Gastric and Mixed Tumor Service and the surgical faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College. He’s an expert in surgical procedures and management of gastric and esophageal cancers and other cancers affecting the gastrointestinal tract.

Prior to joining Beth Israel, Karpeh served as chief of Surgical Oncology at Stony Brook University Medical Center and Director of their Cancer Center, where he assembled highly qualified physicians from various departments into disease management teams, which developed protocols to enhance the Center’s ability to serve patients. In addition to a “robust clinical trials office” that seeks out active trials to bring to Stony Brook, Karpeh helped supervise the development of Stony Brook’s new state-of-the-art Cancer Center facility, overseeing the continuation of cancer research and cutting edge cancer treatment programs. “The Cancer Center offers patients a sort of one-stop shopping where they can see all their doctors under one roof,” remarks Karpeh. “Imaging, treatment, cancer supportive services such as social work and nutrition are also available.”

Karpeh has continued teaching surgery at Beth Israel and has a faculty appointment at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His department has a highly sought after surgical residency program, and actively integrates the simulation of surgical procedures into the surgical training program to ensure technical proficiency and enhance patient safety. The department recently received a $1.5 million gift from the Singer Foundation to expand and develop a state-of-the-art Simulation Lab at Beth Israel’s Petrie Division.

Karpeh has garnered numerous research grants, including several from the National Institutes of Health. Continuum is moving ahead with a grant application to conduct stem cell research in wound healing, and Karpeh is a principal investigator of a clinical trial involving tumor vaccines against pancreatic cancer.

Named one of New York Magazine’s “Best Doctors” for 2008 and 2009, Karpeh has served with the American Cancer Society, and is currently president of the New York Cancer Society where he coordinates academic meetings and seminars. “It’s a great social networking activity connecting doctors. I believe this is good for patient care because it exposes doctors to current literature and cutting edge technology, and they become more aware of cancer clinical trials that might not be available in their institutions.”

Author of hundreds of peer-review papers, book chapters and abstracts, Karpeh is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the New York Surgical Society, the International Gastric Cancer Association, the American Surgical Association, the American College of Surgeons, and the Society of Surgical Oncology. He’s a board member of Fighting Chance, a nonprofit organization that promotes the growth of services, at no cost to cancer patients living on the East End of Long Island.

“Fighting Chance is interested in partnering with groups across Long Island,” notes Karpeh, and has worked with Harlem Hospital’s Navigator program, a successful initiative to bring breast cancer treatment to individuals in the surrounding community. The program trains healthcare providers to go into the community and interact with patients to help them work through the process of getting treatment. “Fighting Chance has sent people through the training program to bring a similar effort to Long Island,” says Karpeh. “We believe this will be helpful to the hospitals in Southampton, Peconic Bay and Eastern Long Island in getting patients to use their resources.”

Karpeh volunteers his services with the Witness Project of Long Island, a breast health and breast cancer education program launched in partnership with the Town of Babylon in 2003 that reaches out to women in African American communities. “The project features women who have been successfully treated. They speak at Sunday services about their experiences and bear witness that they are survivors, dispelling many myths about breast cancer.”

Karpeh and his wife Julianne, a nurse in the Three Village School District, have three children: Quinn, a Fordham University graduate with a degree in economics who is now matriculating into pre-med at Stony Brook University; Chelsea, a junior in the nursing program at the University of Scranton and Ashley, a senior at Ward Melville. In addition to golf and living in Stony Brook, he enjoys his house on Shelter Island, “which has become a really special place for the family.”

VINCENT L. RISO
Principal, The Briarwood Organization, LLC

With a company career spanning more than 55 years, Vincent Riso is instrumental in maintaining The Briarwood Organization’s stellar track record of successful developments that are financially sound and embraced by their respective communities. Along with Howard Goodman, his brother Raymond and nephew Jim, Riso is a principal of Briarwood, which was founded by his grandfather in 1912 as a modest builder of one- and two-family homes, and was subsequently led by his father.

Riso says it was a “natural transition” that he should join the firm. “My brother Raymond and I grew into it. I basically learned from my father.”

The family-owned business now in the fourth generation develops, builds and manages property throughout Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. Riso’s chief responsibility is spearheading new residential and commercial development, but he is involved in all facets of the company’s operations. He evaluates prospective opportunities and identifies ventures with the maximum potential. During pre-development, he surveys submarket performance and forecasts demand. He designs the financial framework for each project—aligning private, government and nonprofit funding. A licensed real estate broker, Riso supervises Briarwood Properties, a full service property management corporation.

Over the years, Briarwood has been able to withstand the economic and political ups and downs faced by the development industry by anticipating future growth demands, using innovative materials, and remaining committed to communities. The company survived the Great Depression, and during World War II, applied its construction skills to assembling aircraft for the war effort. Following the war, Briarwood began building homes in the open farmlands of Queens. During the tough economic times of the 1970s, Briarwood, under the leadership of current management, became one of the first New York City builders to incorporate concrete plank, a durable medium allowing faster construction, into new projects. “Today, we continue to be specialists in that building technique,” Riso notes.

In the 1980s, Briarwood boldly embraced urban renewal, completing the first market-rate development in the West Side Urban Renewal area. At the same time, Briarwood was one of the first companies to predict demand for multi-family housing in Queens. Over 97 years, Riso and his family have built Briarwood into a trusted developer and general contractor of new homes, cooperatives, condominiums, apartments and commercial properties.

“We’re not over anxious…we’re very conservative,” Riso says in crediting Briarwood’s longevity. “We’re known for our ability to take care of homeowners’ problems. Briarwood likes to do the job right the first time; we’re full service, from developers and general contractors to property managers.”

Riso and his company have also engaged in public and nonprofit initiatives, partnerships and joint ventures to create affordable housing where it’s most desperately needed, developing over 2,500 low and moderate income homes.

“Many nonprofit organizations have served as Briarwood’s community sponsors,” remarks Riso. “Whenever you come into a community, you have to be aware of the community’s needs and address them. We work with community boards, local businesses and nonprofits that are creditable associations in those communities.”

Affirming its commitment to “green” building, Briarwood has been incorporating new technologies and materials in each of its projects. “Last fall, our company was selected to partner with the New York City Community Preservation Corporation to build an affordable housing project of a couple of hundred units in the Bronx, called Melrose Commons,” notes Riso. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver project will be Briarwood’s first “all green” development and will include “green” building materials and supplies, recycled water, and other resources. Jim Riso serves as Briarwood’s LEED certified professional.

Starting at the grassroots level with the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, Riso went on to serve as a board member for many years. He was a founder and past president of the Queens and Bronx Builders Association, and is a member of the New York State Builders Association and National Association of Home Builders.

As a responsible builder with a sense of community, Riso has been involved in numerous civic and charitable causes. In the 1960s, he served with the Lion’s Club, and through that association, joined the board of St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital in Bayside. He continues to serve on that board and, in appreciation of his long service, was honored at the hospital’s 2007 Tribute Dinner.

Riso served on the executive board of the former Catholic Medical Center and was a trustee for the heathcare system’s St. John’s Queens Hospital. In 1995, he was tapped by the Most Reverend Thomas V. Daily, the driving force behind the Campaign for Human Development, to be the sole Diocesan trustee on the board of the Nehemiah II Project, an interfaith program that created housing for low-income families in Brooklyn, garnering national attention. “Various religious communities donated operating capital to Nehemiah during that period, and with the nonprofit Housing Development Corporation, thousands of housing units were built in the City,” Riso remarks.

Riso has long served with the Arthritis Foundation, was honored at the 2001 Queens Leaders’ Award reception, and now serves as the foundation’s honorary chairman. In 2006 he received an East Harlem Community Service Award from Hope Community for his contribution to making East Harlem a better place. He has served on housing and construction committees during the administration of Mayor Ed Koch, and was recently appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the Office of Operations Committee; served with the New York City Building Commissioner’s Industry Cabinet; Department of Environmental Protection’s Advisory Cabinet and Citizens Housing and Planning Council.

“At Briarwood, we’ve all volunteered in our communities, giving of our time and talent,” says Riso. “It comes back ten-fold in the satisfaction of being able to do something for others.” Riso’s brother Raymond was a former member of the local community board; Jim Riso is currently president of the local Bayside BID (Business Improvement District).
Born and raised in Queens, Riso and his wife Sophie live in Garden City. They have two children, Daria Ward and Lonnie Duka, and three grandchildren, Kelly Meagan Ward, and Daniel and Roxanne Duka. Riso enjoys reading, giving time to various causes and spending leisurely time with his wife.

DR. STEVEN STRONGWATER
Chief Executive Officer, Stony Brook University Medical Center

Although he has served as a professor, administrator and practicing physician for 25 years, Dr. Steven Strongwater embraces his position as Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Medical Center, saying it affords him “a way to do more good for larger numbers of people than I could do on a one-on-one basis.” Strongwater comes to Stony Brook with extensive experience in patient safety and quality performance, and he predicts, “If we organize the structure of medicine correctly, we will dramatically enhance patient experience in populations that need care.”

Only 18 months after Strongwater’s appointment, Stony Brook University Medical Center received the Healthcare Association of New York's (HANYS) Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety, and the Nassau Suffolk Hospital Council’s inaugural Excellence in Patient Safety Award. “We have reduced mortality successively over three years and we’re getting better every year,” he remarks. In the late 1980s, Strongwater participated in an early quality performance improvement program set outside the business-oriented arena. His book, “A Facilitator’s Guide for Implementing Changes in Healthcare,” is one of the first books on quality performance improvement programs geared to the healthcare industry.

In addition to patient safety, Strongwater has brought on board staff to provide services not previously available at Stony Brook, such as interventional stroke treatment, bringing the advantages of heart stents to the brain, and non-invasive imaging of coronary arteries, yielding results through CT scan and low dose radiation rather than stress tests and invasive dye tracking. Under Strongwater, the hospital implemented an electronic patient record system, an important part of the future of medical care. And, under its tertiary partnership with Eastern Long Island Hospital, Peconic Bay Medical Center and Southampton Hospital, Stony Brook is making an effort to initiate electronic connectivity between the hospitals and nursing homes, physicians’ offices and rehabilitation facilities to make patients’ records more accessible.

“On my watch,” says Strongwater, the hospital has opened a new Cancer Center—phase one of a major modernization program that includes part of the emergency department, a women’s pavilion and operating rooms. In November 2009, the hospital opened a pediatric emergency department, and is slated to build a new psychiatric emergency department. “We have also modernized technology,” he adds, “particularly in the area of imaging, enhancing non-invasive diagnoses.”

Despite difficult economic times, Strongwater says the hospital is working to retain employees and develop their career paths. Noting that improved patient care starts with the staff, he has instituted a “high reliability organization” program, or HRO. “Driven by the staff on the units,” Strongwater says, “ideas are proposed to improve care and make the environment better for patients. Administration helps them move that forward.”

“We view our role as a resource to the community and a part of the quality of life in Suffolk County,” notes Strongwater. Stony Brook Hospital organizes about 1,000 community-based programs annually for family members of all ages. Strongwater works closely with organizations like Rotary and its Gift of Life program, and is proud to have chaired last October’s American Heart Association “Heart Walk.” Most importantly, Strongwater conveys to residents that “in Stony Brook University Medical Center, the community has an academic medical center in their backyard.” He adds, “Academic medical centers discover new knowledge and transfer that into the community, bringing new technologies that are not available at community hospitals.”

Born and raised in the Bronx, Strongwater was encouraged to get involved with “the sciences” when he attended Bronx High School of Science. He attended the University of Rochester, leaving there after three years to go to SUNY Upstate Medical Center for his degree and residency in internal medicine. After suffering a slipped disk lifting a patient during his internship, he was reassigned to “light duty” in rheumatology, and he found a “new love.”

“Rheumatology dealt with the medical mysteries of health care. I found that fascinating and still do,” remarks Strongwater. “We tended to see things that people couldn’t explain—unknown causes of fever, funny rashes, and unusual symptoms. Many cases turn out to be rheumatologic conditions, in part, because rheumatology is not really one disorder. Most of the major recent advances in the treatment of immunologic disorders came through study in the field of rheumatology.” He went on to complete a Fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Michigan Medical Center.

Strongwater was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester. “It was a new medical school and I did a little bit of research, but also became involved in running the curriculum for the undergrad medical school, the fellowship and internship program in internal medicine, and outpatient practices for the Department of Medicine, and eventually, all practices.”

Strongwater would spend the next 10 years at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, entering service as Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. After a restructuring, he was appointed Hospital Director. In Connecticut, his responsibilities included operating the state prison healthcare system, consisting of some 18,000 inmates at 21 sites.

A prolific author of book chapters and articles for medical journals, Strongwater has also served on numerous committees and has been a speaker, panelist and lecturer locally and around the country. His professional service includes membership on the board of Greater New York Hospital Association and the national University Health System Consortium, and he chairs the American Hospital Association’s committee on health professions. He serves on the board of the Nassau Suffolk Hospital Council where the number one issue is preventing budgetary cuts.

East Setauket residents, Strongwater and his wife Elaine, who works at the Huntington Arts Council, have two sons: Dan, a college student, and Ian, who is participating in a research project on dementia at a veterans’ home. He enjoys reading and walks with his wife. “Medicine’s been a great career for me,” remarks Strongwater. “We touch people’s lives. I consider it a gift and privilege to practice medicine.” And he adds, “Coming to Stony Brook was like coming home. It brought me back into the SUNY system, back to New York State, closer to my family, and returned me to my roots.”

MAURICE "MO" VAUGHN
Co-Founder, OMNI New York, LLC; American League MVP

Maurice “Mo” Vaughn, affectionately known as the Boston Red Sox’s lovable first baseman, signed up for a new career after he left Major League Baseball in 2003. Today, he is co-managing director and co-owner of Omni New York LLC, a real estate revitalization and development company he founded with his business partner, Eugene Schneur. Omni’s goal is to provide quality, well managed affordable housing in neighborhoods that have historically experienced a shortage of such housing.

Since December 2004, Omni has acquired and has either rehabilitated or is in the process of rehabilitating some 2,700 units of affordable housing in New York. Over eleven hundred (1,142) units are located in the New York metropolitan area, including the renovation of Noble Drew Ali Plaza in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and refurbishment of the Whitney Young Manor in Yonkers. Under Vaughn’s leadership, Omni also completed construction of 40 new units of affordable housing in Seneca County.

Through its affiliate Omni America LLC, the company has purchased and rehabilitated 94 units of affordable housing in Gillette, Wyoming, and has purchased and is currently rehabilitating 414 units in Massachusetts. In January 2009, Omni purchased Sycamore Village, the former Bradford Apartments in the North Boston community of Lawrence, along with two Boston-area properties. The deal was the company’s first in Massachusetts. The complex will include renovations to kitchens and baths, new appliances and exterior improvements, such as new security cameras and safety lighting in common areas. Vaughn said that the revitalization also reflects Omni’s long-term commitment to keeping apartments affordable.

“Multi-family living’s tough enough,” said Vaughn. “At least you can be secure and safe and walk the property and enjoy it. That’s one of our things—you don’t want to be a prisoner in your own apartment.”
Most notably, Omni focuses on the social aspects of revitalizing the neighborhood by partnering with community groups to provide social services, such as school programs for children and skill-building seminars and classes for adults. Vaughn adds that part of Omni’s mission is to promote “the right style of life” at their properties. He says the company has a “zero tolerance” policy for guns, drugs and criminal behavior.

Vaughn enjoyed a successful career in Major League Baseball, playing eight seasons for the Boston Red Sox, from 1991-1998. Vaughn, who hits lefty and throws righty, was the hardest hitting batter of the team. In 1995, he was named “Most Valuable Player,” as a result of his .300 batting average, 39 home runs, 126 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, team leadership and community service. He was a three-time All Star selection. Following the Red Sox, he played for the Anaheim Angels for six seasons before coming to the New York Mets.

Born to parents who were educators—his father, a former high school principal and football coach; his mother, an elementary school teacher—Vaughn learned to work hard to improve his skills. His mother taught him to play baseball when he was three years old. A native of Norwalk, CT, he attended Trinity-Pawling, a rural New York preparatory high school, and Seton Hall College, where amazingly he broke the career home run record by a Seton Hall player in his freshman year. The Big East Conference named him Player of the Decade.

Vaughn inherited both his competitive nature and his charitable instincts from his parents. Each year, his family was known to give gifts to the homeless at Christmastime. He continues to abide by his Omega Psi Phi fraternity beliefs of manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift, and has shared these values with young people.

Vaughn has been an active supporter and contributor to various community based organizations and charities. While playing with the Boston Red Sox, he often spoke to inner city children and used proceeds from formal autograph signings to fund cultural outings for under-privileged youth. He supported the Boston Food Bank and Catholic Charities, assisting the homeless; provided sports equipment for the local Boys and Girls Club; and worked with the Jimmy Fund, an organization dedicated to fighting cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and helping raise the changes of survival for children and adults with cancer around the world.

In 1994, he co-founded the Mo Vaughn Youth Development Program with two of his childhood friends. The program includes an after school center for teens, providing help with school work, a safe place to play, and many opportunities for the development of self-esteem and motivation to excel in life. He was known to personally arrange outings to the circus, ballet, opera, science fairs and other cultural activities. As part of the Red Sox’s Adopt-a-School program, Vaughn sponsored the Charles Taylor Elementary School in Mattapan, MA.

During the years he spent with the Angels, Vaughn helped raise over $30,000 for the “Friends of Kiley,” a foundation assisting the sick child of a California policeman. He donated the “Mo Vaughn Child Life Playroom” to the UCI Medical Center Pediatric Department in Orange, CA, and helped raise funds for the Gene Autry Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities League. A partnership between the Anaheim Angels and the Boys and Girls Club of Orange County, the League was committed to giving youth the opportunity to play baseball. As part of this effort, Vaughn brought 400 children to Disneyland to participate in a parade.

Vaughn was a major supporter of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a national organization that awards four-year college scholarships to academically gifted students of color with financial need. He also supported the JP Morgan Chase “Baseball is for Kids” program.

The author of “Follow Your Dreams,” Vaughn is the 1995 recipient of the A. Bartlett Giamatti Award for Community Service, presented by B.A.T., the Baseball Assistance Team, which helps members of the baseball family. The award is presented to individuals who exemplify the compassion demonstrated by the late Baseball Commissioner.