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Class Notes

1950

May 1, 2018, marked the one year anniversary of the passing of Eric J. Flood ’50 of Larchmont, N.Y. Mr. Flood received his undergraduate degree in accounting from Iona and his MBA from Columbia Univer-sity. For 35 years, he was a loyal and highly respected employee at IBM. Flood was a devoted husband, father of four sons and a dedicated parishioner of Sts. John and Paul Church. He loved his family and his country and embodied every characteristic of the American dream.

1958

Gerard T. Brooker ’58, ’00H, renowned author and teacher, gave a multimedia presentation of his diplomacy visit to North Korea for Brookfield Historical Society in Massachusetts, earlier this year.

Donald F. Fowley ’58 participated in Swim Across America: Making Waves to Fight Cancer in June 2018. Mr. Fowley swims in honor of his wife, Kathleen, who passed away from cancer.

1959

Joseph M. Murphy ’59, ’83H and JoAnn M. Murphy ’98 celebrated 30 years of the founding of Country Bank. Joseph Murphy formed the bank in 1988 and has served as president and CEO. JoAnn Murphy has served as vice chair, alongside daughter Carolyn Murphy who serves as vice president and CMO.

1961

John F. McMullen ’61 has been appointed Poet Laureate of the town of Yorktown, N.Y. John’s brother, the late Robert McMullen, CFC, ’44H, was a member of the inaugural Iona class in 1940 — his name is on the Celtic Cross on campus — and, as a Christian Brother, was an Iona theology professor from 1950-1964.

1965

James P. Handlin ’65, a poet and classical scholar, was the guest speaker to inaugu-rate the new Woodstock Talks series at the Mountain View Studio in Woodstock, N.Y.

1972

Philip T. Amico ’72, ’75MBA, former vice president at Lake Success-based Newtek Small Business Finance LLC, has joined Empire National Bank as vice president and senior commercial SBA loan officer.

Dr. James J. Hearn ’72 retired in November 2017 after serving 33 years in the U.S. Army. This includes four years of Vietnam-era active duty, and the past eight years serv-ing as a senior executive service member in the Northwestern Division, US Army Corps of Engineers, covering 14 states across the country.

1973

Father John C. Cregan ’73MBA was bestowed with the papal honor of “Chaplain to His Holiness” by Pope Francis and given the title “Monsignor” after recommendations were made by Bishop Burbidge to the Holy See.

1974

Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Rev. John W. Flesey ’74MA from the office of Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Newark. Bishop Flesey was named Titular Bishop of Allegheny and Auxiliary Bishop of Newark in May 2004, and recently served as Regional Bishop of Bergen County and pastor of Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in Franklin Lakes, N.J.

1976

Louis Zezza ’76 served as a public librarian in Queens Borough Public Library Branches after working as a Ryan Library student assistant during his time at Iona for four years, and then later becoming a staff member of the library for three years.

1977

Gregory J. Rummo ’77, ’83MBA founded the J. A. Moeller Company in 1987, and served as director of sales and marketing from his home in Palm Beach County, Fla. Over the past years, he has also done much traveling, including a visit to Peru’s Andes Mountains, Mexico, Costa Rica and Venezuela, even spending a few weeks staying in a jungle village of Chajuraña. More recently, he was hired by Palm Beach Atlantic University as an adjunct professor of chemistry, fulfilling his lifelong dream of teaching chemistry at a Christian college.

1978

Elisa Bruno-Midili ’78 published an article on Café Real Estate for the 2017 Real Estate review.

Christopher J. Kearns ’78 was honored by the Friends of Mercy Medical Center at their 52nd annual Gentleman’s St. Patrick Dinner on March 15, at the Hempstead, N.Y., Golf and Country Club.

Pietrina Saxton ’78 enjoyed a long and rewarding career as a scientist and business executive in the pharmaceutical research and drug development industry. Her places of work included Ayerst Labs, Sloan-Ketter-ing Institute, and Pfizer. “Some of my best memories of Iona have to do with ‘The Hill’. I fondly recall eating many lunches there with my classmates. On graduation day, my ador-able three-year-old nephew was sitting on that hill with my sister. As I received my di-ploma, I glanced up at the hill and found him clapping and smiling.” Pietrina is looking for that photograph and will send it to the Iona College Magazine when she finds it.

1980

John Corrigan ’80, Karen Glynn Corrigan ’80, Patricia Reilly DeLuca ’80, Michael DeLuca ’17, Anthony Payero ’17 and Vincent DeLuca ’81 got together for dinner before an Iona vs. Manhattan basketball game.

Joann Smith ’80, ’85MS had a story published in the anthology Lock and Load, Armed Fiction, and other stories published in the literary journals Emerald Coast Review and Two Hawks Quarterly.

Robert W. Woodruff ’80 joined Velcro Companies as CFO at the beginning of this year. Prior to this, he spent two decades working with Nike, where he served as their CFO for the Converse brand.

1981

Michael J. Brathwaite ’81, a Morgan Stanley broker, reached beyond his affinity group for success. He was hired by Morgan Stanley in 2007 as a member of the firm’s Urban Markets Group, which focuses on inner-city communities. He has helped to diversify this group for Morgan Stanley in gener-al, and also teaches financial literacy to young adults.

Richard F. Hillebrecht ’81 published an article on behalf of Riverbed Technology on his thoughts regarding the challenges that CIOs face with digital projects. This article is featured on ITWeb.co.za.

Barry M. Kramer ’81MBA, co-owner of Westchester Choice Realty, Inc., has been wel-comed as president of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors for 2018.

After spending 35 years serving KPMG’s global clients, James P. Liddy ’81, has
been named chairman of KPMG’s Global Financial Services practice, and will also serve as the US Financial Services Line of Business leader.

1983

Anthony DiCarlo ’83, ’88MSEd has been named Mahopac school superintendent as of February 2018, with a five-year contract.

During New York Today’s annual New York-ers of the Year series, Antonio R. Ruiz ’83 was recognized for making a difference in the city over the last 12 months. His actions include being head coach for the Central Park Track Club, and launching “TR for PR,” a campaign to raise relief money for Puerto Rico.

Mary McGlone ’83 was recognized with a Program of Excellence award from the New York State English Council for the high school writing program she created. Mary teaches English at Suffolk Community College and she is a fellow in the Hudson Valley Writing Project’s Teaching of Writing program. She follows in her father’s foot-steps, the late William D. McGlone of Iona’s English Department.

Stephen Semenza ’83 has worked in the financial services industry for 30 years. He credits his work to the great foundation he received at Iona and appreciates being able to work in such a dynamic industry.

1984

Lieutenant Joseph Luongo Jr. ’84 has been appointed executive chairman of WellBiz Brands.

Maura L. Ivanick ’84, ’90MS has been appointed interim director of advising and career services at Syracuse University.

1985

Paul L. Cuneo ’85

Paul L. Cuneo ’85, managing director of Merrill Lynch in Great Neck, N.Y., was named to the 2018 Financial Times list of the “Top 400 Financial Advisors” in the United States.

Virginia “Ginny” C. Fjermestad ’85MBA has been appointed director of the MBA program at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, N.Y.

Michael Swiatek ’85 was an international studies major who now has a career working in several countries around the world.

1988

Glenn L. Dolce ’88 has joined AdMore, the nation’s largest independent automated TV buying platform, as director of sales.

Patrick C. Dunican Jr
Patrick C. Dunican Jr. ’88

The Essex County Bar Association (ECBA) has chosen Patrick C. Dunican Jr. ’88, chair-man and managing director of Gibbons P.C., for a 2017 Professional Lawyer of the Year Award. Dunican received his award at the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Professionalism Awards Luncheon on No-vember 9, 2017. Making his inaugural appear-ance on the PolitickerNJ’s Power List of the 100 most prominent and connected people in New Jersey politics, Dunican has been listed at #26. In addition to this, Dunican was also named a trustee of the Independent College Fund of New Jersey (ICFNJ).

1989

Louis A. Caldropoli ’89 has been promoted to the position of COO at Swisher International, Inc.

Judith A. Raneri ’89 of Bronxville has joined the board of trustees of St. Barnabas High School in the Bronx, N.Y. She is vice pres-ident and senior portfolio manager of the Gabelli U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund.

Margaret C. Timoney ’89, ’92MBA has been named CEO of Heineken USA. She is the first woman to serve as CEO of a major American beer company.

1990

Jennifer L. Hohman ’90 joined FCB as global CMO in January 2018.

1991

Patrick M. Gooney ’91 has joined Alliance Homecare as director of marketing.

1992

Meredith Corporation announced the election of Thomas H. Harty ’92MBA as president and CEO.

Bayer U.S. announced that Raymond F. Kerins Jr. ’92, ’94MS, senior vice president and head of Communications, Government Relations & Policy, has been elected vice Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center. In this role, Kerins will serve as a leading voice in GIPC’s efforts to support intellectual property stan-dards that promote innovation and creativity, create jobs, save lives and advance economic and cultural prosperity.

1994

Antonio “Tony” Goncalves ’94, former CEO of digital brands for AT&T, is joining Otter Media as CEO.

1995

Maurice E. Grant ’95 and Tiffany Mobley were married on August 6, 2017.

1996

Dr. Betty L. Campbell ’96 was unanimously appointed to the position of Commissioner of Jurors in Westchester County in August 2017. As the first African-American com-missioner of jurors in Westchester County, Campbell says she feels like a trailblazer and hopes young African-American kids will be inspired by her achievement.

1997

Shenan M. Reed-Golimbu ’97 has joined Publicis Groupe, as president and chief client officer for VM1, a unit of Verizon.

1998

Allison Flynn Gaffney ’98, ’02MS,

Allison Flynn Gaffney ’98, ’02MS was select-ed as one of “The 30 Women to Watch” by Utah Business. Allison has been working in healthcare for over 26 years and serves as executive director of Perioperative Services, Imaging, Lab and Ancillary Services at Uni-versity of Utah Health. Allison was respon-sible for reducing operational expenses by over $1 million, creating an initiative to en-hance communication between nurses and support staff, and developing an employee donation campaign.

Michael J. Wilson ’98MST was appointed superintendent of Seymour, Conn., schools in 2017.

1999

Christopher M. Longo, Ed.D., ’99 completed his 22nd marathon in honor of his daughter, who was stillborn at 22 weeks.

2000

Dermot A. Murray ’00MST was interviewed by Westmeath Examiner about his travels from Ireland across the United States.

Ricardo M. Santos ’00 has been named new coach of Boston Athletic Association’s High Performance Running Team.

David Weber ’00 spends five months out of the year as an EMT and Rescue Mountain Ranger at Denali in Alaska, and the other seven months as a Life Flight EMT, living in Salt Lake City with his wife, who is a pediatric trauma surgeon.

2001

Brian Beyrer ’01

Brian Beyrer ’01, director of College & Athletic Communications/Senior Associate AD at Iona College, received the Mike Cohen “Good Guy” Award from the Met Basketball Writers Association during the 85th NIIT/MBWA All-Met Haggerty Awards Dinner. Other recipients of the MBWA award include: sportswriter Roger Rubin, Lenn Robbins of the New York Post, Bruce Beck of NBC Sports and Jim O’Connell of the Associated Press. Beyrer is in his 17th year with Iona Athletics, serving in many pivotal roles during this time, including overseeing all communica-tions and media relations efforts for Iona’s NCAA Division I Athletics programs.

Francis J. Dwyer ’01 has been named director of communications for FDNY. He has been with the department for nine years and resides in Riverdale, N.Y., with his wife and two children.

Michael F. McNamee ’01 has joined Bank of America as a compliance director, and will be focusing on Corporate Political Activities while in this position.

Jean J. Smith ’01

Jean J. Smith ’01, a former schoolteacher, has opened a crochet shop, Jean’s Closet, in the center of Norwalk, Conn.

2002

Jerry C. McKinstry Jr. ’02MS has joined Harrison Edwards PR & Marketing as the director of Strategic Communications.

2003

Frank Russo ’03 has been named assistant coach for Colonel tennis at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La.

2006

Anthony Carpentieri ’06, ’07MBA

Anthony Carpentieri ’06, ’07MBA, a wealth management advisor for Merrill Lynch in Greenwich, Conn., was named to the first-ever Forbes “America’s Top Next Generation Wealth Advisors” list.

Patrick R. Quinn ’06, co-founder of the Ice Bucket Challenge, continues his fight to find a cure for ALS. He recently was one of the first patients to use a new voice software, which has given him a digital copy of his voice and allows him to speak again.

Christina M. DiRaimondo ’06, an assistant state attorney in the Eleventh Judicial Cir-cuit, has been appointed to the Miami-Dade County Court.

2007

Marie Reger ’07MBA has been appointed CEO of Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc., of Pleasantville, N.Y.

2008

Gabrielle N. Simpson ’08, ’10MA, is director of Communications and Public Relations at FCB Global. In an interview with Black Enterprise, she shares advice on how to “level up” in 2018 and beyond.

2009

Andrew Bianco ’09MA published an article titled “Why Taking Risks in the Classroom Pays off for Students – and Teachers” on EdSurge.com.

Grace Ferri ’09, vice president of Development and Marketing for United Hebrew of New Rochelle, along with her sister, Terri Ferri, are the co-chairs of its 15th Annual Westchester-Fairfield Go Red for Women Luncheon.

2010

Remon Bebawee ’10 and Joyce Ramirez-Bebawee ’10, ’12MBA are thrilled to announce their marriage, which took place on October 29, 2017.

Michael J. Focarino ’10 has been sworn in as a police officer for the Paramus, N.J. Police Department.

Harbert Okuti ’10 placed 16th with a time of 2:22:46 in the NYC Marathon on Sunday, November 4, 2017.

2011

Christine M. Sanders ’11, ’12MBA has been promoted to the position of vice president of Administration at United Hebrew.

2012

Meghan E. Oleske ’12 is happy to announce her marriage to Christopher Feinstein, which took place on November 11, 2017.

2013

Katie Niblock Badura ’13, ’14MA, a doctoral student from Amherst concentrating in organization and human resources, was honored with the Dean’s Award for Research and Excellence. She received a $2,500 prize to support her dissertation.

Rebecca Comizio ’13MA joins New Canaan Country School as a school psychologist working with elementary school students through grade five.

Amanda R. Saccomanno ’13, a.k.a. Mandy Rose, won her first match on “WWE Monday Night RAW”, teamed with her Absolution stablemate Paige to defeat Mickie James and Bayley.

2014

Professional soccer player Samuel N. Adjei ’14 is the latest addition to Thirsty Whale Hawke’s Bay United soccer team.

Tyler Conroy ’14 and Taylor Swift

Tyler Conroy ’14, a singer/songwriter and Taylor Swift fan, speaks about his love for his idol and how it has shaped his pathway in music over the past 10 years in an article published on Campus News in January 2018.

Amy R. Olsen ’14 has joined California State University, Northridge, as assistant water polo coach.

2015

Brother Luis Ramos ’15

Brother Luis Ramos ’15 began his formation as a Marist Brother in 2016 and shares a community at Kirk, the Champagnat dormitory at Marist College. Brother Luis is helping to co-lead a men’s group as part of the College’s Campus Ministry program, as well as being involved in volunteer work with Catholic Charities in Dutchess County.

2016

Samantha Conners ’16 was sworn in by the Jackson Township Clerk and appointed as a police officer in Ocean County, N.J.

Rafael Mandujano ’16, ’17MBA has joined the firm of Michael J. Smeriglio III, CPA as staff accountant.

Christopher Traynor ’17 has joined the Upton, Mass., police force.

 

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