The legacy of the Sammartinos was richly celebrated during this year’s Academic Convocation, held September 29 at the College at Florham. Peter Sammartino, the University’s founder and first president, was the focus of the keynote address by Malcolm Sturchio, professor emeritus of chemistry, and Sister Margherita Marchione, Peter and Sally Sammartino’s biographer and professor emerita of languages, was presented an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

Sister Margherita Marchione, center, is congratulated by President J. Michael Adams after she received an honorary degree from the University. Keynote Speaker Malcolm Sturchio, emeritus, chemistry (Flor), looks on.

The Academic Convocation, which officially commemorates the new academic year, is held annually and honors distinguished faculty and outstanding staff members.

The Distinguished Faculty Awards were presented to: Anthony Adrignolo, engineering technology and director, graduate and preprofessional advising (Metro), for service; Richard Panicucci, professor of quantitative analysis and assistant provost (Metro), for teaching; and Linda Reddy, psychology and director, Center for Psychological Services (Metro), for research. The Distinguished Faculty Award recipients are selected by their peers.

The Pillars of FDU Awards, which are given to nonfaculty members who have made “extraordinary contributions to the character and quality” of the University, were bestowed upon Victoria D’Alessandro, coordinator, New College (Metro); Ann Gulino, associate director, athletics (Metro); Diane Richton, director, developmental mathematics (Flor); and Maria Webb, assistant director, library (Flor).

In addition, President J. Michael Adams awarded Presidential Citations to Hania Ferrara, associate vice president for finance/controller (Metro); Teresa Montani, education (Metro), and Elise Salem, English and assistant dean for academic planning, Becton College (Flor). These citations are given to faculty, staff or administrators who have “successfully initiated an innovative program or process — a program that upholds the academic excellence we hold in such high regard and one that provides students with new opportunities to achieve a global education.”

President Adams also delivered remarks during the ceremony praising FDU’s founder. He said, “Peter Sammartino’s life is a testament to the human capacity to envision something greater than ourselves, to persevere in the face of daunting obstacles and to devotedly strive to fulfill those visions.”

He added that Sammartino’s dream — “to build a university of international renown and to prepare students for leadership in a global age — is today my dream.” The president concluded by saying that he wished he had the opportunity to thank Sammartino. “I would thank him for building an incredible foundation on which we now can add new levels of excellence. And I would express how grateful I am for the inspiration he provided.

“Now we go forward, inspired by Peter’s vision and his life’s work. Fortiter et Suaviter, with strength, conviction and with pleasure, we now seek to continue his mission and add our chapter and verse to an extraordinary tale of innovation and distinction.”

Keynote Address

“Peter Sammartino: A Different View” was the title of Sturchio’s address. Sturchio, who joined Fairleigh Dickinson more than 50 years ago, shared some of his personal remembrances of Sammartino. He was a visionary, Sturchio said, who deserves great credit for not only establishing this University but for other accomplishments like founding the International Association of University Presidents and leading the restoration of Ellis Island.

But, Sturchio added, he was “also ahead of his time in one thing I don’t think we remember,” namely his efforts to introduce good nutritional habits. Sturchio recalled how, in the early 1950s, Sammartino “decried there would be no candy, no cigarettes and no soda sold on campus. He brought in Dannon yogurt and gave it away free because he thought everybody should eat it. Today, we don’t think that’s so crazy, but in 1954 we did.”

He described a man who was “very warm and compassionate” — at one point telling Sturchio to go to a clothing store in Rutherford and buy any suit jacket he desired and charge it to him — and a man who also often desired to control the smallest details — like the time he ordered in advance the precise food and wine for Sturchio and other dinner guests.

Sturchio also told about the time Sammartino gathered administrators in the Mansion after purchasing the Hamilton-Twombly estate. “For a half hour he asked everybody what they thought we ought to do with the campus. And then proceeded to tell us exactly what we were going to do with the campus.”

Honorary Degree Recipient

Educator, scholar and longtime FDU faculty member Sister Margherita, who was entrusted by the Sammartinos to chronicle their lives in Peter and Sally Sammartino (published in 1994), was honored for her educational accomplishments and her “dedicated efforts to preserve the Sammartinos’ legacy,” her citation stated. It added that Peter and Sally Sammartino “dreamed of a university where students of all ages, from every corner of the globe, could receive an education ‘of and for the world.’ A dear and trusted friend to them both, your life has luminously embodied the essence of those ideals.”

A Fulbright Scholar and Columbia University Garibaldi Scholar, Marchione is perhaps best known for her research on figures such as Philip Mazzei and Pope Pius XII. The author of 40 books and more than 100 articles, she was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame in 1993. A sister with the Religious Teachers Filippini, Marchione recently wrote her autobiography, The Fighting Nun: My Story.

Marchione said she was “truly indebted” to Peter and Sally Sammartino, and accepted the honor in their name. She emphasized that the Sammartinos taught many lessons, including the value of loyalty and commitment. She added, “Peter and Sally instilled respect for the ideas of others, the cult of personal dignity, an openness toward the most diverse currents of thought, a deep love of freedom and a passion for research. Peter and Sally never paused to serve the cause of peace and international friendship. … They gave students a purpose, an intellectual challenge, knowledge of other cultures and other centuries, ultimately self-knowledge. … Their vision, enthusiasm, energy and purpose radiated everywhere. The world was their family.”

Because of the foundation they provided, she said FDU students will take their place as leaders of the 21st century and “will enrich the world.”

Distinguished Faculty Awards

Faculty honored with the Distinguished Faculty Award were, from left, Anthony Adrignolo (service), Richard Panicucci (teaching) and Linda Reddy (research and scholarship).

Anthony Adrignolo (Service)

Adrignolo’s citation described him as a “success in every sense of the word,” who was honored for contributing his service to so many endeavors “and for becoming a person whose value knows no limits.”

A graduate of the University, Adrignolo, BSIE’63 (Metro), has taught for 42 consecutive years as an engineering faculty member. He also has served as chairman of industrial engineering and management science for 13 years and director of preprofessional studies for seven years and is currently the director of aeromotive enterprise studies.

Active in many voluntary roles throughout the University, he has served as faculty leader, president and vice president of the University Senate; a member of the Board of Trustees’ Facilities and Planning Committee, the University Planning and Budget Committee and the Campus Strategic Planning Committee; and chair of the Educational Policies Committee and the College Personnel Review Committee.

In 1997, he was elected the first speaker of the Faculty Assembly. He also was a member and chair of several search-and-screen committees, including the committee that selected President J. Michael Adams.

Active in many voluntary pursuits, he has served Hackensack University Medical Center as the only lay representative on the Patient Education Committee. And, he is a member of the Bergen County Medical Society’s judicial committee. He also represents the University on the Teaneck Advisory Board on Community Relations.

Richard Panicucci (Teaching)

Panicucci was honored “for epitomizing the essence of a true educator,” his citation declared. An FDU student at both the Rutherford and Teaneck campuses, Panicucci graduated with a BS in chemistry in 1964 and an MBA in management in 1966.

He then began teaching here and, over the years, has taught such courses as Business Statistics and Introduction to Business, and developed Quantitative Managerial Techniques and Intermediate Quantitative Methods. More recently, he chaired a University-wide committee that designed the freshman course, Business in a Global Society, which he also teaches.

Panicucci has been named Teaneck-Hackensack Campus Professor of the Year, FDU Alumni Outstanding Teacher and, last year, was selected for the Silberman College of Business’ first Anthony P. Ambrosio Award for excellence in teaching and honored by the Student Government Association as faculty member of the year.

Active in many campus and collegiate-wide efforts, he also has served in various administrative posts, including his current role as assistant provost.

His citation quoted the words of students who praised him for his “genuine care and concern,” his desire to “teach everything he has” and for being “one of a kind.”

Linda Reddy (Research and Scholarship)

Reddy was praised for her “remarkable research and scholarship” along with her “extraordinary depth of compassion.” She serves as the director of the University’s Center for Psychological Services and the Child and Adolescent Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Clinic, and as co-director of the Child and Adult Mental Retardation and Developmental Disorders Clinic, all on the Metropolitan Campus. Reddy has distinguished herself nationally as a leading researcher in the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with special needs, in particular ADHD.

Since joining the University in 1996, she has published 30 articles and book chapters, including pieces in prominent journals like Behavior Therapy, School Psychology Review and School Psychology Quarterly. She also has co-edited three books: Innovative Mental Health Interventions for Children: Programs That Work; Inclusion Practice in Special Education: Research, Theory and Application; and, her most current book, Empirically-Based Play Interventions for Children, a collaboration with fellow FDU professor Charles Schaefer, psychology (Metro).

Reddy serves various professional organizations, is on five journal editorial review boards and is the editor of The School Psychologist. Last year, she was awarded the Emerging Researcher Award for scientific contributions to psychology from the New Jersey Psychological Association.

As the director of FDU’s Center for Psychological Services, a community-based mental health and research center, she has co-developed nine new specialty training clinics, increased revenues, and doubled the number of doctoral students trained there.

Presidential Citations

Hania Ferrara

A graduate of the University, BS’87 (Metro), who also teaches in the Silberman College of Business and New College of General and Continuing Studies, Ferrara began at FDU as assistant controller in 1992. In 2002, she was named associate vice president for finance and controller.

She was honored in particular for her leading role in the refinancing of the University’s bonds of 1993. “The task of retiring the 1993 bonds and refinancing a new series of bonds at a lower interest rate through the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority was indeed a monumental challenge,” President Adams said. “And it was complicated by a very tight timeline required to achieve maximum savings.”

Adams added that her “determined leadership and essential expertise” eventually led to a significant financial benefit, namely, an annual reduction in debt status in the future and a cash infusion of nearly $2 million between last fiscal year and this one. “You are worth millions,” Adams said, “and I gratefully present you this Presidential Citation.”

Teresa Montani/Elise Salem

Montani and Salem were honored for their efforts as co-chairs of the University’s Internationalization Laboratory Team, which over the last year, working in collaboration with the American Council on Education (ACE), completed a comprehensive study of internationalization efforts at FDU, including surveys of community attitudes and perceptions and detailed recommendations.

President Adams praised the two for guiding and uniting a diverse group of faculty and administrators through the yearlong evaluation. “With skillful precision and tenacious resolution, they listened intently and moved the team forcefully through the varying levels of discussion and deliberation,” he said. “Complementing each other in two-part harmony, they blended Teresa’s inquisitiveness, graciousness and organizational proficiency with Elise’s high-octane energy level, multicultural experience and literary expertise.”

He concluded, “For helping light the way toward future distinction in global learning and for producing indispensable guidance and direction during a critical time in FDU’s history, I gratefully present Presidential Citations to Teresa Montani and Elise Salem.”

Pillars of FDU

Victoria D’Alessandro

D’Alessandro’s “exemplary work ethic and close attention to detail” were particularly highlighted in her citation, which observed that at New College she handles a great variety of concerns on behalf of a very diverse group of students. There, it added, she has “become indispensable as a model of concern and understanding, acutely familiar with the long list of academic programs and policies, and equally well versed in the notions of sensitivity and empathy.”

D’Alessandro is well known for her positive demeanor and prevailing patience. A supportive and well-respected member of the community, she is a familiar face at many University functions.

Ann Gulino

In her nearly two decades of service to FDU, Gulino has been “the backbone of an athletics program that is marked by integrity and distinction,” her citation read. Twice she has assumed the role of acting director of Division I athletics, “achieving both continuity and progress during periods of transition.”

She is particularly known for her advocacy of gender equity and has led the development of new women’s sports. She also has twice directed the NCAA certification process and raised the bar of academic standards. Her citation stated, “The outstanding records of our student-athletes on the scoreboard and in the classroom reflect the tone that you set.”

Gulino has also served numerous other volunteer efforts and campus groups such as the Threat Assessment Task Force.

Diane Richton

For more than 20 years, as her citation put it, Richton, BS’75, MS’77 (Flor), has “tirelessly fought for your FDU family, making sure that your students and your colleagues get nothing but the best.”

In teaching developmental mathematics, she has helped countless FDU students to build a foundation of academic success and personal confidence. She also has served important groups like the Academic Review Committee, and gained widespread admiration.

Her citation added, “Demanding but fair, you uphold the highest standards of quality and civility, and you motivate others to reach just as high. To your students, you are more than a teacher; you are a caring adviser and guide to whom they can turn with their personal concerns.”

Maria Webb

Webb was honored as one of the leaders of a talented and knowledgeable group of librarians who well support students and faculty in their academic mission. As her citation pronounced, “You possess an uncanny knack to quickly map the exact route to the desired information, while courteously handling numerous requests.”

Webb was especially praised for being an expert not just on the library but on all facets of FDU operations. As her citation added, “With your typical friendly manner, you navigate users through the many library resources, while also serving as a valuable source of information about nearly every aspect of studying, teaching and working at the University.”

Webb can frequently be found visiting classes, holding workshops and developing special guides to assist library users.

October 2004

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Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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