LIU Gala Long Island University celebrated 90 years of academic achievement, community engagement, and student success at the annual LIU Gala, held on June 16, 2016, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The evening featured a musical performance from jazz singer Cole Rumbough, who has family ties to the University as the great-grandson of Marjorie Merriweather Post. “Our students are being provided with unmatched opportunities to both make a difference in other people’s lives,” said LIU President Dr. Kimberly R. Cline, “and to be a driving force behind their own.” The evening’s honoree was Gary Winnick P’69, who built the first undersea fiber-optic cable linking the United States and Europe. Eric Krasnoff, Chairman of LIU’s Board of Trustees, hailed Winnick as “a transformational business leader, philanthropist and LIU alumnus.” Krasnoff also led the presentation of the inaugural Jonas Medal of Distinction – named in recognition of Ralph Jonas, the first Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees – to four former Chairmen of the Board: Don Elliott, Gene Luntey, Roger Tilles, and Ed Travaglianti. Dr. Cline presented Trustee Emerita Rosalind P. Walter with the Presidential Medallion, “in recognition of her outstanding achievement, personal excellence, and noteworthy service to the University.” Among the women who inspired the song “Rosie the Riveter” during World War II with her work on the Corsair, Walter (who received the honor in absentia) has been one of the University’s biggest supporters, and was presented with an honorary degree in 1983.
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LIU MAGAZINE | 2016 YEAR IN REVIEW