President George Hanbury will present awards to members of the NSU community at the 16th Annual Celebration of Excellence on Feb. 1 outside the Alvin Sherman Library.
The celebration recognizes NSU community members who have demonstrated the university’s eight core values and made an outstanding impact and contribution to the community.
Hanbury said, “[The Celebration of Excellence] starts off the real celebration of our 50th anniversary and it celebrates the excellence that we have done in the past and that we will be doing in the future.”
Community members and students who are in Razor’s Edge and President’s 64 will be invited to attend, along with other students who Brad Williams, vice president of Student Affairs and dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies, will select based on their demonstration of NSU’s core values.
One of the awards, the President’s Award for Excellence in Community Service, is presented annually to a community member who has shown extraordinary professional engagement activities and encourages the ongoing pursuit of service. Past award recipients include Guy Harvey and Wayne and Marti Huizenga.
Hanbury feels that giving back to the community is important.
“Winston Churchill said it best. ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give,’” said Hanbury.
This year’s recipients are Winifred and Joseph Amaturo, who are continually philanthropic toward NSU. They are the founders of the Amaturo Family Foundation, which funds education, medical research, the arts and charities concerned with the Catholic religion.
Winifred Amaturo is the president of AFF and has served on the boards of St. Thomas University, Boston College and the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. She is currently an ambassador for The Pantry of Broward.
Joseph Amaturo is an entrepreneur who has owned and managed 22 radio and TV stations and has served as a chairman of Muvico Theaters, Inc. He is also involved in AFF along with the Broward County Performing Arts Center, YMCA, United Way of Broward County and Urban League.
He was inducted into the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship’s Hall of Fame in 1994 for his achievements and willingness to contribute to community programs and activities.
He was also honored with NSU’s first Doctor of Commerce Honorary Citation by NSU’s former President Abraham S. Fischler, in 1998.
The event will begin with a reception in the Carl DeSantis Building Atrium at 6:30 p.m. Awards will be presented and dinner will be served in a tent on the Library Quad at 7:30 p.m. Grammy-award winning pop singer Melissa Manchester will perform at 9 p.m. to close the ceremony.
Invited students and honorees will also visit the Fellows Society Monument, the new monument, located between the Carl DeSantis Building and the Miniaci Performing Arts Center. The monument recognizes NSU’s top sponsors, commemorating benefactors who have given $50,000 or more to the university.
Joseph Amaturo advises students to recognize the opportunity they have while attending school and said that most of an individual’s success is based on the education level they pursue.
Joseph Amaturo said, “The people that work the hardest are the luckiest.”
Tables are $2,500 and include nine seats and a sponsored seat for a student guest. Individual seats are $150 per person and can be purchased at nova.edu/celebrationofexcellence, or by emailing NSU’s Office of Special Events at specialevents@nova.edu.
For more information on the Celebration of Excellence, visit nova.edu/changingtheworld/specialevents/coe. For more information on NSU’s 50th anniversary and the events commemorating the occasion, visit nova.edu/nsu50.
